The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c9.13

c9.13

many ancient words (especially of those which evoked no interest for the traditional religion). Often enough their explanations betray a profound ignorance of anatomy, even of classical anatomy known to the medical authors of their times. Lastly the etymology, although often clear and capable of attaining, by means of rigorous methods of the comparative Indo-European linguistics, a high degree of probability, indeed the certitude, cannot suffice to give the meaning of technical words such as the names of anatomy. The primitive meaning which can be restored, does not indicate quite surely the derivative meanings in which the words have been used in the texts. This is proved by numerous examples in our languages. A name like *pancreas*, whose primitive sense is undisputably "all fleshy", does not suit the organ which it denotes. This is the gland of the spongy aspect, in which no part of flesh enters. Even in antiquity it did not correspond, in its etymological meaning, with the organs so named by the medical authors. If we had only the etymological meaning of this word to give us some information on this organ, one could only propose false identifications.