ABSTRACT

Hobson's works dealt not only with medicine; his Bowu xinbian (New Essay on Scientific Knowledge) was also reprinted. The original text [in three juan] which I own states that it is ‘the work of the English physician Hobson…newly engraved for printing in Xianfeng 5 [1855] and published by Mohai shuguan (Large Inkstone Book Store), Shanghai, Zhejiang.’ a It is divided into three parts. The first has sections on ‘topology’ (diqi lun), ‘heat’ (re lun), ‘water’ (shuizhi lun), iight (guang lun), and ‘electricity’ (dianqi lun); as a whole, it is a kind of explanation of physics.