English
That chyle in 24 tubular vessels, 10 upwards, 10 downwards and 4 sideways, enters into every part of the body, irrigates and main¬ tains its growth, vitalizes and supports life. Though chyle is aquatic in nature but in its passage through the liver and the spleen, it be¬ comes blood. Susruta 1. 14. 3-5.*' ^ ctrer ^ fsiwrat, ^ fwm: 5rqTO?lfll I fqTT^rf%=^ I I ^ra fsRiaicnPr ii-o ?irt^ 'll HI<1!! IK . .. - u ’fiai II 40 AXCIEXT HINDU MEDICINE “Id the heart there are ten great out-going \}naliMmil^ and in-coming [jHa/ip/<?</Ttubular vesseles [dhamanl]^.'’ Charaka 1. 30. 1*‘“. The ten great vessels are the seven main trunk A^eins and three arteries as follows : (l) superior vena caA’a, [2] interior vena caA'a, [^] coronary sinus, [lr7] A'ena pulmonalis ; [8] left pulmonary artery, [9] aorta, [10] right pulmonary artery. “Below the heart, on the left side the liver and the lung, and on the right side, the spleen and the lung, are situated.” Snsinita III. 4. 30'". Accordinsr to Charaka the skin consists of six O strata (IV. 7. 2)'® but Susruta more accurate- Iv describes them to be seA^en. III. 4. 3". • ___ £ - Da. ’5(5 i 12. i 13. i ^z S N S w—3if wmr, fV^PTT, =^€f g nr gyjt cw; nmfii wjUjsirfiT 3=^ vcii: ^5’’ sj^w^ciar I 14. era ^^^pjRrarfvra^^n^ =fiAra''^ Tr I 5TW, 5TT t wmSr 3 w)f^^T^5rvrFra?n^, ANATOMY 41 Sufruta Avbhasin A 1 Lohita W Sveta *s Tamra, s Vedini • rH Oh Rohint W Mamsadh ara From the : Strata of the skin according to Modern anatomy f Stratum corneum Stratumintermediuml Stratum- Stratum clisjunctum i lucidum Sti'atum granulosum Stratum mucosum Stratum germinativum Corium will be seen, that though tlie ancient Hindu anatomical school erred in some details, but in fundamentals, their knowledge was remarkably accurate, minute and thorough, especially when we take into consideration the dim and distant age, in which these medical treatises were composed. The study of anatomy was I’egarded essential in the medical education and practice. Charaka says ; —“In the medical science, know¬ ledge of anatomy is necessary ; one can only understand principles of hygiene, when be has =fai 5Tm, i ftwi ^fsfk^pTT I JifcitT wn’ brli Tj ^ ^raiS ^^i- 42 AKCIENT HINDU MEDICINE studied bodily sciences ( anatomy and pbysio- lo-y) IV. 6. / Susruta recommends dissection. He says S “Tlie parts and the parcels (of the body) that have been mentioned up to the skin, can not at all be described without dissection. So if a sui’geon wants to aqnire positive (doubtless) knowledge, he should analyse thoroughly all the parts and organs of a body, after disinfecting it. Occular observation easily supplements studies and adds to knowledge. (The way a corpse should be taken for observation is described thus). The corpse should possess all the organs and not be deceased of any long illness or of poisoning, nor should it be- of a man of a hundred years of age. The contents of its viscera (urine and feces) should be removed and it should be kept in a stream without current to rot. A plat¬ form should be made in the water to lay the corpse on it and cover the whole body with hay, grasses and leaves, so that fish can not eat it, and it is not put out of its place. In seven days, it will decompose sufficiently and then rub it gently from the skin to the interior with ANATOMY 43 grass, or bamboo-skin and observe minutely every 'organ and every part of the body. Susruta, III. 5. 49-50*®. In the Hii^pocratic collection of Avritings, though there is no systematic presentation of muscles, ligaments, blood-vessels and glands, yet their knoAvledge and position are clearly indi¬ cated in the books ‘peri arthron' (articulations) ‘peri osteon physios’ (the nature of bones), ‘peri adenon’ (glands), ‘peri sarkon' (flesh) and ‘mochaikos’. HoAA’ever their description is very vague and meagre, as being mentioned indirect¬ ly in connection Avith the treatment for dislo¬ cation and fracture of bones. Galen aa'us undoubtedly, par excellence, the greatest of ancient anatomists. The manner lt>. I 51'51’gnTi?^ ^ 3 ii II a 4 i IIy.® 44 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE and methods of his narration, the styles of his language, the accuracy of his description^, make the anatomical study, not only instructive, but captivating and refreshing. He divides his monumental work, ^‘The Utilities of the Bitman Bodf* which became the classic and the stand¬ ard authority in human anatomy in Europe and the Sai’acen empire for more than fourteen centuries, into 17 books or chapters as follows: —I. Hand ; II. Hand, fore-arm and the arm ; III. Abdomen ; IV. Alimentary organs and their auxiliaries; V. Alimentary organs and their auxiliaries; VI. Respiratory organs ; VII. Vocal organs ; VIII. The head, brain and the senses; IX. The cranium, the brain and tbe cranial nerves ; X. The