AVICENNAE

DE

CONGELATIONE ET C O N G L U T IN A T ip N ^ ri^ D | M
X / Y
BEING SECTIONS OF THE ( >

KITAB AL-SHf®
x ^ v j p r b ^ ^

The Latin and Arabic texts

edited

with an English Translation of the latter and with

critical notes
by

E. J. HOLMYARD, M. A., M. Sc., F. I. C., M. R. A. S.,

H e a l of the Science Department, Clifton Col!e{e, Bristol,

and

D. C. MANDEVILLE,
Clifton College '/

J
Librairie Orientaliste
PAU L G E U T HN E R
13, rue Jacob, PARIS
1927
 L IB R A IR IE O R IE N TALISTE P A U L G E U T H N E R
A L Y BEN ABDERRAHM AN BEN HODEIL EL AND ALU SY. L a p a ru re des
ca v a lie rs et l'in sign e des preux, traduction franijaise. PrecSdee d’une £tude
sur les sources des liippiatres arabes et accompagnee d’appendices critiques
sur l’histoire da pur-sang, de l’equitation et des sports hippiques arabes, en
Maghreb et en Orient, par Lours M e r c i e r . Avec 23 pnotographies et 11 dessins
d’apres des miniatures, d on t 2 en cotclenrs, xv, 502 pp., gr. in-8, 1924. 120 fr.
I. S u r la creation du c h c v a l,... su r sn diffusion dans le monde. — II. S u r les vertus m ysterieuses
des chevaux. — III. S ur 1’entretien des chevaux. — IV. S u r les nom s que les A rabes donnent aux
difft’rentes parties du corps du cheval. — V. S u r les qualites a rechercher dans les diflerentes pa rlies
du corps et les ressem blances qu’il e st boa que le cheval pr£sente avec certains anim aux. — VI. Sur
les robes, signes, pelotes, balzanes e t £pis. — VII. S u r ce qu’il faut recliercber chez les chevaux. —-
VIII. S ur les viccs naturels c t acquis. — IX. D e l’£preuve des chevaux, de leiir choix, physiognom ie
du cheval. — X. De 1’apprentissage de l'equitation en ses diverses m anifestations. — Xl. D es courses
de chevaux, du peloton a l’arrivee des paris. — XII. Noms des chevaux du Prophfcte b£ni e t de
quelques-uns des plus reputes parm i les A rabes, — XIII. T erm es e t nom s de clioses speciaux aux
chevaux. — XIV. Citations des pofctes su r la preference m arquee p a r les A rabes po ur les chevaux
plus que pour aucunc autre race. — XV. Du sabre. — XVI. De la lance. — XVII. D es arcs e t des
lU'ches. — XVIII. Des cuirasses (cottcs de m ailles, etc.). — XIX. D es boucliers e t arm es analogues.
— XX. D es arm es e t equipem ents en general.
A ppendices: D ressage e t manage. — Origine e t subdivisions de la race chevatine arabe. — S u r la
sailue e t l’dge du cheval___D es soins, du regime, de l’entram em ent. — D escription d’une evolution
6questre. — Coup d’ceil d’ensem ble su r 1’equitation, le dressage et lelevage arabes 6 trav ers les figes.
— In d e x bibliographique d'auteurs et traducieiirs europeens. — In d e x bibliogrciphiqiie d'ouvrages
en arabe. — In d ex des tertnes d'hippologie. — T able alpnabetique des m a tu re s.
Parm i les planches ho rs texte 5 signaler les 11 dessins d’apr&s les M anuscrits p ersans de laB iblio-
thfeque nationale. Ces 11 planches represented u ne serie d'exercices & cheval et de m aniem ent
d ’arm es,
A L Y BEN ABDERRAHM AN BEN HODEIL EL ANDALUSY. L a p aru re des
c a v a lie rs et l ’insigne des p reu x, texte arabe, edite d’apres le manuscrit
de M. Nf.hlil, revu et corrige sur l’exemplaire de la bibliotheque de l’Escurial
par Louis Mercier, viii pp. et 103 pi. en phototypie, in-8 raisin, 1922. 4 0 fr.
ANDRE (P.-J.). L ’lslam noir. Contribution a 1’etude des contraries religieuses
islumiques en Afrique occidentale, suivie d’une etude sur l’islam au Dahomey,
131 pp. pet. in-8, 1 9 2 4 ........................................................ 12 fr. 50
E xpose de la repartition des m usulm ans en Afrique occidentale. — H istorique rapide des origines
de 1’islam isation en Afrique occidentale. — Les (Jftdria. — Les Tidjania. — Les aenoussia. — Les
