Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/94

86 of wind is great after the food in the stomach is digested; when the action of the stomach is half done, or when the food is in a semi-digested state, bile gets the ascendency, and phlegm holds sway in the commencement of the process of digestion. When wind predominates, digestion becomes irregular ; when bile is abundant, it is accelerated ; under the controlling influence of phlegm, digestion becomes weak. For perfect digestion the three humours must be in their proper proportion. If wind is predominant the bowels become costive ; when bile is in excess they become loose ; when phlegm predominates, the bowels remain in their normal condition. A proper equilibrium of the three alone keeps the body healthy. Sometimes defect in the humours is congenital. In that case bilious diathesis is considered better than windy, and phlegmatic better than either, though, on the whole, any disorder in the humoral functions is undesirable. The cardinal humours, VATA, PITTA and KAFA, are expressed in English by wind, bile, and phlegm respectively ; but they convey more meaning than their English equivalents are capable of expressing, as will appear from a short description of each.

Every movement of the body depends, according