XXX Annual Address. [February, 1909. 
ventured to express a hope on that occasion that the energy of 
some of our new recruits might be directed to an investigation 
of the history of Indian medicine which affords ample field for 
research. It is a source of satisfaction to me to find that the 
field of inquiry which I commended with some confidence to the 
notice of our medical members has not been left altogether 
untouched. In the course of the last session, Dr. Girindranath 
Mukerji submitted to the society a paper of considerable extent, 
in which he elaborately examined the subject of the surgical 
instruments of the ancient Hindus. The questions he has raised, 
as to the priority of Hindu medicine over that of the Greeks, 
the Romans and the Arabs, are likely to arouse controversy, but 
in whatever way the question of priority may be decided, it 
descriptions given not only in Greek, Roman and Arab medical 
writings, but in many cases with the descriptions given in 
modern works in surgery. I trust that this subject, so peculiar- 
ly Indian, will not be left alone and will receive that attention 
from investigators which it undoubtedly deserves. 
During the last twelve months, the publication of Sanskrit 
and Persian works in the Bibliothica Indica has been carried on 
with the usual vigour. Of the new works, the publication of which 
has been undertaken, the most interesting are the Rasarnava 
and the Sragdhra-Stotra. The former of these is an important 
Sanskrit medical work, and the value of the edition has been 
considerably enhanced by the critical notes of Dr. P. C. Roy, 
and Pandit Harish Ch. Kaviratna. The second is a Buddhist 
Sanskrit Tantric work of Kashmir, and the learned Editor Dr. 
Satis Chandra Vidyabhusan has considerably enhanced the value 
of his edition by the reproduction of a Sanskrit Commentary and 
two Tibetan versions, to which he has added an English transla- 
tion and an elaborate introduction. Of the two Persian works, 
which we have brought out during the year, one is the Baznama 
by Col. Phillott, and the other is the History of Guzrat edited 
by Dr. Ross. Arrangements were made during the last year 
for the publication in future of new works to be included in th 