A hm adia. — Conclusions et hypotheses. — C ontribution d I’etude des m usulm ans de Dahom ey, par-
ticulifcrement dans la region de Porto-Novo.
ANDRE (P .- J .). L ’lsla m et les R aces. 2 volumes in-8, 1922 . . 5 0 fr.
T ome p r e m ie r : L es O rigin es , le T ro n c el la Greffe , x x v , 270 pages.
Prem iere p a rtie : L es Origines, M ahom et et le Coran. Chap. I. L’Asie anterieure au x debuts de
n slan iism e (Les nom ades — l’e tat religieux de l’Asie anterieure au vn» sifecle aprfes J.*C.)___Chap. 13,
L a vie do M ahom et (Sa jeunesse e t ses debuts de prophete — M ahom et prophete organisateur). —
Chnp. III. Le C oran (Introduction au C oran — le Coran et ses origines)— Chap. Iv . La doctrine
m usuhnane — la loi religieuse — la dogm atique — la m orale. — Chap. ^ • ^ e Coran : Code (l’islam
theocratie — le C o ra n : Code privd e t social). — Deuxieme p a rtie : L e Tronc, le K h a lifa t et la civilu
eation arabe . Chap. VI. L’expansion arabe. — Chap. VII. L a civilisation arabe e t l’apogee du K ha­
lifat : les etudes religieuses. — Chap. VIII. La civilisation arabe et l’a p o ^ e du K h alifat: les etudes
profanes. — Chap. IX. Le dt'clin. — Troisiem e p a rtie : L a Greffe, les Turco-M ongols et Vlslant •
Chap. X. Iia conqufito turco-m ongole. — Chap. XI. Le Turco-M ongol cham pion dc I’lslam ism e. —
Chap. XII. La T urquie modern**. — Les aboutissan ts de la doctrine turco-m ongole. — Chap. XIII. La
question d ’O rient contem poraine.
T ome d e u x ie m e : Les R a m e m ix : Mouvements regionaux et sectes, 325 pages.
P r o to r e ta r tie : L es schismes et les sectes. Chap. I. K aredjism e et chyisme. — Chan. II. Le Mysti-
cism e dans I'lslam . — Chap. III. Les transform ations m ystiques de I’lslam . — Chap. Iv . Le fanatism e
nuisulm an (la guerre sainte pendant la guerre). — Deuxieme p a rtie : L es m ouvem ents regionaux
islam iques ism s de Vexpansion arabe . Chap. V. L a question arabe. — Chap. VI. L’Egypte. — Chap.
VII. L’Afriq ue du N ord e t de l'lslain. — Chap. VIII. L’lslam chez les N oirs. — Chap. I a . L’A byssinie.
— Chan. A. Les S u ltan ats de l'O c6an indien. — Chap. XI. Zanzibar et M adagascar. — Chap. XII. L a
Croisade des Epices. — Troisieme p a rtie : L es m ouvem ents regionaux islam iques issus de Vexpan­
sion turco-mongole* Chap. X m . L’islam en E xtrem e O rient (I'lslam en Chine — l’lslam en Indo-Chine
— l’lslam au Japon). — Chap* XIV. L’lslam en R ussie. — Chap. XV. L lsla m dans I’lnsulinde. —
Chap. XVL L in d e m usulm ane. — Chap* XVII. L a P erse, 1*A fghanistan, le Beloutchistan.
CARRA DE V A U X (Baron). L es Penseurs de l’lslam , 5 volumes, petit in-8,
1921-1926 ........................................ ............................................... 15 0 fr.
Tome I” : Les S ou v era in s V H is toire et la P h ilo s o p h ie p o litiq u e , V II et
383 pages, 1921.
L es Souverains : el-M ansour, H aroun er-Rechld, eUMamoun, Saladin, H oulagou, M ahom et II,
Solim an, T am erlan, M ahmoud le Ghaznevide, Baber, A kbar, D iihanguir, S h ah A bbas, N adir S hah. —
Les historiens a ra b e s:T a b a ri, M asoudi, Ibn M iskaweih, le F ahkn, Zaydan, Ibn el*Athir, O usam a,
A boul«Feda, M akrizi, M akkari. — L es historiens P ersans et les historiens des M ongols : Firdousi,
M ustaufi, M irkhond, Raclud ed*Din, N&siri K hosrau, Nesaw i. A bou’I-Ghazi. — L es historiens tu rc s :
S a‘d ud-din, Psa'ima, H adji Khalfa, m em oires de B arberousse, Evliya Efendi, M ehem et Efendi, W asif
Efendi, A luned D jevad. — L a philosophie p olitique : M awerdi, Ibn Khaldoun, Djahiz, Niz&m el’ Moulk,
A bo ul Fazl, I ‘.Vln-i-Akbari. — L es proveroes et les contes : A ntar, N&bigah, Zam akhchari, M eldani,
G nomes du M edjdoub, Lokman, Kalilah, les Mille e t Une N uits.
Tom^II : L es Geogrctplies, les Sciences m athem atiqaes et n a tn re lle s , 400 pages,

