Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/60

let thy child live long by drinking the nectar-like milk, just as the gods are able to live for very many years by drinking the beverage of immortality." The infant is then taken by the mother on her lap, its head being kept towards the north, and nursed gently. Sushruta says that if some milk be not thrown away, as recommended above, the baby suffers from puking, cough and asthma. When the mother has no milk, and it is difficult to procure a wet-nurse, the child should be fed on cow's or goat's milk. It should always be handled gently, and never disturbed in sleep nor made to sleep against its inclination. Anointing, bathing, Anjan (a certain application to the eyes), and soft clothing, are always good for infants. The mother's milk may be thick, hot, acid, scant, salt, or 'soft.' The last kind is the best, and makes the child strong, healthy, and handsome. The other kinds of milk are injurious to the child and cause various diseases. A mother having scant milk may take with advantage milk mixed with black pepper and long pepper, which will promote the secretion. Similarly, powdered long pepper, dry ginger, and Haritaki (Terminalia Chebula) mixed with clarified butter and treacle, if taken in the form of an electuary, will assist the secernment considerably. Harita says that a preparation of dry ginger, long pepper, black pepper, the