TEMPERAMENT.

A decorative woodcut initial 'C' depicts a scholar or philosopher seated at a desk with books.

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In the Book on Theriac, to Piso, chapter 8.

Book 2, final chapter.

Concerning the temperament In Galenic medicine, "temperament" refers to the balance of the four primary qualities: hot, cold, moist, and dry. of serpents, a significant controversy is debated in the schools of the Philosophers and Physicians: whether snakes are constituted of a hot or a cold nature, since the most weighty authors hold views that oppose one another on this matter. At present, as our own opinion holds, we have determined that we must adhere to the authority of those who relate the serpentine nature to a cold temperament. Primarily, Galen favors our opinion in many places; for instance, in some passages, he believed all serpents to be of a cold nature, and Rhazes original: "Rhasis"; refers to the 9th-century Persian physician Al-Razi. seems to hold the same view. Elsewhere, when treating the "affected parts" of the body, he declared that all animals of a cold temperament—when midwinter presses in—rest in hiding places as if dead due to the violence of the cold; among these, he then counted the Serpents. This opinion does not deviate from the doctrine of Aristotle, who pronounced in his History of Animals that serpents are for that reason intolerant of the cold, because they themselves are cold; for which reason he asserts that in winter they most willingly retreat to underground vaults where there is heat. Beyond this, the same Aristotle established that these animals are voracious but drink very little; yet appetite is stimulated by coldness, therefore serpents are to be reduced to a cold temperament.

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Book 10, chapter 72.

Pliny also approaches our opinion, noting that serpents possess a modest amount of blood and consequently a meager and weak heat, and no sweat. Likewise,
Book on Poisons, chapter 1.

Galen—not to be ignored among the more recent authors cited—when he speaks of poisons, strives to establish the cold nature of serpents with many and strong arguments against those who strive to maintain the opposite opinion. Let us not omit the authority of the most famous Mercuriale Girolamo Mercuriale (1530–1606), an influential Italian physician and author of De venenis (On Poisons)., who says serpents are cold, because those poisoned by serpents are immediately seized by a certain remarkable chill. For this cannot proceed from the coldness of the serpent or the poison itself, but rather because the native heat retreats from the outermost parts to the more inward parts, and especially to the heart; besides which, the innate heat, being the passive element, is overcome and extinguished by the poison. Furthermore, there are almost innumerable reasons by which we can establish this same opinion. First, if serpents are handled with the hands even during the summer solstice, they communicate a notable coldness to the hands: so much so that some, moved by this fact, have provided serpents to be handled by those suffering from fevers, so that the burning heat of the fever might be blunted; after this was done, the same serpents remained in the bed as cold as ice. Next, we have this universal proposition assigned by the Philosopher Typically referring to Aristotle.: namely, that it is the property of heat to dilate and open, and conversely, it is the property of cold to constrict and harden. Therefore, according to this doctrine, an animal having looser skin and consequently open pores should be placed in a hot temperament, but one having closed pores in a cold temperament. The passages of the skin of serpents are so closed, and their flesh so hard and dense, that these things demonstrate that they have already found an entrance for perpetual coldness. Furthermore, it should be known, as Galen testifies, that something is called cold, hot, dry, or moist in relation to that which is balanced; but among animals, man is the balanced animal of the entire genus. From this, we must observe whether serpents are said to be hotter or colder than man. And so, in the knowledge of temperaments, a universal proposition is read in Galen: namely, that by as much as an animal
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abounds in a greater or lesser supply of blood,
Blood increases heat.

so it will have a greater or lesser abundance of heat. Therefore, since there is less blood in snakes than in man, it must be concluded without a doubt that they are colder. In confirmation of what has been said, we can add two other reasons not to be ignored. The first is that wherever serpents pass, they always mark the way with a moist and viscous humor; and since excellent moisture always has coldness as its companion, it must be concluded from this that snakes are to be placed in a cold temperature. The second reason is that serpents bring forth eggs protected by a very thin shell; if they were filled with significant heat, the shell of the eggs would undoubtedly be hard, such as we see in the eggs of hens; since in hens an outstanding and
Book 2, chapter 20.

powerful heat is observed. On the other side, Pietro Andrea Mattioli original: "Petrus Andreas Matthiolus"; a famous 16th-century botanist and physician., in his commentaries on Dioscorides, seems to oppose the aforementioned opinion, as he judges serpents to be hot in temperament, perhaps relying on the words of Avicenna, who marveled that men were found...