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On the Nature of Man
Nemesius of Emesa, tr. Wither, 1636
I. Of the motion proceeding voluntarily from us: of the place where it assumeth…
The motion which belongeth to our assent (or choice) and proceedeth voluntarily from us, taketh beginning from the braine, and from the marrow of the chine, which is it selfe a part of the braine.
The instruments thereof are the sinewes that spring from these, the ligaments, and muscles. The composure of these muscles, is flesh, and the strings in the blood; which are like sinewes and grisles wrapped up together, with sinewie-strings. And some are of opinion, that they are sensible; because that sense proceedeth from the sinewes, where withall they are folded up.
The grisly-end of the muscle is compounded both of a ligament, and of certaine small sinewes; yet this grisly-end differs from a sinew in this, that every sinew hath sense in it, and is round, and somewhat tender, and assumeth also his beginning from the braine: whereas this grisly end, is more hard, sometime also flat, having likewise his originall from the bone, and is in it selfe void of sense.
The hands are an instrument, ordained to lay hold of things, and so convenient for the exercise of arts, above other members, that if the hands, or but the fingers only should be taken away, wee are made unapt for almost every art. And therefore man onely received hands from his Creator, because he onely is indued with reason, which makes him capable of arts.
The feet are instruments ordained for going; for by them wee remove and passe from place to place. And man can sit firmely without a prop, because he only makes two rightangles by the bowing of his legs; the one inward, the other outward.
Whatsoever things therefore (in man) are moved by sinewes, and muscles, belong to the minde; and hee hath a free liberty in the use of them; Among these (as we have already shewed) the senses and the voice are to be accounted; and therefore this hath beene hitherto a discourse, probably setting forth, as well those things which are mentall, as those which are naturall.
IIFor the Creator according to his exceeding wise for-sight, hath folded up things mentall with such as are naturall; and things naturall, with such as appertaine unto the minde. And whereas the avoiding of superfluities belongs to the expulsive faculty (which is counted one of those that is naturall) that wee might not behave our selves filthily in avoiding our excrements, without regarding the time, the place, and such other circumstances as are comely; he hath appointed the muscles to bee as it were Porters, to order our evacuations; and of things which were of themselves meerely naturall, hee hath made them to be mentall, and such as depend upon the rule of the minde. And thereupon, when wee are provoked unto any evacuations, we are able (if cause bee) to containe them very often, and very long.
Certaine sinewes which bee soft and sensible, are sent downe both from the middle-pan, and also from the two former pans of the braine: Other sinewes which are harder, and serve us for motion, proceed from that brain-pan, which is in the hinder part of the head, and from the marrow of the back.
Among these, those are the harder which come from the spinall-marrow: and of them, those are the hardest of all, which proceed from the lowest parts of the marrow of the back: For by how much farther the marrow of the chine descendeth from the braine; so much the more hard is the chine-marrow of it selfe, and the sinews also which doe spring from the same.
And as we have received the senses double; so the sinewes have a twofold springing also from us. For every joynt of the chine sends forth a couple of sinewes; one issuing toward the rightside, and another toward the left; yea, and almost our whole body is divided also into two parts, the one on the right, and the other on the left side. Thus likewise are our feet, our hands, the seats of our senses, and other parts divided.