Page:The growth of medicine from the earliest times to about 1800.djvu/266

 had to be done before the works of Hippocrates, Galen and other Greek medical authors could be brought within reach of the physicians of these different countries. At that late date it was by no means always feasible to get possession of an original copy of one of these classical treatises, and consequently in such cases it became necessary to employ an Arabic version in the place of the Greek original. It was in this indirect manner, therefore, that the Mohammedan Renaissance contributed most effectively in advancing the development of medical science in general.

One cannot dismiss the subject of Arabic medicine without calling attention once more to the spectacle which this remarkable Renaissance offers—that of an entire nation deliberately working to educate itself up to the level of such intellectual and artistic giants as the ancient Greeks; a work which continued with unabated zeal throughout several centuries in spite of obstacles and discouragements, and which never ceased for a moment. It is a spectacle without parallel in the world's history.