History of Monsters. 80

Inside the chest there are three membranes: the first is the pleura, which lines the inner ribs; the second is the mediastinum, which divides not only the cavity of the chest but also the lungs into two parts; the third is the diaphragm, which shares the nature of a muscle more than that of a membrane. Between the lungs, the heart is situated—pyramidal in shape and encased within a capsule or pericardium.

In some individuals, the heart is reportedly found to be hairy. Rembert Dodoens, for instance, tells the story of a thief named Jacob who was hanged from a gallows. While he appeared dead, he was actually still alive; after being taken down and cared for, he recovered. However, being a man of a depraved mind and wicked character, he returned to his crimes and was eventually captured and hanged again. Marveling at the man's persistent villainy, they performed an autopsy and found his heart completely covered in hair on account of his extreme internal heat. The same phenomenon was observed in the heart of Aristomenes the Greek, who was said to have single-handedly turned entire battle lines to flight.

Galen observed fat on the heart, along with two auricles on the exterior and two ventricles within. Although Aristotle mentioned a third ventricle of the heart, this third part is actually a portion of the right ventricle that inclines toward the left. In the right ventricle, two openings are visible: one for the vena cava, which brings in the blood, and the other for the "arterial vein" (pulmonary artery), which transmits blood to the lungs. Consequently, unless blood were sent back to the left ventricle of the heart, the opening of the arterial vein would undoubtedly be wider than that of the vena cava, and all the blood entering the heart would be transferred to the lungs. Furthermore, in the left ventricle of the heart, the opening of the aorta is observed to be wider than the opening of the "venous artery" (pulmonary vein) through which air is received. (In Padua, the illustrious Falloppio once marveled at finding an aorta that was entirely bony during the dissection of a corpse.) From this, anatomists perceive that the heart receives something from the right ventricle, since the opening through which it is emitted is larger than the one through which it is received.

Next to be considered are the lungs, which are composed of spongy flesh, membrane, nerves, and vessels. These vessels include the *aspera arteria* (trachea)—which Cardanus reported was bony in the case of a man who did not die after being hanged—the venous artery originating from the left ventricle of the heart, and the arterial vein emanating from the right. The windpipe, or *aspera arteria*, is distributed into four branches corresponding to the four lobes of the lung, although Schenck observed five lung lobes in the cadaver of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy. Near the head of the trachea, nature crafted glandular flesh for the purpose of lubrication, so that the voice would not grow hoarse from dryness. Regarding the parts that serve respiration and the voice, the lips must be considered; these are composed of nerves, flesh, skin, and membrane, as they must be moved in every possible direction.

At the back of the palate, a small piece of flesh is visible, shaped like a grape and thus called the *uvea* (uvula). Above the head of the trachea, nature placed the cartilage called the epiglottis, so that no food could fall into the windpipe. The tongue is also found there, at the root of which is situated a bone representing the shape of the Greek letter Lambda (Λ). The tongue receives two nerves: one soft nerve spread over its surface, and another disseminated within its substance, so that if one is injured, the other may remain unharmed to perform its duty.

The transition is then made from the thorax to the lower belly, which consists of containing parts and contained parts. The containing parts are the external areas, particularly the abdomen, which is integrated from the cuticle, the skin, fat, a fleshy membrane, the rectus muscles, the ascending and descending lateral muscles, and the peritoneum. This membrane is called *peritonaion* by the Greeks, as if "stretched all around." When the abdomen is cut open and the peritoneum raised, the omentum presents itself to the view, covering the front part of the stomach and the intestines. Once the omentum is removed, two types of intestines are seen: the thin and the thick.

The thin intestines are three in number: the first is called the duodenum because it is twelve inches long; the second is the jejunum, because it is always found empty; and the third is the ileum, either because it suffers from the "iliac passion" (obstruction) or because it occupies the position of the flanks. There are likewise three thick intestines: namely, the cecum, which is provided with only one opening and is very small in humans, serving more as a ligament than an intestine; the second is the colon, because it has many *cola* or cells; and the last is called the rectum because of its shape. The mesentery is that membrane teeming with a wealth of veins and joining all the intestines together; it is called *mesenterion* by the Greeks because it is *en meso ton enteron*, that is, in