§7#1Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὰ τῶν ὁμοιομερῶν σωμάτων ἴδια νοσήματα διήλθομεν, ἐξῆς ἂν εἴη λέγειν τὰ τῶν ὀργανικῶν, ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου κατ’ αὐτὰ τοῦ παρὰ τὴν διάπλασιν ὑπαρξαμένους γένους.
But since we have also gone through the specific diseases of the homoeomerous bodies, it would be next in order to speak of those of the organic parts, beginning with the first class among them, namely that which occurs in connection with formation.
γίγνεται δὲ τοῦτο ποτὲ μὲν τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν σχήματος ὑπαλλαττομένου, ποτὲ δὲ λειότητός τινος, ἢ τραχύτητος, ἢ πόρου διαφθειρομένου.
And this occurs sometimes when the natural shape is altered, and sometimes when some smoothness, or roughness, or passage is corrupted.
τῆς μὲν δὴ τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν σχήματος ἐξαλλαγῆς αἰτίαι, πρώτη μὲν ἡ κατὰ γαστρὸς ἔτι κυουμένων αὐτῶν διάπλασις μοχθηρὰ, πλήθους ὕλης ἢ ποιότητος οὐκ ἐπιτηδείου ταῖς φυσικαῖς τοῦ σπέρματος κινήσεσιν ἐμποδὼν γιγνομένης· δευτέρα δὲ ἥ τε κατὰ τὴν ἀποκύησιν αὐτὴν κᾀν τῷ σπαργανοῦσθαι πλημμέλεια.
Now, of the alteration of the natural shape, the first cause is the faulty formation while they are still being carried in the womb, because the abundance of matter or its unsuitable quality becomes an obstacle to the natural movements of the seed; and the second is the mistake during the birth itself and during swaddling.
μαλακὰ γὰρ ἔτι καὶ ὀλίγου δεῖν ῥυτὰ τὰ τῶν νεογνῶν παιδίων ὑπάρχοντα σώματα ῥᾳδίως ἐκστρέφεται, δεχομένων τε τῶν μαιῶν αὐτὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀποκύησιν οὐκ ὀρθῶς, ἐνειλιττουσῶν τε τοῖς σπαργάνοις ἔστιν ὅτε μὴ δεόντως, εἶτ’ αὖθις τῶν τροφῶν ἀναιρουμένων τε καὶ ἀποτιθεμένων οὐ κατὰ τρόπον ἔν τε τῷ γάλα παρέχειν καὶ ἐν τῷ λούειν καὶ σπαργανοῦν.
For the bodies of newborn infants, being still soft and almost fluid, are easily distorted, both when the midwives receive them incorrectly during birth, and when they wrap them in swaddling clothes sometimes improperly, and then again when the nurses lift them up and lay them down in an unsuitable manner, both in giving milk and in washing and swaddling.
ἐν ἅπασι γὰρ τοῖς τοιούτοις εἰ μή τις ἐπιτηδείως μεταχειρίζοιτο, ῥᾳδίως ἐκστρέφεται καὶ διαφθείρεται τὸ κατὰ φύσιν ἑκάστου τῶν μελῶν σχῆμα.
For in all such matters, if one does not handle them skillfully, the natural shape of each of the limbs is easily distorted and destroyed.
καὶ μὲν δὴ κᾀν τῇ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀνατροφῇ συμπάσῃ τὰ μὲν ὑπὸ πλησμονῆς ἀμέτρου, τὰ δ’ ὑπὸ κινήσεως πλημμελοῦς ἢ πρωϊαίτερον τοῦ δέοντος ἵστασθαί τε καὶ βαδίζειν ἐπιτραπέντος αὐτοῖς ἢ σφοδρότερον κινεῖσθαι, πολλὰ τῶν μελῶν διαστρέφεσθαι συμβαίνει, τῶν μὲν πλησμονῶν τὰς φυσικὰς ἐνεργείας ἐμποδιζουσῶν, τῶν δ’ ἀκαίρων ἢ σφοδρῶν κινήσεων κλονουσῶν τε καὶ περιαγουσῶν ἐφ’ ἃ μὴ χρὴ τὰ κῶλα.
