Ok...Lets get moving...

Reading this page, sentence at a time then assessing to reasoning it through first, before moving on to the next sentence, will get the best out of the way your brain works, and result in a broad and deeper understanding...

"Five senses; an incurably abstract intellect; a haphazardly selective memory; a set of preconceptions and assumptions so numerous that I can never examine more than a minority of them - never   become conscious of them all. How much of total reality can such an apparatus let through? by C.S. Lewis (author, 1898-1963)...

So Question; How much   of total reality can such an apparatus let throught?...Answer; In each moment of your daily life how 'alert and aware' are you to the reality around you...

I know, I have answered a question with a question...but about becoming a better 'good father' by applying 'street smart excellence' ...and which is why you are now reading this...has everything to do with seeing what the reality  of the situation you are in each daily moment...and there is a little problem we have to understand about our brain here...well ...its not really 'little' and is most likely cause you the greatest struggle to  overcome...but you want a meaningful fatherchild care and relationship that keeps growing throughout your lives right...so to achieve this which will give our lives such purpose and happiness, is laziness going to be a issue...good, I thought so...now...C.S. Lewis has identified the essential process in each daily moment inside our brain to how we understands our situation and this will translate to how effectively we will respond...and of particular interest to us here is 'memory' and 'preconceptions and assumptions'...ok...now medical stuff...and always remember that there is a lot about the brains function we still have not worked out ie we have pieces but dont have the whole picture...yet...

Our brain has particular areas which deals with memory, and there are different areas of brain that deals with different forms of memory. Our interest is with memory related to 'reasoning and behaviour' and areas of interest are prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala. The types of memory of interest to us is short-term, long-term and emotional. To give anatomical/physiological and functional details will cause this section to be unuseably voluminous. As such for those whose interest requires more than what is given, an internet search on specific given words will assist, and or books on the subject. Book to assist a common person with little knowledge of this area, currently of the many one to look at 'the brain, a beginner's guide' by ammar al-chalabi, martin r. turner and r. shane delamont. Found in libraries, and publisher at oneworld-publications.com

For those whom find this beyond their grasp or interest...dont worry...there is help at the end of this section...but dont rush there, this page is going to take time to understand and get some use out of it...so relax and give yourself some reasonable quiet time while you read,  and to re-read this section...

Now compare and contrast;   usual driving route you took to work, child to school etc to Learning a new language...what is the biggest difference? yep...one you have done it many times before...so see how important memory is...now imagine its a new school in an unfamiliar area you have to drive to...compare this with the usual route and say its similar driving distance...what will your brain be mainly dealing with during the process of driving to the new school...yep...taking in the new enviroment and assessing...and the next day on the same route how will the process be different to the first time...yep...memory has formed from the first time and now its 'quicker'...whoa...stop...think about this...its quicker...so first experience which took more time, now has caused a 'memory of activity', and which now actively used by the brain during repeat activity with result of less effort and time to do same activity/purpose...(and you will note that you usually only remember what you need to know of the route...so you wont be able to recollect the   individual houses on the way...and why do you need to for the purpose intended...who told brain to do this...see something important about the way the brain works...yep it always tries to work effectively for the purpose of the activity you are putting it to...it is your best friend and can be your worst enemy if you dont understand how he(brain) works and work with him...yeah...bit like getting something done with your best friend)...and see how your brain is always trying to be progressively efficient and so to assist with your 'purpose'(set by your conscious mind) he has activity outside your conscious control to make the process easier(in brain terms meaning consuming less oxygen to complete same repeat activity) unless you bring it into conscious control...ie you want to remember every house along the route...so now you have told your brain of second purpose for activity...and voila in time you know more houses looks like along the way...try it yourself...

So we now understand the importance of memory and how brain uses it to make our lives activities easier and how brain effectively uses sub/unconscious process outside our conscious control to assisst with our 'conscious purpose' of the moment...now more on second part of this...the 'reasoning and behaviour'...take the old school route you done a hundred times before...how often do you go into 'automatic mode' eg you were assesing your little girl while talking to her(and hopefully she is your genetic child...makes a big difference but more of this later...) and find you have been driving and on the correct route but cant remember the last few minutes or more...yep...all the time...now think about this for a moment...our brain continued with a complex activity without our attention on it...so it freed our conscious mind to pay attention to something we wanted/need to...our brain moved the driving activity to sub/unconscious all by itself and kept doing a good job...who asked the brain to do this...by which I mean you would prefer to have your attention on both your driving and on the conversation with your child...right...so this is a function our brain evolved to do...in the jungle...the natural jungle created by 'our real mother' earth/god...not the man made one we now live in...so when we see a leaf of plants the brain recognizes it from 'previously assessed memory' as a 'leaf' and so we recognize it and 'accept' it as one without consciously assessing/reasoning it everytime...very quickly done in each situation/moment...hence freeing our conscious mind to something that may affect our survival in the moment eg the group of snakes  eyeing us from the path over there...and it happens naturally unless we intentionally keep talking/road in conscious control...but again why would we want to when our brain does a good job with the sub/unconscious...and remember conscious brain activity is harder work on the brain as in consumes more oxygen...and besides our attention comes back to driving pretty quick if something unexpected happens on the road...right... like our attention is on conversation with our child but our eye is on the road which being 'assessed' sub/unconsciously...see how it works...so a 'new' activity (here_ talking to our child) requires our 'constant conscious attention', 'assessing' and 'reasoning'...and with repeat of same activity (here_usual school route) it becomes a learnt 'behaviour' that our brain can do part/most/all in the sub/unconscious...so evolutionary benefit of our brain naturally freeing our conscious of the 'known' in each daily situation we find ourselves is for more effective attention/assessing/reasoning of the 'new' in each daily moment...and which directly linked to better survival in the natural jungle...

