A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c9.36

v1.c9.36

It is in the "Atharva-veda" however, that plants and vegetable products in general are fully recognised as helpful agents in the treatment of diseases, though their use is invariably associated with the employment of charms, spells, and incantations. Thus the plant apámárga (*achyranthes aspera*), which still occupies a prominent place in the Hindu system of medicine as a di-uretic and laxative etc., is invoked as the "mistress of remedies" (IV. 17, 1.) and "sole ruler over all plants." In another hymn the Soma plant is thus referred to:—