Hi Pam,

I have reins defined as the kindeys or loins, but I think your definition is better and it makes a lot of sense. It is possible that some authors used it in a more general sense though.

Incidentally, it's probably worth making a reference here to Kim Farnell's glossary of archaic terms - a quick and useful guide to some of the obscure words that crop up in astrology texts of this period.

http://www.skyscript.co.uk/glossarytt.html

Regards
Deb

Hi, Deb

Thanks for adding your comments! I recently ran across another mention by Saunders; I seem to recall the expression was "the reins of the back", again distinct from the kidneys, which seems to support the idea of the reins corresponding with the ureters--at least in Saunders' terminology. I will post the citation once I locate it again.

I agree that it seems most authors grouped both body parts under the same name.

Thank you for citing the glossary Kim Farnell provides! This looks most useful.

The next thing I would like to look at on the chart is the immediate future; the humour which will next be increasing. Here is one more advantage Saunders' medicine has over modern medicine! Nowadays, we can get sample of blood which can be studied exhaustively, but doctors assure us that even so it can only show a momentary "snapshot" of what is going on with blood constituents, hormones, etc. Those hormone levels zing up and down: some on cycles, some answering to other hormones triggered by a number of random factors like emotional reactions, the amount of sleep we've had, what we just ate, etc. Saunders does modern medicine one better by showing how we can find out which humour will increase next, the better to appropriately treat the patient.

I hope to post on this topic later today.

Warmest regards,

Pam