A History of Indian Medical Literature v4.c62.269

v4.c62.269

540 The names of fever in various living beings are enumerated, as well as the differences between fever in human beings and elephants. Fever in elephants is called pākala; ten types of pākala are distinguished: śuddha, bāla, pakvala, mṛdugraha (also called rājayakṣman; see for a discussion and English translation: A. Krishnaswami Iyer, 1937), kukkuṭa, ekā-ṅgagraha, prasupta, kūṭa, puṇḍarīka, and mahāpākala; most of these types are connected with one or more of the doṣas and blood, some are caused by bhūtas, etc. One of the fevers described must be anthrax, the most dreaded disease in elephants; the important symptoms are: a steep rise of body temperature, purplish blotches in the mouth, and a bloody discharge from mouth, anus and bladder (see R. Carrington, 1958: 50). The theory about the causation of the fevers is expounded in the verses at the end of the chapter.