Medicine and Botany of the Indians.
DISEASES prevail at the north pole as well as in the torrid zone; but those to which the Esquimaux, Greenlanders, and other northern tribes are subject, are for the most part different from those common between the tropics. Cold concentrates the vital spirits, strengthens the nerves, and causes heat, the proper vital power, to be accumulated in the interior parts; so that the body acquires a solid consistence, becomes strong and well-conditioned, and can bear all hardships without injury. It is attended, however, with this consequence, that it attracts the most dangerous diseases; creates violent, deep-rooted passions; blunts the judgement; and, if I may use the expression, involves it in dark clouds: though it cannot be denied that the mind thereby acquires a certain firmness, obtains dominion over itself, and is enabled to act with more caution. Heat, on the other hand, makes the body tender, and the nerves weak; gives more play to the human mind, and particularly the imagination; inflames the passions, and brings on diseases; but the former soon subside, and the latter are seldom dangerous.
I shall not here examine whether the assertion, that mankind increase no-where so much as in cold countries, be well founded; but it is certain that they never thrive better than under a temperate climate. If the heat at the equator be scarcely supportable in the day-time, the nights, on the other hand, are more refreshing and pleasanter; and as they are equal to the days in length, the inhabitants are sufficiently indemnified for the oppression of the latter[226]. I cannot, therefore, agree with that French philosopher, who asserts that a six months residence at the north pole could be much easier endured than one of three at the equator, where, at certain hours of the day, the heat is moderated by a fresh cooling breeze. As long as the effects of nature do not contradict each other, so long will this principle be just, that men live much more agreeably under a mild climate, than in districts which are seldom visited by the benign influence of the sun. This is proved by many circumstances, and particularly by the emigrations of the Cimbri, the Huns, the Teutones, and the Marsi[227], who, leaving their unhospitable regions of the north, exposed to excessive cold, over-ran other countries lying more towards the south. The case was the same with the Turks, who, about the year 625, emerged from Scythia and Tartary; proceeded always further towards the east; and at length, after long and bloody wars, made themselves masters of Constantinople, in 1452. These, and other circumstances of the like kind, sufficiently confirm what I have said in regard to diversity of climate, and its influence on man.
It is an incontestible truth, that the strength or weakness of a people depends, in a great measure, on these causes; and Hippocrates was so much convinced of the justness of this assertion, that he affirmed one might discover by a man’s countenance under what climate he was born, and to what country he belonged[228].
The diseases which prevail among the inhabitants of the southern part of India, that is, of Malabar, Canara, Maïssur, Madura, Tanjaur, Marava and Parava, are as follows:
Those who read this catalogue of diseases with attention, will find that the greater part of them proceed either from too great heat, or from catching cold. Some kinds of boils and ulcers, which break out on the legs during the rainy season, are difficult to be cured; while there are others, on the contrary, which cannot be healed during the summer. The women, who lead an indolent life, and do not take sufficient exercise, are tormented with convulsions, spasms, and other hysteric symptoms. I have often seen some of these women start suddenly up in the middle of mass, when the bell was rung; run up and down in the church, and begin to dance as if frantic. Those who were not acquainted with the cause of this singular behaviour, and did not know that it proceeded from hysteric affections, might have believed that the women were possessed by the devil. After jumping and capering for some time, the blood resumed its former circulation; the corrupted juice, which had occasioned the stoppage, were in part thrown off by perspiration; the nerves recovered the necessary tone, and the women became tranquil and easy. This kind of dance is called Tullunu; and the agitation of the body occasioned by it is named Tullel. Such persons should be made to beat unshelled rice; bark and the cold bath should be prescribed for them; and they should, above all, be cautioned to avoid every thing that tends to disquiet or disturb the mind[229].
People who complain of a weakness of the stomach and nerves are accustomed in the morning to chew a little opium, which they say strengthens the nerves and promotes digestion. This custom, however, is in reality highly pernicious; for those who acquire a habit of chewing opium can never renounce it; and if not supplied with it, they suffer horrid pain; fall into fainting fits, and lie as if dead. I was acquainted with several persons who always, at table, took a small dose of opium, and yet enjoyed good health. It mitigates the too great fermentation of the animal juices, as well as too great tension of the nerves, against which, in this hot climate, it is impossible to use too many precautions. For this reason the Mahometans, who, as is well known, have a plurality of wives, are accustomed to employ opium when they wish to enjoy the company of their females, lest the impulse of nature, being too strong, should prove prejudicial to health. However useful opium may be under such circumstances, its effects are highly dangerous when a large dose of it is taken dissolved in lemon juice, or any acid solvent. When prepared in this manner it renders men bloodthirsty; converts them into savage beasts; and inspires them with such fury, that they would rather suffer themselves to be cut to pieces than give up the weapon which they have in their hand. The desperadoes who allow themselves to be intoxicated by opium, dissolved in this manner, are called Ammochi; and are either Nairs or Mahometans, who have resolved to sacrifice their lives to serve their king, their country, or any person whole cause they have undertaken to espouse[230].
