Theses de corde et eius vitiis

XXIII.
Spirits are diminished, first of all, by any excessive evacuation; conversely, by the retention of matter that ought to have been led out of the body, whereby the spirits are overwhelmed, as happens in suppressed menses or hemorrhoids, prolonged constipation of the bowels, and other similar things. Then a hot intemperies, by dissipating them; a moist one, by overwhelming them; a dry one, by consuming them. Furthermore, the spirits are diminished by a lack of suitable food. For since spirits are regenerated from the thinner and vaporous part of food, if it happens that this vapor is lacking due to a lack of food, as is wont to happen in prolonged hunger, the spirits also fail. The same thing happens if that vaporous substance is not fit for regenerating the spirits; and this is more the case if it is putrid, by which it is necessary that even those spirits that remain must also be corrupted. Finally, spirits are diminished by excessive joy, anger, and other things of that kind by pouring them out; and similarly by pain, mourning, and similar perturbations of the mind, by gathering them and as it were suffocating them.

XXIV.
A solution of continuity also has a place. For from an excessive flow of blood, syncope can occur.

XXV.
Signs are taken from observation itself, from the pulse, from the impairment of actions, both sensory and motile, from the cooling of the extremities, and from sweat or a certain dewy humidity, which escapes due to the weakness of the retentive faculty. If these are vehement, they demonstrate syncope; if they are milder, they demonstrate lipothymia fainting.