RHAZES. 



RHENANUS, BEATUS. 



n 



to his knowledge of the chemical and mechanical departments of agri- 

 culture there was united a thorough acquaintance with its routine 

 details. On his farm at Winkfield he engaged in his favourite pursuit 

 with a practical perception of its details, and a scientific knowledge of 

 its processes, which had probably never before been possessed by one 

 person. Thus, above all other writers of his day on the subject of 

 agriculture, Mr. Rham was eminently fitted by his excellent judgment 

 and sound sense, to be useful to the country iii the existing state of 

 its husbandry and rural economy. He was an active member of the 

 council and upon the committees of the Royal Society of Agriculture 

 from its formation in 1838. Mr. Rham wrote the chief agricultural 

 articles, including those on the agriculture of the several counties, in 

 the ' Penny Cyclopaedia ; ' and from these, those on the principal sub- 

 jects of. interest to the agriculturist were collected in a volume entitled 

 1 The Dictionary of the Farm.' He wrote the last article of this series 

 (' Yorkshire Agriculture') in 1843, only a few weeks before his death. He 

 was also the author of ' Flemish Husbandry,' a small work written for 

 the 'Farmers' Series of the Library of Useful Knowledge.' This work 

 was founded on a pedestrian tour in Flanders, in which, for many weeks, 

 he walked from farm to farm, enjoying the rough hospitality of an indus- 

 trious population, speaking their language readily, and entering into 

 their pursuits with the zeal of a skilful and sympathising friend. The 

 'Essay on the Analysis of Soils,' for which he obtained the prize 

 offered by the Royal Society of Agriculture, is published in the 

 society's ' Journal,' which also contains some other valuable contri- 

 butions from his pen. Not long before his death he had also com- 

 menced a series of papers on agriculture and rural economy in the 

 ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' edited by Dr. Liudley. 



RHAZES, or RAZES, the common Latinised name of one of the 

 most famous of the ancient Arabic physicians, who is also sometimes 

 called RAS^EUS, RASES, RASIS, RAZ^EUS, RAZEUS, RAZI, RHASES, RHAZEUS, 

 RHAZIS, or ARBASI. His names (as given by the anonymous author of 

 the 'Arabic. Philosoph. Biblioth.,' quoted by Casiri, ' Biblioth. Arabico- 

 Hisp. Escur.,' torn. L, p. 264) were Mohammed Beu-Zakaria Abu-Bekr 

 Al-Razi. He was born and brought up at Rai, the most northern town 

 (according to D'Herbelot, ' Biblioth. Orient.') of Irak Ajemi, and showed 

 from his youth a great inclination for the sciences. He acquired great 

 philological and philosophical knowledge, but chiefly devoted himself 

 to music ; and even in his thirtieth year he was only known for his 

 skill in singing and playing on the guitar. He afterwards, when past 

 the age of forty (Abulfeda, 'Annal. Musi.,' torn, ii, p. 347) applied 

 himself exclusively to the study of medicine and philosophy, and 

 repaired to Baghdad, where Ibn Zein Al-Taberi was his instructor, 

 from whotn he acquired much important information. Upon his 

 return to Rai he became director of the hospital in that town, and 

 afterwards of that at Baghdad. He was held in great estimation by 

 the contemporary princes, and was called the Galen of his time. He 

 travelled much, and visited both Jerusalem and Africa : he is said also 

 to have visited Spain (' Leo Afric., ' De Viris Illustr. Arab./ cap. 6 ; 

 apud Fabric., ' Biblioth. Grsec.,' torn, xiii.), where, in passing through 

 the streets of Cordova, he saw a crowd collected round the body of a 

 man who was said to have just fallen down dead. He caused him to 

 be beaten all over with rods, and particularly on the soles of his feet, 

 and thus in less than a quarter of an hour restored him to life. Upon 

 being asked about the invention of this singular remedy, he said that 

 he had seen it used with success in a similar case by an old Arab ; 

 and added, that " experience is of more use than a physician." To 

 Prince Al-Mansor, to whom he dedicated his work entitled ' Kettib 

 Almansouri ' (' Liber ad Almansorem '), he wished also to present 

 his ' Confirinatio Artis Chimisc,' and left Baghdad for this purpose. 

