AND GALEN’S FIRST COMMENTARY ON IT

Charterius Edition, Vol. 9 [2.]

Basel Edition, Vol. 5 (344.)

...state of the air surrounding us. For a common disease original: "κοινὸν νόσημα," referring to an epidemic does not usually happen to spread through a city, a region, or an army because of the food that has been consumed. Rather, it is caused by the air surrounding us from our shared circumstances and labors. If this air is heated, cooled, moistened, or dried beyond measure, it disturbs, twists, and overturns the bodily symmetry original: "συμμετρίαν," the balanced proportion of elements that constitutes health. We do not all encounter other causes at the same time, nor are we subject to them for an entire day; however, the air alone surrounds everyone from the outside and is inhaled by everyone.

It is impossible for the healthy temperament original: "εὐκρασίας," meaning the well-mixed state of the bodily fluids of living beings not to be affected and changed along with the changes in the air. For this reason, as Hippocrates himself teaches: In the spring, when the season is most temperate, blood (which is the most temperate of the humors) is abundant and increases. In winter, the coldest season, phlegm (which is the coldest humor) abounds. Likewise, in summer, the hottest season, the hottest humor, yellow bile original: "χολὴ ξανθή", abounds. Finally, in autumn, the driest season, black bile original: "μέλαινα χολὴ" is most plentiful and most violent, as two humors have been parched through the summer.