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

414 TIBET.not any niecUciiie that operated as a vomit, till I gave tlie Rajah someipecacuanha, who made the first experiment with it on himself.In bleeding, they have a great opinion of drawing the blood, from aparticular part. For head-achs, they bleed in the neck ; for pains in thearm and shoulder, in the cephalic vein ; and of the breast, or side, inthe median ; and if in the belly, they bleed in the basilic vein. Theythink pains of the lower extremity, are best removed by bleeding inthe ankle. They have a great prejudice against bleeding in coldweather; nor is any urgency, or violent symptom, thought a sufficientreason lor doing it at that time.They have their lucky and unlucky days for operating, or takingany medicine ; but I have known them get the better of this prejudice.Cupping is much practised by them*, a horn, about the size of acupping glass, is applied to the part, and by a small aperture at theother end, they extract the air with their mouth. The part is afterwardsscarified with a lancet. This is often done on the back ; andin pain and swelling of the knee, it is held as a sovereign remedy. Ihave often admired their dexterity in operating with bad instruments.Mr. Hamilton gave them some lancets, and they have since endeavoured,with some success, to make them of that form. They werevery thankful for the few I could spare them. In fevers, they use theKuthullega nut, well known in Bengal, as an efficacious medicine.They endeavour to cure the dropsy by external applications, andgiving a compounded medicine, made up of above thirty differentingredients: they seldom or never succeed in effecting a cure of thisdisease.I explained to the Rajah the operation of tapping, and shewed