Page:The Surgical Instruments of the Hindus Vol 1.djvu/13

Rh Fourthly, the various kinds of surgical instruments preserved in museums are to be examined and the reports of finds of surgical appliances in various localities are to be studied. We know what a flood of light has been thrown on ancient Greek surgery by the steady progress of archæological discovery and finds of instruments at Pompeii, Herculaneum and elsewhere, and by the study of the specimens preserved in the Naples museum, the Athens museum and other museums of Europe. But as far as I have been able to trace, our museums contain no finds supplying us with any information on the subject.

Fifthly, the literature of medicine itself should be thoroughly inquired into and excerpts elucidative of our subject should be compared with one another. "The detailed descriptions of the very numerous Hindu instruments not being very minute or precise, Professor Wilson says, we can only conjecture what they may have been, from a consideration of the purport of their names, and the objects to which they were applied, in connection with the imperfect description given." We are fortunate, however, in possessing a copious medical literature of great merit from very early times. We shall describe the important books in the introductory chapter, with short notices of their authors.

Sixthly, the comparative study of the science at the same period in other countries also furnishes us with valuable materials as regards the state of medicine in a country. It is well known that Sanskrit works are often written in a very terse language