§6#2κατὰ δὲ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὅστις ἂν ᾖ ξηρὸς καὶ θερμὸς, ὁμογενής ἐστι τῇ ξανθῇ χολῇ.
In the same way, whatever is dry and hot is of the same genus as yellow bile.
λέλεκται δὲ καὶ περὶ τούτων ἐπὶ πλέον ἑτέρωθι.
And concerning these things too, more has been said elsewhere.
καὶ νῦν οὐ χρὴ μηκύνειν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, εἰρήσεται γὰρ οὖν καὶ αὖθις ἐπὶ πλέον ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων τούτων ἐν τοῖς τῆς θεραπευτικῆς μεθόδου γράμμασιν·
And now we must not dwell on them, for more will indeed be said again about all these things in the treatises of the Method of Medicine.
ὃ δ’ ἐστὶν οἰκεῖον τῆς ἐνεστώσης διεξόδου, πάλιν ἐπανίωμεν.
But let us return again to what is proper to the present exposition.
ἅπαντα γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα νοσήματα τῆς φύσεως ἀποτιθεμένης ἑκάστοτε τὸ περιττὸν εἰς ἀκυρώτερα μόρια γίγνεται.
For all such diseases arise when nature on each occasion deposits the surplus into less vital parts.
τοῦτο μὲν δὴ καὶ ἄλλοις ἔμπροσθεν εἴρηται πολλοῖς·
Now this indeed has been said by many others before.
ὅστις δὲ ὁ τρόπος ἐστὶ τῆς ἀποθέσεως, οὐκ ἔτ’ εἴρηται·
But what the manner of this deposition is has no longer been said.
λογισμὸν γάρ τινα καὶ νοῦν τῇ φύσει δώσομεν, ἐὰν ἁπλῶς αὐτὴν ἀποτίθεσθαι φῶμεν ἐκ κυρίων μορίων εἰς ἄκυρα πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ὑπάρχον μὴ χρηστόν.
For we shall be attributing some reasoning and mind to nature if we simply say that it deposits from vital parts into non-vital ones anything whatsoever that is not useful.
ἀλλ’ ὅτι μὲν ἐν τοῖς νοσήμασιν αἱ ἀγαθαὶ κρίσεις ὑπό τινος τοιαύτης γίγνονται δυνάμεως ἐναργῶς φαίνεται· τίς δὲ ὁ τρόπος ἐστὶν αὐταῖς τῆς γενέσεως οὐκ ἀκριβῶς οἱ πρὸ ἡμῶν ἐξηγήσαντο, διότι μηδὲ τὰς φυσικὰς δυνάμεις, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἡμεῖς ἐν ἑτέροις ὑπομνήμασι διήλθομεν, ἀκριβῶς ἠδυνήθησαν ἀποδεῖξαι πόσαι τέ εἰσι καὶ τίνες ὁποῖόν τέ τί ἐστι τὸ ἑκάστου αὐτῶν ἔργον.
But that in diseases the favorable crises occur by some such power is clearly manifest; yet what the manner of their generation is, those before us did not explain precisely, because they were not even able to demonstrate precisely concerning the natural powers—which we have discussed in other commentaries—how many they are, what they are, and what the function of each of them is.
ἀλλὰ νῦν γε χαλεπὸν οὐδέν ἐστι περὶ τούτων ἁπάντων διελθεῖν, ὑποθέσεσιν εἰς αὐτὰ χρησάμενον τοῖς δι’ ἐκείνων ἀποδεδειγμένοις.
But now at least it is not at all difficult to discuss all these things, using as hypotheses for them the things demonstrated in those works.
οὐσῶν δὲ τεττάρων δυνάμεων, ὧν ἅπαν μετέχει μόριον καὶ ζώου καὶ φυτοῦ, καὶ τῆς μὲν ἑλκούσης τὸ οἰκεῖον, τῆς δὲ ἀλλοιούσης, τῆς δὲ ἀποκρινούσης τὸ περιττὸν, ὄντος δὲ τοῦ περιττοῦ διττοῦ κατὰ γένος· ἢ γὰρ τῷ ποσῷ περιττόν ἐστιν ἢ τῷ ποιῷ· καὶ τοίνυν καὶ τῶν τοῦ σώματος μορίων οὐκ ἴσην ἁπάντων ἐχόντων τὴν ῥώμην, ἀλλὰ τῶν κυριωτέρων εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως ῥωμαλεωτέρων ἀποτελεσθέντων, εὔλογον ἐν τοῖς ἀκαθάρτοις τε καὶ περιττωματικοῖς σώμασιν ἐπιῤῥεῖν τι τοῖς ἀκυρωτέροις μορίοις.
And since there are four powers, which every part both of an animal and of a plant shares—one attracting what is appropriate, another altering, and another excreting the surplus (the surplus being of two kinds, either in quantity or in quality)—and moreover, since the parts of the body do not all possess equal strength, but the more vital parts were made stronger by nature from the very beginning, it is reasonable that in impure and full-of-surplus bodies, some flow should run into the less vital parts.
