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SEMEIOTICS,

OR THE METHOD OF

DIAGNOSING DISEASED

LOCATIONS, AND

unnatural ailments.

¶ That a diseased limb is recognized from impaired action.

CHAPTER I.

Galen wishes for the diagnosis of any part of the human body that is said to be diseased to be derived first from its impaired action, since that is most certain and never deceives the physician. The function of the human body can be impaired in three ways: either when it does not occur at all, or is depraved, or is weakened. These three types of symptoms are visible in a diseased eye. For an eye that is diseased either does not see at all, or it sees poorly, that is, weakly or depravedly. Thus, the sphincter of the anus is said to suffer from paralysis if the discharge of the bowels occurs involuntarily.