Galen on qualified experience 287
In the rest of the chapter, Galen further lists a number of
that
are relevant to the question of the powers of foodstuffs, such as:
the amount of time spent on the preparation of the substance, as well as
the manner of preparation, which may influence its power;^25
the particular condition (both natural and acquired) of the bowels and
the stomach, which determines which constituents of the substance
are activated in the process of digestion;^26
season, geographical area, age, sex, way of life (the list of factors familiar
from the Hippocratic Corpus), each of which may influence the actual
outcome of an empirical test;^27
variations in the intensity of the substance’s effect;^28
degrees of mixture with other substances, which may significantly influ-
ence the substance’s power;^29
different parts of the body, which may react differently to one and the
same substance.^30
The general thrust of the argument is that the actual effect a substance
may produce not only depends on the ‘mixture’ (+
) of the substance,
but also on the mixture of the body;^31 variations on either side bring com-
plications with them. When testing the substance’s power, and when pre-
scribing the substance in particular cases, it is the task of the dietician to
take all those variations into account.
On the matter of ‘mixtures’ (
),On Mixturesbook 3 presents a
more systematic discussion of the
to be taken into account when
describing the effects of a particular foodstuff or drug. After explaining a
number of notions that are very fundamental to the study of pharmacology,
such as-
and
(to which I shall turn later), Galen enumerates
a long list of factors which determine the possible effects of a foodstuff or
drug:
some drugs immediately bring about warmth when brought into contact
with a human body, but others have to be cut into smaller pieces before
actually bringing about the effect;^32
(^251). 1. 12 – 15 (CMGv4, 2 ,pp. 205. 23 – 206. 28 Helmreich, 6. 460 – 2 K.).
(^261). 1. 16 – 17 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 207. 1 – 18 Helmreich, 6. 462 K.).
(^271). 1. 30 – 2 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 211. 9 – 30 Helmreich, 6. 470 – 1 K.). Cf.De simpl. med. fac. 3. 12 ( 11. 570 K.).
(^281). 1. 26 – 8 (CMGv4, 2 ,pp. 208. 8 – 209. 3 Helmreich, 6. 468 – 70 K.). Cf.De simpl. med. fac. 1. 27
( 11. 428 – 9 ). Harig ( 1974 ), 117 ff.
(^291). 1. 40 – 1 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 214. 4 – 22 Helmreich, 6. 475 – 6 K.).
(^301). 1. 42 – 3 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 214. 2 – 9 Helmreich, 6. 477 K.).
(^311). 1. 34 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 212. 12 – 13 Helmreich, 6. 472 K.).
(^32) De temper. 3. 1 (p. 89. 15 ff. Helmreich, 1. 651 ff. K.); cf.De simpl. med. fac. 1. 11 ( 11. 400 K.).