§6Πλὴν οὐχ ἁπλῶς δοτέον αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τῶν νοσημάτων, ἀλλὰ προσδιορισμῶν δεῖται πολλῶν.
However, it must not be given simply for diseases, but requires many preliminary distinctions.
οὔτε γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἐπικινδύνως ἔχουσι διδόναι αὐτὴν προσήκει, οὔτε τοῖς φλεβοτομίας ἢ καθάρσεως δεομένοις ἢ κλυστῆρός τινος, ἢ τοῖς πεπληρωμένοις τῶν κατὰ γαστέρα περιττωμάτων, ἢ τοῖς ὑπὸ ὀδύνης ἐνοχλουμένοις μεγάλης, καὶ μηδαμῶς δεομένοις ταῖς ἰατρικαῖς πυρίαις, ἢ φλεβοτομίαις, ἢ καθάρσεσιν, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τοῖς ξηροτάτοις νοσήμασι προσφέρειν αὐτὴν ἁρμόζει.
For it is neither proper to give it to those who are in a dangerous condition, nor to those who stand in need of bloodletting or purging or some clyster, or to those who are filled with excrements in the stomach, or to those who are troubled by great pain and have by no means been treated with medical fomentations, bloodlettings, or purgings; nay, it is not even fitting to administer it to the driest diseases.
κσυνεπισκέπτεσθαι δὲ χρὴ καὶ τὸν καιρὸν, καὶ τὸ ποσὸν τῆς δόσεως, καὶ τὸ ἦθος τοῦ κάμνοντος, καὶ τὸ πότε τὸν χυλὸν μόνον προσήκει, ἢ καὶ τὴν πτισάνην αὐτὴν, ἢ καὶ ἀμφότερα, ἢ καὶ οὐδέτερα.
One must also examine together the season, the quantity of the dose, the habit of the patient, and when it is proper to give the juice alone, or also the barley-gruel itself, or both, or neither.
ὁ μὲν οὖν καιρός ἐστι τοῦ διδόναι ῥοφήματος, ὁπηνίκα διορισάμενος μέλλεις αὐτὴν παρασχεῖν, ὁπότε τὸ σῶμα γέγονε διακείμενον ὁμαλῶς, καὶ μὴ τὸ μὲν αὐτοῦ ἐστι θερμότερον, τὸ δὲ ψυχρότερον.
Now, the time for giving the draught, when you are about to administer it after making the distinction, is when the body has become evenly disposed, and one part of it is not warmer and another colder.
τοιοῦτον δ’ ἐστὶ, καθ’ ὃν καιρὸν ἡ τοῦ νοσήματος παρακμή· μετὰ ταῦτα γὰρ ἡ τοῦ σώματος σύμπασα θερμότης ὁμαλῶς ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ μόρια διακέχυται.
And such is the season during the decline of the disease; for after this, the entire heat of the body is evenly diffused over all the parts.
τὸ δὲ πλῆθος μὴ πολὺ ὑπάρχῃ μηδὲ ὑπέρπαχυ.
And let the quantity be neither large nor excessively thick.
σφαλερὸν γάρ ἐστι καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ Ἱπποκράτει τὸ κατὰ πολὺ καὶ ἀθρόως πληροῦν, κατὰ βραχὺ δὲ ἀσφαλές.
For even to Hippocrates himself, to fill copiously and all at once is dangerous, whereas doing so gradually is safe.
τιθέσθω καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἔθος παραμετρείσθω.
Let it be established and measured according to habit.
εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἅπαξ ἦν εἰθισμένος διαιτᾶσθαι, παρέχε καὶ αὐτὸς καθάπαξ τὸ πόμα· εἰ δὲ δὶς τῆς ἡμέρας ἐτρέφετο, διπλασίαζε καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν δόσιν.
For if he was accustomed to eat once, administer the drink once as well; but if he was nourished twice a day, double the dose yourself as well.
ἡ δὲ παραύξησις καὶ ἡ προσθήκη τοῦ ῥοφήματος ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ξηροτέρων νοσημάτων οὐ χρὴ γίνεσθαι· δεῖται γὰρ τὸ τοιοῦτον προπομάτων ἰσχυροτέρων, ἢ κατὰ πτισάνην, ἵνα πλέον ὑγρανθῇ.
