8. Of little children who are seized with this disease, the greater part die, provided the defluxion be copious and humid, for the veins being slender cannot admit the phlegm, owing to its thickness and abundance; but the blood is cooled and congealed, and the child immediately dies. But if the phlegm be in small quantity, and make a defluxion into both the veins, or to those on either side, the children survive, but exhibit notable marks of the disorder; for either the mouth is drawn aside, or an eye, the neck, or a hand, wherever a vein being filled with phlegm loses its tone, and is attenuated, and the part of the body connected with this vein is necessarily rendered weaker and defective. But for the most it affords relief for a longer interval; for the child is no longer seized with these attacks, if once it has contracted this impress of the disease, in consequence of which the other veins are necessarily affected, and to a certain degree attenuated, so as just to admit the air, but no longer to permit the influx of phlegm. However, the parts are proportionally enfeebled whenever the veins are in an unhealthy state. When in striplings the defluxion is small and to the right side, they recover without leaving any marks of the disease, but there is danger of its becoming habitual, and even increasing if not treated by suitable remedies. Thus, or very nearly so, is the case when it attacks children.
8. 8. καὶ ὁκόσα μὲν παιδία σμικρὰ κατάληπτα γίνεται τῇ νούσῳ ταύτῃ, τὰ πολλὰ ἀποθνήσει, ἢν πουλὺ τὸ ῥεῦμα ἐπιγένηται καὶ νότιον ἔῃ· τὰ γὰρ φλέβια λεπτὰ ἐόντα οὐ δύναται παραδέχεσθαι τὸ φλέγμα ὑπὸ πάχεος καὶ πλήθεος, ἀλλʼ ἀποψύχεται καὶ πήγνυται τὸ αἷμα, καὶ οὕτως ἀποθνήσκει. ἢν δὲ ὀλίγον ἐὸν ἐς ἀμφοτέρας τὰς φλέβας τὸν κατάῤῥοον ποιήσηται, ἢ ἐς τὰς ἐπὶ θάτερα, περιγίνεται ἐπίσημα ἐόντα· ἢ γὰρ στόμα παρέσπασται ἢ ὀφθαλμὸς ἢ αὐχὴν ἢ χεὶρ, ὁκόθεν ἂν τὸ φλέβιον πληρωθὲν τοῦ φλέγματος κρατηθῆ καὶ ἀπισχνωθῇ. τούτῳ οὖν τῷ φλεβίῳ ἀνάγκη ἀσθενέστερον εἶναι καὶ ἐνδεέστερον τοῦτο τοῦ σώματος τὸ βλαβέν· ἐς δὲ τὸν πλείονα χρόνον ὠφελέει ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πουλύ· οὐ γὰρ ἔτι ἐπίληπτον γίνεται, ἢν ἅπαξ ἐπισημανθῇ, διὰ τόδε ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης ταύτης αἱ φλέβες αἱ λοιπαὶ κακοῦνται καὶ μέρος τι συνισχναίνονται, ὡς τὸν μὲν ἠέρα δέχεσθαι, τὸν δὲ τοῦ φλέγματος κατάῤῥοον μηκέτι ὁμοίως ἐπικαταῤῥέειν· ἀσθενέστερα μέντοι τὰ μέλεα εἰκὸς εἶναι, τῶν φλεβῶν κακωθεισέων. Ὁκόσοισι δʼ ἂν βόρειόν τε καὶ πάνυ ὀλίγον παραῤῥυῇ καὶ ἐς τὰ δεξιὰ, ἀσήμως περιγίνονται· κίνδυνος δὲ ξυντραφῆναι καὶ ξυναυξηθῆναι, ἢν μὴ θεραπευθῶσι τοῖσιν ἐπιτηδείοισιν. τοῖσι μὲν οὖν παιδίοισιν οὕτω γίνεται, ἢ ὅτι τούτων ἐγγυτάτω.
9. To persons of a more advanced age, it neither proves fatal, nor produces distortions. For their veins are (large?) and filled with hot blood; and therefore the phlegm can neither prevail nor cool the blood, so as to coagulate it, but it is quickly overpowered and mixed with the blood, and thus the veins receive the air, and sensibility remains; and, owing to their strength, the aforesaid symptoms are less likely to seize them. But when this disease attacks very old people, it therefore proves fatal, or induces paraplegia, because the veins are empty, and the blood scanty, thin, and watery. When, therefore, the defluxion is copious, and the season winter, it proves fatal; for it chokes up the exhalents, and coagulates the blood if the defluxion be to both sides; but if to either, it merely induces paraplegia. For the blood being thin, cold, and scanty, cannot prevail over the but being itself overpowered, it is coagulated, so that those parts in which the blood is corrupted, lose their strength.