We generally have a good understanding of what 'attention' means in a daily moment situation...but 'assessment' needs a bit of further explanation...our 'attention' on anything in our daily life situation immidiately causes our brain to assess' it...it goes together...meaning if it does not get your attention to something 'new' you certainly will miss its existance...so you notice a yearold baby in a pram on the street looking withdrawn, quiet and energyless and the mother on noticing your attention behaves to bring your attention to her sexuality...she has just distracted you from assessing the baby and so prevented you from acting in any form on behalf of the traumatized child...see...because I have the experience to assess a traumatized baby/young child on general appearence I experience a lot of such distraction technique(again, more later of assesseing if your child is traumatized and what this means...)...now 'assessment' can only exist if one has a 'memory' of usual daily life objects, situations and experiences...ok, lets say a drug completely removes your memory for a while...yep...you are now no different in behaviour to your 6 month old son...your capacity of 'assessing' anything your attention is on is by seeing/touching/feeling in the mouth...ie exploring your immediate world within short reach...but since you are a goodfather, otherwise you wont be reading this...right, so an adult with usual range of life knowledge and experiences...so your memory has information on structured objects in your daily moments of life eg rock, house, car...memory of people and behaviour eg unfriendly/friendly, sad/happy, fake/real etc...usual behaviour in general situations eg grocerer, work, street...so you on 'assessing' your situation while sitting in a restaurant and menu is given to you, your memory bank will tell you running out of restaurant screaming holding your wallet is not one of the reasonable options...again more later on how to effectively assess a daily situation(yep...we are going to bring attention to our spiritual eye...or 'eye of energies'...get some experience of using it into our brain memory section...then use it in our daily lives as well...we have to...women use it a lot and that part of their brain is well developed which gives them a distinct advantage over us in assessing same situation...ours...well most of us good fathers have a shrivelled prune for that area in our brain at the moment...but all areas of the brain can be developed to good function...like when learning a new musical instrument...the area of brain needed does develop...6 months to a few years...its called 'plasticity' of the brain...do an internet search on it...)...so 'assessment' requires use of your memory of previously assessed similar daily moments...yep...the better you have assessed you previous moments of life the more effective you are going to be at assessing the current one...see...we are on our way to improving our street smart excellence...and an important message here...your memory of the past similar situations to the current one you are in will only give you a 'reasonable average range'...and in most moments of life its enough to rely on the past to get by the current moment with little effort on reasoning...sounds familiar after a hard days work...but we are about street smart excellence...so we are always using our brain to improve our current effectiveness...yeah...matching our brains natural tendency to effective application...by getting to know our 'brother brain' better...

The last part...'reasoning'...the process uses the frontal lobes of your brain(you have done your research and read some books like the recommended one now...haven't you...tch tch tch) and other areas of the brain in a very complex process that we still dont fully understand...probably no other activity we do that uses so many parts of our brain at the same time...'a reasoning mind' is one of the most powerful assets any person has...and we must protect ours with vigilance for it is under targetted attack so to say to control our behaviour...but more about this soon...and served mankind well...from ancient man to socrates, sun tzu, sushruta...their reasoning minds developed 'principles' and knowledge/techniques when most people were thinking the earth is flat and which scientist/other minds have since deciphered to the result in the technological/developed world we live in...'reasoning' sits as gate between the usual brain process of 'attention to assessment' to 'accepting' as fact/true/real...meaning if reasoning process results in not accepting something the attention/assessment is on it is rejected. as not 'real' in 'your' known world...hope you are getting this easily or Im not explaining it well enough...and if its rejected then one will discard it/not act on it/get back to reasoning etc...or the usual verbal response to the person telling you the stuff...thats crap man...so say an unplanned event happens before you like a road accident...your senses relayed the moment to your brain ie attention...and brain assessed it as car accident...and reasoning is hardly used for your brain takes it straight to make it 'real'...now this is the 'gold standard' for 'real' ie your senses were used in the moment to register the event...nobody telling you otherwise can make you 'reject' the event in the general sense...right...to the other extreme of being told by someone/or reading about same accident you did not witness years later...so here with verbal/reading information your 'reasoning' can tell you of 'reasonable possibility' that such accident 'could' have happened...and perhaps it did happen as said/written...thats it...anything else is just question of probability or chance it may be true/real etc...so reasoning when properly applied...what you get is saying something exactly as it is without adding or taking away a thing...and other details as only possibilities...even if the person telling you is swearing black and blue that what they are saying to true...you are going to need this skill later...trust me on this...and so reasoning is very important process in our brain for accepting something as 'real'...particularly/especially when we did not witness the moment/event with our own senses ie not happen within our daily attention/assessment...hope you are clear with this...and how usually used in our daily lives...though its uses are much more...like isaac newton seeing a apple fall from tree using this reasoning to end up with the laws of motion and he was proven correct by his collegues and since by us all when we use his equation to calculate motion of objects and find that is what actually happens as well...now before we move on a reminder to always keep in mind what is gold standard for 'real' is...and constantly use the standard in your process of reasoning of what ever your mind is on to how far from real it is/likely to be...yep?...after all street smart excellence needs what is real to work on to result in the effect you are after...and more correct you are of 'real' the more likely that the 'effect' will be as you expected...see how life is becoming more in your control...

