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SHALYA or Surgery is, as noted in the earlier part of the work, one of the eight departments of. In the work of Sushruta it occupies the first place. Medicine and Surgery, though parts of the same science, are treated as distinct branches. Charaka, Atreya, Hartia, Agnivesha, and others, are accepted as guides more in medicine than in surgery ; while Dhanvantari, Sushruta, Aupadhenava, Aurabhra, Paushkalavata, and others, were rather surgeons than physicians, having written elaborate works on the art of healing by mechanical and instrumental means. In a case requiring surgical operations, the physician says to his patient, " Atra Dhanvantarinam adhikaras kriyavidhau," meaning, "It is for the surgeon to take in hand this case." It is true the ancient surgery did not