Pittam : — The function of the »Pittam consists in metamorphosing the chyle, .through a graduated series of organic principles, to a protoplasmic substance like sperm in men, and the ovum in women. Thus we see that the Pittam of the Ayurveda corresponds to metabolism of Western physiology. But b}? a confounding carelessness of terms the excreted portion of Rasa and blood though ultimately connected with those normal physiological processes has been respectively styled as the Doshas or defiling principles of Kaphah and Pittam. Again, as in the case, of soil, the terms V^yu, Pittam and Kaphah are extend- ed to denote magnetism, kinetic energy and humidity of its molecules. The circulation of blood is connected with the Pittam, while the circulation of lymph chyle fRasa) is related to Shleshmi the two combinedly forming what is called the sustentative function of the Western Physiology.
The term Pittam, which, by its etymology, signifies the agent of metabolism, has been loosely used by our Ayurvedic physiolgists to denote two different organic principles from an observed similarity in their nature and functions. Pittam in Sanskrit means both bile and meta- bolism of tissues as well as the bodily heat which is the product of the latter.
Hence a few commentators lean towards the view that Pittam is the heat incarcerated in the bile, and the principal agent in performing digestion (i). The real import of the term may be gathered from the five sub-divisions of the Pittam, made by our ' Rishis according to their functions and locations, and which are called the Pachaka, Ranjaka, Sadhaka, A'lochaka and
(l) (
Indic characters)
Madhukosha.
