[De epidemia et peste]

generating gross and viscous humors must be avoided during such a time. I also want you to know that whether the epidemic comes in the summer or in the winter, those who abuse dissolved humors in sexual intercourse succumb more quickly due to the weakness of their strength. This position is that of Constantinus Constantinus Africanus (c. 1020–1087) in the fifth book of his Theorica Theoretical Medicine, chapter on intercourse, where he says thus: "It is necessary, therefore, to be governed in illnesses as in the pestilence of the time and corruption of the air, that intercourse be avoided." I also do not want you to be ignorant that in the time of an epidemic, those perish more quickly in whose houses there are particular stenches, such as the stench of a latrine or a sewer, or the filthiness of a house where waste flows, such as a place where vessels with water are placed in which household utensils are washed, especially if some people frequently deposit urine there or coarser waste. And I have seen this very often through experience. The cause of this is that the universal corruption of the air is multiplied and strengthened by the particular one. From this it follows that houses must be clean and without any stench, and fumigations should be made so that the air is altered. There is caution where the epidemic-stricken lie: we who see them must stay near a fire, because it alters the air by consuming bad humors. Therefore, fumes generated from good and clean wood by means of fire repair the new air, which does not harm those breathing it; rather, it helps by strengthening the heart and preserving against evil, because it is not corrupted. Since, therefore, the times of an epidemic are diverse, the regimen must be diverse at least in some things. For the preservative regimen does not seem to be the same in summer as in winter. Therefore, in the process, with God's help, some diversity will be seen.

Chapter Two: On the prognostic and indicative signs of an epidemic.