Pallor and complexion

Meaning

A dark, leaden pallor, palleur obscure & plombee, is the outward appearance used to illustrate an inward disturbance. The author treats loss or alteration of the vital tint as a sign of illness, extending his argument about colour and constitution. This is not a modern diagnostic test. The first explanation attributes the changed complexion solely to smoky, sulphurous fumes spreading from within to the surface. “One may also say” then introduces another explanation: defending Nature withdraws clear blood to the heart, leaving the exterior deprived of its colour. The text retains both accounts rather than resolving them into a single mechanism. Its wider claim about corruptible compounds also expressly excepts gold and precious stones, perfected by Nature as far as she can. Neither the analogy nor the wider generalization should be detached from those limits.