Vanaspati: Plants and Plant-Life as in Indian Treatises and Traditions c6.t2.40

c6.t2.40

It is abundantly evident from the hymns of the *Atharva Veda* dealing with medicines for wounds, etc., that the surgical treatment, too, was considerably developed in Ancient India. The hymns are very few in number, but they are enough to show us that the first surgeons of India, for so we must call them, knew a good deal of anatomy, displayed a good deal of skill, in accurately examining the nature of the cases and in prescribing radical remedies against them. They also appear to be acquainted with a process of classification of plants. The following quotations typically selected will illustrate our remark.