A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c9.s2.99

v1.c9.s2.99

the celebrated author of the *Ashtāṅga* and describes himself as such in the colophons at the end of every chapter (p. 78); but he forgets that in doing so he is guilty of a glaring piece of anachronism. The chemical knowledge, as revealed in the *Vāgbhaṭa*, is almost on a par with that in the *Susruta*. But this sort of utter disregard for chronological accuracy is by no means uncommon in the alchemical literature of the middle ages in Europe. The world is indebted to the genius and perseverance of M. Berthelot for unravelling the mysteries which so long hung about the writings of Geber¹; and the interval of time between our pseudo-*Vāgbhaṭa* and the author of *Ashtāṅga* is even much wider than that between the Latin Geber and the real Geber. We are apt to be very harsh on these literary forgerers; rather we ought to give them credit for their utter self-effacement. We often forget that the spirit of the times in which they wrote was dead against them—reluctant to accept revolutionary ideas or discoveries; hence the temptation to fasten them on old and recognised authorities.