Medecine

Four Humours > Yellow bile = Fire - Dry and hot

                        Black bile = Earth - Dry and cold

                        Phlegm = Water - Cold and wet

                        Blood = Air - Wet and hot

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  • Created by: Mark.K
  • Created on: 29-11-12 18:51

Four Humours

  • This theory was important because it was the first logical theory that made sense and the majority believed it. 
  • It was also significant because it lasted for well over a thousand years, from the Romans to the Stuards.
  • It was believed that if you fell ill than one of your four humours was out of balance therefore, doctors would try and balance them back out again by icreasing the opposite, for example; if it was a fever -- a hot, dry diease the culprit was yellow bile. So, the doctor would try and increase the opposite, phlegm, by prescibing cold baths. 
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Importance of Alexandria

  • It is situated tin Egypt, North Africa, which is a central location between early civilisations
  •  Accessible for doctors all over the world to share each other's knowledge and spread it throughout. 
  • It's number of libraries and universities made it possible for people to explore every part of the human body and its functions, 
  • Peoples knowledge on anatomy and physiology grew as revealed by doctors like Galen when they discovered the heart was a pump, used to transport blood around the body.
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