There are 32 types of Internal medicine each having their own special features.

1. Chooranam:

The dried drugs are finely powdered individually and seived in a fine cloth and mixed together with other powders to homogeneity. The finely powdered material mixed to homogeneity is then baked in a baking pan using milk or pure water to produce steam. It is then filtered in a cloth and made into fine powder.

2.  Kudineer:

This is also called as medicinal water or decoction. In Sanskrit it is called as “Kashaya“. Dry or wet herbs are made in coarse powder and water is added in the ratio of 2:1, 4:1, 6:1, 8:1, 16:1 or 24:1. It is then boiled and filtered. The filtrate is known as kudineer

3.Chaaru:

This is the expressed juice of plant products which are usually fresh.

4. Karkam:

Wet or dry herbs are taken, mixed with purified iron powder or some leaves and triturated in a stone mortar and resulting solid mass is taken.

5. Maththirai:

 The raw drugs are triturated with the juices of leaves or kudineer. They are rolled into different sizes of pills, dried and stored.

6. Surasam:

The different parts of the plant like leaf, root, bark, flower. Rhizome, fruit etc. are crushed; the juice is expressed and subsequently boiled. It is also prepared by powdering dried ginger etc. and dissolving in water and boiling it.

7. parpam:

 Metals,uparasas or paashanas are made into white powder by the process of pudam, burning, frying, blowing and by grinding them with juices, ceyaneeretc. It should be noted that the parpam of gold alone is yellow in colour while most of other parpamsare white in colour.

 8. Chendooram (Red Oxide):

 Metallic substances or arsenical compounds are made into red coloured powders by the process of burning, frying or insulating or keeping them in specialised pudams by grinding them with decoctions, ceyaneers juices etc.

9. Vadagam:

 The raw drugs are made into fine powder individually, filtered in a cloth and mixed to homogeneity. Palm sugar or jaggery is then added. An earthen pot is taken and equal volume of cow’s milk and water are poured into the pot. The mouth of the pot is covered with cloth. The drugs mixed as said above, are placed in it and covered with a mud pan. The pot is then heated until the milk is completely evporates. Then the pittu so formed is ground and rolled into small pills.

lO. Chunnam:

Mercury ox paadaana or metals are triturated either individually or combined by adding juices, diravagamor ceyaneer.

Dried are kept in crucible and sealed with mud pasted cloth. Then they are blown and made into white powders, cooled and stored.

11. Manappagu:

Decoctions are made from the raw drugs sucrTas roots, flowers, fruits and climbers individually or fruit juices are taken in an earthen pot. Sugar or sugar crystal is added and boiled until moisture evaporates and an aromatic odour appears. At this stage some drug powders could also be sprinkled over it. The manappagu so formed is stored after proper cooling.

12. Nei:

Some leaf juices or decoction of herbs or tubers are added to cow’s ghee and boiled till the drugs completely mix with the ghee. Then it is filtered and the filtrate is stored.

13. Rasayanam:

The raw drugs powdered, sugar and ghee are added to it and stirred well until it becomes in semisolid form and the preparation is stored.

14.  Elagham (Legium):

Some decoctions or juices are taken individually or as a compound. Sugar is added to it and boiled in mild fire until the water content evaporates. When an aromatic odour appears, the fine powders of raw drugs are sprinkled over it. Ghee is added, stirred well and subsequently honey is added and stored.

15.  Ennei:

Though the term ”ennei” generally indicates the oil obtained from gingelly seed, it includes all oily substance of seeds, barks, tubers etc.

16. Utkali:

Raw rice or preboiled rice is heated and made into powder. water is added and mixed together. Then sugar or jaggery is added and mixed well. The whole mixture is heated in a mud pot, kindled well and ghee is added on the outer surface. Thinner part of this will be soft while the outer surface is slightly hard which is called as utkali.

