Aretaeus, De causis et signis acutorum morborum (lib. 1)
Francis Adams LL.D., Ed.

1 The reading in all the mss. is, ὢ κύφων οὗ — words which evidently have no meaning. Ermerins accordingly erases them, with the three following — κακοῦ ἐστι οὔνομα — altogether. This, I think, will generally be admitted to be too bold a procedure. The emendation suggested by Fabricius and Mattaire, and adopted by Wigan (namely, ὠκυφόνοὐ, is so plausible, and requires so little change of the characters, that I should have had no hesitation in adopting it, provided there were any authority for it; but this, I fear, is not the case. I have therefore ventured to substitute ὠκυτάτου in place of it; and I am persuaded that, upon mature consideration, it will be approved of by every competent judge. I need scarcely remark, that it is of common occurrence in the works of the medical authorities, and that it is very applicable in this place.

2 i must own, that I feel somewhat disposed to follow the suggestion of Wigan, and read ἥβης: for it is well known that pestilential buboes occur principally in the groin (i ... near the pubes), as is first noticed by Procopius (de Bello Persico, 22, 23). I am not aware, moreover, that any of the ancient authorities refer the pestilential buboes to the liver, but to the glands of the groin. See Agathias, Hist ... and the other authorities quoted at P. aeginet ... i ... 232, Syd. Soc. Edit.

3 were I disposed to indulge in conjectural emendation, I should certainly not hesitate in this place to read, ἐξ ἴσης τῇ ἀρχῇ. I wonder the present unsatisfactory reading has escaped the animadversions of all the editors and commentators.