THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. Adventures, Discoveries, Experiments, AND Historical Sketches, RELATING TO The Punjab and Cashmere; IN CONNECTION WITH Medicine, Botany, Pharmacy, &c. TOGETHER WITH AN ORIGINAL Materia Medica; AND A MEDICAL VOCABULARY, IN FOUR EUROPEAN AND FIVE EASTERN LANGUAGES: BY John Martin Bonigberger, LATE PHYSICIAN TO THE COURT OF LAHORE. TWO VOLUMES IN ONE. Illustrated with numerous Engravings, containing Portraits, Plants, Fac-similes, London: H. BAILLIÈRE, 219, REGENT ST. & 290, BROADWAY, NEW YORK (U.S.) 1852. 203. a. 120. INTRODUCTION. Ox presenting this work to the English public, in an English dress, I would state, that notwithstanding much has of late been written, by travellers and physicians, on the important countries of the East, they have not exhausted their topics; and I have been induced to publish the results of my experience, from a conviction that this work may form a valuable addition to the publications already extant. Thirty-five years spent in Asia-travelling from my native country (Transylvania) by way of the Levant, Egypt, Arabia, and Persia, to India, residing several years in the Punjab, and returning by Affghanistan, Bokhara, and Russia, at a period when these countries were but little known to Europeans-afforded me ample opportunites for satisfying my ardent desires for research, and for obtaining an acquaintance with some of those secrets of nature which had so long been concealed in that quarter of the globe-the cradle of humanity and the birthplace of science. The prosecution of my researches was considerably aided by my influential position, during many years, as Physician to the late Sikh Court of Lahore. Those who take an interest in the history of the Punjab, may find, in this, the first volume, many VOL. I. B sketches of oriental character, and illustrations of Eastern manners, customs, and intrigues; also, a faithful summary of recent events. The second volume, although a medical work, has not been written for physicians only; it is apprehensible and may be useful to all readers. To render it the more acceptable to those in the East, in addition to the Flora Medica of Cashmere, with its properties and uses, as also those of many other oriental plants and drugs, I have superadded a Medical Vocabulary, in nine languages. A variety of discoveries, curious experiments, and remarkable incidents, may be found in these volumes, collected during a sojourn of many years-useful, I hope, to both naturalists and historians. During my fifteen years' residence at Lahore, as well as on my frequent journeys, I embraced every opportunity of devoting my attention to the examination of the various medical systems of the day, and to the experimenting on the qualities of numerous medicines, whether known or unknown to practitioners. Freed from every selfish motive, I now ingenuously present to the British public, the results of these researches, which were carried on with unwearied perseverance. I am not under the influence of the mania of systemmaking; my object is, simply, to aid the alleviation of the sufferings of humanity and to enrich science, as far as my abilities may permit. I have been guided solely by the proverb, Nulla re homo proprius accedit ad Deum, quâm salute hominibus danda;" i.e. "Nothing brings man nearer to God, than man's helping his suffering fellow-creatures." It is no easy matter to eradicate systems which have |