Book 1
11
The so-called white [leprosy] shows the difference between assimilation and adhesion, in the same way that the kind of dropsy which some people call anasarca clearly distinguishes presentation from adhesion. For, of course, the genesis of such a dropsy does not come about as do some of the conditions of atrophy and wasting,Lit. phthisis. cf. p. 6, note 2. Now means tuberculosis only. from an insufficient supply of moisture; the flesh is obviously moist enough, — in fact it is thoroughly saturated, — and each of the solid parts of the body is in a similar condition. While, however, the nutriment conveyed to the part does undergo presentation, it is still too watery, and is not properly transformed into a juice,More literally, chymified. In anasarca the subcutaneous tissue is soft, and pits on pressure. In the white disease referred to here (by which is probably meant modular leprosy ) the same tissues are indurated and brawny. The principle of certain diseases being best explained as cases of arrest at various stages of the metabolic path is recognized in modern pathology, although of course the instances given by Galen are too crude to stand. nor has it acquired that viscous and agglutinative quality which results from the operation of innate heat;The effects of oxidation attributed to the heat which accompanies it? cf. p. 141, note 1; p. 254, note1. therefore, adhesion cannot come about, since, owing to this abundance of thin, crude liquid, the pabulum runs off and easily slips away from the solid parts of the body. In white [leprosy], again, there is adhesion of the nutriment but no real assimilation. From this it is clear that what I have just said is correct, namely, that in that part which is to be nourished there must first occur presentation, next adhesion, and finally assimilation proper.
