Know that the duration of the disease depends either on the condensation of matter in the insides, or on errors in the diet; in any case, the stomach weakens, since a long illness exhausts it.
Signs of this are slow maturation, from which the duration of the disease is concluded, immediate precipitation of suspended sediment in the urine and the constant presence of a red sediment. A slight manifestation of sunken ribs also indicates the duration of the disease.
If, during an acute illness, the patient has a large pulse and a full face, and his hypochondrium is swollen and not sunken, this also indicates that little matter is dissolving and the disease is protracted. When signs of crisis come before maturity, then if strength does not fall and signs of death do not appear, the disease drags on.
Know that if frightening phenomena and suffering during a crisis bring neither benefit nor harm and the patient’s condition remains unchanged, then the illness will be long-lasting.
Know that frequent twitching during an illness indicates its duration, especially if they begin at the beginning of the illness, while at the end it is better; profuse sweat is a sign of a long illness.
When scanty evacuation, indicating that nature moves matter, but cannot expel it completely, and is expressed in perspiration or nosebleeds or in some other way, is accompanied by other, favorable manifestations or there are no bad symptoms, this indicates the duration of the disease. When the red precipitate lasts up to forty days, it portends a long illness, so that there is no hope for a crisis and the end of the illness even by the sixtieth day. Wet dreams at the onset of the disease indicate its duration.
If you see signs of duration in the days preceding the crisis, then their evidence is not the same as their evidence later, and if you see that symptoms opposite to these signs barely appear in the middle or last days, then think about the qualities of the days of the harbingers to find out what day they will fall on and what day they then portend. And keep in mind also the mandatory conditions we mention, that is, consider what the level of strength, age and nature of the patient is, what the time of year and state of movement of the disease are in qualitative and quantitative terms and in the sense of the prematureness or delay of its periods - especially the period of the limit in acute fevers . Discern whether they are short or long and whether they incline towards movement or rest and judge according to all this.