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'M^ 'fidPICAL AaklCiJLTvmnf. 



443 



■^i— ^jgaaaaa 



In surgery they were remarkably proficient ami 

 had as many as twenty different kinds of surgical 

 knives. Cupping the actual cautery, and the clyster bag 

 were familiar to them, as were also leeches, of which 

 they hid twelve varieties. The escharotics which 

 they used appear to have been jjotash in different 

 stages of carbonisation {mite, mediocre, and acre). These 

 were prepared by burning various plants, such as Bidea 

 frondoaa, terminalia Hdlerica, &c., treating the ashes 

 with urine or water and evaporating. Internal remedies 

 were divided into the mobile and the staUc. The 

 former included all animals, and the latter plants, 

 minerals, and earthy matters. These were further 

 divided into 37 classes, according to the ailments 

 for which they were used ; the majority, over 600, 

 were of vegetable origin, aud asafcetida was the only 

 imported reraedj'. 



All plants were gathered, as they were administered, 

 with definite religious ceremonies, and under certain 

 rules and planetary influences. The list of crude 

 drugs Croots, barks, &c.) used is too long for repeti- 

 tion here. It comprised mo.st of the drugs which 

 are described by Dr. Dymock in his able work 

 on "Indian Materia Medica." There were also used 

 gums, resins, and oils ; prominent among them benzoin, 

 bdellium, turpentine, ol. riciui, ol. lini, and other 

 fixed oils. Expressed juices were rarely employed. 

 The liquids obtained by fermentation and distillation 

 are classified as liquores spirituosi sicerm (sicera was 

 the sherbeth of the ancient Israelites) and destillat?. 

 The first were prepared from rice, barley, different 

 varities of pepper, and Oeylou plumbago. The method 

 employed was as follows :— 2^ parts of the liquid were 

 powdered with 2 parts of jujube berries and two 

 parts of myrabolans. The mixture was then placed, 

 with 14 parts of water, 1 part of iron, and 21 parts 

 of sugar, in a vessel previously coated internally 

 with pepper, honey, and butter; closed, and the whole 

 left for seven days in a barley- basket (/(09'(?ft«o curhi). 

 Sicara was prepared by boiling separately the juice 

 of the Dalhcria sist!, Mimosa ferrvginea, Fasineum 

 auricidalum. Premna s-pinosa, liuia c/raveole'its, and Tri- 

 ckoraiithcs dioica ; diluting, mixing, and leaving them 

 to ferment. Sicera were also obtained from Ficus 

 indica or Cassia fistula. Liquores destillati are men- 

 tioned, but there is nothing said concerning the mode 

 of preparation or the apparatus employed. From 

 what we know otherwise of their acquirements, as 

 well as of modern Hindoo methods, we may safely 

 assume that the process of distillation and its appli- 

 cations were known. 



The animal kingdom yielded several contributions 

 to Indian pharmacy, notably the leech, the Hcineus 

 officinalis, a kind of lizard of which even now a 

 species is used in Northern Egypt. Oantharides was 

 also known to thtm. An insect called fmtor was 

 used as a remedy against cepra ; lizards and mice, 

 against worms, cough, and catarrh. The milk of cows, 

 goats, sheep, mares, elephants, and buffaloes, was held 

 in high esteem; also cheese and butter, the latter 

 being frequently used as an ointment. Butter made 

 from human milk was used as ambrosia similm in 

 diseases of the eye. Animal fats, gall, and other 

 animal secretions were administered internally and 

 externally; and nails, skin, and hair were uf-ed as 

 fumigants. Musk and similar substances were used as 

 stimulants and for impotency, Bezoar orientale was 

 also knovvn to them. 



Medicines derived from the mineral kingdom were 

 comparatively numerous, and afford a proof of the 

 acquaintance of the ancient Indians with alchemy. 

