                                     400 BC
                             ON THE SACRED DISEASE
                                 by Hippocrates
                          translated by Francis Adams
                        ON THE SACRED DISEASE

  It is thus with regard to the disease called Sacred: it appears to
me to be nowise more divine nor more sacred than other diseases, but
has a natural cause from the originates like other affections. Men
regard its nature and cause as divine from ignorance and wonder,
because it is not at all like to other diseases. And this notion of
its divinity is kept up by their inability to comprehend it, and the
simplicity of the mode by which it is cured, for men are freed from it
by purifications and incantations. But if it is reckoned divine
because it is wonderful, instead of one there are many diseases
which would be sacred; for, as I will show, there are others no less
wonderful and prodigious, which nobody imagines to be sacred. The
quotidian, tertian, and quartan fevers, seem to me no less sacred
and divine in their origin than this disease, although they are not
reckoned so wonderful. And I see men become mad and demented from no
manifest cause, and at the same time doing many things out of place;
and I have known many persons in sleep groaning and crying out, some
in a state of suffocation, some jumping up and fleeing out of doors,
and deprived of their reason until they awaken, and afterward becoming
well and rational as before, although they be pale and weak; and
this will happen not once but frequently. And there are many and
various things of the like kind, which it would be tedious to state
particularly.

  They who first referred this malady to the gods appear to me to have
been just such persons as the conjurors, purificators, mountebanks,
and charlatans now are, who give themselves out for being
excessively religious, and as knowing more than other people. Such
persons, then, using the divinity as a pretext and screen of their own
inability to of their own inability to afford any assistance, have
given out that the disease is sacred, adding suitable reasons for this
opinion, they have instituted a mode of treatment which is safe for
themselves, namely, by applying purifications and incantations, and
enforcing abstinence from baths and many articles of food which are
unwholesome to men in diseases. Of sea substances, the surmullet,
the blacktail, the mullet, and the eel; for these are the fishes
most to be guarded against. And of fleshes, those of the goat, the
stag, the sow, and the dog: for these are the kinds of flesh which are
aptest to disorder the bowels. Of fowls, the cock, the turtle, and the
bustard, and such others as are reckoned to be particularly strong.
And of potherbs, mint, garlic, and onions; for what is acrid does
not agree with a weak person. And they forbid to have a black robe,
because black is expressive of death; and to sleep on a goat's skin,
or to wear it, and to put one foot upon another, or one hand upon
another; for all these things are held to be hindrances to the cure.
All these they enjoin with reference to its divinity, as if
possessed of more knowledge, and announcing beforehand other causes so
that if the person should recover, theirs would be the honor and
credit; and if he should die, they would have a certain defense, as if
the gods, and not they, were to blame, seeing they had administered
nothing either to eat or drink as medicines, nor had overheated him
with baths, so as to prove the cause of what had happened. But I am of
opinion that (if this were true) none of the Libyans, who live in
the interior, would be free from this disease, since they all sleep on
goats' skins, and live upon goats' flesh; neither have they couch,
robe, nor shoe that is not made of goat's skin, for they have no other
herds but goats and oxen. But if these things, when administered in
food, aggravate the disease, and if it be cured by abstinence from
them, godhead is not the cause at all; nor will purifications be of
any avail, but it is the food which is beneficial and prejudicial, and
the influence of the divinity vanishes.

  Thus, they who try to cure these maladies in this way, appear to
me neither to reckon them sacred nor divine. For when they are removed
by such purifications, and this method of cure, what is to prevent
them from being brought upon men and induced by other devices
similar to these? So that the cause is no longer divine, but human.
For whoever is able, by purifications conjurations, to drive away such
an affection, will be able, by other practices, to excite it; and,
according to this view, its divine nature is entirely done away
with. By such sayings and doings, they profess to be possessed of
superior knowledge, and deceive mankind by enjoining lustrations and
purifications upon them, while their discourse turns upon the divinity
and the godhead. And yet it would appear to me that their discourse
savors not of piety, as they suppose, but rather of impiety, and as if
there were no gods, and that what they hold to be holy and divine,
were impious and unholy. This I will now explain.

