Book 2
2
But if it proceed from erosion, the patient is to be interrogated if he ever had a cough before, or was affected with dyspnœa, and whether nausea or vomiting ever afflicted him previously. For from such chronic affections the vessels are corroded by a continued, copious, and acrid defluxion. When, therefore, the containing vessels, having been long wasted and attenuated, at length give way, they pour forth blood.
2
But the mode by rarefaction is, indeed, unattended by rupture, and on that account the discharge is neither copious nor sudden, nor does it consist of thick blood; for by the rarefaction of the vessels, the thin portion is excreted. But if much collect in a cavity, and be again brought up, it becomes thicker than natural, but yet not very thick, neither black, like a clot; but it is quickly brought up in greater quantity, as being from a collection. This mode of bringing up blood is common with women who have not their monthly purgation, and appears at the periods of the purgation, and stops during the intervals between them; and if the woman is not cured, the discharge upwards of blood will revert for many periods, and also, in certain cases, the vessels burst from fulness.
2
And there is a difference of the discharge, whether it be brought up from an artery or a vein. For it is black, thick, and readily coagulates, if from a vein; it is less dangerous, and is more speedily stopped; but if from an artery, it is of a bright yellow colour and thin, does not readily coagulate, the danger is more imminent, and to stop it is not so easy; for the pulsations of the artery provoke the hemorrhage, and the lips of the wound do not coalesce from the frequent movements of the vessel.
