§2.25Διὰ τί, ὅταν πίωσιν, ἧττον ἱδροῦσιν ἐπιφαγόντες;
Why is it that, when they have drunk, they sweat less if they eat something afterwards?
ἢ διότι τὰ σιτία ἐπισπᾶται μὲν τὴν ὑγρότητα καθαπερεὶ σπόγγος ἐμπεσών, ἔστι δὲ κωλῦσαι τὴν ὁρμὴν οὐ μικρὸν μέρος, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς ῥεύμασι τὸ ἐπιλαβεῖν τοὺς πόρους προσενεγκάμενον τὴν τροφήν.
Is it because the food draws the moisture to itself, just like a sponge that has fallen in, and the taking of food plays no small part in obstructing the rush of moisture, just as stopping the channels does in the case of catarrhs?
§2.26Διὰ τί οἱ ἀγωνιῶντες ἱδροῦσι τοὺς πόδας, τὸ δὲ πρόσωπον οὔ;
Why do those who are anxious sweat in their feet, but not in their face?
μᾶλλον γὰρ εὔλογον, ὅταν πᾶν ἱδρῶσι τὸ σῶμα, τότε μᾶλλον καὶ τοὺς πόδας· ψυχρότατος γὰρ ὁ τόπος, διὸ ἥκιστα ἱδροῦσι.
For it is more reasonable that they should sweat in their feet when they sweat over the whole body; for that place is the coldest, wherefore they sweat there least.
καὶ οἱ ἰατροὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀρρωστίαις μάλιστα περιστέλλειν τοὺς πόδας παραγγέλλουσιν, ὅτι εὔψυκτοί εἰσιν, ὥστε ἀρχὴν ῥᾳδίως ῥίγους ποιοῦσι καὶ τῷ ἄλλῳ σώματι.
And physicians in illnesses advise covering the feet most of all, because they are easily chilled, so that they easily produce the beginning of a chill for the rest of the body too.
ἢ ὅτι καὶ ἡ ἀγωνία ἐστὶ θερμότητος οὐ μετάστασις ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ φόβῳ ἐκ τῶν ἄνω τόπων εἰς τοὺς κάτω (διὸ καὶ αἱ κοιλίαι λύονται τῶν φοβουμένων), ἀλλ’ αὔξησις θερμοῦ, ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ θυμῷ;
Or is it because anxiety is not a displacement of heat from the upper parts to the lower, as in fear (wherefore also the bellies of those who fear are loosened), but an increase of heat, as in anger?
καὶ γὰρ ὁ θυμὸς ζέσις τοῦ θερμοῦ ἐστι τοῦ περὶ τὴν καρδίαν· καὶ ὁ ἀγωνιῶν οὐ διὰ φόβον καὶ διὰ ψύξιν πάσχει, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ μέλλον.
For anger is a boiling of the heat around the heart; and the anxious person suffers not because of fear and chilling, but because of the future.
§2.27Διὰ τί τὸ πρόσωπον ἐξέρυθροι γίνονται, οὐχ ἱδροῦσι δέ;
Why do they become flushed in the face, but do not sweat?
ἢ διὰ τὸ μᾶλλον θερμαίνεσθαι, ὥστε τὸ μὲν ἐν τῷ προσώπῳ ὑγρὸν ξηραίνει ἡ θερμότης ἐπιπολάζουσα, τὸ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ποσὶ συντήκει διὰ τὸ ἐλάττων μὲν εἶναι, πλείων δὲ τῆς ἐμφύτου καὶ προϋπαρχούσης.
Is it because the face is warmed more, so that the heat rising to the surface dries up the moisture in the face, whereas it melts the moisture in the feet because, though it is less, it is more than the innate and pre-existing heat?
§2.28Διὰ τί καθεύδοντες ἱδροῦσι μᾶλλον ἢ ἐγρηγορότες;
Why do people sweat more when sleeping than when awake?
ἢ ὅτι ἔσωθεν ἡ ἀρχὴ τοῦ ἱδρῶτος, θερμότερα δὲ τὰ ἐντός, ὥστε καὶ ἐκκρίνει διαχέουσα ἡ ἐντὸς θερμότης τὸ ἐντὸς ὑγρόν.
Is it because the origin of sweat is from within, and the inner parts are warmer, so that the inner heat disperses and excretes the inner moisture?
