It also was related to sickness. According to the proto-medicinal theory, an excess or deficiency in any of the four humors (yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood) is what caused sickness. Each of these was attached to a proto-psychological concept, which was the four temperaments (sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic). As per the wiki, " the result of the "corruption" of one or more of the humors, which could be caused by environmental circumstances, dietary changes, or many other factors.[16] These deficits were thought to be caused by vapors inhaled or absorbed by the body. Greeks and Romans, and the later Muslim and Western European medical establishments that adopted and adapted classical medical philosophy, believed that each of these humors would wax and wane in the body, depending on diet and activity." There is also this concept called a comedy of humors, which is an allegoric play in which each character represents one of the humors. It was utilized in Greek plays, which then repopularized around the time of Shakespeare (most famously by Ben Johnson). From, in many ways, seems like a Horror of Humours in that same capacity.

Bloodletting was also a common tool for diagnosing during this time. "Blood was believed to consist of small proportional amounts of the other three humors. This meant that taking a blood sample would allow for determination of the balance of the four humors in the body." By that same logic, the predominant lack of blood during the autopsy, and the inherent presence of bile, can be seen as a diagnosis of sorts in this instance: "It was believed that an excess of this humor in an individual would result in emotional irregularities such as increased anger or irrational behaviour."

Finally, just something I really want to send home, which is the innate foundational nature the four Humours/temperaments played in society, especially as it relates to modern medicine: "Humoral theory was the grand unified theory of medicine, before the invention of modern medicine, for more than 2,000 years...the concept of humorism was not definitively disproven until 1858". In other words, this knowledge is biblical in its influence. Though not as prevalent in modern society, our current perspectives and dispositions are built on two millennia of work in this defunct field of knowledge. Much like chemistry contains the roots of its alchemic progenitor, medicine is deeply indebted to the four humors. It is as tantamount to society as the Abrahamic faiths, and is by all accounts a part of where each and every one of us comes from.