English
And it is a fact, though ‘spermin’, the special substance of the semen, is found in concentrated form in the testes and prostate, it is found in a considerable quantity in the thymus, milt, ovaries and the blood and plays an im¬ portant role in the general oxidation of the tissues and in the metabolic reduction of the intermediate regressive albuminous substances as leucomines into harmless products as urea. ‘Rasa’ contributes to health, pleasant countenance and nourishes the blood ; the blood contributes to , the brightness of the skin, nourishment of the flesh and keeps one alive ; fat contributes to the adipose tissues,perspiration, hardihood and health of the bone ; the bone keeps the bodily frame and nourishes the bone- marrow ; the bone-marroYv contributes to the pleasant countenance, adipose tissues, strength (of the body), increase of the semen and fills the bone ; the semen contributes to the personal bravery, • resistance to disease ( chyavana ), ^ (A. Poehl : Simvirhung des Spennins avfden Staffumsatt. Zuit* fur klin. Med.. 1894, p. 135) 58 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE inclination to pleasure, physical strength and reproductive power. Stisruta 1.15. 6 “‘^lesma’ (lymph) is produced in the intestine, sweet and cool; from the sweetness, viscosity, and humidity from the digested food.” Smruta I. 21. 17**. “‘Slesnia’ is white (chyle in the lacteal, es¬ pecially after the heavy ingestien of fat), heavy and cool; when it is unoxidized {avidagdha in the lacteal and in the thoracic duct, still in the condition of chyle), it is sweet, but when oxi¬ dized, it is alkaline.” Susruta I. 21. 19®®. Slesma “lubricates joints (snovia), is fattening, liealing, flesh-giving, causes growth, refreshing through moistening, strengthening, adds to the thickness of the subcutaneous fat, and thus ‘slesma’ doing five functions according to the position, benefits the body.” Susruta 1. 15. 5**. 28. I 'll I sKlKHfv' I ^i ^1% gfeg I ^ <*0^11 IK 29. jiiWifi niR ^ I IK'S 20. I iii^ 31, ^'ffi 'wr nftws IIS. PHYSIOLOGY 59 That by ^slesma* or ‘kapha,’ lymph was under¬ stood, is proven by the fact that Susruta describes in the vascular system (III, 7. 1-13) the tubular lymph-vessels with arteries, veins and nerves and that his ‘stesma’corresponds to the synovial lymph, is corroborated by this passage :—“As it works well, if oil or fat is applied to the axle of a carriage wheel, so the ‘slesnia’ acts in the joints of the living beings.” III. 4, 15®*. IT. Circulation The lymph is a colorless liquid found in the lymph vessels as well as the extravascular parts of the body, having almost the same constituents as the blood-plasma. The lymph is at least in part the mediator in the exchange of constituents between the blood and the tissues. Throughout the entire body, there is a rich supply of blood vessels penetrating every tissue with the excep¬ tion of the epidermis and epidermal structures as the nails and hair. In the ground-work of the tissue, there is space and this interstitial space is filled ‘with lymph and thus all the tissue elements, in fact, may be regarded as being bathed 32. ^ I 60 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE in lymph. Prom this fluid the cell takes the necessary nutrients dissolved in it, and into it the cell discharges its Avaste products. In the interstitial space, the lymph freely intercommuni¬ cates, finally connecting Avith a number of fine tubes—the lymphatics, through Avhich excess of fluid, tissue AA'^astes, pathogenic germs and their products are drained off. The lymphatics like the blood-vessels freely anastomose, thus forming large trunks Avhich finally empty their contents in the main venous trunks at both the junctions of the jugular and subclavian veins. In the course of the lymphatics, there are numerous adenoid structures (lymph-glands) Avhich act as a filter as the fluid passes through them, retaining all the pathogenic germs, their deleterious products as Avell as A-arious excretory products, Avhich the lymph-glands either destroy or make them comparatively harmless. The floAv of the blood-plasma into interstitial space, Avhere it is known as the lymph, is governed by the principles of pressure, filtration, diffusion, osmosis and the relative permeability of the capillary Avails. The intracapillary pressure tends to filter the plasma through the endothelial cells composing the Avails of the capillaries ; the force of diffusion arises from PHYSIOLOGY 61 the inequality of the chemical composition of the bloocl-plcisma and the interstitial fluid ; osmosis from different molecular concentration and relatiTe permeability according to the regional capillary structure. Though lymph lacks any central heart system as the blood vessels, the flow of its circulation is perhaps regulated by the relative pressure-level from