An Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet - Prajna Quest

TIBET. 413means of information respecting the state of a patient, than that offeeUng the pulse ; and they confidently say, that the seat of painand disease, is easily to be discovered, not so much from the frequencyof the pulse, as its vibratory motion. They feel the pulse,at the wrist, with their three fore-fingers, first of the right, and thenof the left hand ; after pressing more or less on the artery, and occasionallyremoving one or two of the fingers, they determine what thedisease is. They do not eat any thing the day on which tliey takephysic, but ende'avour to make up the loss afterwards, by eating morefreely than before, and using such medicines asthey think will occasioncostiveness.The many simples in use with them, are from the vegetable kingdom,collected chiefly in Boutan.They are in general inoffensive, andvery mild in their operation. Carminatives and aromatics, are givenin coughs, colds, and affections of the breast. The centaury, coriander,carraway, and cinnamon, are of this sort.This last is, with them,the bark of the root of that species of Laurus, formerly mentioned asa native of this country. The bark from the root is, in this plant, theonly part which partakes of the cinnamon taste; and I doubt verymuch if it could be distinguished, by the best judges, from what wecall the true cinnamon.The bark, leaves, berries, and stalks of manyshrubs and trees, are in use with them, all in decoction. Some havemuch of the astringent bitter taste of our most valuable medicines,and are generally employed here, with the same view, to strengthenthe powers of digestion, and mend the general habit.Their principalpurgative medicines are brought by the Chinese to Lassa.They had