Theses medicae de medicamentis stomachicis, quae ventriculi medentur imbecillitatib

purging of chemistry, and the customary fluid evacuations are to be performed. The actions of the commanding part must be assisted and corroborated by evacuating the matter, so that the vice being removed, it may produce or transmit nothing of the sort in the future.

36. The receiving ventricle must then be corroborated with styptics, so that it does not readily receive inflowing humors, but wards them off and diverts them to ignoble parts.

37. And since a humid and cold intemperance of the ventricle is frequent, therefore many hot, dry, and astringent stomachic medicines have been prescribed.

38. For those, therefore, who have a ventricle relaxed by excessive humidity—though not yet corrupted—drying and astringent agents contribute greatly.

39. How these are to be administered—whether in liquid or solid form; under the guise of food or medicine; whether as a powder or an ointment, etc.—must be considered. Likewise, whether they should be applied internally or externally to be of help.

40. It must also be seen whether the humor floats in the fundus of the ventricle, or is tenaciously impacted; and it must be tested whether it can be drawn out and thence pulled away by fasting, or by vomiting, or by drinking tepid water or hydrelaeum, especially since it persists in its capacity.

41. Thus Galen purges corrupt and thin humors, persisting in the ventricle, by the use of hierapicra: thus he casts down fermenting bile, or another humor infesting the ventricle, by the use of astringents.

42. But if a thick and viscous humidity is present, and especially if it is immersed and imbibed by the tunics themselves, then there is need for a mixture of an attenuating medicine, and the tenacious phlegm must be incised with oxymel, distilled waters, decoctions, and syrups.

43. Meanwhile, however, so that some part of the matter causing the disease may depart daily, physicians of the best counsel introduce decoctions, [using] leaves of senna, polypody, and the like, or they mix in hiera, or a little diaphaenicum, or some other medicine, according to their judgment.

44. The matter being thus prepared, while the powers remain intact, it must be evacuated, but not with some [overly] heating remedy, lest harm be inflicted upon the neighboring parts, which are more readily offended by the immoderate use of a cold agent than a hot one.

45. For it is better, if necessity seems to persuade, to divide the evacuations than to prostrate the powers by purging too forcefully; in this place we frequently and happily use a composition from aloes, which they call hierapicra, to which they add diacalaminthe, diatrion pipereon, aromatum rosatum, diospoliticum, etc.

46. There may be stomachic pills, alephangine: assairet, [those] from hiera, [those] of Ruffus, [or] of the three, which can also be exhibited in the spring and autumn seasons for the sake of prophylaxis protection, of one kind or mixed with others.

47. Evacuation, however, must be administered to the ventricle, as also to the liver, with great caution.