CHAPTER II
Chemistry in the Charaka and the Suśruta
THE CHARAKA
[The subject-matter in the first few extracts in this chapter is practically based upon the Vaiseshika system; see ante pp. 6 et seq.]
The Tastes—The Metals and their Calces
"The object of the tongue is taste. Water and earth are the objective existences in which taste inheres. In its manifestation and as regards particular kinds of it, space, air and light are also its adjuncts. Sweet, sour, salt, pungent, bitter and astringent, these are regarded as the sixfold catalogue of tastes. * * * Objects are again known to be of three kinds, viz., animal products, vegetable products and products appertaining to the earth. Honey, vaccine, secretions, bile, fat, marrow, blood, flesh, excreta, urine, skin, semen, bones, tendons, horns, nails, hoofs, hair, bristles and