Formerly there were a great many of these Ammochi on the coast of Malabar; but since the king of Travancor prohibited the natives from drinking coco-nut brandy called Tàgara, to smoke Cangiàva, and to use opium prepared as above mentioned, such ravenous animals in the human form have become uncommon; and should any one venture, in so horrid a manner, to disturb the tranquillity of the public, he would be instantly punished with death. Some persons, however, who were at Ciavacàda during the war against Tippoo, assured me that they had seen several Ammochi among his troops; but it is certain, beyond a doubt, that he forbade the use of opium to his soldiers, because the Ammochi in their fury spare neither friend nor foe, but destroy every person who comes in their way. The best method of being saved from these inhuman wretches is to throw sand into their eyes. The Cangiava, or leaves of the Bangue, a plant of about five or six feet in height, which are smoked instead of tobacco, produce the same effect as opium, and render men quite frantic[231].
The venereal disease is very little known in the interior parts of India. As the Indians are remarkably attentive to cleanliness, and as both male and female live with the greatest temperance, use food easy of digestion, are in continual perspiration, wash the parts of sex three times a-day, and adhere to other strict regulations rendered necessary by the nature of the climate, this detestable disease has not been able to make much progress in the inland provinces. In the towns on the sea coast, however, where there is a very great influx of foreigners, who indulge in every kind of dissipation, and where the above salutary practices and regulations are almost entirely neglected, the venereal disease has greatly increased; but it prevails only among the low, contemptible casts, and the Europeans, who are the original cause of this, as well as of all the other evils which the Indians have to complain of.
As the body, however, in this hot climate, is in continual perspiration, the above disease may be easily removed, provided the patient employs, immediately on its appearance, attenuating and detergent medicines. The most effectual is the Velladamba, or sarsaparilla. From this wood the Indians prepare a decoction, which is sweetened with a little sugar; and if from two to three pints of it be given to a venereal patient, before the disease has acquired much strength, he will be soon cured. This disease would be much less destructive, in general, were suitable remedies used in proper time. Boerhaave, a man whose name I cannot mention but with the utmost respect, says expressly that the venereal disease is far from being so dangerous in India as it is in Europe[232].
Far more dreadful are the consequences of the before-mentioned intestinal colic, called by the Indians Shani, Mordexim, and also Nicomben. It is occasioned, as I have said, by the winds blowing from the mountains, which carry with them a great many nitrous particles, and which commonly commence immediately after the rainy season, when the wet weather is succeeded by a great heat and continued drought. On the coast of Malabar this is the case from the beginning of October till the 20th of December; and on the coast of Coromandel in April and May. People are then liable to catch colds: and the consequence is, that malignant and bilious slimy matter adheres to the bowels, and occasions violent pains, vomiting, fever, and stupefaction; so that persons attacked with this disease die very often in a few hours. It sometimes happens that thirty or forty persons die in this manner, in one place, in the course of a day, unless speedy relief be administred. The bitter essence, Droga amara, which I have mentioned in the beginning of the present work, is the best remedy for this colic; as it opens the pores, thins the juices, counteracts the effects of the saltpetre, warms the body, brings on perspiration, and, in that manner, inspires it with new life. In the year 1782 this disease raged with so much fury that a great many persons died of it. The above essence is pretty dear; and it was not possible to procure it in such quantity as to supply all the patients. In its stead, therefore, we employed Tàgara, coco-nut brandy, distilled over horses dung. All those recovered to whom this beverage was given, but the rest died in three or four hours. This circumstance made so much noise among the Pagans, that the fame of our medicine, and the cures it performed, was spread as far as Cochin. When the physicians of the Dutch East India Company at that place, Messrs. Martinfard and Errik, were informed of this circumstance, they not only gave our medicine their approbation, but even employed it in their practice.
