Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
A Treatise on Fevers (Author: [unknown])

Section 15

{TCD 1299 page and line 32a45} Let it be asked here should baths be given in every fever; it seems not, for Galenus says in the second book of Remedia acutorum, that one should not bathe with a phlegmatic fever, and the reason of that is that it disperses the light matter and leaves the heavy matter undispersed, so baths should not be taken in every fever. Then Galenus says that everything that increases the corruption and preserves it should not be done, and Galenus says corruption is increased and preserved by bathing, so it should not be done in fevers. Then Galenus says in the commentary of the fourth section of Aphorisms that one should not bathe in hot water in a fever accompanied by ulcers, so bathing is not suitable in every fever. Then Galenus says bathing expels only the excess of the third digestion, and the matter between flesh and skin, and the matter of continuous fever is not there but internal in the veins, so bathing is not suitable in every fever. Then Galenus says in the commentary of this aphorism: ‘Sub cane ... ’,4 and Aristotle says these words: ‘Balneum ... ’ i.e. bathing in fevers is opposed to the evacuation of the matter, so bathing is not suitable in fevers. This is opposed according to Galenus in the eighth book of De ingenio sanitatis for he says bathing is suitable in ephemeral fever, and in the tenth book that it is suitable in hectic fever, and in the eleventh book that it is suitable in putrid fever, so bathing is suitable in every fever. Then Galenus says in the tenth book of De ingenio sanitatis that everything that cools the body and moistens it is suitable in corrupt fever, and bathing cools and moistens the body, so it should be given in putrid fever. Then Galenus says that everything which digests the offending matter and expels it and cools the body is suitable to give in fevers, and Galenus says bathing in sweet water does those things, so it should be given in every fever. We answer that and say that bathing is serviceable in ephemeral fever in every period, and it should not be given in hectic fever, for there are three reasons for hindering it in the hectic, i.e. because it is dispersing, and because it is hot, and because it is purgative, for those three things are directly opposed to hectic fever. The giving of baths in putrid fever is

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understood in two ways, i.e. with regard to the accidental ailment and with regard to the fever itself. With regard to the ailments, there are six conditions for hindering bathing. The first condition, i.e. a bath should not be given if the fever patient has abdominal flux, for if the flux is checked, the matter is drawn to the principal members and causes then an increase of the injury. The second condition, i.e. a bath should not be given if the fever patient suffers from constipation, for it would make the body diseased (or ‘too dry’?). The third condition, i.e. if the energy is weak, a bath should not be given. The fourth condition, a bath should not be given to people who suffer habitually from nausea and vomiting. The fifth condition, people in choleric delirium (?)5 should not be put in a bath. The sixth condition, i.e. people with a flux of blood, or ready for it, should not be put in a bath.