 The prince was much pleased, and gave him a thousand dinars ; but 

 wished at the same time to see a trial of the discoveries described in 

 the book, and granted a considerable sum for the preparation of the 

 necessary apparatus. The experiments however did not succeed, 

 which so enraged Al-Mansor that he called him a liar, struck him a 

 violent blow on the head, and ordered him to pack up his things quickly 

 and go back to Baghdad. (Ibn Khallikdn, ' Vitse Illustr. Viror.') This 

 blow is said to have afterwards occasioned his becoming blind, but 

 Abulfaraj (' Hist. Dynast.,' p. 291) and Casiri (loco cit.) attribute this 

 misfortune to eating beans. At first he wished to have an operation 

 performed ; but as the surgeon could not tell him how many mem- 

 branes the eye contained, he refused to let him touch his eyes; and 

 when some one represented to him that the operation might neverthe- 

 less succeed, he replied, " I have seen so much of the world that I 

 am wearied of it." He was so charitable and liberal that he often gave 

 money to his poor patients, and lived himself in poverty^ He died at 

 an advanced age, either at Baghdad or Rai, A.H. 311, or more probably 

 320 (A.D. 923 or 932), under the kalifat of Moctader Billah, the 

 eighteenth of the race of the Abbasides. (AViistenfeld, ' Gesch. der 

 Arab. Aerzte.') 



His works amounted to more than two hundred, and the bare titles, 

 as given by the anonymous author quoted above, take up four folio 

 columns in Casiri; of these only those that have been published can 

 be noticed here ; and for a more complete account of his medical 

 opinions and practice, the reader may consult Freind's ' Hist, of 

 Physic,' Sprengel's 'Hist.de la Med.,' and Haller's 'Bib! ioth. Medic. 

 Pract.' The principal work of his that we possess is called ' Al-Hilwi' 

 (' Continens '). An attentive perusal of this book is sufficient to prove 



that Rhazes could not have published it in its present form, as the 

 diseases are mentioned without the least order ; the treatment of 

 many of them is not touched upon ; the author is eometimes quoted 

 in the third person ('Rhaz. Contin.,' lib. vi., cap. 1, page 125, coL 2; 

 lib. viii., cap. 2, page 176, col. 4) ; and lastly, one meets with the names 

 of several Greek physicians more modern than Rbazes. To all these 

 arguments against the authenticity of the work may be added the 

 important testimonies of Haly-Abbas and Abulfaraj. The former gives 

 Rhazes all the praise he really deserves; but adds that the ' Al-Hdwi' 

 is certainly not the most evident proof of his science and good taste, 

 but that probably he only left the work to his descendants in the 

 form of an unfinished sketch. (Haly-Abbas, ' Prolog.,' 4to, page 6, ed. 

 Ludg., 1523.) Abulfaraj says positively that the authentic ' Al-Hdwi * 

 was never published. ('Chron. Syr.,' page 172, ed. Bruns et Kirsch.) 

 Notwithstanding these unanswerable proofs against the authenticity 

 of the work, it cannot be doubted that great part of it was written by 

 Rhazes ; and it will always be considered one of the most valuable 

 repositories of the medical science of the Arabians. (Sprengel, ' Hist, 

 de la Me"d.') The original Arabic has never appeared ; but several 

 Latin translations (under the various titles 'Elhavi,' 'Helchauy,' 

 ' Elchavi,' 'Elkavi,' ' Hawi,' &c.) were published in the 15th and 16th 

 centuries. The first edition is scarce, and was printed at Brescia 

 (Brixiae), 2 vols. fol., 1486, in black-letter, with two columns in a page, 

 under the following title : ' Liber Elhavi, seu Totum Continentis 

 Bubikir Zacharie Errasis Filii, traducti ex Arab, in Latin, per Mag. 

 Ferragiuin, Medicum Salcrni,' &c. The last edition is probably that 

 by Hieron. Surianua, fol., Venet., 1542. 



The most celebrated of his works is his treatise on the small-pox 

 and measles, which is the oldest account that we possess of these two 

 diseases. " He was not however the first writer on the subject, for he 

 himself quotes from Aaron and other of his countrymen, who had 

 formerly given imperfect histories of these diseases." Of this little 

 work there is an edition in Arabic and Latin, by J. Channing, Lond., 

 8vo, 1766. It was printed from a manuscript at Leyden, and Dr. 

