Hindu Medicine c5.s3.30

c5.s3.30

While preparing his manuscript Zimmer became fascinated by another point of view. After a renewed perusal of Sigerist's *Great Doctors* he resolved to set the achievements of Hindu medicine against the background of Western medicine: " thus the story becomes plastic and amusing."¹⁵ And he actually proceeded in this manner in his lectures of 1940, which dealt with medical tradition and the human body, with the physician and his concept of dietetics, and with diseases and cures. Afterwards, he himself realized that the new scheme was inferior to that which he had originally envisaged. It prevented him from exhibiting his peculiar gifts, his original insights. That is why he wished to rework his manuscript for publication. This, to be sure, proved to be an unhappy decision, insofar as he was not allowed to conclude his revision. Yet in some respects it was fortunate, for the finished parts are, at least in my opinion, an infinitely better and much more stimulating presentation, both for the general reader and for the scholar.