  For, if they profess to know how to bring down the moon, darken
the sun, induce storms and fine weather, and rains and droughts, and
make the sea and land unproductive, and so forth, whether they
arrogate this power as being derived from mysteries or any other
knowledge or consideration, they appear to me to practice impiety, and
either to fancy that there are no gods, or, if there are, that they
have no ability to ward off any of the greatest evils. How, then,
are they not enemies to the gods? For if a man by magical arts and
sacrifices will bring down the moon, and darken the sun, and induce
storms, or fine weather, I should not believe that there was
anything divine, but human, in these things, provided the power of the
divine were overpowered by human knowledge and subjected to it. But
perhaps it will be said, these things are not so, but, not
withstanding, men being in want of the means of life, invent many
and various things, and devise many contrivances for all other things,
and for this disease, in every phase of the disease, assigning the
cause to a god. Nor do they remember the same things once, but
frequently. For, if they imitate a goat, or grind their teeth, or if
their right side be convulsed, they say that the mother of the gods is
the cause. But if they speak in a sharper and more intense tone,
they resemble this state to a horse, and say that Poseidon is the
cause. Or if any excrement be passed, which is often the case, owing
to the violence of the disease, the appellation of Enodia is
adhibited; or, if it be passed in smaller and denser masses, like
bird's, it is said to be from Apollo Nomius. But if foam be emitted by
the mouth, and the patient kick with his feet, Ares then gets the
blame. But terrors which happen during the night, and fevers, and
delirium, and jumpings out of bed, and frightful apparitions, and
fleeing away,-all these they hold to be the plots of Hecate, and the
invasions the and use purifications and incantations, and, as
appears to me, make the divinity to be most wicked and most impious.
For they purify those laboring under this disease, with the same sorts
of blood and the other means that are used in the case of those who
are stained with crimes, and of malefactors, or who have been
enchanted by men, or who have done any wicked act; who ought to do the
very reverse, namely, sacrifice and pray, and, bringing gifts to the
temples, supplicate the gods. But now they do none of these things,
but purify; and some of the purifications they conceal in the earth,
and some they throw into the sea, and some they carry to the mountains
where no one can touch or tread upon them. But these they ought to
take to the temples and present to the god, if a god be the cause of
the disease. Neither truly do I count it a worthy opinion to hold that
the body of man is polluted by god, the most impure by the most
holy; for were it defiled, or did it suffer from any other thing, it
would be like to be purified and sanctified rather than polluted by
god. For it is the divinity which purifies and sanctifies the greatest
of offenses and the most wicked, and which proves our protection
from them. And we mark out the boundaries of the temples and the
groves of the gods, so that no one may pass them unless he be pure,
and when we enter them we are sprinkled with holy water, not as
being polluted, but as laying aside any other pollution which we
formerly had. And thus it appears to me to hold, with regard to
purifications.

  But this disease seems to me to be no more divine than others; but
it has its nature such as other diseases have, and a cause whence it
originates, and its nature and cause are divine only just as much as
all others are, and it is curable no less than the others, unless
when, the from of time, it is confirmed, and has became stronger
than the remedies applied. Its origin is hereditary, like that of
other diseases. For if a phlegmatic person be born of a phlegmatic,
and a bilious of a bilious, and a phthisical of a phthisical, and
one having spleen disease, of another having disease of the spleen,
what is to hinder it from happening that where the father and mother
were subject to this disease, certain of their offspring should be
so affected also? As the semen comes from all parts of the body,
healthy particles will come from healthy parts, and unhealthy from
unhealthy parts. And another great proof that it is in nothing more
divine than other diseases is, that it occurs in those who are of a
phlegmatic constitution, but does not attack the bilious. Yet, if it
were more divine than the others, this disease ought to befall all
alike, and make no distinction between the bilious and phlegmatic.

  But the brain is the cause of this affection, as it is of other very
great diseases, and in what manner and from what cause it is formed, I
will now plainly declare. The brain of man, as in all other animals,
is double, and a thin membrane divides it through the middle, and
therefore the pain is not always in the same part of the head; for
sometimes it is situated on either side, and sometimes the whole is
affected; and veins run toward it from all parts of the body, many
of which are small, but two are thick, the one from the liver, and the
other from the spleen. And it is thus with regard to the one from
the liver: a portion of it runs downward through the parts on the
side, near the kidneys and the psoas muscles, to the inner part of the
thigh, and extends to the foot. It is called vena cava. The other runs
upward by the right veins and the lungs, and divides into branches for
the heart and the right arm. The remaining part of it rises upward
across the clavicle to the right side of the neck, and is
superficial so as to be seen; near the ear it is concealed, and
there it divides; its thickest, largest, and most hollow part ends
in the brain; another small vein goes to the right ear, another to the
right eye, and another to the nostril. Such are the distributions of
the hepatic vein. And a vein from the spleen is distributed on the
left side, upward and downward, like that from the liver, but more
slender and feeble.

