July 14, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



17 



This apprehension of facts as related is essential and necessarily 

 precedent to the discovery of principles which govern these rela- 

 tions. In this respect practical fruit is to result from the study 

 of philosophy. Not simply philosophers, but even the students of 

 philosophy, must get a more comprehensive grasp of facts and 

 principles, as each is assigned its place in the whole system of 

 knowledge. Truth is apprehended in its harmonies and whole- 

 ness. It is seen in its proportions. 



If more attention were given to a careful study of philosophy 

 as a sy^item, rather than in its history, much of the conceit of 

 knowledge which is so prevalert to-day would be unheard of. 

 The specialist would ?oon discover that he was occupying a very 

 small niche in the universe of knowledge; the broadest scholar 

 that his horizon included but an infinitesimal portion of the sphere 

 of truth. 



BRITISH STONE CIRCLES. — lU. DERBYSHIRE CIRCLES.' 



BY A. L. LEWIS, TREASURER ANTHBOPOLOGICAI, INSTITUTE, LONDON, 

 ENGLAND. 



The Peak district of Derbyshire, so justly famed for its scenery, 

 possesses also many attractions for the archeeologist, among which 

 are two stone circles. 



The larger of these, called Arbor Lowe or Arbe Lowe, is about 

 six miles from Bakewell, and consists of an oval ring, the diame- 

 ters of which were about 136 and 11.5 feet, the precise lengths 

 being difficult to ascertain in consequence of the stones, which 

 doubtless originally stood upright, being now all flat, and having 

 fallen, some outside, some inside, and some across their original 

 positions, while others are broken into fragments or buried in the 

 soil. There were perhaps about forty stones, of which nearly 

 thirty remain entire or in fragments, the largest being about 

 twelve feet long, six broad, and four thick. The longest diameter 

 of the oval ran nearly northwest and southeast, and somewhat 

 more to the west and east, two of the intones seem to have stood 

 back outside the regular line of the oval. Within the oval, and 

 on the line of the longest diameter, but not in the centre of it (the 

 distances from the northwest and southeast ends being in about 

 the proporiion of three to two), are the remains of some large 

 stones — one fourteen feet long — which were apparently three in 

 number, forming a "cove," |~, like that in the centre of the 

 northern circle at Abury, the central stone of which faced the 

 rising sun on Midsummer Day. Like the circles at Abury, 

 the stones at Arbelowe are surrounded by a ditch, which is abtJiit 

 seven feet deep and fifteen wide at the bottom, outside of which 

 is an embankment, formerly perhaps ten feet high and eight 

 wide at the top; Sir G. Wilkinson says somewhat more, but it 

 may be that he look ihe maximum and I took the minimum of 

 the measure. This embankment is now very irregular, and in 

 one place a tumulus has been formed from the materials com- 

 posing it, in which were found two Celtic vases and a bronze pin. 

 This tumulus could hardly have formed part of the original plan 

 of the monument, and would therefore seem to have been made 

 after the latter had fallen into disuse. The embankment, like 

 that at Abury, is not a true circle, and there is much similarity in 

 the irregularities of both, but that may he quite accidental. 

 There are two entrances, one southeasterly, in the same direction 

 as the Kennet entrance at Abury. and one to the northwest, but 

 not quite opposite to the other; altogether Abury and Arbelowe, 

 notwithstanding the great difference between them in size, have 

 more points in common than any other circle has with either. 

 Just outside the southeast entrance are two small stones, quite as 

 likely to have been taken from the interior as to be in their 

 original places. Nearly three hundred yards to the southwest is 

 a tumulus, called Gib Elill, about twenty feet high and as wide 

 at the top, in which a small cist was found, two feet under the 

 surface, which contained a vase, two worked flints, and an iron 

 fibula with places for stones — probably a secondary interment. 

 A bank of earth of doubtful antiquity runs from the embankment 

 for some distance in a direction south of Gib Hill. These various 



I No. 1, Abury, appeared In No. 529, "^'arch S4 ; No. 2, Ston^ henge, appeared 

 in No. 537, May 19. To those wtio may wish for more minute details of meas- 

 urements than can be given in a short article, I would recommend " Stone- 

 henge,'' by Pre fessor Flinders Petrle, D.C L. (Stanford, London). 



earthworks have been supposed to give the form of a serpent to 

 the monument, but Sir Gardner Wilkinson's plan shows this idea 

 to be quite incorrect; this is a point for the visitor to verify. 



