English
, lippitade (in Iidtis gummosa, the exudation is gelatinous, made up oi‘ fine filaments which may be absorbed without alterations in appearance or may be changed into a bluisb- whifce homogenous mass ), and blindness ( ambly¬ opia = partial loss of vision, amaurosis = complete loss of vision in syphilis of the optic nerve, which is marked by visible changes in the papilla through : ( 1 ) choked disk or papillitis as a symptom of various intracranial processes ; ( 2 ) neuro-retinitis descendens, accompanying the various changes in the brain and its menin¬ ges which liavo extended along the sheath of the optic nerve, or due to gumma ; ( 3 ) atrophy of the optic nerve may take place either as a result of choked disk, neuritis descendens or inflammatory degeneration ). Nasal (syphilitic) affection causes catarrh ( the pituary membrane Vnay he the seat of erythema, superficial ulcera¬ tions and mucous patches wdiich give rise to symptoms of ordinary catarrh ), excessive sneez¬ ing ( as a reflex excited by the irritation of the nasal mucous membrane by syphilitic erythema, .mucous jiatches, condylomata, gummata or ulcerations ), dyspnea ( difficulty in breathing results from mechanical obstruction, caused 412 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE by the swollen folds or in the development of adenoids stopping up the nasal passages as may be seen in congenital syphilis ), ulcer of the septum ( if a gumma on the septum breaks down and ulcerates, plugs or casts of inspissated mucous, mixed with blood and pus of a very disagreeable appearance and an almost into¬ lerable odor are discharged, especially if the necrosis of the bone has occurred. Should the lesion involve the vomer extensively, character¬ istically syphilitic flattening of the nose may be produced by the falling in of the bridge. The sense of smell is impaired by the failure of the odorous particles to reach the olfactory tract, owing to the obstruction of crusts and plugs of putrefying inspissated mucous), nasal voice- ( owing to the obstruction of the eustachian tube and nasal passages by swollen folds, gummata or condylomata ) and headache ( syphilitic neural¬ gia, the headaches being due to the lesion of the meninges which are supplied by the ramification of the trigeminal nerve : it is a very character¬ istic symptom of syphilis ). Affections in the pharynx, larynx and palate, cause hoarseness of voice ( huskiness of the voice is found in the syphilitic erythema of the larynx, and the pho- nation is interfered with, ranging from slight DISEASES 413 hoarseness to complete aphonia according to the extent of ulceration ), ageusia (loss of taste •occurs with tlie ulceration and destruction of tlie gustatory nerve or the nerve endings on the tongue ), and tiie ulceration of buccal cavity ( mucous patches, guminata, etc. )”. Susruta II. 2.15 “In ‘udacarta’ ( di/smenorrhea ) foamy (mens¬ trual) blood is discharged with colicky spasm {colicky dysmenorrhea results from the attempt of the uterus to expel foreign bodies as squamous pellicles, epithelial cells, blood clots, mucous membrane and exudations, originating either from neoplasms or inflammation, which is pre¬ vented from freely flowing out with the menstrual 174. ?1il snraft, ■ era; ^ oirara i ^ g tor ft Wsf g 5i,5f ra ^ I 3 I irffTOtgIsmra ^rg- Tgrara 1 wIto: rara a 414 . AKCIENT HINDU MEDICINE blood, by some obstruction as a tumor of the cervix or an atresia, caused by inflammation, following child-hirtli). ‘Nas(a7'tava\ovavian ledon) causes sterility. In ‘niphttcC ( hysterahjia ), the ( female ) genital region is always painful. In ‘pa7'ipluta’ ( dyspareunia ), coitus is very painful (coitus may he painful to a woman due to (1) va¬ ginismus ; (2) tender carunculm myrtiforines, or soreness from the laceration of tlie hymen in a newly married woman ; ( 3 ) inflammation of the vagina or the vulva ; ( 4 ) disproportion in size of the penis and the vaginal orifice, especi¬ ally osteum vaginre ; ( 5 ) prolapsed ovaries or uterus ; ( 6 ) pelvic peritonitis, even in multi¬ parous women ). lu ‘mtala’ (vaginitis dissecans, in which the vaginal mucous membrane becomes dry in most instances and the siqrerficial squa¬ mous epithelium undergoes '‘cornificaiion' and if the venereal vaginitis persists, a formation of ‘aenniinated condylomala' may take place in the vagina). In o'aldahsara (injlammatory ulceration of the internal genital organs ), the menstrua¬ tion flows with burning sensation ( burning sensation is felt as the blood flows over the inflammatory nicerated surfaces, due generally to gonorrhea or syphilis). In 'vamint (carcinoma uteri ) sanious mucous discliarge appears DISEASES 415 ■with gas ( leucorrhea or flour albus, a