Page:An Essay on the Age and Antiquity of the Book of Nabathaean Agriculture.djvu/84

68 he quotes a certain Bábekái as an ancient Babylonian sage. The science of “The Book of Poisons” is imbued with charlatanism; sorcery abounds in its pages;—we feel that these are the fruits of an art in its decay, which, no longer sustained by the traditions of true science, degenerates into superstition. Verbiage, trivial personalities, so unlike the style of ancient writers, are here even more rife than in the work of Kúthámí.

We have, then, a work, anterior to “The Book of Nabathæan Agriculture,” which throughout presents evident marks of modern origin. But another Nabathæan work, also translated by Ibn Wahshíya, gives rise to yet more important deductions. This work is entitled “The Book of Tenkelúshá, the Babylonian, the Kukanian.” It is a genethlialogical