GREEK BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 



the body (a Hippocratic conception), was of 

 itself able to cure the part and restore its func- 

 tion. He acts only when nature has proved 

 inadequate. He should consider the inception 

 of the disease, decide upon its causes, and 

 endeavor to remove them or prevent their 

 action. He should resort to further counter- 

 acting measures as the pronounced symptoms 

 of the disease declare themselves. 



Galen conceived the physis as the sum of the 

 powers which impel the body's parts to perform 

 their functions. In the sick body one or the 

 other of these powers exceeds or is deficient 

 in its action. The physician's care must first 

 of all concern itself with the expelling power, 

 which produces the excretions and evacuations 

 of the healthy body, and in sickness expels 

 the matter of the disease. The attracting, re- 

 straining and alterative powers are then to be 

 investigated; and the skillful physician will 

 perceive which is defective or too violent, and 

 treat the patient accordingly. 



The working principles of Galen are mainly 

 those of Hippocrates. It is in the endeavor 

 to establish them in science and philosophy 

 that Galen goes far beyond the man he called 

 his master. In this endeavor he combined the 



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