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ANTROPOECCENTRICO
... UNCHAPTER 3 ...

It was a magistrate (a certain Agato from Sparta) who in 411 BC took the highest office that Athens conferred her citizens: member of the Council of Eleven.
Agato, says Aesculapius, describes sudden symptoms of collapse with loss of consciousness. With time, the symptoms become frequent, and the loss of consciousness lasts longer. Aesculapius starts treating it with bleeding first, than with infusions of willow bark, although he has to admit that Agato doesn’t have a fever. Actually, just before the attack (which is not of convulsive origin), Agato’s forehead becomes cold and the pulse goes from accelerated to undetectable. The last attack is the most dramatic. Five hours after collapsing Agato does not give sign of life. Aesculapius intervenes with vigorous massages at the four extremities. Ammonium salts (stimulating the nervous system). Finally he orders that a tub of hot water be prepared (because Aesculapius believes that hot water stimulates circulation).

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