| [p. 75] Ἢν δὲ ἐς ἀγαθὸν τρέπηται,
βὴξ μακροτέρη καὶ ἀραιοτέρη.
ἀναγωγὴ πλεύνων τε πύων καὶ ὑγροτέρων· κοιλίης τάραχος πολλῶν ὑδατωδέων· οὔρων
ἔκκρισις πολλὴ, κἢν ἐς ὑπόστασιν μηδέκω ἥκῃ· φωνὴ γεγωνοτέρη
, ὕπνοι αὐταρκέες,
ὑποχονδρίων ἄνεσις· ἧκέ ποτε πόνος ἐς μετάφρενον ἐπ' ἀνέσι.
ἆσθμα ἀραιὸν, λεῖον,
κερχνῶδες. |
I am not satisfied that Ermerins was
warranted in prefixing οὐ to
κερχνῶδες , contrary to the authority of all the MSS.
|
ὧδε μὲν οὖν διαδιδρήσκουσι τὸν ὄλεθρον ἐν δὲ τῇσι ἐπανέσεσι,
κἢν περιί̈ωσι ὀρθοστάδην ,
τοῦ πάθεος φέρουσι ξύμβολα.
Κεφ. ιβ'.
Περὶ Πνευμωδῶν. Ἄσθματος
ἰδέη τὸ πνευμῶδες, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύμονος τὸ πάθος ὅκως ἐπ'
ἄσθματι. ξυνὰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ παρεόντα · σμικρὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ
διάφορον. δύσπνοια μὲν γὰρ καὶ βὴξ καὶ ἀγρυπνίη καὶ θέρμη
ξυνά· καὶ ἀποσιτίη καὶ ἰσχνότης ὅλου. καὶ γὰρ ἐς
χρόνον | ι φολλοω ωιγαν ανδ ερμερινς ιν αδοπτινγ τηις ρεαδινγ ιν
πλαξε οφ αἰσχρὸν ὄν. |
τὸ
κακὸν ἀποτείνεται, πλὴν οὐ περαιτέρω ἑνὸς
ἔτεος. ἤν τε γὰρ τὸ μετόπωρον ἄρξῃ,
εἰς τὸ ἔαρ ἢ τὸ θέρος ἀπογίγνονται· ἤν τε χειμὼν,
ἐς τὸ μετόπωρον τελευτῶσι τὸν βίον. κοτὲ καὶ
γέροντες ἁλῶναι ῥΗί̈διοι καὶ ἀπόφρικτοι ἁλόντες, ὅσον
βραχείης ῥΟπῆς ἐς εὐνὴν θανάτου χρέος·|
I must say, I have never
been able to satisfy myself with any interpretation of this passage which I have seen.
Ermerins, indeed, very properly remarks, that in this sentence there is an indirect reference
to a celebrated verse in the Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles; namely--
σμικρὰ παλαιὰ σώματ' εὐνάζει ῥΟπή--that is, "A slight inclination of
the scale sets old persons asleep in death." But then ἀπόφρικτοι
ἁλόντες create difficulty, inasmuch as the adjective never occurs elsewhere, as
far as I am aware; and, moreover, I do not see how a shivering fit should necessarily
occasion death. Instead of it, I would prefer ἀπόφρακτοι ;
that is to say, with the meaning, "being seized with obstructed respiration." Still, however,
there is a difficulty, inasmuch as it would not be easy to find any authority for this
participle, although the verb be not uncommon. See Liddel and Scott. One might think of
ἀπόπληκτοι, which would be a very suitable term, as this
is a very natural cause of sudden death in asthma.
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