  By these veins we draw in much breath, since they are the
spiracles of our bodies inhaling air to themselves and distributing it
to the rest of the body, and to the smaller veins, and they and
afterwards exhale it. For the breath cannot be stationary, but it
passes upward and downward, for if stopped and intercepted, the part
where it is stopped becomes powerless. In proof of this, when, in
sitting or lying, the small veins are compressed, so that the breath
from the larger vein does not pass into them, the part is
immediately seized with numbness; and it is so likewise with regard to
the other veins.

  This malady, then, affects phlegmatic people, but not bilious. It
begins to be formed while the foetus is still in utero. For the brain,
like the other organs, is depurated and grows before birth. If,
then, in this purgation it be properly and moderately depurated, and
neither more nor less than what is proper be secreted from it, the
head is thus in the most healthy condition. If the secretion (melting)
the from the brain be greater than natural, the person, when he
grows up, will have his head diseased, and full of noises, and will
neither be able to endure the sun nor cold. Or, if the melting take
place from any one part, either from the eye or ear, or if a vein
has become slender, that part will be deranged in proportion to the
melting. Or, should depuration not take place, but congestion
accumulate in the brain, it necessarily becomes phlegmatic. And such
children as have an eruption of ulcers on the head, on the ears, and
along the rest of the body, with copious discharges of saliva and
mucus,-these, in after life, enjoy best health; for in this way the
phlegm which ought to have been purged off in the womb, is
discharged and cleared away, and persons so purged, for the most part,
are not subject to attacks of this disease. But such as have had their
skin free from eruptions, and have had no discharge of saliva or
mucus, nor have undergone the proper purgation in the womb, these
persons run the risk of being seized with this disease.

  But should the defluxion make its way to the heart, the person is
seized with palpitation and asthma, the chest becomes diseased, and
some also have curvature of the spine. For when a defluxion of cold
phlegm takes place on the lungs and heart, the blood is chilled, and
the veins, being violently chilled, palpitate in the lungs and
heart, and the heart palpitates, so that from this necessity asthma
and orthopnoea supervene. For it does not receive the spirits as
much breath as he needs until the defluxion of phlegm be mastered, and
being heated is distributed to the veins, then it ceases from its
palpitation and difficulty of breathing, and this takes place as
soon as it obtains an abundant supply; and this will be more slowly,
provided the defluxion be more abundant, or if it be less, more
quickly. And if the defluxions be more condensed, the epileptic
attacks will be more frequent, but otherwise if it be rarer. Such
are the symptoms when the defluxion is upon the lungs and heart; but
if it be upon the bowels, the person is attacked with diarrhoea.

  And if, being shut out from all these outlets, its defluxion be
determined to the veins I have formerly mentioned, the patient loses
his speech, and chokes, and foam issues by the mouth, the teeth are
fixed, the hands are contracted, the eyes distorted, he becomes
insensible, and in some cases the bowels are evacuated. And these
symptoms occur sometimes on the left side, sometimes on the right, and
sometimes in both. The cause of everyone of these symptoms I will
now explain. The man becomes speechless when the phlegm, suddenly
descending into the veins, shuts out the air, and does not admit it
either to the brain or to the vena cava, or to the ventricles, but
interrupts the inspiration. For when a person draws in air by the
mouth and nostrils, the breath goes first to the brain, then the
greater part of it to the internal cavity, and part to the lungs,
and part to the veins, and from them it is distributed to the other
parts of the body along the veins; and whatever passes to the
stomach cools, and does nothing more; and so also with regard to the
lungs. But the air which enters the veins is of use (to the body) by
entering the brain and its ventricles, and thus it imparts sensibility
and motion to all the members, so that when the veins are excluded
from the air by the phlegm and do not receive it, the man loses his
speech and intellect, and the hands become powerless, and are
contracted, the blood stopping and not being diffused, as it was wont;
and the eyes are distorted owing to the veins being excluded from
the air; and they palpitate; and froth from the lungs issues by the
mouth. For when the breath does not find entrance to him, he foams and
sputters like a dying person. And the bowels are evacuated in
consequence of the violent suffocation; and the suffocation is
produced when the liver and stomach ascend to the diaphragm, and the
mouth of the stomach is shut up; this takes place when the breath does
not enter by the mouth, as it is wont. The patient kicks with his feet
when the air is shut up in the lungs and cannot find an outlet,
owing to the phlegm; and rushing by the blood upward and downward,
it occasions convulsions and pain, and therefore he kicks with his
feet. All these symptoms he endures when the cold phlegm passes into
the warm blood, for it congeals and stops the blood. And if the
deflexion be copious and thick, it immediately proves fatal to him,
for by its cold it prevails over the blood and congeals it; or, if
it be less, it in the first place obtains the mastery, and stops the
respiration; and then in the course of time, when it is diffused along
the veins and mixed with much warm blood, it is thus overpowered,
the veins receive the air, and the patient recovers his senses.

