What is Inside of Us?  Black Stuff and Slim Jims
(Episode 3)



November 8, 2004 2:40pm
Today in class my professor said he knew some wild and crazy guys... or so I assumed.  He spoke of the Four Humors.  He said that many people in the past and some still today believed that these four humors were responsible for everything the human body does.  Considering the human body can be funny and these guys were called the four humors, I think it is about time to check them out.  "Time Out! (Saved by the Bell style)  Rewind!"


November 8, 191 3:00pm
Here I am again in good old Alexandria.  I looked around for the library I visited last week but all I could find was a pile of ashes.  This could be bad.  I had wanted to look up some information on these guys but I guess I will just ask around.


November 8, 191 4:15pm
Everyone I tried to talk to seemed weirded out that I spoke a language they had never heard, oh and my clothes were a little off.  Not to worry though, I chased one of the scardy cats down and took his clothes... What can I say, Adidas are made for running and sandals... well we all know how running goes in those.  Anyway after acclimating myself to the styles of the country I remembered the backpack I had hidden in my last trip.  Fortunately it remained perched behind the rock I left it at.  I am a genius!  And I am lucky, very very lucky.  In the papers I was amazed to find that Hippocrates was responsible for the four humors, he must have been their agent.  "SHAZAM!"


November 8, 475BC 7:30pm
I am back in Cos.  I used my keen memory to track down Hippocrates house again.  Upon knocking I was let in.  This works much better than breaking in and being chased off by the dog.  Although I am sure his dog, Hippo, remembered me.  I asked Hippocrates where I could catch the next four humors show and he told me some sort of Yoda code: "Look into yourself, for we all contain the humors."  I said that was all well and good but I need some entertainment.  He then went into a long spiel about the fluids that make up our bodies.  I won't lie; I got a bit squeamish and passed out.  When I came to he continued his story only to have me sprawl on the floor again.  Finally the third time I grasped what he was saying.  The four humors are not a comedy group like the Stooges.  They are in fact the essence of us all.  There are four basic materials that compose each and every one of us: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.  This coagulation is enough to make any man hungry, so we continued our talk over dinner.  Hippocrates seemed to know quite a bit on the humors so I was more inclined to believe he may have come up with the concept on his own.  After a great meal of mash and water I begged my leave and headed back to my backpack.  I then noticed that Galen was mentioned with the four humors.  Still in need of a good laugh I think I will giddy up on out of here.


November 8, 180 9:45pm
Failure!  Don't get me wrong I leaned very much from Galen.  He is an intelligent man.  I enjoyed visiting my friends from the past but I have still seen no comedy.  Galen did tell me that he agrees with Hippocrates very much.  But he agrees with him in the same sense as saying the ocean is blue.  It is blue but there is so much more to it.  There is dark, light and medium blue.  Galen told me that he read Hippocrates, On the Nature of Man, and got the idea about the humors from him.  Galen took the idea to the next level though.  He attributed an imbalance in the humors to sickness.  Blood is hot and moist, Phlegm is cold and moist, Yellow bile is hot and dry, and Black bile is cold and dry.  So if you are sweating and have a fever there is too much blood, cold and clammy means too much black bile and so fourth.  After he explained this to me I had to leave.  I remembered that there was a man named Avicenna also mentioned in the writings and I need to see what he has to say.


November 8, 180 9:48pm
MUGGED!  I was mugged.  A man said he knew who I was and that I would be there.  He took my watch.  How will I get home?  How will I do anything?  I am stuck in 180!  Oh how did he know I would be there?  I am happy I leaned what the four humors were but this is too high a price to pay.  They don't even have bottled water.  I hate this place.  Where will I get green tea?  Oh no.  I better see if Galen will let me crash with him for a while... or forever.


Disclaimer: DO NOT GET MUGGED WHILE BACK IN TIME, GETTING HOME IS IMPOSSIBLE, AND THEIR TOILETS DON'T FLUSH!


Authors Note:
My sources both described what the four humors are.  Both sources also mentioned that Hippocrates was responsible for the idea of the humors and that Galen furthered them.  Avicenna was mentioned in both sources also but I did not talk about him because he is the subject of my final episode.  I used the information from the sources to solidify my knowledge on the subject.


Works Cited:
Humors, Unani Doctrines, http://www.unani.com/humours.htm, Provides a small history of the humors and what they are.
Lindberg, Beginnings, p. #116,125– Provides information on The Four Humors


Image is a rendition of four women with pots that hold the different humors.
Website: The Son of the Sun
Weblink: http://www.arcomnet.net.au/~vincent/5aSun&Man.htm

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