8 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



anatomy was involved in the removal of the viscera, 

 and much more in a particular method they followed 

 in removing the brain. 



In their various industries the Egyptians made 

 use of gold, silver, bronze (which on analysis is 

 found to consist of copper, tin, and a trace of lead, 

 etc.), metallic iron and copper and their oxides, 

 manganese, cobalt, alum, cinnabar, indigo, madder, 

 brass, white lead, lampblack. There is clear evidence 

 that they smelted iron ore as early as 3400 B.C. 

 maintaining a blast by means of leather tread-bel- 

 lows. They also contrived to temper the metal, and 

 to make helmets, swords, lance-points, ploughs, tools, 

 and other implements of iron. Besides metallurgy 

 they practiced the arts of weaving, dyeing, distilla- 

 tion. They produced soap (from soda and oil), 

 transparent and colored glass, enamel, and ceramics. 

 They were skilled in the preparation of leather. 

 They showed aptitude for painting, and for the other 

 fine arts. They were expert builders, and possessed the 

 engineering skill to erect obelisks weighing hundreds 

 of tons. They cultivated numerous vegetables, grains, 

 fruits, and flowers. They had many domestic ani- 

 mals. In seeking the satisfaction of their practical 

 needs they laid the foundation of geometry, botany, 

 chemistry (named, as some think, from the Egyptian 

 Khem, the god of medicinal herbs), and other sci- 

 ences. But their practical achievements far tran- 

 scended their theoretical formulations. To all time 

 they will be known as an artistic, noble, and reli- 

 gious people, who cherished their dead and would 

 not allow that the good and beautiful and great 

 should altogether pass away. 



