[p. 53]
neutralized only by the hot. But all other components
of man become milder and better the
greater the number of other components with which
they are mixed. A man is in the best possible
condition when there is complete coction and rest,
with no particular power displayed. About this I
think that I have given a full explanation.
PART 20
XX. Certain physicians and philosophers assert that
nobody can know medicine who is ignorant what a
man is ; he who would treat patients properly must,
they say, learn this. But the question they raise is one
for philosophy ; it is the province of those who, like
Empedocles, have written on natural science, About "nature," how the universe was born and grew
out of primal elements. We might almost trauslate φὐσισ2 by
"evolution." | what
man is from the beginning, how he came into being
at the first, and from what elements he was originally
constructed. But my view is, first, that all that
philosophers or physicians have said or written on
natural science no more pertains to medicine than to
painting.Or, perhaps, "pertains even less to medicine than to
literature." | I also hold that clear knowledge about
natural science can be acquired from medicine and
from no other source, and that one can attain this
knowledge when medicine itself has been properly
comprehended, but till then it is quite impossible--I
mean to possess this information, what man is,
by what causes he is made, and similar points
accurately. Since this at least I think a physician
must know, and be at great pains to know, about
natural science, if he is going to perform aught of his
duty, what man is in relation to foods and drinks,
|