De Medicina |
Translator: Walter George Spencer
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Igitur saluberrimum uer est , proxime deinde ab hoc hiemps ; periculosior quam salubrior aestas , autumnus longe periculosissimus . Ex tempestatibus uero optimae aequales sunt , siue frigidae siue calidae ; pessimae , quae maxime uariant ; quo fit , ut autumnus plurimos opprimat . Nam fere meridianis temporibus calor , nocturnis atque matutinis simulque etiam uespertinis frigus est . Corpus ergo , et aestate et subinde meridianis caloribus relaxatum , subito frigore excipitur . Sed ut eo tempore id maxime fit , sic , quandocumque euenit , noxium est . Vbi aequalitas autem est , tamen saluberrimi sunt sereni dies ; meliores pluuii quam tantum nebulosi nubiliue , optimique hieme qui omni uento uacant , aestate quibus fauonii perflant . Si genus aliud uentorum est , salubriores septentrionales quam subsolani uel austri sunt , sic tamen haec , ut interdum regionum sorte mutentur . Nam fere uentus ubique a mediterraneis regionibus ueniens salubris , a mari grauis est . Neque solum in bono tempestatium habitu certior ualetudo est , sed †prior morbi quoque , si qui inciderunt , leuiores sunt et promptius finiuntur . Pessimum aegro caelum est , quod aegrum fecit , adeo ut in id quoque genus , quod natura peius est , in hoc statu salubris mutatio sit . At aetas media tutissima est , quae neque iuuentae calore , neque senectutis frigore infestatur . Longis morbis senectus , acutis adulescentia magis patet . Corpus autem habilissimum quadratum est , neque gracile neque obesum . Nam longa statura , ut in iuuenta decora est , sic matura senectute conficitur , gracile corpus infirmum , obesum hebes est . Vere tamen maxime , quae cum umoris motu nouantur , in metu esse consuerunt . Ergo tum lippitudines , pustulae , profusio sanguinis , abscessus corporis , quae apostemata Graeci nominant , bilis atra , quam ΜΕΛΑΝΧΟΛΙΑΝ appellant , insania , morbus comitialis , angina , grauedines , destillationes oriri solent . I quoque morbi , qui in articulis neruisque modo urguent modo quiescunt , tum maxime et inchoantur et repetunt . At aestas non quidem uacat plerisque his morbis , sed adicit febres uel continuas uel ardentis uel tertianas , uomitus , alui deiectiones , auricularum dolores , ulcera oris , cancros et in ceteris quidem partibus , sed maxime obscenis , et quicquid sudore hominem resoluit . Vix quicquam ex his in autumnum non incidit : sed oriuntur quoque eo tempore febres incertae , lienis dolor , aqua inter cutem , tabes , quam Graeci ΦΘΙΣΙΝ nominant , urinae difficultas , quam ΣΤΡΑΝΓΟΥΡΙΑΝ appellant , tenuioris intestini morbus quem ileon nominant , leuitas intestinorum , qui lienteria uocatur , coxae dolores , morbi comitiales . Idemque tempus et diutinis malis fatigatos , et ab aestate tantum proxima pressos interemit , et alios nouis morbis conficit ; et quosdam longissimis inplicat , maximeque quartanis , quae per hiemem quoque exerceant . Nec aliud magis tempus pestilentiae patet , cuiuscumque ea generis est ; quamuis uariis rationibus nocet . Hiemps autem capitis dolores , tussim et quicquid in faucibus in lateribus in uisceribus mali contrahitur , inritat . Ex tempestatibus aquilo tussim mouet , fauces exasperat , uentrem adstringit , urinam sup primit, horrores excitat , item dolores lateris et pectoris . Sanum tamen corpus spissat et mobilius atque expeditius reddit . Auster aures hebetat , sensum tardat , capitis dolores mouet , aluum soluit , totum corpus efficit hebes , umidum , languidum . Ceteri uenti , quo uel huic uel illi propiores sunt , eo magis uicinos his illisue affectus faciunt . Denique omnis calor iecur et lienem inflat , mentem hebetat ; ut anima deficiat , ut sanguis prorumpat , efficit . Frigus modo neruorum distentionem , modo rigorem infert ; illud spasmos , hoc tetanos Graece nominatur ; nigritiem in ulceribus , horrores in