English
3), so their interpretation could be best done by a medical association with cornpetent departmental heads on all subjects dealt with ;in those works. Mine has been simply a pioneer attempt, knowing not whether this task has been undertaken by any efficient Indian medical organization, and I, have had to work single-handed, without any advice from any source. This, I understand, can Be no excuse or justification for any misleading statement or false conclusion, and I shall be ( XXV ) grateful to my readers to have them pointed^ ■out. N For transliteration, I have used the following method :— 3T = a ^ =s k II JT = m 3TT = a or a =s kh g = dh IT = y 5 = i IT = g TO. ?: = r t =r I or i El =r gh 3 = t s = 1 II = n th ^ = v =s u or ii ^ =r ch ? = d ^ = s CD II S ss chh vi= dh q' =r s ^ = ai 3T = j q: = n = s II o ITT = jh T = p 5 = h 3^ =j au 3T = n 'R = ph = m = r Z = t 5r = b : ^h 1 3 =s th 5T=s bh I regret very much that it will not be possi- hie for me to add an index to this book. This work has already taken more than double of the time I anticipated it would require, and the pressure of other works does not permit ( xxvi ) me to devote more time to it. Under these cir¬ cumstances, I beg leave to bring to a con^^lusion the arduous task, I so light-heartedly undertook. July 22—1922 364 West 120th Street, 0. CHAKRABEETY New York. AN INTERPRETATSON OF ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE. ANATOMY. The ancient Hindu physicians lacked pro¬ found and accurate anatomical knowledge. They have left more or less superficial, vague and imaginary description of the human anatomy, as found in their treatises, except in osteology.x There is nothing astonishing in this. The Hindu medical science developed in the Buddhistic period for alleviation of physical sufferings. The Buddhists regarded all life as sacred. They naturally regarded with horror the idea of inflicting pain, and of depriving an animal of life for experimental medicine. In a tropical climate, as a hygienic measure, cremation of the dead has been ordained as a religious duty from misty antiquity. So there was no regular chance for human dissection and to acquire the exact ‘J. AXCIEXT HINDU MEDICINE knowledge of human anatomy. Whatever know¬ ledge they acquired, they obtained it from personal observation and exp^rience,^ from caring for the wounded and disabled on the battle-fields, from a comparative study of the animal anatomy from the sacrificial animals in the pre-Buddhistic period. There is no record of the custom of human sacrifice, except the legend of ^unahsepa {Aitai'eya Brahmana, VII.S), as the act was repudiated by all presiding priests of the Bajasuya ceremony. If it was a mock-belief as a reminiscence of the remote past, it, however, cleaidy indicates that human sacrifice was no longer countenanced by the Vedic priesthood and was not practised in the post-Vedic Sutra period. The students of surgery were taught the technique of insti'ument- al operation on dead animals and vegetables, as water-melon, cucumber, pumpkin, gourds or skin-bags filled with water (Smnita, I. 9. 2-5J. Under these circumstances, proficiency was not ])ossible. Neither in Greece Avas it better. In the time of Hippocrates, the anatomical knowledge Avas A^ery defectii'e and superficial. No differentiation AA^as yet made between the arteries and the 'veins and both were called ‘phleps’—blood-vessels. ANATOMY s However, this distinction was made by Polybus^ but on the whole bis anatomical and physiological knowleflge was erroneous. But Aristotle {B. C. 385-322) by bis comparative study of animals, laid the foundation of positive anatomy and physiology. In his of Animals,’\\& devotes two-fifths of the work, the first four books, to the structural constitution of animals. He synthesizes all the knowledge of the time on the subject and coi’rects many inaccurate and misleading impressions of his predecessors. But he confuses, like Charaka and Sus'ruta, bones with cartilage and ligaments. He had vague ideas about nerves (neura) and identified them wdth tlie tendons, arising from the heart and he regarded the aorta as the nervous vein (nenrodes- plileps). And the human anatomy w'as not studied with experimental observation and dissection before the famous Alexandrian schools attracted the best intellects of the age under the pcitronage of Ptolemy Soter {B. C.323-282). Erasistratus and Hei’ophilus were both celebrated anatomists of antiquity. They acquired a to¬ lerably soubd knowledge of the organs and their functions, not only by animal but also by human dissection and experimentation. Erasis- tratus found out that the nerves originated from AyciE^T HiyDr JiiLi>icry2 tJs? brA’n rvA.i HerapMla? c5;5nnerashi?i ibeiii'into of ^er.s.