LIST OF VERNACULAR MEDICAL PUBLICATIONS. Tnis
list of professional publications, including anatomy, physiology, medicine, surgery, midwifery, botany, chemistry, and
zoology, in the vernacular languages of the Bengal Presidency, by Dr. C. II. Francis, Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals, Dinapore, has appeared most opportunely ; the subject of providing medical instruction in the mofussil being at present under consideration by the Government of Bengal. Dr. Francis' unpretending little work is one among many other useful productions from his pen, which ho has during u .long and most honorable career in this country given to the profession : a glance over its contents affords us information respecting the medical vernacular literature of this part of India, which it would have taken us a very long time otherwise to have collated. There can be no question as to the importance of arriving at correct conclusions on the matter brought to our notice by Dr. Francis, and wo are glad to hear from him that a Committee is sitting in Calcutta to consider the subject.
following
kind of manuals that follows
We cannot do better than transcribe the
remarks from Dr. Francis' are
required
prefaco regarding
for India,
the
lie writes as
:?
"
Whatever translations, or whatovor original troatises are should be put into the hands of selected educated natives. The number and tho character of the works in the list now published show the aptitude and the willingness of these gentlemen for the task. But, whereas they have, as seen in some of tho publications, labored, as it were, without a rudder, being inexperienced in the art of compositon, and not knowing exactly how to give the gist of a subject, when working under the auspices and direction of a committee, the precise nature of tho work required being defined for them, we should get results etpial to thoso produced by tho most accomplished writers of Europe. " As I have frequent ly urged elsewhere, translations nlone are not wanted. There are, inueed, some subjects which aro not materially affected by climate. Anatomy for examplo, and Chemistry; but tho ills affecting the human body aro not the same in India as in England. Some that have their homo m one country aro scarcely known in tho other. It has been said that the peculiar diseases of India may bo dealt with originally, in separate chapters, to be added to the literal translation of all or portions of a standard English work. But surely it would bo more satisfactory and less expensive to at once write an original treatise for India on medicine* midwifery, surgery, and medical jurisprudence, dealing cursorily only with those diseases that are especially peculiar to a cold climate, as European professors touch lightly on what are chiefly confined to the tropical world. Translate, if y?u will, tho standard works of Europe on anatomy, physiologyt chemistry, botany, and zoology ; though, in thoso, references must be made to modifications caused by climate. But let us have an original manual on each of the four first-named
required,
subjects.
August 1,
1873.]
ON SOME PROMINENT FALLACIES IN EPIDEMIOLOGY.
" It is not to bo expected that either translations or original treatises will be written for nothing. The present LieutenantGovernor of the North-Western Provinces, Sir William Muir, lias shown his discretion in offering, for works of general literature, sums of money sufficiently remunerative to competitors. The result has shown the correctness of his mode of procedure. Several candidates have appeared in the field, and more than one useful publication has thus been added to the vernacular literature of the North-West. " I cannot but think that a similar scheme would be equally successful in Calcutta, giving birtli to a series of useful who medical at manuals for our native subordinates, present have no medical literature to consult beyond the notes of their own lectures and the works enumerated in this list.
giving the vernacular names of the several books, the has been to provide a clue to the character of each, which the purely vernacular student might follow with the aid of his English-speaking friends." "
In
object
217
list of professional publications, including anatomy, physiology, medicine, surgery, midwifery, botany, chemistry, and
zoology, in the vernacular languages of the Bengal Presidency, by Dr. C. II. Francis, Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals, Dinapore, has appeared most opportunely ; the subject of providing medical instruction in the mofussil being at present under consideration by the Government of Bengal. Dr. Francis' unpretending little work is one among many other useful productions from his pen, which ho has during u .long and most honorable career in this country given to the profession : a glance over its contents affords us information respecting the medical vernacular literature of this part of India, which it would have taken us a very long time otherwise to have collated. There can be no question as to the importance of arriving at correct conclusions on the matter brought to our notice by Dr. Francis, and wo are glad to hear from him that a Committee is sitting in Calcutta to consider the subject.
following
kind of manuals that follows
We cannot do better than transcribe the
remarks from Dr. Francis' are
required
prefaco regarding
for India,
the
lie writes as
:?
"
Whatever translations, or whatovor original troatises are should be put into the hands of selected educated natives. The number and tho character of the works in the list now published show the aptitude and the willingness of these gentlemen for the task. But, whereas they have, as seen in some of tho publications, labored, as it were, without a rudder, being inexperienced in the art of compositon, and not knowing exactly how to give the gist of a subject, when working under the auspices and direction of a committee, the precise nature of tho work required being defined for them, we should get results etpial to thoso produced by tho most accomplished writers of Europe. " As I have frequent ly urged elsewhere, translations nlone are not wanted. There are, inueed, some subjects which aro not materially affected by climate. Anatomy for examplo, and Chemistry; but tho ills affecting the human body aro not the same in India as in England. Some that have their homo m one country aro scarcely known in tho other. It has been said that the peculiar diseases of India may bo dealt with originally, in separate chapters, to be added to the literal translation of all or portions of a standard English work. But surely it would bo more satisfactory and less expensive to at once write an original treatise for India on medicine* midwifery, surgery, and medical jurisprudence, dealing cursorily only with those diseases that are especially peculiar to a cold climate, as European professors touch lightly on what are chiefly confined to the tropical world. Translate, if y?u will, tho standard works of Europe on anatomy, physiologyt chemistry, botany, and zoology ; though, in thoso, references must be made to modifications caused by climate. But let us have an original manual on each of the four first-named
required,
subjects.
August 1,
1873.]
ON SOME PROMINENT FALLACIES IN EPIDEMIOLOGY.
" It is not to bo expected that either translations or original treatises will be written for nothing. The present LieutenantGovernor of the North-Western Provinces, Sir William Muir, lias shown his discretion in offering, for works of general literature, sums of money sufficiently remunerative to competitors. The result has shown the correctness of his mode of procedure. Several candidates have appeared in the field, and more than one useful publication has thus been added to the vernacular literature of the North-West. " I cannot but think that a similar scheme would be equally successful in Calcutta, giving birtli to a series of useful who medical at manuals for our native subordinates, present have no medical literature to consult beyond the notes of their own lectures and the works enumerated in this list.
giving the vernacular names of the several books, the has been to provide a clue to the character of each, which the purely vernacular student might follow with the aid of his English-speaking friends." "
In
object
217