L e t gtiographes: J a ’koubi, E drisi, A bou’l-FedA, Jakout, Kazwini, Dimichqui* — L es m a rin s et la

 AVICENNAE
DE

C0NGELAT10NE ET CONQLUTINATIONE LAPIDUM

 AVICENNAE
DE

CONGELATIONE ET CONGLUTINATIONE LAPIDUM

BEING SECTIONS OF THE

KITAB AL-SHIFA’
The Latin and Arabic texts
edited

with an English Translation of the latter and with

critical notes
by

E. J. HOLMYARD, M. A., M. Sc., F. I. C., M. R. A. S.,

Head of the Science Department, Clifton College, Bristol,
and

D. C. MANDEVILLE,
Clifton College

Librairie O rientaliste
PAUL GEUTHNER
13, rue Jacob, PARIS
1927
 PREFA CE.
■ Iu an a rtic le entitled D a s sogcnanntc I V . H itch d cr M cte o ro lo ijie
des A ris to tc lc s In geb o rg Ilam m er-Jensen has expressed v e r y cle a rly
the subject o f the present book. A f t e r dealin g with certain writings

ascribed to A ris to tle, Har*initH'-Jeiisen says : — “ Im -Mittelalter war

aber ein anderes m in eralogisches Schriftchen unter dem N a m en des
A r isto te les im U m la ufe '. lib e r dc m in cra lib u s A r is to tc lc s . In den
Handscliriften d er hiteinischen •Uebersetzungen des G erard von Cre­
mona fimlet sich eine Subskription, znfolge d er das I V . Buch schon
v or G erard von Crem ona von H erm an n uebersetzt war, tria cero
u ltim a A vicennue ca p itu la tra n s tu lit A u r e liu s de arabico in lu tin u m .

D ie genanuten drei Ivapitel sind als lib e r dc coni/elationc (c o m jlu tin a -

tio n c ) bald unter dem N am e n des A vice n n a , bald unter dem des G eb er
gedruckt, a b er auch mehn nals als lib e r de m in cra lib u s A r is to tc lis ,

so z. B. in Bologna 1501. F e r n e r hat die lateinisclie llan d sc h rift 10112

