[p. 269]
may distinguish parts of them as being portions of the thorax,
and parts which have a fleshy appearance as being portions of
the lungs. There is heaviness of the chest, freedom from pain,
and much redness of the face, particularly in these cases.
But if brought up from the thorax, pain stretching to the
anterior part of the breast is indicative of the ruptured part;
cough intense, expectoration difficult, the blood not very fluid,
moderately thick, without froth. But if, in passing, the lung
be affected by consent, a certain amount of froth is imparted
to it, for the passage from the chest to the trachea is by the
lungs.
But if, indeed, from the side there be discharged with cough
blood which is black, smooth, fœtid, stinking, as from putrefaction,
with acute pain of the side, many die after the manner
of pleuritics with fever.
A season that is humid and hot engenders these affections.
Spring is thus humid and hot. Next the summer; autumn
less, but winter least of all. They die in summer mostly from
hemorrhage, for great inflammations do not readily occur
then; secondly, in spring, from inflammation and ardent
fevers; but in autumn, attacks of phthisis readily occur.
In a word, every discharge of blood upwards, even if small,
and although the ruptured vessels may have already united, is
attended with lowness of spirits, dejection, and despair of life.
For who is so firm in mind as to see himself enduring a state
resembling that of a slaughtered animal, and yet have no fear of
death? For the largest and most powerful animals, such as bulls,
die very quickly from loss of blood. That, however, is no great
wonder. But this is a mighty wonder: in the discharge from the
lungs alone, which is particularly dangerous, the patients do
not despair of themselves, even although near the last. The
insensibility of the lungs to pain appears to me to be the cause
of this; for pain, even although slight, makes one to fear
death, and yet, in most cases, it is more dreadful than pernicious;
