RT Book, Section A1 Tavakkoli, Ali A2 Zinner, Michael J. A2 Ashley, Stanley W. SR Print(0) ID 57020740 T1 Chapter 62. The Spleen T2 Maingot's Abdominal Operations, 12e YR 2013 FD 2013 PB The McGraw-Hill Companies PP New York, NY SN 978-0-07-163388-8 LK accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57020740 RD 2024/10/10 AB The spleen was regarded by Galen as “an organ of mystery,” by Aristotle as unnecessary, and by Pliny as an organ that might hinder the speed of runners.1 In many societies, spleen was also thought to be affiliated with mood. The word spleen comes from a Greek word that has idiomatic equivalent of the heart in English, that is, to be good-spleened means to be good-hearted or compassionate. In contrast, spleen has been typically associated with melancholy, and in 19th-century England women in bad humor were said to be afflicted by the spleen or the vapors of the spleen. Although over the last century the functions of spleen have become clearer, an element of mystery remains around the organ.