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Epilepsy can be caused by heat in the body, dispersing gas throughout. This in turn causes disfigurement of the body. If trapped inside, it can affect the mind. During sleep epilepsy can be less serious but this malady attacks the most divine part of us - our reason, our wisdom, our brains. 

(1)

Quōrum ē numerō: "of all of these" concrementa, connecting relative. LS numerus I.B.1, "the full number."

praecipuast materia ... cum: praecipuast = praecipua est by prodelision: "the chief source is ... when." 

morbī comitiālis: epilepsy was so styled because its occurrence at the comitia (elections) was regarded as an evil omen and caused the comitia to be suspended (B/O).

cum carō ... : in the Platonic theory, epilepsy is not attributed to demons (see Abt 1908, 198-199) but explained rationally. 

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See Timaeus 85 a-b: the disease originates in the head, where the most divine part of man's soul is revolving; when a white phlegm, mingled with black bile, disturbs its circulation, the sacred disease results. Plato's brief statement had a strong influence on later medical authors. Here it has been elaborated by Apuleius into a more detailed account, including references to Aristotle and Theophrastus (51.4). This is what Apuleius says: if a whitish and humid moisture, caused by decomposed flesh, flows forth on the outside of the body, it produces skin eruptions on the chest; if this is all that happens, it may prevent epilepsy; but if the humor turns inside and is mixed with black bile, it will pervade the veins, spread over the brain, and debilitate the "regal" part of the soul, especially when the patient is awake. On ancient theories of epilepsy in general, see O. Temkin, The Falling Sickness: A History of Epilepsy from the Greeks to the Beginnings of Modern Neurology (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994), 51-64 (Hunink).

in hūmōrem crassum et spūmidum: "into a thick and frothy moisture."

inimīcō ignī: ablative of cause, "under the influence of a hostile heat."

spīritū indidem partō: abl. abs., "when a gas has been produced (> LS pario2) from this same (process of liquefying carō)."

ex candōre compressī āeris albida et tumida tābēs fluit: order: tābēs albida et tumida fluit ex candōre compressī āeris: "a pale and foamy discharge flows from the whiteness of (this) vapor when it has been condensed." āeris > āēr.

(2)

forās: "out of" + gen., LS foras I.γ (post-classical).

prōspīrāvit: "it has been exhaled."

maiōre dēdecore quam noxā: it looks gross but it isn't actually harmful.

īnsignit ... convariat: subject is still tābēs.

omnimodīs: the word does not occur as an adjective before Apuleius, who also has unimodus in De dogmate Platonis 2.5. As frequently in contexts where he is following Greek models, the passage contains a number of other new and rare words, which add to the elevated, scientific tone and must have struck the audience with awe (Hunink).

maculātiōnibus: = maculīs. The word is not found earlier than this passage, but is used later by Firmicus Maternus. It illustrates Apuleius's love of abstract for concrete, and of a long word for a short one with similar meaning. See Metamorphoses 9.35 frugalitas for fruges; 11.18 oblationes for dona (B/O).

(3)

cui hōc ūsū vēnerit: "(a person) to whom this happens," LS usus II.C.2.

adtemptātur: "is afflicted."

levī turpitūdine: "a slight disfigurement" (Jones).

compēnsat: "gets rid of x (acc.) in exchange for y (abl.)," OLD compenso 4.b. 

(4)

Enimvērō: however.

dulcēdō: "secretion" (Jones) = tābēs above. The word is very rare. In Grattius, Cynegetica 408 it seems to mean "itch," "irritation." In chapter 30 it is used to refer to the hippomanes.

intus cohibita: "trapped inside," as opposed to foras corporis prōspīrāvit above, section 2.

bīlī ātrae sociāta: "allied to dark bile," "combined with dark bile," describing dulcēdō.

furēns pervāsit: "spreads feverishly in" + abl. (vēnīs omnibus).

viam molita: "having built a road," "having made its way."

dīrum flūxum: "pestilent discharge."

īlicō: "in that spot" inside the brain matter.

rēgālem partem: "the ruling part."

ratiōne pollēns: "because it rules by reason," explaining īnsēdit.

velut arcem et rēgiam: the image of the head as an arx is traditional and goes back to Plato's Timaeus itself (70 a). See Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.20 Plato ... principatum, id est rationem in capite sicut in arce posuit (Hunink).

īnsēdit: "resides in," pf. > insīdō -sīdere -sēdī -sessum + acc. (OLD insido 3). 

(5)

Eius: rēgālem partem animī.

obruit et obturbat: subject is tābēs/dulcēdō.

Quod facit: "(a thing) which (the disease) does."

minōre perniciē: "with less destruction," abl. of manner, "less destructively."

cum ... angit: order: cum (illa tābēs) modicē angit strangulātiōne plēnōs pōtū et cibō, praenuntiā comitiālis morbī :  "when (the discharge) afflicts people who are full of food and drink with a slight pain from tightness of breath, a harbinger of (an attack of) epilepsy." The emphasis is on minōre and modicē.

praenuntiā: "harbinger," "signal."

(6)

usque adeō ... ut ... offundatur: "all the way to the point that it floods," + dat.

etiam vigilantium: "of (epileptics) even when awake."

repentīnō mentis nūbilō: an expression for loss of consciousness. See Metamorphoses 10.28 repente mentis nubilo turbine correpta and 8.8 obnubilavit animam; OLD nubilus 5 (Hunink).

obtorpēscunt: “become numb," "pass out."

moribundō corpore, cessante animō: abl. of description, describing the epileptics once they have fallen.

cadunt: a full seizure, as distinct from the partial symptoms or harbingers discussed in section 5.

(7)

Eum: morbum.

nostrī: "our (philosophers)," i.e., Roman ones.

maiōrem et comitiālem: maiōrem morbum et comitiālem morbum.

dīvīnum morbum: the disease was really so called because its suddenness and the terrible nature of its symptoms suggested a divine visitation (B/O).

Graecī: supply eum nuncupāverunt.

vērē: "correctly."

nuncupārunt: nuncupāvērunt.

eam: partem animi. The repeated pronoun is typical for Apuleius's style (Hunink).

violet: subject is the disease of epilepsy.