In the nineteenth and subsequent chapters he treats of aurum vivum, of hair, of urine, of eggs, of blood, of glass, of white linen, of horse-dung, and of vinegar.
The sixth diction, in thirty-three chapters, treats of the calcination of the metals, of sublimation, and of some other processes. I think it unnecessary to be more particular, because I cannot perceive any thing in it that had not been previously treated of by Geber.
The seventh diction treats of the preparation of blood and eggs, and the method of dividing them into their four elements. It treats also of the elixir of silver, and the elixir of gold; but it contains no chemical fact of any importance.
The eighth diction treats of the preparation of the ferment of silver, and of gold. The ninth diction treats of the whole magistery, and of the nuptials of the sun and moon; that is, of gold and silver. The tenth diction treats of weights.
The chemical writings of Avicenna are of little value, and apply chemistry rather to the supposed medical qualities of the different substances treated of, than to the advancement of the science. All the chemical knowledge which he possesses is obviously drawn from Geber. Geber, then, may be looked upon as the only chemist among the Arabians to whom we are indebted for any real improvements and new facts. It is true that the Arabian physicians improved considerably the materia medica of the Greeks, and introduced many valuable medicines into common use which were unknown before their time. It is enough to mention corrosive sublimate, manna, opium, asafœtida. It would be difficult to make out many of the vegetable substances used by the Arabian chemists; because the plants which they designated by particular names, can very seldom be identified. Botany at that time had made so little progress, that no method was known of describing plants so as to enable other persons to determine what they were.
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