Literary notes about Transverse (AI summary)
The term "transverse" is employed across a wide range of literary genres to describe elements that cut across or lie perpendicular to a primary axis. In scientific and anatomical works—from ancient texts like Galen's discussion of liver anatomy ([1], [2], [3]) to modern embryological descriptions in works such as those by Aesop and in the King James Bible ([4], [5], [6], [7])—it denotes cross-sectional views that reveal internal structure. At the same time, authors like J. M. Barrie and Lewis Carroll utilize "transverse" to elaborate on the spatial arrangement of biological forms ([8], [9], [10], [11]), while its application is not confined solely to biology; it appears in technical discussions of mechanical design and architecture ([12], [13], [14]) and even metaphorically, as seen in Santayana’s reflection on "transverse philosophy" ([15]). This multifaceted usage underscores the word’s versatility in conveying both precise physical orientation and abstract conceptual organization.
- 205 Jecoris portae , the transverse fissure, by which the portal vein enters the liver.
— from Galen: On the Natural Faculties by Galen - Alone of all organs the intestines consist of two coats of which both have their fibres transverse.
— from Galen: On the Natural Faculties by Galen - The outer coat has its fibres transverse, for the purpose of peristalsis.
— from Galen: On the Natural Faculties by Galen - 86 transverse section (slightly diagrammatic).
— from The King James Version of the Bible - 105 — Severance of the discoid mammal embryo from the yelk-sac, in transverse section (diagrammatic).
— from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll - 89 and 90 — Transverse section of cœlomula embryos of triton.
— from The King James Version of the Bible - 93 — Transverse section of the vertebrate-embryo of a bird (from a hen’s egg on the second day of incubation). (From Kölliker. )
— from The King James Version of the Bible - 211 — Transverse section of the head of the Amphioxus.
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - 219 — Transverse section of the head of the Amphioxus (at the limit of the first and second third of the body).
— from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - The two halves of the vertebrate body that are separated by this horizontal transverse axis and by the chorda have quite different characters.
— from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - 101 transverse section through the head (to the left through the gill-pouches, to the right through the gill-clefts).
— from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - At one end of this ghastly apartment was a large fire-grate, over the top of which were stretched some transverse iron bars, half devoured with rust.
— from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott - The chief function of the keel is to distribute the load of the various weights to the transverse frames of the air-ship.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various - The cars containing the engines, wireless-cabin, and pilot's cabin are suspended from the transverse frames.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various - No new method, no transverse philosophy, would be requisite or fitted for the task.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana