Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/102

94 from the heart it is propelled by the Vyana Vayu to circulate through the arteries and veins ; and that it nourishes the body, as water conveyed through the canal irrigates the field. This to some extent answers the description of the circulation theory. The circulation of the blood is also mentioned by several early writers, who each and all ascribe the property of Chala (motion) to the blood. Harita, in his work called the Harita Samhita, which some believe to be older than Sushruta, refers to the circulation of the blood in describing a disease called "Panduroga" (Anaemia). He says that this disease is sometimes caused by swallowing clay, which some persons are in the habit of doing. "The clay thus eaten blocks the lumen of the several veins and stops the "circulation of the blood." The author of Bhavaprakasha, who is a century older than Harvey, quotes the following couplet bearing on the circulation of the blood : —

Dhatoonam pooranam samyak Sparshajnanam asamshayam, Svashwasu charad raktam Kuryach chanyan gunan api.

"Blood, by circulating through its vessels, fills the Dhatus well, causes perception, and