

PROGRESS OF THE ARTS. 355 



2. Arabian Science. Having, I trust, estab- 

 lished the view I have stated, respecting the relation 

 of Art and Science, we shall be able very rapidly to 

 dispose of a number of subjects which otherwise 

 might seem to require a detailed notice. Though 

 this distinction has been recognized by others, it 

 has hardly been rigorously adhered to, in conse- 

 quence of the indistinct notion of science which has 

 commonly prevailed. Thus Gibbon, in speaking 

 of the knowledge of the period now under our 

 notice, says 1 , "Much useful experience had been 

 acquired in the practice of arts and manufactures ; 

 but the science of chemistry owes its origin and 

 improvement to the industry of the Saracens. 

 They," he adds, "first invented and named the 

 alembic for the purposes of distillation, analyzed 

 the substances of the three kingdoms of nature, 

 tried the distinction and affinities of alcalis and 

 acids, and converted the poisonous minerals into 

 soft and salutary medicines." The formation and 

 realization of the notions of analysis and of affinity, 

 were important steps in chemical science, which, as 

 I shall hereafter endeavour to show, it remained 

 for the chemists of Europe to make at a much later 

 period. If the Arabians had done this, they might 

 with justice have been called the authors of the 

 science of chemistry ; but no doctrines can be ad- 

 duced from their works which give them any title 

 to this eminent distinction. Their claims are dis- 



1 Decline and Fall, vol. x. p. 43. 



AA2 



