urine for three days, then spread out in the sun to dry, after which they are ground to powder.
Fumigants
The drugs used as fumigants are placed in a charcoal fire. To treat haemorrhoids, the patient sits on a high bench with holes in it, so that when the smoke rises, it
envelopes the anus. Poultices
Poultices are made from certain kinds of fresh leaves, such as Lawsonia inerrrris (henna), and turmeric, which are mixed with freshly scorched rice to make the poultice cohesive. Sometimes seeds of Ruellia tuberosa are used. These are soaked in water until they expand. Poultices are used to draw pus from abscesses by the process known to science as osmosis. The abscess then subsides.
Wound dressings
Drugs used to make wound dressings include turmeric, gambier or catechu - boiled in coconut milk or coconut oil, to ensure that the medicaments will remain in contact for a long time with the area to which they have been applied. These days, in medical circles, it is accepted that turmeric has anti-bacterial properties. Sometimes the juices expressed from roots and fresh leaves, such as leaves of Jasminum sarribac or Vevnonia elaeagnifolia are mixed with a compound of turmeric, coconut, and Costus speciosusj and applied to the pustules of varicella
(chicken p o x ) . It is possible that the Chlorophyll from the leaves is necessary to potentiate the action of the turmeric in order to obtain the greatest efficacy. The coconut and Costus speciosus are probably required to supply fats to enable the medicaments to remain in c o n t a c t .
Yaa kwaat^ (throat paints or throat swabs) are used with great effect and a minimum of distress for the young patient as one of
the chief methods of administering internal medicines to Thai children.
These are well represented in KPC.
The ingredients are made into a stick, as described (pp. 103, 104 )>
the stick is rubbed on a groove in a stone slab with a little of the
liquid considered suitable, until a thin paste is obtained. The
doctor, whispering a brief prayer, and blowing on the medicine in
order to transfer to it some of his special power, quickly dips his
index finger into the paste and then down the c h i l d ’s throat, wipes
off the medicine on the back of the throat, and, with a deft twist,
removes his finger before the child is aware of what has happened.
When this is done skilfully, the patient feels very little discomfort,
and tastes nothing, because none of the medicine touches the tongue.
More often than not, the quantities of the individual ingredients
are not stated. In a large number of cases, the figure 6) (1) appears after each item, signifying not a quantity, but the demarcation of a
single ingredient.
One part of each drug is understood unless otherwise indicated
as two or more parts, or as a measure of weight, such as one or more
108
baht, salueng, fueang, and so on.
A very convenient method of writing quantities is used. Two intersecting lines are drawn, and a figure is placed in one of six positions on the diagram. The position of the figure indicates whether it represents chang3 tamlueng3 bahtj fueang3 salueng3 or phai in descending order on the diagram, and the figure gives the quantity of that weight.
1 1 1 1 chang tamlueng baht fueang salueng phai
Positions used Weights represented by Example: 2 baht each position
N.B.: The Thai system of weights and measures used in dispensing is as follows: 2 lot 2 at 4 phai 2 fueang 4 salueng 4 baht 20 tamlueng 50 chang - 1 at = 1 phai = 1 fueang iWa-3 = 1 salueng
= 1 baht inn = approx. 15 grams = 1 tamlueng
= 1 chang or chang Thai = 1 haap vnu 1
Frequently, the directions specify the use of equal parts of each item (see p. 103), without mentioning what constitutes one part. The
doctor or pharmacist knows from his training and experience what
2
quantities to use.
The diagrammatic method of x^riting quantities as described above is used in the 1871 text, but the 1961 edition uses a number, followed by the name of the weight, for example, 2 salueng.
Some other weights and measures found in KPC are klarn, a synonym for at; yom mue kam rrrue, a handful, as obtained x^hen the fist is
clenched, not open; and thanaan, a coconut shell capacity nox>; 3
superseded by thanaan luang, one litre. These are derived as follows 1 Mulholland JSS pp. 109, 110. The transcription of Thai x*;ords has been changed to agree with the system used throughout this thesis 2 DT, personal communication, Bangkok, February, 1981.
2 malet ngaa (sesame seeds) A grains of paddy 2 klom 2 klam 150 grains of paddy A yip mue A kam mue 2 faa mue A kop mue
Chok Ron , a cupful, is a volume of
= 1 malet khaao plueak isjffasm iil^on (grain of paddy Cunhusked rice3) = 1 klom nnoa-j
= 1 klam non = 1 phai I'vn
= 1 yip mue viOuSo (a pinch) = 1 kam mue (yom mue kam mue)
nnfJo ( uouSJannfl?) = 1 faa mue ^Infjo
= 1 kop mue noufio 2 = 1 thanaan run^TW
100 ml. for most liquids which are aqueous, but a cupful of an alcoholic tincture or solution measures 15 m l . ^ (h. f 1 • o z .).
To avoid errors of overdose due to the possibility of double the quantity being supplied if bought in a Chinese shop, weights are never expressed in chang or tamlueng3 but reduced to baht in Thai
traditional medicine to-day. This is because there is a Thai chang (see p. 108), and a Chinese chang, and the Chinese chang used to be used in the markets.
1 chang Chinese = 16 tamlueng Chinese = A0 baht Thai 1 tamlueng Chinese = 10 salueng Thai.
Pharmacies these days give 15 grams for 1 baht3 as, by law, the official A
system of weights and measures is the metric system.
1 The number ’150' could be an error, since 15 grains of paddy