in d e r Bib liothequ e N ation ale von Paris, ein e Ueberselzung d e r vier
Bucher d e r M ete o ro lo g ie , einen mineralogischen oder v ielin eh r geo-
logischen Anhang, w e lch er zum T e il m it dem obengcnannten Schrift-
clien ideutisch ist. F . de M e ly ist auf diesen Anhang aufmcrksam
geworden , hat gesehen, dass das Stiick samtliche von V in c e n t de
Beauvais angefuhrte Citate “ des I V . Buchs de r M e t e o ro lo g ie » enthiilt
und hat den T e x t in d er Il e v . des Etudes G recques 1891, p. 185 if.
veroffentliclit. F. de 3f6Iy m eint liie r ein urspriiugliclie.s Stiick des
I I I . Buchs der M e te o ro lo g ie , dessen liickenhaften Schluss er erwiihnt,
entdeckt zu haben ; e r liirnmt v ie le Interpola tio n em seitens d er A r a b e r

an, liisst sich aber in dem was e r selbst cette ra p id c etude nennt, auf
k ein e n aliere Behandlung d er F r a g e ein. »
In the follow in g pages we have shown that lib e r de m in cra lib u s
VI AVICKKNAE 511XKRALIA

A r is to tr lis is a translation — more or less satisfactory aiul not alw ays

complete — o f passages occurring in Avicenna's great work The B ooh
o f the Rem edy. W e hope, therefore, to have finally settled a problem
which has engaged the attention o f many scholars, and to have thrown
light upon a somewhat obscure region o f Aristotelian criticism. T h e
M in e r a lia , m oreover, is intrinsically interesting to the historian o f
science, not m e r e ly for its contents hut because it is one o f the few

m ediaeval translations o f Muslim scientific works o f which w e possess

the original Arabic text.

Our attention was first drawn to the M in e r a lia by A l-J ik lak i's
statement that Avicenna had expressed his views on alchetny in his
B ooh o f the Remedy (K ild b a l-S h ifd ’) , hut having read Prof. W i e d e ­
m ann’s rem ark that Prof. Ilo rte n o f Bonn had found nothing about
alch em y in the S h i f a , we w ere inclined to think that A l- J ild a k i —
although usually very reliable — had been mistaken. A n examination
o f the M in e r a lia , however, showed us that some o f the dicta quoted
by A l-J ild a k i w ere undoubtedly given th ere iu La tin dress, so we
were led to investigate the S h if a ’ itself, in the India Office MS. W e
then found that the whole of tlie M in e r a lia had been translated from
certain chapters o f the S h if a ', including the celebrated passage begin­
ning Seiant a rtifices alehemiae.

W h en our work was already well advanced, I ’ rofessor II. E . Sta­

pleton, o f Presidency College, Calcutta, wrote to tell us that he had
himself, many years previously, made the same discovery. On com­
paring the Latin t e x t with the Arabic te x t o f a lithographed edition
published at T eh eran , he says, “ the identity o f the two was found
to be so obvious that although all the portions o f the Shifa corres­

ponding to the M ineralia w ere translated for checking purposes,

nothing further was thought necessary than a b r ie f reference to the
orig in al authority » ( rid e Stapleton and Azo, M em oirs A . S. B ., I l l ,
1910, p. 51), note 2 ). I t is clear, th erefore, that credit for p r io r ity
 rilEKACK V II

must ho given un reservedly to Prof. Stapleton ; though we tliiiik that

the referen ce mentioned above — which m e r e ly states that, in the
S h if a ’ , A vic en n a argued that as w e do not known tlie specific differ­
ences betw ee n the metals, transmutation is impossible — cannot,
easily be understood to im p ly any connection b etw een the S h ifa and
the M in e r a lia .
W h e n Professor Stapleton heard o f our proposal to publish the

present hook, lie most generously placed at our disposal his own
translation o f some o f the passages in the S h if a ’ , his notes on the Latin
text, many other notes, and a copy o f the L a tin version as given in
the Bologna edition o f 1501 colla ted with that o f the L y o n s edition
o f 1528. I t is unnecessary for us to say that we d e e p ly apprecia te
this help, which has been invaluable. Our translation o f the Arabic
te x t has, ho w ever, been made independently ; it was afterwards

compared with Prof. S tap leton’ s version, from which we have taken
certain phrases w hile in other places we have found ourselves unable
to agree w ith it. Pro f. Stapleton's version was availa ble only from
th e beginning o f Caput I I o f tlie L atin rendering, as lie was unable

to find his translation o f the passages corresponding to Caput I .

