A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



contemplated writing a work on anatomy which should 

 correct the great classical authority's mistakes. 



It was the Arabs who invented the apothecary, and 

 their pharmacopoeia, issued from the hospital at 

 Gondisapor, and elaborated from time to time, formed 

 the basis for Western pharmacopoeias. Just how 

 many drugs originated with them, and how r many were 

 borrowed from the Hindoos, Jews, Syrians, and 

 Persians, cannot be determined. It is certain, how- 

 ever, that through them various new and useful drugs, 

 such as senna, aconite, rhubarb, camphor, and mercury, 

 were handed down through the Middle Ages, and that 

 they are responsible for the introduction of alcohol in 

 the field of therapeutics. 



In mediaeval Europe, Arabian science came to be re- 

 garded with superstitious awe, and the works of certain 

 Arabian physicians were exalted to a position above 

 all the ancient writers. In modern times, however, 

 there has been a reaction and a tendency to deprecia- 

 tion of their work. By some they are held to be mere 

 copyists or translators of Greek books, and in no 

 sense original investigators in medicine. Yet there 

 can be little doubt that while the Arabians did copy 

 and translate freely, they also originated and added 

 considerably to medical knowledge. It is certain 

 that in the time when Christian monarchs in western 

 Europe were paying little attention to science or 

 education, the caliphs and vizirs were encouraging 

 physicians and philosophers, building schools, and 

 erecting libraries and hospitals. They made at least a 

 creditable effort to uphold and advance upon the 

 scientific standards of an earlier age. 