So lets put what we have learned to a practical example...this one is a butt kicker...back to example of you driving usual school route...and in varying 'automatic mode'...there is an advertising sign inbetween the buildings 'kindergarden from birth to 6yo is good for your child' with a picture of a smiling women holding a child...(if you have applied reasoning well you will know that if you want a healthy growing fatherchild relationship throughout your life then birth to 6 is the essential time to create the foundation of it..and its something I want...so I will make sure I am with my child ALL the time during this period...even if it means not working and living poorly in a rented flat...afterall how many men do you know who worked hard to 'support' their family and now the adult children act like strangers with him...and you will have time to apply your qualifications when your child starts school...and earn as much as you want into your 60's and 70's and still have a growing relationship with your children[yep...by this time 'you loose what you dont use'...so if you retire and spend most of your day sunbacking in the back yard you will loose your mind...as in brain parts you dont use...and this example it is most of it...I would be constantly challenging my brain with new things at this time of life...new language, new sport, new area to explore, and keep working etc]...but more later...back to advertisement)...by placing the board within buildings, an area that our brain usually 'accepts as usual/real' while driving, even if we did not consciously seee the advertisement...our sub/unconscious brain would usually see...and moved that message straight to 'real' bypassing 'reasoning'...even if when you did consciously read the sign and reasoned you would reject it for being 'not real'...but your brain has moved that message into 'the real group' part of your brain...see the problem...all without you consciously realizing it...yep...we need to reassess all our set of preconceptions and assumptions so numerous...I told you this might be the hardest part didnt I...I would reassess anything that was not motherearth/god made(ie which was there before we were born and will last after our body is gone)...meaning anything man/woman made/said/created etc...because people/group with vested interest who know the same thing you now do use the way our brain works for benefit...by acting to bypass 'our reasoning mind'...to create a 'belief' in us that was not produced by 'reasoning to real'...for the benefit of affecting our 'behaviour' which is linked to a benefit for them...ie the ones going through the expense to place that advertising board...yep...thats why its such a big money generating business...so I would add a daily purpose of 'consciously reason advertisement/news/text' for the 'real'...like wanting to know every house in above earlier example...where ever it is within range of my senses...meaning the above advertisement would get noticed and most likely rejected by a goodfather, but an advertisement saying 'this tv is the best picture for the money' you would reason it to...'possibly' but I have to experience it with my own senses...or 'gotta see one' in ordinary street language...and a good thing too for soon you start recognizing products made with absolute excellence that buying one will be an honour...if that makes sense...and more_in that you would realize that only a goodbrother/goodbrothers could have made it(your spiritual eye is needed here to realize you can divide all people into two groups, destructive in nature/constructive in nature...or if you are religious then it would be evil_soul/good_soul...yep...thats where the word 'good' is used with goodfather...to say this is for the constructive/good soul brothers to assist in your struggle to create a more meaningful relationship with your children...anyway more later)...so what we are now doing is consciously, ie giving our brain a 'purpose for activity'_to be aware of 'anything' within our senses during our daily life that is outside what we strictly 'reasoned as real'_to 'reason for real/not real'...yep?...good...

So now you would understand the title of this page 'robots were not'...attempt to use our sub/unconsious to move information about a situation we did not 'sense'...that may be false or intentionally limited to produce a desired belief in us...to affect our behaviour to act/or not act to stop something etc...if we did...we would be a robot/fembots...to achieve something of an end effect that was not a product or our reasoning mind...provided our brains reasoning mind is bypassed by intent/skill/deceit...so essentially making us robots...unless we use our reasoning mind to become 'alert and aware' of this aspect and reason a effective solution...meaning our reasoning mind has made us aware of what is actually/really happening eg the 'advertising board placed with usual buildings' behaviour...and the same with any other issue/problem/struggle that may arise...and our reasoning mind can also give an effective answer...provided we work with our brain...so we first have to understand how our brain works...see what I mean by a reasoning mind is a very powerful tool...now I recommend that all you goodfathers out there stop here and go back over the above, and read more about the brain, and put into practice some of the things said...and experience it...before getting to the next section...which is going to take a left turn into the bush...you'll soon understand what I mean...

Intelligence......This aspect comes under 'brain performance capacity' ie for same situation, with say same person in every sense but low/high intelligence...assessing to reasoning the 'issue' that their attention is on...with me here?...how the end result of the reasoning will differ?...what do you think...see, I just made you to start reasoning...and the answer we give is going to group us in a range from low, to average, to high...now there is little else that can compare with how closely a person holds their intelligence to their ego, or own sense of self worth...so if you have jumped every second grade at school without a problem and now have degrees on your wall and 6 figure income and feeling good_to other limit of having to have repeated every grade twice and couldnt get over the 6th grade and took the first job outside the school which was sweeping the streets arround your school and feeling bad...and struggled through this page to get here...and I have been sensitive to this and hopefully you noticed that I repeated important issues above with different wording so that it could be understood by wider range in intelligence of goodfathers...see how your ego is perking up...so on this topic I have to be very careful on its approach...but first say that its not each of our intelligence that will determine if we on our death bed have our 'well balanced and capable adult children' arround us and their action are driven by what they actually 'feel' for you at the tim...and which is 'like to love'...but on how you applied street smart excellence in achieving a healthy, growing and meaningful fatherchild relationship...so intelligence is not the main requirement but how well you balanced your brain and its capabilities for best effect/result...so a professor and street sweeper lying next to each other dying in a hospital ward can both have 'well balanced and capable adult children' arround them who have 'like to love' for them...isnt this what all goodfathers wish for on their death beds?...think about the end now for it will assist you in how you live your life in the 'now'..and the two men see each other as goodfathers and so relate to each other at a much more deeper and meaningful level...even at 'soul to soul'...see what bonds us...and we do not allow ourselves to be blind or act stupidly...but practical and see the truth in all situations and reason out the best solution and achieve them effectively and maintain inspite of any person/factor that destabilizes the achieved meaningful balanced life...and I mean anyone one including the mother of your children(and her group of friends)...and whom by common statistics is the commonest cause of 'damaging to destroying' goodfatherchild relationships...and so asking you to give yourself at least 3 hours or more of quiet relaxed uninterupted time(after all this page took yours truly a long time)...and read the following book by Hippocrates called On the Sacred Disease...yes it is written by Hippocrates, also called the father of western medicine, about 6th century before christ...so some 2500 years ago...and I dont know if he was a goodfather but I can reason out that he is definitely a goodbrother and its an priviledge to be able to read his book...this particular copyright belongs to the mitchigan institute of technology under classics section...