W e have pleasure in expressing o u r thanks also to Mrs. Singer,

who told us o f the T r in i t y C ollege MSS. o f the M in e r a lia , and to the
following g en tlem en : — T h e L ib ra ria n o f the In d ia Office, for a

lengthy loan o f a splendid MS. o f the S h if a ’ ; the L ib r a ria n o f T r in it y

College, the Trustees o f the British Museum, and the L ib r a ria n o f

the Bodleian L i b r a r y , for allow in g us to have rotographs made o f
MSS. in the lib raries under their control ; M r . W . L . Cooper, L ib r a r ­
ian o f the U n iv e rs ity o f Bristol, for the trouble lie took to procure

for us books which we wished to consult and which w ere not r ea d ily

av aila ble ; Dr. C. van A reu do nk, L ib ra ria n o f the U n iv e rs ity o f

L e y d e n , for having made for us a rotograph o f a MS. o f a w ork by
A l- T u g h ra 'i (Ila tja 'iq a l-Is lis h h a d ) ; Muhammad Qasini B e y , o f the
VIII A VICKNN A K 31 IN K It AL IA

Physical D epartment, Cairo, for obtaining copies o f MSS. ; Mahmud

Efendi l.lamdy, o f the R oyal L ib r a r y , Cairo, for copying for tis the
work by A l- T u g lin i’ i mentioned above ; M i -. Robert. S teele, for r e fe r­
ences to A vicen na in R o ger Bacon ; Sir R obert Iladtie ld , l i t . , F . R . S.,
and Professor R. A . Nicholson, for answering queries about m eteoric
iron and its possible use for swords among the Arabs ; and finally
Monsieur Paul Geuthner, for undertaking the publication o f tlie book.

E . J. H o l m y a iid .
D. C. M a n d e v ill k .
Clifton College, Bristol.
J u i .y , 1927.

N . B. F o r the Arabic te x t only one o f us is responsible ( E . J. I I . ) .

 CONTENTS
P ace
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . V
Introduction . . . . . . . . . 1
English Translation o f the A r a b ic Text, . . . . 17

La tin T e x t . . . . . . . . . .
Select B ib lio grap h y . . . . . . . . -r>7

In d e x o f Persons . . . . . . . • r>9
Subject In d e x . . . . . . . . . (>-i
A ra b ic T e x t . . . . . . . . . 09
I.< >1’ V A IN I Hrlt'iqiuO IM 1M M M K W K J.-Ii. IS T A S .
 INTRODUCTION.

At tlie cud o f the third hook o f tlie M ctco ro lo y ica , A ris to tle dis­
tinctly promises a hook Ilepi jiExaAXwv o r lfepl XtOtov ( ' ) , hut no G reek
te x t o f such a book is extant. Scholars have, h ow eve r, found it
difficult to m ake up t h eir minds as to w h e lh e r A r is to tle fulfilled his
promise or not, since m ediaeval L a tin versions ( 2) o f tlie M e lco ro lo g ica
often append to tlie Fourth Book an additional chapter, in th ree
paragraphs ( 3), entitled D e M iu e rtd ih u s . H e r e the promised subject
is dealt with in such a m asterly fashion that many critics have not
hesitated to ascribe it to A risto tle. T h a t this chapter is not a direct
renderin g o f a G ree k original is evide n t from the fact that it contains
A ra b ic p ro p er names ( l) ; for the same reason it follows that the
A ra b ic version its e lf cannot have been a literal translation o f a G reek
text. T h e problem is then to decide w hether the M in c m lia con­
tains a genuine A ristotelian nucleus, and i f so to free it from the
accretions which enclose it.
F. de M e l y ( :i) , from a study o f the La tin text-, concluded that the
M in c m lia contained fragments o f an authentic A ristotelian chapter
1Iepl AEOaiv, and, subjecting the t e x t to a critic al analysis, believed
that he had been able to distinguish b etw een these passages and
subsequent additions Om itting the latter, lie says, “ quels sont,