The tertian fever is easily removed by a decoction of Veppa, or Malabar china[233]. Veppa is the name of a tree which has a very bitter bark, and green prickly leaves, which are also exceedingly bitter. It grows on dry, sandy soil, without any culture or care. The decoction is prepared from its leaves, which are called Vippela. The property of this tree is well known to the Brahmans; but the common people have very little knowledge of it.
The Kàcil, or inflammation connected with the Gonorrhœa benigna, is removed by means of rice-water, mixed with a little sugar, and given to the patient to drink. Cold fomentation, and decoctions of bananas, milk, salt-petre, and other softening, cooling and diuretic medicines are also prescribed. This malady is very prevalent on the coast of Malabar.
All these diseases, which proceed from a decomposition of the animal juices, enervate the Indians at an early period, and hasten their dissolution.—They die, almost without any pain, in the same manner as consumptive persons; and become extinct like a lamp which has no longer oil. At the moment of their death no contraction is observed in their features, no convulsive throbs, and they never whimper or complain, like so many of the Europeans, who quit the world in the most painful manner imaginable. Many of the women lose their lives the first time they bring forth.
The small pox, a disease which in India is highly infectious, commonly makes its appearance in Malabar after the rainy season; that is, in December and January and the months following. Thousands are swept off by it every year. At the periods when it prevails, parents abandon their children, and children their parents; for this disease, as already said, is so infectious and dangerous that people can never be too much on their guard against it. To this may be added, that the Indians are not capable of forming a proper judgment respecting the symptoms, and consequently treat their patients in a very improper manner. The doors and windows are shut, that the patients may not be exposed to the smallest breath of cool air, and heating things alone are given them. The most common medicines employed in this disease are sugar, boiled onions, the urine of a healthy child, coriander-seed, boiled rice, green pepper, carambola leaves[234], onion-juice, and other things of the like kind, partly useless and partly pernicious. The object of them, however, is to expel the poison from the body; but they never suffer it to ripen properly; and they prescribe for the patient neither emollient nor cooling things, which would tend to allay the internal heat, and to moderate the ferment of the animal juices. Rice-water and fresh air would be far more proper; but the Indians are obstinate in adhering to their deep-rooted prejudices, and therefore all attempts to persuade them are in vain.
India alone contains more medical writings, perhaps, than are to be found in all the rest of the world. As printing has never been introduced here, all hands are employed in copying manuscripts, and particularly such as relate to the prolongation of human life, viz. medical and botanical. The greater part of the Indian manuscripts preserved in the library of the late king of France, those of the Propaganda and Mr. Samuel Guise, and in the Borgian Museum, consist of works of this kind. The often-before-mentioned Dictionary, Amarasinha, under the head Auszadhivargga, that is, Class of the Simple Medicines, gives the names of above three hundred herbs and plants used in medicine. Those who wish to be convinced of the multitude of articles that occur in the Medicine and Botany of Malabar, need only recur to the work published at Amsterdam, in the year 1689, under the title of Hortus Malabaricus. Both these sciences were cultivated in India above three thousand years ago, and at present give employment to a great number of people. When a physician is sent for, you are sure to be visited by five or six. There are even boys who possess an extensive knowledge of botany; and this is not surprising, as, from their earliest years, they are made acquainted with the nature of plants, and their different properties.—Did the religion of the Indians allow them to dissect animals and study anatomy, they would certainly attain to great proficiency in medicine; but as these are strictly forbidden, it may be readily conceived that the above sciences can make very little progress. I have, however, seen instances of Malabar physicians curing patients who had been totally given over by the Europeans. The Malabar physicians, in general, are superior to most Europeans in the knowledge of simples. Among those which they employ in their cures, the following are the most worthy of notice:
Veppa, the Chinchina tree, which has been mentioned already. In the Samscred language it is called Nimba, in the Tamulic Aipu, and in Portuguese Amargozeira. There are two kinds of it: one of them, which has a black appearance, is called Karinveppa; the other, with green prickly leaves, which have an exceedingly bitter taste, is known under the name of Aryakarinvepa. The latter, properly, is that which produces the real Malabar china. The bark of this tree, however, is employed by the Indians only in cases of necessity; for a decoction of the leaves, if the coarser parts which subside to the bottom of the vessel be used, produce as powerful an effect. The Brahmans are accustomed to prepare, from the juice of these leaves, what they call Karil; that is, a sauce which they eat with their rice. This medicine is of excellent service in tertian fevers, in cases of worms, and in all disorders arising from indigestion and weakness of the stomach and nerves. If the green leaves be bruised, and applied to wounds or ulcers of a long standing, they cleanse them, and prevent them from spreading or becoming cancerous. In a word, they answer the same purpose as the china bark, and in much shorter time, because more power is contained in the juice of the leaves than in the woody parts of the stem and the branches. The properties of this tree being therefore so nearly allied to those of the real china, which grows in America, the Indians can very well dispense with the latter, especially since it loses much of its virtue by long voyages, as the saline volatile particles it contains evaporate by the way.
The nettle Codituva, as the Brahmans say, is an excellent remedy to purify and thin the blood; to expel the gout, leprosy, and malignant fevers; and to check coughs connected with spitting of blood.
Avanaka, the so-called wonder and cross tree, in Portuguese Figueiro d’Inferno, bears a fruit which by expression yields a very salutary oil. It purifies and sweetens the blood, dissolves the corrupted juices, expels worms, and is of excellent service in the sciatica.
Ulatunwera, the root of the tree Ulam, is an effectual remedy for the jaundice. It cleanses the urinary passage when obstructed by slimy accumulations, and cures the Gonorrhœa benigna. In the latter case the root is administered after it has been pulverised and mixed with sugar and milk.
The Ulam, in Portuguese Pareira brava, is that kind of large ivy which bears very small fruit, enclosed in small husks like those of the coffee-berry. Its root only is officinal[235]. The Ulam, however, must not be confounded, as it has been by some, with the Vallicàgneram, which grows also in Malabar. Geofroy has given a particular description of this plant in his Materia Medica, where it occurs among the exotics.
Konna, the Cassia purgans, carries off bile, purifies the reins, and is of a cooling nature; at least we are told so by the Brahmans.
The areca-nut, bananas, the coco-nut tree, the Mava or Mangueira, the Kaja, Ciamba, Plava, and Papamaram, have been described by Gemelli Careri, in the third part of his Travels round the Globe, where figures of them may be seen.
The Nellimaram is a large tree which bears the so-called Emblis, a kind of plum used also in medicine, and in the Malabar language called Nellika. Its chief property, according to the natives, is, that it carries off the bile and slime which give rise to most of the diseases in India. It is customary to pickle these plums, and to eat them with rice[236].
Karuvà, or Ilavanga, is the name of that tree the bark of which is the Cassia lignea, or wild cinnamon[237]. It is of the size of a large European plum-tree, and has smooth green leaves, which are somewhat pulpy, and emit a strong smell. They are used in India as we use cinnamon. This Malabar cinnamon-tree grows without any nursing or care, and, were it cultivated, would approach near to that of Ceylon. The Dutch, however, do not wish it to thrive, and extirpate the trees in Malabar wherever they find them, in order that their cinnamon, which grows in the island of Ceylon, may not become of less value.
Muringa, is the name of a tree which is highly valued by the inhabitants on the coast of Malabar. In the Arabic it is called Moriaben, and in Persian Tamen Guzarat Trerida. Its leaves, as well as the fruit, both of which are very small, are eaten with rice. They are said to cure the cholic, and expel poison. However this may be, it is certain that they afford a wholesome kind of nourishment. I several times caused soup to be made of the leaves as well as fruit of this tree, and always found it of benefit[238].
The only Malabar plant which I can with certainty call an antidote of poison is a shrub, about three or four feet in height, named Alpam. The root is pounded, and administered in warm water to those who have been poisoned. A Malabar proverb says: Alpam agatta, Veszam poratta; As soon as the Alpam root enters the body, poison leaves it. I must, however, confess, that the Theriac of Andromache (Theriaca di Andromaco) is much more powerful.
The Indian saffron, in the Malabar language is called Magnel, in the Portuguese Acafrao Indico, and in the Samscred Kunkuma[239]. The Europeans employ this plant, which has yellow leaves, merely for dyeing; but the Brahmans ascribe to it the property of curing the itch and the gout, extenuating the juices, and purifying the skin from all spots arising from scorbutic acridities.
The senna-tree, Cassia Senna, is called in the Malabar language Nilavague, and grows in the mountainous districts of Cape Comari. Its leaves, it is well known, are employed as a purgative.
Panicurca, the Malabar Melissa, in Portuguese Cidreira Malabarica, has broad, thick, round, prickly leaves, and is therefore very different from that of Europe. It however possesses the same power and properties; that is, it strengthens the head and stomach, and is to be recommended, in particular, to those subject to hysteric affections[240].
Kadelsalada, dandelion, in Portuguese Almeyrao, is, as is well known, a plant of a detergent nature, and purifies the blood.