Provided by The Internet Classics Archive.
See bottom for copyright. Available online at
    classics.mit.edu//Hippocrates/sacred.html

On the Sacred Disease
By Hippocrates


Translated by Francis Adams

It is thus with regard to the disease called Sacred: it appears to
me to be nowise more divine nor more sacred than other diseases, but
has a natural cause from the originates like other affections. Men
regard its nature and cause as divine from ignorance and wonder, because
it is not at all like to other diseases. And this notion of its divinity
is kept up by their inability to comprehend it, and the simplicity
of the mode by which it is cured, for men are freed from it by purifications
and incantations. But if it is reckoned divine because it is wonderful,
instead of one there are many diseases which would be sacred; for,
as I will show, there are others no less wonderful and prodigious,
which nobody imagines to be sacred. The quotidian, tertian, and quartan
fevers, seem to me no less sacred and divine in their origin than
this disease, although they are not reckoned so wonderful. And I see
men become mad and demented from no manifest cause, and at the same
time doing many things out of place; and I have known many persons
in sleep groaning and crying out, some in a state of suffocation,
some jumping up and fleeing out of doors, and deprived of their reason
until they awaken, and afterward becoming well and rational as before,
although they be pale and weak; and this will happen not once but
frequently. And there are many and various things of the like kind,
which it would be tedious to state particularly. 

They who first referred this malady to the gods appear to me to have
been just such persons as the conjurors, purificators, mountebanks,
and charlatans now are, who give themselves out for being excessively
religious, and as knowing more than other people. Such persons, then,
using the divinity as a pretext and screen of their own inability
to of their own inability to afford any assistance, have given out
that the disease is sacred, adding suitable reasons for this opinion,
they have instituted a mode of treatment which is safe for themselves,
namely, by applying purifications and incantations, and enforcing
abstinence from baths and many articles of food which are unwholesome
to men in diseases. Of sea substances, the surmullet, the blacktail,
the mullet, and the eel; for these are the fishes most to be guarded
against. And of fleshes, those of the goat, the stag, the sow, and
the dog: for these are the kinds of flesh which are aptest to disorder
the bowels. Of fowls, the cock, the turtle, and the bustard, and such
others as are reckoned to be particularly strong. And of potherbs,
mint, garlic, and onions; for what is acrid does not agree with a
weak person. And they forbid to have a black robe, because black is
expressive of death; and to sleep on a goat's skin, or to wear it,
and to put one foot upon another, or one hand upon another; for all
these things are held to be hindrances to the cure. All these they
enjoin with reference to its divinity, as if possessed of more knowledge,
and announcing beforehand other causes so that if the person should
recover, theirs would be the honor and credit; and if he should die,
they would have a certain defense, as if the gods, and not they, were
to blame, seeing they had administered nothing either to eat or drink
as medicines, nor had overheated him with baths, so as to prove the
cause of what had happened. But I am of opinion that (if this were
true) none of the Libyans, who live in the interior, would be free
from this disease, since they all sleep on goats' skins, and live
upon goats' flesh; neither have they couch, robe, nor shoe that is
not made of goat's skin, for they have no other herds but goats and
oxen. But if these things, when administered in food, aggravate the
disease, and if it be cured by abstinence from them, godhead is not
the cause at all; nor will purifications be of any avail, but it is
the food which is beneficial and prejudicial, and the influence of
the divinity vanishes. 

Thus, they who try to cure these maladies in this way, appear to me
neither to reckon them sacred nor divine. For when they are removed
by such purifications, and this method of cure, what is to prevent
them from being brought upon men and induced by other devices similar
to these? So that the cause is no longer divine, but human. For whoever
is able, by purifications conjurations, to drive away such an affection,
will be able, by other practices, to excite it; and, according to
this view, its divine nature is entirely done away with. By such sayings
and doings, they profess to be possessed of superior knowledge, and
deceive mankind by enjoining lustrations and purifications upon them,
while their discourse turns upon the divinity and the godhead. And
yet it would appear to me that their discourse savors not of piety,
as they suppose, but rather of impiety, and as if there were no gods,
and that what they hold to be holy and divine, were impious and unholy.
This I will now explain. 

For, if they profess to know how to bring down the moon, darken the
sun, induce storms and fine weather, and rains and droughts, and make
the sea and land unproductive, and so forth, whether they arrogate
this power as being derived from mysteries or any other knowledge
or consideration, they appear to me to practice impiety, and either
to fancy that there are no gods, or, if there are, that they have
no ability to ward off any of the greatest evils. How, then, are they
not enemies to the gods? For if a man by magical arts and sacrifices
will bring down the moon, and darken the sun, and induce storms, or
fine weather, I should not believe that there was anything divine,
but human, in these things, provided the power of the divine were
overpowered by human knowledge and subjected to it. But perhaps it
will be said, these things are not so, but, not withstanding, men
being in want of the means of life, invent many and various things,
and devise many contrivances for all other things, and for this disease,
in every phase of the disease, assigning the cause to a god. Nor do
they remember the same things once, but frequently. For, if they imitate
a goat, or grind their teeth, or if their right side be convulsed,
they say that the mother of the gods is the cause. But if they speak
in a sharper and more intense tone, they resemble this state to a
horse, and say that Poseidon is the cause. Or if any excrement be
passed, which is often the case, owing to the violence of the disease,
the appellation of Enodia is adhibited; or, if it be passed in smaller
and denser masses, like bird's, it is said to be from Apollo Nomius.
But if foam be emitted by the mouth, and the patient kick with his
feet, Ares then gets the blame. But terrors which happen during the
night, and fevers, and delirium, and jumpings out of bed, and frightful
apparitions, and fleeing away,-all these they hold to be the plots
of Hecate, and the invasions the and use purifications and incantations,
and, as appears to me, make the divinity to be most wicked and most
impious. For they purify those laboring under this disease, with the
same sorts of blood and the other means that are used in the case
of those who are stained with crimes, and of malefactors, or who have
been enchanted by men, or who have done any wicked act; who ought
to do the very reverse, namely, sacrifice and pray, and, bringing
gifts to the temples, supplicate the gods. But now they do none of
these things, but purify; and some of the purifications they conceal
in the earth, and some they throw into the sea, and some they carry
to the mountains where no one can touch or tread upon them. But these
they ought to take to the temples and present to the god, if a god
be the cause of the disease. Neither truly do I count it a worthy
opinion to hold that the body of man is polluted by god, the most
impure by the most holy; for were it defiled, or did it suffer from
any other thing, it would be like to be purified and sanctified rather
than polluted by god. For it is the divinity which purifies and sanctifies
the greatest of offenses and the most wicked, and which proves our
protection from them. And we mark out the boundaries of the temples
and the groves of the gods, so that no one may pass them unless he
be pure, and when we enter them we are sprinkled with holy water,
not as being polluted, but as laying aside any other pollution which
we formerly had. And thus it appears to me to hold, with regard to
purifications. 

But this disease seems to me to be no more divine than others; but
it has its nature such as other diseases have, and a cause whence
it originates, and its nature and cause are divine only just as much
as all others are, and it is curable no less than the others, unless
when, the from of time, it is confirmed, and has became stronger than
the remedies applied. Its origin is hereditary, like that of other
diseases. For if a phlegmatic person be born of a phlegmatic, and
a bilious of a bilious, and a phthisical of a phthisical, and one
having spleen disease, of another having disease of the spleen, what
is to hinder it from happening that where the father and mother were
subject to this disease, certain of their offspring should be so affected
also? As the semen comes from all parts of the body, healthy particles
will come from healthy parts, and unhealthy from unhealthy parts.
And another great proof that it is in nothing more divine than other
diseases is, that it occurs in those who are of a phlegmatic constitution,
but does not attack the bilious. Yet, if it were more divine than
the others, this disease ought to befall all alike, and make no distinction
between the bilious and phlegmatic. 

But the brain is the cause of this affection, as it is of other very
great diseases, and in what manner and from what cause it is formed,
I will now plainly declare. The brain of man, as in all other animals,
is double, and a thin membrane divides it through the middle, and
therefore the pain is not always in the same part of the head; for
sometimes it is situated on either side, and sometimes the whole is
affected; and veins run toward it from all parts of the body, many
of which are small, but two are thick, the one from the liver, and
the other from the spleen. And it is thus with regard to the one from
the liver: a portion of it runs downward through the parts on the
side, near the kidneys and the psoas muscles, to the inner part of
the thigh, and extends to the foot. It is called vena cava. The other
runs upward by the right veins and the lungs, and divides into branches
for the heart and the right arm. The remaining part of it rises upward
across the clavicle to the right side of the neck, and is superficial
so as to be seen; near the ear it is concealed, and there it divides;
its thickest, largest, and most hollow part ends in the brain; another
small vein goes to the right ear, another to the right eye, and another
to the nostril. Such are the distributions of the hepatic vein. And
a vein from the spleen is distributed on the left side, upward and
downward, like that from the liver, but more slender and feeble.

By these veins we draw in much breath, since they are the spiracles
of our bodies inhaling air to themselves and distributing it to the
rest of the body, and to the smaller veins, and they and afterwards
exhale it. For the breath cannot be stationary, but it passes upward
and downward, for if stopped and intercepted, the part where it is
stopped becomes powerless. In proof of this, when, in sitting or lying,
the small veins are compressed, so that the breath from the larger
vein does not pass into them, the part is immediately seized with
numbness; and it is so likewise with regard to the other veins.