ἅτε γὰρ ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν ἰσχυροτέρων μορίων ἐλαυνόμενον τὸ περίττωμα, καὶ μηδαμόθι στῆναι δυνάμενον, εἰς τὸ πάντων ἀσθενέστατον ἀφικνεῖται μόριον.
For as the surplus is driven out from all the stronger parts and is unable to halt anywhere, it arrives at the weakest part of all.
ἄλλο δὲ δι’ ἄλλο τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, ἢ εὐθὺς ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ συμπήξει τοῦ ζώου πλημμεληθὲν, ἢ ἐξ ὑστέρου βλαβὲν, ἢ καὶ φύσει δεόμενον εἶναι τοιοῦτον, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ δέρμα.
And one part is such for one reason and another for another, either having been defective right from the first constitution of the animal, or damaged later, or even being required by nature to be such, just as the skin is.
τοῦτο γὰρ ἅτε μηδεμιᾶς ἐνεργείας ἕνεκεν, ἀλλὰ χρείας μόνης γεγενημένον, ἀσθενέστερον εἶναι προσήκει τῶν ἐνεργούντων.
For since this has come into being not for the sake of any active function, but for utility alone, it is fitting that it be weaker than those which perform active functions.
ἔστι γὰρ οἷον σκέπασμά τι καὶ περίβλημα τοῦ ζώου σύμφυτον, οὔτ’ οὖν πέψιν, οὔτε ἀνάδοσιν τροφῆς, οὔτ’ ἐξαιμάτωσιν, οὔτε σφυγμὸν, οὔτε ἀναπνοὴν, οὔτε κίνησιν καθ’ ὁρμὴν, οὔθ’ ὅλως ἐνέργειάν τινα τῷ ζώῳ παρεχόμενον.
For it is like a kind of innate covering and wrapping of the animal, providing the animal neither with digestion, nor distribution of nourishment, nor blood-formation, nor pulsation, nor respiration, nor voluntary movement, nor indeed with any active function at all.
ἅμα δὲ καὶ πάντων ἔξωθεν κείμενον εὐλόγως ἐκδέχεται τὰ τοῦ σώματος ὅλου περιττώματα.
At the same time, because it lies on the outside of all of them, it reasonably receives the surpluses of the whole body.
πολλὰ μὲν γὰρ εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡ φύσις ἐτεχνήσατο τῶν περιττωμάτων καθάρσεως ἕνεκεν ὄργανα, καὶ πρός γε τὴν ὑγείαν ἀρκεῖ μόνα ταῦτα, ἐπειδὰν μήτε τις ἐκ τοῦ περιέχοντος ἐγγίνηται βλάβη τῷ ζώῳ, μήτ’ ἐκ πλημμελοῦς διαίτης περιττωματικὸν ἀμέτρως ὅλον ἀπεργασθῇ τὸ σῶμα.
For right from the beginning nature designed many organs for the sake of cleansing the surpluses, and these alone are sufficient for health, whenever no damage arises to the animal from the environment, and the whole body does not become excessively full of surpluses from a faulty regimen.
τοιούτου δέ τινος συμβάντος ἁμαρτήματος, οὐκ ἔτ’ αὐτάρκη μόνα τὰ φυσικὰ τῶν ὀργάνων ἀποκαθαίρειν τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ περιττώματος, κᾀν τούτῳ κατασκήπτει ῥεύματα τοῖς ἀσθενεστέροις μορίοις ἐκ τῶν ἰσχυροτέρων ἐλαυνόμενα·
But when some such error occurs, the natural organs alone are no longer sufficient to cleanse the abundance of the surplus, and at this point, fluxions, driven from the stronger parts, settle upon the weaker parts.
συμβαίνει δέ ποτε καὶ στεγνωθέντων τῶν ἐκκαθαιρόντων αὐτὰ πόρων ἑτέροις ἐπιῤῥυῆναι χωρίοις.
And it also sometimes happens that when the pores that cleanse them have become blocked, the fluxions flow into other places.
αὗται μὲν αἱ ἀρχαὶ τῆς γενέσεως ἁπάντων εἰσὶ τῶν προειρημένων νοσημάτων.
These indeed are the beginnings of the generation of all the aforementioned diseases.
αὐξάνεται δ’ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἤδη τοῖς μέλεσι τὸ κακὸν, ὡς ἂν σφηνουμένων τε καὶ διασηπομένων τῶν περιττωμάτων, καὶ οὕτως αὐτῶν τε χειρόνων γενομένων, καὶ τὸν ἐπιῤῥέοντα χυμὸν ἐξ ὑστέρου, κᾂν χρηστὸς ᾖ, συνδιαφθειρόντων.
And the evil increases already in the limbs themselves, as the surpluses become impacted and decay, and thus not only become worse themselves, but also corrupt along with them the humor that flows in later, even if it is healthy.