The earliest form of cataract surgery, now known as 'couching', was first found in ancient India and then introduced to other countries by the Indian physician Sushruta (ca. 3rd century CE[21][22]), who described it in his work the Compendium of Sushruta or Sushruta Samhita. The Uttaratantra section of the Compendium, chapter 17, verses 55–69, describes an operation in which a curved needle was used to push the opaque phlegmatic matter (kapha in Sanskrit) in the eye out of the way of vision.