Page:Sushruta Samhita Vol 1.djvu/193

Chap.XII.] which affects any of the veins, nerves, bones or bone-joints.

Cauterisation is admissible in all seasons of the year except summer and autumn; but no such distinction should be observed in cases of impending danger, when it should be practised with the help of such appliances of a contrary (cooling) nature, [as wet sheets, cooling drinks and cooling plasters, etc.]

In all diseases and in all seasons of the year, the patient should be fed on a diet of slimy (mucilaginous) food before actually applying the cautery; while the patient should be kept on an empty stomach before the act where the complaint would be a case of Mudagarbha (false presentation), fistula in ano, haemorrhoids or a disease affecting the cavity of the mouth.

According to certain authorities the processes of cauterisation may be grouped under two heads according as the skin or the flesh is cauterised. The present work does not lay any injunction against the cauterisation of any nerve, vein, bone or bone joint (as stated before). A burning of the skin is accompanied by a peculiar bursting or cracking sound. The skin becomes contracted and emits a fetid smell. Similarly, in a case where the flesh is burnt, (the affected part) assumes a dove color of (blackish brown), marked by pain and a little swelling, and the incidental ulcer becomes dry and contracted. In the case where a nerve or a vein