474 HIPPOCRATES. 



whatever is superfluous or injurious ; and he main- 

 tained that the science of medicine should be foun- 

 ded on a comprehensive knowledge of the mode 

 in which it governs all the operations of nature ; 

 Kara Qvmv Swptwv. (De Principiis, et de Alimento.) 

 He maintained that the solid parts of animals, 

 and their various secretions, were formed from the 

 blood, which was composed of four primary hu- 

 mours, corresponding with the four proximate 

 constituents of modern physiologists, viz. red 

 particles, fibrine, albumen, and serum. But he 

 supposed that the liver was the great organ of 

 sanguification, and termed the cardinal hu- 

 mours, red blood, black bile, yellow bile, and 

 phlegm. On the qualities and relative propor- 

 tions of these four humours, all the diversities of 

 the constitution were supposed to depend. An 

 abundance of red blood was marked by a warm 

 and sanguine temperament ; whereas, an excess 

 of yellow bile produced the choleric tempera- 

 ment, both of which were warm, and charac- 

 terized by a high degree of vital energy. On 

 the other hand, the melancholy temperament 

 was supposed to arise from an excess of black 

 bile, and the phlegmatic from a predominance 

 of phlegm, both of which were cold, and marked 

 by a general debility of the system. But it is evi- 

 dent, that what Hippocrates called phlegm, was 

 only another name for the serous portion of the 

 blood ; and that he confounded the dark venous 