eyes and their auxiliar¬ ies ; XI. The face, especially the jaw-bones ; XII. The neck and the rest of the spine ; XIII. The pelvic structure; XIV. Genital organs; XV. Genital o)’gans ; XVI. Nerves, arteries and veins ; XVII. Epilogue—Difference between function and utility. On every organ and every part of the body, Galen gives a comparative review of the similar structure of other animals and philosoiihic generalisations as to the origin and development of organs, which he ascribes to functional utility and AXATOJIY 45 adaptaMon as a means of self-preservation and reproduction and thereby anticipating Lamarck (1741-1829) by nearly seventeen centuries. Below is given a short translation of his intro- dirctory general remarks on the ‘genital organs’, as a sample, believing that it will interest more readers than any other part of the body. “Nature has three objects in view in the structural formation of the animal ; she has created them really, either for preservation of life as the brain, heart and the liver, or for the convenience of life as the eyes, ears, nose and hands, or for the perpetuation of the race as the external genital parts as the testicles and the matrix ; now we have previously demon¬ strated in detail, that any of the parts, either created for (preservation of) life, or for its embellishment, could not be better devised than what they are actually. It still remains for us to explain in^ this book, the parts, destined for the perpetuation of race among us. “First of all, nature would have desired, if it were possible, to create her work immortal. Nature not permitting it, she has invented the expedient she could to obtain immortality for it (her creation), as a clever founder of a city, who not only cares that his city is actually 4G ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE peopled, but takes all precautions tha^ it lasts for ever, at least as long as possible. Hou'ever it does not appear that any city bas been, fortunate on that point, to have lasted so long that time has completely effaced the memory of its founder. But works of nature have lasted for thousands of years and shall live still, by the admirable means, she has invented to substitute always a new animal for a dead animal. “What is then the means adopted among animals and man, so that no race perishes, on the contrary each race remains intact and immor¬ tal ? That is what I propose to explain in this book, in commencing with my exposition. Nature has given to all animals organs of conception and she has associated ivith those organs a special impulse of pleasure of generation and filled the soul with such an irrestable desire, quite un¬ explainable with their functional uses, that the animals erotically excited and impassioned, especially the adolescent, though deprived of reason and understanding, attend ,to the per¬ petuation of the race, as if they were completely reasonable. One should think that nature really knowing that the objects she has created, being^ not susceptible of perfect wisdom, has given the ANATOMY 47 anim&ls, as a substitute for that wisdom, the allurement of intense pleasure, associated with the usage of those organs to assure the salvation and conservation of the I'ace. “It is just to admire, first, the ingenious device of nature and then the structure of the organs which naturally correspond for each animal to its bodily form. You would learn from us one day, concerning other animals when we fill the gap, left by Aristotle. Tor the human species, all the world knows and understands, to what degree of utility, the external genitals by their convenient situation, their dimension, their figure and their entire conformation, have attained. When you will know the utility of each organ, profoundly hidden, organs which are revealed by dissection, you will admire, I am sure, the art that has created them. “In fact, nature has placed the matrix beneath the stomach, the region she has recognized as the most favourable for copulation, reception of the sperm and especially for the growth of the embryo so j:hat the fetus can attain to a perfect state. You could not fi.nd, in fact, in any part of the animal, another region more suitable, for any of the purposes above-mentioned ; this is the best (place)for copulation, being fav removed 4S ANCIENT HINDU MEDCINE from the facial organs; most favourable foj: the growth of the fetus, being capable of consider¬ able distension without diflSculty and finally, the most convenient for the child-birth, as it is the easiest for the baby to slip off downwai’ds to the inferior parts and the legs. In fact, the mouth of the matrix, which nature has formed as a passage for the entrance of the sperm and the departure of the embryo when it has reached its complete de¬ velopment, opens in the vagina.