9. 9. τοὺς δὲ πρεσβυτέρους οὐκ ἀποκτείνει, ὁκόταν ἐπιγένηται, οὐδὲ διαστρέφει· αἵ τε γὰρ φλέβες εἰσὶ κοῖλαι καὶ αἵματος μεσταὶ θερμοῦ, ἃ οὐδὲ δύναται ἐπικρατῆσαι τὸ φλέγμα, οὐδʼ ἀποψῦξαι τὸ αἷμα, ὥστε καὶ πῆξαι, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ κρατέεται καὶ καταμίγνυται τῷ αἵματι ταχέως· καὶ οὕτω παραδέχονται αἱ φλέβες τὸν ἠέρα, καὶ τὸ φρόνημα γίνεται, τά τε σημήϊα τὰ προειρημένα ἧσσον ἐπιλαμβάνει διὰ τὴν ἰσχύν. Τοϊσι δὲ πρεσβυτάτοισιν ὁκόταν ἐπιγένηται τοῦτο τὸ νούσημα, διὰ τοῦτο ἀποκτείνει ἢ παράπληκτον ποιέει, ὅτι αἱ φλέβες κεκένωνται καὶ τὸ αἷμα ὀλίγον τέ ἐστι καὶ λεπτὸν καὶ ὑδαρές. ἢν μὲν οὖν πολὺ καταῤῥυῇ καὶ χειμῶνος ἔῃ καιρὸς, ἀποκτείνει· ἀπέπνιξε γὰρ τὰς ἀναπνοὰς καὶ ἀπέπηξε τὸ αἷμα, ἢν ἐπʼ ἀμφότερα ὁ κατάῤῥοος γένηται· ἢν δὲ ἐπὶ θατερα μοῦνον, παράπληκτον ποιέει· οὐ γὰρ δύναται τὸ αἷμα ἐπικρατῆσαι τοῦ φλέγματος λεπτὸν ἐὸν καὶ ψυχρὸν καὶ ὀλίγον, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ κρατηθὲν ἐπάγη, ὥστε ἀκρατέα εἶναι ἐκεῖνα καθʼ ἃ τὸ αἷμα διεφθάρη.
10. The flux is to the right rather than to the left because the veins there are more capacious and numerous than on the left side, for on the one side they spring from the liver, and on the other from the spleen. The defluxion and melting down take place most especially in the case of children in whom the head is heated either by the sun or by fire, or if the brain suddenly contract a rigor, and then the phlegm is excreted. For it is melted down by the heat and diffusion of the but it is excreted by the congealing and contracting of it, and thus a defluxion takes place. And in some this is the cause of the disease, and in others, when the south wind quickly succeeds to northern breezes, it suddenly unbinds and relaxes the brain, which is contracted and weak, so that there is an inundation of phlegm, and thus the defluxion takes place. The defluxion also takes place in consequence of fear, from any hidden cause, if we are the at any person’s calling aloud, or while crying, when one cannot quickly recover one’s breath, such as often happens to children. When any of these things occur, the body immediately shivers, the person becoming speechless cannot draw his breath, but the breath (pneuma) stops, the brain is contracted, the blood stands still, and thus the excretion and defluxion of the phlegm take place. In children, these are the causes of the attack at first. But to old persons winter is most inimical. For when the head and brain have been heated at a great fire, and then the person is brought into cold and has a rigor, or when from cold he comes into warmth, and sits at the fire, he is apt to suffer in the same way, and thus he is seized in the manner described above. And there is much danger of the same thing occurring, if his head be exposed to the sun, but less so in summer, as the changes are not sudden. When a person has passed the twentieth year of his life, this disease is not apt to seize him, unless it has become habitual from childhood, or at least this is rarely or never the case. For the veins are filled with blood, and the brain consistent and firm, so that it does not run down into the veins, or if it do, it does not master the blood, which is copious and hot.
10. 10. ἐς δὲ τὰ δεξιὰ μᾶλλον καταῤῥέει ἢ ἐς τὰ ἀριστερὰ, ὅτι αἱ φλέβες εἰσὶ κοιλότεραι καὶ πλέονες ἢ ἐν τοῖσιν ἀριστεροῖσιν· ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ ἥπατος τείνουσι καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ σπληνός. Ἐπικαταῤῥέει δὲ καὶ ἀποτήκεται τοῖσι μὲν παιδίοισι μάλιστα, οἷσιν ἂν διαθερμανθῇ ἡ κεφαλὴ ἤν τε ὑπὸ ἡλίου, ἤν τε ὑπὸ πυρὸς, καὶ ἐξαπίνης φρίξῃ ὁ ἐγκέφαλος· τότε γὰρ ἀποκρίνεται τὸ φλέγμα. Ἀποτήκεται μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῆς θέρμης καὶ διαχύσιος τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου· ἀποκρίνεται δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ψύξιός τε καὶ ξυστάσιος, καὶ οὕτως ἐπικαταῤῥέει. τοῖσι μὲν αὕτη ἡ πρόφασις γίνεται, τοῖσι δὲ καὶ ἐπειδὰν ἐξαπίνης μετὰ βόρεια πνεύματα νότος μεταλάβῃ, ξυνεστηκότα τὸν ἐγκέφαλον καὶ εὐσθενέοντα ἔλυσε καὶ ἐχάλασεν ἐξαίφνης, ὥστε πλημμυρεῖν τὸ φλέγμα, καὶ οὕτω τὸν κατάῤῥοον ποιέεται. Ἐπικαταῤῥέει δὲ καὶ ἐξ ἀδήλου, φόβου γινομένου, ἢν δείσῃ βοήσαντός τινος, ἢ καὶ μεταξὺ κλαίων μὴ οἷός τε ἔῃ τὸ πνεῦμα ταχέως ἀναλαβεῖν, οἷα γίνεται παιδίοισι πολλάκις· ὅ τι δʼ ἂν τούτων αὐτῷ γένηται, εὐθὺς ἔφριξε τὸ σῶμα, καὶ ἄφωνος γενόμενος τὸ πνεῦμα οὐχ εἵλκυσεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα ἠρέμησε, καὶ ὁ ἐγκέφαλος ξυνέστη, καὶ τὸ αἷμα ἔστη, καὶ οὕτως ἀπεκρίθη καὶ ἐπικατεῤῥύη τὸ φλέγμα. τοῖσι μὲν παιδίοισιν αὗται αἱ προφάσιες τῆς ἐπιλήψιός εἰσι τὴν ἀρχήν. τοῖσι δὲ πρεσβύτῃσιν ὁ χειμὼν πολεμιώτατός ἐστιν· ὅταν γὰρ παρὰ πυρὶ πολλῷ διαθερμανθῇ τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον, ἔπειτα ἐν ψύχει γένηται καὶ ῥιγώσῃ, ἢ καὶ ἐκ ψύχεος εἰς ἀλέην ἔλθῃ καὶ παρὰ πυρὶ καθίσῃ, τωὐτὸ τοῦτο πάσχει, καὶ οὕτως ἐπίληπτος γίνεται κατὰ τὰ προειρημένα. κίνδυνος δὲ πολὺς καὶ ἦρος παθέειν τωὐτὸ τοῦτο, ἢν ἡλιωθῇ ἡ κεφαλή· τοῦ δὲ θέρεος ἥκιστα, οὐ γὰρ γίνονται μεταβολαὶ ἐξαπιναῖοι. ὁκόταν δὲ εἴκοσιν ἔτεα παρέλθῃ, οὐκ ἔτι ἡ νοῦσος αὕτη ἐπιλαμβάνει, ἢν μὴ ἐκ παιδίου ξύντροφος ἔῃ, ἀλλʼ ἢ ὀλίγους ἢ οὐδένα· αἱ γὰρ φλέβες μεσταί εἰσιν αἵματος, καὶ ὁ ἐγκέφαλος συνέστηκε καὶ ἐστὶ στρυφνὸς, ὥστε οὐκ ἐπικαταῤῥέει ἐπὶ τὰς φλέβας· ἢν δʼ ἐπικαταῤῥύη, τοῦ αἵματος οὐκ ἐπικρατέει, πολλοῦ καὶ θερμοῦ ἐόντος.
11. But when it has gained strength from one’s childhood, and become habitual, such a person usually suffers attacks, and is seized with them in changes of the winds, especially in south winds, and it is difficult of removal. For the brain becomes more humid than natural, and is inundated with phlegm, so that the defluxions become more frequent, and the phlegm can no longer be the nor the brain be dried up, but it becomes wet and humid. This you may ascertain in particular, from beasts of the flock which are seized with this disease, and more especially goats, for they are most frequently attacked with it. If you will cut open the head, you will find the brain humid, full of sweat, and having a bad smell. And in this way truly you may see that it is not a god that injures the body, but disease. And so it is with man. For when the disease has prevailed for a length of time, it is no longer curable, as the brain is corroded by the phlegm, and melted, and what is melted down becomes water, and surrounds the brain externally, and overflows it; wherefore they are more frequently and readily seized with the disease. And therefore the disease is protracted, because the influx is thin, owing to its quantity, and is immediately overpowered by the blood and heated all through.
11. 11. ᾧ δὲ ἀπὸ παιδίου συνηύξηται καὶ συντέτροφεν, ἔθος πεποίηται ἐν τῇσι μεταβολῇσι τῶν πνευμάτων τοῦτο πάσχειν καὶ ἐπίληπτον ὡς τὰ πολλὰ γίνεσθαι, καὶ μάλιστα ἐν τοῖσι νοτίοισιν· ἡ τε ἀπάλλαξις χαλεπὴ γίνεται· ὁ γὰρ ἐγκέφαλος ὑγρότερος γέγονε τῆς φύσιος καὶ πλημμυρεῖ ὑπὸ τοῦ φλέγματος, ὥστε τοὺς μὲν καταῤρόους πυκνοτέρους γίνεσθαι, ἐκκριθῆναι δὲ μηκέτι οἷόν τε εἶναι τὸ φλέγμα, μηδὲ ἀναξηρανθῆναι τὸν ἐγκέφαλον, ἀλλὰ διαβεβρέχθαι καὶ εἶναι ὑγρόν. γνοίη δʼ ἄν τις τόδε μάλιστα τοῖσι προβάτοισι τοῖσι καταλήπτοισι γινομένοισιν ὑπὸ τῆς νούσου ταύτης καὶ μάλιστα τῇσιν αἰξίν· αὗται γὰρ πυκνότατα λαμβάνονται· ἢν ὁιακόψῃς τὴν κεφαλὴν, εὑρήσεις τὸν ἐγκέφαλον ὑγρὸν ἐόντα καὶ ὅδρωπος περίπλεων καὶ κακὸν ὄζοντα, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ δηλονότι γνώσῃ ὅτι σὐχ ὁ θεὸς τὸ σῶμα λυμαίνεται, ἀλλʼ ἡ νοῦσος. οὕτω δʼ ἔχετ καὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· ὁκόταν γὰρ ὁ χρόνος γένηται τῇ νούσῳ, οὐκ ἔτι ἰήσιμος γίνεται· διεσθίεται γὰρ ὁ ἐγκέφαλος ὑπὸ τοῦ φλέγματος καὶ τήκεται, τὸ δὲ ἀποτηκόμενον ὕδωρ γίνεται, καὶ περιέχει τὸν ἰγκέφαλον ἐκτὸς καὶ περικλύζει· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πυκνότερον ἐπίληπτοι γίνονται καὶ ῥᾷον. διὸ δὴ πουλυχρόνιος ἡ νοῦσος, ὅτι τὸ ἐπιῤῥέον λεπτόν ἐστιν ὑπὸ πολυπληθίης, καὶ εὐθὺς κρατέεται ὑπὸ τοῦ αἵματος καὶ διαθερμαίνεται.
