Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/75

V.] at the end. The dinner should be finished with a draught of milk, or Takra (whey) mixed with water. One should not hurry over his meals. Gormandism is to be avoided. Half the cavity of the stomach is to be filled with food, a quarter with water, and the remaining part is to be left empty. Water may be taken now and then during the meal ; if taken in the beginning it retards digestion, and has a tendency to make one lean ; if taken at the end it produces obesity (Vagbhata). A thirsty man should not eat before quenching his thirst, and a hungry one should not drink before taking some food. Any disregard of the first rule causes tumour, and of the second dropsy. Sushruta draws particular attention to the advantages of dining at fixed hours, and recommends that the food once taken off the stove should never be heated over the fire again. One must study the nature of the food before eating it, for the food one eats has much to do with the development of the mind, and it is the mind that makes a man either good, bad, stupid, or wicked. "There are three species of food dear unto all men. The distinctions are based on the inherent quality or of the food. The food that is dear unto those of the  (quality of goodness) is