febribus excitat . In siccitatibus acutae febres , lippitudines , tormina , urinae difficultas , articulorum dolores oriuntur ; per imbres longae febres , alui deiectiones , angina , cancri , morbi comitiales , resolutio neruorum ( paralysin Graeci nominant ) . Neque solum interest , quales dies sint , sed etiam , quales ante praecesserint . Si hiemps sicca septentrionales uentos habuit , uer autem austros et pluuias exhibet , fere subeunt lippitudines , tormina , febres , maximeque in mollioribus corporibus , ideoque praecipue in muliebribus . Si uero austri pluuiaeque hiemem occuparunt , uer autem frigidum et siccum est , grauidae quidem feminae , quibus tum adest partus , abortu periclitantur ; eae uero , quae gignunt , inbecillos uixque uitales edunt . Ceteros lippitudo arida et , si seniores sunt , grauedines atque destillationes male habent . At si a prima hieme austri ad ultimum uer continuarint , laterum dolores et insania febricitantium , quam phrenesin appellant , celerrime rapiunt . Vbi uero calor a primo uere orsus aestatem quoque similem exhibet , necesse est multum sudorem in febribus subsequi . At si sicca aestas aquilones habuit , autumno uero imbres austrique sunt , tota hieme , quae proxima est , tussis , destillatio , raucitas , in quibusdam etiam tabes oritur . Sin autem autumnus quoque aeque siccus isdem aquilonibus perflatur , omnibus quidem mollioribus corporibus , inter quae muliebria esse proposui , secunda ualetudo contingit : durioribus uero instare possunt et aridae lippitudines , et febres partim acutae partim longae , et i morbi , qui ex atra bile nascuntur . Quod ad aetates uero pertinet , pueri proximique his uere optime ualent , et aestate prima tutissimi sunt , senes aestate et autumni prima parte , iuuenes hieme quique inter iuuentam senectutemque sunt . Inimicior senibus hiemps , aestas adulescentibus est . Tum si qua inbecillitas oritur , proximum est , ut infantes tenerosque adhuc pueros serpentia ulcera oris , quae ΑΦΘΑΣ Graeci nominant , uomitus , nocturnae uigiliae , aurium umor , circa umbilicum infla mmationes exerceant . Propriae etiam dentientium gingiuarum exulcerationes , febriculae , interdum neruorum distentiones , alui deiectiones ; maximeque caninis dentibus orientibus male habent ; quae pericula plenissimi cuiusque sunt , et cui maxime uenter adstrictus est . At ubi aetas paulum processit , glandulae , et uertebrarum , quae in spina sunt , aliquae inclinationes , struma , uerrucarum quaedam genera dolentia ( ΑΚΡΟΧΟΡΔΟΝΑΣ Graeci appellant ) et plura alia tubercula oriuntur . Incipiente uero iam pube , et ex isdem mult a , et longae febres , sanguinis ex naribus cursus . Maximeque omnis pueritia , primum circa quadragesimum diem , deinde septimo mense , tum septimo anno , postea circa pubertatem periclitatur . Si qua etiam genera morborum in infantem inciderunt , ac neque pubertate neque primis coitibus neque in femina primis menstruis finita sunt , fere longa sunt : saepius tamen morbi pueriles , qui diutius manserunt , terminantur . Adulescentia morbis acutis item comitialibus tabique maxime obiecta est ; fereque iuuenes sunt , qui sanguinem expuunt . Post hanc aetatem laterum et pulmonis dolores , lethargus , cholera , insania , sanguinis per quaedam uelut ora uenarum ( ΑΙΜΟ Ρ ΡΟΙΔΑΣ Graeci appellant ) profusio . In senectute spiritus et urinae difficultas , grauedo , articulorum et renum dolores , neruorum resolutiones , malus corporis habitus ( † ΚΑΚΕΞΙΑΝ Graeci appellant ) , nocturnae uigiliae , uitia longiora aurium , oculorum , etiam narium , praecipueque soluta aluus , et quae secuntur hanc , tormina uel leuitas intestinorum ceteraque uentris fusi mala . Praeter haec graciles tabes , deiectiones , destillationes , item uiscerum et laterum dolores fatigant . Obesi plerumque acutis morbis et difficultate spirandi strangulantur , subitoque saepe moriuntur ; quod in corpore tenuiore uix euenit .
