CHAPTER XI.
VICISSITUDES OF INDIAN MEDICINE AND SURGERY.
HINDOO MEDICINE was at the acme of its glory in the time of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. To the court of every chief, great or small, was attached a physician, who was treated with great respect. There were Army Surgeons and Court Physicians. The work of the former was similar to that performed by the army surgeon of the present day. The Court physician used to wait upon the king every morning, and was the custodian of his health. Sushena was the name of the principal army surgeon of Rama in his war with Ravana, king of Lanka, and Valmiki makes mention of a particular Vaidya, who was Rama's personal physician. A similar practice is noticed in the time of the great war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The army surgeons were fully equipped with the
