THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY, 



ir had been fo long defcribcd by Geber? We 

 arc indebted to the Arabian ph yficians, not only 

 for our knowledge of fe vend purgatives, as man- 

 na, fenna, rhubarb, tamarinds, caflia, and myro- 

 bolan ; but alfo of muflc, nutmegs, mace, clove 

 giliiflowcr, and other aromatics ; and from them 

 we learned the ufe of fugar, which they em- 

 ployed in (lead of honey, in fyrups, juleps, con- 

 lervcs, and fomc confcdtions. Rhazis fpcaks of 

 corrofive fubliniate, in the ninth or tenth centu- 

 ry; and Avicenna mentions not only it, but 

 likcwilc fublimecl arfenic, dillilled water of ro- 

 fes, and the diftillation of bones and huir. Johan- 

 nes Mefues, the younger of Damafcus, writes of 

 the diflilled water of rofes, and the oils of am- 

 ber, barley, and bricks, in the twelfth century, 

 as if they were well known to the antients. In 

 the thirteenth century, however, chemiflry be- 

 came of more importance to medicine. Thad- 

 dieus a Florentine, who died in 1270, at eighty 

 years of age, among chemical preparations, be- 

 llows great commendations on the virtues of fpi- 

 ritofv/ine. Baiilius Valentinus prepared vari- 

 o'us kinds of antimony, which he ilrongly recom- 

 mends in practice. As to what is faid by fomc, 

 that it derives its name of antimony from its bad 

 eflecls on the monks of his fociety, as tfanli'/iona- 

 cbal, is entirely without foundation, as Bafilius 

 himfelf makes ufe of that appellation, which o- 

 thcrwifc he certainly would not liavc done. 



