English
45. 101^ Diuretic and laxative oils : “The oils of Ophelia chirayta, Eugenia dalbergioides, Termi- nalia belerica, Cocos nucifera, Zizyphus jujuba,. Salvadora persica, Ctelagyne ovalis, Buchanania latifolia, Baiihinia variegata, Gynandropsis- pentaphylla, Cucumis sativus, Cucumis melo, Cucurbita pepo, and Benicassa cerifera are sweetish, sedative, non-irritant, diffusive, laxative, diuretic and dyspeptic. 191- Mfit II aSL 1 THEEAPBTJTICS 487 Tlie oils of Bassia latifolia, Graelina arborea and Butea frondosa are sweetish astringent and they remove the excess of ‘kapha and ‘pitta’. Bactericidal emetics and purgatives : The oils of Hydrocarpus kurzii ( tuvara is popularly known as ‘chatdmoogra’ ), and Semicarpus ana- cardium are of astringent sweetish hitter taste^ are calorific, emetic, purgative and bactericidal and are specific in leprosy, adiposis and syphilis- ( syphilitic cutaneous manifestations ). Oxidizing oils : The oils of turpentine obtained from oleoresins ( by distillation ) of Pinus longifolia, Cedrus deodara, Tithymallus^ antiquorium (?), Dalbergia sissoo and Aquilaria agallocha are of astringent bitterish pungent taste and are beneficial in indolent idcers, intes¬ tinal worms, catarrhal affection ( of the respira¬ tory tract ) and scrofula. Antiseptic Oils ■ The fruit-oils of Lagena- ria vulgaris, Mangifera sylvetica, Baliospermum montanum, Salvinia cucullata, Vernonia anthel- minthica, Stereospermum suaveolens. Vitex negundo, Mallatus philippenensis and Andropo- gon aciculatus are of bitterish-pungent astringent taste, are purgative and are beneficial in intesti- ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE 488 nal worms, skin lesions and indolent ulcers,” Susmta I. 45. 106-110* = % The therapeutic value of these drugs is also significant. Many of them are of unquestioned effectiveness in the symptomatic treatment of the diseases for'which they have been described. It is not possible here to go into details as to the chemical principles contained in them, for it will not only encumber the book with an extraneous subject, but many of them have not yet been analized in a modern laboratory. However, in the popular pragmatic test, they have shown their fitness of survival in competition with the foreign drugs which unmistakably demonstrates ^trarqriiraiTi’nfH II =ti1ii II II g*ql^*!f®^'t5q’at5itRT?iH5ttalferqrrqr[*q^a5fwai#frra3Rra qfqraT Ww'ftat, SSL I THERAPEUTICS 489 their therapeutic worth. * Opotheraphy was known in its crude form ( Charaka I. 1- 35 ). Of course it is too much to expect that it Avas known that the activating principles of the glands—the hormones, were not destroyed by gastric digestion or boiling at ordinary tem¬ perature, or they knew to extract chemically pure thyroidin, adrenalin, pancreatin or spermin, but they prescribed, never-the-less the testicles of goat and cock as potent aphrodisiac ( Charaka VII. 2, 13.'; VII. 2. 28. ). It is very * Those Avho are further interested in the subject, will find in Comparative Hindu Materia Medica* Avhich is under preparation, and which contains their synonyms, expressions in the. vernacular provincial dialects, Arabic, Persian, Latin, Greek, English, French and German, their botanical order and classification, chemical analysis when knoAvn and their popular therapeutic uses, as well of the allied genera in other countries. 193. i 194. ua ekf ft i 5?fi' A3ft''mrw5ftiT 11 Mm jr: i q g; II 490 ANCIENT HINBU MEDICINE likely tlmt the biliary calculus ( rochana ) was^ given in intestinal putrefaction, in case of in¬ sufficiency of biliary salts, and the cow’s urine was used in cooking the alkalies in order to add the ammonium to the alkalies to make them more caustic ( Susruta I. 11. 6 ), and the dessiccated cow’s dung was either used as a fuel for cautery or as heat-absorbent in which some liquid prepa¬ rations were kept for ripening. VII. SUHS-ERY. “There are eight kinds of surgical operations, namely, excision ( clihedya ), incision ( hhedya ) scai’ihcation ( lehliya ), puncturing ( vedya ), exploration {esya)^ extraction {ahcirya), clrainage- ( visrdvya ) and suturation ( stvya ). Por any of these operations, the surgeon must have- the following mateiuals ready at hand and at his disposal, namely the blunt surgical instruments (yantra), sharp instruments {kistra), caustics ( ksdra ), cautery ( agni ), probes (saldka), speculum {sri'iga), bottle-gourd (alavTi), bougie {jdmvavaustha), cotton (picku), pad or lint {plota), silkworm gut (sTdm), sponge (^J^m = leaf ? ), bandage ( patia ), honey, clarified butter, fat, milk, oils, irrigator (tarpana), disinfectants {kasdya), liniments {dlepana)^ paste or ointment {kalka) and other auxiliary requisites.” Susruta I. 5. 