§1.9Διὰ τί, ἐὰν ὁ χειμὼν νότιος γένηται καὶ ἔπομβρος, τὸ δὲ ἔαρ αὐχμηρὸν καὶ βόρειον, νοσῶδες γίνεται καὶ τὸ ἔαρ καὶ τὸ θέρος;
Why, if the winter is southerly and rainy, and the spring dry and northerly, do both the spring and the summer become unhealthy?
ἢ ὅτι ἐν μὲν τῷ χειμῶνι διὰ τὴν ἀλέαν καὶ ὑγρότητα ὁμοίως τὰ σώματα διάκειται τῇ ὥρᾳ;
Is it because in the winter, due to the warmth and moisture, the bodies are disposed in the same way as the season?
ὑγρὰ γὰρ ἀνάγκη εἶναι καὶ οὐ συνεστηκότα.
For they must of necessity be wet and not compact.
οὕτω δὲ ἐχόντων, τὸ ἔαρ ψυχρὸν ὂν ἔπηξεν καὶ ἐσκλήρυνεν αὐτὰ διὰ τὸν αὐχμόν, (ὥστε ταῖς μὲν κυούσαις ὁ τόκος ὁ ἐαρινὸς εἰς ἐκτρώσεις γίνεται διὰ τὴν θερμασίαν καὶ τὸν σφακελισμὸν τὸν γινόμενον ὑπὸ τῆς ξηρᾶς ψυχρότητος, ἅτε οὐκ ἐκκρινομένης τῆς ὑγρότητος, τὰ δὲ κυόμενα παιδία ἀσθενῆ γίνεται καὶ πηρὰ διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τοῦ ψύχους· συμβέβηκε γὰρ τότε γεννώμενα ἐν εὐδίᾳ καὶ συστῆναι καὶ τραφῆναι ἐν τῇ τεκούσῃ.
And when they are in this state, the spring, being cold, congeals and hardens them because of the drought, (with the result that for pregnant women, spring childbirth ends in miscarriage because of the heat and the mortification produced by the dry cold, since the moisture is not excreted, and the children in the womb become weak and deformed because of the excess of the cold; for it is when they are born in mild weather that they happen both to be formed and nourished in the mother.
τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις, ἅτε ἐν τῷ ἔαρι οὐκ ἀποκαθαρθέντος τοῦ φλέγματος 〈διὰ〉 τὴν ὑπερβολήν, ὅ συμβαίνει ὅταν ἀλεεινὸν γένηται, ἀλλὰ διὰ ψῦχος συστάντος, ὅταν ἐπιλάβῃ τὸ θέρος καὶ ἡ ἀλέα τήκουσα βίᾳ, τοῖς μὲν χολώδεσι καὶ ξηροῖς, διὰ τὸ μὴ διερὰ εἶναι τὰ σώματα αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ τὴν φύσιν αὖον ἔχειν, γίνονται μὲν ὑγρότητες, αὗται δὲ λεπταί, ὥστε ὀφθαλμίαις ξηραῖς ἁλίσκονται; οἱ δὲ φλεγματώδεις βράγχοις καὶ εἰς τὸν πνεύμονα κατάρροις.
But for the others, since the phlegm is not purged in the spring because of the excess, as happens when it is warm, but is congealed because of the cold, when summer and its warmth come and melt it violently, for those who are bilious and dry, because their bodies are not moist but they have a dry nature, moistures are indeed produced, but these are thin, so that they are seized by dry ophthalmia; while the phlegmatic suffer from hoarseness and catarrhs into the lungs.
ταῖς γυναιξὶ δὲ δυσεντερίαι γίνονται διὰ τὴν ὑγρότητα καὶ ψυχρότητα τῆς φύσεως, τοῖς δὲ γεραιτέροις ἀποπληξίαι, ὅταν ἀθρόον λυθὲν ὑγρὸν ἐπιπέσῃ καὶ δι’ ἀσθένειαν τοῦ συμφύτου θερμοῦ παγῇ. §1.10Διὰ τί, ἐὰν μὲν τὸ θέρος αὐχμηρὸν γένηται καὶ βόρειον, τὸ δὲ μετόπωρον ἐναντίον, ὑγρὸν καὶ νότιον, ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι κεφαλαλγίαι τε γίνονται καὶ βράγχοι καὶ βῆχες, καὶ τελευτῶσιν εἰς φθίσεις;
And for women, dysenteries occur because of the moisture and coldness of their nature, and for the older men apoplexies, when the moisture, being suddenly melted, falls upon them and is congealed because of the weakness of their innate heat.) Why, if the summer is dry and northerly, and the autumn the opposite, wet and southerly, do headaches, hoarseness, and coughs occur in the winter, and end in consumption?
ἢ ὅτι λαμβάνει ὕλην πολλὴν ὁ χειμών, ὥστ’ αὐτῷ ἔργον ἐστὶ πῆξαι τὴν ὑγρότητα καὶ φλέγμα ποιῆσαι;
Or is it because the winter receives much material, so that its task is to congeal the moisture and produce phlegm?
ἐν μὲν οὖν ταῖς κεφαλαῖς, ὅταν ὑγρασία γένηται, βάρη ποιεῖ, ἐὰν δὲ ᾖ πολλὴ καὶ ψυχρά, σφακελισμούς· ἐὰν δὲ διὰ πλῆθος μὴ πήξῃ, ῥεῖ εἰς τὸν ἐχόμενον τόπον, ὅθεν αἱ βῆχες καὶ οἱ βράγχοι καὶ αἱ φθόαι γίνονται.
