Kitap 4
2
In the head, then, there is at times an acute and dangerous disease, which the Greeks call cephalaia; the signs of which are hot shivering, paralysis of sinews, blurred vision, alienation of the mind, vomiting, so that the voice is suppressed, or bleeding from the nose, so that the body becomes cold, vitality fails. In addition there is intolerable pain, especially in the region of the temples and back of the head. Again, there is sometimes a chronic weakness in the head, which, although neither severe nor dangerous, lasts through life; sometimes there is more severe pain, but of short duration, and not fatal, which is brought about by wine or indigestion or cold or heat or the sun. And all these pains occur, sometimes with fever, sometimes without fever; sometimes they affect the whole head, sometimes a part only; at times so as to cause excruciating pain also in the adjacent part of the face. Besides the foregoing there is a class which may become chronic, in which a humour inflates the scalp, so that it swells up and yields to the pressure of the fingers. The Greeks call it hydrocephalus. Of these forms, that mentioned second, while it is slight, is to be treated by the regimen I have stated when I was describing what healthy men should do in the case of weakness of any part (I.4). For pain in the head accompanied by fever the remedies have been detailed when describing the treatment of fevers in general (III.3‑17). Now to speak of the rest.
