Short History of Aryan Medical Sciences

A work on Hindu medicine by a reigning prince of India, who studied medicine and obtained high literary and medical degrees in England, offers promise of exceptional interest. The book is an excellent exposition – it is excellent, concise, correct, clear, and well balanced. Medical science was, among the ancient Hindus, an integral and important part of the great body of knowledge which their wise men elaborated in very early times. The author, therefore, in presenting a sketch of Aryan medical science finds it necessary to describe the ancient civilisation of Hindustan, and the high attainments in science and art which distinguished that era. “The Indians,” he states, ” trace all knowledge under the sun from the Supreme High. They will never accept a statement unless it is supported by the testimony of what has been revealed to them in their scriptures or by the testimony of bygone ages.”Aryan medicine is, therefore, a revelation obtained rather by intuition than by observation. It would be very easy from this book to select, on the one hand, examples of laborious and shrewd research, and, on the other, illustrations of the advancement of medicine in ancient India.