Theses medicae de dyspnoea

by condensing and constricting the substance thereof, is believed to have been the cause of this malady.

VIII.

The antecedent causes of all these are plethora, cacochymia, flatulent spirits, and the fluxes born therefrom.

IX.

The procatarctic causes of these, in turn, are enumerated as the six so-called non-natural things, insofar as they can generate humors or flatulent spirits, or incite the incursion of the same into the lungs and thorax.

X.

Furthermore, there are three modes or differences of dyspnoea effected by the aforementioned causes. The first, which has obtained the name of the genus, is dense and frequent respiration, naturally, without sound or stertor.

XI.

That which occurs with sound or stertor is second in order, called ἄσθμα by the Greeks, and panting or sighing by the Latins.

XII.

They call Ὀρθόπνοιαν [orthopnoea] the third, in which breath is drawn only with the neck held straight.

XIII.

The signs of this affection are taken primarily from the very manner of breathing. For the thorax is dilated much, rapidly, frequently, sometimes with sound, and sometimes otherwise: and the quantity of the inhaled air does not correspond in proportion to the magnitude of the distension.

XIIII.

Furthermore, a sense of heaviness is also perceived, and sometimes tension of the chest or the spine. The pulse is generally frequent, slow, and as the malady progresses, also unequal, tremulous, and failing.