That man is in the best temperament of body when it is in a medium
between all extremes, of leanness and obesity, of softness and hardness,
of heat and cold, of moisture and dryness; and, in a word, who has all
the natural and vital energies in a faultless state. His hair, also,
should be neither thick nor thin, and in colour neither black nor white.
When a boy, his locks should be rather tawny than black, but, when an
adult, the contrariwise.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. This Section is copied from Oribasius (Synops. v, 43), or
Aëtius (iv, 53). See also Galen (de Temperam., de Opt. Corp. Constit.,
de Sanit. tuendâ, v, and Ars Med.) In the last mentioned, which was
long the most celebrated of all his admired works, he has treated of
the temperaments very systematically. Whatever Oribasius, Paulus, or
any subsequent author, whether Greek or Arabian, have delivered on this
subject is altogether derived from the works of Galen.
None of the Arabians has treated of the temperaments so learnedly as Haly
Abbas. (Theor. i.) See also Averrhoes (Collig. vi); Alsaharavius (Theor.
vi); Avicenna (Cant.)