thighs extended. But if the latter is found curled up and sliding down toward the foot of the bed, this is an unfavorable sign. Finally, if he is found with rather cold feet projecting from under the bedclothes, and with his arms outstretched and his neck and thighs exposed, his condition may be considered dangerous, for this attitude of the body betokens an agitated state of the mind. If the patient sleeps with his mouth constantly open, lying upon his back and with his thighs strongly flexed and widely separated, it may be assumed that death is near at hand. If he lies upon his belly when it is known that he was not in the habit of sleeping in this manner before he was taken ill, the inference is warranted either that he is delirious or that he is suffering from pain in the lower part of his abdomen. Finally, if the patient shows an inclination to maintain a sitting posture while the malady is still in an active stage, this feature must be looked upon as a grave symptom and especially so in inflammation of the lungs.
XIV.—Pus that has a whitish color and a uniform consistency, that is smooth and free from clumps, and the odor of which is only slightly unpleasant, is the least harmful. On the other hand, a pus which possesses the opposite characteristics is very dangerous.
XL.—Severe pain in the ear, if associated with a persistent fever is dangerous, for the patient may become delirious and die.
[There are 47 chapters in the Book of Prognoses; in
addition, there are 740 separate sections in the Coan
Prognoses (Praenotiones Coacae).]
The Epidemic Diseases.—VI.—4. The wife of Agasis had
already as a young girl been troubled with shortness of breath.
After she had reached womanhood, and soon after she had given
birth to a child, she lifted a heavy weight. Immediately she heard,
as she believed, a noise in her chest, and on the following day she
experienced some difficulty in breathing and a certain amount of
pain in her right hip. These two symptoms were so related to
each other that, whenever the pain in the hip made its appearance,
she immediately became conscious that she was short of breath,
and, vice versa, whenever the pain ceased, she found that her
breathing became easier. Her expectoration was of a foamy
character and of a rather bright color, but, after it had been
allowed to stand for a short time, it looked like diluted biliary
matter that had been vomited. The pain in the hip troubled her
chiefly when she performed manual work. She was advised to
