286 Mayow 



immovable tendon, it seems to me necessary that the 

 more movable end of the contracted fibre, as also its 

 middle, should be moved towards the immovable end, 

 as is evident from the premises. 



Therefore, as to the contraction of the fibres, of the 

 fibrils, and consequently of the muscles, I think we 

 must hold that they by no means, of their proper 

 nature, contract towards the origin rather than 

 towards the termination ; but do so only because 

 what we call the origin is inserted into an immovable 

 part. So that if the bone into which the termination 

 of the muscle is inserted should be more fixed than 

 that other one to which the origin is attached, then in 

 its contraction the muscle will be drawn towards its 

 termination. For example, let any immovable thing 

 be grasped by one hand, and then the flexor muscles 

 of the forearm be strongly contracted (which will 

 occur if we make an effort to draw the thing grasped 

 towards us), in this case, I say, as the thing grasped, 

 being immovable, cannot be moved to us, the said 

 muscles in their contraction will drag our arm and 

 our whole body which is attached to it towards the 

 thing grasped ; so that it will happen that these 

 muscles in their contraction will be drawn towards 

 their termination and not towards their origin ; inas- 

 much as the bone of the forearm in which the 

 terminations of the said muscles are inserted becomes, 

 on account of the immobility of the thing grasped, 

 the more fixed end : as is shown in Plate III., Fig. 3, in 

 which while the flexor muscles of the forearm, a^ c, 

 contract, they do not as in other cases bend the 

 forearm but the arm ; and in their contraction carry 

 3, c, towards the terminal tendon, c. 



As to the motion of the sphincters, as also of 

 membraneous bodies, the motion of which ends in 