  Of little children who are seized with this disease, the greater
part die, provided the defluxion be copious and humid, for the veins
being slender cannot admit the phlegm, owing to its thickness and
abundance; but the blood is cooled and congealed, and the child
immediately dies. But if the phlegm be in small quantity, and make a
defluxion into both the veins, or to those on either side, the
children survive, but exhibit notable marks of the disorder; for
either the mouth is drawn aside, or an eye, the neck, or a hand,
wherever a vein being filled with phlegm loses its tone, and is
attenuated, and the part of the body connected with this vein is
necessarily rendered weaker and defective. But for the most it affords
relief for a longer interval; for the child is no longer seized with
these attacks, if once it has contracted this impress of the
disease, in consequence of which the other veins are necessarily
affected, and to a certain degree attenuated, so as just to admit
the air, but no longer to permit the influx of phlegm. However, the
parts are proportionally enfeebled whenever the veins are in an
unhealthy state. When in striplings the defluxion is small and to
the right side, they recover without leaving any marks of the disease,
but there is danger of its becoming habitual, and even increasing if
not treated by suitable remedies. Thus, or very nearly so, is the case
when it attacks children.

  To persons of a more advanced age, it neither proves fatal, nor
produces distortions. For their veins are capacious and are filled
with hot blood; and therefore the phlegm can neither prevail nor
cool the blood, so as to coagulate it, but it is quickly overpowered
and mixed with the blood, and thus the veins receive the air, and
sensibility remains; and, owing to their strength, the aforesaid
symptoms are less likely to seize them. But when this disease
attacks very old people, it therefore proves fatal, or induces
paraplegia, because the veins are empty, and the blood scanty, thin,
and watery. When, therefore, the defluxion is copious, and the
season winter, it proves fatal; for it chokes up the exhalents, and
coagulates the blood if the defluxion be to both sides; but if to
either, it merely induces paraplegia. For the blood being thin,
cold, and scanty, cannot prevail over the but being itself
overpowered, it is coagulated, so that those parts in which the
blood is corrupted, lose their strength.

  The flux is to the right rather than to the left because the veins
there are more capacious and numerous than on the left side, for on
the one side they spring from the liver, and on the other from the
spleen. The defluxion and melting down take place most especially in
the case of children in whom the head is heated either by the sun or
by fire, or if the brain suddenly contract a rigor, and then the
phlegm is excreted. For it is melted down by the heat and diffusion of
the but it is excreted by the congealing and contracting of it, and
thus a defluxion takes place. And in some this is the cause of the
disease, and in others, when the south wind quickly succeeds to
northern breezes, it suddenly unbinds and relaxes the brain, which
is contracted and weak, so that there is an inundation of phlegm,
and thus the defluxion takes place. The defluxion also takes place
in consequence of fear, from any hidden cause, if we are the at any
person's calling aloud, or while crying, when one cannot quickly
recover one's breath, such as often happens to children. When any of
these things occur, the body immediately shivers, the person
becoming speechless cannot draw his breath, but the breath (pneuma)
stops, the brain is contracted, the blood stands still, and thus the
excretion and defluxion of the phlegm take place. In children, these
are the causes of the attack at first. But to old persons winter is
most inimical. For when the head and brain have been heated at a great
fire, and then the person is brought into cold and has a rigor, or
when from cold he comes into warmth, and sits at the fire, he is apt
to suffer in the same way, and thus he is seized in the manner
described above. And there is much danger of the same thing occurring,
if his head be exposed to the sun, but less so in summer, as the
changes are not sudden. When a person has passed the twentieth year of
his life, this disease is not apt to seize him, unless it has become
habitual from childhood, or at least this is rarely or never the case.
For the veins are filled with blood, and the brain consistent and
firm, so that it does not run down into the veins, or if it do, it
does not master the blood, which is copious and hot.

