The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c15.75

c15.75

The presages (Chap. XXIX) are drawn from the messenger, from encounters had while rendering oneself to the patient's house, while entering that house or they are drawn from the dreams of the patient or of those of his entourage. The subjective fatal symptoms (Chap. XXX) are the *ariṣṭas*, consisting of sensorial errors and of the hallucinations of the patient. The *chāyā* corresponds in general with what we call the good or bad "looks" (Chap. XXXI), but the chapter deals with it only at its beginning and discusses thereafter the signs drawn from the state of the tongue, of the nose, of the eyes, of hair, of eyebrows, of attitudes, of respiration, of various groups of symptoms shown in the course of certain affections, of the state of the mouth, etc. These are, then, mainly objective signs and their study continues in chapter XXXII. The next chapter enumerates the circumstances wherein appear the hopeless cases of patients who are victims of eight diseases particularly dangerous by their nature itself.