AmMar°chr; 5o*rm'  1     A ncient  and  Modem  Hindu  Medicine.  1 27 
prescribed  prayers.  Much  was  written  in  regard  to  dystocia,  and 
directions  were  given  in  regard  to  Caesarean  section. 
The  ancient  Hindus  paidgreat  attention  to  hygiene  and  prescribed 
rules  for  the  regulation  of  the  life  of  the  individual,  both  in  sickness 
and  in  health.  Health  was  thought  to  be  promoted  by  the  exhibi- 
tion of  an  emetic  once  a  fortnight,  a  purgative  once  a  month,  and 
blood-letting  once  a  year. 
Having  thus  briefly  glanced'  at  surgery,  as  practiced  by  Susruta 
and  others,  we  return  to  the  subject  of  medicine  by  giving  a  descrip- 
tion of  a  good  physician.  He  must  be  a  person  of  strict  veracity, 
of  the  greatest  sobriety,  of  good  moral  character,  and  be  versed  in 
all  the  commentaries  of  the  Ayur  Veda.  He  must  be  a  man  of 
sense  and  benevolence,  his  heart  must  be  charitable,  his  temper  calm, 
and  his  constant  study  how  to  do  good.  He  should  daily  improve 
his  mind  by  an  attentive  perusal  of  scientific  books.  He  should 
have  his  hair  dressed  and  his  nails  pared  ;  should  have  clean  clothes 
and  carry  a  stick.  To  treat  a  patient  conscientiously  was  supposed 
to  bring  punyam  or  merit  to  the  physician.  For  the  sake  of  his 
livelihood  he  will  be  justified  in  expecting  a  fee  from  well-to-do 
people.  The  Hindus  are  enjoined  not  to  approach  a  king,  a  pre- 
ceptor or  a  physician  empty-handed. 
The  Hindus  were  then,  as  they  are  now,  very  particular  about  the 
selection  of  auspicious  days  for  the  preparation  of  their  medicines 
and  the  beginning  of  treatment.  For  instance,  Mondays,  Tuesdays 
and  Saturdays  were  inauspicious  days  for  certain  drugs.  Tuesdays, 
Thursdays  and  Sundays  were  the  best  days  for  the  administration  of 
purgatives  and  emetics. 
In  regard  to  prognosis,  diseases  were  classified  as  curable  (sadhya), 
incurable  (asadhya),  and  controllable  by  remedies  only  (yapya).  The 
physician  is  warned  to  refrain  from  treating  a  disease  that  is  quite 
incurable. 
They  claimed  that  of  all  diseases  the  etiology  was  as  follows: 
Adverse  correlation,  absence  of  correlation,  and  excessive  correla- 
tion of  time,  mind  and  the  organs  of  the  senses.  Time  here  means 
not  only  that  which  is  divided  into  days,  weeks,  etc.,  but  infancy, 
youth,  manhood  and  old  age.  All  morbid  phenomena  were  attrib- 
uted to  the  disordered  condition  of  the  three  principal  humors  of 
the  body,  called  doshas,  viz.:  wind,  bile  and  phlegm.  These  three 
humors  were  supposed  to  fill  the  whole  body,  but  the  principal  seat 
