254 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



many books on the subject, but none of them has come down 

 to us. Several verses and sayings attributed to him are, 

 however, quoted by later authors. 



At first, Arabian alchemists seem to have largely contented 

 themselves with studying the translations of Greek books on 

 alchemy, but soon they began to carry out original research, 

 and to write books of their own. These very naturally show 

 the influence of the Greek ideas, but it would be untrue to say 

 (as has been said and often repeated) that the Muslims made 

 no original contributions to chemical science. In the Qur'an 

 it is written, " God has fnade you a middle nation,^' and indeed 

 this central position of the young Muslim empire between 

 Persia and Byzantium on one side, and Egypt on the other, 

 proved extremely valuable for the development of chemistry. 

 The Egyptians excelled in metallurgy and other practical 

 chemical operations, and the combination of this practical 

 side with the habit of chemical speculation derived from the 

 Greeks enabled the Muslims to establish chemistry on the 

 sure ground of a true scientific method. 



The best descriptions of Arabian alchemy given by Muslim 

 authorities are to be found in the Kitdb al-Fihrist, the Prole- 

 gomena of Ibn Khaldun, and the Kashfu'l-Zunun of Hajji 

 Khalifa. The earliest of these three works is the Kitab al- 

 Fihrist, a Muslim encyclopaedia written in a.d. 988. In this 

 book there is a section on alchemy containing an account of 

 the supposed origin of the science, its chief exponents and 

 their most important works. According to the author, An- 

 Nadlm, the alchemists his contemporaries claimed a great 

 antiquity for their science, and attributed its origin to Hermes, 

 a ruler over ancient Egypt and a sage and philosopher. He 

 is the Hermes Trismegistos of Greek alchemy, and his name is 

 commemorated to this day when we speak of sealing apparatus 

 " hermetically." 



Some of the chief alchemists, according to the Fihrist, were 

 Moses, Aaron, Pythagoras, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, 

 Ostanes, Zosimus, Agathodemon, Heraclius, Mary the Copt, 

 Safidus, Khalid ibn Yazid, Jabir ibn Hayyan (whose name in 

 its Latin form is famous as Geber), Dhu'n-Nun the Egyptian, 

 Ar-Razi (Rhazes), and Ibn Wahshiyya. It is clear from this 

 list that the influence of Greek thought was very potent in 

 the early days of Arabian alchemy. 



Ibn Khaldun, the greatest philosophical historian of Islam, 

 died in a.d. 1406. In the Prolegomena or " Foreword " to his 

 History, he gives a critical account of alchemy, and expresses 

 himself very freely concerning those who used alchemy for 

 such base ends as the manufacture of counterfeit coin. He 

 was, indeed, sceptical of the integrity or intelligence of all 



