Pharmacy

THE METHOD OF HEALING

B 2

...conformation and site, and their entire inherent constitution original: "constitutio". In this context, it refers to the natural makeup or physical state of the body parts.. Custom consists of the type of life, the previous regimen of diet, the time of year, the state of the sky, and the region in which one has mostly lived. If to these are added the specific signs which we have recorded in another place, it will become certain and undoubted what the former constitution of either the whole body or the affected part was. Then, if the magnitude of the disease, perceived through the force of the symptoms, is compared to this, it will be clearly established how much the disease has withdrawn from the former habit original: "habitus". This refers to the patient's normal, healthy physical condition., and how strong the remedies to be decreed must be.

Suppose Dion was known before his illness to have a hot and dry temperament original: "temperamentum". The unique balance of the four humors—blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile—in an individual.. But suppose Theon was cold and moist. Let an ephemeral fever original: "febris ephemera". A fever that typically lasts only one day, often caused by fatigue or environmental heat rather than internal infection. attack them both equally. For Theon, who has withdrawn further from his former habit, colder remedies must be decreed than for Dion. Indeed, he suffers more severely and dangerously according to the opinion of Aphorisms, book 3, section 3. Hippocrates, because the disease is less consistent with his nature, age, and custom.

By the same reasoning, an old man who might be feverish according to the judgment of touch just as much as a young man will ultimately require colder aids than the young man. However, the weakness of his strength warns that these must be approached gradually. Similarly, when an equal burning fever original: "causus". An acute, intense fever associated with extreme thirst and heat, often attributed to yellow bile. attacks a phlegmatic original: "pituitoſum". Someone with an excess of phlegm, which is cold and moist. person and a bilious original: "bilioſum". Someone with an excess of yellow bile, which is hot and dry. person, the bilious person is in less danger from the related disease. For him, lighter medicines, both those that purge bile and those that cool, are more suitable than for the phlegmatic person.

In the parts of the body, if a tendon is attacked by an influx of humors or an ulcer in the same way as the flesh, the tendon requires drier remedies than the flesh. To embrace this generally: against every affection contrary to nature, a contrary remedy must be applied until the body has returned to its natural or at least its former habit. This happens sometimes all at once and entirely, and sometimes gradually or little by little. A remedy that stands equal to the disease, and which is as distant from the natural state as the disease itself is, removes the disease entirely and heals it.

For if the body has grown hot by four degrees, whatever is also cold by four degrees and added to it with equal strength will change it powerfully. It will likewise be changed just as much by the body in turn, until a certain middle state emerges from the mutual battle of both. Just as if an equal measure of cold water is poured into very boiling water, a lukewarmness will arise from the mixing. So it is for the blood and humors of the body when they are very hot: if either food or medi...