IN THE LAST HALF- CENTURY. 7 



physicians. For the imperious necessity 

 of seeking some remedy for the physical 

 ills of life had insured the preservation of 

 more or less of the wisdom of Hippocrates 

 and his successors ; and, by a happy con- 

 junction of circumstances, the Jewish and 

 the Arabian physicians and philosophers 

 escaped many of the influences which, at 

 that time, blighted natural knowledge in 

 the Christian world. On the other hand, 

 the superstitious hopes and fears which 

 afforded countenance to astrology and to 

 alchemy also sheltered astronomy and the 

 germs of chemistry. Whether for this, 

 or for some better reason, the founders of 

 the schools of the Middle Ages included 

 astronomy, along with geometry, arith- 

 metic, and music, as one of the four 

 branches of advanced education; and, in 

 this respect, it is only just to them to ob- 

 serve that they were far in advance of 

 those who sit in their seats. The school- 

 men considered no one to be properly 