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1 So then spring is the most salubrious, next after it comes winter; summer is rather more dangerous than salubrious, autumn is by far the most dangerous. But as regards weather the best is that which is settled, whether cold or hot, the worst that which is the most changeable, and that is why autumn brings down the greatest number. For generally about midday there is heat, but at night and in the early morning, cold, as also in the evening. Thus the body, relaxed by the preceding summer, and now by the midday heat, is caught by the sudden cold. But while this chiefly occurs at this season, so whenever the like happens harm is done. In settled weather fine days are the most salubrious, rainy better than foggy or cloudy days; and in winter the best days are those in which there is an entire absence of wind, in summer those in which westerly winds blow. As for the other winds, the northerly are more salubrious than those from the sunrising or south; nevertheless, these vary somewhat according to the character of the district. For almost everywhere wind when coming from inland is salubrious, and injurious when from the sea. And not only is health more assured in settled weather, but pre-existing diseases also, if there have been any, are milder and more quickly terminated. But the worst weather for the sick man is that which has caused his sickness, so much so that a change to weather of a naturally worse sort may be, in his condition, salutary. The middle period of life is the safest, for it is not disturbed by the heat of youth, nor by the chill of age. Old age is more exposed to chronic diseases, youth to acute ones. The square-built frame, neither thin nor fat, is the fittest; for tallness, as it is graceful in youth, shrinks in the fulness of age; a thin frame is weak, a fat one sluggish. In spring those diseases are usually to be apprehended which are stirred up anew by movement of humor. Consequently there tend to arise runnings from the eyes, pustules, haemorrhages, congestions in the body, which the Greeks call apostemata, black bile which they call μελανχολίαν, madness, fits, angina, choked nostrils, runnings from the nose. Also those diseases which affect joints and sinews, being at one time troublesome, at another quiescent, then especially both begin and recur. But summer, while not wholly exempt from most of the foregoing maladies, adds to them fevers whether continued or ardent or tertian, vomitings, diarrhoeas, earaches, oral ulcerations, cankers which occur on other parts but especially upon the pudenda, and whatever exhausts the patient by sweating. In autumn there is scarcely one of the foregoing which does not happen; but at this season in addition there arise irregular fevers, splenic pain, subcutaneous dropsy, consumption, called by the Greeks phthisis, urinary difficulty, which they call strangury, the small intestine malady which they term ileos, the intestinal lubricity which they call leienteria, hip-pains, fits. Autumn too is a season fatal to those exhausted by chronic diseases and overwhelmed by the heat just past, others it weakens by fresh maladies; and it involves some in very chronic ones, especially quartan fevers, which may last even through the winter. Nor is any other period of the year more exposed to pestilence of whatever sort; although it is harmful in a variety of ways. Winter provokes headache, coughs, and all the affections which attack the throat, and the sides of the chest and lungs. Of the various sorts of weather, the north wind excites cough, irritates the throat, constipates the bowels, suppresses the urine, excites shiverings, as also pain of the lungs and chest. Nevertheless it is bracing to a healthy body, rendering it more mobile and brisk. The south wind dulls hearing, blunts the senses, produces headache, loosens the bowels; the body as a whole is rendered sluggish, humid, languid. The other winds, as they approximate to the north or south wind, produce affections corresponding to the one or other. Moreover, any hot weather inflates the liver and spleen, and dulls the mind; the result is that there are faintings, that there is an outburst of blood. Cold on the other hand brings about: at times tenseness of sinews which the Greeks call spasmos, at times the rigor which they call tetanos, the blackening of ulcerations, shiverings in fevers. In times of drought there arise acute fevers, runnings from the eyes, dysenteries, urinary difficulty, articular pains. In wet weather there occur chronic fevers, diarrhoeas, angina, canker, fits, and the loosening of sinews which the Greeks call paralysis. Not only does the weather of the day but also of the preceding days matter. If a dry winter has been accompanied by north winds, or again a spring by south winds and rain, generally there ensue runnings from the eye, dysenteries, fevers, and most of all in more delicate bodies, hence especially in women. If on the other hand south winds and rain have prevailed during winter, and the spring is cold and dry, pregnant women near their confinement are in danger of miscarrying; those indeed who reach term, give birth only to weaklings hardly alive. Other people are attacked by dry ophthalmia, and if elderly by choked nostrils and runnings from the