 Russell says (Append, to ' Nat. Hist, of Aleppo ') that he had the book 

 collated with other manuscripts in the East, and that the readings 

 were upon the whole found very exact. It has been translated into 

 several ancient and modern languages. There is an English translation 

 in the English edition of Dr. Mead's medical works. 



The ten books, dedicated to Al-Mansor, ' Keta"b Almansouri,' 

 ' Liber ad Almansorem,' contain a complete system of medicine, drawn 

 from Arabic and Greek sources. The first book is on anatomy and 

 physiology ; the second, 'De Significationibus Tcmperaturarum ;' the 

 third, 'De Alimentiset Simplicibus;' the fourth, 'DeSanitatis Tuendaj 

 Ratioue ;' the fifth, ' De Morbis Cutis, et de Cosmeticis ;' the sixth, 

 ' De Victu Peregrinantium ;' the seventh, ' De Chirurgia ;' the eighth, 

 ' De Venenis ;' the ninth, ' De Curatione Omnium Partium ;' and the 

 tenth, ' De Febribus.' The writers from whom the work is chiefly 

 compiled are Hippocrates, Galen, Oribasius, Paulus ^Egineta, and 

 Ae'tius. It contains an excellent treatise on the qualities necessary 

 for a physician (Tract iv., cap. 32, pag. 78, ed. Lugd., 8vo, 1511). There 

 is also a very curious chapter (Tract vii., cap. 27, pag. 123) on quacks 

 and impostors, which has been translated and inserted by Freiud, in 

 his ' History of Physic.' He is said by Jo. Bapt. Silvaticus (' Controv. 

 Med.,' sec. 14) to be the first person who recommended intoxication 

 once or twice a month (' Almaus. Tract.,' iv., cap. 5, pag. 64), which 

 precept was repeated by Avicenna (' Cantic.,' part ii., sec. 34, pag. 383, 

 ed. Venet., 1564), and others, and vigorously opposed at Paris in the 

 17th century, in two thesis, by Hommets and Langlois. The ninth 

 book was for several centuries one of the most celebrated text-books 

 for medical students, but, notwithstanding its fame, Sprengel and 

 Haller both declare that it contains nothing original. The Al-Mansor 

 to whom the work is dedicated has by some been supposed to be the 

 kalif of Baghdad, who lived above two centuries before the time of 

 Rhazes, by others a prince of Cordova, who lived long after. Rhazes 

 himself solves the difficulty, and says (' Antidotar. Prolog.,' pag. 78, b. 

 ed. Venet., 1500) that he was a prince of Khorassdn (' domino Coras- 

 cem '), and nephew of the kalif Moktasi, named Al Mansdur Ibn Ishac 

 Ibu Israel Ibn Ahmed. The whole of the Arabic original of this 

 work has never been published, but a small extract (lib. ix., cap. 7) is 

 inserted, with a Latin translation, in Reiske's 'Opusc. Med. ex Moni- 

 ment. Arab.,' p. 70, sq. The first Latin translation was published 

 with several other of his smaller works, Mcdiol., folio, 1481, in bla,ek- 

 letter; the last edition came out at Basel, folio, 1544. There are also 

 several other works that have been published with the ' Liber ad 

 Almansorem,' for example, ' Liber Divisionum/ ' Aphorismi,' ' De 

 Juncturis,' ' Antidotarium,' 'De Morbis Infantum,' 'Introductio in 

 Medicinam,' ' De Calculo Renuna et Vesicro,' ' De Facultatibus Partium 

 Animalium,' &c. None of these little works contain anything of much 

 importance. 



RHENA'NUS, BEA'TUS, was born in 1485, at Schlettstadt in 

 Alsace. His father, though originally a butcher of Rheinach (whence 

 the name Rhenanus), was a man of considerable property, and gave his 

 Bon the best education that could be had in those times. After the 

 boy had finished his elementary education, his father sent him to Paris, 

 where he studied philosophy and ancient literature. From Paris he 

 went to Strasbourg and Basel, and in the latter place he formed an 

 intimate friendship with Erasmus and Gelenius. During his residence 



