disease must be a fearful
contemplation to those who are of a superstitious turn. There is no
malady within the whole realm of pathology which the moon's
destroying angel cannot inflict; and from the crown of the head to
the sole of the foot the entire man is at the mercy of her beams. We
have all seen those disgusting woodcuts to which the following just
condemnation refers: "The moon's influence on parts of the human
body, as given in some old-fashioned almanacs, is an entire
_fallacy_; it is most untrue and absurd, often indecent, and is a
discredit to the age we live in." [370] Most of these inartistic
productions are framed upon the assumption of the old alchymists
that the physiological functions were regulated by planetary
influence. The sun controlled the heart, the moon the brain, Jupiter
the lungs, Saturn the spleen, Mars the liver, Venus the kidneys, and
Mercury the reproductive powers. But even with this distribution
among the heavenly bodies the moon was allowed plenipotentiary
sway. As in mythology it is the god or goddess of water, so in
astrology it is the embodiment of moisture, and therefore rules the
humours which circulate throughout the human system. No wonder
that phlebotomy prevailed so long as the reign of the moon endured.
"This lunar planet," says La Martiniere, "is damp of itself, but, by
the radiation of the sun, is of various temperaments, as follows: in
its first quadrant it is warm and damp, at which time it is good to let
the blood of sanguine persons; in its second it is warm and dry, at
which time it is good to bleed the choleric; in its third quadrant it is
cold and moist, and phlegmatic people may be bled; and in its fourth
it is cold and dry, at which time it is well to bleed the melancholic."
Whatever the moon's phase may be, let blood be shed! We are
reminded here of that sanguifluous theology, which even Christians
of a certain temperament seem to enjoy, while they sing of fountains
filled with blood: as though a God of love could take delight in the
effusion of precious life. La Martiniere continues, and physicians
will make a note of his words: "It is a thing quite necessary to those
who meddle with medicine to understand the movement of this
planet, in order to discern the causes of sickness. And as the moon is
often in conjunction with Saturn, many attribute to it apoplexy,
paralysis, epilepsy, jaundice, hydropsy, lethargy, catapory,
catalepsy, colds, convulsions, trembling of