A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c24.20

v1.c24.20

The topics discussed in its first part (7.1–29ab) are: the royal physician (prāṇācārya), 50 who should reside near the royal palace; it is his duty to protect the king from poison (7.1–2); 51 signs indicating that particular foods and drinks contain poison (7.3–10ab); 52 the characteristics of a poisoner (7.12cd–13ab); 54 the detection of poison in foods by throwing them into a fire and examining the flames and the smell emitted (7.13cd–14ab); 55 the detection of poison in foods by making various animals eat them and examining the characteristic behaviour of these animals (7.14cd–18); 56 symptoms produced by poisoned foods when touched, when held in the mouth, after reaching the āmāśaya, after reaching the pakvāśaya; the treatment of these conditions (7.19–26); 57 a person who has consumed poison should be submitted to purificatory treatment along the upper and lower route; he should lick powdered copper (tāmrarajas), mixed with honey, in order to purify his heart (hṛdviśodhana), 58 and then take powdered gold (hemacūrṇa), which makes the poison lose its adherence (7.27–29ab). 59