And indeed, in the whole subsequent rearing, it happens that many of the limbs are distorted, some because of excessive fullness, others because of faulty movement, or because they are permitted to stand and walk earlier than they ought, or to move too violently; with the fullnesses hindering the natural functions, and the untimely or violent movements shaking and twisting the limbs in directions they should not go.
τὰ μὲν γὰρ σκέλη κᾀξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ βάρους τῶν ὑπερκειμένων σωμάτων ἢ πρὸς τοὐκτὸς ἢ πρὸς τὸ ἐντὸς διαστρέφεται κατὰ τὴν ἀρχαίαν τῆς κνήμης ῥοπήν.
For the legs are distorted either outward or inward even from the very weight of the overlying bodies, according to the original inclination of the shin.
οἷς μὲν γὰρ ὀρθότερα τοῦ δέοντός ἐστι φύσει, βλαισοῦται μᾶλλον· οἷς δὲ κοιλότερα, ῥαιβοῦται.
For those whose legs are naturally straighter than they ought to be become more knock-kneed; while those whose legs are more curved become bow-legged.
καλῶ δὲ βλαισὸν μὲν τὸ ἐπὶ τὰ ἐκτὸς ῥέπον, ῥαιβὸν δὲ τὸ ἐπὶ τἀναντία.
And I call 'blaisos' that which inclines outward, and 'rhaibos' that which inclines in the opposite direction.
καὶ κατὰ τὸν θώρακα δὲ μέλη διαστρέφεται πολλάκις ὑπὸ τῶν σφιγγου σῶν τροφῶν αὐτὰ κακῶς ἔξωθεν ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ ἀνατροφῇ.
And in the chest, parts are often distorted by the nurses who bind them badly from the outside during the first rearing.
καὶ μάλιστα παρ’ ἡμῖν ἔστι τὸ τοιοῦτον ἰδεῖν συνεχῶς γιγνόμενον ἐπὶ τῶν παρθένων.
And one can see such a thing happening especially and constantly among us in the case of young girls.
αὐξάνεσθαι γὰρ αὐτῶν αἱ τροφοὶ βουλόμεναι τὰ κατ’ ἰσχία τε καὶ λαγόνας, ὡς πολλῷ μείζω γίγνοιτο τῶν κατὰ θώρακα, ταινίαις τισὶν ὅλον ἐν κύκλῳ περιλαμβάνουσιν ἰσχυρῶς σφίγγουσαι τὰ κατ’ ὠμοπλάτας τε καὶ θώρακα μόρια σύμπαντα, κᾀν τούτῳ πολλάκις ἀνίσου γιγνομένης τῆς τάσεως, ἢ προπετὲς εἰς τὸ ἔμπροσθεν ἀπέφηναν τὸ στῆθος, ἢ τὰ ἀντικείμενα τὰ κατὰ ῥάχιν κυρτά.
For their nurses, wishing to increase the size of their hips and flanks, so that they might become much larger than the chest, wrap the whole area in a circle with certain bands, tightly squeezing all the parts around the shoulder blades and the chest; and in this process, since the tension often becomes unequal, they make the breast protrude forward, or the opposite parts along the spine hunchbacked.
συμβαίνει δὲ ἐνίοτε καὶ ὥσπερ διακεκλασμένον καὶ παρηγμένον εἰς τὰ πλάγια γίγνεσθαι τὸ μετάφρενον, ὡς τὴν μὲν ἑτέραν ὠμοπλάτην ἀναυξῆ τε καὶ μικρὰν καὶ προσεσταλμένην ἱκανῶς φαίνεσθαι, τὴν δ’ ἑτέραν ἐξέχουσάν τε καὶ προπετῆ καὶ πάντῃ μείζονα.
And it sometimes happens that the upper back becomes as it were broken and drawn to the sides, so that one shoulder-blade appears underdeveloped, small, and considerably contracted, while the other protrudes, stands forward, and is in every way larger.
αὗται σύμπασαι κακίαι σχημάτων ἐν θώρακι συνίστανται πλημμελείᾳ καὶ ἀμαθίᾳ τῶν τροφῶν ἀγνοουσῶν ἰσοῤῥόπως ἐπιδεῖν.
All these deformities of shapes in the chest arise from the fault and ignorance of the nurses, who do not know how to bind them evenly.
