10 



ON HYGIENE IN 



and blood-letting ; avoid exposure to the sun, heat, and night 

 air, more particularly the east wind ; sleeping during the day- 

 is to be avoided, also fat, oil, fish, the flesh of amphibious 

 animals and acids. The clothes should be light and clean., 

 the mention of the latter being remarkable in as much as it 

 is not elsewhere alluded to in this category. /. The Cold 

 season, November and December. The water becomes 

 clear, cool, and heavy ; bilious diseases, common during the 

 preceding two months, diminish ; mists hang over tanks and 

 rivers ; diseases from " bile " are cured. 



Irregularities of the seasons are alluded to as producing 

 an unfavorable effect on health ; food, water, and medicines 

 lose their good effects, and various diseases are pro- 

 duced ; plagues prevail. Easterly wind increases "phlegm ;" 

 westerly wind increases internal heat, dries the body, and 

 diminishes bulk and strength ; northerly wind is soft, cooling, 

 and slightly sedative ; southerly wind is pleasant and does 

 not produce heat, and has also a light and sedative influence. 

 Thus, in all the points enumerated, it is evident the ancient 

 Hindu physicians observed minutely and well. 



5. Towns and Cities. — In the seventh century A.D. the sur- 

 face life in Indian towns was much as it is at the present day, 

 and as it had been for generations before that time. Hiouen- 

 Thsang describes the tortuous streets and lanes, the brick 

 houses and verandahs with walls plastered with cowdung ; the 

 roof either of bamboos and dry grass or of planks and tiles. 

 There was, however, under Buddhist rule, an absence of all 

 butcher-shops and wine-sellers ; but outside the cities were 

 the secluded dwellings of the lowest classes of the people — the 

 Chandalas. The dwelling-houses were inside elegant, but 

 outside plain. The ground in front was strewed with flowers 

 especially in the morning. But, with regard to what may be 

 called " conveniences," the nature of such arrangements, if 

 indeed any of a special nature existed, cannot be detailed, 