12. But such persons as are habituated to the disease know beforehand when they are about to be seized and flee from men; if their own house be at hand, they run home, but if not, to a deserted place, where as few persons as possible will see them falling, and they immediately cover themselves up. This they do from shame of the affection, and not from fear of the divinity, as many suppose. And little children at first fall down wherever they may happen to be, from inexperience. But when they have been often seized, and feel its approach beforehand, they flee to their mothers, or to any other person they are acquainted with, from terror and dread of the affection, for being still infants they do not know yet what it is to be ashamed.
12. 12. ὁκόσοι δὲ ἤδη ἐθάδες εἰσὶ τῇ νούσῳ, προγινώσκουσιν ὁκόταν μέλλωσι λήψεσθαι, καὶ φεύγουσιν ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἢν μὲν ἐγγὺς αὐτῶν ὁ οἶκος ἔῃ, οἴκαδε, ἢν δὲ μὴ, ἐς τὸ ἐρημότατον, ὅπη μέλλουσιν ὄψεσθαι αὐτὸν ἐλάχιστοι πεσόντα, εὐθύς τε ἐγκαλύπτεται· τοῦτο δὲ ποιέει ὑπʼ αἰσχύνης τοῦ πάθεος καὶ οὐχ ὑπὸ φόβου, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ νομίζουσι, τοῦ δαιμονίου. τὰ δὲ παιδάρια τὸ μὲν πρῶτον πίπτουσιν ὅπη ἂν τύχωσιν ὑπὸ ἀηθίης· ὅταν δὲ πλεονάκις κατάληπτοι γένωνται, ἐπειδὰν προαίσθωνται, φεύγουσι παρὰ τὰς μητέρας ἢ παρὰ ἄλλον ὅντινα μάλιστα γινώσκουσιν, ὑπὸ δέους καὶ φόβου τῆς πάθης· τὸ γὰρ αἰσχύνεσθαι παῖδες ὄντες οὔπω γινώσκουσιν.
13. Therefore, they are attacked during changes of the winds, and especially south winds, then also with north winds, and afterwards also with the others. These are the strongest winds, and the most opposed to one another, both as to direction and power. For, the north wind condenses the air, and separates from it whatever is muddy and nebulous, and renders it clearer and brighter, and so in like manner also, all the winds which arise from the sea and other waters; for they extract the humidity and nebulosity from all objects, and from men themselves, and therefore it (the north wind) is the most wholesome of the winds. But the effects of the south are the very reverse. For in the first place it begins by melting and diffusing the condensed air, and therefore it does not blow strong at first, but is gentle at the commencement, because it is not able at once to overcome the and compacted air, which yet in a while it dissolves. It produces the same effects upon the land, the sea, the fountains, the wells, and on every production which contains humidity, and this, there is in all things, some more, some less. For all these feel the effects of this wind, and from clear they become cloudy, from cold, hot; from dry, moist; and whatever ear then vessels are placed upon the ground, filled with wine or any other fluid, are affected with the south wind, and undergo a change. And the a change. And the sun, and the moon, it renders blunter appearance than they naturally are. When, then, it possesses such powers over things so great and strong, and the body is made to feel and undergo changes in the changes of the winds, it necessarily follows that the brain should be disolved and overpowered with moisture, and that the veins should become more relaxed by the south winds, and that by the north the healthiest portion of the brain should become contracted, while the most morbid and humid is secreted, and overflows externally, and that catarrhs should thus take place in the changes of these winds. Thus is this disease formed and prevails from those things which enter into and go out of the body, and it is not more difficult to understand or to cure than the others, neither is it more divine than other diseases.
13. 13. ἐν δὲ τῇσι μεταβολῇσι τῶν πνευμάτων διὰ τάδε φημὶ επιλήπτους γίνεσθαι, καὶ μάλιστα τοῖσι νοτίοισιν, ἔπειτα τοῖσι βορείοισιν, ἔπειτα τοῖσι λοιποῖσι πνεύμασι· ταῦτα δέ ἐστιν ὅσα τῶν πνευμάτων ἰσχυρότατά ἐστι καὶ ἀλλήλοισιν ἐναντιώτατα κατὰ τὴν στάσιν καὶ κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ βορέης ξυνίστησι τὸν ἠέρα καὶ τὸ θολερόν τε καὶ τὸ νεφῶδες ἐκκρίνει καὶ λαμπρόν τε καὶ διαφανέα. ποιέει· κατὰ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ τἄλλα πάντα ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης ἀρξάμενα καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὑδάτων· ἐκκρίνει γὰρ ἐξ ἁπάντων τὴν νοτίδα καὶ τὸ δνοφερὸν, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, διὸ καὶ ὑγιεινότατός ἐστι τῶν ἀνέμων. ὁ δὲ νότος τἀναντία τουτέῳ ἐργάζεται· πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἄρχεται τὸν ἠέρα ξυνεστεῶτα τήκειν καὶ διαχέειν, καθότι καὶ οὐκ εὐθὺς πνέει μέγας, ἀλλὰ γαληνίζει πρῶτον, ὅτι οὐ δύναται ἐπικρατῆσαι τοῦ ἠέρος αὐτίκα, τοῦ πρόσθεν πυκνοῦ τε ἐόντος καὶ ξυνεστηκότος, ἀλλὰ τῷ χρόνῳ διαλύει· τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐργάζεται καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τοὺς ποταμοὺς καὶ τὰς κρήνας καὶ τὰ φρέατα καὶ ὅσα φύεται καὶ ἐν οἷσιν ὑγρὸν ἔνεστιν· ἔστι δὲ ἐν παντὶ, ἐν μὲν τῷ πλέον, ἐν δὲ τῷ ἔλασσον· ἅπαντα δὲ ταῦτα αἰσθάνεται τοῦ πνεύματος τούτου, καὶ ἔκ τε λαμπρῶν δνοφερώδεα γίνεται, ἔκ τε ψυχρῶν θερμὰ, καὶ ἐκ ξηρῶν νοτώδεα· ὁκόσα τε ἐν οἰκήμασι κεράμια ἢ κατὰ γῆς ἐστι μεστὰ οἴνου ἢ ἄλλου τινὸς ὑγροῦ, πάντα ταῦτα αἰσθάνεται τοῦ νότου καὶ διαλλάσσει τὴν μορφὴν ἐς ἕτερον εἶδος· τὸν δὲ ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ τὰ ἄστρα πουλὺ ἀμβλυωπότερα καθίστησι τῆς φύσιος. ὅτε οὖν καὶ τούτων οὕτω μεγάλων ἐόντων καὶ ἰσχυρῶν τοσοῦτον ἐπικρατέει καὶ τὸ σῶμα ποιέει αἰσθάνεσθαι καὶ μεταβάλλειν ἐκ τῶν ἀνέμων τούτων ἐν τῇσι μεταλλαγῇσιν, ἀνάγκη τοῖσι μὲν νοτίοισι λύεσθαί τε καὶ φλυδᾷν τὸν ἐγκέφαλον καὶ τὰς φλέβας χαλαρωτέρας εἶναι, τοῖσι δὲ βορείοισι ξυνίστασθαι τὸ ὑγιηρότατον τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου, τὸ δὲ νοσερώτατον καὶ ὑγρότατον ἐκκρίνεσθαι καὶ περικλύζειν ἔξωθεν, καὶ οὕτω τοὺς καταῤῥόους ἐπιγίνεσθαι ἐν τῇσι μεταβολῇσι τῶν πνευμάτων τούτων. οὕτως ἡ νοῦσος αὕτη γίνεται καὶ θάλλει ἀπὸ τῶν προσιόντων τε καὶ ἀπιόντων, καὶ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀπορωτέρη τῶν ἄλλων οὔτε ἰῆσθαι οὔτε γνῶναι, οὐδὲ θειοτέρη ἢ αἱ ἄλλαι.
14. And men ought to know that from nothing else but (from the brain) come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations. And by this, in an especial manner, we acquire wisdom and knowledge, and see and hear, and know what are foul and what are fair, what are bad and what are good, what are sweet, and what unsavory; some we discriminate by habit, and some we perceive by their utility. By this we distinguish objects of relish and disrelish, according to the seasons; and the same things do not always please us. And by the same organ we become mad and delirious, and fears and terrors assail us, some by night, and some by day, and dreams and untimely wanderings, and cares that are not suitable, and ignorance of present circumstances, desuetude, and unskilfulness. All these things we endure from the brain, when it is not healthy, but is more hot, more cold, more moist, or more dry than natural, or when it suffers any other preternatural and unusual affection. And we become mad from humidity (of the brain). For when it is more moist than natural, it is necessarily put into motion, and the affection being moved, neither the sight nor hearing can be at rest, and the tongue speaks in accordance with the sight and hearing.
14. 14. εἰδέναι δὲ χρὴ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ὅτι ἐξ οὐδενὸς ἡμῖν αἱ ἡδοναὶ γίνονται καὶ αἱ εὐφροσύναι καὶ γέλωτες καὶ παιδιαὶ ἢ ἐντεῦθεν, καὶ λῦπαι καὶ ἀνίαι καὶ δυσφροσύναι καὶ κλαυθμοί. καὶ τούτῳ φρονεῦμεν μάλιστα καὶ νοεῦμεν καὶ βλέπομεν καὶ ἀκούομεν καὶ γινώσκομεν τά τε αἰσχρὰ καὶ τὰ καλὰ καὶ τὰ κακὰ καὶ ἀγαθὰ καὶ ἡδέα καὶ ἀηδέα, τὰ μὲν νόμῳ διακρίνοντες, τὰ δὲ τῷ ξυμφέροντι αἰσθανόμενοι, τῷ δὲ καὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς καὶ τὰς ἀηδίας τοῖσι καιροῖσι διαγινώσκοντες, καὶ οὐ ταὐτὰ ἀρέσκει ἡμῖν. τῷ δὲ αὐτῷ τούτῳ καὶ μαινόμεθα καὶ παραφρονέομεν, καὶ δείματα καὶ φόβοι παρίστανται ἡμῖν τὰ μὲν νύκτωρ, τὰ δὲ μεθʼ ἡμέρην, καὶ ἐνύπνια καὶ πλάνοι ἄκαιροι, καὶ φροντίδες οὐχ ἱκνεύμεναι, καὶ ἀγνωσίη τῶν καθεστεώτων καὶ ἀηθίη καὶ ἀπειρίη. καὶ ταῦτα πάσχομεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου πάντα, ὅταν οὕτος μὴ ὑγιαίνῃ, ἀλλʼ ἢ θερμότερος τῆς φύσιος γένηται ἢ ψυχρότερος ἠ ὑγρότερος ἢ ξηρότερος, ἤ τι ἄλλο πεπόνθῃ πάθος παρὰ τὴν φύσιν ὃ μὴ ἐώθει. καὶ μαινόμεθα μὲν ὑπὸ ὑγρότητος· ὁκόταν γὰρ ὑγρότερος τῆς φύσιος ἔῃ, ἀνάγκη κινέεσθαι, κινευμένου δὲ μήτε τὴν ὄψιν ἀτρεμίζειν μήτε τὴν ἀκοὴν, ἀλλʼ ἄλλοτε ἄλλο ὁρᾷν καὶ ἀκούειν, τήν τε γλῶσσαν τοιαῦτα διαλέγεσθαι οἷα ἂν βλέπῃ τε καὶ ἀκούῃ ἑκάστοτε· ὁκόσον δʼ ἂν ἀτρεμήσῃ ὁ ἐγκέφαλος χρόνον, τοσοῦτον καὶ φρονέει ὁ ἄνθρωπος.
