by Aristotle
3 · Why is it that those who drink slightly diluted wine have worse hangovers than those who drink wine absolutely unmixed? Is it because owing to its lightness diluted wine penetrates better into more numerous and narrower parts of the body than unmixed wine, and so is less easy to get rid of? Or is it because those who drink [20] unmixed wine drink a less quantity, because it is impossible to drink more, and vomit more readily? Furthermore unmixed wine, being hotter, causes concoction in other things and in itself; whereas watery wine has the opposite effect.
4 · Why is the semen of drunkards generally infertile? Is it because the composition of their body has become full of moisture, and the semen is fertile not [25] when it is liquid but when it has body and consistency?
5 · Why do drunkards tremble, and more so the more they drink unmixed wine? Now wine is heating; but trembling is chiefly due to cold, and so those who are chilled tremble very much. Yet many people before now, who have taken [30] unmixed wine as their only form of nourishment, have been seized with such violent trembling as to throw off those who were trying to hold them down; and when they wash in hot water, they have no perception of it. Is it because trembling is due to cooling, and cooling takes place either when the heat is driven within by external cold, as happens in winter, or when the natural heat is extinguished either by its [35] opposite or by lapse of time, as in old age, or by the excess of extraneous heat which is caused in that which is exposed to the sun or to a blazing fire? This occurs also in those who take unmixed wine. The wine, being hot, when on mingling with the proper heat of the body it exceeds it in power,1 quenches the bodily heat; and the [871b1] heat being thus extinguished and the body cooled, trembling ensues. But there is also another process of cooling differing from all those described above; namely, when the matter whereby the heat in anything is fed is removed, and, as a result, [5] the heat dies down. This can be illustrated in the inanimate world from the lamp; for when the oil is expended, the light goes out; and in living beings old age and long, wasting diseases have a similar effect. For when that which feeds the heat is [10] removed or diminished, the result is that the heat fails;2 for heat is fed by moisture, not, however, by any kind of moisture but by that which is smooth and fat.3 In those, therefore, who are suffering from the diseases mentioned above and in those who are growing old, when moisture of this kind becomes corrupted and changed [15] (becoming harsh and dry instead of smooth and oily), as a result the heat fails. A proof of the above is afforded by the treatment applied to those who are wasting to death; for, whenever they have any nourishing liquid administered to them, the result is that their vitality4 is revived, which implies that their bodily dissolution is [20] due to the lack of such a substance. The same cause seems to operate in those who drink unmixed wine. For the wine, being warm, co-operating with the heat already naturally present in the body, tends to use up the supply already present in the body [25] for the natural heat; consequently some drunkards become dropsical, others rheumatic, while in others the stomach is affected. For the other humours in them are harsh, and what they imbibe, being soft, does not acquire consistency owing to the weakness of the natural heat. Their heat is weak because the matter in which it [30] is still contained is itself weak; like a fire fed by reeds, which, because its material is weak, is weaker than a wood-fire.
6 · Why is it that, though wine is hot, the drunken are unable to endure cold and are very readily attacked by pleurisy and similar diseases? Is it because a large [35] quantity of moisture, if it be cooled, forms a mass of cold, and so overpowers the natural heat? Now the moister anything is the hotter it is by nature, as is shown by the fact that external agencies cause heat but do not cause liquefaction; but where there is less heat, it is clear that either the heat or the moisture is failing too quickly, [872a1] and so, cold humours only being left, it is natural that the drunken should be colder and show the proper symptoms of chill.
7 · Why is it that children, who have a hot temperament, are not fond of wine, although the Scythians and all who are courageous are fond of wine because [5] they have a hot temperament? Is it because the latter, though they are hot, are also dry (for this is the natural condition of a man), whereas children are hot and moist? Now fondness for drink is due to a desire for moisture; and so their moist condition prevents children from being thirsty, for desire is a lack of something.
[10] 8 · Why is it that men are more sensitive to salty and bad water when they are drunk than when they are sober? Is it because that which is like and similarly constituted is unaffected by its like, but opposites are very sensitive to opposites? A drunken man then has sweet liquids in him (for such seems to be the nature of [15] wine), and so is more sensitive to bad liquids; but the sober man has harsh and salty liquids in him, and so, when his food becomes concocted, the excretory humours come to the surface and these are unaffected by their like and cause the man in whose body they are to be similarly unaffected.
