Page:The Surgical Instruments of the Hindus Vol 1.djvu/11

Rh ring as a healing talisman for the cure of snake-bite; and also we find there a reference to a class of physicians who specialised themselves in Toxicology (Viṣa-Vaidya), and were held in high esteem for their professional skill by the public. From the Bhojaprabandha, the administration of some kind of anæsthetic by inhalation before surgical operations can be ascertained. Similarly from the books of Law, we know the relations of the profession to society in general. In the Manusaṁhitā, we have unmistakable testimony of the decline of Hindu surgery as the author prohibits the eating of cooked rice from the hands of a surgeon.