第 3 节
作者:北方刷刷      更新:2021-02-21 14:16      字数:9322
  undergoing a change; is converted into blood; and makes its way to
  their source 'the heart'。 We have treated of all this when
  discussing the subject of nutrition; but must here recapitulate what
  was there said; in order that we may obtain a scientific view of the
  beginnings of the process; and come to know what exactly happens to
  the primary organ of sense…perception to account for the occurrence of
  waking and sleep。 For sleep; as has been shown; is not any given
  impotence of the perceptive faculty; for unconsciousness; a certain
  form of asphyxia; and swooning; all produce such impotence。 Moreover
  it is an established fact that some persons in a profound trance
  have still had the imaginative faculty in play。 This last point;
  indeed; gives rise to a difficulty; for if it is conceivable that
  one who had swooned should in this state fall asleep; the phantasm
  also which then presented itself to his mind might be regarded as a
  dream。 Persons; too; who have fallen into a deep trance; and have come
  to be regarded as dead; say many things while in this condition。 The
  same view; however; is to be taken of all these cases; 'i。e。 that they
  are not cases of sleeping or dreaming'。
  As we observed above; sleep is not co…extensive with any and every
  impotence of the perceptive faculty; but this affection is one which
  arises from the evaporation attendant upon the process of nutrition。
  The matter evaporated must be driven onwards to a certain point;
  then turn back; and change its current to and fro; like a tide…race in
  a narrow strait。 Now; in every animal the hot naturally tends to
  move 'and carry other things' upwards; but when it has reached the
  parts above 'becoming cool'; it turns back again; and moves
  downwards in a mass。 This explains why fits of drowsiness are
  especially apt to come on after meals; for the matter; both the liquid
  and the corporeal; which is borne upwards in a mass; is then of
  considerable quantity。 When; therefore; this comes to a stand it
  weighs a person down and causes him to nod; but when it has actually
  sunk downwards; and by its return has repulsed the hot; sleep comes
  on; and the animal so affected is presently asleep。 A confirmation
  of this appears from considering the things which induce sleep; they
  all; whether potable or edible; for instance poppy; mandragora;
  wine; darnel; produce a heaviness in the head; and persons borne
  down 'by sleepiness' and nodding 'drowsily' all seem affected in
  this way; i。e。 they are unable to lift up the head or the eye…lids。
  And it is after meals especially that sleep comes on like this; for
  the evaporation from the foods eaten is then copious。 It also
  follows certain forms of fatigue; for fatigue operates as a solvent;
  and the dissolved matter acts; if not cold; like food prior to
  digestion。 Moreover; some kinds of illness have this same effect;
  those arising from moist and hot secretions; as happens with
  fever…patients and in cases of lethargy。 Extreme youth also has this
  effect; infants; for example; sleep a great deal; because of the
  food being all borne upwards…a mark whereof appears in the
  disproportionately large size of the upper parts compared with the
  lower during infancy; which is due to the fact that growth
  predominates in the direction of the former。 Hence also they are
  subject to epileptic seizures; for sleep is like epilepsy; and; in a
  sense; actually is a seizure of this sort。 Accordingly; the
  beginning of this malady takes place with many during sleep; and their
  subsequent habitual seizures occur in sleep; not in waking hours。
  For when the spirit 'evaporation' moves upwards in a volume; on its
  return downwards it distends the veins; and forcibly compresses the
  passage through which respiration is effected。 This explains why wines
  are not good for infants or for wet nurses (for it makes no
  difference; doubtless; whether the infants themselves; or their
  nurses; drink them); but such persons should drink them 'if at all'
  diluted with water and in small quantity。 For wine is spirituous;
  and of all wines the dark more so than any other。 The upper parts;
  in infants; are so filled with nutriment that within five months
  'after birth' they do not even turn the neck 'sc。 to raise the
  head'; for in them; as in persons deeply intoxicated; there is ever
  a large quantity of moisture ascending。 It is reasonable; too; to
  think that this affection is the cause of the embryo's remaining at
  rest in the womb at first。 Also; as a general rule; persons whose
  veins are inconspicuous; as well as those who are dwarf…like; or
  have abnormally large heads; are addicted to sleep。 For in the
  former the veins are narrow; so that it is not easy for the moisture
  to flow down through them; while in the case of dwarfs and those whose
  heads are abnormally large; the impetus of the evaporation upwards
  is excessive。 Those 'on the contrary' whose veins are large are;
  thanks to the easy flow through the veins; not addicted to sleep;
  unless; indeed; they labour under some other affection which
  counteracts 'this easy flow'。 Nor are the 'atrabilious' addicted to
  sleep; for in them the inward region is cooled so that the quantity of
  evaporation in their case is not great。 For this reason they have
  large appetites; though spare and lean; for their bodily condition
  is as if they derived no benefit from what they eat。 The dark bile;
  too; being itself naturally cold; cools also the nutrient tract; and
  the other parts wheresoever such secretion is potentially present
  'i。e。 tends to be formed'。
  Hence it is plain from what has been said that sleep is a sort of
  concentration; or natural recoil; of the hot matter inwards 'towards
  its centre'; due to the cause above mentioned。 Hence restless movement
  is a marked feature in the case of a person when drowsy。 But where
  it 'the heat in the upper and outer parts' begins to fail; he grows
  cool; and owing to this cooling process his eye…lids droop。
  Accordingly 'in sleep' the upper and outward parts are cool; but the
  inward and lower; i。e。 the parts at the feet and in the interior of
  the body; are hot。
  Yet one might found a difficulty on the facts that sleep is most
  oppressive in its onset after meals; and that wine; and other such
  things; though they possess heating properties; are productive of
  sleep; for it is not probable that sleep should be a process of
  cooling while the things that cause sleeping are themselves hot。 Is
  the explanation of this; then; to be found in the fact that; as the
  stomach when empty is hot; while replenishment cools it by the
  movement it occasions; so the passages and tracts in the head are
  cooled as the 'evaporation' ascends thither? Or; as those who have hot
  water poured on them feel a sudden shiver of cold; just so in the case
  before us; may it be that; when the hot substance ascends; the cold
  rallying to meet it cools 'the aforesaid parts' deprives their
  native heat of all its power; and compels it to retire? Moreover; when
  much food is taken; which 'i。e。 the nutrient evaporation from which'
  the hot substance carries upwards; this latter; like a fire when fresh
  logs are laid upon it; is itself cooled; until the food has been
  digested。
  For; as has been observed elsewhere; sleep comes on when the
  corporeal element 'in the 'evaporation'' conveyed upwards by the
  hot; along the veins; to the head。 But when that which has been thus
  carried up can no longer ascend; but is too great in quantity 'to do
  so'; it forces the hot back again and flows downwards。 Hence it is
  that men sink down 'as they do in sleep' when the heat which tends
  to keep them erect (man alone; among animals; being naturally erect)
  is withdrawn; and this; when it befalls them; causes
  unconsciousness; and afterwards phantasy。
  Or are the solutions thus proposed barely conceivable accounts of
  the refrigeration which takes place; while; as a matter of fact; the
  region of the brain is; as stated elsewhere; the main determinant of
  the matter? For the brain; or in creatures without a brain that
  which corresponds to it; is of all parts of the body the coolest。
  Therefore; as moisture turned into vapour by the sun's heat is; when
  it has ascended to the upper regions; cooled by the coldness of the
  latter; and becoming condensed; is carried downwards; and turned
  into water once more; just so the excrementitious evaporation; when
  carried up by the heat to the region of the brain; is condensed into a
  'phl