Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c6.s1.t6.9

c6.s1.t6.9

(h) No. 30 is open to several objections. It counts 17 breast-bones against 14 of Charaka’s genuine text (§ 4, No. 24); and its larger count presupposes a knowledge of the system of Suśruta. The position of the breast-bones, too, at the very end of the list, after the bones of the head, is very curious. It is to be noted, however, that on this point the recension of Gaṅgādhar follows the arrangement of the list as given in the Non-medical Version of Yājñavalkya’s Law-book and the Agni Purāṇa (§ 16, No. 27). This circumstance, combined with the fact that in his commentary Gaṅgādhar refers to those two non-medical works by name, supports the surmise that the recension of Gaṅgādhar is not based on any manuscript authority, but is an ill-judged construction of his own.