whitish discharge of a more or less viscid fluid, mucous or pus cells, is due to, ^chronic cervicitis and known by another name ‘sveta-pradara’). Inprasramsint {colpitis emphysematosa) the vagina is tremulous and tumorous ( colpitis emphysematosa is distinguished by small-celled infiltration and hyperemia in the vicinity of numerous bubbles in and beneath the epithelium of the vaginal mucosa, formed perhaps by a gas-forming anaerobic bacterium ). In ‘piitragh- nt {endometritis)^ though there are conceptions, abortion takes place with hemorrhage (recurrent abortion is usually either syphilitic in origin, or due to endometritis from any cause or retroflex¬ ion of the uterus). In ‘ynitala’ {gonorrheal acute salpangitis) there are intense burning pain, suppuration and fever (gonorrheal inflam¬ mation and the degenerative changes of the oviducts—salpingitis, is responsible for the fre¬ quent cases in -which pregnancy, happening .“■shortly after marriage, terminates by an abortion or so called *one-child stre7dIil>f). In hdycmandd^ {senile vaginitis) coitus is not enjoyed ( due to gonorrheal degenerative changes, the .mucosa, especially in the vipper part of the canal, sheds its epithelium in patches, becomes here and there 416 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE studded with papillary granulations, shows a tendency to cicatrical contractions, and during coitus turgescence and voluptuous sensations are missing ). In karnini {neoplasms)^ due to 'slesma ■and the blood’ growths are formed ( in vagina myomata, fibromata, sarcomata, carcinomata, and cystomata are seen ; in the uterus diffuse adenomata, polyjioid adenomata, fibromata, fibroid polypuses, cavcomata and car¬ cinomata are more common ). In 'acharana^ {vaginismus), tliere is a repulsion against coitus {vaginismus is an abnormal sensitiveness of the external genitalia Avhich may occasionally develop to spasmodic contraction of the constric¬ tor, cunni, the levatorani and the muscles of the entire pelvic floor ; nervous virgins on the wedding night might be its subjects if brutal attacks are made bv inconsiderate husbands, if they have got leathery hymen or especially in women in whom the vulva extends far forward, so that the urethral and hymenial orifices lie upon the symphysis or the ligamentum and arquatium and such women are mostlv sterile.even if cohabita- tion in spite of the pain is enforced). *Aticharana _yoni’ (female sexual apparatus habituated to excessive copulation) due to excessive coitus, is neither capable of conception (it is well known DISEASES 417 that courtesans and prostitutes wlio hare not contracted venereal diseases are also usuallj sterile). In 'slesmaW (prurihis vttlvce), the vulva is gummy, pruritic and chilly (vulvar pruritis may originate from various causes, as acne, eczema, acrid gonorrheal discharges from the vagina, or the high uric acid containing or sugar¬ laden urine may exercise a cotinuous irritation, the decomposed and stagnated secretion makes the genital apparatus sticky, and it should be removed as in all other local lesion by frequent irrigations with weak antiseptic solutions as lysole one per cent, thymol one-tenth of a per cent, or sublimate one-twentieth of a per cent). In ‘sand'i’ a woman does not menstruate, her breasts are very little developed and during coitus, the vagina appears rough {infantilismus genitalium in which the uterus and the ovaries are incompletely developed, or androgynous masculine pseudohermaphroditism in which the penis is rudimentary and perforate, the scrotum fused and empty, and the central resembling the labia majora, together with the absence of testicles and the development of large breasts all conspire to convey the impression of the female sex). If a maiden with a Ucirrow vaginal orifice has copulation with a man of very large 27 418 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE penis, and a fruit-like tumor is formed, it is called ‘phalinf (cervicitis ; it may be also pro¬ voked by the repeated use of nodular condom )”. Susruta VI. 38. 5-8^^'. It has been often questioned whether the Hipada'inm” of Charaka and Sus'ruta is really 175. 551 ^ ii vfta cn^ir ’Son ii mcRIT ^S!T 5il 11 mfiwt T5rai ii g gi n II ititistT I ii ^reiren^ gtrat n €N‘ ^ ii t'?T5iT ftfen ^fst: ii wl Tii^sn f n n3 DISEASES 419 syphilis and whether the disease was known in -ancient India before it was introduced into India by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century and is described graphically in Bhava-Pritkasa, a work of the same age, as ''phiranga-roga\ the disease of the Franks, by which name Europeans were known in India, identical with the ‘mal Ft'ancais or morbus galUous’ by which it was known all over Europe.