Theses de corde et eius vitiis

XVI.
It happens that the heart suffers both of itself and by consent, or by the participation of the evil by which other parts of the body are held.

XVII.
Furthermore, that diathesis disposition/condition of which I spoke is either an intemperies imbalance of qualities, or an evil composition, or a solution of continuity a break in the physical structure.

XVIII.
Concerning intemperies, it is established from Galen, 12 Methodus Medendi and 5 de locis affectis 2, where he affirms that syncope results from a strong intemperies of the heart.

XIX.
Evil composition is seen in the passages of the spirits, if they are too narrow or too wide. Galen, in his book On Tremor and Palpitation, says that heat and spirit have a mobile substance, which reason itself also teaches. For the spirit carries life through all the members. Therefore, when the spirits rest in the heart because the passages are blocked, syncope or death arises: which same thing happens if they are dispersed when the passages are too dilated.

XX.
Obstruction, compression, and subsidence cause the narrowness of the heart's passages: things contrary to these cause their dilation.

XXI.
Since the spirits pertain to the heart, as without them this cannot be the seat and principle of life, it is necessary that they also be in the correct state regarding their abundance and temperament.

XXII.
The causes altering the spirits are either internal, such as a colder intemperies of the heart, or external, among which are colder food, cooling medicines, and other things of that kind.