6. For the most serious ills extreme measures cautiously
employed are the best.
8. When an illness has reached its acme the lightest diet must be prescribed.
11. During the exacerbations nourishment should be withheld, for at these times the giving of food is harmful; and in illnesses which are characterized by periodic paroxysms it is also best not to give food during the paroxysms.
13. Old people bear fasting very well, and the same is almost true of persons of mature age; but young individuals do not bear abstinence from food so well, and this is particularly the case with children, especially with those of a lively disposition.
24. In acute illnesses laxative remedies should rarely be administered, and then only in the early stage of the malady and with great caution.
II.—2. When sleep puts an end to delirium it is a good sign.
3. When either sleep or wakefulness oversteps the proper limit it is harmful.
5. Causeless depression is an indication of some disorder.
19. In acute diseases the prognosis as regards either death or recovery, is very uncertain.
44. Corpulent persons are more likely than those who are slender to die a quick death.
V.—7. When epileptic attacks occur before the age of puberty, a change for the better may be looked for; but if the disease makes its first appearance when the individual has already reached his twenty-fifth year, he may be expected to carry the affliction with him to the time of his death.
9. Consumption most commonly attacks persons who are between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five.
14. When a consumptive person has attacks of diarrhoea, a fatal issue may be anticipated.
VII.—1. If in the course of an acute illness the extremities grow cold, it is an unfavorable sign.
- [Footnote: sentence: "How many are the occasions when we physicians would have it
in our power to avert death, or at least to postpone it for a few hours, if we would only engrave upon our memories these words of the old man of Cos! 'What a cruel responsibility rests upon those whose duty it is to summon the doctor at the proper moment! And how great must be the remorse if he fails to arrive in time!' On the other hand, how wise is the remark of Celsus: 'The best practitioner is he who never loses sight of his patients.'"]