Tottavàdi is the name of the sensitive plant, as it is called, which, as soon as touched, contracts itself together[241].
Vayambu, in Latin Acorus, and in Portuguese Dringo, the sweet-flag, grows on the coast of Malabar, in ponds and stagnant water. It has long green leaves, and a very aromatic root[242].
The Scorzonera root is called in the Malabar language Ciadaveli, and in the Tamulic Nirvàlikilanga. The Indians boil it: they preserve it also, and eat it with their rice.
In order that I may not be too prolix, I shall here give a list only of several plants and vegetable productions which I ought not to omit.
Perumciragam, Lat. Fœniculum, Port. Funcho, fennel.
Velladamba, sarsaparilla, of which there are two kinds, one with white flowers and the other with red. The latter is the Malabar sarsaparilla.
Cerupula, Lat. Saxifraga, sassafras.
Muszelcevi, Lat. Sonchus, Port. Seralha, lettuce.
Manelcira, Lat. Portulaca silvestris, Fr. Pourpier, purslain.
Codaven, Lat. Cochlearia, Port. Rabaça, scurvy-grass.
Pramì, or Caipacira, Lat. Nasturtium fontanum, Fr. Cresson, water-cresses.
Cáttutrtáva, Lat. Ocymum thyrsiflorum, the herb basil.
Pandila, Lat. Trifolium pratense, purple trefoil.
Gurgul, Lat. Scammonia, scammony bindweed.
Panna, Lat. Polypodium, common polypody.
Irattimadhiram, Lat. Glycirrhiza, liquorice.
Puliàrila, marsh trefoil.
Manday, Lat. Eupatorium, liver-wort.
Mandàram, Lat. Admirabilis Malabarica, Port. Fula de Merenda.
Cattàsha, Lat. Aloes, Port. Herva bàbosa, Arab. Saber, the aloe.
Màdalam, Lat. Arbustum mali Punici, Port. Romoeira, the pomegranate tree.
Pavaca, Port. Momordica, the garden balsam.—Plants of it are called, in the Malabar language, Pàvel.
Kiszanelli, Lat. Millefolium, common yarrow.
Makipuva, Lat. Absynthium, wormwood.
Ceruciaca, the annanas.
Cannati pauna, or Madilpanna, Lat. Adiantum, Port. Avenca, maiden-hair.
Ciragam, Port. Erva dolce, anise.
Velluram, Port. Malvaisco, mallow; an emollient medicine, which is of great service.
Orumbulicica, Port. Salbao Canarin, is a tree, the fruit of which answers the purpose of our soap. The natives of Malabar employ it for washing, not only their bodies, but also their clothes.
Curantotti, a plant about a palm in height, from the root of which is prepared a decoction said to be useful in the gout, cough, gonorrhœa, flatulency, and feverish affections. This decoction must be mixed with sugar and milk.
Ellacalli, Lat. Euphorbium, spurge; a very sharp and powerful medicine, which properly ought to be prohibited.
Ciangupusham. The root and leaves of this plant are used as a decoction for the gout, cholic, and poison.
Calumba, a yellow root, known as a certain remedy for the tertian fever, pain of the stomach, and poison. It promotes also the menses and parturition. It has an exceedingly bitter taste, and is given in wine. I suspect it to be the same root as that called Vallìcàgnaram.
Cumbula, a large tree, the root of which expels the gout, and carries off bile.
Ciaca, the largest of all the fruits produced on the earth, for one of them is almost more than a man can carry. It grows on the Plava tree, the wood of which is in the inside yellow. It has been described by Gemelli Careri and other authors. The raw Seeds of this fruit have a strong aromatic smell, and are called Ciacacuru: a decoction of them excites venery.
Trigolpaconna is the Malabar name of a detergent kind of Turbith.
Cagnaravera is the root of the tree Solor.
Parutti is the name given to that tree which produces cotton.
Caruppa is the name of opium.
Umana, Lat. Datura, Port. Dutro, is a plant with a dark blue flower, containing a seed, which, if given to any person to drink in wine or water, excites involuntary laughter, clouds the understanding, occasions dimness of sight, and at last brings on sleep. Female libertines are accustomed to give this beverage to their husbands or lovers, that while these guardians of their chastity are lost in stupor, they may gratify their scandalous passions at freedom and without restraint. This plant has been described by Father Schott, in the Appendix to the second part of his Physica Curiosa, which is entitled De Mirabilibus Miscellaneis. I was acquainted with a Frenchman at Cochin, who, having been imprisoned and condemned to the gallows, swallowed some of these seeds with a view to avoid the shame of his punishment. The consequence was, that he lost his senses, and fell into a deep sleep, which in three days carried him into eternity. This event may serve as a proof that too strong a dose of these seeds proves mortal.
