Editing Humorism (section)

==Four humors==
Even though humorism theory had several models that used two, three, and five components, the most famous model consists of the four humors described by [[Hippocrates]] and developed further by [[Galen]]. The four humors of Hippocratic medicine are black [[bile]] (Greek: {{Lang|grc|μέλαινα χολή}}, ''{{transliteration|grc|melaina chole}}''), yellow bile (Greek: {{Lang|grc|ξανθὴ χολή}}, ''{{transliteration|grc|xanthe chole}}''), phlegm (Greek: {{Lang|grc|φλέγμα}}, ''{{transliteration|grc|phlegma}}''), and blood (Greek: {{Lang|grc|αἷμα}}, {{Lang|grc-latn|haima}}). Each corresponds to one of the traditional [[four temperaments]]. Based on Hippocratic medicine, it was believed that for a body to be healthy, the four humors should be balanced in amount and strength.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jackson|first=William A|title=A short guide to humoral medicine|journal=Trends in Pharmacological Sciences|volume=22|issue=9|pages=487–89|doi=10.1016/s0165-6147(00)01804-6|pmid=11543877|year=2001}}</ref> The proper blending and balance of the four humors was known as {{Lang|grc-latn|eukrasia}}.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Karenberg|first=A.|date=2015|title=Blood, Phlegm and Spirits: Galen on Stroke|journal=History of Medicine |volume=2|issue=2|doi=10.17720/2409-5834.v2.2.2015.15k|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |issn=2409-5834}}</ref>

Humorism theory was improved by Galen, who incorporated his understanding of the humors into his interpretation of the human body. He believed the interactions of the humors within the body were the key to investigating the physical nature and function of the organ systems. Galen combined his interpretation of the humors with his collection of ideas concerning nature from past philosophers in order to find conclusions about how the body works. For example, Galen maintained the idea of the presence of the Platonic tripartite soul, which consisted of "{{Lang|grc-latn|thumos}} (spiritedness), {{Lang|grc-latn|epithumos}} (directed spiritedness, i.e. desire), and {{Lang|grc-latn|Sophia}} (wisdom)".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Boylan|first=Michael|date=2007|title=Galen: On Blood, the Pulse, and the Arteries|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/29737480|journal=Journal of the History of Biology|volume=40|issue=2|pages=207–30|doi=10.1007/s10739-006-9116-2|jstor=29737480|pmid=18175602|s2cid=30093918|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Through this, Galen found a connection between these three parts of the soul and the three major organs that were recognized at the time: the brain, the heart, and the liver.<ref name=":0" /> This idea of connecting vital parts of the soul to vital parts of the body was derived from Aristotle's sense of explaining physical observations, and Galen utilized it to build his view of the human body. The organs (named {{Lang|grc-latn|organa}}) had specific functions (called {{Lang|grc-latn|chreiai}}) that contributed to the maintenance of the human body, and the expression of these functions is shown in characteristic activities (called {{Lang|grc-latn|energeiai}}) of a person.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hankinson|first=R. J.|date=1991|title=Galen's Anatomy of the Soul |journal=Phronesis|volume=36|issue=2|pages=197–233 |doi=10.1163/156852891321052787|jstor=4182386}}</ref> While the correspondence of parts of the body to the soul was an influential concept, Galen decided that the interaction of the four humors with natural bodily mechanisms were responsible for human development and this connection inspired his understanding of the nature of the components of the body.

