Diseases of Domestic J.nimaJs, xxiii 



western Europe, until the sera when the genuine spirit for 

 improvement and for science began to appear in the world. 

 A worse enemy to science than even the Saracens originally 

 had been, succeeded in the Turks, who from their first de- 

 scent on the great theatre of the world, from the mountain- 

 ous regions of Taurus and Imaus, to the present day, have 

 uniformly evinced a settled hostility to improvement and in- 

 novation of any kind. In 1055 they pillaged Bagdad, and 

 the ruin of that seat of splendor and of learning, was com- 

 pleted by the Moguls in 1258. In the progress of their victo- 

 ries, but not until after a long siege, the Turks became mas- 

 ters of Constantinople, (the last remnant of the Roman em- 

 pire,) in the year 14<53, and thus became the unwilling instru- 

 ments of the diffusion of learning and the arts througliout Eu- 

 rope : for the philosophers who had made that city their 

 place of residence, after having been driven from Rome, fled 

 to the Italian states for protection, bringing with them their 

 own works, and those of the Greek authors in their origiual 

 dress, and fortunately found the people eager to receive the 

 information they had to communicate^ and, what was of 

 most consequence, the different rulers of the country were 

 disposed to aftbrd them all the protection and support they 

 desired. This spirit for the liberal arts had been revived, 

 in part, in consequence of the acquaintance which the cru- 

 saders had made with iirabian learning, during their chi- 

 valrous expeditions to the holy land ; and the means of gra- 

 tifying it had been already obtained, by the discovery of the 

 mode of making paper, in the eleventh century, and had been 

 powerfully promoted by that of the precious art of printing, 

 in the year lii5, which facilitated the multiplication of co- 

 pies of books. 



Europe thus enriched and roused made some progress iti 

 medical literature, and in anatomy, but it was slow ^ the 

 popular prejudices, nay the abhorrence against touching dead 

 bodies, and much more against their patient examination, 

 long continued in almost all countries except Italy, and the 