οὕτω δὲ καὶ οἱ ἰατροὶ πολλάκις οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἐπιδοῦντές τε καὶ διαπλάττοντες τὰ κατεαγότα κῶλα διέστρεψαν, ὥσπερ αὖ πάλιν οὐδὲν ἐξαμαρτάνοντος τοῦ θεραπευόντος, αὐτὸς ὁ κάμνων πρὶν ἀκριβῶς κρατυνθῆναι τὸν πῶρον ἐπιχειρήσας χρῆσθαι τῷ κώλῳ, τῆς διαστροφῆς ἑαυτῷ γίνεται δημιουργός.
And in this way, doctors also often distort fractured limbs by bandaging and shaping them incorrectly, just as, on the other hand, even when the healer makes no mistake, the patient himself, by attempting to use the limb before the callus is precisely hardened, becomes the author of his own distortion.
ἀλλὰ καὶ θλασθέντα μόρια καθάπερ ῥὶς, ἢ καὶ περιθραυσθέντα καθάπερ οἱ ἄμβωνες τῶν κοτυλῶν, ἔστιν ὅτε δὲ καὶ τῶν ὀστῶν ἐκκοπέντων ἢ σαρκὸς πλείονος, εἶτ’ οὐ κατ’ ἶσον αὐξηθείσης, ἀπόλλυσι τὸ κατὰ φύσιν σχῆμα.
Moreover, parts that are crushed, such as the nose, or broken around, such as the rims of the hip-sockets, and sometimes when bones are cut out or when too much flesh is lost and then does not grow back equally, lose their natural shape.
ἕτερος δὲ τρόπος βλάβης σχημάτων ὁ διὰ πλησμονὴν ἄμετρον ἢ ἔνδειαν, ὥσπερ τοῖς ὑπερπαχυνθεῖσιν ἢ συντακεῖσιν ἄγαν, ἤτοι καθ’ ἕν τι μόριον ἢ καὶ σύμπαντι τῷ σώματι.
Another manner of damage to shapes is that through excessive fullness or deficiency, as happens to those who have become excessively fat or excessively wasted, either in some single part or in the whole body.
καὶ γὰρ οὖν καὶ ὁ ἐλέφας ὀνομαζόμενος καὶ ἡ φθόη φανερῶς ἐξαλλάττουσι τὴν μορφήν.
For indeed, both the so-called elephantiasis and consumption manifestly alter the form.
σιμοῦται μὲν γὰρ ἡ ῥὶς, καὶ τὰ χείλη παχέα καὶ ἀπεξυσμένα τὰ ὦτα φαίνεται, καὶ τὸ σύμπαν ὅμοιοι τοῖς σατύροις οἱ ἐλεφαντιῶντες γίγνονται.
For the nose becomes flat, the lips thick, and the ears appear scraped, and on the whole, those suffering from elephantiasis become like satyrs.
ῥὶς δ’ ὀξεῖα, καὶ κρόταφοι συμπεπτωκότες, καὶ ὀφθαλμοὶ κοῖλοι, καὶ τὰ κατ’ ὠμοπλάτας τε καὶ βραχίονας οἱονεὶ πτέρυγες ἔξωθεν αἰωρούμεναι τοῖς φθίνουσι φαίνονται.
On the other hand, in those wasting away, the nose appears sharp, the temples sunken, the eyes hollow, and the parts around the shoulder blades and arms hang down like wings on the outside.
καὶ διαφθείρεται μὲν ἐν τούτοις ἅπασιν κατὰ πρῶτον λόγον τὸ κατὰ φύσιν σχῆμα· κατὰ δ’ αὖ συμβεβηκὸς ἐν μὲν τοῖς παραλελυμένοις ἢ σπωμένοις ἢ φλεγμαίνουσιν ἢ σκιῤῥουμένοις, ἢ νεῦρα διῃρημένοις ἢ τένοντας, ἢ ὑπὸ σκληρῶν οὐλῶν δεδεγμένοις.
And in all these cases, the natural shape is corrupted primarily; but secondarily it is corrupted in those who are paralyzed, or convulsed, or inflamed, or scirrhous, or have had nerves or tendons severed, or are bound by hard scars.