Phrenitis from the Fifth Century bce to the Twentieth Century ce: A Synoptic Table

Chiara Thumiger

doi:10.1017/9781009241311.013

Appendix 3 Phrenitis from the Fifth Century bce to the Twentieth Century ce: A Synoptic Table

	Bodily localization	Cause
Hippocrates (fifth century bce) (Summary)	(not really a localization) Diaphragm Head Blood Stomach	Bile, phlegm Pressure on the diaphragm? Heating of the blood
Morb. 1.30		Heating of the patient’s blood (haematocentrism)
Morb. 1.34		Cause of death: lack of nourishment, wasting, excessive phlegm, cold, death
Hipp. Fragment in AP	Brain	The brain is damaged by the blood around the chorioid meninx, which usually feeds it, being corrupted by bile
Aff. 10	Diaphragm	Bile settling against the diaphragm
Aff. 12	Random part (ᾗ ἂν τύχῃ)	Accumulation of phlegm and bile
Diocles (fourth century bce)	Inflammation of the diaphragm (φλεγμονὴ τοῦ διαφράγματος); thick, cold phlegm gathering around the offshoots that grow from the heart (καρδία)	Inflammation
Praxagoras (fourth century bce)	Inflammation of the heart (φλεγμονὴν τῆς καρδίας); thick, cold phlegm gathering around the offshoots that grow from the heart (καρδία)
Anonymus Londinensis (fourth century bce)	Logistikon
Heraclides of Tarentum (third–second centuries bce)	Head The stomach can also be involved	Congestion of the head Heaviness when food is in the stomach Decomposition of the humours
Erasistratus (third century bce)	Meninx (κατά τι πάθος τῶν κατὰ τὴν μήνιγγα ἐνεργειῶν)
Asclepiades (second century bce)	Meninges, membranes in general Stomach Brain Sensorial channels Generally delocalized	Stoppage or obstruction of the corpuscles in the membranes of the brain, as it becomes overheated; overflow of corpuscles and blockage. Thus: holistic, delocalized circumstances more than an individual cause (overheating is the sole starting point)
Thessalus (first century bce)	Inflammation of the heart	Denial of antecedent causes
Celsus (first century bce-ce)	Body as a whole; non-specific fever
Galen (second-third century ce)	Brain, nerves, hēgemonikon (diaphragm via sympathy; lungs may be involved)	Inflammation of the brain Overflow of yellow bile in brain or meninges Accumulation of malignant humour Summer heat Bad lifestyle Also overflow of blood in the brain caused by various factors
Anonymus Parisinus	Doxographic survey: Head Meninx Brain Diaphragm	Inflammation, affection of the various parts; descriptive rather than scientific
Aretaeus (first-second century ce)	Diaphragm Heart Head Neura
Oreibasius (fourth century ce)	Brain
Aetius of Amida (sixth century ce)	Meninges, brain; some relation to the chest
Paul of Aegina	Meninges and brain
[ps.-] Alexander of Aphrodisias (second-third century ce)	Brain
Alexander of Tralles (sixth century ce)	Brain/meninges; but controversial localization	Ochre bile; yellow bile; overcooked yellow bile
Nemesius of Emesa (fourth century ce)	Brain
Caelius Aurelianus (fifth century ce?)	No fixed localization
Byzantine authors	Brain (diaphragm)	Inflammation, humoral unbalance
Ḥunayn (ninth century ce)	Brain and meninges Diaphragm
al-Rāzī (ninth–tenth centuries ce)	Brain
Haly Abbas, Pantegni/ Viaticum	Membranes of the brain or the brain matter Diaphragm	Hot complexion of the brain or apostema in the membranes of the brain or in the brain
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), (tenth–eleventh century)	Brain/meninges (Diaphragm)	Hot apostema/abscess of the head Blood, pure yellow bile, pure red bile, or bile burnt black
Arnau de Vilanova (fourteenth century)	Membranes/Brain (Diaphragm, chest)	Hot apostema of the membranes
Gilbertus Anglicus (thirteenth century)	Anterior portion of the brain or its membranes (= frenes)	Inflamed apostema born in the anterior portion of the brain or its membranes; accumulation of liquid in the brain due to (1) its many vessels, (2) its sponginess, which sucks in moisture
Gentile da Foligno (fourteenth century)	Brain (Diaphragm)
Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) (twelfth century), Taysir	Head Brain, membranes	Apostema Humours Humours rising from the stomach
Bernard de Gordon (beginning of the fourteenth century)	Brain or membranes of the brain	Hot apostema Overheating
Talmud (Kordiakos/Qordiakos)	Heart?	New wine A daemon
Rabbi Jonah (tenth–eleventh centuries ce)	Brain/mind/diaphragm
Maimonides (twelfth century ce)	Brain/mind/diaphragm
Syriac Book of Medicines (fourth–twelfth centuries?)	Brain/chest/diaphragm/membranes
Salernitan school (tenth century CE- )	Brain/head/membranes (Diaphragm)	Apostema calidus
Parcelsus (fifteenth–sixteenth century)	The spiritus	The tartari can be cause
Antonio Beniveni (sixteenth century)	Head, brain
André du Laurens (sixteenth–seventeenth centuries)	Brain and membranes of the brain Diaphragm
Daniel Sennert (seventeenth century)	Brain, meninges
Giovanbattista Morgagni (seventeenth–eighteenth centuries)	Brain and membranes of the brain (lungs can be involved)	Inflammation, heating; various circumstances
Herman Boerhaave (seventeenth–eighteenth centuries)	Brain and membranes of the brain (lungs and other organs may also be involved)
Gerard van Swieten (eighteenth century)	Brain and membranes of the brain (lungs and other organs may also be involved)
Ferdinand Saalman (eighteenth–nineteenth centuries)	Brain and membranes of the brain Lungs	Contagious infection, lack of hygiene and cleanness, bad air
Philippe Pinel (nineteenth century)	Brain and membranes of the brain	Inflammation, heating
Physicians and veterinaries (seventeenth–nineteenth centuries)	Brain and membranes of the brain	Inflammation, heating; various circumstances
nineteenth–twentieth-century medical consensus	Brain and membranes of the brain (meningo-encephalitis)	Inflammation, heating; various circumstances

Book contents

Appendix 3 - Phrenitis from the Fifth Century bce to the Twentieth Century ce: A Synoptic Table

Summary

Appendix 3 Phrenitis from the Fifth Century bce to the Twentieth Century ce: A Synoptic Table

Book contents

Appendix 3 - Phrenitis from the Fifth Century bce to the Twentieth Century ce: A Synoptic Table

Summary

Appendix 3 Phrenitis from the Fifth Century bce to the Twentieth Century ce: A Synoptic Table

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