Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/128

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INDIAN MATERIA MEDICA.
[Chap. VII.

of about 150 drugs more than are found in "Dhanvantari Nighanta," such as Ahiphena (opium), Khakhas (poppy seeds), Kasumba (safflower), Methica (fenugreek), Vatavairi (almond), etc.

Bhava Mishra is followed by Raja Madanapala, whose work called "Madana-Vinoda " is a second edition, as it were, of the "Bhavaprakasha." He seems, however, to have augmented the list of Indian plants by some new names, among which might be mentioned "Akakarabha" (pellitory), "Anjira" (fig), " Pistam" (pistachio nut), "Haridruma" (gambier), etc.

Just about his time there flourished a learned physician named Narahari, son of Chandeshvara, an inhabitant of Sinhpur in Cashmere. He wrote an excellent work called "Abhidhana Chudamani" or "Raja Nighanta" (Royal Dictionary of Medicine). The work was composed under the patronage of the King of Cashmere at the time, and therefore no pains seem to have been spared to make it as useful and interesting as possible. According to some writers, Narahari lived in the seventh century after Christ, though the exact time of his birth is not known. His work is a glossary of medicinal substances with specifications