Page:Sushruta Samhita Vol 1.djvu/14

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does the results of researches made by our ancient Rishis in the land of their origin, may contribute no small amount of useful information to those bodies. "We have many things to learn" observes Lt. Col. C. P. Lukis, M.D., F.R.C.S., I. M.S., Principal, Medical College, Calcutta, "from the people of this country in respect of medicine and medical science," and five doubt not that an accurate knowledge of the contents of this splendid monument of the Ayurveda in quarters where it has every chance of being utilised and improved upon will make the human race better equipped too combat the ills of life.

A few remarks on the method we have adopted in editing this work are necessarv by way of explanation. We have carefully collated all the available texts of the Sushruta Samhita, whether printed or otherwise, expunging from the body of our work all texts, which, though not proved to be wholly spurious, are of questionable authority, and putting them in foot-notes as "Different Readings" or "Additional Texts." In cases of doubt or discrepancy of opinion we have thought fit to abide by the decision of our revered preceptor, Mahamahopadhyaya Kaviraj Dvarkanath Sen, Kaviratna, and inserted within brackets explanatory clauses, where a strictly literal translation of texts would not convey their true meaning. In many instances it is impossible to find in the English language equivalent words for the technical terms of the Ayurveda. In such cases we have put approximate English words within brackets, after the original Sanskit terms. For example we have translated the term Ojah as albumen. But the Ojah of the Ayurveda is a disputed thing, t It may mean something like but not exactly albumen; glycogen, which contributes largely to