3 195. I nsjjsrr—in' 5^' w‘ 492 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE “There are one hundred and one kinds of blunt instruments {yantra), of which the hand is the most important, for the hand controls the appli¬ cation of all the (surgical)instruments and without it (an adept hand), they can not be manipulated. Whatever (foreign body) causes pain to the body and the mind, is called ‘sahja’ and the instru¬ ments that are necessary to extract the 'salyas' are called ^yantras'. Yantras are of six kinds, namely (1) Cruciform forceps {svastika yantra), (2) pincer-like forceps {sandamsa yantra), (3) pick-lock forceps {tala yantra), (4) cannula {ndM yantrci), (5) probes isaldka yantra) and (6) acces¬ sory appliances {upuyantra). Of them the cruci¬ form forceps are of forty kinds, pincer-like forceps of twenty kinds, pick-lock forceps two kinds, cannulata twenty kinds, probes twenty- eights kinds and accessory appliances are of twen¬ ty-five kinds. They are usually made of (steel) iron, but, (if it be^ not available, they can be also made) of similar (hard) metal. Their blades are shaped like those of the carnivorous animals, deer, or birds. Therefore likewise they should be manufactured, or according to the rules in the surgical text-books, or according to the in¬ struction of an expert of surgical instruments. They should be of normal size, and according i TUEGERY 493 to the needs, either with sharp edges or with polished curbed ends, of firm structure, pleasant appearance and with a good handle. Swastika Forceps :—The swastika forceps, should be eighteen fingers’ breadth long (about 12 inches) and their blades shaped like the jaws of a lion(sim4a : 1. Ferguson’s lion-jawbone-hol¬ ding forceps— osteoplm'e —with strong blades and teeth to crush and divide bone) ; tiger {vyaghra : 2. A bone-gnawing forceps with double-jointed, short, concave blades, having sharpened edges) ; wolf {vvka : 3. Ferguson’s bone-holding forceps, having long, strong handles, and short, straight or curved jaws serrated on their internal faces) hyena {tarakm : 4. Farabeuf’s forceps with strong grasping teeth all along the inner surface of each blade) ; bear {hhalliika ; 5. Bulldog for¬ ceps with sliding catch, concave, expanded and fenestrated extremities and at the tips, fine teeth) ; panther {dmp'i : 6. Gross’s bullet for¬ ceps with one blade hooked and the other fene¬ strated and toothed); cat {piarjdra : 7. Mouse- tooth forceps, with one or two fine points at the tip of each blade, fitting into hollows between the points on the opposite side); jackal {srgala : 8. Bone forceps, used for seizing and tearing away fragments of bone); deer Qiarina ; 494 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE 9. Bedford’s obstetric forceps, sbovt-handled, •movable-jointed and Inn’ing long, curved, fene¬ strated blades) ; stag (ervvaruka ; 10. Bullet- forceps, single-jointed, having long delicate blades, the tips being expanded and concave on their internal side to correspond to the spherical shape of the bullet, or the tips are hooked, so that they may bo forced into the bullet) ; crow {kaka), heron {kmha), osprey {kiirarct), golden jay ichasa), vulture (bhasa), hawk {sasaghat'i), owl {liika)^ kite {chilli), black vulture {syena), falcon igvclhra), crane {krauuoha), ‘erhgaraja, anjalir karna, avabharij'/ua, namlimukha’ etc. (Dental forceps, double-jointed, having long handles of various curves, and sliort jaws set at various angles and shapes to hold and extract different teeth in the upper and the lower jaw, resembling the beak of birds ). The blades ( of the sicastilca forceps ) should be joined by a lentil-like ( Ervum lens ) joint, and the handles should be curved like the elephant-driver’s hook. The ‘swastika forceps’ are used in extracting foreign bodies impacted in bones ( foreign bodies were usually sharp-pointed iron-arrows, used in ancient Indian warfare, and though the comparative forceps, mentioned above, may be similar, they •Ciin not be the same, as it needed different kinds SURGERY 495 of forceps to extract sliarp-pointecl, possibly thin-plated steel-arrows, impacted in bones ; the ■comparison has only been made to give an idea of the similarity of the construction of the forceps, used in ancient and modern surgery ). Pincer-Uke Forceps : The pincer-like forceps ( saiiclavisa yantra, ) are of two kinds, jointed and with sliding catch-spring. They should be 16 fingers’ breadth long (about 10 inches ) and they are used in extracting foreign bodies in •the skin, tissues, vessels and nerves ( sira ) and tendons. Pick lock Forceps : Pick-lock forceps should be made 12 fingers’ breadth long ( about 8 •inches ), like the jaw of fish ( dolphin ), serrated either on one blade or both the blades and they are used in extracting foreign bodies from the aural and nasal passages ( Alligator forceps, having delicate, straight or curved wide-opening jaws, for use in narrow canals ).