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VII.] fainting, fever, and burning sensation ; cures blood diseases, but causes derangement of wind. Taken in excess, it causes shooting pain in the head.

(f) (astringent) heals wounds, produces costiveness and softens the skin. If astringent substances are frequently taken they stiffen the body, swell the abdomen and cause pain in the heart.

2. (virtue) is the inherent property of a drug causing a particular effect when used either internally or externally.

India is a vast and fertile country, and has, as we have said before, the advantage of enjoying all the periodical seasons of the year. This circumstance makes it an encyclopaedia of the VEGETABLE World. The ancient Aryans have taken the trouble to examine and study all the herbs that came under their observation, and classified them into Groups or Ganas. Charaka gives fifty groups of ten herbs each, which he thinks "are enough for the purposes of an ordinary physician," though at the same time he adds, that "the number of groups can be increased to any extent." Similarly, Sushruta has arranged 760 herbs in thirty-seven sets according to some