Tettamperel is a fruit of the size and figure of hare’s dung. When put into a vessel which contains muddy water, it purifies it in such a manner that all the unclean slimy particles instantly deposit themselves at the bottom, and the water becomes clear and bright. The same effect is produced when a branch of the tree is put into a pool or muddy well. I should have doubted the truth of this circumstance, had I not several times seen it with my own eyes. I have still in my possession one of these fruit, and can perform the experiment when I please.
Bhudianarti, in Portuguese Pau de merda or Pau sujo, is a kind of wood, of a dark red colour, which smells like human dung. By way of amusement, people in company sometimes put a piece of it secretly into the pocket of some one unacquainted with its properties, in order to divert themselves with his embarrassment. It has a great similarity to Assafœtida, called in the Malabar Cayam, or Hingu, with which the natives are accustomed to season their boiled rice.
Of the banana fig, one of the most valuable of the Indian fruits, there are four different kinds, viz. Cannpala, the hollow fig; Cadalipala, or Puvancà, the garden-fig; Eràden, the sugar-fig, so called on account of its sweet taste; and Nendaracà, the roasting fig, which cannot be eat raw.
The Pála, or proper Indian fig tree, has been very incorrectly described by Pliny in his Natural History[243]. He evidently confounds the Pála with another tree called by the Portuguese Arvore de raiz. This tree rises to the height of the common chestnut-tree, but throws out from its branches a number of fibres, which become so long that they at last hang down to the ground, where they take root and produce other trees of the same kind perfectly similar to the parent-tree. In this manner they continue till from one tree there at length arises a whole forest. Certain travellers are, therefore, not in the wrong, when they assert, that, in India, there are trees under which a thousand men might find shelter. The Indians are accustomed to plant such trees in the neighbourhood of their temples or pagodas, that they may defend the people when assembled from the rain and the sun. I saw several of these trees at Tiruvandaram and Ciranga, and could not help being wonderfully struck with this singular lusus naturæ. The Europeans settled on the coast of Malabar call this Arvore de raiz, the pagoda-tree. It has been described by Nierenberg in his Natural History[244].
It cost me immense labour to collect this numerous catalogue of simples, and to add their Malabar, Latin, and Portuguese names; but it will perhaps enable those fond of botany to form some idea of the knowledge of the Indians in that branch of science. The sources I employed, besides my own experience, are the Dictionaries of Hanxleden, Viscoping, and Pimentel; the Herbarium of Father Feraz; and a manuscript containing observations by many regular physicians and botanists, natives of the coast of Malabar. To those acquainted with the appellations of the European simples and vegetables, and the purposes to which they are applied, it will not be difficult to learn the Malabar botany; but without such knowledge it will indeed be impossible to study it with advantage.
The intelligent reader will readily observe that the Indians have made much more progress in botany than in mineralogy; because they prepare the greater part of their medicines from vegetables. This method corresponds very exactly with the system of Hippocrates. As a proof, one needs only recur to the second book of that physician, De Diaeta, where he treats of the powers and properties of vegetable and animal food, but passes over the mineral kingdom entirely. Medicines prepared from the last are for the most part, in India, attended with very dangerous consequences; because, in general, they are not only far less suited to human nature, but affect, in a very extraordinary manner, the weak bodies of the natives. The method and prescriptions of Van Swieten and Tissot are therefore almost impracticable in those climates. On the other hand, I know, from certain experience, that several physicians of Cochin, who followed the prescriptions of these two celebrated men, and ordered certain medicines in small doses, no longer employ them with confidence. The Indians never take an emetic or purgative without causing the physician to prescribe something for them by which the too violent effects of the medicine may be checked. They abhor phlebotomy, and employ only cupping; but this even very seldom. They are accustomed also never to pay the physician until they are completely freed from their disease. This is an excellent method to guard against the ignorance and quackery of those pretenders who sometimes prolong a disease merely that they may extort more gold from their patients. When a Malabar physician fails of a cure, the patient gives him a certain present, according to the trouble he has had, but he is under no obligation to pay him fully. In antient times the medicines of the Indians consisted chiefly, according to the testimony of Strabo, in regularity, temperance, and the choice of food. This is exactly the doctrine of Hippocrates.