15. As long as the brain is at rest, the man enjoys his reason, but the depravement of the brain arises from phlegm and bile, either of which you may recognize in this manner: Those who are mad from phlegm are quiet, and do not cry out nor make a noise; but those from bile are vociferous, malignant, and will not be quiet, but are always doing something improper. If the madness be constant, these are the causes thereof. But if terrors and fears assail, they are connected with derangement of the brain, and derangement is owing to its being heated. And it is heated by bile when it is determined to the brain along the bloodvessels running from the trunk; and fear is present until it returns again to the veins and trunk, when it ceases. He is grieved and troubled when the brain is unseasonably cooled and contracted beyond its wont. This it suffers from phlegm, and from the same affection the patient becomes oblivious. He calls out and screams at night when the brain is suddenly heated. The bilious endure this. But the phlegmatic are not heated, except when much blood goes to the brain, and creates an ebullition. Much blood passes along the aforesaid veins. But when the man happens to see a frightful dream and is in fear as if awake, then his face is in a greater glow, and the eyes are red when the patient is in fear. And the understanding meditates doing some mischief, and thus it is affected in sleep. But if, when awakened, he returns to himself, and the blood is again distributed along the veins, it ceases.
15. 15. γίνεται δὲ ἡ διαφθορὴ τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου ὑπὸ φλέγματος καὶ χολῆς· γνώσῃ δὲ ἑκάτερα ὧδε· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ φλέγματος μαινόμενοι ἥσυχοί τέ εἰσι καὶ οὐ βοῶσιν οὐδὲ θορυβέουσιν, οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ χολῆς κεκράκται καὶ κακοῦργοι καὶ οὐκ ἀτρεμαῖοι, ἀλλʼ αἰεί τι ἄκαιρον δρῶντες. ἢν μὲν οὖν ξυνεχέως μαίνωνται, αὗται αὐτοῖς αἱ προφάσιές εἰσίν· ἢν δὲ δείματα καὶ φόβοι παριστῶνται, ὑπὸ μεταστάσιος τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου· μεθίσταται δὲ θερμαινόμενος· θερμαίνεται δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς χολῆς, ὁκόταν ὁρμήσῃ ἐπὶ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον, κατὰ τὰς φλέβας τὰς αἱματίτιδας ἐκ τοῦ σώματος· καὶ φόβος παρέστηκε μέχρις ἀπέλθῃ πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰς φλέβας καὶ τὸ σῶμα· ἔπειτα πέπαυται. ἀνιᾶται δὲ καὶ ἀσᾶται παρὰ καιρὸν ψυχομένου τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου καὶ ξυνισταμένου παρὰ τὸ ἔθος· τοῦτο δὲ ὑπὸ φλέγματος πάσχει· ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ πάθεος καὶ ἐπιλήθεται. ἐκ νυκτῶν δὲ βοᾷ καὶ κέκραγεν, ὁκόταν ἐξαπίνης ὁ ἐγκέφαλος διαθερμαίνηται· τοῦτο δὲ πάσχουσιν οἱ χολώδεες, οἱ φλεγματώδεες δὲ οὔ· διαθερμαίνεται δὲ καὶ ἐπὴν τὸ αἷμα ἐπέλθῃ πουλὺ ἐπὶ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον καὶ ἐπιζέσῃ. ἔρχεται δὲ κατὰ τὰς φλέβας πουλὺ τὰς προειρημένας, ὁκόταν τυγχάνῃ ὥνθρωπος ὁρέων ἐνύπνιον φοβερὸν καὶ ἐν τῷ φόβῳ ἔῃ· ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἐγρηγορότι τότε μάλιστα τὸ πρόσωπον φλογιᾷ, καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἐρεύθονται, ὁκόταν φοβῆται, καὶ ἡ γνώμη ἐπινοέῃ τι κακὸν ἐργάσασθαι, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ πάσχει· ὁκόταν δὲ ἐπέγρηται καὶ καταφρονήσῃ καὶ τὸ αἷμα πάλιν ἀποσκεδασθῇ ἐς τὰς φλέβας τὰς προειρημένας, πέπαυται.
16. In these ways I am of the opinion that the brain exercises the greatest power in the man. This is the interpreter to us of those things which emanate from the air, when it (the brain) happens to be in a sound state. But the air supplies sense to it. And the eyes, the ears, the tongue and the feet, administer such things as the brain cogitates. For in as much as it is supplied with air, does it impart sense to the body. It is the brain which is the messenger to the understanding. For when the man draws the breath (pneuma) into himself, it passes first to the brain, and thus the air is distributed to the rest of the body, leaving in the brain its acme, and whatever has sense and understanding. For if it passed first to the body and last to the brain, then having left in the flesh and veins the judgment, when it reached the brain it would be hot, and not at all pure, but mixed with the humidity from flesh and blood, so as to be no longer pure.
