Humors, theory

The major authority for medicine in the Middle Ages was Galen of Pergamon, who worked in Rome in the second century AD. Galen adopted the humoral theory of Hippocrates, including the classification of mental illnesses, and his therapeutic recommendations were also based on the tradition of the Hippocratic school diet, vomiting, blood-letting and the administration of soporifics. 

This distinction has not been noted by critics Caroline di Miceli, in fact, conflates Galenic humoral theory with Paracelsan theory about the curative power of poisons in her description of the common stock of knowledge and ideas drawn upon by Renaissance dramatists ( Sickness and Physic, 43-4)-... 

Galen and followers adopt the Hippocratic humor theory, which holds sway until the 18 Century. Surgical intervention is seen as meaningless due to the systemic nature of the humor imbalance.. ... 

My story is a peculiar one. It is hard to know what to make of it. The notion of some kind of fantastically complicated visionary revelation that happens to put one at the very center of the action is a symptom of mental illness. This theory does that, and yet so does immediate experience, and so do the ontologies of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. My theory may be clinically pathological, but unlike these religious systems, I have enough humor to realize this. It is important to appreciate the intrinsic comedy of privileged knowledge. It is also important to have recourse to the scientific method whenever appropriate. Most scientific theories can be disproven in the calm confines of the laboratory, evolution to the contrary. 

Although Nyholm had been in London previously it was not until 1955 that I met him. He had become enthused with the power of crystal field theory and had asked me to discuss certain ideas with him. I have only a hazy recollection of the meeting in so far as its chemical content was concerned but I remember clearly the brisk, Uvely and humorous manner in which he conducted the conversation. He was warm and friendly with a touch of pugnacious assertiveness in his voice. His enthusiasm carried a challenge to debate. 

The fourth century b.c.e. philosopher Plato added four qualities to this theory hot, dry, wet, and cold Two of each of these qualities were shared by each element, as can be seen in Figure 5.2, and because of this shared quality one element could transform into another. Alchemists also related the four qualities and elements to four liquid qualities in the body called humors black bile, phlegm, blood, and yellow bile. They believed that health was attained through the proper balance of these humors. They also believed that an excess of any humor led to... 

Paracelsus went on to dismiss the theory on which the orthodox medicine of the day was based. This theory, which had originally been proposed by Hippocrates, held that the body contained four humors blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Disease was supposedly a consequence of imbalances in these humors, and it was the physician s job to correct the imbalances. Furthermore, each humor was associated with one of the four elements. For example, a fever was clearly the result of the presence of too much fire. The humor that corresponded to fire was blood, so feverish patients should be bled. All of this was nonsense, Paracelsus said. The body was a kind of chemical laboratory, and a doctor must investigate the properties of chemical compounds to find those that would cure any specific disease. 

One of the first people to apply science to medicine was the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (ca. 460-377 b.c.e.). Influenced by the idea that the world is composed of four substances—earth, air, fire, and water—as taught by the Greek philosopher Empedocles (ca. 495-435 b.c.e.), Hippocrates proposed that four fluids are critical in determining a person s state of health. These fluids, known as humors (from a Latin term for moisture), were called blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. According to Hippocrates, an imbalance in these humors caused disease. Later, people associated a specific temperament or personality with these humors, a theory that was one of the earliest attempts to explain moods and emotions. Blood, for example, was associated with an optimistic disposition, while black bile corresponded to depression. 

The chemist John Dalton (of atomic theory fame) was color-blind. He thought it probable that the vitreous humor of his eyes (the fluid that fills the eyeball behind the lens) was tinted blue, unlike the colorless fluid of normal eyes. He proposed that after his death, his eyes should be dissected and the color of the vitreous humor determined. His wish was honored. The day after Dalton s death in July 1844, Joseph Ransome dissected his eyes and found the vitreous humor to be perfectly colorless. Ransome, like many scientists, was reluctant to throw samples away. He placed Dalton s eyes in ajar of preservative (Fig. 1), where they stayed for a century and a half. 

Reviews of the theory of capillarity and its application to solid-state processes have been written by Herring [1], Mullins [2], and Blakely [3]. Adam wrote a classic text on fluid surfaces [4], For modern mathematical treatments of capillarity, consult Finn s book [5]. For a mathematical treatment of curvature and anisotropic interfaces written for materials scientists, see Taylor s review article [6].1 There are useful analogies between interfaces and phase diagrams which are particularly instructive for materials scientists [7]. Anybody with a milligram of curiosity and a sense of humor must read C.V. Boys s book on soap bubbles although written for children, the book is full of useful insights about the nature of interfaces [8]. 

There has been much discussion about the harshness of the court s punishment. The theory is that, in a comedy, such harsh judgment takes the edge off the humor. Jonson has been called a moralist because of the fate he assigned Mosca and Volpone. Some critics feel that these sentences are in keeping with the stupidity of the judges, though they are out of proportion to the offenses. Others feel that the conclusion represents the symbolic flagellation and death of a god or prince of fools, who must at all costs be kept under control. 

Although humoral medicine had many followers, a notable exception was Celsus (25 BCE-50 CE), a Roman encyclopedist. Celsus wrote De Medicina, which advocates a reasoned theory of medicine based on experimentation as opposed to speculation. 5 While the ideas of Celsus are more consistent with modern medical practice, they failed to displace the mystical appeal of humoral medicine.1... 

The clonal selection theory explains the operation of the humoral immune system as follows. 

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