644 A DISSERTATION ON THE EPIDEMIC CHOLERA. 
the Greek, if so added, but is of powerful effect in the Hebrew, 
it must be clear that it is of Hebrew or Egyptian origin. 
We shall now see these remarks in a singular manner verified, 
on referring to Celsus, who followed those early Greek physi¬ 
cians above noticed, at no very distant period; and here we find 
him ascribing to cholera directly a bilious origin; and supporting 
the opinion, apparently, by his own observations on the disease. 
I cannot any where find, however, the quotation of Dr. Mason 
Good, who tells us that Celsus derived cholera from %oXvj, bile, 
and pgw, to flow, for no such derivation occurs with him: Celsus 
probably knew better. This is another instance of false quo¬ 
tation, shewing how necessary it is to examine quotations, and 
not to take them on trust ; for this passage has been lately often 
repeated by others. The real words of Celsus are well worth 
remarking, and are as follow : —“ ISlam simul et dejectio, et vo- 
mitus est; prwterque hwc, inflatio est, hitestina torquentur, bills 
supra iufraque erumpit, primum aquw sirnilis, delude ut in ea 
recens caro lota esse videalur, interdu.n alba, nonnunquam nigra, 
vel varia. Ergo eo nomine morbum nunc Grad noini- 
nanturS' Celsus, lib. 4, c. xi. 
Here we see that Celsus fully falls into the idea of a dreadfully 
bilious disease ; and, to confirm his apprehensions, this excellent 
man is led to imagine that the bile can assume nearly all colours 
and forms, and as being sometimes limpid as water, some¬ 
times in lumps like parboiled bits of flesh, sometimes white, and 
sometimes black, or various.’^ In the cure, however, he recom¬ 
mends warm water, as we do, but seems to defer spices and 
wines till towards the conclusion of the disorder! 
The physicians, after the time of Celsus, following his exam¬ 
ple, more and more embraced, almost invariably, the notion of a 
bilious origin to this complaint, and not from a suppression, 
which is generally the fact, but from a redundance of the bile. 
Yet very numerous accurately-conducted dissections of late have 
convincingly proved the contrary to be the case, by the fulness of 
the gall-bladder itself, and from the dark colour of the retained 
bile. Hence I was led, in an early part of my former communi¬ 
cation, to say, that either the disease was wrongly referred to, 
or the name of it, implying bile, or as of bilious origin, was a 
misnomer ; and such proves now to be the fact, and we must go 
back to the simple Hebrew sense of the word to justify the name 
at all. 
It is, however, possible that a very contrary state, viz., a sup¬ 
pression of the bile, may so derange the health as to render a 
person more obnoxious to the disease, or predispose him to re¬ 
ceive it; though even then the disease must be proximately or 
