Why are creatures with a large heart timorous, as the hare? A. The
heart is dispersed in such a one, and not able to heat the blood which
cometh to it; by which means fear is bred.
Q. How is it that the heart is continually moving? A. Because in it
there is a certain spirit which is more subtle than air, and by reason
of its thickness and rarefaction, seeks a larger space, filling the
hollow room of the heart; hence the dilating and opening of the heart,
and because the heart is earthly the thrusting and moving ceasing, its
parts are at rest, tending downwards. As a proof of this, take an acorn,
which, if put into the fire, the heat doth dissolve its humidity,
therefore occupies a greater space, so that the rind cannot contain it,
but puffs up, and throws it into the fire. The like of the heart.
Therefore the heart of a living creature is triangular, having its least
part towards its left side, and the greater towards the right; and doth
also open and shut in the least part, by which means it is in continual
motion; the first motion is called _diastole_, that is extending the
heart or breast; the other _systole_, that is, shutting of the heart;
and from these all the motions of the body proceed, and that of the
pulse which the physicians feel.
Q. How comes it that the flesh of the heart is so compact and knit
together? A.
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