Whom to Purge, With Which Cleansing Drugs, and When

Galen. Oribasii collectionum medicarum reliquiae, Volume 1.1 (Corpus medicorum Graecorum, Volume 6). Raeder, Hans, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1928.

Open Greek and Latin · CC BY-SA 4.0

Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.

This medical treatise addresses the fundamental principles of humoral purging, focusing on the questions of whom to treat, which cleansing drugs to use, and when to administer them. The author begins by discussing the difficulty of purging a healthy body for preventive purposes, identifying spring as the optimal season and emphasizing the need for thorough preparation and dilution of humors beforehand. The text then details the criteria for choosing appropriate drugs, such as hellebore, and selecting the correct evacuation routes based on the patient's age, the season, and the specific nature of the disease. Furthermore, it explains the crucial timing of administration during acute and chronic illnesses, highlighting the necessity of waiting for the humors to mature and offering methods to protect the digestive tract from harsh laxatives. Finally, the work concludes with an analysis of why purges sometimes fail and the pharmaceutical art of mixing and harmonizing drugs with aromatic substances to mitigate irritation and ensure regular action.