LITERATURE OF THE ARABS. 87 



three kingdoms of nature ; and, on his return, pub- 

 lished the result of his investigations in three books : 

 first, on the nature and virtues of plants — second, on 

 metals and minerals — and third, on animals. He 

 died at Damascus in the year 1248, in which city- 

 he held the dignity of vizier. Casiri mentions an- 

 other eminent botanist, Ibn Phara, a celebrated phy- 

 sician of Corella, who was appointed curator of the 

 botanical garden of the Sultan Alnasar. Albiruni, 

 who died in 941, travelled in India during the long, 

 period of forty years, to observe the nature and 

 properties of the mineral and vegetable kingdoms ; 

 and has given the result of his researches in a 

 rare and exceedingly valuable treatise on precious 

 stones. 



The praise of originality, however, is more justly 

 due to the Saracens for their discoveries in chymis- 

 try, of which they may be considered as the invent- 

 ors, in so far as regards its introduction into medi- 

 cine. Before their time this science was degraded 

 to the same level with magic and astrology, and 

 confounded with the reveries of alchymy, or the art 

 of making gold by means of the philosopher's stone, 

 which is usually described as a red powder, having 

 a peculiar smell. Besides the virtue of transmuting 

 metals, this precious compound was beheved to have 

 the inherent property of charming evil spirits, curing 

 all diseases, aiid protracting the span of human ex- 

 istence to an indefinite extent. The history of al- 

 chymy, from first to last, is full of fiction and obscu- 

 rity, and consists of little else than an account of 

 dupes and impostors who made a livelihood by vend- 

 ing their mystic nostrums to the ignorant at an ex- 

 travagant price ; for, strange as it may appear, mul- 

 titudes were found credulous enough to believe that 

 wealth and immortality could be bottled up in thumb- 

 vials, or extracted by means of the crucible from 

 oxides and powders. 



This study, however, was attended witji many 

 incidental advantages, by extending the boundaries 



