 The Anonymus Londinensis then tells us that Philolaus explained disease in terms of three factors: bile, blood and phlegm. It is surprising that no mention is made of the basic constituent of the body, the hot, since Philolaus is presented as one of the thinkers who explains disease in terms of the constituents of the body (see 6.1 above). It may well be, however, that bile, blood and phlegm were all regarded as hot, since blood and bile were typically regarded as hot, and we are explicitly told that Philolaus argued that phlegm was hot, although it was typically regarded as cold (Lloyd 1963, 120). Moreover, excesses and deficiencies of heat, cold and nutriment are also said to be causes of disease. It would appear then that health depends on appropriate cooling of the natural heat of the body and that bile, blood and phlegm cause disease insofar as they are not constituted properly by the balance of heating and cooling, the balance of which can also be upset by improper nutrition. There are a number of puzzling features in Philolaus’ presentation of the three humours: blood, bile and phlegm (Gourevitch 1989, Manetti 1990). Phlegm is said to be constituted from ombroi, which usually means “rain storms,” but probably here means just liquids (Manetti 1990). However, Manetti’s suggestion (1990) that phlegm does not refer to the humour but rather means “inflammation” is not very likely, since phlegm is not said to be caused by the liquids, which is what we would expect if it meant “inflammation” but rather constituted of them. Philolaus’ account of disease may be distorted by the intervention of the author of the Anonymus Londinensis (Manetti 1990). 