But the gradual increase and addition of the draught must not occur in the drier diseases; for such a condition requires stronger pre-drinks than barley-gruel, in order to be more moistened.
ξηρὰ δὲ νοσήματά εἰσι πλευρῖτις καὶ περιπνευμονία, καὶ ὅλως τὰ κατὰ θώρακα, ὅταν μηδὲν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀναπτύηται, τὰ δὲ καθ’ ἧπαρ καὶ γαστέρα καὶ ἔντερα, ὅταν μηδὲν ἐκκρίνηται, καὶ σκληρὰ, καὶ μὴ πρὸς ἀνάγκην, καὶ μὴ ἄξια λόγου.
The dry diseases are pleurisy and pneumonia, and in general diseases of the chest when nothing is expectorated from them, and those of the liver, stomach, and intestines when nothing is excreted, or what is excreted is hard, without urgent need, and insignificant.
αἱ δὲ κατὰ τὰς ἀρτηρίας τε καὶ φλέβας ξηρότητες διὰ τῆς γλώττης καὶ τοῦ ἔξω δέρματος διαγινώσκονται· οὕτως δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ πάθη, μηδενὸς δι’ ὑπερώας ἢ ῥινὸς ἐκκαθαιρομένου.
And dryness in the arteries and veins is diagnosed through the tongue and the outer skin; likewise also diseases in the head, when nothing is cleared out through the palate or the nose.
κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον καὶ φλεγμοναὶ καὶ ἕλκη ξηρὰ τυγχάνουσιν, ἀφ’ ὧν μηδὲν εἰς ἰχῶρας ἀποκρίνεται.
In the same manner, inflammations and ulcers are dry when nothing is separated from them into serous humors.
ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν τοιούτων νοσημάτων οὐ προσήκει ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πτισάνην, οὔτε γὰρ ὑγραίνειν αὐτὰ δύναται, ἅτε μὴ ἄγαν ὑγραίνουσα τὰ πολλῆς καὶ ἰσχυρᾶς δυνάμεως ὑγραινούσης δεόμενα, καὶ ἔτι τὴν ἀπὸ πληρώσεως βλάβην τοῖς σώμασι παρέχουσα.
And in such diseases, it is not proper to prescribe the barley-gruel; for it is unable to moisten them, since it does not overly moisten things that need a large and strong moistening power, and besides, it inflicts on bodies the harm that comes from fullness.
ἂν δὲ καὶ τὸ σῶμα ὑγρότερον ᾖ, καὶ εἴ τι ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύμονος ἐκπτύεται, τότε χρὴ ἐπαύξειν ἀεὶ καὶ προστιθέναι τὴν πόσιν αὐτῆς· ὑγραίνουσα γὰρ καὶ τέμνουσα ὁμοίως τὰ προσόντα ἐν τῷ σώματι ὑγρὰ, καὶ ῥῶσιν τοῖς μορίοις παρέχουσα διὰ τὴν τροφὴν, καθαρὸν ἀποτελεῖ συντόμως τὸ ζῶον τῆς ἐνοχλούσης κακοχυμίας.
But if the body is moister, and if something is expectorated from the lung, then one must always increase and add to the drinking of it; for by moistening and likewise thinning the moist things present in the body, and by providing strength to the parts through its nourishment, it quickly renders the living being clean of the troubling bad humor.
συνελθόντων γὰρ ἀμφοτέρων ῥᾳδίως ἐκκαθαίρεται τὰ μοχθηρὰ περιττώματα, οὐδενὸς δὲ τῶν ἄλλων, ὅσα ὡς φάρμακον ἢ τροφὴ προσφέρεται, ἀμφότερα ταῦτα κεκτημένου, ἀλλ’ ἢ κατὰ τὸ λεπτύνειν ἐνδεόντως καὶ ὑγραίνειν τὸ τρόφιμον ἔχοντος, καθάπερ ἄρτος καὶ χόνδρος καὶ ὠὰ καὶ ἰχθῦς, ἢ τὸ μὲν τέμνειν ἔχοντος, τὸ δ’ ὑγραίνειν τε καὶ τρέφειν οὐ περιφέροντος, καθάπερ ὀξύμελι, καὶ εἴ τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον.