On the moors at the top of the hills above Eyam is a small circle 

 of a different character from Arbelowe; it is called the "Wee 

 Withins,'' and consists of a bank of earth, about six feet wide and 

 two high, inside which, but close to the bank, was formerly a 

 ring of small stones about two feet high and of proportionate size, 

 of which ten remain, out of perhaps twenty or more. The di- 

 ameter of this circle is about one humlred feet, and some sixty 

 feet to the north-northeast there is a barrow, eighty-three feet 

 long (from northeast to southwest) and forty-six feet wide. 



There are some other small remains of a similar character in 

 Derbyshire, but I have not seen them myself, and doubt whether 

 they are worth the trouble of a visit. 



CHARVKA SAMHITA. 



BY P. A. HASSLER, M.D., PH D., SANTA ANA, CAL. 



The student of Hindu literature has before him an ever-widen- 

 ing field of research. He must be prepared for glimpses and 

 magnificent views of learning and wisdom which will astonish 

 and delight him at every turn. The thoughts and the meth d 

 of expression are different from those of other nations, and there 

 is scarcely a subject, except, perhaps, electricity and steam, that 

 has not been discussed by these ancient sages. The philosopher 

 will find bis theories, the anarchist his ideas, probed to the bottom, 

 and thestudent of the supreme soul, high, noble thoughts, and even 

 from this grand subject down to the every -dfiy question of mis- 

 tress and maid, we do not think of any matter that will not be 

 found fully investigated in the pages of the Mahabharata. 



So the physician of our day will find in the Charaka and other 

 works of ancient India many views of health, disease, and reme- 

 dies which he fondly imagined were jewels in the crown of 

 modern science. When a young man wishes to study medicine, 

 he may receive a little instruction from his pr ceptor, but places 

 his chief reliance upon the teachings of some medical school from 

 which he receives his diploma. This was not the custom in 

 ancient India. There were no colleges. Every student became a 

 part of his preceptor's household, was lodged and fed by him. and 

 beyond a few light services was not asked for any return. It is 

 plain that such teachers could not instruct all their scholars by 

 word of mouth. This accounts for the immense number of med- 

 ical works of ancient India. 



We cannot tell the age of the Charaka, it is based upon a work 

 of Agniveca, which carries us back to almost mythical times. The 

 very name of this supposed author sounds like the mystery of 

 long past ages, for it may be translated "the dwelling-place of 

 fire." Ten years of study of the Mahabharata has led me to quite 

 certain conclusions as to the time when that great work was 

 written, and I should say that the style, of the first part at least, 

 of the Charaka corresponds with that portion of the Mahabharata 

 which I think was written about the sixth century before Chri-t, 

 or, in other words, about the time of the rise of Buddhism. 

 Whatever its age may be. this we know, it is exceedingly ancient. 

 It is mentioned by Avicenna, Rhazes, and others, and is suppo-ed 

 to have been translated by the early Persian and Arabian writers 

 on medicine. But we forget its age when we read its page^. 

 The work is immense. An English translation, now being pub- 

 lished by Doctor Kiviratna, the learned editor of several Sanscrit 

 works and of a medical journal in Bengali, will probably co\er 

 from fourteen to Bftef-n hundred royal octavo pages. But it is 

 not its size to which I wish to call attention, it is the wisdom and 

 learning found in it that make it so valuable and interesting. 



In a short article like this I cannot expect to do iii^re than give 

 the reader a glimpse of the work and a quotation here and there. 

 We are told that in the earliest times some fifty-odd learned men 

 assembled to study the science of life and the causes of disease; 

 in fact, it was a medical convention similar to those of our ilay. 

 The first conclusion they arrived at was that — "Freedom from 

 disease is the excellent root of religion, profit, pleasure, and sal- 

 vation. Diseases are depredators thereof, as also of happy life. 

 This, therefore, is a great enemy of men that hith appeared^ 



