No. 32. — 1886.] MEDICAL HISTORY OF CEYLON. 



307 



touch on the salient points connected with the native or 

 Buddhist system of medicine ; next, on the medical history 

 of the Portuguese and Dutch periods, so far as learned 

 from records at my command ; and lastly, on the great 

 sanitary reforms effected since the British occupation of the 

 Island. 



There is a mine of rich material worthy of exploration in 

 the archives of the Civil Medical Department, dating from 

 its separation from the Military Service in 1858 ; but I have 

 been able only to make use of published records and of the 

 Administration Reports and Sessional Papers of the Legisla- 

 tive Council from 1864, the period at which their publication 

 commenced. 



Sinhalese System of Medicine. 



In the early part of the third century B.C., Asoka was the 

 great Buddhist sovereign of India. He propagated the new 

 doctrines of Buddha by erecting columns or pillars, on 

 which were engraved those memorials or edicts he was 

 desirous of making generally known. These inscriptions are 

 remarkable monuments of the sagacity and benevolence of 

 that great sovereign, who erected viharas, monasteries, and 

 hospitals, thus giving effect to whatever there is of benefi- 

 cence in Buddhism. 



From an early period, the priests charged themselves with 

 the duty of educating children and relieving the sick. It was 

 in Ceylon that the Buddhist doctrines were first reduced to 

 writing. These doctrines addressed to mankind in general, 

 besides inculcating the duty of reverence to parents, love to 

 neighbours, charity and other moral precepts, recommended 

 the prosperous and wealthy to found Refuges for the blind, 

 the destitute, the crippled, the sick and wounded both of man 

 and beast. This was taught to be the surest method of 

 attaining to the highest degree of perfection and holiness on 

 earth, by means of which the future reward of the Buddhist 

 faith might be obtained, viz., Nirvana, or an easy departure 

 and utter annihilation. These motives actuate some of 



