Читать книгу Medicine in the Middle Ages. Extracts from "Le Moyen Age Medical" by Dr. Edmond Dupouy; translated by T. C. Minor онлайн

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In recalling the fact that Aristotle was the son of Nichomachus, Pierre de Vernon probably desired to call the attention of his readers more to the knowledge of medicine that the author derived from his father, the celebrated physician, than to the brilliant pupil of Plato.

Among the interesting passages in this poem we distinguish some that advise abstinence to persons whose maladies are engendered by excesses at table:

“One man cannot live without wine,

While another without it should dine;

For the latter, ’tis clear,

All grape juice and beer

For his own stomach’s sake should decline.”

The author claims drinking at meals induces gastralgia from acidity of the stomach:

“The signs of bad stomach thus trace:

Poor digestion, a red bloated face,

With out-popping eyes,

Palpitation, and sighs.

With oppression, as though one did lace.”

He mentions eructations and sour belching as indicating frigidity of the stomach, and advises the drinking of very hot water before meals. Aside from this, he gives good counsel relative to all the advantages of a sober and peaceful life: