Problemata Aristotelis

where it is moved by nothing, so that he does not lie against the wind, because the wind excites the fire, and the fire, through the air, rises from small to great. Therefore, the patient must be covered and waited upon because, if no vent is granted to the fire, it will be extinguished. One must not even take off one's clothing until one has begun to sweat. For just as this fire below is extinguished by the sight, so too is that hidden humor of nature. Add to the treatment of intermittent fevers a bath, fomentations to be applied to the feet, the application of more clothing, and the practice of rest, by which the body is prepared so that it is quite warm before the onset. For where much fire remains, a lamp cannot burn; indeed, that great fire draws the small amount to itself. Thus, it happens that a great deal of fire must be prepared in the body, for the fever contains a small amount of fire, and the great amount will draw the small to itself.

Why should the diet of those with quartan fevers original: "febribus quartanis" not be thinned, but rather fire should be introduced into the body? Also, one must use exercise, and on the day the attack is imminent, one must bathe and not seek sleep at all. A heating diet is beneficial for this, because a quartan fever is weak. For if it were not weak, a quartan would not occur. Do you not see that where a great fire blazes, a lamp cannot preserve its small flame at all? For the great amount seizes the small to itself; therefore, a great deal of fire must be kindled in the body so that what little the fever contains is restricted. Therefore, let the daily diet be regulated in such a way that it imparts partly fire and partly dew to the body.

Some diseases are created by fire, others by dew. A disease of fire is cured by dew; for this fire here dries up the dew.