Moslem Influence on the Renaissance [pp. 365-373]

370 Moslem Influence on the Renaissance. [April,
that was the intention of the book; practi- stronger acid than concentrated vinegar was
cally, it came to be the theological dicta of known; but he obtained nitric acid by disthe church, explained according to the phi- tilling together Cyprus vitriol, alum, and s~tlosophy of Aristotle and his Arabian corn- peter. He made sulphuric acid also. He
mentators. Another of his works,`Contra ascertained that oxidization of metals inGentiles,' is meant to bring within the range creases their weight, but failed to discover
of Christian thought all that is of value in the true cause of the phenomenon. He
Mahometan science."' Thus we see that first gave to the world the method of prethe "Angelic Doctor," whose writings were paring caustic alkali from the ashes of plants,
the mainstay of the church for centuries, which is practically the same as that still emand still serve as text-books in Jesuitical ployed. Rhazes, also a f~mous Mohamschools, owed his knowledge to the Saracens. medan scientist, gives the earliest directions
In science the Mohammedans led the for the production of alcohol. Another Sarworld when in the height of their prosperity acenic chemist discovered phosphorus, oband civilization. They diligently collected taining by the distillation of a curious mixall the known works of their predecessors, ture what he described as "an artificial cartraveling far and wide in search of in for- buncle which shone in the dark like a good
mation. ~Vhen they had mastered all the moon."
knowledge obtainable from books, they Many of the most intellectual among the
brought their own genius to the work of ad- Arabians devoted themselves to the study of
vancement, and transmitted to Christian medicine. Their religion forbade dissection,
Europe a more perfect knowledge of medi- hence they were deprived of this means of
cine, natural philosophy, and mathematics advancement in anatomy; nevertheless they
than they received from Greek and Indian made some discoveries in osteology. In paauthors; while to them we owe the very be- thology, therapeutics, and materia medica
ginning and early development of chemistry, their progress was great. Er-Razi, generally
which is the foundation of so many of the called by Europeans Rhazes, wrote the first
luxuries and wonders of modern civilization. authentic description of exanthematous disGibbon says: "The science of chemistry eases, his treatise on small-pox and measles
owes its origin and improvement to the in- being afterward translated into Greek at the
dustry of the Saracens. They first invented desire of one of the Byzantine emperors.
and named the alembic for the~purposes of Avicenna's Canon of Medicine was translated
distillation; analyzed the subjects of the into Hebrew and Latin, and remained for
three ki~gdoms of nature; tried the distinc- centuries the standard a~thority in the unition and affinities of alkalies and acids, and versities of~Vestern Europe. The influence
converted the poisonous minerals into soft of Arabic teachings in medicine was so strong
and salutary medicines."2 that the western nations adopted the nomen The first great chemist among the Ara- clature of their instructors, and used it conbians was Geber, who flourished in the latter stantly until the general revival of letters in
part of the eighth or early in the ninth cen- the ~Vest, when, with the returning zeal for
tury; and his works remained standard un- everything classic, the Greek terms came into
til the seventeenth century, chemists in the use, though some words, as alcohol, alembic,
mean time doing "nothing more than repeat- elixir, still remain to mark the impress of
ing his experiments." To him is attributed Arabian influence. The Saracen physicians
the discovery of the "infernal stone" or ni- were familiar with the principal mercurial and
trate of silver, corrosive sublimate, ammo- arsenical preparations used in the treatment
niacal salts, and the exact process of cupel- of disease, also with the sulphates of several
lation of gold and silver. Before his day no metals. They invented the probang, and
`Encyc. Brit., 9th Ed., Art. Thomas Aquinas. made improvements in some surgical instru Decline and Fall of Rome, V. 306. ments, and hesitated not to use actual cau