ORIENTAL SCIENCE IN AMERICA. 687 



Theodore Child gave a description of a visit to Constantinople. He 

 narrates his treatment by the cnstom-hoiise officers, his visit to the ba- 

 zar, with notes on the mnnicipal and social life of Staniboul. Gnide- 

 books are of very little help to the visitor of Stamboul, at least, to a 

 man who really wants to know the life and social condition of the city. 



A. L. Froth ingham sketched the development and character of Mo- 

 hammedan education. The contrast between the liberal and the pro- 

 gressive Arab of the Khalifate, and the intolerent and fanatical part 

 of the East, are not to be lost sight of in a judgment of the culture of 

 Mohammedanism. He traces the development and character of Arab- 

 ian culture as influenced by the civilization of Byzantium, Syria, and 

 Persia; gives the curriculum of studies; names the three institutions 

 of instruction (school, college, and mosque), and points out the strong 

 moral element in their education. 



F. H. Hedge, in an article on Mohammedan Mysticism, affirms that 

 the recent account of the superior success, as compared with the Chris- 

 tian, of Mohammedan missions in Africa confirms the former estimate 

 of the prophet of Islam, whose claims were for the first time vindicated 

 by Thomas Carlyle in 1840, and M. Barthilemy St. Hilaire in 1SG5. 

 Mohammed borrowed much of liis religion from Judaism, but, notwith- 

 standing that this is the dominant element, he favored an un-Jewish 

 mysticism. He compares Mohammed's life with that of David. The two 

 most obnoxious features of his religion, fatalism and the sensual char- 

 acter of his paradise, are found in the belief held by some branches of 

 the Christian church, and, on the whole, are grossly misunderstood. 

 He furnishes the biography of a saintly woman, Rabia, and closes with 

 a few extracts from Tholuck's Anthology of Eastern Mystics (1825). 



Thomas P. Hughes discussed the Moslem's Bible, or Koran. Two 

 hundred and one millions receive and venerate the Koran as the word of 

 God. It is read more devoutly, more extensively, by the Moslems 

 than the Christian Bible by the Christians. The Moslem takes religion 

 seriously. The Koran contains some eighty thousand words, arranged 

 in one hundred and fourteen chapters, called soorahs. The finest col- 

 lection of ancient MSS. is in the library at Cairo. Whosoever can re- 

 cite the whole Koran from memory is dignified with the title of haflz, or 

 protector of the faith. The early chapters are merely poetic effusions. 

 The Koran is not an historic book; five periods can be distinguished in 

 its composition. 



E. P. Sanguinetti related his impressions of Constantinople ; his jour- 

 ney to Batna, one of the French military outposts; an excursion to the 

 tomb of Sidi Okbar ; an Arab marriage, and his experiences in the Arab 

 markets. 



Lawrence M. Simmons gave a brief statement of the views of Philippi 

 and Wright on the separation which may take place between the so- 

 called defined and defining noun in Arabic, followe I by a translation 

 from the celebrated '• Watchfire" of the late ^STasif AlYazigi, showing 

 the tfe^tment of this subject by a native grammarian. 



