LITERATURE OF THE ARABS. 85 



In anatomy and surgery, the Arabs never attained 

 to any remarkable proficiency. The polhited touch 

 of the dead alarmed the most determined naturalist ; 

 and the orthodox Mussulman felt himself debarred 

 from this impious knowledge by the prejudices of 

 his creed. When Toderini asked a mufti if it was 

 allowable to practise human dissection, he Avas told 

 ') that the very question itself was an infringement of 

 ^ their divine law. To mutilate a corpse was prohibited 

 by the religious belief that the soul does not depart 

 from the body at the moment of death, but remains, 

 after deserting the other members, for a consider- 

 able time in the breast. Besides, it was deemed 

 necessary to appear entire at the stern tribunal of 

 IMunkir and Nakir, to undergo the sepulchral exami- 

 nation. Hence the anatomical studies of the Arabs 

 were restricted to the lower animals, and skeletons 

 in the cemeteries. In their writings on the subject, 

 they did little piore than translate and paraphrase 

 the works of the Greeks. 



The surgery of Ali Abbas has some distinctive 

 features ; for though he modestly professed only to 

 be a copyist, he made a great many observations 

 peculiar to himself. His son, Avho followed the 

 same profession, was the author of a book on the 

 diseases of the eye. In operating for cataract, i^vi- 

 cenna recommended depression ; and speaks of ex- 

 traction, which he had several times seen practised, 

 as a very dangerous experiment. The most emi- 

 nent of the Arabian surgeons was Abulcasis, whose 

 name has been already introduced. He complained 

 of the deplorable state into which the art had fallen 

 in his day ; and informs us that the Spanish prac- 

 titioners dashed into all kinds of operations without 

 knowing in the least degree the nature of the parts 

 they were dividing, and consequently without at- 

 tending to the precautions necessary for averting 

 danger. His surgery is arranged into three books ; 

 the first treating of caustics, the second of surgical 

 Vol. II.— H 



