What does «atrabilis» mean in Spanish?
- Black and acrid cholera.
- A substance or mood of the human body that was the cause of melancholy, sadness, mania, and hypochondria, according to ancient medicine, from Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) and Galen (129-199) to the Middle Ages. It was believed to be secreted by the pancreas or adrenal capsules. The fluid has a blackish color and actually comes from postmortem putrefaction of the adrenal medullary substance. The other humors of the body were blood, phlegm and yellow bile.
- Bad temper or humor.