17. Kadugu:

The raw drugs are added to nei etc. and boiled till mustard (Kadugu)like granules form. The kadugu is taken orally while the oil is used for external application.

18. Pakkuvam (Processing):

 Indian gallnut (Terminalia chebula) etc. are soaked in rice water or water. After they are softened, buttermilk or lemon juice or other raw drugs are added to them and made into a processed material. Pakkuvam is also done by mixing the lemon and five kinds of salts and boiling them, ex: Paavana Kadukkai.

19.  Thenural:

Drugs like ginger (Zingiber officinale). Indian gall-nut (Terminalia chebula) and Emblica officinalis are soaked in wa ter. Pores are made in their surface, and then they are soaked in sugar-syrup or honey.

20.  Theeneer:

This is of two types

a.   Theeneer: Raw materials such as of plant origin are distilled in water.

b. Pugai neer: Salts are distilled. This is also.known as ‘Diravagam’ or ‘Saththi neer ‘.

21.  Mezhugu:

 This is of two types:

a.Araippu Mezhugu: Obtained by grinding the mercurial compounds are ground individually or with other raw drugs adding juices or honey into a semisolid form.

b. Surukku Mezhugu:Obtained by heating the mercurial compounds or paadaanas by adding oily substances or some juices drop by drop. After it is melt and attains semisolid form it should be placed in a mortar and triturated and then stored.

22.  Kuzhambu:

 Some juices or single juice kept in a vessel. Sugar and finely powdered raw drugs are added. The vessel heated until the contents become semisolid form as kuzhambu which is then taken out and stored.

23. Pathangam (Sublimation):

The process of sublimation by which solid substances such as camphor, sulphur, impure subchloride of mercury, are brought into the state of vapour by heat and condensed again into a solid by cold without melting them.

24.  Adai:

Some leaves are added to rice flour and ground properly and baked in hot oven after adding ghee.

25. Pittu:

The dried materials are finely powdered individually and mixed together. An earthen pot which contains equal volume of water and milk is taken and its mouth is covered with a cloth. The materials are placed over the cloth and the mouth of the pot is now covered with another pot. The pot is then heated till the vapour comes out from the pot. The pittu thus formed is mixed with palm sugar or jaggery and stored for use.

26.  Kattu:

Some paadaanas are made into solid substances which will not vapourise or melt or dissolve in water by grinding them by adding ceyaneer, diravagam, leaf juice, mother’s milk, decoction, pit oil, milk or honey and binding them. The other method by which it is made into solid is by grinding them, adding juices or breast milk, after they are made into parpam or chendoorams.

27.  Urukku:

Two padaanas or metals synergestic or antagonistic drugs are added and placed in ‘Moosai’ (crucible). The mouth is covered with mud pasted cloth. Natural charcoal fire is blown over the crucible and the contents are allowed to cool after melting and stored.

28.  Kalangu:

Mercurial compounds are consolidated by ceyaneer, diravagam or juice. Then it blown by using charcoal fire till they become beads. In the melting stage, gold and zinc are added to it. It is taken out after well cooled and then stored.

 

29. Vennai:

The powdered raw drugs are mixed with twice its volume of ghee in an iron spoon and heated so that the raw drugs melt completely and mix with the ghee. This is poured into an earthen pot containing water and churned properly to obtain a butter like substance.

 

30. Karpam:

Leaves, roots or some metallic and uparasas are taken in prescribed doses with specific instructions over a period of time. This is of two types:

a.   Those medicaments which have to be prepared daily: Prepara tion of leaves, roots, etc.

b.   Pre-prepared medicaments; metallic and uparasa preparation.

 

31. Chaththu:

Materials like magnet, iron powder, uparasam, paadaanas are triturated well with white of egg {Venn karu ceyaneer)and kept in crucible and blown for 3 times. Mercury, gold, and sulphur are then added to it, and subjected to pudam after triturating.

 

32. Guru kulighai:

The sublimed mercury is made into kattu and make the beads in chain form.