The sick man is considered to have lost his shadow or a part of it.
The duty of the physician was to foresee these changes, "to assist or not to hinder them," so that "the sick man might conquer the disease with the help of the physician."
The patient's skin burns, that of a frog is cold to the touch; therefore tie to the foot of the bed a frog, bound with red and black thread, and wash down the sick man so that the water of ablution falls 1 In its technical ecclesiastical sense the ablution is the ritual washing of the chalice and of the priest's fingers after the celebration of Holy Communion in the Catholic Church.
In the rite of death-bed penance given in the old Mozarabic Christian ritual of Spain, ashes were poured over the sick man.
Similarly, the sick man is to be moved to make a special confession of his sins if he feels his conscience troubled with any weighty matter.
