94 LITERATURE OF THE ARABS. 



algebraic calculus, and the latter is accounted the 

 inventor of the solution of equations of the second 

 degree. There is an original treatise by Omar ibn 

 Ibrahim, on the Algebra of Cubic Equations, which 

 exists in manuscript in the library of the Univer- 

 sity at Leyden ; and we learn from Casiri that the 

 principles and the praises of this science were 

 sung in an elaborate poem by Alcassem, a native 

 of Granada. 



The numerical characters, w^hich have tended so 

 much to simphfy and abridge calculations, and with- 

 out which none of the exact sciences could have 

 been carried to the point at which they have arrived 

 in our day, were beyond all doubt communicated 

 to us by the Arabs. They were not, however, the 

 inventors of these digits, which, as well as their 

 arithmetic, they acknowledge to have received from 

 the East ; and many of their treatises on this sub- 

 ject they denominate " Indian Arithmetic," " The 

 Art of Computing according to the Indians," &c. 

 It is well known that the Hebrews, Greeks, and Ro- 

 mans, and perhaps other nations, used alphabetical 

 letters for the representation of numbers. The 

 Indians adopted this simple and natural method ; 

 and their original numerals, of which the Arabic 

 ciphers are merely an abridgement, may be consid- 

 ered as primitive words or characters. Their use 

 and general diffusion in Europe must be ascribed to 

 the persevering industry of the famous Gerbert, 

 afterward Pope Sylvester II., who is the first phi- 

 losopher known to have visited Spain in the pursuit 

 of knowledge. On his return he founded two 

 schools — one at Bobbio in Italy, and another at 

 Rheims in France, both of which were numerously 

 attended, and contributed to give a new turn to the 

 study of philosophy. 



Their mathematical and mechanical knowledge 

 the Arabs turned to various purposes of multiplying 

 and improving the conveniences of life — such as the 



