hereafter proved: it will only open an additional neglected mine for the curious and the learned; and will be another proof that the East has been the seat of wisdom, where learning flourished, and the arts were prized; however much the neglect with which this knowledge has been treated in this country, may reflect upon the modern degeneracy, or the prejudices of the Indian character; which may, however, be all accounted for, from the effects of the various revolutions, to which their country has, for so many ages, been a prey; leaving thence room to the liberal construction of the unbiassed of every nation to conclude, that before the introduction of a foreign sway into Hindoostan and the Deccan, its Hindoo inhabitants were versed in the arts and sciences, far beyond the other parts of the world, at the same remote period of time.

"Translation of a written memorandum from the Nabob Mirza Mehady Ali Khan.

"During the period of my abode in the district of Benares, my eldest son being taken ill of a bad kind of the small-pox, and my friends interesting themselves for my comfort and his relief, one of them, named Slookum Chund, a Hindoo, pointed out to me that there was in the city of Benares, one Alep Choby, a Brahmin, from Oude, whose practice was chiefly confined to this malady. Him, therefore, I lost no time in sending for to the town of Ghazeepoor, where I dwelt; and he arrived on the ninth day of the eruption; on seeing which, he observed that if the eruption had not taken place, he would have endeavored to facilitate and render it easy; but that now it was too late. On asking Choby what his process was, he said, From the matter of the pustule on the cow, I keep a thread drenched, which enables me, at pleasure, to cause an easy eruption on any child; adoring, at the same time, Bowannee, (who is otherwise called Debec, Mata, and Secbla, and who has the direction of this malady,) as well in my own person, as by causing the father of the child to perform the like ceremonies; after which I run the drenched string into a needle, and drawing it through between the skin and the flesh of the child's upper arm, leave it there, performing the same operation in both arms; which always ensures an easy eruption; on the first appearance of which the child's father, or guardian, renews his worship to Bowannee; and as the animal this goddess rides on is an ass, it is customary for such parent or guardian to fill his lap with grain, which an ass is sent to eat up; these observances ensure the propitious direction of Bowannee, so that only a very few pustules make their appearance; nor does any one die under this process.'-Thus far did I learn from Alep Choby.

"Upon

"Upon referring on this subject to a native well versed in the learning and customs of the Hindoos, he told me that the practice thus described by Choby was not general among them, but confined to those who were attached to the worship of Bowannee, and adored her with implicit faith and upon my asking the person whether he was aware how the matter of the pustule got from the cow, and whether all cows had such pustules, or only those of a certain description; he answered, that on these points he possessed no information; but had certainly understood that the cows had these pustules break out on them, and that from the matter thereof children were infected; acknowledging, however, that he spoke not this much from ocular knowledge, but from report."

Mr. John Underwood, senior, who resided many years at Madras in a medical capacity, frequently corresponded with SURFOJEE, Rajah of Tanjore, a most amiable benevolent character, and particularly fond of studying anatomy. Mr. Underwood sent the rajah a body, where the heart and every artery and vein were carefully injected with colored wax this preparation would give him a correct idea of the course of circulation, and the insertion of several muscles. The rajah was much gratified by a present which enabled him to pursue his studies with increased delight, and rendered him more useful in his sovereignty. The following letter, in acknowledgment of this valuable present, was written by the rajah to Mr. Underwood, which, in a Hindoo prince, indicates a mind unusually liberal and enlightened, sufficient to encourage a lively hope towards the advancement of literature, art, and science, extending ultimately, perhaps, to establish Christianity in that part of Hindoostan where there are already several protestant churches. For Surfojee, Rajah of Tanjore, was the friend and patron of Swartz, for near half a century the apostolical missionary of Coromandel, whose prudent zeal truly blended the wisdom of the serpent with the innocence of the dove. The Hindoo sovereign shed tears at the death of his venerable Christian friend, and covered his remains with a splendid pall of gold brocade. On the establishment of the Native Hospital at Madras, in 1799, under the immediate care of Mr. Underwood, senior, this benevolent sovereign sent two thousand pagodas, about eight hundred pounds sterling, to assist the institution.

Letter from Surfojee, Rajah of Tanjore, to John Underwood, Esq. at Fort St. George.

I received your letter some time ago: the contents of it have yielded me inexpressible pleasure. The box and the

Ff2

book

book alluded to in the letter, have likewise been safely received.

The human body, of which the origin appears to have been wrought by the Supreme Being himself, the frame of which is supposed to have afforded satisfaction even to its maker, has been the chief object of my long imitation and inquiry. The books with which I have been conversant, have spread before me but a faint light on this topic: hence I need not say that the preparation which you have sent to me, has afforded me the greatest pleasure; especially as I have long been desirous to see one of this kind, the receiving it so unexpectedly from you, has redoubled my satisfaction. Upon examining every part of it, I found the muscles to be well preserved; and it is worthy of the inspection of every lover of philosophy.

The book of anatomy which you have been so obliging as to send me, is also well calculated for the students to profit by. I request you will accept of my thousand thanks for the trouble you have taken in forwarding me the above things, which are very useful and pleasing to Tanjore, July 5, 1806.

SURFOJEE, Rajah.