nose. But when the south wind prevails from the beginning of winter to the end of spring, side pains, also the insanity of those in fever which is called phrenesis, are very rapidly fatal. And when hot weather begins in the spring, and lasts through the summer, severe sweating must ensue in cases of fever. If a summer has been kept dry by northerly winds, but in the autumn there are showers and south winds, there may then arise cough, runnings from the nose, hoarseness, and indeed in some, consumption. But if the autumn is dry owing to a north wind continuing to blow, all those with more delicate bodies, among whom, as I have mentioned, are women, enjoy good health. The harder constitutions, however, may possibly be attacked by dry ophthalmias, and by fevers, some acute, some chronic, also by those maladies which arise from black bile. As regards the various times of life, children and adolescents enjoy the best health in spring, and are safest in early summer; old people are at their best during summer and the beginning of autumn; young and middle-aged adults in winter. At these periods should any indisposition arise, it is very probable that infants and children still of tender age should suffer from the creeping ulcerations of the mouth which the Greeks call aphthas, vomiting, insomnia, discharges from the ear, and inflammations about the navel. Especially in those teething there arise ulcerations of the gums, slight fevers, sometimes spasms, diarrhoea; and they suffer as the canine teeth in particular are growing up; the most well-nourished children, and those constipated, are especially in danger. In those somewhat older there occur affections of the tonsils, various spinal curvatures, swelling in the neck, the painful kind of warts which the Greeks call acrochordones, and a number of other swellings. At the commencement of puberty, in addition to many of the above troubles, there occur chronic fevers and also nose-bleedings. Throughout childhood there are special dangers, first about the fortieth day, then in the seventh month, next in the seventh year, and after that about puberty. The sorts of affections which occur in infancy, when not ended by the time of puberty, or of the first coitions, or of the first menstruations in the females, generally become chronic; more often, however, puerile affections, after persisting for a rather long while, come to an end. Adolescence is liable to acute diseases, such as fits, especially to consumption; those who spit blood are generally youths. After that age come on pain in the side and lung, lethargy, cholera, madness, and outpourings of blood from certain mouths of veins which the Greeks call haemorrhoids. In old age there occur breathing and urinary difficulties, choked nostrils, joint and renal pains, paralysis, the bad habit of body which the Greeks call cachexia, insomnias, the more chronic maladies of the ears, eyes, also of the nostrils, and especially looseness of the bowels with its sequences, dysentery, intestinal lubricity, and the other ills due to bowel looseness. In addition thin people are fatigued by consumption, diarrhoea, running from the nose, pain in the lung and side. The obese, many of them, are throttled by acute diseases and difficult breathing; they die often suddenly, which rarely happens in a thinner person. |
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Ante aduersam autem ualetudinem , ut supra dixi , quaedam NOTAE oriuntur , quarum omnium commune est aliter se corpus habere atque consueuit , neque in peius tantum sed etiam in melius . Ergo si plenior aliquis et speciosior et coloratior factus est , suspecta habere bona sua debet ; quae quia neque in eodem habitu subsistere neque ultra progredi possunt , fere retro quasi ruina quadam reuoluuntur . Peius tamen signum est , ubi aliquis contra consuetudinem emacuit et colorem decoremque amisit , quoniam in is , quae superant , e st quod morbus demat ; in is , quae desunt , non est quod ipsum morbum ferat . Praeter haec protinus timeri debet , si grauiora membra sunt , si crebra ulcera oriuntur , si corpus supra consuetudinem incaluit ; si grauior somnus pressit , si tumultuosa somnia fuerunt , si saepius expergiscitur aliquis quam adsuevit , deinde iterum soporatur ; si corpus dormientis circa partes aliquas contra consuetudinem insudat , maximeque si circa pectus , aut ceruices , aut crura uel genua uel coxas . Item si marcet animus , si loqui et moueri piget , si corpus torpet ; si dolor praecordiorum est aut totius pectoris aut , qui in plurimis euenit , capitis ; si saliuae plenum os est , si oculi cum dolore uertuntur , si tempora adstricta sunt , si membra inhorrescunt , si spiritus grauior est ; si circa frontem intentae uenae mouentur , si frequentes oscitationes ; si genua quasi fatigata sunt , totumue corpus lassitudinem sentit . Ex quibus saepe plura , numquam non aliqua febrem antecedunt . In primis tamen illud considerandum est , nu m cui saepius horum aliquid eueniat neque ideo corporis ulla difficultas subsequatur . Sunt enim quaedam proprietates hominum , sine quarum notitia non facile quicquam in futurum praesagiri potest . Facile itaque securus est in is aliquis , quae saepe sine periculo euasit : ille sollicitari debet , cui haec noua sunt , aut qui ista numquam sine custodia sui tuta habuit .
