Book II LENTIQCULAR FEVER—TVPHUS 107

hind; and, in short, they are not much removed from the nature
of vapors; but they are sufficiently keen to transmit &a contagion
of that sort. ;

We must therefore suppose that there was originally a pre—
cisely similar infection in the air, and this presently was con—
veyed into us, and brought about this type of fever, which,
though not truly pestilent, nevertheless appears to border on
those that are truly pestilent. It is agreed that this contagion
has analogy (selective affinity) mainly with the blood, as is in—
dicated also by the spots that regularly break out. For they
are all red, and retain the color and charaecter of the original
principle; and hence, on account of the watery quality and fluid—
ity of the blood, the putrefaction is great and wide—spread,
though, for the same reason, this fever is even milder than
other pestilent fevers.  But since within the body there is much
evaporation of foul putrefaction, the patient necessarily feels
its stupefying effect, and it also, for the same reason, causes
lassitude; the mind wanders, the head feels heavy, and the eyes
become red. Since, however, the evaporation is mild and not
intraectable, it very seldom causes frenzy (brain fever), which is
what many doctors dread when they observe that the patient
is becoming delirious. Again, it is not surprising that the
evacuations are corrupt and liquid, when the putrefaection is so
extensive.  Aecordingly, it was a bad symptom if an abnormally
large evacuation resulted from taking a mild purgative, especial—
ly in the first days of the illness, for it was an indication that
the corruption was very extensive. 'Those whose blood was
more pituitous slept often and heavily, while those whose blood
was more bilious were wakeful. Spots appeared on the skin,
because nature was trying to drive out as much of the infec—
tion as she could, and now by a flow of blood from the nose, now
by sweat, now by evacuations, she was trying to get rid of the
burden. / But the healthier method of expulsion was attempted
by means of spots of that sort, and hence, of those who had
these spots in abundance, many recovered; whereas the malady
was often fatal to those whose spots were few and scattered,
or disappeared after they had broken out. For this was a sign,
either that nature had not enough force, or that the substance
was rebellious, and either could not be driven to the surface, or
retreated again, and so nature would attempt another kind of
expulsion. Again, the flow of blood from the nose relieved