ABSTRACT
Rina Knoeff kicks off the discussion of the individual non-naturals by looking at the role of airs and places. She examines the influence of the idea of the body as being akin to that emblematic Enlightenment piece of equipment, the barometer, in its susceptibility to climactic variation. British thinking on the links between nervous sensibility and the weather has been investigated before, but Knoeff shows that continental observers, particularly in the Netherlands, approached the topic in terms of the physiology of the fluids and fibres. As such, the chapter thus contributes to the broader picture in this volume of the level of continuity in terms of the ancient doctrine of the humours, albeit reconfigured in new ways. Knoeff also shows how Dutch physicians wrote about health and climate in a self-consciously national context, often arguing that their climate was remarkably suited for long life.
