Note 494 — ON THE PROGNOSTICS.

Galen, in his Commentary, justly praises Hippocrates for the acuteness of the remark contained in this sentence, since both with regard to the urinary and fecal discharges, it must be highly important to determine whether their characters be indicative of the condition of the general system, or of the viscus by which they are secreted. (Opera, v., p. 142; ed. Basil.) The ancients paid great attention to the characters of the urine in disease, and their knowledge of the subject will be admitted, even at the present day, to have been remarkable. The works of some of the later authorities, particularly of Theophilus and Actuarius, are well deserving of an attentive perusal. See Paulus Ægineta, Vol. I., p. 225.