This malady, then, affects phlegmatic people, but not bilious. It
begins to be formed while the foetus is still in utero. For the brain,
like the other organs, is depurated and grows before birth. If, then,
in this purgation it be properly and moderately depurated, and neither
more nor less than what is proper be secreted from it, the head is
thus in the most healthy condition. If the secretion (melting) the
from the brain be greater than natural, the person, when he grows
up, will have his head diseased, and full of noises, and will neither
be able to endure the sun nor cold. Or, if the melting take place
from any one part, either from the eye or ear, or if a vein has become
slender, that part will be deranged in proportion to the melting.
Or, should depuration not take place, but congestion accumulate in
the brain, it necessarily becomes phlegmatic. And such children as
have an eruption of ulcers on the head, on the ears, and along the
rest of the body, with copious discharges of saliva and mucus,-these,
in after life, enjoy best health; for in this way the phlegm which
ought to have been purged off in the womb, is discharged and cleared
away, and persons so purged, for the most part, are not subject to
attacks of this disease. But such as have had their skin free from
eruptions, and have had no discharge of saliva or mucus, nor have
undergone the proper purgation in the womb, these persons run the
risk of being seized with this disease. 

But should the defluxion make its way to the heart, the person is
seized with palpitation and asthma, the chest becomes diseased, and
some also have curvature of the spine. For when a defluxion of cold
phlegm takes place on the lungs and heart, the blood is chilled, and
the veins, being violently chilled, palpitate in the lungs and heart,
and the heart palpitates, so that from this necessity asthma and orthopnoea
supervene. For it does not receive the spirits as much breath as he
needs until the defluxion of phlegm be mastered, and being heated
is distributed to the veins, then it ceases from its palpitation and
difficulty of breathing, and this takes place as soon as it obtains
an abundant supply; and this will be more slowly, provided the defluxion
be more abundant, or if it be less, more quickly. And if the defluxions
be more condensed, the epileptic attacks will be more frequent, but
otherwise if it be rarer. Such are the symptoms when the defluxion
is upon the lungs and heart; but if it be upon the bowels, the person
is attacked with diarrhoea. 

And if, being shut out from all these outlets, its defluxion be determined
to the veins I have formerly mentioned, the patient loses his speech,
and chokes, and foam issues by the mouth, the teeth are fixed, the
hands are contracted, the eyes distorted, he becomes insensible, and
in some cases the bowels are evacuated. And these symptoms occur sometimes
on the left side, sometimes on the right, and sometimes in both. The
cause of everyone of these symptoms I will now explain. The man becomes
speechless when the phlegm, suddenly descending into the veins, shuts
out the air, and does not admit it either to the brain or to the vena
cava, or to the ventricles, but interrupts the inspiration. For when
a person draws in air by the mouth and nostrils, the breath goes first
to the brain, then the greater part of it to the internal cavity,
and part to the lungs, and part to the veins, and from them it is
distributed to the other parts of the body along the veins; and whatever
passes to the stomach cools, and does nothing more; and so also with
regard to the lungs. But the air which enters the veins is of use
(to the body) by entering the brain and its ventricles, and thus it
imparts sensibility and motion to all the members, so that when the
veins are excluded from the air by the phlegm and do not receive it,
the man loses his speech and intellect, and the hands become powerless,
and are contracted, the blood stopping and not being diffused, as
it was wont; and the eyes are distorted owing to the veins being excluded
from the air; and they palpitate; and froth from the lungs issues
by the mouth. For when the breath does not find entrance to him, he
foams and sputters like a dying person. And the bowels are evacuated
in consequence of the violent suffocation; and the suffocation is
produced when the liver and stomach ascend to the diaphragm, and the
mouth of the stomach is shut up; this takes place when the breath
does not enter by the mouth, as it is wont. The patient kicks with
his feet when the air is shut up in the lungs and cannot find an outlet,
owing to the phlegm; and rushing by the blood upward and downward,
it occasions convulsions and pain, and therefore he kicks with his
feet. All these symptoms he endures when the cold phlegm passes into
the warm blood, for it congeals and stops the blood. And if the deflexion
be copious and thick, it immediately proves fatal to him, for by its
cold it prevails over the blood and congeals it; or, if it be less,
it in the first place obtains the mastery, and stops the respiration;
and then in the course of time, when it is diffused along the veins
and mixed with much warm blood, it is thus overpowered, the veins
receive the air, and the patient recovers his senses. 

Of little children who are seized with this disease, the greater part
die, provided the defluxion be copious and humid, for the veins being
slender cannot admit the phlegm, owing to its thickness and abundance;
but the blood is cooled and congealed, and the child immediately dies.
But if the phlegm be in small quantity, and make a defluxion into
both the veins, or to those on either side, the children survive,
but exhibit notable marks of the disorder; for either the mouth is
drawn aside, or an eye, the neck, or a hand, wherever a vein being
filled with phlegm loses its tone, and is attenuated, and the part
of the body connected with this vein is necessarily rendered weaker
and defective. But for the most it affords relief for a longer interval;
for the child is no longer seized with these attacks, if once it has
contracted this impress of the disease, in consequence of which the
other veins are necessarily affected, and to a certain degree attenuated,
so as just to admit the air, but no longer to permit the influx of
phlegm. However, the parts are proportionally enfeebled whenever the
veins are in an unhealthy state. When in striplings the defluxion
is small and to the right side, they recover without leaving any marks
of the disease, but there is danger of its becoming habitual, and
even increasing if not treated by suitable remedies. Thus, or very
nearly so, is the case when it attacks children. 

To persons of a more advanced age, it neither proves fatal, nor produces
distortions. For their veins are capacious and are filled with hot
blood; and therefore the phlegm can neither prevail nor cool the blood,
so as to coagulate it, but it is quickly overpowered and mixed with
the blood, and thus the veins receive the air, and sensibility remains;
and, owing to their strength, the aforesaid symptoms are less likely
to seize them. But when this disease attacks very old people, it therefore
proves fatal, or induces paraplegia, because the veins are empty,
and the blood scanty, thin, and watery. When, therefore, the defluxion
is copious, and the season winter, it proves fatal; for it chokes
up the exhalents, and coagulates the blood if the defluxion be to
both sides; but if to either, it merely induces paraplegia. For the
blood being thin, cold, and scanty, cannot prevail over the but being
itself overpowered, it is coagulated, so that those parts in which
the blood is corrupted, lose their strength. 