  But when it has gained strength from one's childhood, and become
habitual, such a person usually suffers attacks, and is seized with
them in changes of the winds, especially in south winds, and it is
difficult of removal. For the brain becomes more humid than natural,
and is inundated with phlegm, so that the defluxions become more
frequent, and the phlegm can no longer be the nor the brain be dried
up, but it becomes wet and humid. This you may ascertain in
particular, from beasts of the flock which are seized with this
disease, and more especially goats, for they are most frequently
attacked with it. If you will cut open the head, you will find the
brain humid, full of sweat, and having a bad smell. And in this way
truly you may see that it is not a god that injures the body, but
disease. And so it is with man. For when the disease has prevailed for
a length of time, it is no longer curable, as the brain is corroded by
the phlegm, and melted, and what is melted down becomes water, and
surrounds the brain externally, and overflows it; wherefore they are
more frequently and readily seized with the disease. And therefore the
disease is protracted, because the influx is thin, owing to its
quantity, and is immediately overpowered by the blood and heated all
through.

  But such persons as are habituated to the disease know beforehand
when they are about to be seized and flee from men; if their own house
be at hand, they run home, but if not, to a deserted place, where as
few persons as possible will see them falling, and they immediately
cover themselves up. This they do from shame of the affection, and not
from fear of the divinity, as many suppose. And little children at
first fall down wherever they may happen to be, from inexperience. But
when they have been often seized, and feel its approach beforehand,
they flee to their mothers, or to any other person they are acquainted
with, from terror and dread of the affection, for being still
infants they do not know yet what it is to be ashamed.

  Therefore, they are attacked during changes of the winds, and
especially south winds, then also with north winds, and afterwards
also with the others. These are the strongest winds, and the most
opposed to one another, both as to direction and power. For, the north
wind condenses the air, and separates from it whatever is muddy and
nebulous, and renders it clearer and brighter, and so in like manner
also, all the winds which arise from the sea and other waters; for
they extract the humidity and nebulosity from all objects, and from
men themselves, and therefore it (the north wind) is the most
wholesome of the winds. But the effects of the south are the very
reverse. For in the first place it begins by melting and diffusing the
condensed air, and therefore it does not blow strong at first, but
is gentle at the commencement, because it is not able at once to
overcome the and compacted air, which yet in a while it dissolves.
It produces the same effects upon the land, the sea, the fountains,
the wells, and on every production which contains humidity, and
this, there is in all things, some more, some less. For all these feel
the effects of this wind, and from clear they become cloudy, from
cold, hot; from dry, moist; and whatever ear then vessels are placed
upon the ground, filled with wine or any other fluid, are affected
with the south wind, and undergo a change. And the a change. And the
sun, and the moon, it renders blunter appearance than they naturally
are. When, then, it possesses such powers over things so great and
strong, and the body is made to feel and undergo changes in the
changes of the winds, it necessarily follows that the brain should
be disolved and overpowered with moisture, and that the veins should
become more relaxed by the south winds, and that by the north the
healthiest portion of the brain should become contracted, while the
most morbid and humid is secreted, and overflows externally, and
that catarrhs should thus take place in the changes of these winds.
Thus is this disease formed and prevails from those things which enter
into and go out of the body, and it is not more difficult to
understand or to cure than the others, neither is it more divine
than other diseases.

  Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys,
delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and
lamentations. And by this, in an especial manner, we acquire wisdom
and knowledge, and see and hear, and know what are foul and what are
fair, what are bad and what are good, what are sweet, and what
unsavory; some we discriminate by habit, and some we perceive by their
utility. By this we distinguish objects of relish and disrelish,
according to the seasons; and the same things do not always please us.
And by the same organ we become mad and delirious, and fears and
terrors assail us, some by night, and some by day, and dreams and
untimely wanderings, and cares that are not suitable, and ignorance of
present circumstances, desuetude, and unskilfulness. All these
things we endure from the brain, when it is not healthy, but is more
hot, more cold, more moist, or more dry than natural, or when it
suffers any other preternatural and unusual affection. And we become
mad from its humidity. For when it is more moist than natural, it is
necessarily put into motion, and the affection being moved, neither
the sight nor hearing can be at rest, and the tongue speaks in
accordance with the sight and hearing.

