CONTENTS. Vli 



Page 

 The vast sphere of new ideas opened to mankind by tkc campaigns 



of Alexander 520 



The countries through which the Macedonians passed 522 



The natural products first made known 523 



Aristotle 525 



The men of Aristotle's school 529 



The comparison of races 531 



The schools of Babylon ., 532 



Alexander's advance to the land of the Five Rivers 534 



III. Extension of the contemplation of the universe under the Ptole- 

 mies 536-546 



The three great Ptolemies 537 



The caravan trade, its influence in extending a knowledge of dif- 

 ferent countries 538 



Proofs of the commercial relations maintained by the Egyptians ... 540 



The tendency of the schools of Alexandria 541 



The foundation of the Alexandrian Museum 542 



The Alexandrian astronomers 543 



The slow advance of astronomy from those remote ages to its 



present high stand 546 



IV. Universal dominion of the Romans 547-568 



The extent of the area of the Roman dominions 548 



The few observers of nature who appeared at this period 550 



The greatness of the national character of the Romans 551 



Diffusion of the Latin tongue 552 



The expeditions undertaken by Asiatic rulers . 553 



The works of Strabo and Ptolemy 555 



The way-measurers in use amongst the Chinese 559 



The optical inquiries of Ptolemy 561 



The botanical gardens of the Romans ... 563 



The Historia Naturalis of Pliny 564 



Reference to the influence exercised by the establishment of Chris- 

 tianity 568 



V. Invasion of the Arabs 569-600 



Principal momenta of the recognition of the unity of nature 569 



The Arabs 571 



Natural products of Arabia 574 



Nomadic life in Arabia 577 



Mental culture of the Arabs 578 



Arabian geographers 584 



The learned men of Arabia 587 



Astronomical works of the Arabs 593 



Science of numbers 597 



VI. Period of Oceanic discoveries 601-680 



The fifteenth century, its tendencies 601 



The first discovery of America 603 



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