Source edition
Galen. Claudii Galeni Opera Omnia, Volume 7. Kühn, Karl Gottlob, editor. Leipzig: Knobloch, 1824.
Source data
A Digital Corpus for Graeco-Arabic Studies · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is a medical and philosophical treatise that systematically investigates the causes of various bodily diseases. Based on the hypothesis of material continuity and change, the author traces the origins of diseases, moving from simple tissues to complex organs. The text first examines simple diseases caused by imbalances in the four primary qualities—heat, cold, dryness, and moisture—explaining their mechanisms, such as arterial obstruction and the suffocation of innate heat. It then progresses to composite diseases arising from combinations of these qualities, as well as inflammatory conditions caused by humoral imbalances and the body’s natural disposal of waste. Furthermore, the author details structural and anatomical ailments affecting specific organs, including deformities in shape, abnormalities in number, size, and position, and the disruption of continuity (fractures and lacerations). Concluding this comprehensive analysis of disease causes, the work prepares the reader for the subsequent study of accompanying symptoms.