The Plague of Lust, Vol. 2 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical AntiquityRosenbaum, Julius
History
The Plague of Lust, Vol. 2 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical Antiquity
Rosenbaum, Julius
Sexually transmitted diseases -- History
[316] _Alexander of Tralles_, bk. IV. ch. 9., δέονται γὰρ οὗτοι τῶν
ἐπικιρνώντων καὶ ἐμψυχόντων πάνυ καὶ λουτρῶν εὐκράτων· ὥστε παχυνθεῖσαν
ἠρέμα τὴν γονὴν καὶ εὔκρατον γενομένην, μηκέτι φέρεσθαι. (For these
patients require compound and very cooling drugs, and lukewarm baths;
so that the seed growing quietly thicker and well-conditioned, may no
longer flow away).
[317] _Galen_, Definit. medic. n. 288. (XIX. p. 426.), Γονόῤῥοιά
ἐστιν ἀπόκρισις ἐπιφέρουσα σπέρματος νόσημα μετὰ τοῦ τήκεσθαι τὸ σῶμα
καὶ ἀχρούστερον ἀποτελεῖσθαι· γίνεται δὲ ἀτονησάντων τῶν σπερματικῶν
ἀγγείων, ὥστε τρόπον τινὰ παρειμένων αὐτῶν μὴ κρατεῖσθαι τὸ σπέρμα.
(Gonorrhœa is a discharge producing a diseased state of semen
accompanied by wasting of the body and an unhealthy-looking complexion;
and it arises through the semen vessels having become atonic, so that,
these being in a way paralysed, the semen is not retained).
[318] _Actuarius_, Method. med. bk. I. ch. 22., Et in seminis quidem
profluvio, neque coles intenditur, neque aeger eadem qua sanus
afficitur voluptate, sed perinde ac si superfluum quiddam excerneretur,
sensu privatur. Quod si morbus moram traxerit, necesse est ut aeger
in colliquationem collabatur ac pereat; quod pinguior humoris portio
eiiciatur ac vitalis spiritus non parum una effluat. (Moreover in
this excessive flux of semen, neither is the member erected, nor does
the patient experience the same pleasure as he does in health, but
exactly as though something superfluous were being eliminated, he is
robbed of sensation. But if the malady runs a more protracted course,
the sufferer cannot but fall into collapse and succumb, inasmuch as
the richer portion of the humour is ejaculated, and the vital spirit
must escape along with it). As early as _Hippocrates_, De morbis bk.
II., edit. Kühn Vol. II. p. we read: ἡ νωτιὰς φθίσις ἀπὸ τοῦ μυελοῦ
γίνεται· λαμβάνει δὲ μάλιστα νεογάμους καὶ φιλολάγνους ... καὶ ἐπὴν
οὐρέῃ ἢ ἀποπατέῃ, προέρχεταί οἱ θορὸς πουλὺς καὶ ὑγρὸς, καὶ γενεὴ οὐκ
ἐγγίνεται, καὶ ὀνειρώσσει, κἂν συγκοιμηθῇ γυναικί, κἂν μή. (Spinal
consumption arises from the marrow; and it attacks particularly newly
married men and lascivious subjects.... And every time the patient
makes water or evacuates, semen flows from him copious and wet, and
he does not succeed in generating, and has nocturnal pollutions,
whether he sleep with a woman or no). Ought this not to be referred to
gonorrhœa?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account