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2 Now antecedent to illness, as I have stated above, certain signs arise, all of which have this in common, that the body becomes altered from its accustomed state, and that not only for the worse, but it may be even for the better. Hence when a man has become fatter and better looking and with a higher colour, he should regard with suspicion these gains of his for, because they can neither remain in the same state nor advance further, as a rule they fall back in a sort of collapse. Still it is a worse sign when anyone, contrary to his habit, becomes thinner, and loses his colour and good looks; for when there is a superfluity of flesh there is something for the disease to draw upon; when there is a deficiency, there is nothing to hold out against the disease itself. Further, there should be apprehension at once: if the limbs become heavier, if frequent ulcerations arise, if the body feels hotter than customary; if heavier sleep oppresses, if there are tumultuous dreams, if anyone wakes up oftener than usual, then falls asleep again; if the body of the sleeper has partial sweats in unaccustomed places, and especially about the chest or neck or legs or knees or hips. Again, if the spirit flags, if he is reluctant to talk or move about, if the body be torpid; if there is pain over the heart or over all the chest, or of the head as happens in most; if the mouth becomes filled with saliva, if there is pain in turning the eyes, if the troops are constricted, when the limbs shiver, if the breathing becomes more laboured; if the blood-vessels of the forehead are distended and throb, if there are frequent yawns; if the knees feel as if fatigued, or the whole body feels weary. Of these signs, many are often, some always, antecedents of fever. The first thing, however, to be considered is, whether any of these signs happen somewhat frequently, yet no bodily trouble has followed it. For there are some peculiarities of persons, without knowledge of which it is not easy for anybody to prognosticate what is going to happen. Consequently anyone may readily be at ease in the case of happenings which he has frequently escaped without harm: the man who ought to be anxious is the one to whom these signs are new, or who has never found them free from danger unless he has taken precautions. |
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Vbi uero febris aliquem occupauit , scire licet non periclitari , si in latus aut dextrum aut sinistrum , ut ipsi uisum est , cubat , cruribus paulum reductis , qui fere sani quoque iacentis habitus est ; si facile conuertitur , si noctu dormit , interdiu vigilat ; si ex facili spirat , si non conflictatur ; si circa umbilicum et pubem cutis plena est ; si praecordia eius sine ullo sensu doloris aequaliter mollia in utraque parte sunt : quod si paulo tumidiora sunt , sed tamen digitis cedunt et non dolent , haec ualetudo , ut spatium aliquod habebit , sic tuta erit . Corpus quoque , quod aequaliter molle et calidum est , quodque aequaliter totum insudat , et cuius febricula eo sudore finitur , securitatem pollicetur . Sternumentum etiam inter bona indicia est , et cupiditas cibi uel a primo seruata , uel etiam post fastidium orta . Neque terrere debet ea febris , quae eodem die finita est , ac ne ea quidem , quae , quamuis longiore tempore euanuit , tamen ante alteram accessionem ex toto quieuit , sic ut corpus integrum , quod ΕΙΛΙΚΡΙΝΕΣ Graeci uocant , fieret . Si quis autem incidit uomitus , mixtus esse et bile et pituita debet , et in urina subsidere album , leue , aequale , sic ut etiam , si quae quasi nubeculae innatarint , in imum deferantur . At uenter ei , qui a periculo tutus est , reddit mollia , figurata , eodem fere tempore , quo secunda ualetudine adsueuit , modo conuenientia iis , quae adsumuntur . Peior cita aluus est : sed ne haec quidem terrere protinus debet , si matutinis temporibus coacta magis est , aut si procedente tempore paulatim contrahitur et rufa est neque foeditate odoris similem aluum sani hominis excedit . Ac lumbricos quoque aliquos sub finem morbi descendisse nihil nocet . Si infl atio in superioribus partibus dolorem tumoremque fecit , bonum signum est sonus uentris inde ad inferiores partes euolutus , magisque etiam , si sine difficultate cum stercore excessit .