For when both come together, the bad excrements are easily cleared out, and none of the other things administered as medicine or food possesses both of these; rather, they either possess nourishment but are deficient in thinning and moistening, like bread, groats, eggs, and fish, or they possess the power to thin, but do not carry with them the power to moisten and nourish, like oxymel and any other such thing.
ταῦτα δὲ πάντα τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἥκουσι τῇ πτισάνῃ.
And all these benefits belong to the barley-gruel.
ἀλλ’ ὅμως οὐδεμίαν ὠφέλειαν προξενεῖ χωρὶς τῶν προδιορισμῶν προσαγομένη, ὅπου γε καὶ θανάτου μᾶλλον καθεστήκασιν αἴτια διδόμενα.
But nevertheless, administered without the preliminary distinctions, it brings no benefit, inasmuch as when given, they rather become the causes of death.
τοῦ γὰρ κάμνοντος κλυστῆρος δεομένου διὰ τὴν τῶν περιττωμάτων κάθαρσιν, ἢ φλεβοτομίας διὰ περιουσίαν αἵματος καὶ τῆς ὀδύνης, μὴ ἐνδεούσης χρείαν ἔχοντος ὀδύνης αἴτιον πλῆθος, αἰτία θανάτου γέγονεν ἡ πτισάνη προσφερομένη, τάχα καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ διπλασιάζουσα τὸ πλῆθος.
For when the patient stands in need of a clyster for the clearing out of excrements, or of bloodletting on account of an abundance of blood and pain, and has a clear need of them, if the barley-gruel is administered to an abundance that is the cause of pain, it becomes the cause of death, perhaps even doubling that abundance itself.
διὰ τοῦτο οὐ χρὴ παρέχειν αὐτὴν πυρετῷ ἐνδεχομένῳ, εἴτε σὺν ὀδύνῃ ἐστὶν εἴτε χωρὶς ὀδύνης ὁ πυρετὸς, ἢ μετ’ ὀλίγον τῆς τροφῆς ὁ ἄνθρωπος πυρέττειν ἤρξατο, καὶ μήπω ὑπεχώρησεν.
For this reason, one must not administer it during an oncoming fever, whether the fever is with pain or without pain, or if the person began to have a fever shortly after food and it has not yet subsided.
οἱ αὐτοὶ δὲ διορισμοὶ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ χυλοῦ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπ’ αὐτῆς τῆς πτισάνης.
And these same distinctions apply not only to the juice, but also to the barley-gruel itself.
οἷς δὲ χρήσιμος ἦν, καὶ αὐτοῖς οὐκ εὐθὺς διδόναι προσήκει, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν τὸν χυλὸν μόνον, ᾔ τὰ πλείονα μὲν τὸν χυλὸν, ὀλίγον δὲ τὴν πτισάνην, εἶτα ἐπίσης ἀμφότερα, εἶτα καὶ μόνην αὐτὴν, ἐπιστάμενον, εἰς μὲν ῥῶσιν καὶ θρέψιν τοῦ σώματος μέγιστα συντελεῖν τὴν πτισάνην, εἰς δὲ τὸ εὐκατέργαστον καὶ εὔπεπτον καὶ εὐανάδοτον τὸν χυλόν.
And even to those for whom it was useful, it is not proper to give it immediately, but first the juice alone, or mostly the juice and a little of the barley-gruel, then both equally, then also the barley-gruel alone, understanding that the barley-gruel contributes most to the strength and nourishment of the body, while the juice contributes to ease of processing, easy digestion, and quick distribution.
ταῦτα δ’ ὡς ἐν κεφαλαίῳ περὶ τῆς πτισάνης εἰρήσθω, ἵν’ ἔχῃς εἰδέναι τήν τ’ εὔκρατον αὐτῆς χρῆσιν καὶ τοὺς ἀναγκαίους διορισμούς.
Let these things be said as a summary concerning the barley-gruel, so that you may know both its well-tempered use and the necessary distinctions.