﻿ATPENDIX. 49I 



frDm some of their works of no great antiquity ; the 

 same remarks are applicable to their cosmographical 

 remains, in some of which there are indications of an 

 astronomy superior to that of the Soorya Siddhant, and 

 such popular treatises. 



Till we can therefore find some of their more supe- 

 rior works, it must be rather from the form and con- 

 struction of their astronomical tables and rules, and 

 the properties implied in their accidental solutions of 

 questions, &c. that, we can judge what they formerly 

 knew, than otherwise. That they were acquainted with 

 a differential method similar to Newton's, J shall give 

 many reasons for believing, in a treatise on the princi- 

 ples of the Hindoo astronomy, which 1 began more 

 than three years ago, but was prevented from 

 finishing, by a troublesome and laborious employment 

 that for two years gave me no leisure whatever j and 

 which (though the small time I had to spare since has 

 been employed in writing a comment on the works of 

 Newton, and explaining them to a very ingenious na« 

 tive who is translating them into Jlrabic) I hope ere 

 long to have an opportunity of completing. At pre- 

 sent I shall Only give an extract of a paper explaining 

 the construction of some tables, which first led me to 

 the klea of their having a differential method : it is 

 part of one, out of a number of papers that were writ- 

 ten in the latter part of the year 1783 and the begin- 

 ning of 1 784, and of which several copies were taken 

 by different people, and some of them sent to England. 

 This particular extract was to investigate the rules at 

 pages 2/53, 254, and 255 of Mons. GentiPs Voyage, 

 of which the author says, " Je n'ai pu savoir sur quels 

 " principes cette table est fondee," &c. and is as fol- 

 lows : 



" Now, by proceeding in the manner explained in 

 " the aforesaid paper, to calculate the right ascension 



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