Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/92

84 affected their other social habits and their political influence. History makes mention of no other nation that has survived so many counteracting forces. If Megasthenes, who wrote about India in B.C. 800, or Hiouen Thseang, the Chinese pilgrim, who graphically describes his experiences of India in the 7 th century a.c, were to rise from their graves and revisit the country, they would scarcely have occasion to alter their first impressions about the manners, customs, and the daily practices of the Hindoos. This proves pretty clearly that the various observances and hygienic directions prescribed for the guidance of the Hindoos are based on too solid a foundation to be wholly destroyed or radically affected by the ravages of time. By their daily and seasonal practices the Hindoos are directly and indirectly defending themselves against the approach of diseases. But diseases often do come in spite of preventive measures: Their medical works, there- fore, prescribe remedies for curing them. Their theory of the nature of diseases is somewhat different from that recognised by modern science. But it has the merit of being original. And as it has been in vogue for centuries, it will be well to describe it briefly in a separate chapter.