Page:Sushruta Samhita Vol 1.djvu/217

Chap.XIV.] The blood in its healthy and natural state is possessed of a vivid red colour like that of an Indragopa (Cochineal) insect, and is neither too thin nor too transparent.*

Cases where blood-letting is prohibited:—A person afflicted with an oedematous swelling extending all over the body should be deemed unfit for bleeding. An intumescence occurring in a weak and enfeebled patient owing to an excessive use of acid food or in a person suffering from jaundice or laid up with haemorrhoids or abdominal dropsy, as well as in an enceinte, or in a person suffering from Pulmonary consumption (Shosha), should not be bled.

Blood-letting, with the help of a surgical instrument, may be grouped under two distinct heads, according as scarification (Prachchhanam) or venesection (Sira-Vyadhanam) is resorted to for the purpose. In such a case the knife or the instrument (Shastram) should be driven straight and speedily so as to make the incision straight, narrow, unextended, and of equal and slight depth throughout, (so as to reach only the surface layer of the flesh and blood), and not to injure in any way the local veins, nerves, joints, and other vital parts.

Bleeding performed on a cloudy day or done with a