7-10
On Mixtures 7-10 · What this book will do7-10What this book will do
The plan: find every kind of mixture, and start with the words.
· · ·
δ’1
d’
But
νυνὶ2
nynì
now
, ὅπερ3
hóper
which
ἐστὶν4
estìn
is
ἐφεξῆς5
ephexês
nextin order
ἐκείνῳ6
ekeínōi
after that
book
,ἐν7
en
in
τῷδε8
tôide
this
τῷ9
tôi
—
γράμματι10
grámmati
bookwriting
δίειμι11
díeimi
I will go through
how
ἐξευρεῖν12
exeureîn
to find outto discover
ἁπάσας13
hapásas
all
τὰς14
tàs
the
διαφοράς15
diaphorás
differenceskinds
τῶν16
tôn
of the
κράσεων17
kráseōn
mixtures
: ὁπόσαι18
hopósai
how many
τ’19
t’
—
εἰσὶ20
eisì
there are
καὶ21
kaì
and
ὁποῖαι22
hopoîai
of what sort
, διαιρουμένοις23
diairouménois
dividing
them
κατ’24
kat’
by
εἴδη25
eídē
speciesforms
τε26
te
—
καὶ27
kaì
and
γένη28
génē
kindsgenera
, ποιησάμενος29
poiēsámenos
makinghaving made
τὴν30
tḕn
my
ἀρχὴν31
archḕn
startbeginning
ἀπὸ32
apò
withfrom
τῆς33
tês
the
ἐξηγήσεως34
exēgḗseōs
explanationexplaining
τῶν35
tôn
of the
ὀνομάτων36
onomátōn
nameswords
. But now, which is next after that book, in this book I will go through how to find out all the differences of the mixtures: how many there are and of what sort, dividing them by species and kinds, making my start with the explanation of the names.
But now, which is next after that book, in this book I will go through how to find out all the differences of the mixtures: how many there are and of what sort, dividing them by species and kinds, making my start with the explanation of the names.
Interpretation
But now, as the next step after that book, I will go through in this one all the differences between the mixtures, how many there are and of what sort when you divide them by species and kind. I will start by explaining the names.
"Species and kind," eidē te kai genē, are the words of Aristotle’s logic, and the later Latin species and genera. Galen trained in philosophy as well as medicine and wants his sorting of bodies to be as exact as a philosopher’s sorting of ideas.
Before any sorting, though, he wants the words straight. The rest of this chapter does exactly that: what does a doctor mean when he calls a body "hot"?
11-14
On Mixtures 11-14 · The elements themselves11-14The elements themselves
When older writers say bodies are blended from the four, which "hot" and "cold" do they mean?
· · ·
For when they say the bodies are blended from the hot and the cold and the dry and the wet, they say one must understand the things that are absolutely so, that is, the elements themselves: air and fire and water and earth.