[1 Introduction] Subjects: | Exploration, Botany, Astronomy |
Observes that 'Amidst the acquisitions which a few years have added to the
stock of general information', scholars including botanists 'will acknowledge
important obligations to the ardour of literary research, excited in the centre
of Asia'. Considers that the learned will particularly look to the
'publications of the
Society instituted at Calcutta by
the late
Sir William
Jones'. (26) Examines some of the recent findings, and notes that
'that antiquity of the astronomical observations of the Hindus has become a
subject of interesting discussion' (27).
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[2 Review of Narrative of a Journey from Agra to Oujein, by
William Hunter] Subjects: | Exploration, Amusement, Experiment, Reading, Illustration,
Encyclopaedias, Astronomy, Vulcanology |
Notes that at Bruwasagar [Burwa Sagar] the Mahratta subadar 'amused himself
with philosophical experiments; he had got the plates of the
Encyclopædia, neatly copied by artists of his own; and at the age of
sixty, expressed great solicitude to obtain an instructor in the English
language, to enable him to understand the text'. Notes that Oujein (i.e.
Ujjain) defines the first meridian for Hindu astronomers. Relates
William
Hunter's speculations about the cause of the burial of the ancient
city of Oujein, which he considers must have been due to an earthquake
'operating with a gentler concussion than usually attends that tremendous
phenomenon'. (28)
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[4 Review of Observations on the Theory of Walls, by William
Lambton] Subjects: | Mathematics, Mechanics, Engineering, Military Technology |
[5 Review of On the Poison of Serpents, by William Boag] Subjects: | Zoology, Pharmaceuticals, Chemistry | People mentioned: |
Felice Fontana
|
[6 Review of An Account of the Petroleum Wells in the Burman
Dominians, by Hiram Cox] Subjects: | Exploration, Geology | People mentioned: |
Michael Symes
, Archibald Cochrane
(9th Earl of Dundonald)
|
[7 Review of On the Religion and Literature of the Burmans, by
Francis H Buchanan] Subjects: | Ethnography, Physical Geography, Botany, Cultural Geography,
Astronomy | People mentioned: |
Georges L Leclerc, comte de
Buffon
|
Observes that the author might have been spared the trouble of ridiculing
'the science of the Brahmins' had he read
William Jones's
observation that the 'system of the Jyauthishicas, or mathematical astronomers'
should not be confused with 'that of the Pauranicas, or poetical fabulists;
for, to such a confusion alone must we impute the many mistakes of Europeans on
the subject of Indian science' (37).
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[8 Review of Narrative of a Journey to Srinagar, by Thomas
Hardwicke] Subjects: | Exploration, Botany |
[12 Review of On the Antiquity of the Surya Siddhanta, by John
Bentley] Subjects: | Mathematics, Ethnography, Astronomy | People mentioned: |
Varahamihira
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Observes that 'Mr. Bentley appears
to be a mathematician of considerable industry and merit' and that 'he has
supplied some instructive observations on the principles of the Hindu
astronomy, and on the manner in which their cycles were, or might have been
formed' (42). Critically examines Bentley's argument from astronomical texts
that the entire Sanscrit corpus is of a recent age.
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