[[Galen]] recalls the correspondence between humors and [[season]]s in his ''On the Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato'', and says that, "As for ages and the seasons, the child ({{Lang|grc|παῖς}}) corresponds to spring, the young man ({{Lang|grc|νεανίσκος}}) to summer, the mature man ({{Lang|grc|παρακµάζων}}) to autumn, and the old man ({{Lang|grc|γέρων}}) to winter".<ref>{{cite book |last=Jouanna |first=Jacques |chapter=The Legacy of the Hippocratic Treatise The Nature of Man: The Theory of the Four Humours|page=339|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004232549|doi=10.1163/9789004232549_017|title=Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen|year=2012|doi-access=free}}</ref> He also related a correspondence between humors and seasons based on the properties of both. Blood, as a humor, was considered hot and wet. This gave it a correspondence to spring. Yellow bile was considered hot and dry, which related it to summer. Black bile was considered cold and dry, and thus related to autumn. Phlegm, cold and wet, was related to winter.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jouanna|first=Jacques|chapter=The Legacy of the Hippocratic Treatise The Nature of Man: The Theory of the Four Humours|date=2012-01-01|title=Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen|pages=335–59|publisher=Brill|doi=10.1163/9789004232549_017|isbn=9789004232549|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Galen also believed that the characteristics of the soul follow the mixtures of the body, but he did not apply this idea to the Hippocratic humors. He believed that phlegm did not influence character. In his ''On Hippocrates{{'}} The Nature of Man'', Galen stated: "Sharpness and intelligence ({{Lang|grc|ὀξὺ καὶ συνετόν}}) are caused by yellow bile in the soul, perseverance and consistency ({{Lang|grc|ἑδραῖον καὶ βέβαιον}}) by the melancholic humor, and simplicity and naivety ({{Lang|grc|ἁπλοῦν καὶ ἠλιθιώτερον}}) by blood. But the nature of phlegm has no effect on the character of the soul ({{Lang|grc|τοῦ δὲ φλέγµατος ἡ φύσις εἰς µὲν ἠθοποιῗαν ἄχρηστος}})."<ref>{{cite book |last=Jouanna|first=Jacques|chapter=The Legacy of the Hippocratic Treatise The Nature of Man: The Theory of the Four Humours|page=340|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004232549|doi=10.1163/9789004232549_017|title=Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen|year=2012|doi-access=free}}</ref> He further said that blood is a mixture of the four elements: water, air, fire, and earth.

These terms only partly correspond to modern medical terminology, in which there is no distinction between black and yellow bile, and phlegm has a very different meaning. It was believed that the humors were the basic substances from which all liquids in the body were made. [[Robin Fåhræus]] (1921), a Swedish physician who devised the [[erythrocyte sedimentation rate]], suggested that the four humors were based upon the observation of blood clotting in a transparent container. When blood is drawn in a glass container and left undisturbed for about an hour, four different layers can be seen: a dark clot forms at the bottom (the "black bile"); above the clot is a layer of red blood cells (the "blood"); above this is a whitish layer of white blood cells (the "phlegm"); the top layer is clear yellow serum (the "yellow bile").<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hart GD|date=December 2001|title=Descriptions of blood and blood disorders before the advent of laboratory studies|url=http://www.bloodmed.com/home/hannpdf/bjh3130.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Br. J. Haematol.|volume=115|issue=4|pages=719–28|doi=10.1046/j.1365-2141.2001.03130.x|pmid=11843802|s2cid=10602937|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708073035/http://www.bloodmed.com/home/hannpdf/bjh3130.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-08}}</ref>

Many [[Greek language|Greek]] texts were written during the golden age of the theory of the four humors in [[Ancient Greek medicine|Greek medicine]] after Galen. One of those texts was an anonymous treatise called ''On the Constitution of the Universe and of Man'', published in the mid-19th century by J. L. Ideler. In this text, the author establishes the relationship between elements of the universe (air, water, earth, fire) and elements of the man (blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm).<ref>{{cite book |last=Jouanna|first=Jacques|chapter=The Legacy of the Hippocratic Treatise The Nature of Man: The Theory of the Four Humours|page=342|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004232549|doi=10.1163/9789004232549_017|title=Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen|year=2012|doi-access=free}}</ref> He said that:

* The people who have red blood are friendly. They joke and laugh about their bodies, and they are rose-tinted, slightly red, and have pretty skin.
* The people who have yellow bile are bitter, short tempered, and daring. They appear greenish and have yellow skin. 
* The people who are composed of black bile are lazy, fearful, and sickly. They have black hair and black eyes.
* Those who have phlegm are low spirited, forgetful, and have white hair.

Seventeenth century English playwright [[Ben Jonson]] wrote [[Comedy of humours|humor plays]], where character types were based on their humoral complexion.

===Blood===
It was thought that the nutritional value of the blood was the source of energy for the body and the soul. Blood was believed to consist of small proportional amounts of the other three humors. This meant that taking a blood sample would allow for determination of the balance of the four humors in the body.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2021|title=Biomedicine and Health: Galen and Humoral Theory|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/science-magazines/biomedicine-and-health-galen-and-humoral-theory|website=encyclopedia.com}}</ref> It was associated with a [[Four temperaments#Four fundamental personality types|sanguine]] nature (enthusiastic, active, and social).<ref>[http://classprojects.kenyon.edu/wmns/Wmns36/bloodli/medframe.htm Medical Blood] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226173144/http://classprojects.kenyon.edu/wmns/Wmns36/bloodli/medframe.htm |date=2015-02-26 }} Page accessed Feb 15, 2015</ref><ref>Byron Good. [https://books.google.com/books?id=p7-Enmqb604C&dq=humours+blood+liver&pg=PA105 Medicine, Rationality and Experience: An Anthropological Perspective] Cambridge University Press, 1994 {{ISBN|978-0521425766}}</ref>{{rp|103–05}} Blood is considered to be hot and wet, sharing these characteristics with the season of spring.<ref name="Brill">{{cite book|last1=Jouanna|first1=Jacques|title=The Legacy of the Hippocrates Treatise The Nature of Man: The Theory of the Four Humours|date=2012|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctt1w76vxr.21|work=Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen|pages=335–60|editor-last=van der Eijk|editor-first=Philip|series=Selected Papers|publisher=Brill|access-date=2021-12-06|last2=Allies|first2=Neil|chapter=The Legacy of the Hippocratic Treatise the Nature of Man|jstor=10.1163/j.ctt1w76vxr.21}}</ref>