In the heads, then, when moisture occurs, it produces heaviness; and if it is abundant and cold, mortifications; but if it does not congeal because of its abundance, it flows into the adjacent region, whence coughs, hoarseness, and consumptions arise.
§1.11Διὰ τί δέ, ἐὰν βόρειον γένηται τὸ θέρος καὶ αὐχμῶδες, καὶ τὸ μετόπωρον, συμφέρει τοῖς φλεγματώδεσι καὶ ταῖς γυναιξίν;
And why, if the summer is northerly and dry, and the autumn likewise, is it beneficial to phlegmatic people and to women?
ἢ ὅτι ἡ φύσις ἐπὶ θάτερα ἀμφοῖν ὑπερβάλλει, ὥστε εἰς τοὐναντίον ἡ ὥρα ἑλκύσασα καθίστησιν εἰς τὴν εὐκρασίαν· καὶ παραχρῆμά τε ὑγιαίνουσιν, ἐὰν μή τι δι’ ἑαυτοὺς ἁμαρτάνωσι, καὶ εἰς τὸν χειμῶνα οὐχ ὑγροὶ ἀφικνοῦνται, ἔχοντες ὑπεκκαύματα τῷ ψύχει.
Or is it because the nature of both excesses in the other direction, so that the season, by drawing them to the opposite, establishes them in a healthy mixture; and they are immediately healthy, unless they make some mistake on their own account, and they arrive at winter not being wet, having fuels for the cold.
§1.12Διὰ τί τοῖς χολώδεσι νοσῶδές ἐστι τὸ βόρειον καὶ αὐχμῶδες θέρος καὶ μετόπωρον;
Why is a northerly and dry summer and autumn unhealthy for bilious people?
ἢ ὅτι ἐπὶ ταὐτὸ ῥέπει αὐτοῖς τὸ σῶμα καὶ αἱ ὧραι, ὥστε ὥσπερ πῦρ ἐπὶ πυρὶ γίνεται.
Or is it because their body and the seasons incline in the same direction, so that it becomes like fire upon fire?
ξηραινομένων γὰρ τῶν σωμάτων, καὶ τοῦ γλυκυτάτου μὲν ἐξικμαζομένου ἐξ αὐτῶν, ὑπερθερμαινομένων δὲ λίαν, ἀνάγκη διὰ μὲν τὰς συντήξεις ὀφθαλμίας ξηρὰς γίνεσθαι, διὰ δὲ τὸ χολῶδες τοὺς ὑπολειπομένους εἶναι χυμούς, ὑπερθερμαινομένων δὲ καὶ τούτων πυρετοὺς ὀξεῖς γίνεσθαι ἅτε ὑπ’ ἀκράτου τῆς χολῆς, ἐνίοις δὲ μανίας, οἷς ἂν μέλαινα χολὴ φύσει ἐνῇ· αὕτη γὰρ ἐπιπολάζει ἀναξηραινομένων τῶν ἐναντίων χυμῶν.
For when their bodies are dried up, and the sweetest moisture is evaporated from them, and they are overheated excessively, of necessity, because of the wastings, dry ophthalmia occurs, and because the remaining humors are bilious, and these also are overheated, acute fevers occur as if from unmixed bile, and for some, madness, in whom black bile is naturally present; for this floats to the surface when the contrary humors are dried up.
§1.13Διὰ τί τὸ τὰ ὕδατα μεταβάλλειν νοσῶδές φασιν εἶναι, τὸ δὲ τὸν ἀέρα οὔ;
Why do they say that changing waters is unhealthy, but changing the air is not?
ἢ ὅτι τοῦτο γίνεται τροφή, καὶ ἔχοντες καὶ ἀπολελαυκότες τοῦ ὕδατος ἀπέρχονται, τοῦ δὲ ἀέρος οὐδέν;
Or is it because water becomes nourishment, and people depart containing and having derived benefit from the water, but nothing from the air?
ἔτι ὕδατος μὲν πολλὰ εἴδη ἐστὶν καὶ διαφοραὶ καθ’ αὑτά, ἀέρος δὲ οὔ, ὥστε καὶ τοῦτο αἴτιον, ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ ἀέρι σχεδὸν τῷ αὑτῷ συμβαίνει διατελεῖν καὶ ἀποδημοῦντας, ἐν δὲ ὕδασιν ἄλλοις· διὸ καλῶς δοκεῖ νοσώδης ἡ τοῦ ὕδατος μεταβολὴ εἶναι.
Furthermore, there are many kinds of water and differences in themselves, but not of air, so that this also is a cause; for indeed, even when traveling abroad, it happens that people remain in practically the same air, but in different waters; therefore, the change of water is rightly thought to be unhealthy.
§1.14Διὰ τί μᾶλλον ἡ τοῦ ὕδατος ἢ ἡ τῶν σιτίων μεταβολὴ νοσώδης;
Why is the change of water more unhealthy than that of food?
ἢ ὅτι πλεῖστον ἀναλίσκομεν τὸ ὕδωρ;
Or is it because we consume water the most?
ἔν τε γὰρ τοῖς σιτίοις ὑπάρχει καὶ ὄψοις, καὶ ἐν τῷ πόματι τὸ πλεῖστον ὕδωρ.
For it is present both in food and in relishes, and in drink water is the greatest part.