56 
fcetida, mentioned in the Jrnera-Cosha, I can see none 
but what are indigenous in India.* 
The foregoing extracts, together with those in the sub- 
* As the work (Oriental Magazine, Calcutta, February and March 1823) 
in which the notices respecting early Hindoo medicines were ano- 
nymously published by Professor Wilson is not easily to be procured, 
except at Messrs. Allen and Co.'s, Leadenhall-street, it will not, I 
conceive, be out of place, to insert some extracts from these notices and 
translations. 
Professor Wilson commences with a few preliminary observations, in 
which he states, " that there is reason to conclude, from the imperfect 
opportunities of investigation we possess, that in medicine, as in astronomy, 
and metaphysics, the Hindus once kept pace with the most enlightened 
nations of the world ; and that they attained as thorough a proficiency in 
medicine and surgery, as any people, whose acquisitions are recorded, and 
as indeed was practicable, before anatomy was made known to us, by the 
discoveries of modern inquirers. 
" It might easily be supposed, that their patient attention, and natural 
shrewdness, would render the Hindus excellent observers; whilst the 
extent, and fertility of their native country would furnish them with many 
valuable drugs and medicaments. Their Nidan, or Diagnosis, accordingly 
appears to define and distinguish symptoms with great accuracy, and their 
Druvyabhidhana, or Materia Medica, is sufficiently voluminous. They 
have also paid great attention to regimen and diet, and have a number of 
works on the food and general treatment, suited to the complaint, or favour- 
able to the operation of the medicine administered. This branch they 
entitle Pathapathya. To these subjects are to be added, the Chikitsa, or 
medical treatment of diseases— on which subject they have a variety of 
compositions, containing much absurdity, with much that is of value ; and 
the Rasavidya, or Pharmacy, in which they are most deficient." 
— " The Ayur Veda, as the medical writings of highest antiquity and 
authority are collectively called, is considered to be a portion of the fourth 
or Atharva Veda, and is consequently the work of Brahma— by him it was 
communicated to Dacsha, the Prajapati, and by him, the two Aswins, or 
sons of Surya, the Sun. were instructed in it, and they then became the 
medical attendants of the gods— a genealogy, that cannot fail recalling to us 
the two sons of Esculapius, and their descent from Apollo. Now what 
were the duties of the Aswins, according to Hindu authorities ?— the gods, 
enjoying eternal youth and health, stood in no need of physicians, and conse- 
quently these held no such sinecure station. The wars between the gods 
and demons, however, and the conflicts amongst the gods themselves, in 
which wounds might be suffered, although death was not inflicted, required 
chirurgical aid— and it was this, accordingly, which the two Aswins ren- 
dered. 
