OF THE ASIATICS. l8l 



ct itself on the magnet : it is the same disposition 

 " which impels the light straw to attach itself firmly 

 <c on amber : it is this quality which gives every 

 " substance in nature a tendency toward another, 

 " and an inclination forcibly directed to a determi- 

 " nate point." These notions are vague, indeed, 

 and unsatisfactory ; but permit me to ask, whether the 

 last paragraph of Newton's incomparable work goes 

 much farther, and whether any subsequent experi- 

 ments have thrown light on a subject so abstruse and 

 obscure. That the sublime astronomy and exqui- 

 sitely beautiful geometry with which that work is il- 

 lumined, should in any degree be approached by the 

 Mathematicians of Asia, while of all Europeans who 

 ever lived, Archimedes alone was capable of 

 emulating them, would be a vain expectation; but 

 we must suspend our opinion of Indian astronomical 

 knowledge, till the Surya Siddhanta shall appear in 

 our own language, and even then (to adopt a phrase 

 of Cicero) our greedy and capacious ears will by no 

 means be satisfied ; for, in order to complete an his- 

 torical account of genuine Hindu astronomy, we 

 require verbal translations of at least three other 

 Sanscrit books; of the treatise of Parasara for 

 the first age of Indian science ; of that by Vara'ha, 

 with the copious comment of his very learned son, 

 for the middle age ; and of those written by Bha- 

 scara for times comparatively modern. The va- 

 luable and now accessible works of the last menti- 

 oned philosopher, contain also an universal, or spi..- 

 ous arithmetic, with one chapter at least in gco- 



N 3 metry ; 