The flux is to the right rather than to the left because the veins
there are more capacious and numerous than on the left side, for on
the one side they spring from the liver, and on the other from the
spleen. The defluxion and melting down take place most especially
in the case of children in whom the head is heated either by the sun
or by fire, or if the brain suddenly contract a rigor, and then the
phlegm is excreted. For it is melted down by the heat and diffusion
of the but it is excreted by the congealing and contracting of it,
and thus a defluxion takes place. And in some this is the cause of
the disease, and in others, when the south wind quickly succeeds to
northern breezes, it suddenly unbinds and relaxes the brain, which
is contracted and weak, so that there is an inundation of phlegm,
and thus the defluxion takes place. The defluxion also takes place
in consequence of fear, from any hidden cause, if we are the at any
person's calling aloud, or while crying, when one cannot quickly recover
one's breath, such as often happens to children. When any of these
things occur, the body immediately shivers, the person becoming speechless
cannot draw his breath, but the breath (pneuma) stops, the brain is
contracted, the blood stands still, and thus the excretion and defluxion
of the phlegm take place. In children, these are the causes of the
attack at first. But to old persons winter is most inimical. For when
the head and brain have been heated at a great fire, and then the
person is brought into cold and has a rigor, or when from cold he
comes into warmth, and sits at the fire, he is apt to suffer in the
same way, and thus he is seized in the manner described above. And
there is much danger of the same thing occurring, if his head be exposed
to the sun, but less so in summer, as the changes are not sudden.
When a person has passed the twentieth year of his life, this disease
is not apt to seize him, unless it has become habitual from childhood,
or at least this is rarely or never the case. For the veins are filled
with blood, and the brain consistent and firm, so that it does not
run down into the veins, or if it do, it does not master the blood,
which is copious and hot. 

But when it has gained strength from one's childhood, and become habitual,
such a person usually suffers attacks, and is seized with them in
changes of the winds, especially in south winds, and it is difficult
of removal. For the brain becomes more humid than natural, and is
inundated with phlegm, so that the defluxions become more frequent,
and the phlegm can no longer be the nor the brain be dried up, but
it becomes wet and humid. This you may ascertain in particular, from
beasts of the flock which are seized with this disease, and more especially
goats, for they are most frequently attacked with it. If you will
cut open the head, you will find the brain humid, full of sweat, and
having a bad smell. And in this way truly you may see that it is not
a god that injures the body, but disease. And so it is with man. For
when the disease has prevailed for a length of time, it is no longer
curable, as the brain is corroded by the phlegm, and melted, and what
is melted down becomes water, and surrounds the brain externally,
and overflows it; wherefore they are more frequently and readily seized
with the disease. And therefore the disease is protracted, because
the influx is thin, owing to its quantity, and is immediately overpowered
by the blood and heated all through. 

But such persons as are habituated to the disease know beforehand
when they are about to be seized and flee from men; if their own house
be at hand, they run home, but if not, to a deserted place, where
as few persons as possible will see them falling, and they immediately
cover themselves up. This they do from shame of the affection, and
not from fear of the divinity, as many suppose. And little children
at first fall down wherever they may happen to be, from inexperience.
But when they have been often seized, and feel its approach beforehand,
they flee to their mothers, or to any other person they are acquainted
with, from terror and dread of the affection, for being still infants
they do not know yet what it is to be ashamed. 

Therefore, they are attacked during changes of the winds, and especially
south winds, then also with north winds, and afterwards also with
the others. These are the strongest winds, and the most opposed to
one another, both as to direction and power. For, the north wind condenses
the air, and separates from it whatever is muddy and nebulous, and
renders it clearer and brighter, and so in like manner also, all the
winds which arise from the sea and other waters; for they extract
the humidity and nebulosity from all objects, and from men themselves,
and therefore it (the north wind) is the most wholesome of the winds.
But the effects of the south are the very reverse. For in the first
place it begins by melting and diffusing the condensed air, and therefore
it does not blow strong at first, but is gentle at the commencement,
because it is not able at once to overcome the and compacted air,
which yet in a while it dissolves. It produces the same effects upon
the land, the sea, the fountains, the wells, and on every production
which contains humidity, and this, there is in all things, some more,
some less. For all these feel the effects of this wind, and from clear
they become cloudy, from cold, hot; from dry, moist; and whatever
ear then vessels are placed upon the ground, filled with wine or any
other fluid, are affected with the south wind, and undergo a change.
And the a change. And the sun, and the moon, it renders blunter appearance
than they naturally are. When, then, it possesses such powers over
things so great and strong, and the body is made to feel and undergo
changes in the changes of the winds, it necessarily follows that the
brain should be disolved and overpowered with moisture, and that the
veins should become more relaxed by the south winds, and that by the
north the healthiest portion of the brain should become contracted,
while the most morbid and humid is secreted, and overflows externally,
and that catarrhs should thus take place in the changes of these winds.
Thus is this disease formed and prevails from those things which enter
into and go out of the body, and it is not more difficult to understand
or to cure than the others, neither is it more divine than other diseases.

Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys,
delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and
lamentations. And by this, in an especial manner, we acquire wisdom
and knowledge, and see and hear, and know what are foul and what are
fair, what are bad and what are good, what are sweet, and what unsavory;
some we discriminate by habit, and some we perceive by their utility.
By this we distinguish objects of relish and disrelish, according
to the seasons; and the same things do not always please us. And by
the same organ we become mad and delirious, and fears and terrors
assail us, some by night, and some by day, and dreams and untimely
wanderings, and cares that are not suitable, and ignorance of present
circumstances, desuetude, and unskilfulness. All these things we endure
from the brain, when it is not healthy, but is more hot, more cold,
more moist, or more dry than natural, or when it suffers any other
preternatural and unusual affection. And we become mad from its humidity.
For when it is more moist than natural, it is necessarily put into
motion, and the affection being moved, neither the sight nor hearing
can be at rest, and the tongue speaks in accordance with the sight
and hearing. 

As long as the brain is at rest, the man enjoys his reason, but the
depravement of the brain arises from phlegm and bile, either of which
you may recognize in this manner: Those who are mad from phlegm are
quiet, and do not cry out nor make a noise; but those from bile are
vociferous, malignant, and will not be quiet, but are always doing
something improper. If the madness be constant, these are the causes
thereof. But if terrors and fears assail, they are connected with
derangement of the brain, and derangement is owing to its being heated.
And it is heated by bile when it is determined to the brain along
the bloodvessels running from the trunk; and fear is present until
it returns again to the veins and trunk, when it ceases. He is grieved
and troubled when the brain is unseasonably cooled and contracted
beyond its wont. This it suffers from phlegm, and from the same affection
the patient becomes oblivious. He calls out and screams at night when
the brain is suddenly heated. The bilious endure this. But the phlegmatic
are not heated, except when much blood goes to the brain, and creates
an ebullition. Much blood passes along the aforesaid veins. But when
the man happens to see a frightful dream and is in fear as if awake,
then his face is in a greater glow, and the eyes are red when the
patient is in fear. And the understanding meditates doing some mischief,
and thus it is affected in sleep. But if, when awakened, he returns
to himself, and the blood is again distributed along the veins, it
ceases. 

In these ways I am of the opinion that the brain exercises the greatest
power in the man. This is the interpreter to us of those things which
emanate from the air, when the brain happens to be in a sound state.
But the air supplies sense to it. And the eyes, the ears, the tongue
and the feet, administer such things as the brain cogitates. For in
as much as it is supplied with air, does it impart sense to the body.
It is the brain which is the messenger to the understanding. For when
the man draws the breath into himself, it passes first to the brain,
and thus the air is distributed to the rest of the body, leaving in
the brain its acme, and whatever has sense and understanding. For
if it passed first to the body and last to the brain, then having
left in the flesh and veins the judgment, when it reached the brain
it would be hot, and not at all pure, but mixed with the humidity
from flesh and blood, so as to be no longer pure. 

Wherefore, I say, that it is the brain which interprets the understanding.
But the diaphragm has obtained its name (frenes) from accident and
usage, and not from reality or nature, for I know no power which it
possesses, either as to sense or understanding, except that when the
man is affected with unexpected joy or sorrow, it throbs and produces
palpitations, owing to its thinness, and as having no belly to receive
anything good or bad that may present themselves to it, but it is
thrown into commotion by both these, from its natural weakness. It
then perceives beforehand none of those things which occur in the
body, but has received its name vaguely and without any proper reason,
like the parts about the heart, which are called auricles, but which
contribute nothing towards hearing. Some say that we think with the
heart, and that this is the part which is grieved, and experiences
care. But it is not so; only it contracts like the diaphragm, and
still more so for the same causes. For veins from all parts of the
body run to it, and it has valves, so as to as to perceive if any
pain or pleasurable emotion befall the man. For when grieved the body
necessarily shudders, and is contracted, and from excessive joy it
is affected in like manner. Wherefore the heart and the diaphragm
are particularly sensitive, they have nothing to do, however, with
the operations of the understanding, but of all but of all these the
brain is the cause. Since, then, the brain, as being the primary seat
of sense and of the spirits, perceives whatever occurs in the body,
if any change more powerful than usual take place in the air, owing
to the seasons, the brain becomes changed by the state of the air.
For, on this account, the brain first perceives, because, I say, all
the most acute, most powerful, and most deadly diseases, and those
which are most difficult to be understood by the inexperienced, fall
upon the brain. 

And the disease called the Sacred arises from causes as the others,
namely, those things which enter and quit the body, such as cold,
the sun, and the winds, which are ever changing and are never at rest.
And these things are divine, so that there is no necessity for making
a distinction, and holding this disease to be more divine than the
others, but all are divine, and all human. And each has its own peculiar
nature and power, and none is of an ambiguous nature, or irremediable.
And the most of them are curable by the same means as those by which
any other thing is food to one, and injurious to another. Thus, then,
the physician should understand and distinguish the season of each,
so that at one time he may attend to the nourishment and increase,
and at another to abstraction and diminution. And in this disease
as in all others, he must strive not to feed the disease, but endeavor
to wear it out by administering whatever is most opposed to each disease,
and not that which favors and is allied to it. For by that which is
allied to it, it gains vigor and increase, but it wears out and disappears
under the use of that which is opposed to it. But whoever is acquainted
with such a change in men, and can render a man humid and dry, hot
and cold by regimen, could also cure this disease, if he recognizes
the proper season for administering his remedies, without minding
purifications, spells, and all other illiberal practices of a like
kind. 

THE END

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Translation of "The Deeds of the Divine Augustus" by Augustus is
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