Pills, boluses and drinks

Meaning

II.3.12 lists pills, a bolus, meaning a soft medicinal mass, and a drink as familiar forms in which a medicine reaches the body. The list matters because the author is discussing what happens after administration, not because one form is declared intrinsically superior. He contrasts Nature's overcoming the medicine with a poisonous or purgative substance attracting a particular offending humour through sympathy.

The discussion also recognizes violent movement and injury. A visible evacuation does not by itself prove that the right cause has been removed or that the body has been strengthened. The author then declares medicine outside his profession and returns to his main subject. These forms should therefore be explained as historical vehicles within a qualified argument, without supplying quantities, preparations or treatment instructions.