Noticos

From Simon Online
Jump to: navigation, search

Noticos myelos grece spinalis medulla, Cassius felix.


Apparatus:

Noticos ef | Nocticos AC | Noneos B

myelos AC | myleos ef | micleos ul' mielos B {printer is unsure about the correct reading}

medulla AC ef | medula B


Translation:

Nocticos myelos is Greek for Latin spinalis medulla {"spinal cord"}, according to Cassius Felix.


Commentary:

Greek μυελός /myelόs/ means "marrow; fat".

The Greek word for "spinal cord" is νωταῖος μυελός /nōtaîos myelόs/; the adjective νωταῖος /nōtaíos/ derives from νῶτον /nôton/ or νῶτος /nôtos/ "back (of man or animal)".

Simon's Noticos transcribes a presumed Greek νωτικός /nōtikós/, which is undocumented in this form in the Greek and Byzantine literature and occurs only in Cassius Felix's De medicina, 38, ed. Fraisse (2001: 95), Ad tetanicos {"For those affected by tetanus"}. Here he speaks of 3 manifestations of the tetanica passio, 1) tetanos – the back of the neck is painful and stiffens -, 2) emprosthotonos – the body is drawn forward and stiffens - and 3) opisthotonos – where the body is drawn backward and stiffens. Opisthotonia according to Cassius is often brought on by hypothermia of the spinal cord: dorsalis medulla perfrixerit, quam Graeci noticon myelon uocant – "... {when} the spinal cord, which the Greeks call noticos myelos, has suffered great chill".

Wilf Gunther 30/12/13


See also: Mielos, Notos, Opistotonos


Next entry