Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c6.s2.t1.16

c6.s2.t1.16

‘The professors of General Medicine (*āyurveda*) speak of three hundred and sixty bones.¹ But books on surgical science (*śalya-tantra*) know only of three hundred. Of these there are one hundred and twenty in the extremities; one hundred and seventeen in the pelvic cavity, sides, back, abdomen (*udara*), and breast; and from the neck upwards there are sixty-three. In this wise the total of three hundred bones is made up. Now in each toe of the foot, there are three bones; this makes altogether fifteen. Those bones which constitute the sole, cluster, and ankle are ten. In the heel there is one; in the leg there are two; in the knee there is one; so also in the thigh. Thus there are thirty bones in one lower limb. The same count applies to the other lower limb, as well as to the two upper limbs. In the pelvic cavity there are five bones. Of these there are four in the anus, pubes, and hips; and the fifth constitutes the triangular (trika) sacrum. There are thirty-six bones in one side, and as many in the other. In the back there are thirty; eight in the breast; two in what are called the collar-bones (akṣaka-saṃjñā); nine in the neck; four in the windpipe; and two in the jaws. The teeth number thirty-two. In the nose there are three bones. There is one in the palate; also one each in either cheek, ear, and temple; and there are six in the cranium.’