English
(a) ( =^i;yTyfrT, ' DISEASES 207 influenza {vatavalasaka) fevers are said to be of phlegmatic origin. Siisruta VI, 39, 25® It has now been deflnitely proved that the mosquito of the genus of anoj)heles transmits the deadly malaria germ from man to man. It may be jiossible, however, that there are other carriers of malarial patliogenesis. And anopheles is not the only genus that is guilty. Yellow fever is trans¬ mitted by Stegraia calopus, dengue fever by Culex fatigans, tilariabancrofti by Culex fatigans. But all anopheles do not carry malarial protozoa, xinopheles has neaidy one hundred species (Culex two hundred), of Avhich only forty species have been proven experimentally to be the hosts in malaria and in India there are only ten of them as follows : Myzomyia culicfactes, Myzomyia lis- tonii, Myzomyia turkhundi, Pyretophorus jey- porensis, Myzorhyncbus barbirostris, Myzorhyn- chus sinensis, Nyssorhynchus theobaldi, Nysso- rhynchus stephensii, Nyssorhynchus fuliginosus and Nyssorhynchus maculipalpis. According to Theobald none of the anophelinae species ggcjH'iw, ^8 1 208 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE of Peltinella, Bironella, Aldrichia, Chagasia, Chrystia, Kerteszia, Myzorbynchella and Lepho- scelomyia have been found to be the be^^rers of malarial germs. But the i)rotozoan parasites of the red blood- corpuscles that cause remittent or intermittent malarial fevers, a.re not the same, and they appear under four chief forms : tertian is caused by plasmodium vivax, quartan fever by plasmodium malaria, estivo-autumnal fever or subtertiau malarial fever by plasmodium falciparum {laver- nia malaria, plasmodium precox), quotidian fever by plasmodium falciparum quotidianum. These four kinds of blood-j)arasites jjroduce different reactions in the organism according to their characteristics. Plasmodium ^ ivax re¬ quires forty-eight hours to complete the cycle of schizogony and sporulates principally in the spleen, liberating toxins vhich are hemolytic, pyrogenous and hemozoanous, and will provoke an attack of fever with single brood in the human host every forty-eight hours, that is on the third day and accordingly it is called ‘tertian’ {tvtlyaka),. and in the intervening period there is remission of Jever. Plasmodium malaria needs seventy-two hours to complete its schizogon, and it principally sporulates in the peripheral blood, and the liber- DISEASES 209 ated toxfh causes a severe constriction of cutane¬ ous vessels, thus provoking shivering chills on the surface and chattering teeth, though the temperature of the blood is rising rapidly, and driving the blood centripetally, causing congestion of the internal organs ; as it takes seventy-two hours for the cycle, that is, the fever appears every fourth day with a single brood of infection, it is called ^qiio.rtan' (c1iatv.rt1mka). Laverania malaria is irregular in its sporulation and needs about from thirty-six to forty-eight hours for schizonomy, and as it sporulates in the red corpuscles of the blood, it causes an immense destruction of them, and as the pathogenic protozoon needs high temperature for its development, the fever takes place in the autumn, and is therefore called ‘estivo-autumnaV {mradvja). This is the most malignant of malarial fevers, for it not only causes a heavy destruction of the red corpuscles of the blood, and it is calculated that there are nearly 25, 000, 000, 000, 000 red corpuscles in an adult human being, and it needs about 3, 000, 000, 000 of them to be affected to cause an acute fever, and if it be below 250, 000, OOO, the malarial fever does not manifest and remains in a latent state ; but it can also provoke serious lesion in the brain, pancreas, liver, spleen. 14 210 AKCIENT HINDU MEDICINE and other internal organs by forming thrombi’ through blocking the capillary passage by the- acciimulatioa of plasmodia, swollen endo¬ thelial cells laden with hemozoan and sporules. The bilious remittent fever ( bilious hemoglo- binuric or blackwater fever—pitta-jmra) is also caused by it by the excessive destruction of erythrocytes which necessarily imposes a heavy labor on the liver, with the consequent production of excessiv^e quantity of bile, which produces jaundice of the tissues and also appeai’s^ in the urine with other pigments ( hemozoan ) and the urine looks from brownish yellow to blackish in color. The quotidian ( amjedytisha ') fever may be produced by plasmodium falsi- parum quotidianum which takes twenty-four hours for schizogony, or by three btbods of plasmodium malaria, triple quartan fever, the parasites coming to maturity on three successive days ), two of plasmodium vivax ( double tertian fever ), or two of laverania malaria {double estivo- autumnal or double subtertian fever). At the onset