The Retentive Faculty

Nutrition occurs by an alteration or assimilation of that nourishing thing to that which receives it.

Every part of the animal has a faculty which is assimilative and nutritive.

The part being nourished assimilates that nourishing matter as nutriment for itself.

Another faculty naturally attracts the proper juice [humour] for that part being nourished.

The faculty which attracts the juice is called “attractive” or “epispastic”, by reason of its activity.

Assimilation is preceded by adhesion.

The actual bringing up of nutriment from the veins into each parts to be nourished is done by the attractive faculty.

It is attracted in order that it may be presented.

After this, considerable time is needed for the animal’s nutrition.

A thing can be rapidly attracted.

A lot of time is needed for the nutriment to adhere and be entirely assimilated to the part being nourished and to become a part of it.

The nutritive juice that fails assimilation will withdraw to another part and keeps flowing away, and constantly changing and shifting its position.

Here, the retentive faculty is needed to ensure a prolonged stay of the presented juice for the part being nourished.

• It is resident in the part which is to be nourished.

Nature is artistic and solicitous for the animal’s welfare.

• It follows that she must also possess a faculty of this kind.

Chapter 2: The Retentive Faculty

In certain parts of the body, the retentive faculty is so obvious.*

Its operation is sometime obvious, sometimes not.

It is most obvious in the largest and hollowest organs such as:

• the stomach
• the womb or uterus.

We conduct this enquiry on:

• our own persons for those activities obvious without dissection.
• animals which are near to man in obscure activities which require dissecting

The stomach retains the food until it has quite digested it. The uterus retains the embryo until it brings it to completion.