LITERATURE OF THE ARABS. Ill 



could enter untouched by the water, and sit while 

 a cascade poured from above, with tapers burning 

 before him. We are not aware that any discoveries 

 of theirs in hydrostatics have been transmitted to 

 us ; but the titles of two works by the celebrated Al- 

 kendi are mentioned in Casiri, viz. on Bodies that 

 Float on Water, and on Bodies that Sink. 



Architecture was an art in which the Arabs par- 

 ticularly excelled; and the revenues of kingdoms 

 were expended in erecting public buildings, of which 

 Jerusalem, Babylon, and Baalbec, afforded the most 

 stupendous models. It has been observed as a cir- 

 cumstance worthy of remark, that no people ever 

 constructed so many edifices as the Arabs, who ex- 

 tracted fewer materials from the quarry. From 

 the Tigris to the Orontes, from the Nile to the Gua- 

 dalquiver, the buildings of the first settlers were 

 raised from the wreck of cities, castles, and for- 

 tresses, which they had destroyed. 



In the style of architecture, the Arabs both of the 

 East and the West had a kindred resemblance, as 

 appears by contrasting the disposition of the apart- 

 ments of the Alhambra, and other remains of Moor- 

 ish art, with the accounts given by travellers relative 

 to the general mode of Oriental buildings. While 

 little attention, comparatively, was bestowed on the 

 exterior of their mansions, on the furniture and ac- 

 commodation within every thing was lavished that 

 could promote luxurious ease and personal comfort. 

 Their rooms were so contrived that no reverbera- 

 tion of sound was heard. The light was generally 

 admitted in such a manner as, by excluding exter- 

 nal prospects, to confine the admiration of the spec- 

 tator chiefly to the ornaments and beauties of the 