the higher tensien in the capillaries to lowei* in the lymphatic space and in the minute vessels considerably much greater than in the larger ones as in the veins, and as this difference of pressure is the cause of the flow of venous blood from the capillaries to the heart. This flow may be accelerated by other factors. The lymphatics are provided with muscular wall of automati¬ cally oscillating tanus under the influence of special vascular nerves and as with each systolic efflux, there is an increased pressure of the arterial flow, muscular and nervous dilation which make the perivascular lymphatic valves act like tiny pumps, accentuating the momentum of the centripetal evacuation of the contents. Perhaps inspiration also exerts a sucking action by positively lowering the pressure at the sub¬ clavian vein in which the thoracic duct empties its contents. 62 ANCIEKT HINDU MEDICINE The lymph fluid is not uniform m composi¬ tion in every part of the body. The lymph originates from three sources : (a) by filtering from the blood through the capillary wall; (b) from exudation of the tissues with tbeir anabolic and catabolic wastes ; (c) the digested nutrient solution which is absorbed by the lymphatic roots of the intestinal villi and which is known as the chyle. The composition of the lymph, therefore, is variable. In the lacteals, tlie lymph mixed with the chyle has often after the ingestion of heavy fat and protein, a milky white appearance and contains a good deal of sugar. The lymph which flows from the fistula of the thoracic duct, is a watery, slightly opalescent fluid. In the capillary lymph-space and in the large serous cavities as the peritoneum, pleura, pericardium, tunica vaginalis of testicles, where there is always a sufficient quantity of the lymph to keep the walls lubricated and moistened, it is a colorless liquid, almost like water, but decidedly alkaline. The lymph does not coagulate as easily as the blood. But it contains fibronogen and in case there is any rupture of the lymphatic, it readily clots so that no serious damage he done PHYSIOLOGY 63 to the tissues. But unlike the blood, the lymph contains a very few corpuscles. Platelets and functions {thrombocytes) are always absent; the red-corpuscles {erythrocytes) are met with on very rare occasions ; ' but the leucocytes —the wandering cells, are always found, though smaller in size and fewer in number. Perhaps the leucocyte through its ameboid movement traverses through the capillary membrane and enters into the lymph-stream and acts as useful scavenger and devourer of any pathogenic germ that might have gained access in the tissues ; or the leucocyte may be produced in the lympha¬ tic glands and enter into the arterial circulation when the lymph trunks empty their contents at the junctions of the jugular and subclavian veins and are carried to the heart. In the blood the leucocytes are seen larger and .with developed phagocytic power for the reason that the blood contains opsonin and alexin which sensitize the pathogenic micro-organisms, thus facilitating phagocytosis. The destroyed germs are dissolved in the blood, increasing thus the protein content, which is a' nourishing food to the leucocytes. So lymph glands not only filter and purify the lymph stream, they are ever watchful senti¬ nels to catch and retain any dangerous marauder ^4 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE that may be in the lymph torrent, but also are active synthetic laboratories for the origin and development of the leueocytes. In this vital work with the lymph-glands in the lympha¬ tics, all the lymphoid adenoid bodies as the spleen, bone-marrow and the thymus have their important share. In malarial fever, it is a v/ell known fact that the spleen is enlarged. This only means that the spleen is hyperactive, destroying the minute protozoa that are attacking the red-blood corpuscles and producing an excess¬ ive number of leucocytes for the bodily defence. This also explains that with the ablation or total extirpation of the spleen, there is no serious consequence or there is any marked reduction of the leucocytes in the blood. The task of the spleen is supplemented and functioned by the bone-marrow and the numerous lymph-glands which are numerous and are scattered either single or in cluster all throughout the lympha- ties. On the whole the How of the lymph is very sluggish and much slower not only than the arterial, but also than the venous blood. SusTuta also mentions twenty-four ‘dhanianV and passage of some other liquids in the body. But he does not confound ‘dhamanV PHYSIOLOGY 65 ■with ‘stm’ (vascular system) like Charaka (I. 30. 10). He says : ‘‘There are some who say that dliamani and srota are not different from the sir a (vascular system). But this is not just; dhaman'i and srota are different from the ‘sirct.