-ition and volnurarv motion. Hero- pnilus a!5o wroie a troatiso on ;be liver,' ■nrhicli G-.vie.n l'.a.j tran>rai::.od among liis vn-iunsrs. Galea --L D. . ti.e reallv acciirate anaiomisT of Antiqvatv, went to Alexandria to sindv medicine under tbe fa.nian> anatoinijT HeracliantJ;. and C.an.diuj Galemus of Perpuaum e;in be called the fo.mder of exact medical science bv his xa.st ernditrait. j-cboiarlv research and his accurate clinical observation, and no wonder, for nenera- ilons,, bis vrrlting-s have held unchallenged authorirv both in Pnrooe and Asia. The Arabic :s-choels if medicine regarded him almost as infallihle. Herodotus J5. C. mentions in Lis Listorv TL d-e. that the Hgvptian medical pro- feesi, j was verv advanced and learned, and it s'Oi uiultred in difte'rent diseases.. Put there is rtthir.u h-f: bin a fragment of papyrus of the sixteenth eenttnry B, C. to indicate the extent of cue medical 'knowledge of the ancient Egyptians, found that the heart., □d Madder 'e:er5 A 2:TL.r. 5p-:Vr!. \I.Ti \Tcve T^:x'::vLisj^A ana ilie Wooi Tf'5;^.el5 came rrcm cie Lear:. carrTir r al: Leir are 'described, ecme e:me mrc'Hi, ArhiZe :wo :o rlie ANATOMY & riijht ear nve mentioned to carry tlio l)reatl\ of lite ai>d to tlie left ear, the breath of deatli.. (^Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, vol. XXXII, P. 775). Even in tlio third millennium B. C. th& Babylonians possessed quite to a praise-worthy extent the knowledge of the liver which they reg'iirded as tlie seat of life. The Chaldeans used tlie liver of the sacrificed sheep for the- divination of events. In the code of Hammurabi- about 1900 B. C. it seems that the Babylonian medical art had already attained a marvellous efficiency, as the operation on the eye is men¬ tioned Avith bronze lancet as a regular profes¬ sional daily business. And a successful eye- operation is not possible Avithout a thorougli. anatomical knowledge of its structiu'e. •6 ANCIENT HINDU MEDICINE ei ^ M >1 O o ■H- o ■ CO O o O o CD rH 11 II II eS Csl S <1 X X X iQ iQ uQ X r—1 O cT cT c5 CD rH rH a II II !l rt c/5 (M CM O 0 ) • ^ X X X Q lO IQ U| O m O O 4 ) T 3 C O ^ S S M c H o ^ u 0 = 0 'S?| :z c o f-> li ^ S a cj a •^3 g s 3 o o IQ X zn o O X iQ ^ a c2 ^ ' ’X ^ ^ "o . -o X IQ o ^ o J/J fl ® ^ S c/5 oo O Jh cS ^ o c; &c O P4p; ^ a ce ^ <-i o o ^ ^ o ^ ^ ^ cS^o 2 X ':S £ o ^ Ci rS s; 1s ec.S C ^ vS S s P=^ Ph ••' e Q -<5 iS 5. ^ Co. •s CO m J^i:S Ocsi The wrist-bones 8x2=16, 6x2 = 10, 5x2 = 10 Tarsus-(_Z. adhisthanu ; 2. kurchcha ; 3. fftiljiha) Feet Ankle-bones 7x2 = 14, 5x2=10, 5x2 = 10 24 ANATOMY 7 tM (M CM CM CM CM O Cl 11 II II tl II H II 11 r-n (M (M CM (M CM CM Cl X X X X X X X X r-( CM rH T—{ rH T—t -a" cm'' CM*' cm" cT CM CM rH II II II 1! 11 II II II CM (M CM CM CM CM X X X X X X X X rH Cl CM (M f—1 rH Included among the Tarsus bones. Number of boues Parts of the body accorcliii*' to modern Cbaraka Susriita Ilijjpocratea anatomical Text-books 8 ANCIEXT HINDU MEDICINE ( O / CM o:i CM CM J! II II CM CM CM V X X O o r-l rH 00 CO CO * CM (M CM II 11 II CM CM C^l X X X jr^ o iQ rH rH rH CO CO CM CM CM II II 11 Cl (OM CM X X X CM t--. r—( pH rH Vo oc- f'Ct; o c: GC o ct OD. (D <r* 3 1 a o O o C5 £ 1 o %K cC g d 22 s o c? r'\ O r-< o O Q w m m 5q -1 'OO iS 03 O g P ^ S £ -e ^ ^ c>:i o * Enumerated among ^baksha,^ ANATOMY 9 \ o ^>1 ^ rH i G<l 3 O o 05 CQ CD a OJ CD O 1^ X CD o rO CD CD > p C5 ce CD O CJ o H e c ?H 1^ Craniiimi Qccipij^al V 1 {mosfaka) I Sphenoid | 1 4 6 skull \ Ethmoid I 1 8 iCumbcr of bones Parts of ihe botly according fco modern Churaka Susruta Hippocrates anatomical Text-books I 10 A^X'IENT HINDU MEDICINE Cl d CO d d CO d Cl d rH 01 rH d d d d c; a o S ce o S o c5 o cS o c3 ^ ^ ^ r* o .:i: - o a Xfl o ft+-i d m O ct m o o cc O f—I o ■% S P M HH o >> d 1 !