Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/61

IV.] three myrobalans, Dhana (Coriandrum sativum), Yavani, Shatavari (Asparagus tomentosus), Vacha (Acorus Calamus), Brahmi (Hydrocotyle asiatica) and Bhargi, given with honey to the infant, will accelerate the power of speech and improve the voice. The memory and intelligence of the child can be greatly improved by giving it an electuary of Gaduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), Apamarga (Achyranthes aspera), Vidanga (Embelia ribes), Shankhapushpi (Clitoria Ternatea), Vacha (Acorus Calamus), Haritaki (Terminalia Chebula), dry ginger, and Shatavari, with clarified butter.

A passing reference should now be made to the several rites performed by the Hindoos from conception to delivery, and from the time of birth even until after death. These rites are twenty-five in number, but the principal ones are sixteen, called the sixteen. These are :, a ceremony performed previous to conception, that is, when the husband meets his wife for the first time on her attaining maturity : , a festival held on the wife's perceiving the first signs of pregnancy ; it- is generally performed in the third month : , a rite performed to avert miscarriage :, the ceremony of parting the hair of a woman on her entering the fourth, sixth, or eighth month of gestation :