9 · Why is it that to those who are very drunk everything seems to revolve in [20] a circle, and as soon as the wine takes hold of them they cannot see objects at a distance, and so this is used by some as a test of drunkenness? Is it because the vision is continually disturbed by the heat of the wine? It makes no difference then whether it is the vision that is disturbed or the object seen; for the result is the same in producing the above-mentioned phenomenon. And since the vision of drunken persons is often mistaken about objects near at hand, it is only natural that it should [25] be even more so in looking at distant objects. So the latter are not visible to them at all, while objects near at hand are not seen in their proper places, but appear to revolve in a circle and not to be near or far, because the circular motion makes it less possible for the sight to be directed towards distant objects; for it is difficult to do [30] two contrary things at the same time. Now distant vision is movement in a straight line,5 but circular vision is restricted to the area implied by its name. For the above-mentioned reasons then the vision does not travel to a distance. Secondly, if it could travel to both near and distant objects, it would not see them, for that which was seen in the same place would fail at the next moment, and, if it did so,6 the eye [35] could not see it. The circular movement is due to the present constitution of his sight; for it is a cone, the base of which is a circle, and, moving in this circle, the sight always sees the same thing,7 because it never fails, but it is deceived as to its [872b1] position, because it never directs the same glance upon it; for just the same thing would happen whether the object moved in relation to the eye or the eye in relation to the object.
10 · Why is it that to those who are drunk one thing at which they are looking sometimes appears to be many? Is it because, as has already been [5] remarked, the vision is disturbed, with the result that the same glance does not rest on the same object for any length of time? Now that which is seen differently at the same time appears to exist later in time; for that which is seen is seen by contact with the vision, and it is impossible for several objects to be in contact with the same thing at the same time. But because the intervening time, during which the vision [10] comes into contact with and passes away from the object seen, is imperceptible, the moment during which it has been in contact and passed away seems to be one; and so when several glances come into contact with the same object at the same time, the objects seen appear to be several, because it is impossible for the glances to be in contact with the same8 thing at the same time.9
11 · Why is it that those who are drunk are incapable of having sexual [15] intercourse? Is it because to do so a certain part of the body must be in a state of greater heat than the rest, and this is impossible in the drunken owing to the large quantity of heat present in the whole body; for the heat set up by the movement is extinguished by the greater surrounding heat, because they have in them a considerable quantity of unconcocted moisture? Furthermore the semen is derived [20] from food and all food is concocted, and those who are satiated with food are more inclined for sexual intercourse. This i
s why some people say that with a view to the sexual act one ought to take a plenteous midday meal but a light supper, so that [25] there may be less unconcocted than concocted matter in the body.
12 · Why is it that sweet wine and unmixed wine and mead if drunk from time to time during a drinking bout make men sober? And why do those who drink from large vessels become less drunk? Is the reason in all cases the same, namely [30] the repression of heat on the surface of the body? For drunkenness takes place when the heat is in the region of the head.
13 · Why is it that, though that which is sweet tends to rise to the surface, if any one who is already drunk takes a sweet draught the wine which he has drunk before is concocted and causes less discomfort? Is it because that which is sweet is [35] both soothing and adhesive (which is the reason why it blocks up the pores), while that which is bitter has a roughening effect? The latter makes it easy for the heat to rise, but the sweet draught keeps it in by blocking up the pores; and it has already [873a1] been remarked that drunkenness is due to the upper parts of the body becoming heated. Furthermore sweet wine is odourless, but bitter wine is not, and any odour oppresses the head.
14 · Why is it that wine which is mixed but tends towards the unmixed [5] causes a worse headache the next morning than entirely unmixed wine? Is it because unmixed wine is composed of heavy particles and so does not find its way into the pores of the head, which are narrow, but only its power, namely its odour and heat, reaches the head? Diluted wine on the other hand, being mixed with water, which is light, itself penetrates to the head and having body, as well as much [10] of the power of unmixed wine, is much less easily concocted; for moist things are most difficult of all to concoct, and actual substances are more difficult of concoction than their powers.
15 · Why is it that those who do not take physical exercise are better able to drink themselves into a condition of drunkenness, and throw it off more easily, than [15] those who take such exercise? Is it because those who have excretions and moisture in their bodies are more inclined to pass urine? This enables them to drink and afterwards to be relieved of the effects, because much vinous moisture does not remain in them. Those who take no exercise are moist and full of excretions; but those who do take exercise are dry, and so the vinous moisture penetrates into their [20] body, and its impetus immediately checks the flow of urine, and the moisture remaining afterwards behind forms a weight in the body.
16 · Why has wine the effect both of stupefying and of driving to frenzy those who drink it? For these are contrary states, the frenzied being in a state of excessive movement and the stupefied in a condition of too little movement. Is it [25] true, as Chaeremon says, that It therefore has the opposite effect not on the same but upon the unlike, just as fire dries up some things but liquefies others, but does not have both these effects on the same things—for instance it melts ice, but hardens salt. So wine, being in its nature moist, excites the slow and makes them quicker, while it enervates [30] the quick. Therefore some of those who are naturally of a melancholic temperament become entirely enervated as the result of a drunken debauch. For just as a bath makes supple those who have a well-knit and hard frame, while it relaxes those who are supple and moist, so wine has this effect, acting [35] as an internal bath.
Wine mingles with the temper of the drinker?