  As long as the brain is at rest, the man enjoys his reason, but
the depravement of the brain arises from phlegm and bile, either of
which you may recognize in this manner: Those who are mad from
phlegm are quiet, and do not cry out nor make a noise; but those
from bile are vociferous, malignant, and will not be quiet, but are
always doing something improper. If the madness be constant, these are
the causes thereof. But if terrors and fears assail, they are
connected with derangement of the brain, and derangement is owing to
its being heated. And it is heated by bile when it is determined to
the brain along the bloodvessels running from the trunk; and fear is
present until it returns again to the veins and trunk, when it ceases.
He is grieved and troubled when the brain is unseasonably cooled and
contracted beyond its wont. This it suffers from phlegm, and from
the same affection the patient becomes oblivious. He calls out and
screams at night when the brain is suddenly heated. The bilious endure
this. But the phlegmatic are not heated, except when much blood goes
to the brain, and creates an ebullition. Much blood passes along the
aforesaid veins. But when the man happens to see a frightful dream and
is in fear as if awake, then his face is in a greater glow, and the
eyes are red when the patient is in fear. And the understanding
meditates doing some mischief, and thus it is affected in sleep. But
if, when awakened, he returns to himself, and the blood is again
distributed along the veins, it ceases.

  In these ways I am of the opinion that the brain exercises the
greatest power in the man. This is the interpreter to us of those
things which emanate from the air, when the brain happens to be in a
sound state. But the air supplies sense to it. And the eyes, the ears,
the tongue and the feet, administer such things as the brain
cogitates. For in as much as it is supplied with air, does it impart
sense to the body. It is the brain which is the messenger to the
understanding. For when the man draws the breath into himself, it
passes first to the brain, and thus the air is distributed to the rest
of the body, leaving in the brain its acme, and whatever has sense and
understanding. For if it passed first to the body and last to the
brain, then having left in the flesh and veins the judgment, when it
reached the brain it would be hot, and not at all pure, but mixed with
the humidity from flesh and blood, so as to be no longer pure.

  Wherefore, I say, that it is the brain which interprets the
understanding. But the diaphragm has obtained its name (frenes) from
accident and usage, and not from reality or nature, for I know no
power which it possesses, either as to sense or understanding,
except that when the man is affected with unexpected joy or sorrow, it
throbs and produces palpitations, owing to its thinness, and as having
no belly to receive anything good or bad that may present themselves
to it, but it is thrown into commotion by both these, from its natural
weakness. It then perceives beforehand none of those things which
occur in the body, but has received its name vaguely and without any
proper reason, like the parts about the heart, which are called
auricles, but which contribute nothing towards hearing. Some say
that we think with the heart, and that this is the part which is
grieved, and experiences care. But it is not so; only it contracts
like the diaphragm, and still more so for the same causes. For veins
from all parts of the body run to it, and it has valves, so as to as
to perceive if any pain or pleasurable emotion befall the man. For
when grieved the body necessarily shudders, and is contracted, and
from excessive joy it is affected in like manner. Wherefore the
heart and the diaphragm are particularly sensitive, they have
nothing to do, however, with the operations of the understanding,
but of all but of all these the brain is the cause. Since, then, the
brain, as being the primary seat of sense and of the spirits,
perceives whatever occurs in the body, if any change more powerful
than usual take place in the air, owing to the seasons, the brain
becomes changed by the state of the air. For, on this account, the
brain first perceives, because, I say, all the most acute, most
powerful, and most deadly diseases, and those which are most difficult
to be understood by the inexperienced, fall upon the brain.

  And the disease called the Sacred arises from causes as the
others, namely, those things which enter and quit the body, such as
cold, the sun, and the winds, which are ever changing and are never at
rest. And these things are divine, so that there is no necessity for
making a distinction, and holding this disease to be more divine
than the others, but all are divine, and all human. And each has its
own peculiar nature and power, and none is of an ambiguous nature,
or irremediable. And the most of them are curable by the same means as
those by which any other thing is food to one, and injurious to
another. Thus, then, the physician should understand and distinguish
the season of each, so that at one time he may attend to the
nourishment and increase, and at another to abstraction and
diminution. And in this disease as in all others, he must strive not
to feed the disease, but endeavor to wear it out by administering
whatever is most opposed to each disease, and not that which favors
and is allied to it. For by that which is allied to it, it gains vigor
and increase, but it wears out and disappears under the use of that
which is opposed to it. But whoever is acquainted with such a change
in men, and can render a man humid and dry, hot and cold by regimen,
could also cure this disease, if he recognizes the proper season for
administering his remedies, without minding purifications, spells, and
all other illiberal practices of a like kind.
                                    THE END
