206 Piiii,osoi>HY OF Botany. 



of " heretic " in a vindictive sense, and an equality of rights of 

 membership was observed solely upon the confession of the 

 apostolic creed. The first act of grave violence was com- 

 mitted by Theophilus, .bishop of Alexandria, in the destruction 

 of the Serapium. the most magnificent structure in the East, 

 the relic of the statesmanship of Alexander's captains, the con- 

 necting link between the ancient cult of Egypt and free-think- 

 ing Greece. 



From this period on there was no longer any thought of sci- 

 ence. The sects became numerous, their contests violent ; the- 

 ological discussions ended in bloody riots and wholesale mur- 

 ders. The religious sermons delivered in the churches were 

 accompanied by clapping of the hands and shouting of the 

 audience, like theatrical performances. 



In the midst of raving and wrangling of sects between 

 Aryans, Nestorians, Monophysites, Eutychians, and the mu- 

 tual anathematizing of rioting powers appeared the Khalifa 

 Omar, with his invincible army, who entered the gates of the 

 cily, burned the museum and great library, and the dark cloud 

 of Moslem fanaticism henceforth overshadowed the realm of 

 the Fharaohs. 



rhe appearance of Mohammed and the promulgation of his 

 religion was adverse to progress in science and philosophy dur- 

 ing the first ages of Islam. This impostor thought it neces- 

 sary to keep his followers as ignorant as himself. That he 

 might at •nee cut off impertinent contradiction, he issued an 

 edict which made the stud}' of liberal sciences and arts a cap- 

 ital offense. At the same time to captivate the imaginations 

 of his ignorant followers, and thereby establish his authority, 

 he sent forth in separate portions a sacred book, to which he 

 gave the name of the Koran, containing the doctrines and pre- 

 cepts of his religion. This book, which was chiefly a compila- 

 tion, sufficiently injudicious and incoherent, from the books 

 of the Nestorians, the Jews, and ancient Arabic superstitions, 

 long continued the only object of study among the Mohamme- 

 dans. Their reverence for this holy book, the leaves of which, 

 thev were taught to believe, were communicated to the prophet 

 by an angel from heaven, long superseded every ])hilosophical 

 and literary pursuit. Im.agining that the Koran contained 