 Amongst those employed were charcoal, sulphur, 

 aephaltum (for diseases of the liver and of the urethra), 

 gold and silver (for the prolongation of life), tin 

 lead, copper, brass, antimony, spelter, and iron. Ar- 

 senic and mercury were known as the oxides and sulp- 

 hides.^ Feri'i rubiffo, mixed with cinnamon and ginger, 

 was given as tonic and antidote ; lapis magnus as an 

 antidote, and for gonorrhcea ; yellow and red orj imeut 

 against leprosy; white arseiiic with pepper and fra- 

 grant herbs for intermittent fever. Alum was used 

 in the arts and in pharmacy, and salammoniac was 

 ftlso known, Tbe following is the recipe for the 



preparation of ammonia, which was used as a local 

 incentive in debility, fainting, and hysteria :— Dry care- 

 fully one part of salammouiac and two of chalk, mix, 

 and sublime at high temperature. A very interest- 

 ing description is given of the preparation of a kind 

 of sublimate. Mercury was rubbed up with sulphur, 

 and a layer of this " sulphuret " was placed over a layer 

 of common salt in a vessel, half filled with bricks. 

 Another vessel was inverted and securely fixed over 

 the first, and the whole exposed to a strong fire for 

 twelve hours. After cooliog, the mercurial salt was 

 found deposited in the upper part of the vessel. The 

 ancient Hindoos were evidently acquainted with the 

 preparatioa of acids, and they used vinegar, sulphuric 

 acid, and nitric acid. The following is a sperimen 

 of the emetics which the Vaidgas employed: — Digest 

 the ripe fruit of Vaugueria spiuosa in water, together 

 with Poa cynosuroidf's, rub with cowdung, boil iu 

 rice or barley, then digest during eight days with 

 Terminiala liellerica, Phaseolus mungo, and rice. Next 

 Echites antidi/scntei-ica and long pepper were added, 

 and the vvhole dried in the sun. With the residue 

 curdled milk, honey, and sesame were mixed, dried, 

 and placed in suitable vessels. In the next stage a 

 handful of the above mixture was digested for 24 

 hours in a hot decoction of Sa2}onanthus indica and 

 honey, then mixed with more honey or rock-salt, and 

 administered by the physician, who looked northward, 

 while the patient's face was directed towards the 

 east. Hindoo pharmac3' generally was somewhat after 

 this fashion. Emetics of various kinds were employed 

 in cases of poisoning. The Vaidga distinguished 

 between aninicals poisons and those derived from the 

 mineral and vegetable kingdoms. But the meaning 

 of "poison'' was somewhat wide, and we find Calamus 

 rotang and Piper nigrum classed along with the 

 juices of several species of Euphorbium ; and amogst 

 animal poisons we have " the evil eye, " breath, claws 

 of scorpions, and many nasty things, even a certain 

 class of young females had the reputation of being 

 highly poisonous ! — Chemist and Druggist. 



THE POTATO— SOILS SUITABLE AND THEIR 

 PREPARATION. 



(COMPILED FROM JAMES PINK'S WORK — " THE POT.iTO 

 AND HOW TO GROW IT.") 



The potato is one of the most convenient vegetable 

 witti regard to its culture, and will thrive on a greater 

 diversity of soils than any plant in cultivation. There 

 is no soil from the bog or peat earth, with its 70 

 to 75 per cent of organic matter and upon which no 

 other plant can be made to produce a remuuerativo 

 crop, to the clayey, with from only 3 to 5 per cent 

 of organic matter, upon which the potato if properly 

 cultivated may not be grown with more or less satis- 

 factory results. The soil that is generally considered 

 to be the best suited for the cultivation of the potato 

 is a light .sandy loam with a good natural drainage 

 and with a gentle slope; but as all soils differ iu 

 their texture, and it is rare to find a soil just as 

 we would have it, so we endeavour by tillage, by 

 manuring, and by exposing the soil to the pulverising 

 influence of the atmosphere, to improve its texture 

 and thereby its fertility. 



In preparing the land for the ensuing crop of 

 potatoes it is especially desirable that the soil should 

 be well pulverised, for tubers of first-class shape and 

 quality are never taken from an unkindly soil, and if 

 we wish to succeed at the exhibition table or to grow 

 remunerative crops we must take advantage of every 

 means of improving the texture and productive pro- 

 perties of the soil. To grow potatoes well the land 

 should be prepared previously by deep culture of the 

 soil. Of the several methods resorted to for this 

 purpose double digging is the most preferable as it 

 gives the advantage of improving the depth of the 

 soil by placing the manure in the second spit and 

 retaining the top spit, which is generally lighter and 

 more friable, for the tubers to form in. Having 

 selected the piece of ground upon which the potabooe 

 n,r« to be grown, tUe manure that i§ to be tlu^ iq 



