Royl^s Antiquity of Hindoo Medicine, 297 



Art. XI. An Essay on the Antiquity of Hindoo Medicine; include 

 ing an introductory Lecture to the Course of Materia Medica and 

 Therapeutics^ delivered at Kings College. By J. F. Royle, M.D., 

 F.R., and L.S., Sec. G.S., Professor of Materia Medica and Thera- 

 peutics, King's College, London. 8vo. London, 1837. 



The work before us, like Dr. Royle's Illustrcitions of Botany^ 

 one of the best works of the kind that has ever been produced, is 

 characterised by enlightened and comprehensive views. The. au- 

 thor, while he never loses sight of his immediate object, seems con- 

 stantly to have in view the general progress of science, and the 

 advancement of society throughout the world. In his Illiistra-' 

 iions, he shows what plants of the hilly country of India are suit- 

 able for the low country, and what may probably with advan- 

 tage be cultivated in Europe; while at the same time he points 

 out the European and American plants which would be produc- 

 tive of advantage if introduced into Asia. It may be thought 

 that in the volume before us there is not much that would inte- 

 rest a gardener ; but there is, in truth, a great deal, provided 

 that gardener has a scientific knowledge of botany ; and this 

 we shall prove by two or three extracts. 



After showing the interest that attaches to the study of the 

 materia medica, from the circumstance of the articles which 

 compose it being selected from every country of the globe, he 

 says, " We ai"e interested in the laws of vegetable physiology, 

 that we may be able to weigh the influence of the various stimu- 

 lants of light, heat, air, and moisture; the effects of soils and 

 aspects; that we may understand something of their operation in 

 modifying the products of plants ; and be able to select our barks, 

 woods, and roots, bulbs, leaves, flowers, and fruits, at the age and 

 season when they contain the principles which render them useful 

 as medicines in their most abundant and efficient state." (p. 3.) 



With reference to the connexion between the structure and 

 natural affinities of plants, and their physical and medical pro- 

 perties, and the geographical distribution of plants as connected 

 with climate, he observes, " both are important subjects, whether 

 we consider them in a scientific or practical point of view. The 

 one teaches us the laws which influence the distribution of 

 plants ; points out the countries and climates which different fa- 

 milies affect, and gives us principles for their cultivation, either 

 as medicines or as objects of agriculture ; the other is no less 

 valuable in affording us innumerable indications, in every part of 

 the world, for discovering the properties of new and unknown 

 plants, whether as fitting them for food, for medicine, or for any 

 of the arts of life ; and, though there are, no doubt, exceptions 

 (fewer, however, than are generally adduced), there certainly is 

 no other method by which we may so readily find a substitute 

 for a medicine, or an equivalent for an article of trade, as by 



