The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-03-16

Some Supposed Recent Discoveries That
Were known Ages Ago.


A learned Indian prince Thakore Sahio
Of Gondal, is the author Of history oil
Aryan medical science issued from the
London press. This book advances some
remarkable claims on behalf OF liindoo
science and civilization
Prince Thakore asserts that the grand
est discoveries of Western medical gen
ius. such as vaccination, anacslnesla' ana
antisoptic surgery. were all pracllce"
among the Ifindoos many centuries aso'
lie declares that in tho "Ayur Neda' "a
"science Of life" which Is the most an-
cient of all Brahmln books OIL h,e",'N'V,
nearly ali tho best modern methods OF
medical diagnosis MS well ~ OF pld'u, -
surgery are fully set forth Inc chOui"
ton of the blood. which We say Wa
discovered by Harvey. Is said 10 be luii4
GOT forth I'm this ancient volume OF tho
Hindoo scriptures. Prince IhahoIe avs"
cites historical evidence 10 sho" tn"l
crtnial and abdominal surgical operations
% tho nost difficult kind such as we
have supposed were never performed u"-
III within the last fifty years, were noHo
600 years ago In the land OF buunha'
IIo points to the record OF the trephihih-
of King Bhoia Of Dhar, who llVed apoui
II an TO relieve him of severe pains
mat tho King WIS rendered unconscious.
his Uranium opened the cause OF the
tro.ble removed from the brain, the
wound closed up. and his trouble COM
pletelv cured Jivaka. who was Buddha
avn physician, performed similar opera
tons.
such claims tend TO shake the self-es-
TEEN OF Western peoples as the wlsest
and most highly inventive that nave ever
occupied the earth and TO cast a doubt
upon their boast that they are tho heirs
Of all the ages i'm the foremost files or
time" IL is no new thing. however. for
us To be told that all light travels from
the east to the west. and not from the
west 10 tho east. We speak OF ASIA as
tho cradle OF tho race and so II I'M
doubleday was. We need not be surpfis-
cd therefore. il. rs Asia becomes better
known and its antiquities more closely
inquired into. we should find that much
Of tho supposed new knowledge Of the
west was familiar in tho east when the
world was young Wendell Phillips's
most celebrated lecture was entitled The
Lost Arts" Curiously enough. IL Is not
included in the standard edition Of his
published works. A pamphlet copy or
H. published twenty years ago. is hard
TO find The famous Massachusetts ora
tor very largely forestalled tho cl3ims OF
Prince Thakore. He boldly declared that
OF 700 marvellous things known TO the
nineteenth century % Of them had been
anticipated by the ancients. He pointed
more particularly 10 mechanical arts ana
inventions He quoted Pliny to show that
Nero had "A ring with n gem I'm IL through
which he looked and watched the sword
play OF the gladiators I'm the arena moro
clearly than with the naked eyc-a style
Of opera glass unknown 10 MS modorns
The use Of microscopes OF immense
power In ancient Egypt. Persia, and
Greece IS fairly presumablc because there
fs q gen, shown at Parma once worn on
the finger OF Michael Angelo the cner1v-
ing whereon is 1000 years old ana Which
reveals the figures Of seven women Oniy
with tho aid of q strong magnllyinS
glass. Sir Henry Rawlinson brought
home from Nineyeh stone about -
inches long by 10 inches wide containing
a whole treatise on mathematics that
was utterly illcgible without microscope.
And if il cannot be read without a mic
roscope it could not have been engraved
without similar aid. Mr. Pumps aver
red that the art Of cOloring reached 4
perfection among the ancients far be-
vond our own. The buried city OF POM
noii was a city Of stuccO. The eXt2tlors
~ the walls and all its buildings wee or
stucco. and the stucco was stained WIN
Tvrian purple. the royal color OF anu
ouitv. The city has been buried l'Np
wears. vet whenever the walls or one OF
dc houses are dug ont the royal purple
flames I'D 10 view with great deal richer
hue than any We can produce. EVIDENT
" the Pompeilans possessed q secret TOT
making fast cOlors that we have NOT
When the English despoiled the summer
palace OF the Emperor OF China they
brought homo curlously wrought metal
vessels Of every kind and European
metal workers confessed their inability
TO reproduce them.
Sheffield steel is an English boast but
II will not bear the atmosphere OF In
dia without gliding. Yet the Damascus
blades used I'm the crusades were NOT
eildod. and they are as bright and Keen
to-day as they were eight centuries ago.
There was one shown az the London cx-
hibltion In 1862 tho point Of which could
be made 10 touch the hilt. and which
could be put into the scabbard Ike
corkscrew and bent every way without
breaking. The best steel In the world to-
day does not come from either Europe or
America. but from Puniab.
Sir Walter Scott I'm his Tales OF the
Crusaders" describes n meeting between
Richard Occur de Lion and Saladin. In
which the English monarch IS made 10
think that Saladln practises the black art
because the latter takes an elder-down
inflow from the sofa and causes IL 20
FAN in two pieces BY drawing his keen
blade across H. Travellers IN india tell
OF seeing Hindoos throw hani'us OF floss
silk into the air and cut them IN pieces
with their Hne-edged sahres. There f.
no steel made IN western workshops OF
that quality. So too. with the art OF
glass cutting. II was supposed thirty
years ago that there were no ancient
glass factories. but the PompeiIan ex-
cavations revealed n workshop full OF
ground glass. window glass. cut glass
and colored glass OF every varlety.-Bal-