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3 But when fever has actually seized upon a man, it may be known that he is not in danger: if he lies upon his side, whether on his right or left, just as suits him, with his legs a little drawn up, as is generally the way with a healthy person when lying down; if the patient turns readily in bed, if he sleeps through the night, and keeps awake by day; if he breathes easily; if he does not toss about; if the skin around the navel and pubes is plump; if the parts below the ribs on the two sides are uniformly soft, without any sensation of pain; for even although they are somewhat tumid, so long as they yield to pressure by the fingers, and are not tender, this illness, though it will continue for some time, yet will be safe. There is promise of freedom from anxiety when the body in general is uniformly soft and warm, and it sweats uniformly all over, and if with this sweating the touch of fever comes to an end. Among good signs are: sneezing, also a desire for food, whether maintained from the first, or even beginning after a distaste for food. Nor should a fever which ends on the same day cause alarm, nor indeed one which, although longer in disappearing, yet entirely quiets down before the next paroxysm, so that the body is rendered sound, or, as the Greeks call it, eilikrines. But should any vomiting occur, it should be of bile and of phlegm mixed; any sediment in the urine would be white, slimy, and uniform, and so that even if small clouds, as it were, are swimming in it, they sink to the bottom. Again the belly of one who is safe from danger yields soft, formed motions, at much the same time as was customary in health, as well as proportionate to the food taken. A loose motion is worse; but not even this should cause alarm at once, if on the following morning the stool is rather more solid, or if each succeeding motion becomes firmer, reddish, and smelling no worse than that of a man in health. There is no harm in passing off some round worms towards the crisis of the malady. When flatulence causes pain and swelling in the upper part of the abdomen, it is a good sign when intestinal rumbling passes thence downwards towards the lower belly, and the more so, when without difficulty the wind escapes along with the faeces. |
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Contra grauis morbi periculum est , ubi supinus aeger iacet porrectis manibus et cruribus ; ubi residere uolt in ipso acuti morbi impetu , praecipueque pulmonibus laborantibus ; ubi nocturna uigilia premitur , etiamsi interdiu somnus accedit ; ex quo tamen peior est , qui inter quartam horam et noctem est , quam qui matutino tempore ad quartam . Pessimum tamen est , si somnus neque noctu neque interdiu accedit : id enim fere sine continuo dolore esse non potest . Neque uero signum bonum est etiam somno ultra debitum urgueri , peiusque , quo magis se sopor interdiu noctuque continuat . Mali etiam morbi testimonium est uehementer et crebro spirare , a sexto die coepisse inhorrescere , pus expuere , uix excreare , dolorem habere continuum , difficulter morbum ferre , iactare bracchia et crura , sine uoluntate lacrimare ; habere umorem glutinosum dentibus inhaerentem , cutem circa umbilicum et pubem macram , praecordia inflammata , dolentia , dura , tumida , intenta , magisque si haec dextra parte quam sinistra sunt ; periculosissimum tamen est , si uenae quoque ibi uehementer agitantur . Mali etiam morbi signum est nimis celeriter emacrescere ; caput et pedes manusque calidas habere uentre et lateribus frigentibus , aut frigidas extremas partes acuto morbo urguente , aut post sudorem inhorrescere ; aut post uomitum singultum esse uel rubere oculos ; aut post cupiditatem cibi postue longas febres hunc fastidire ; aut multum sudare , maximeque frigido sudore , aut habere sudores non per totum corpus aequales , quique febrem non finiant , et febres eas , quae cotidie tempore eodem reuertantur , quaeue semper pares accessiones habeant neque tertio quoque die leuentur quaeque continuent , ut per accessiones increscant , tantum per de cessiones molliantur , neque umquam integrum corpus dimittant . Pessimum est , si ne leuatur quidem febris , sed aeque concitata continuat . Periculosum etiam est post arcuatum morbum febrem oriri , utique si praecordia dextra parte dura manserunt . Ac dolentibus his nulla acuta febris leviter terrere nos debet ; neque umquam in acuta febre aut a somno non est terribilis neruorum distentio . Timere etiam ex somno mali morbi est , itemque in prima protinus febre mentem esse turbatam membrumue