MEDICINE AND PHILOSOPHY IITH AND 1-TH CENTURIES 91 



extent of repeating in the first two chapters Isidore's treatment 

 of atoms and of elements.^' He follows Bede in his treatment 

 of time, but his edition of the Epistle to the Corinthians has 

 " momentum " instead of " atomum." He therefore adapts 

 Bede's definition of " moment," and treats the moment as the 

 minimum and smallest time measured by the motion of the 

 stars. But he also remarks that another edition of the text 

 of Paul has in atomo et in ictu oculi, gives the etymology of 

 atomos, and explains that atoms of time are perceptible to 

 grammarians rather than to calculators.^^ 



The marks and remnants of older distinctions concerning 

 elements are plentiful, but the medical writings which were 

 translated during the eleventh century used elements more 

 systematically to explain the phenomena of nature and pro- 

 vided greater precision of statement and more diversified data 

 of application in the use of elements as principles. Constantine 

 the African (c. 1015-1087) translated from the Arabic, or 

 adapted, several books attributed to Galen, in which elements 

 are treated in detail, as well as Isaac Israeli's Book of Elements, 

 but the analysis of elements in the Pantegni, an adaptation of 

 a portion of the Royal Book of Medicine of Haly Abbas, which 

 is the tradition of Galen concerning elements, had a clearly 

 marked influence.^" The Pantegni begins, in medieval fashion, 

 by reciting the six things which should be known about a book: 

 the intention of the book, its utility, its title, what part of 

 learning it deals with, the name of its author, the division of 

 the book. The author's name is given as Constantine the 

 African, who brought the materials together from writings of 

 many authors. It was Constantine's ambition to write a book 

 covering the whole of theoretical and practical medicine, which 



"Rhabanus Maurus, De Universo, IX, 1 and 2, PL 111, 262A-3A. 



" Ibid., X, 2, 286A-B. 



" Constantini Africani, Opera, Basel, 1536 and 1539. Several of Constantine's 

 translations are published among the works of Isaac Israeli, Opera Omnia Ysaac, 

 Lyons, 1515. Thus, only the portion of the Pantegni devoted to theory is published 

 in the 1539 volume of Constantine's works; both parts. Theory and Practice, are 

 in the edition of Isaac. 



