Complete Works of Celsus, Vitruvius, Censorinus, and Frontinus

CELSE.

ment of the differences between them, and these differences are even easier to grasp in diseases of relaxation. It is, in effect, quite different to vomit blood or bile, or to reject one's food; to be tormented by abundant evacuations or by colic; to be exhausted by sweats or mined by consumption. The humors can also be thrown onto certain organs, such as the eyes and ears, or onto any other part of the body without exception. Now, the same treatment is not applicable to these diverse ailments. So much so that the general principle of relaxation is reduced in practice to the consideration of a special disease, to which one must often find a particular remedy; for even in similar cases, the same means do not have a constant effect. And although one generally has assured resources against the tightening or loosening of the bowels, there are nevertheless persons on whom these remedies will act in a different manner. Here, therefore, one has no need to examine the general state; and the appreciation of particular signs is alone important. Often also, it will suffice to know the cause of the evil to cure it. This is what we have recently seen done by Cassius, one of the most skillful physicians of our time. Called to a patient in the grip of fever and very thirsty, and recognizing that the illness had only come following a state of drunkenness, he made him drink cold water immediately; now, as soon as this water, by its mixture with the wine, had tempered its strength, sleep and sweat manifested, which carried away the fever. By acting with such opportuneness, this physician was not concerned with knowing whether the body was tightened or

relaxed; but he was guided by the cause that had preceded the invasion of the evil. The Methodists, moreover, agree that one must take into account the seasons and climates; and in their discussions relative to the manner in which healthy persons must conduct themselves, they prescribe, in unhealthy localities and seasons, to avoid more carefully cold, heat, intemperance, work, and the abuse of pleasures; if one feels some malaise, they advise rest, and do not want one to provoke either vomiting or bowel movements. There is certainly truth in these precepts, but here again their general principles bend before particular considerations; unless they undertake to persuade us that these remarks on the state of the sky and the times of the year, useful to healthy men, are of no value for the sick; whereas the observation of the rules is all the more necessary to the latter, as their weakness predisposes them more to morbid influences. Does one not see, then, diseases affecting different characters in the same persons, and such that one treated in vain by appropriate means is often cured by contrary remedies? How many distinctions to establish also in the diet! I only wish to point out one example. One supports hunger better in youth than in childhood, when the air is thick than when it is light; one supports winter better than summer, when one habitually takes only one meal than when one takes two, and when one keeps rest than when one takes exercise. Finally, it is often necessary to grant food early to those who tolerate it less—

original: "sunt, faciliusque id iis, quæ fluunt, inspici potest. [...] Sæpe autem in eo magis necessaria cibi festinatio est, qui minus inediam tolerat."