Page:Sushruta Samhita Vol 1.djvu/346

242 the length of two fingers' width should be used in sewing up anulcer occurring about any joint or in a part of the body where the flesh is thin and scanty. A needle of a triangular body (tri-hedral), and measuring three fingers' width in length, is recommended in the case of an ulcer appearing at any fleshy part of the body. A semi-circular or bow-shaped needle should be used in a case where the seat of the ulcer would be found to be on the scrotum, or on the skin of the abdomen, or about any of the Marmas (vital parts).

Needles of these three shapes should be so constructed as to be fitted with sharp points capable of being handled with the greatest ease, having a girth equal that of the stem of a Malati flower.

The needle should not be pricked into a part too near, or too remote from the fissure, or the mouth of an ulcer, as there might be the danger of the suture being broken off (at the least pressure or movement) in the first instance and of genesis of pain in the second. An ulcer, thus properly sutured, should be covered over with cotton and dusted over with a pulverised compound consisting of the powders of Priyangu, Anjanam, Yasthyahva and Rodhra, or with the ashes of a burnt piece of Kshauma cloth, or with the powders of the Shallaki fruit. Then the ulcer should be properly bandaged, and measures and rules regarding the regimen of diet, and conduct previously laid down in the chapter