BOOK 1

21 Ed. Chart. X. [350. 351.] Ed. Bas. IV. (200.)

...nevertheless, even then their characteristic slowness and rareness remains, if you take into account the speed and frequency added by the paroxysms An "accession" or "paroxysm" is the period when the fever symptoms are most intense.. If you compare the peak of a quartan fever with the peak of a tertian fever, the arteries in tertian fevers will seem to beat much faster and more frequently. In a quartan fever, the irregularity of a single movement reveals its specific nature. In this fever, one can find the most evident form of the irregularity common to all fevers during a single pulse stroke. [351] You will find that the beginning and the end of the movement are much swifter than the middle. This is not the case for tertian fevers. In those, the excess of speed is brief, occurring mostly during the peaks of the illness. Furthermore, the signs of heat are also different in these cases. You will not find the heat, the burning, and the boiling sensation original: "zeon"; Galen describes the heat of a tertian fever as a "boiling" heat, which he associated with yellow bile. of tertian fevers in quartan ones. These are the primary signs. However, one should not overlook external factors. One must investigate the nature of the patient, specifically if they have a more melancholy constitution original: "melancholikotera"; meaning a temperament dominated by black bile., and consider the time of year...

...recognizes them as fast and frequent. Nevertheless, their native slowness and rareness is preserved even then, if you consider the speed and frequency added to the attack. Indeed, if you compare the vigor of a quartan fever with the vigor of a tertian, the arteries will seem to you to throb much faster and more frequently in the tertian. The inequality of a single motion in the quartan fever demonstrates its specific type. One can find the most evident inequality, common to all fevers, in a single stroke of the artery in this condition: for you will find the beginning and the end of the motion much more rapid than the middle. This is not so in tertian fevers, for in those, the excess of speed is brief, especially at the peak. Furthermore, these fevers are distinguished by the signs of their heat. You will by no means find the heat, the burning, and the glow original: "fervorem"; a Latin term for intense, boiling heat. of tertian fevers in quartan ones. These are indeed the greatest signs, but the remaining external ones must not be omitted. Rather, the nature of the sick person must be considered, whether it declines more toward black bile original: "atram bilem"; in ancient medicine, black bile was the humor responsible for quartan fevers and melancholy., and whether the time of year is autumn...