The best kind of air is that which is perfectly pure, such as that which
is not defiled with the exhalation from lakes or marshes, nor from any
pit which emits pestilential vapours. That also which is impregnated
with the exhalations from a canal conveying the impurities of a city
is deleterious, and indeed every kind which is loaded with vapours is
not good; as also that which is contained within any hollow place, shut
up on all sides by high mountains, and not admitting of ventilation.
Those, therefore, which are thus deleterious, prove hurtful to all
ages and temperaments, whereas the best kinds agree with all. But
their differences as to quality—I mean heat, coldness, dryness, and
humidity—have not the same effect upon all. Those of a proper temperament
are benefited by temperate air, whereas those labouring under an
intemperament derive benefit from the opposite kind.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. The first part of this Section is taken from Oribasius.
(Synops. i, 24.) The remaining part will be found in the ‘Med. Collect.’
(ix, 1), where the subject is treated of at great length. See, also,
Aëtius (iii, 162.) All these authors, however, are much indebted to
Galen. (De Sanitate tuendâ, i.) According to Galen, the moon produces
changes in the atmosphere, whereby she occasions putrefaction of dead
bodies, impairs the colour, and hurts the head of living persons. (De
Diebus Criticis, iii.) On the supposed causes why the moon occasions
putrefaction, see Plutarch (Synops. iii.)
Antyllus says that there are many differences of airs: some arising
from the season of the year; some from the changes of the moon; and
some from the hour of the day or night; some from thickness or tenuity,
motion or rest, or from the admixture of terrene exhalations. The sun,
he adds, warms the body; but the moon rather humectates, and, therefore,
she moistens the brain, and occasions the putrefaction of the flesh;
renders the bodies of those who sleep in the open air more humid and
obtuse; and, for the same cause, she induces epilepsy and heaviness of
the head. Cold air, he says, produces plumpness, good nutrition, and the
formation of fat; it promotes the growth of the body, and hence, the
inhabitants of northern climates are remarked to possess this character.
It is unsuitable, however, to all acute disorders; and is also improper
for certain chronic diseases, such as consumption, cachexy, paralysis,
apoplexy, and rheumatism. Warm air consumes the body, attenuating and
wasting the system, but it is preferable to cold air for imparting vigour
and agility; it tries the powers, is useful in affections of the nerves
and chest, but not in those of other parts. Thick air has no other good
property, except that it prevents the powers from being dissipated. Thin
air is most conducive to health. The air of high situations is said by
him to be more salubrious to all persons, except those labouring under
diaphoresis or syncope, and the aged. The atmosphere of places near the
sea, he remarks, is milder than that of inland parts. Places in the
neighbourhood of marshes are at all times unhealthy; but, in summer,
their atmosphere is pestilent. Those by a river side are cold and
changeable. See more fully Stobæus. (Sermo xcix.)
Hippocrates gives many interesting observations on the effect of climate,
and the state of the atmosphere, in influencing the health; but they are
delivered so much in detail, that my limits do not admit of my entering
into an exposition of them. (De Aëre Aquis, Locis.) The account there
given of the effects of stagnant water when used as drink is particularly
deserving of attention. He says it produces diseases of the spleen,
dropsies, and the like. See Coray’s edition of this treatise.
Haly Abbas gives a very elaborate disquisition on this subject. He
describes minutely the characters of salubrious airs, and the changes
produced upon them by the seasons of the year, the state of the winds,
the nature of countries, and the stars, that is to say, the sun and
dog-star. (Theor. v.) See also Rhases (Contin. xxxiii); Avicenna (i, 2,
2.)