aliquod esse resolutum ; ex quo casu quamuis uita redditur , tamen id fere membrum debilitatur . Vomitus etiam periculosus est si sincer us est nec ei pituita uel bilis est mixta , peiorque , si uiridis aut niger . At mala urina est , in qua subsidunt subrubra et leuia ; deterior , in qua quasi folia quaedam tenuia atque alba ; pessima ex his , si tamquam ex furfuribus factas nubeculas repraesentat . Diluta quoque atque alba uitiosa est , sed in phreneticis maxime . Aluus autem mala est ex toto suppressa ; periculosa etiam , quae inter febres fluens conquiescere hominem in cubili non patitur , utique , si quod descendit est perliquidum aut albidum aut pallidum aut spumans . Praeter haec periculum ostendit id quod excernitur , si est exiguum , glutinosum , leue , album , idemque subpallidum ; uel si est aut liuidum aut biliosum aut cruentum aut peioris odoris quam ex consuetudine . Malum est etiam , quod post longas febres sincerum est .
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4 On the contrary there is danger of a severe disease: when the patient lies on his back with his arms and legs outstretched; when at the onset of an acute disease, especially in lung troubles, he wants to sit up; when he is worn down by insomnia even if he gets some sleep in the day-time, in which case to sleep between ten o'clock in the morning and night is worse than from early morning till ten o'clock. The worst, however, is if he gets sleep neither by day nor by night; for this generally cannot happen unless there is continuous pain. It is not a good sign, however, to be oppressed beyond measure by sleep, and it is the worse the more that somnolence continues day and night. It is also evidence of a serious malady: when the breathing is forcible and quick, when the patient begins to have shiverings from the sixth day, to spit up pus, to expectorate it with difficulty, to have continuous pain, to bear up against the disease with difficulty, to toss the arms and legs, to shed tears involuntarily, to have sticky humor adhering to the teeth, the skin about the navel and the pubes wasted; the parts below the ribs inflamed, painful, hard, tumid, tense and this more on the right than on the left side; the greatest danger, however, is if in that region the blood-vessels throb forcibly. It also indicates a serious malady: to become thinner too quickly; to have the head, feet and hands hot, and the belly and sides cold, or to have the extremities cold at the height of an acute disease, or to shiver after sweating; or after vomiting to hiccough or to get red eyes; or to have loss of appetite after eagerness for food or after prolonged fevers; or to sweat profusely, especially a cold sweat, or to have sweats unequally distributed over the body which do not put an end to the fever; and when those fevers which recur every day at the same hour, or which have always equal paroxysms, are not relieved on the third day, but continue; serious also are those fevers which, whilst they increase by paroxysms and are relieved by declining, yet never leave the body free. The worst is when the fever is not even relieved but continues uniformly at its height. It is likewise dangerous for a fever to supervene upon jaundice, especially if the parts below the ribs on the right side remain hard. In these sufferers every acute fever must make us seriously anxious; and never in acute fever or following on sleep is a spasm otherwise than terrifying. To lie in a fright on awaking from sleep is a sign of serious malady; and also when, immediately upon the onset of a fever, there is mental disturbance, or any one of the limbs is paralysed; in which case, although there is a return of vitality, yet generally that limb is weakened. A vomit also is a danger-sign if purely of phlegm or of bile, unmixed, and it is the worse if green or black. It is a bad sign when the urinary sediment is reddish and slimy; worse if it is like flower-petals, thin and white; worst of all if there is an appearance as if of fine clouds composed of bran. Also thin and white urine is faulty, but above all in phrenetics. Again it is bad for the motions to be totally suppressed; it is dangerous also during fevers when fluid stools allow the patient no rest in bed, and especially if the evacuation is quite liquid, whether it be whitish or greenish or frothy. In addition danger is indicated when the motion is scanty, viscid, slimy, white, the same when greenish yellow; or if it is either livid or bilious, or bloody, or if a worse odour when ordinary. It is bad after a prolonged fever when the stool is unmixed. |