Epidemics (1.3.13-1.3.15)

In Thasos a little before and at the season of Arcturus many violent rains with northerly winds. About the equinox until the setting of the Pleiades

slight, southerly rains. Winter northerly, droughts, cold periods, violent winds, snow. About the equinox very severe storms. Spring northerly, droughts, slight rains, periods of cold. About the summer solstice slight showers, periods of great cold until near the Dog Star. After the Dog Star, until Arcturus, hot summer. Great heat, not intermittent but continuous and severe. No rain fell. The Etesian winds blew. About Arcturus southerly rains until the equinox.

In this constitution during winter began paralyses which attacked many, a few of whom quickly died. In fact, the disease was generally epidemic. In other respects the public health continued good. Early in spring began ardent fevers which continued until the equinox and on to summer. Now those who began to be ill at once, in spring or the beginning of summer, in most cases got well, though a few died; but when autumn and the rains came the cases were dangerous, and more died.

As to the peculiarities of the ardent fevers, the most likely patients to survive were those who had a proper and copious bleeding from the nose, in fact I do not know of a single case in this constitution that proved fatal when a proper bleeding occurred, For Philiscus and Epaminon and Silenus, who died, had only a slight epistaxis on the fourth and fifth days. Now the majority of the patients had rigors near the

crisis, especially such as had no epistaxis, but these had sweats also as well as rigors.

Some had jaundice on the sixth day, but these were benefited by either a purging through the bladder or a disturbance of the bowels or a copious hemorrhage, as was the case with Heraclides, who lay sick at the house of Aristocydes. This patient, however, who had a crisis on the twentieth day, not only bled from the nose, but also experienced disturbance of the bowels and a purging through the bladder. Far otherwise was it with the servant of Phanagoras, who had none of these symptoms, and died. But the great majority had hemorrhage, especially youths and those in the prime of life, and of these the great majority who had no hemorrhage died. Older people had jaundice or disordered bowels, for example Bion, who lay sick at the house of Silenus. Dysenteries also were general in summer, and some too of those who had fallen ill, and also suffered from hemorrhage, finally had dysentery; for example, the slave of Erato and Myllus, after copious hemorrhage, lapsed into dysentery. They recovered.

This humour,[*] then, especially was in great abundance, since even those who had no hemorrhage near the crisis, but swellings by the ears which disappearedand after their disappearance there was a heaviness along the left flank up to the extremity of the hipafter the crisis had pain and passed thin urine, and then began to suffer slight hemorrhage about the twenty-fourth day, and

abscessions into hemorrhage occurred. In the case of Antipho, son of Critobulus, the illness ceased and came to a complete crisis about the fortieth day.