Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 348: Davos Academic Lecture

For this reason, Theonia has become the place that the Greek physicians yearn.

Davos then broke open the outer skin of the lower jaw and neck of the model, exposing the inner passage, “Look closely, the passage of the mouth and the nose merged here, and then divided into two passages-”

He then pointed to the hose made of leather, “We all know that the nose is where we breathe air, but the mouth is not only for breathing air, but also for eating food and drinking water, and would then go through their own channels. After the Medical School physicians observed it for a long time, they believe that this pipe is where the air goes through, and they call it the trachea. The other passage behind it is where the food and water pass through, which we call the oesophagus. Now, try touching the bottom of your neck. The rough and hard thing under your skin is the trachea.”

The foreign physicians had actually touched their necks with their hands and realised what Davos said about the windpipe.

“Some might ask, since the opening of the oesophagus and the trachea are connected, won't the food and water enter the trachea?” Just as he said that, he saw a lot of people nodding. He then said with a smile, “In fact, it's almost impossible as there is a very soft bone at the opening of the trachea. Therefore when we swallow, it will automatically cover the opening of the trachea and will not let the food and water in. If you are interested, you can come over and look at this mannequin that our Theonian craftsmen had made exquisite skill under the guidance of the physicians, which is quite accurate once the lecture is over. However, don't break it as this model is the treasure of our Medical School, and you could not buy it for any amount of money! Right, Herpus?!”

“Yes, master Davos. Usually, we only use the mannequin when teaching, and we usually do not allow anyone to touch it.” Laughed Herpus.

After Davos and Herpus said this, the foreign physicians were itching to get up and look at the mannequin beside Davos, making the scene quite messy.

Davos then continued, “I heard that the young physician Kritios of the Medical School had discovered this cartilage. For this reason, he had also dissected live pigs and sheep, carefully observing the cartilage's movement and mechanism, right?”

“Yes.” Nodded Herpus.

“Is he here today?” Davos asked with a smile.

“He is.”

“Then, physician Kritios, please stand up and explain it to everyone.” Davos smiled and said.

Kritios shyly stood up under the pushing of his colleagues.

“Let's give Kritios a warm applause to thank him for this important discovery!” Davos was the first to clap, then came a big round of applause, and even his colleagues whistled excitedly.

Kritios was both nervous and excited.

Lycasis watched enviously at Kritios, who was standing in front of him. This physician, who seems to be the same age as him, is shyly accepting the applause of everyone, making him thought to himself, ‘When can I be as famous as he is in Greece, instead of being an apprentice like a slave every day?’

“Kritios, I look forward to more of your discoveries and achievements in the field of medicine!” Davos encouraged him warmly.

Seeing a young man encouraging another young man with the tone of an elderly seems ridiculous, but most of the physicians that are present doesn't think so. Kritios chest beat hard from excitement, “Ye…yes, master Davos!”

After Kritios sat down, Davos continued, “Sometimes, when you aren't paying attention while eating, you would suddenly cough. This is due to the cartilage not covering the trachea in time and allowing food to enter. So when a mother comes to see you with her baby in her arms and tells you that, ‘my child chokes and cough while drinking milk’, it might also be due to this reason as well…”

The foreign physicians noted what Davos said in their minds after confirming similar cases they had seen before.

“The air goes down the trachea to an organ, which the Theonian Medical School has dissected many times and called it the lung.” Said Davos as he breaks open the mannequin’s chest, then taking the left lung carved out of wood and showing it to everyone.

“As a result of the dissection of the Medical School, we found that there was a lung on each side of our body, which looks like a pig's bladder filled up with air. When you inhale, the air enters and expand the lungs; When you exhale, the air is released, and the lungs shrink. You may find it strange that the air enters the lungs from the mouth and nose, but when you exhale, it would also go through the mouth and nose, just circling back to its origin, seemingly having no meaning. However, I will tell you this. Our body is the most precious treasure given to the world by the gods. It is very wonderful and never does anything meaningless!”

