The Triumph of Hippocratic Medicine
The Complete History of Science
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The Origins of the Four Humours in Western Medicine
On the Nature of Man argued that disease was caused by an imbalance of the so-called four humours. These were blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile which according to this theory should exist in the correct proportion in the body. This humour was thought to correspond to a particular climate, so phlegm was associated with cold and hence is prevalent in winter while yellow bile is hot and more common in the summer. In fact, all treatments within this scheme can be seen as an attempt to restore the balance of these humours. Eases to diet or herbal remedies were often prescribed as treatment with this goal in mind. If for example, a patient was diagnosed
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