17 · Why is it that cabbage stops hangovers? Is it because its juice is sweet and has a cleansing effect (and so doctors use it to purge the bowels), while in itself [873b1] it is cold? This is shown by the fact that doctors use it in cases of acute diarrhoea, boiling it thoroughly and draining off the juice10 and letting it cool. In those with hangovers the effect of the juice of cabbage is to draw off the internal humours, [5] which are vinous and unconcocted, into the stomach, while the cabbage itself remains in the upper part of the stomach and cools the body. As the body cools, the light humours are carried into the bladder. Thus since the humours throughout the body are expelled by these two methods and it becomes cool, hangovers naturally [10] vanish; for wine is moist and hot. A further result of the humours being drawn downwards and expelled is that breath is thereby carried down into the body, and it is only from there that breath can be carried from the wine into the head and cause stupor and hangovers. But if the breath is carried downwards and the body cooled in [15] the manner mentioned above, the pain of the hangover is relieved. For the hangover is due to a seething and to inflammation as it dies down; but it is more painful than drunkenness, because the latter drives men out of their senses, but the hangover causes them pain when they are in full possession of their wits. Just as those who are [20] in a fever are delirious rather than in pain, but feel pain when they are relieved of the fever and recover their senses; for just the same thing happens with hangovers and drunkenness.
18 · Why is it that watery wine is more apt to cause vomiting than water and than unmixed wine? Is it because anything that tends to rise to the surface and is [25] unpleasant to the taste is most likely to cause vomiting? Now wine has the effect of repression; while water is light and not unpleasant, and, therefore, being light11 it quickly penetrates downwards, but, not being unpleasant, it does not cause heartburn. Now excessively diluted wine is not light enough to percolate through [30] quickly, and because it has a little wine in it, it is unpleasant; for it disturbs the sense of taste by setting up two kinds of movement, one produced by the wine and the other by the water, both of which make themselves felt. But the proper mixing of wine does away with the taste of water and gives the wine a soft taste, which makes [35] it pleasant to drink. But watery wine, being unpleasant to the taste, has a tendency to rise, and anything which does this is apt to cause vomiting.
19 · Why is it that men are more sensitive to salty and bad water when they [874a1] are drunk than when they are sober? Is it because anything which has an unpleasant taste is more perceptible to those who feel no desire, but is not noticed by those who feel desire? A man therefore who is in a state of lacking something12 resembles one who feels a desire, and the sober man is in this condition; whereas the drunken man is satiated.
[5] 20 · Why is it that to those who are very drunk everything seems to revolve in a circle, and as soon as the wine takes hold of them they cannot count objects at a distance, and so this is used by some as a test of drunkenness? Is it because the vision is continually disturbed by the heat of the wine? The same thing then [10] happens to those who are drunk as when an object appears double if one puts it close to the eye. For it makes no difference if you move the eye instead of13 putting the object close to it, and whether the movement is within the eye or outside it; for the effect on the vision is the same in both cases. The result will be that the object seen appears not to be at rest, and more so if it is at a distance (for it has less hold upon [15] the vision when the latter is extended to a distance); and this near movement causes a still greater variation at the farthest point to which the eye reaches; and if the vision is moved violently and regularly up and down, it has still less hold upon the distant object. Now anything which is extended to a distance moves in a circle, arrows, for example, and objects suspended; and so the same thing happens to the vision owing to its weakness, as though it were actually projected to a distance. It [20] makes no difference whether it is the vision which moves or the object seen; for the effect on the appearance of the object is the same.
21 · Why is it that, when a quantity of wine is drunk at once, the stomach becomes drier, whereas it ought to be rendered moister by the additional liquid? Is it because the stomach has no action upon a large amount of liquid swallowed at [25] once, but it goes unaltered to its proper place (and the proper place for unconcocted liquid is the bladder), whereas the stomach acts upon a small quantity and concocts it, so that it remains in the stomach and makes it moist?
22 · Why is it that those who drink wine properly diluted suffer more from hangovers than those who drink unmixed wine? Is it because diluted wine, being [30] light, finds its way into more parts of the body (just
as it penetrates into clothing), and is more difficult to expel (water by itself being of a thinner consistency but easier to expel)? Or is it because the amount of unmixed wine which is drunk is less because of the impossibility of drinking a large quantity, and there is more liability to vomiting? Moreover unmixed wine concocts everything else as well as itself. This is the same problem.
23 · Why is it that death ensues from the drinking of unmixed wine in large [35] quantities by one who is already in a lean condition? On the other hand, those who are addicted to drinking, if they are not in a lean condition, often become dry from drinking a large quantity at a time; for both wine and life seem to be of the nature of hot things, whereas death is a process of cooling. Is it because death by drinking [874b1] resembles death by hemlock, the natural heat being gradually extinguished? But the process is different in the two cases; for hemlock by its coldness congeals the moisture and heat, whereas wine by its own heat parches up the natural heat. So just as a small fire is extinguished by a large blaze and by the heat of the sun, so too [5] the heat in the body is extinguished by that in the wine, if the latter surpasses it in strength.