Chap. X.] SARIRA STHANAM. 229
would signify that the diseased principle (morbiferous diathesis) extends all through its organism. 28.
Treatment of Infants :— Medicines laid down under the head of a particular disease should like- wise be prescribed in the case of its appearance in a child or an infant ; but then only the remedies of mild potency and those which do not tend to disintegrate the bodily fat and Kapha should be given in adequate doses (according to age, etc.) as mentioned here- after and administered through the vehicle of milk and clarified butter, to a child living on milk alone, while the nurse also is to take the same medicines as well * In the case of a child fed both on milk and (boiled) rice {KshirdnnddaX .Q., living on both solid an d liquid food) the medicine should be administered both to the child and its wet-nurse. In the case of a child living on solid food only, decoctions (Kashdya) etc. should be given to the child and not to the nurse. Medicines to the quantity of a small pinchful may be prescribed for a suckling who has completed its first month of life. Kalkas (medicated pastes) should be given to a child fed on both milk and rice to the size of a stone of a plum-fruit (Kola), and the dose for a child fed on rice (solid food) only being to the size of a plum (Kola).t 29.
* Milk and clarified butter being congenial to the constitution of infants should be used as vehicles for drugs in their cases but, these are not necessary in the case of the nurse.
t According to several other authorities, the dosage in the case of children is to be regulated as follows : —
In the case of a child, one month old, drugs should be given in the form of an electuary through the vehicle of milk, honey, syrup, clarified butter, etc,— the dose being one Rati (about two grains) at first, and gradually increased by a Rati a month, till it completes one year. After this time the dose is to be one Masha (about twenty grains) for each year of age till he is fifteen.
This dosage, however, does not apply in the present age.— Ed.
230 THE SUSHRUtA SAMHITA. tChap. X.
Metrical Texts :— in the case of any disease of a child nursed at the breast, the breasts of the nurse should be plastered with the pastes of drugs recommended by physicians for the particular malady (instead of giving the drugs to the child), and the child made to suck the same. The use of clarified butter is not bene- ficial to a child on the first day of an attack of Vata- jvara (fever due to the derangement of the bodily Vayu), within the first two days of an attack of Pittaja fever, and within the first three days of that of Kaphaja fever. But the use of clarified butter may be prescribed for an infant fed on milk and boiled rice, or on boiled rice alone, according to requirements. 30-3 f.
In case of fever a child should be given no suck at
all, lest the symptoms of thirst might develop. Pur-
gatives, Vastis, or emetics are forbidden in the disease
of children, unless the disease threatens to take a fatal
course. 32.
If the local Vayu aggravated by the waste of brain- materials (Mastulunga), bends down the palate bone of a child attended with an excessive thirst and agony, clarified butter boiled with (the decoction and Kalka of) the drugs of the Madhura Gana, should be used both internally and externally, and the patient should as well be treated with spray of cold water (to stimulate him). The disease in which the navel of a child becomes swollen and painful, is called Tundi. It should be remedied by applying fomentations, medicated oils, Upanahas, etc., possessed of the virtue of subduing the Vayu. A suppuration of the anal region (Guda-pSika) of a child should be treated with Pittaghna (Pitta-destroy- ing) measures and medicines. Rasanjana used inter- nally and externally (as an unguent) proves very efifica- cious in these cases. 33-35.
Chap. X.'] SARIRA STHANAM. 23I
Infantile Elixirs :— Clarified butter cooked with (the decoction and Kalka of) white mustard seeds, Vachd, Mdnsi, Payasyd, Apdmdrga, S'atdvari, Sdrivd, Brdhmi, Pippali^ Hai^idrd^ K^ishtJLa and Samdhava salt should be given to an infant fed exclusively on milk. Clarified butter prepared with (the docoction and Kalka of) Madhika (Yashtimadhu), Vacha, Chitraka, Pippali and Triphald should be given to an infant fed both on milk and (boiled) rice (solid and liquid food). Clarified butter boiled with (the decoction and Kalka ofj Das'amula, milk, Tagara, Bhadraddru, MaricJia, honey, Vidanga, Drdkshd and the two sorts of Brdhmis should be given to an infant fed on (boiled) rice (solid food) By these the health, strength, intellect and longivity of the child is improved. 36-37.
A child should be so handled or lifted as not to
cause any discomfort. A baby should not be scolded,
nor suddenly roused up (from sleep), lest it might get
awfully frightened. It should not be suddenly drawn
up nor suddenly laid down, lest this should result in the
derangement of its bodily Vdyu. An attempt to seat
it (before it has learnt to sit steadily), may lead to
haunch-back (Kyphosis). Lovingly should a child
be fondled and amused with toys and play-things.
A child unruffled by any of the above ways becomes
healthy, cheerful and intelligent as it grows older. An
infant should be guarded against any exposure to the
rains, the sun, or the glare of lightning. He should not
be placed uuder a tree or a creeper, in low lands,
and in lonely houses or in their shades (caves) ; and it
should be protected from the malignant influences of
evil stars and occult powers. 38.
IVIctrical Texts :— A child should not be left (alone) in an unclean and unholy place, nor under the sky
232 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. X.
(uncovered place), nor over an undulating ground, nor should it be exposed to heat, storm, rain, dust, smoke and water. Milk is congenial to the organism of a chiid, i e., it is its proper food Hence in the absence of sufficient breast-milk, the child should be given the milk of a cow or of a she-goat in adequate quantities. 39.
In the sixth month of its birth the child should be fed on light and wholesome boiled rice. A child should always be kept in an inner apartment of the house, and religious rites should be performed on its behalf for the propitiation of evil deities, and it should be carefully guarded against the influences of evil stars. 40.