ὅτι ἀεὶ ἔοικεν ἀπορρεῖν τι τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ μηθὲν εἶναι πρὸς ὃ προσπῖπτον ἁλισθήσεται λανθάνει.
Because something always seems to flow off from the body, but because there is nothing against which it strikes and is caught, it goes unnoticed.
σημεῖον δέ· τὰ γὰρ κοῖλα τοῦ σώματος ἀεὶ ἱδροῖ.
And this is the proof: for the hollow parts of the body are always sweating.
§2.29Διὰ τί ἐν τοῖς πυριατηρίοις μᾶλλον ἱδροῦσιν ὅταν ᾖ ψῦχος;
Why do people sweat more in vapor baths when there is cold?
ἢ ὅτι τὸ θερμὸν οὐ βαδίζει ἔξω διὰ τὴν τοῦ ψυχροῦ περίστασιν (κωλύεται γὰρ ὑπὸ τούτου) ἀλλ’ ἐντὸς κατειλούμενον καὶ μένον διαλύει τὰ ἐν ἡμῖν ὑγρά, καὶ ἱδρῶτα ποιεῖ ἐξ αὐτῶν.
Is it because the heat does not go outward because of the surrounding cold (for it is hindered by it), but being pent up and remaining inside, it dissolves the moisture in us and produces sweat from it?
§2.30Διὰ τί ὠφελιμώτερός ἐστιν ὁ ἱδρώς, κἂν ἐλάττων ἐπέλθῃ, ὁ γυμνοῦ τροχάζοντος γενόμενος ἢ ὁ ἐν ἱματίῳ;
Why is the sweat of one who runs naked more beneficial, even if it comes in smaller quantity, than that of one in a cloak?
ἢ τὸ μὲν πονεῖν τοῦ μὴ πονεῖν βέλτιόν ἐστι καθόλου, καὶ ὁ ἱδρὼς δὲ ὁ μετὰ πόνου τοῦ ἄνευ πόνου βελτίων ἐστί, καὶ ὁ μᾶλλον δὲ μετὰ πόνου τοῦ ἧττον βελτίων;
Is it because exerting oneself is generally better than not exerting oneself, and sweat with exertion is better than that without exertion, and that which is with more exertion is better than that with less?
μᾶλλον δ’ ἐστὶ μετὰ πόνου ὁ γυμνοῦ τροχάζοντος γινόμενος· ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ πολλῇ συντονίᾳ τροχάσῃ, οὐ δύναται ἱδρῶσαι γυμνὸς ὤν· ἐν ἱματίῳ γὰρ κἂν πάνυ μετρίως τροχάσῃ, ταχὺ ἱδροῖ διὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱματίου ἀλέαν.
And the sweat of one who runs naked is with more exertion; for unless he runs with great intensity, he cannot sweat being naked; for in a cloak, even if he runs quite moderately, he quickly sweats because of the warmth from the cloak.
καὶ εὐχρούστεροι δὲ γίνονται οἱ γυμνοὶ τρέχοντες τοῦ θέρους τῶν ἐν ἱματίοις, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἅπαντες οἱ ἐν τοῖς εὐπνουστέροις τόποις οἰκοῦντες εὐχρούστεροί εἰσι τῶν ἐν τοῖς καταπεπνιγμένοις οἰκούντων, οὕτω καὶ αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὅταν ὥσπερ ἐν εὐπνοίᾳ ᾖ, τότε εὐχρούστερός ἐστιν ἢ ὅταν καταπεπνιγμένος ᾖ καὶ περιεχόμενος ὑπό τινος ἀλέας πολλῆς, ὅ συμβαίνει μᾶλλον τῷ ἐν ἱματίῳ τρέχοντι.
And those who run naked in summer become of a better complexion than those in cloaks, because just as all who dwell in well-ventilated places are of a better complexion than those who dwell in stifling places, so also a person is of a better complexion when he is, as it were, in a good breeze than when he is stifled and surrounded by some great warmth, which happens more to one running in a cloak.
διὰ ταῦτα δὲ καὶ οἱ πολὺν χρόνον καθεύδοντες ἀχρούστεροί εἰσι τῶν μέτριον χρόνον καθευδόντων· καταπέπνικται γὰρ καὶ ὁ καθεύδων.
And for these reasons, those who sleep for a long time are of a worse complexion than those who sleep for a moderate time; for one who sleeps is also stifled.