16. 16. κατὰ ταῦτα νομίζω τὸν ἐγκέφαλον δύναμιν πλείστην ἔχειν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· οὗτος γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐστι τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἠέρος γινομένων ἑρμηνεὺς, ἢν ὑγιαίνων τυγχάνῃ· τὴν δὲ φρόνησιν αὐτῷ ὁ ἀὴρ παρέχεται. οἱ δὲ ὀφθαλμοὶ καὶ τὰ οὔατα καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα καὶ αἱ χεῖρες καὶ οἱ πόδες οἷα ἂν ὁ ἐγκέφαλος γινώσκῃ, τοιαῦτα πρήσσουσι· γίνεται γὰρ παντὶ τῷ σώματι τῆς φρονήσιος, ὡς ἂν μετέχῃ τοῦ ἠέρος. ἐς δὲ. τὴν ξύνεσιν ὁ ἐγκέφαλός ἐστιν ὁ διαγγέλλων· ὁκόταν γὰρ σπάσῃ τὸ πνεῦμα ὥνθρωπος ἐς ἑωυτὸν, ἐς τὸν ἐγκέφαλον πρῶτον ἀφικνέεται, καὶ οὕτως ἐς τὸ λοιπὸν σῶμα σκίδναται ὁ ἀὴρ, καταλιπὼν ἐν τῷ ἐγκεφάλῳ ἑωυτοῦ τὴν ἀκμὴν καὶ ὅ τι ἂν ἔῃ φρόνιμόν τε καὶ γνώμην ἔχον· εἰ γὰρ ἐς τὸ σῶμα πρῶτον ἀφικνέετο καὶ ὕστερον ἐς τὸν ἐγκέφαλον, ἐν τῇσι σαρξὶ καὶ ἐν τῇσι φλεψὶ καταλελοιπὼς τὴν διάγνωσιν ἐς τὸν ἐγκέφαλον ἂν ἴοι θερμὸς ἐὼν καὶ οὐχὶ ἀκραιφνὴς, ἀλλʼ ἐπιμεμιγμένος τῇ ἰκμάδι τῆ ἀπὸ τῶν σαρκῶν καὶ τοῦ αἵματος, ὥστε μηκέτι εἶναι ἀκριβής.
17. Wherefore, I say, that it is the brain which interprets the understanding. But the diaphragm has obtained its name (frenes) from accident and usage, and not from reality or nature, for I know no power which it possesses, either as to sense or understanding, except that when the man is affected with unexpected joy or sorrow, it throbs and produces palpitations, owing to its thinness, and as having no belly to receive anything good or bad that may present themselves to it, but it is thrown into commotion by both these, from its natural weakness. It then perceives beforehand none of those things which occur in the body, but has received its name vaguely and without any proper reason, like the parts about the heart, which are called auricles, but which contribute nothing towards hearing. Some say that we think with the heart, and that this is the part which is grieved, and experiences care. But it is not so; only it contracts like the diaphragm, and still more so for the same causes. For veins from all parts of the body run to it, and it has valves, so as to as to perceive if any pain or pleasurable emotion befall the man. For when grieved the body necessarily shudders, and is contracted, and from excessive joy it is affected in like manner. Wherefore the heart and the diaphragm are particularly sensitive, they have nothing to do, however, with the operations of the understanding, but of all but of all these the brain is the cause. Since, then, the brain, as being the primary seat of sense and of the spirits, perceives whatever occurs in the body, if any change more powerful than usual take place in the air, owing to the seasons, the brain becomes changed by the state of the air. For, on this account, the brain first perceives, because, I say, all the most acute, most powerful, and most deadly diseases, and those which are most difficult to be understood by the inexperienced, fall upon the brain.
17. 17. διὸ φημὶ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον εἶναι τὸν ἑρμηνεύοντα τὴν ξύνεσιν. αἱ δὲ φρένες ἄλλως οὔνομα ἔχουσι τῇ τύχῃ κεκτημένον καὶ τῷ νόμῳ, τῷ δʼ ἐόντι οὒκ, οὐδὲ τῇ φύσει, οὐδὲ οἶδα ἔγωγε τίνα δύναμιν ἔχουσιν αἱ φρένες ὥστε φρονέειν τε καὶ νοέειν, πλὴν εἴ τι ὥνθρωπος ὑπερχαρείη ἐξ ἀδοκήτου ἢ ἀνιηθείη, πηδῶσι καὶ ἅλσιν παρέχουσιν ὑπὸ λεπτότητος καὶ ὅτι ἀνατέτανται μάλιστα ἐν τῷ σώματι, καὶ κοιλίην οὐκ ἔχουσι πρὸς ἣν δέξονται ἢ ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακὸν προσπῖπτον, ἀλλʼ ὑπʼ ἀμφοτέρων τούτων τεθορύβηνται διὰ τὴν ἀσθενείην τῆς φύσιος· ἐπεὶ αἰσθάνονταί γε οὐδενὸς πρότερον τῶν ἐν τῷ σώματι ἐόντων, ἀλλὰ μάτην τοῦτο τὸ οὔνομα ἔχουσι καὶ τὴν αἰτίην, ὥσπερ τὰ πρὸς τῇ καρδίῃ ἅπερ ὦτα καλέεται, οὐδὲν ἐς τὴν ἀκοὴν ξυμβαλλόμενα. λέγουσι δέ τινες ὡς φρονέομεν τῇ καρδίῃ καὶ τὸ ἀνιώμενον τοῦτό ἐστι καὶ τὸ φροντίζον· τὸ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει, ἀλλὰ σπᾶται μὲν ὥσπερ αἱ φρένες καὶ μᾶλλον διὰ ταύτας τὰς αἰτίας· ἐξ ἅπαντος γαρ τοῦ σώματος φλέβες ἐς αὐτὴν συντείνουσι, καὶ ξυγκλείσασα ἔχει ὥστε αἰσθάνεσθαι, ἤν τις πόνος ἢ τάσις γίνηται τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ· ἀνάγκη γὰρ καὶ ἀνιώμενον φρίσσειν τὸ σῶμα καὶ συντείνεσθαι, καὶ ὑπερχαίροντα τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο πάσχειν· διότι ἡ καρδίη αἰσθάνεταί τε μάλιστα καὶ αἱ φρένες. τῆς μέντοι φρονήσιος οὐδετέρῳ μέτεστιν, ἀλλὰ πάντων τουτέων ὁ ἐγκέφαλος αἴτιός ἐστιν· ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ τῆς φρονήσιος τοῦ ἠέρος πρῶτος αἰσθάνεται τῶν ἐν τῷ σώματι ἐνεόντων, οὕτω καὶ ἤν τις μεταβολὴ ἰσχυροτέρη γένηται ἐν τῷ ἠέρι ὑπὸ τῶν ὡρέων, καὶ αὐτὸς ἑωυτοῦ διάφορος γίνηται ὁ ἠὴρ, ὁ ἐγκέφαλος πρῶτος αἰσθάνεται· διὸ καὶ τὰ νουσήματα ἐς αὐτὸν ἐμπίπτειν φημὶ ὀξύτατα καὶ μέγιστα καὶ θανατωδέστατα καὶ δυσκριτώτατα τοῖσιν ἀπείροισιν.
18. And the disease called the Sacred arises from causes as the others, namely, those things which enter and quit the body, such as cold, the sun, and the winds, which are ever changing and are never at rest. And these things are divine, so that there is no necessity for making a distinction, and holding this disease to be more divine than the others, but all are divine, and all human. And each has its own peculiar nature and power, and none is of an ambiguous nature, or irremediable. And the most of them are curable by the same means as those by which any other thing is food to one, and injurious to another. Thus, then, the physician should understand and distinguish the season of each, so that at one time he may attend to the nourishment and increase, and at another to abstraction and diminution. And in this disease as in all others, he must strive not to feed the disease, but endeavor to wear it out by administering whatever is most opposed to each disease, and not that which favors and is allied to it. For by that which is allied to it, it gains vigor and increase, but it wears out and disappears under the use of that which is opposed to it. But whoever is acquainted with such a change in men, and can render a man humid and dry, hot and cold by regimen, could also cure this disease, if he recognizes the proper season for administering his remedies, without minding purifications, spells, and all other illiberal practices of a like kind.
18. 18. αὕτη δὲ ἡ νοῦσος ἡ ἱερὴ καλεομένη ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν προφασίων γίνεται ἀφʼ ὧν καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ ἀπὸ τῶν προσιόντων καὶ ἀπιόντων, καὶ ψύχεος, ἡλίου, πνευμάτων μεταβαλλομένων τε καὶ μηδέποτε ἀτρεμιζόντων. ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ θεῖα, ὥστε μηδὲν. διακρίνοντα τὸ νούσημα θειότερον τῶν λοιπῶν νουσημάτων νομίζειν, ἀλλὰ πάντα θεῖα καὶ ἀνθρώπινα πάντα· φύσιν δὲ ἔχει ἕκαστον καὶ δύναμιν ἐφʼ ἑωυτοῦ, καὶ οὐδὲν ἄπορόν ἐστιν οὐδὲ ἀμήχανον· ἀκεστά τε τὰ πλεῖστά ἐστι τοῖς αὐτοῖσι τούτοισιν ἀφʼ ὅτων καὶ γίνεται· ἕτερον γὰρ ἑτέρῳ τροφή ἐστι, τῷ δὲ κάκωσις. τοῦτο οὖν δεῖ τὸν ἰητρὸν ἐπίστασθαι, ὅκως τὸν καιρὸν διαγινώσκων ἑκάστου τῷ μὲν ἀποδώσει τὴν τροφὴν καὶ αὐξήσει, τῷ δὲ ἀφαιρήσει καὶ κακώσει. χρὴ δὲ καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ νούσῳ καὶ ἐν τῇσιν ἄλλῃσιν ἁπάσῃσι μὴ αὔξειν τὰ νουσήματα, ἀλλὰ σπεύδειν τρύχειν προσφέροντα τῇ νούσῳ τὸ πολεμιώτατον ἑκάστῃ, καὶ μὴ τὸ ρίλον καὶ σύνηθες· ὑπὸ μὲν γὰρ τῆς συνηθείης θάλλει καὶ αὔξεται, ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦ πολεμίου φθίνει καὶ ἀμαυροῦται. ὅστις δὲ ἐπίσταται ἐν ἀνθρώποισι τὴν τοιαύτην μεταβολὴν καὶ δύναται ὑγρὸν καὶ ξηρὸν ποιέειν καὶ θερμὸν καὶ ψυχρὸν ὑπὸ διαίτης τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὗτος καὶ ταύτην τὴν νοῦσον ἰῷτο ἂν, εἰ τοὺς καιροὺς διαγινώσκοι τῶν ξυμφερόντων, ἄνευ καθαρμῶν καὶ μαγευμάτων καὶ πάσης ἄλλης βαναυσίης τοιαύτης.