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Reviews and Notices of Books.The Positive Sciences of the Ancient Hindus.

By BRAJENDRANATH SEAL, M.A., Ph.D. London:

Longmans, Green, and Co. 1915.

ONE of the most important signs of a great awakening inIndia at present is seen in the fact that some of her best sonswho were hitherto content to learn from oriental scholars likeSir William Jones, Colebrook, Wilson, Max Maller, andothers are now diligently searching their Sanskrit literaturethemselves, and by their original investigations are furnishingmuch material to widen the scope of comparative science andthought. Dr. Brajendranath Seal, an eminent student of theliterature of the East and the West, has, in his recent

volume, given an insight into the early scientific achievementof the Hindu mind. In dealing with the positive sciences ofthe Hindus the author has largely confined himself to themillennial period, 500 B.C. -500 A.D. In the wide range oftheir intellectual activities the ancient Hindus excelled chieflyin philosophy, mathematics, and medicine.

1. Phiosop7cy.-The main bulk of the philosophicalsystems of the Hindus must have been thought out about thetime of Buddha, if not earlier. It is wonderful that withsuch poor materials and crude instruments at their disposalthey should have made so much progress and anticipated somany discoveries of the last few centuries. To give one ortwo instances. The atomic theory of Kanada, the theory ofthe propagation of sound, of ether (dkdsa) in space, thestatement that light and heat are but different forms of thesame substance excite our admiration even at this distantdate. The evolution theory of Kapilla, the originator of theoldest philosophy in the world, is remarkable for its

originality and its daring conception of the oneness of thenmverse and of life. The ancients said : "The originalEnergy is one and ubiquitous, and everything thereforeexists in everything else....... Inorganic matter, vegetableorganisms and animal organisms are essentially and ulti-

mately one so far as Mass and Energy are concerned."At the present day we are struggling in our doubt as towhether the inorganic can ever pass into the organic world, .or matter into life. The ancient Hindus more than 2500years ago believed that matter has no separate existence, butis only a manifestation of spirit, and that life is immanentin all things-thus brushing aside modern classification asartificial.

2. Mccthemccties.-Professor Monier Williams submits that"to the Hindus is due the invention of algebra andgeometry and their application to astronomy." TheVaisesika theory of mot,ion is the nearest approach toNewton’s First Law of Motion. The Vyasa-Bhashya (fifthor sixth century A.D at latest) contains the theory of

potentials in a nutshell-the finest example before Newton ofthe exercise of scientific imagination. Dr. Seal supports theclaim of Bhaskara (1150 A.D.) to be regarded as the pre-cursor of Newton in the discovery of the differential calculusas well as its application to astronomical problems andcomputations.

3. Medioine and Chemistry.-Susruta’s (of pre-Christianera) description of making caustic alkalies from the ashes ofplants i.; a proof of the high degree of perfection the Hindusattained in scientific pharmacy at an early age. They werethe first nation to employ preparations of mercury internally.The processes of calcination and sublimation were discoveredby them. In the preparation of mineral acids and metallicsalts, in advancing the knowledge of chemical compoundsand utilising them in the service of medicine, Indtans likeNagarjana and Patanjali anticipated Paracelsus and his fol-lowers by several centuries. In chemical industries must bementioned the three Indian discoveries which enabled Indiato command for so many centuries the markets of the Eastand the West: (a) the preparation of fast dyes for textilefabrics ; (b) the extraction of the principle of indigotin fromthe indigo plant ; (e) the tempering of steel in a mannerworthy of advanced metallurgy. The materia medica of theHindus is very voluminous, and many of the Indian drugsare found in the writings of Hippocrates, Dioscorides,Aetius, and Arabian works, and through them were intro-duced into European medicine. Clear references to thecirculation of the blood, the difference between arteries and

! veins occur as early as in the writings of Charaka andSusruta who, however, attribute to the liver the part playedby the lungs in the purification of blood. Susruta believedthat the blood derived its colouring matter from the spleen.The Hindus were the first among the ancients to practisethe dissection of the human body for purposes of demonstra-tion. They used various forms of surgical instruments madefrom the finest steel for which India was justly famousfrom remote times. They performed amputations, abdominalsection, lithotomy and cranial surgery, and gave as anaes-thetics medicated wine, the inhalations of fumes of burninghmp, and a drug called sammohini (producer of uncon-sciousness).The more that Sanskrit works are examined by competent

Indian scholars, the more it will be evident how thoroughlythe Hindus cultivated medical and other sciences as early as500 B.C , between which period and 500 A D they seemed tohave reached the high-water mark in their civilisation. Theauthor does not claim that the present volume containsa complete account of the subject. But by his originalresearch he has broken new ground, and has therefore madea valuable contribution to the study of the scientificachievement of the ancient Hindus.

A Handbook of Medical Diagnosis for the Use ofI Practitioners and Sticdents.By J. C. WILSON, A.M., M.D., Emeritu" Professor of thePractice of Medicine and Clinical Medicine in theJefferson Medical College, and Physician to its Hospital.Fourth edition, thoroughly revised. London and Phil-

adelphia : J. B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 1441. Price 25s.

I IN our review of the third edition of this work we

explained the nature and scope of the book and expressedthe favourable opinion we had formed of it. Thep’esentedition has brought the subject matter fully up to date, andmany necessary changes have been made The considerationof the electrocardiograph has been transferred to its properplace among instruments of precision. The normal tracingsare explained, and some of the characteristic tracings ofmorbid conditions are shown, such a those of extrasystolesand auricular fibrillation. The sec’ion of Diagnosis by theRontgen Rays has been entirely rewritten by Professor W. F.Manges. Amongst the more important laboratory tests thefollowing have been duly noted : the macroscopic agglutina-tion test in enteric fever ; the luetin test in the diagnosisof tertiary syphilis ; the Abderhalden diagnosis of pregnancy ;and the complement-fixation test in the diagnosis ofgonorrhcea.

In the section on Diseases of the Ductless Glands the

subject of dyspituitarism and Cushing’s arrangement of itsclinical types have been added, and attention is called tothe importance of the polyglandular syndrome. Amongstother changes we may mention that the paragraphs relatingto the etiology of acute poliomyelitis have been rewritten inaccordance with the results of the experimental work ofFlexner and his associates at the Rockefeller Institute. Theseobservers maintain that the causative micro-organism con-sists of filterable globoid bodies, measuring from 0 15to 0-3 fk in diameter, and arranged in pairs, chains, or

masses. Inoculation into the brain or the sciatic nerve and

peritoneal cavity of monkeys is followed after an incubationperiod of 48 hours to several weeks by the clinical symptomsand pathological effects characteristic of experimentalpoliomyelitis.The book as a whole is essentially of a practical nature,

it contains a vast amount of information concerning clinicalwork, and the manner in which it is arranged renders itespecially suitable for purposes of reference.

1 THE LANCET, March 30th, 1912, p. 877.

ROYAL VICTORIA HOSPITAL, BELFAST.-At theannual meeting in connexion with this hospital, held onMarch 31st, the President, Lady Pirrie, in the chair, it wasreported that 3189 new intern patients were received into thewards during 1915, and 29,145 new extern cases were treated.Among the ward cases were a large number of soldiers andsailors from active service. The total revenue for the yearwas .E18,502, against E17,522 in 1914, and the disbursementsJE20,459, against =E18,168 in the previous year, the differencebeing 2291. Seven of the members of the staff are servingtheir country at the front, two (Mr. A. Fullerton andProfessor Sinclair) with the temporary rank of colonel