A History of Hindu Chemistry, vol. 1

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

A relatively limited number of copies were printed in the first edition, as it was feared that, owing to its technical nature, the work would appeal only to a select circle of readers. The exceedingly favorable reception accorded to it not only by scientists and orientalists but also by the public in general, both in Europe and in India, has necessitated the bringing out of a second edition. Some material additions have been made to the historical portion of the Introduction, shedding further light on the independent origin of the Origin of the Hindu medical system Hindu system of medicine and its priority to that of the Greeks.

M. Berthelot, in the course of a lengthy and appreciative review in the Journal des Savants (Jan. 1903), expresses his regret at the absence of “anything that would remind us of the systematic treatises of Zosimus Zosimus of Panopolis: a 3rd/4th-century Greek-Egyptian alchemist. and of the Greco-Egyptians”—a regret that will be shared by every student of Hindu chemistry. However, even the darkest cloud has a silver lining. I hope to deal with the theories underlying Hindu chemistry in the second volume. For the present, I must