1. III. 0. 378 6. £». — xoiv-fj |iiv ouv sTpr)Tat stepl auxffiv &;ixvtmv, iSfqc 54 ozsjitiov
npo/sipitioiisvoic; jispl Sxaotov y ^vo;.
2. K. (/., I5ililiotli(‘(jue imiioimle, MS. Intin 1(1142 — and many others.
.‘t. Viz., de con ge la tio n e et co n ijtid in a tin n e la p id u m ; de causa m o n liu m ;
de q u a tu o r speciebus co rp oru m m in e ra lin m .
■i. E. (j., Lurgeam, Coracein.
5. Le Lapiilaire d’Aristote, Revue des Etudes grecqnes, VII, 1891, 181-101.
0. The passages which lie rejected are as follow, the references heing to pages
in the present hook :
(i). Sed argentum vivum est de parte secunda, ijuamvis sit elementum ductilimn,
et aliquilms ductilibus simile. (Page 50.)
1
0 AVICENNAR MINKRALIA

les apergus do genie qui nous rcstont? N e parlous pas de cettc theorie
d ’ un corps unique, origine do tons les mineraux, car e lle est do tons
les p a y s ; nous no saurions trop insister sur ce point. Pour la p re m ie r e
fois nous trouvons ici uno tentative d ’oxplication scientifique de la-
formation dos aerolithes, bien difTerente dc ce lle que Seneque prosen-
te ra plus tard ; l ’autcur indique l ’originc plutonienne e t neptunienne
des inontagnes ; do cetto derniere formation, il tire l ’ e xplic ation
absolument scientifique des corps d ’animaux marins fossilifios trouves
sur les montagnes, — pendant tout le m o yen age les os de mammouths
n’ etaient autres que des os de geants, de Teutobocclms, on discutait
encore du temps de V o l t a i r e ; — enfin il signale le changement con-
tinuel de l ’ aspect terrestve, la form ation de nouveaux r i v a g e s .........
les alluvions, tout cola traito avec co talent d ’observation qui justifie
l ’influence qti’a e x e r c e e sur notre epoque, a plus de deux m ille ans
de distance, l ’heureuse impulsion donnee a l ’csprit hmnain par le
pliilosoplie de Stagire. »
Ilamm er-Jenson, dealing with the same problem, rem arks ( ' ) :
“ F re ilich ist herein m ehr Unaristotelisches, als F . de M e l y m ein te ,
...... aber sicherlich findet man b ie r auch Reste, und einen sehr
bem erkenswerten Rest des echten I V . Buclies d or M e te o r o lo g ie ....
W eu u w i r annehmen, dass das I V . Bucli der M e te o ro lo g ie theoi etische
Eriirterungen iiber das Entstehen der verscbiedenen Steine (darunter
M eteorsteine und Fossilien) und M eta lle, und etwas von den ver-
schiedenen Fundorten, da/.u ein Stiick w ie das vom Entstehen der
B erge enthalten bat, bekommen w ir ein Bild dieses Buches, das ganz
den drei anderen Biichern entspriclit. »