of malarial fever, all these types tend to be irregular, for the simple reason that the pathogenic sporozoa are of different ages and inoculated at different times, and only as the disease proceeds, the fever becomes regular. DISEASES 211 possibly because the parasites that can not conform to the ago period of the majority in their schizogony, when the organism offers least resistance) overwhelmed by the combined attack of the parasites and tiio toxins liberated by them becomes exterminated by the anti¬ toxins of the blood) produced as a reaction. “The fever that lasts for seven, ten or twelve days without interruption, is called ‘saniata’ ( simple continued fever, produced by a bacillus, resembling coli communis, or the remittent fever produced by spirocheta carteri, known also as the relapsing fever or typhus recurrens) ; the fever that appears twice in day and night, is called ^satatcC {doule-quotidian or Kala acar, produced by a px’otozoan parasite Leislimania donovani^ and it grows in large numbers by fission, and ia principally found in the liver, spleen, bone- marrow, ' lymphatic glands and to a less extent, in tlie pancreas, kidneys, suprarenals, lungs and testicles) ; the fever that appears on every third day, is called *tvtlyaha* {tertian) ; and which appears on every fourth day, is called the 'ehaturthaha* {quartan).** Susruta VI. S9. 31*® - 20. ^ t 212 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE “The unhygienic living after the relief from (the primary onset of) the fevex*, aggravates the lesion, and owing to the low vitality (of the organism) deranges nerves and phlegma, and causes the development of double-quotidian {satata = kala-azar), quotidian {anyedyuskaX ter¬ tian {ti'tlyakd), quartan (chaturtliaka) and pneu¬ monic (pralspaka ) acute fevers.” Susnita VI. 39. 22‘. ‘‘Tremor, irregular onset of fever, congestion of neck, face and lips, insomnia, suppression of sneezing, desiccation of the body, pain especially in the head and the heart, foul taste iu the mouth, constipation, flatulence swell¬ ing; and yawning ai'e the symptoms of 'vdta' ( cerebro-spinal estivo-autumnal pernicious ) fever. Onset of fever with rigor, diarrhoea, diminished sleep, vomiting, tumescence of the neck, face, lips and nose, sudoresis, delirium, hitter taste in ii DISEASES 213 the mouth, semi-consciousness, hyperpyrexia, intoxicated state, polydipsia, the yellowish tinge of the feces, urine and the eyes, and vertigo are the symptoms in ‘pitta' fever {bilious remittent fever : known also as malarial heraoglobinuric or hlackwater fever). Heaviness of the body, chills, expectoration, horripilation, excessive sleep,sluggish circulation, mild onset of fever, salivation, sweet taste of the mouth, low fever, vomiting, lassitude of the body, indigestibn, acute coryza = profuse secretion of the watery mucus from the nose), loss of appetite, and wliiteness of the expectora¬ tion and the eyes are the symptoms of ‘slesma^ (influenza) fever.” Snsruta VI. 39. 11-13®^. 92. i Jiransit ii s'* ^ rat i ^jctT i q flit HJl HIR vlfM ^ I 5531^’ irgT.TOni u sir^'^iniTsrrT i flfcisarals#^; wcu iiu gv?Tg‘f%ctT, f 214 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE Eruptive Eeters : ‘‘Feverishness or chilliness hy turns ; pains in the bones, joints and the head (headache); watery, glazed or reddish, dilated or contracted eyes ; hissing sounds and pain in the ears; neck as if covered with grains eruptive typhoid papules); somnolence; illusion ; delirium ; coughing ; dyspnea ; loss of appetite {anorexia ); delusion; the tongue is rough and has the color of burnt coal (dry, brown, thickly coated, fissured and tremulous) ; inertia of the body ; nasal discharge mixed with blood (nose-bleed) ; bilious sputum (vomiting) ; agitation of the head; insomnia;angina pectoris ; scanty perspiration, urination and defecation ; the patient does not look emaciated ; sound in the neck (sonorous or sibilant rales indicating bronchitis) ; appearance of rose-red .‘xanthem {kotlia) and rashes (mandala); aphasia (ww^a/pa) ; lesion in the circulatory system, heaviness of the epigastrium (flatulence) ; and the delay in the coction of the deranged humors (the long dura¬ tion of the disease and convalescence from it) are the symptoms ef the typhoid fever.” Cliaraka. VI. 3. 85®*. 93. DISEASES 215 '‘Altogethei- through (varied) lesion, there are thirteen kinds ol; typhoid fevers^' Charaha 1 . 17 . 16 *‘. It, is very probable that all the eruptive fevers have been , classified by Charaka, as typhoid fevers {sannipala jvara), including in the ■category typhus, paratyphoid, cerebro-spinal meningitis, measles, mumps, erysipelas, diph¬ theria, toxemia, septicemia, pneumonia,puerperal fever and small pox. Charaka and Susruta both mention smallpox as ‘masTirika.