16
And I believe that of all the powersOr properties. none hold less sway in the body than cold and heat. My reasons are these. So long as the hot and cold in the body are mixed up together, they cause no pain. For the hot is tempered and moderated by the cold, and the cold by the hot. But when either is entirely separated from the other, then it causes pain. And at that season, when cold comes upon a man and causes him some pain, for that very reason internal heat first is present quickly and spontaneously, without needing any help or preparation. The result is the same, whether men be diseased or in health. For instance, if a man in health will cool his body in winter, either by a cold bath or in any other way, the more he cools it (provided that his body is not entirely frozen) the more he becomes hotter than before when he puts his clothes on and enters his shelter. Again, if he will make himself thoroughly hot by means of either a hot bath of a large fire, and afterwards wear the same clothes and stay in the same place as he did when chilled, he feels far colder and besides more shivery than before. Or if a man fan himself because of the stifling heat and make coolness for himself, on ceasing to do this in this way he will feel ten times the stifling heat felt by one who does nothing of the sort.
