PHILOSOPHY AND MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE IN ANCIENT INDIA. 229 
upon.* Intellect, according to his doctrine, is formed by the 
combined action of the senses, of which five are external, 
and one internal. ‘The last-namedf seems to mean con- 
Science, In which are comprehended reason, perception, and 
memory. Of the senses he says:—WSight arises from the 
Shanskar or repulsive qualities of bodies, by which particles 
of light which fall upon them are reflected back upon the eyes 
from all parts of their surfaces; but, he adds, “unless the 
soul fixes its attention upon the figure in the eye, nothing 
can be perceived by the mind.” 
FHlearing is the appreciation of sound which is conveyed 
through the purer element akash, or ether, and not by the air. 
Taste is the sensation of the tongue and palate by the 
particular form of particles which compose food. 
Smell proceeds from the effluvia which arise from bodies to 
the nostrils. 
Touch is occasioned by the contact of dense bodies with 
the skin, and the whole body except the bones, hair, and 
nails is the organ of that sense. And then is given this 
further explanation, to which the attention of modern 
scientists may appropriately be directed, namely :— 
“There run,” said Gotama, “from all parts of the skin 
very small nerves toa great nerve. This nerve is composed 
of two different coats, the one sensitive, and the other insensitive.” 
The point which here merits our attention is the reference 
made to the double functions of certain nerves at a date 
variously estimated at 500 to 1000 B.c. The fact was recog- 
nised, although the theory based thereon was erroneous. 
According to the Shastras, otherwise the sacred ordi- 
nances of the Hindoos, “ As a tree, the lord of the forest, 
even so, without fiction, is man; his hairs are as leaves, his 
skin as exterior bark. Through the skin flows blood, through 
the rind sap; from a wounded man blood gushes as from a 
tree that is cut. His muscles are as interwoven fibres; the 
membrane round his bones, as interior bark, which is closely 
fixed; his bones are as the hard pieces of wood within; 
their marrow is composed of pith.” From all of which 
expressions the conclusion appears inevitable that a certain 
extent of knowledge of the tissues so enumerated is thus 
indicated. 
But let us continue our extracts: “Since the tree, when 
felled, springs again from the root, from what root springs 
* For details see Dow’s History, vol. i, pp. lxi et seg. 
t+ Je, Manus. 
R 2 