Not being myself sufficiently competent to elucidate the subject of medicine, as practised by the natives of India, I requested Mr. Underwood to give me some account of the general mode of treatment in that part of the world; in consequence of which he favored me with the following statement, which I introduce with great satisfaction, from its filling up a desideratum I could not have supplied from my own knowledge.

"It appears to Europeans that the natives of India are extremely ignorant in the practice of physic: they have many remedies, chiefly roots and herbs, which are generally given in the form of powders. The practitioners are poor men of a particular cast, who sit by the side of the high roads and market paths, with small boxes, containing various kinds of powder, which is administered with particular instructions, and a promise of cure in a specific number of days. In all complaints they enforce abstinence, seldom allowing the patient any other nourishment than their conjee, or rice gruel. In certain diseases they give cinnabar, occasionally with success; but the improper use of it frequently causes ulcerations to spread to a very great extent.

"The natives are extremely bigoted to their own remedies, which, without improvements or alteration, are handed down from father to son through succeeding generations. They, therefore, seldom apply for the assistance of Europeans until

the

the case appears hopeless from their own prescriptions. They do not bleed, nor perform any surgical operation, unless the removal of a part partially divided. All cases of fractures and dislocations are consigned to the potters, a cast of people abounding in Hindoostan, for making the waterjars and cooking utensils, of red clay, so universally used.. The potter places the limb of his patient in what he considers the best situation, and then covers the part affected with moist clay: this, when dry, fixes the limb; and under such treatment simple and compound fractures often do well, but, as may be expected from this process, distortions and stiff joints are more frequently the consequence.

"For spasmodic affections, the natives of India generally apply the juice of the milk-bush (Euphorbia, Linn.) to the parts affected, which acts like a blister: in more serious cases they use the actual cautery. From this cause it is common to see horses, oxen, laboring men, especially palankeen bearers and porters of heavy burthens, marked in many places by a hot iron. Notwithstanding the liberal mind and singular propensity of the Tanjore sovereign, already mentioned, it cannot be expected that these medical practitioners should in general acquire any accurate knowledge of anatomy, and the heat of the climate operates powerfully against their possessing any extensive information from dissection: much, however, may be acquired from preparations,

"Although I have no high opinion of the general mode of practice among the natives, yet in a few instances I should give a preference to their remedies, particularly in the oph thalmia or sore-eye of India: the inflammation frequently runs so high that the sight is destroyed, unless by some active means, the affection, so deeply rooted, can be removed. This, I think, is best done by an early application of what is called at Madras the country remedy,' which is a thin paste, made by burning a little alum on a hot iron, and mixing it with lime-juice, by a spatula, into a paste. This is applied over both eye-lids, to the extent of the circle of the orbit, at going to rest, and washed off in the morning with a decoction of tamarind leaves. This I consider the best and most certain remedy for a disease that so repeatedly causes blindness. A surprising number of the natives are entirely blind, especially among the poor.

"I have often seen a Mahomedan practitioner perform the operation of removing a cataract. He made a small puncture with the point of a lancet, immediately behind the iris, into which he introduced a particular instrument, so guided as to depress the cataract. This operation I prefer

to

to any other mode yet practised, as it occasions less injury to the eye."

The preceding appears to be a clear and brief statement of medical and surgical practice among the natives of Coromandel, and I believe the same system is generally, or nearly, adopted throughout Hindoostan. When with the Mahratta army during Ragobah's campaign in Guzerat, I had frequent opportunities of knowing the high estimation in which the English physicians were held both by Hindoos and Mahomedans, when they thought themselves seriously ill, or wished to procure their advice even for their females, whom, indeed, they were not often permitted to see, but formed their judgment of the disorder by feeling the patient's pulse with the arm admitted through a perforated curtain. It certainly would be no easy matter to persuade a Brahmin to mingle Peruvian bark, or any other medicine, with wine or distilled spirits; but to take the drug in simple water, or compounded with any ingredients he was accustomed to, would not be attended with difficulty. As to the other casts in general, provided they are persuaded the prescription is to effect a cure, or prove a stimulus, they wave the ceremony of being very particular in their inquiries.--Forbes's Oriental Memoirs.

Goderneau's Powder.

This powder is a nostrum used at Paris, and reprobated by the regular physicians as too drastic for the human frame. Dr. Marcet examined and found it to be a preparation of mercury. Each parcel given as a dose contains xij grains French. The color is not so white as that of calomel. Examined with a lens, small globules of metallic mercury are discernible, and also some reddish particles, which are red precipitate. It is wholly volatile at a low heat like calomel, but volatilization separates it in a manner which proves it not to be homogeneous, for the vial in which it is sublimed is marked with three distinct zones, white, red, and grey. Water does not dissolve any sensible portion of this powder. Nitric acid dissolves the whole of it, and nitrate of silver poured into the solution, lets fall a quantity of muriate of silver corresponding to about nine grains of calomel. The remaining three seem composed of about one and a half metallic mercury, and one and a half red precipitate. By triturating the above substances in the above quantities, a compound very like Goderneau's Powder was produced, but rather more uniform in its appearance. This is a very rude preparation of mercury, and its use should not be encouraged. Its effect is to produce a very disagreeable sensation in the

stomach,