===Yellow bile===
Yellow bile was associated with a [[Four temperaments#Four fundamental personality types|choleric]] nature (ambitious, decisive, aggressive, and short-tempered).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://malankazlev.com/kheper/topics/typology/four_humours.html|title=The Four Humours|website=malankazlev.com|access-date=2020-04-08}}</ref> It was thought to be fluid found within the [[gallbladder]], or in excretions such as vomit and feces.<ref name=":1" /> The associated qualities for yellow bile are hot and dry with the natural association of summer and fire. It was believed that an excess of this humor in an individual would result in emotional irregularities such as increased anger or irrational behaviour.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Viswanathan|first=VK|date=2010|title=Humor me|journal=Gut Microbes|volume=1|issue=2|pages=75–76|doi=10.4161/gmic.1.2.11227|issn=1949-0976|pmc=3023582|pmid=21326912}}</ref>

===Black bile===
Black bile was associated with a [[Four temperaments#Four fundamental personality types|melancholy]] nature, the word ''melancholy'' itself deriving from the Greek for 'black bile', {{Lang|grc|μέλαινα χολή}} ({{Lang|grc-latn|melaina kholé}}). Depression was attributed to excess or unnatural black bile secreted by the [[spleen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/melancholy|title=melancholy {{!}} Origin and meaning of melancholy by Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com|language=en|access-date=2019-05-03}}</ref>
Cancer was also attributed to an excess of black bile concentrated in a specific area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-basics/history-of-cancer/cancer-causes-theories-throughout-history.html |title=Early Theories about Cancer Causes |publisher=The American Cancer Society |website=www.cancer.org|language=en|access-date=2020-10-08}}</ref> The seasonal association of black bile was to autumn as the cold and dry characteristics of the season reflect the nature of man.<ref name="Brill"/>

===Phlegm===
Phlegm was associated with all [[Four temperaments#Four fundamental personality types|phlegmatic]] nature, thought to be associated with reserved behavior.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/142540 |title=Home : Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oed.com |date=2019-12-31 |access-date=2020-04-04}}</ref> The phlegm of humorism is far from [[phlegm]] as it is defined today. Phlegm was used as a general term to describe white or colorless secretions such as pus, mucus, saliva, or sweat.<ref name=":1" /> Phlegm was also associated with the brain, possibly due to the color and consistency of brain tissue.<ref name=":1" /> The French physiologist and Nobel laureate [[Charles Richet]], when describing humorism's "phlegm or pituitary secretion" in 1910, asked rhetorically, "this strange liquid, which is the cause of [[Neoplasm|tumours]], of [[Hypochromic anemia|chlorosis]], of [[rheumatism]], and [[cacochymia]] – where is it? Who will ever see it? Who has ever seen it? What can we say of this fanciful classification of humors into four groups, of which two are absolutely imaginary?"<ref>{{cite journal |pmc=2336103 |pmid=20765282 |volume=2 |issue=2596 |title=An Address On Ancient Humorism and Modern Humorism: Delivered at the International Congress of Physiology held in Vienna, September 27th to 30th |year=1910 |journal=Br Med J |pages=921–26 |author=Richet C |doi=10.1136/bmj.2.2596.921}}</ref> The seasonal association of phlegm is winter due to the natural properties of being cold and wet.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jouanna|first1=Jacques|title= The Legacy of the Hippocrates Treatise The Nature of Man: The Theory of the Four Humours|date=2012|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctt1w76vxr.21|work=Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen|pages=335–60|editor-last=van der Eijk|editor-first=Philip|series=Selected Papers|publisher=Brill|access-date=2021-12-06|last2=Allies|first2=Neil|chapter=The Legacy of the Hippocratic Treatise the Nature of Man|jstor=10.1163/j.ctt1w76vxr.21}}</ref>