Symptoms when a malignant star,
etc., strikes :— The child looks frightened and
agitated, cries, becomes unconscious at times, wounds
himself or its nurse with its teeth and finger-nails,
gnashes its teeth, crooks, yawns, or moves its eye-brows
with upturned eyes, vomits frothy matter, bites its lips,
becomes cross, passes loose stool mixed with shreds
of mucus, cries in an agonised voice, becomes dull in
complexion, becomes weak, does not sleep in the night,
does not suck the breast as before, or emits a fishy,
bug-like or mole-like smell from its body — these are
the general symptoms exhibited by a child under the
influence of a malignant star or planet which will be
specifically described later on in the Uttara-Tantra 41.
Education and IVIarriage : -The educa- tion of a child should be commenced at a suitable age and with subjects proper to the particular social Varna or order it belongs to. On attaining the twenty-fifth year he should marry a girl of twelve. A conformity to these rules, is sure to crown him with health, satisfaction, progeny and a capacity for fully discharging the religious rites and paying off his parental debts. 42..
Chap. X.J SARiRA StHANAM. 2^$
IVIetrical Texts :— An offspring of a girl below
the age of sixteen by a man below twentpjr-five is
usually found to die in the womb. Such a child, in the
event of its being born alive, dies a premature death
or else becomes weak in organs (I ndriyas). Hence agirl
of extremely tender age should not be fecundated at all.
An extremely old woman, or one suffering from a
chronic affection (of the generative organ), or afflicted
with any other disease, should not be likewise impreg-
nated. A man with similar disabilities should be held
likewise unfit. 40-44.
A foetus, on the point of being miscarried on account
of the above-mentioned causes, produces pain in the
uterus, bladder, waist (Kati), and the inguinal regions
(Vamkshana) and bleeding. In such a case, the patient
should be treated with cold baths, sprays of cold water
and medicated plaster (Pradeha) &c., at the time, and
milk * boiled with drugs constituting the Jivaniya
group, should be given to her for drink. In case of
unusual movements of the foetus in the womb, the
enciente should be given a drink of milk boiled with the
drugs of Utpalddi Gana^^QX soothing and making It
steady in its place. 45.
A foetus being displaced from its normal position
produces the following symptoms, viz , pain or spasms
in the back and the sides (Pars'va), burning sensation,
excessive discharge of blood and retention of urine and
fceces A foetus changing place or shifting from one
place to another, swells up the abdomen (Koshtha).
Cooling and soothing measures should be adopted in
such cases. 46.
* Jivaniya drugs two Tolas, milk sixteen Tolas and water sixty-four Tolas, to be boiled and reduced to sixteen Tolas, ?'.(?., to wtight of the milk,
234 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. X.
Medical Treatment :— in a case of pain
under the circumstances, the enciente should be made to drink a potion consisting of milk boiled with Mahd- sdha, Kshudrasahdf Madhuka flower, S'vadanstrd and Kantakdri, mixed with sugar and honey. In the case of retention of urine, the patient should be made to drink a potion of milk boiled with drugs known as the Ddrvddi Gana (mixed with sugar and honey). In the case of A'naha (retention of stool attended with disten- tion of the abdomen), a potion consisting of milk boiled with asafetida, Sauvarchala salt, garlic and Vacha (mixed with honey and sugar) should be given. In cases of excessive bleeding, linctus made of the powdered chamber of a Koshthdgarika insect * , Samangd^ Dhdtaki flowers, Navamdlikd, Gairika, resin and Rasdn- fana, or of as many of them as would be available, mixed with honey, should be licked. In the alternative, the bark and sprouts of the drugs known as the Nya- grodhddi Gana mixed with boiled milk should be administered, or a Kalka of the drugs of the Utpaladi group mixed with boiled milk should be used, or a Kalka of S'aluka, S'ringataka and Kas'eru mixed with boiled milk should be given. As a further alternative, the enciente may be made to eat cakes made of powdered Sali rice with the decoction of Udumbara fruit and Audaka-kanda, mixed with honey and sugar. A piece of linen or a plug soaked in the expressed juice of the drugs of the Nyagrodhadi group should be inserted into the passage of the vagina. 47.
In a case of pain unattended with bleeding, the
enciente should be made to drink a potion composed of
milk-boiled with J/<^<//////^^(Yashtimadhu), Devaddm and
* There is a kind of insect which makes its chamber with earth generally under the ceiling or on the walls. This earth should be used.
Chap. X.] SARIRA STHANAM. 235
Payasyd ; or with As'mantaka^ Satdvari and Payasyd ;
or with the drugs of the group of V iddrigandhddi Gana ;
or with Vrihati, Kantakdri, Utpala, S'atdvari, Sdrivdy
Payasyd and Madhuka (Yashtimadhu). These remedies
speedily applied tend to alleviate the pain and make the
foetus steady in the womb. 48.
After the foetus has been steadied by the aforesaid
mesaures, a diet consisting of (boiled rice and) cow's
milk, boiled with the dried tender fruits of Udmnvara,
should be prescribed for the patient. In the event of
miscarriage, the patient should be made to drink a
Yavigu (gruel) of the Udddlaka rice, &c., cooked with
the decoction of the Pachaniya group (Pippalyddi) and
devoid of all saline and fatty matter, for a number of
days corresponding to that of the month of gestation.
Old treacle mixed with the powdered drugs of the
Dipaniya group (Pancha-kola), or simply some Arishta
(Abhay^rishta, etc.), should be given, in the event
of there being pain in the pelvis, bladder and
abdomen. 49.
