# The History of Monsters. 259

of deadly sin and the erosion of moral virtues. Finally, the intestines often suffer from infestations of worms to the point of a physician's despair, as various species of worms are generated within them. These worms represent crimes that most frequently gnaw at the intestines of the conscience, and various types are observed: worms of greed born from wealth, worms of lust from pleasures, worms of pride from high status, worms of envy from another's prosperity, and worms of intolerance from calamities. Indeed, just as intestinal worms are driven out by medicines to prevent the patient's death, so too must the worms of sin be expelled through expiatory confession to avoid the looming danger of eternal death.

The primary affliction of the feet is gout, which attacks those who delight in daily lavish banquets and only exert their bodies in the act of love. However, it is noteworthy that eunuchs, children, and women are said to be least troubled by this type of illness. Gout represents laziness and bodily sluggishness, which usually occupies those who take excessive joy in delicacies and frequently indulge in lust. Conversely, children signify simple people, eunuchs represent the chaste, and women symbolize the pious and merciful; therefore, these groups are not seized by the aforementioned disease.

We come now to the skin, which is said to be liable to many diseases. Indeed, it is afflicted by wounds, wrinkles, pustules, ringworm, and scabies. Similarly, the "skin" of human habit suffers from various moral sicknesses: first, the wounds caused by anger and discord; then the wrinkles of envy, the pustules of pride, the ringworm of greed, and finally the scabies of lust. Alternatively, we might interpret the pustules rising on the surface of the skin as venial sins, which do not penetrate to the innermost parts of the heart but are observed only on the surface of one's habits. To these we must add leprosy, which physicians categorize not only as a contagious skin condition but also an inherited one. A leper signifies a sinner who can be infected by associating with other criminals; as the poet said: "A diseased sheep corrupts the entire flock."

The Psalmist expressed this better, saying: "With the holy, you will be holy; and with the perverse, you will be perverted." Furthermore, a person easily falls into leprosy if their ancestors were once afflicted by the same disease; likewise, people become sinners through the wicked examples of their forefathers. Occasionally, unnatural tumors are produced on the skin, occurring either because the harmful humors are so thin that they flow easily to the surface, or because the patient’s pores are so wide that any humor, even a thick one, can penetrate to the outer skin. This tumor can be a symbol of deadly sin, which may arise from the breadth of indulgent senses, a "wide" conscience (meaning one prone to sinning), or from the thin humor of inconstancy. Another kind of tumor called a hernia arises in the abdominal skin when the peritoneum—the membrane containing the intestines—is overstretched or ruptured due to shouting or physical struggle. This tumor represents discord for us, which tears the membrane of charity while the shouting of insults and the struggle of controversy thrive among men; for all these things tend to dissolve charity and friendship.

So far we have spoken of specific ailments; now we must descend to the universal ones that plague the whole human body, which for the most part arise from corrupted blood in the veins. Blood in the veins is tainted either by rot or by the mixing in of foreign humors; similarly, the blood of the human heart's affection is defiled either by the rot of sin or by the wicked and degenerate company of others. Moreover, because it usually happens that fevers emerge when the blood is fouled, we felt we should say something about them. Fever is an unnatural heat spread from the heart through all parts of the human body. Since three parts are found in the human body—spirits, humors, and solids—in which febrile heat can be ignited, physicians have established three categories of fevers. The first is called ephemeral fever, which occupies the spirits; the second is putrid fever, which plagues the humors; and the third is hectic fever, affecting the solid parts. Moral fever refers to the lust of the mind, the fervor of the passions, and the intemperance of desires; this is also said to be threefold. The first is called the lust for status, which is pride; the second is the lust for pleasures, called lechery; and the third is the lust for riches, known as greed. Pride fe-