§1Ὅτι ἡ λειποψυχία στέρησις ἢ κατάψυξις τοῦ θερμοῦ περὶ τὸν ἀναπνευστικὸν τόπον· τοῦτο δὲ συμβαίνει ἢ ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ ἢ καὶ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ θερμοῦ τὸ γὰρ πλέον πῦρ ἀναιρεῖ τὸ ἔλαττον·
That fainting is a deprivation or cooling of the heat around the respiratory region; and this happens either by the cold or even by the heat itself; for the greater fire destroys the lesser.
μαρτυρεῖ δὲ καὶ ἡ πεῖρα· ὑπὸ γὰρ πνίγους ἢ ἄλλης θέρμης καὶ μάλιστα πολλῆς, ἀθρόον τούτων προσπεσόντων ἡμῖν ἐκλυόμεθα καὶ λειποθυμοῦμεν· καταμαραίνεται γὰρ τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν θερμὸν κατάψυξιν οὐ λαμβάνον.
And experience also bears witness; for under stifling heat or other warmth, especially when abundant, when these fall upon us all at once, we are enervated and faint; for the heat within us is extinguished, receiving no cooling.
§2Τάχα δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀναπνοὴν ὅλως τὸ πνῖγος κωλύει, ὅθεν καὶ πνῖγος ὠνομάσθη· πνίγεται γὰρ ἢ καὶ πνιγομένῳ ὅμοιός ἐστιν ὁ μὴ δυνάμενος ἀναπνεῖν.
Perhaps also the stifling heat completely hinders respiration, whence also it was named 'pnigos'; for he who is unable to breathe either is suffocated or is like one being suffocated.
Παρτυρεῖ δὲ καὶ ἡ διὰ τῶν λουτρῶν καὶ πυριάσεων ἔκλυσις· δῆλον γὰρ ὡς αἱ τοιαῦται ἐκλύσεις τῷ θερμῷ καὶ διὰ τὸ θερμὸν γίνονται μαραίνοντος τοῦ ἔξωθεν θερμοῦ τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν σύμφυτον.
And the exhaustion caused by baths and steam-baths also bears witness; for it is clear that such exhaustions occur by means of heat and because of heat, since the external heat extinguishes our innate heat.
§3Γίνεται δὲ λειποψυχία καὶ τῶν ἐν οἷς πέφυκεν ἡ θερμότης ἐκλιπόντων οἷον αἵματος ἢ τῆς φυσικῆς ἁπλῶς ὑγρότητος, ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς αἱμορραγίαις καὶ ἐν ταῖς τῆς γαστρὸς φοραῖς ὁρῶμεν λειποψυχοῦντας.
And fainting also occurs when those things in which heat naturally resides fail, such as blood or simply the natural moisture, just as we see people fainting in hemorrhages and in evacuations of the bowels.
Καὶ διὰ πόνους δὲ γίνονται ἐκλύσεις.
And exhaustions also occur because of pains.
§4Ὅτι τὸ πλέον θερμὸν λειποψυχίαν ποιεῖ καὶ ὡς μαραῖνον τὸ ἔλαττον καὶ ὡς κωλύον τὴν ἀναπνοὴν καὶ ἔτι ὡς μὴ παραχωροῦν τῇ καταψύξει εἴσοδον.
That the greater heat causes fainting both as extinguishing the lesser, and as hindering respiration, and further as not allowing an entrance for cooling.
Ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ λουόμενοι μὲν οὐ λειποψυχοῦσι παυσάμενοι δὲ μᾶλλον, διότι τὴν ὑγρότητα τὴν γινομένην ἀπὸ τῆς συντήξεως λουομένων μὲν θερμὴν εἶναι συμβαίνει, λουσαμένων δὲ ψύχεσθαι· ψυχρὰ δὲ οὖσα καὶ ἐμπίπτουσα κυρίοις τόποις ποιεῖ λειποψυχίαν.
That for this reason, for the most part, people do not faint while bathing, but rather after they have stopped; because the moisture arising from colliquation happens to be hot while they are bathing, but cools down when they have finished; and being cold and falling upon vital regions, it causes fainting.
§5Εἰ μὴ ἄρα καὶ ἡ ἄνεσις αὐτὴ τοῦ πνεύματος προεκλύει· διότι καὶ κατέχειν κελεύουσιν ἐν ταῖς λειποψυχίαις τὸ πνεῦμα· κωλύει γὰρ ὁ κατέχων ἐξιέναι τὸ θερμὸν, ὁ δʼ ἀνιεὶς ἐνδίδωσιν.
Unless, indeed, the very relaxation of the breath predisposes to exhaustion; for they also bid people to hold their breath during faintings; for he who holds it prevents the heat from escaping, while he who relaxes lets it go.
§6Ὅτι ὁ ῥαίνων ὕδατι τοὺς λειποψυχοῦντας συμφράττων καὶ πυκνῶν τοὺς πόρους καὶ συναθροίζων ἐντὸς τὸ θερμὸν, — ἀντιπερίσταται γὰρ, — ὠφελεῖ.
That he who sprinkles water on those who faint helps them by closing and condensing the pores and gathering the heat inside—for antiperistasis occurs.
§7Ὅτι ἡδοναὶ καὶ λύπαι ποιοῦσι λειποψυχίαν· καὶ γὰρ ἀμφότεραι πλῆθος ὑγρότητος ἐπάγουσιν, ἡ μὲν ἡδονὴ τῷ συντήκειν και διαχεῖν, η λύπη δε τῷ πηγνύειν·
That pleasures and pains cause fainting; for both induce a quantity of moisture, pleasure by melting and diffusing, and pain by congealing.
ὅταν οὖν η ὑγρόχεῖν.
When, therefore, the moisture...