The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

PROFITABLE SAYINGS AND LEGENDS OF PHYSICIANS. 83
"products of the body are these:—That which is In
"the head, [which is expelled] by means of the hair; that
"which is in the stomach, by vomiting; that which is
"under the skin, by perspiration; and that which is
"deep down and below the arteries, by the door of
"the blood."
CCCXL. Another physician said, "The seat of the
"phlegm is in the stomach and its dominion is in the
"breast; the seat of the blood is the heart and its do-
"minion is in the head; the seat of red bile is in the
"gall bladder and its dominion is in the liver; and the
"seat of black bile is in the spleen and its dominion is
"in the heart."
CCCXLI. Another physician wishing to
demonstrate
the difficulty of the art of healing said, "Life is short
"but art is long, time presseth, experimenting is in-
"cautious, and finality is difficult" [of attainment].
CCCXLII. Another physician said, "Divide thy days
"into three seasons:—A season for work, that is to say
"for visiting the sick; a season for study, that is to say
"for reading medical books; and a season for bodily
"recreation."
CCCXLIII. A certain
physician had a son who was
hard of understanding, and who was incapable of receiving
instruction. And his wife said to him, "Since
"this son was [begotten by] thee how is it that he
"cannot receive instruction as thou canst?" And he
replied, "The mind, that which receiveth instruction, was
"not from me."
CCCXLIV. When a sick man asked a certain physician,
who was wont to jest, about a drug he said to
him, "Take an emollient of violet which hath grown
"as large as a clod of dung, and pour upon it as much
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