Book I chapter 3

It appears to me, then, that the vein¹, as well as each of the other parts, functions in such and such a way according to the manner in which the four qualities are mixed. There are, however, a considerable number of not undistinguished men — philosophers and physicians — who refer action to the Warm and the Cold, and who subordinate to these, as passive, the Dry and the Moist; Aristotle, in fact, was the first who attempted to bring back the causes of the various special activities to these principles, and he was followed later by the Stoic² school. These latter, of course, could logically make active principles of the Warm and Cold, since they refer the change of the elements themselves into one another to certain diffusions and condensations³. This does not hold of Aristotle, however; seeing that he employed the four qualities to explain the genesis of the elements, he ought properly to have also referred the causes of all the special activities to these. How is it that he uses the four qualities in his book “On Genesis and Destruction,” whilst in his “Meteorology,” his “Problems,” and many other works he uses the uses the two only? Of course, if anyone were to maintain that in the case of animals and plants the Warm and Cold are more active, the Dry and Moist less so, he might perhaps have even Hippocrates on his side; but if he were to say that this happens in all cases, he would, I imagine, lack support, not merely from Hippocrates, but even from Aristotle himself — if, at least, Aristotle chose to remember what he himself taught us in his work “On Genesis and Destruction,” not as a matter of simple statement, but with an accompanying demonstration⁴. I have, however, also investigated these questions, in so far as they are of value to a physician, in my work “On Temperaments⁵.”

1 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

2 stoic   

n.坚忍克己之人，禁欲主义者

参考例句：

• A stoic person responds to hardship with imperturbation.坚忍克己之人经受苦难仍能泰然自若。
• On Rajiv's death a stoic journey began for Mrs Gandhi,supported by her husband's friends.拉吉夫死后，索尼亚在丈夫友人的支持下开始了一段坚忍的历程。

3 condensations   

n.冷凝( condensation的名词复数 )；冷凝液；凝结的水珠；节略

参考例句：

• The removal of ultrafine particles from coal combustion was investigated experimentally based on condensations vaporwet scrubber. 对洗涤塔内相变促进燃煤细颗粒凝结长大与脱除进行了实验研究。 来自互联网

4 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

5 temperaments   

性格( temperament的名词复数 )； （人或动物的）气质； 易冲动； （性情）暴躁

参考例句：

• The two brothers have exactly opposite temperaments: one likes to be active while the other tends to be quiet and keep to himself. 他们弟兄两个脾气正好相反， 一个爱动，一个好静。
• For some temperaments work is a remedy for all afflictions. 对于某些人来说，工作是医治悲伤的良药。