Cassii iatrosophistae naturales et medicinales quaestiones LXXXIIII, circa hominis naturam & morbos aliquot

For if anyone, he says, cuts the lips of a given round ulcer so that the figure becomes more oblong, it will be brought to a scar more quickly, which contradicts the opinion of Herophilus. For if the size of the ulcer, as they themselves say, is the cause of the difficulty in healing, then with the previous size remaining and another being added through incision, it should become much more difficult to heal. But he assigns a different cause. Since, he says, every thing has its own innate motion; the motion is carried from the principles of things. He calls the middle parts of things that are moved the principles. Then he uses examples to clarify this from the motions of rivers and fire. For just as in these, the middle parts are moved more vehemently, so it happens in ulcers. This is, to speak more clearly: Just as the more abundant part of rivers is moved more vehemently, and they are abundant in the middle, where a greater quantity of them flows together: and just as the flame of fire

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