Davos looked at the physicians. After seeing they were all listening attentively, he seriously said, “After the Medical School dissected the body many times, they have found that after the trachea enters the lungs, it would then continuously divide into smaller windpipes, just like the branches of the tree. How big do you think the trachea is at the end?”

Davos then pulled a hair from his head and said, “Only this big! Then what is at the end of such a small trachea? Who here can tell me?!”

Then, a young Theonian physician stood up and said, “Its blood vessels! After dissecting it, we have found that there are many small blood vessels interwoven with these tracheas, and these small blood vessels are connected to the two large blood vessels from the heart…”

“So, what is the use of these two big blood vessels from the heart?” Davos proceed to ask.

“They are responsible for different parts of the heart, one is pumping blood into the lungs, and the other is collecting the blood.”

“What's is the difference?”

“Well…one blood vessel that pumps blood out and the second blood vessels collect the blood back…” The young physician replied hesitantly.

“Anything else?”

“Uhm…”The young physician blushed and was at a loss on how to answer.

“Thank you for your answer. What's your name?”

“Strebus from Theonia's Medical School.”

“Thank you for your splendid answer!”

Strebus was disheartened at first, but he smiles again after hearing Davos' praise.

“Everyone, the air travels in the lungs and out, the blood goes round and out in the lungs and back into the heart. If nothing is happening, could our bodies be so bored that they are doing such meaningless things? Is that possible?!” Davos question drew the crowd to ponder. He then continued, “Of course, this is impossible! As there must be some kind of amazing reaction between the air and the blood in the lungs, but we couldn't see it with our naked eyes, just like how we can't see what makes our wound infected. So what is this reaction? And how important is it to our bodies?”

When the physicians heard this, they all showed great interest, so while pondering, they also pricked up their ears to listen to Davos.

Davos then smiled, “Although I don't know what happens between the blood and the air, we can see this kind of reaction through some phenomena. Have you ever looked at the blood in a human or an animal? Can you see any differences in the blood?”

“Blood?” Herpus fell into thinking. The truth is, Davos did not tell him the theme of today's speech in advance. So like other people, he was used to the transparent air and didn't think much about it in depth. In addition, in the past two years, he had become the director of the Ministry of Health, and he also served as the president of Thurii's hospital and the dean of Theonia's Medical School. Thus with the increase of administrative matters, he had no time to do medical research.

Stesichodas, beside him, was also lost in his thoughts.

“Oh!” Someone suddenly remembered something and shouted, “It's the colour! The colour of the blood!”

It was Kritios who spoke. Davos then looked at this thoughtful and creative young physician with admiration, then he quickly withdraws his gaze, “Yes, it's the colour of the blood! As long as you have done an animal biopsy, you will notice that the originally dark blood becoming bright when it enters the lung and is brought back to the heart through another blood vessel. And since there is only air and blood flowing in the lung, there must be something in the air to cause the blood to change colour! And this something…what role does this unseen something play when entering the blood?”

Herpus, Stesichodas, Kritios…and all the physicians, including Lycasis, were staring at Davos and holding their breath for fear that they would miss a word.

Davos also become serious, “We notice that the blood that returns to the heart is once again pumped by the heart to all parts of the body, and the bright red blood is reflected in our bodies. Our lips are red, our fingertips are red, and even our faces turn red after exercising…so when we see a person with these characteristics, we can easily tell that the person is healthy and energetic with our years of experience in the study of medicine. But we also sometimes encounter patients with dark lips, black stuff at the ends of their hands and feet, their face turning blueish, and trembling as they walked, allowing us to easily judge that this person is sick and is very serious. Isn't this the change that these two types of blood present in the body?! Can we not consider this thing as indispensable to the body as food, making us healthy and energetic?! Can't we also infer those patients in this category with purple lips and blackened finger that something had gone wrong in one of the pathways of their airways, or lungs, or the blood vessels that enters the lungs, causing something in the air to not reach the whole body through the blood?!…”