Kath' heteron d' au tropon, ei kai alêthês eiê, perittê, tês men koilias enthlibein tais phlepsi dynamenês, hôs autos hypetheto, tôn phlebôn d' au peristellesthai tô enyparchonti kai proôthein auto. ta te gar alla kai plêthos ouk an en tô sômati genoito, tê pros to kenoumenon akolouthia monê tês anadoseôs epiteloumenês. ei men oun hê tês gastros enthlipsis eklyetai proïousa kai mechri pantos adynatos estin exikneisthai kai dia tout' allês tinos dei mêchanês eis tên pantê phoran tou haimatos, anankaia men hê pros to kenoumenon akolouthia prosexeurêtai; plêthos d' en oudeni tôn meth' hêpar estai || moriôn, ê, eiper ara, peri tên kardian te kai 77 ton pneumona. monê gar hautê tôn meth' hêpar eis tên dexian hautês koilian helkei tên trophên, eita dia tês phlebos tês artêriôdous ekpempei tô pneumoni; tôn gar allôn ouden oud' autos ho Erasistratos ek kardias bouletai trephesthai dia tên tôn hymenôn epiphysin. ei de g', hina plêthos genêtai, phylaxomen achri pantos tên rhômên tês kata tên koilian enthlipseôs, ouden eti deometha tês pros to kenoumenon akolouthias, malist' ei kai tên tôn phlebôn synypothoimetha peristolên, hôs au kai tout' autô palin areskei tô Erasistratô. II Let me draw his attention, then, once again, even if he does not wish it, to the kidneys, and let me state that these confute in the very clearest manner such people as object to the principle of _attraction_. Nobody has ever said anything plausible, nor, as we previously showed, has anyone been able to discover, by any means, any other cause for the secretion of urine; we necessarily appear mad if we maintain that the urine passes into the kidneys in the form of vapour, and we certainly cut a poor figure when we talk about the tendency of a vacuum to become refilled;[178] this idea is foolish in the case of blood, and impossible, nay, perfectly nonsensical, in the case of the urine.[179] This, then, is one blunder made by those who dissociate themselves from the principle of attraction. Another is that which they make about the _secretion of yellow bile_. For in this case, too, it is not a fact that when the blood runs past the mouths [stomata] of the bile-ducts there will be a thorough separation out [secretion] of biliary waste-matter. "Well," say they, "let us suppose that it is not secreted but carried with the blood all over the body." But, you sapient folk, Erasistratus himself supposed that Nature took thought for the animals' future, and was workmanlike in her method; and at the same time he maintained that the biliary fluid was useless in every way for the animals. Now these two things are incompatible. For how could Nature be still looked on as exercising forethought for the animal when she allowed a noxious humour such as this to be carried off and distributed with the blood?...