(ii). In ripis quoqtie Gyon, visa est terra, quae dicilur in Iapides converti in
spatio triginta trimn annormn. (Page 45.)
(iii). Snnt enim cerla loca super quae aquae elTusae convertuntur in Iapides qui
diversorum eolorum sunt. (Page -15.)
(iv). coagulans virtute occulta.....sunt etiam multa alia quilms coagulant quae
liquefaciunt certissime. (Page 40.)
(v). Est que locus in Arabia.....tamen causae eorum manifestae sunt. (Page 47.)
(vi). Et in Persia quoque cadunt in coruscationibus....apud Tepestren. (Page 47.)
1. D a s sogenannte I V . B itch d er M eteorologie des Aristoteles. Hermes, L,
1915, pp. 113-136.
 INTRODUCTION 3
I f we now turn to the history o f the L a t i n versions o f tlie M e te o r­
ology w e shall find that the true origin o f tho M in c r a lia was m ore than
once stated in tho manuscripts themselves. A c c o r d in g to F . II.
Folios ( ‘) , “ there w e r e current a t tho end o f the M id d le A g e s tw o com­
p le te L a tin versions o f A r i s t o t l e ’s M e te o ro lo g y — the “ Y etu s V o rs io » ,
o f which hooks i to iii w e r e from the A r a b ic and book iv was from
the G re ek , and the “ N o v a » , w h o lly from the G r e e k ........ O f tho
Y e tu s Y e r s io , a w o rk o f the tw e lfth century, the first th ree hooks
w e re p robably based upon the ninth-century A r a b ic version (fro m
from the S y ria c ) connected with the names o f Ahoul K h c i r el Ilassan
hen Saouar and I a h y a ben B ath riq, and w e re unanimously assigned
to Gerard o f Cremona (j* 1 1 8 7 ) ; tho fourth hook, from the L a tin ,
was assigned by a freq u en tly recurring e x p lic it to “ Ilcn ricu s » , whom
Jourdain showed to have been at least as ea rly as Albcrtus Magnus
and V in c e n t o f Beauvais, and whom Hose, on the basis o f the e x p lic it
o f th e N u re m b erg MS centur. V . 59, which Jourdain did not know,
has identified with Ilenricu s Aristippus ("f- 11G2), m inister o f W il lia m I
o f Sicily . I quote this e x p l ic i t in full from Kose : C om pletus est lib e r
m c th c o ro rim cu iu s tres p r im o s lib ro s trn n s tn lit m agister G erardus
L u m b a rd u s sum m us p liilo s o p lu ts de arabieo in la tin u m . Quartern
autcm tra n s tu lit Ile n r ic u s A r is tip p u s de greco in la tin u m . T r ia u ltim a
ea p itu la transtxdit A lu re d u s A n g lic u s sarelensis de arabieo in la ti­
num . n
I t is thus clear ( « ) that the last three chapters w e r e an addition
and (b ) that t h e y w e re translated by a different hand. M o re o v e r ,
Fohes ( 2) quotes a note from the Oxfo rd M S D ig b y 153 (f. 28) which
throws furth er ligh t on the problem : —
U ltim u m e a p itu lu m in a n tiqu a tra n sla cion e quod s ic in c ip it ‘ terra
p u ra la p is non fit ’ non est ea p itu lu m a ris to te lis scd additum ab a lu e-
redo, u t d ic it bacun in sun n a tn ra li p h ilo s o p liia ea pitula secundo

1. M e d ia ev a l V ersion s o f A ris to tle 's M eteorology. Classical Philology, vol. X,

July, 1915, pp. 297-314.
2. Ib id .
4 AVICENNA!'. MINERAI.U

secundum albcrlum ,‘> m in e ra liu m c. 9, cl con tra rin p e r totum lib n tm

suum p a id quod iliu m ca p ilu lu m est avicennc.
T h is v e r y definite statement that the M in e r a lia is not the work
o f A ristotle hut o f A vic en n a was questioned v e r y ea rly , for in his
M a n ja r ita V reeiosn N o v e lla , w ritten in 1330, Bonus says ( ‘) Ite m
A ris to tc lc s in fine 4. M d a p h y s ico rm n (sic), secundum tra nslationcm
vcterum , A lch em ia m esse vcram , cxprcsse neyal, scd cam esse s o p h is ti-
ctiin d ph a n la slica m n fjlr n u it: qnam vis quidam dicant, ilia verba fu isse
A viccn n a c, q u i ipsa ad d id it, quod non crcdim us. N e a r l y six centuries
later, de M e l y ( 2) writes : “ L e traducteur a pris soin, m algre lui
certainem ent, de nous laisser une trace palpable de l ’ origine grecque
du traite. II est un mot, on elfet, qu’ auetm des editeurs on traducteurs
n’ a reproduit identiquement, (it cela parce qu’ ils ne le com prenaient
pas : V in cen t de Beauvais l ’e crit optcsis, Geber, cphtesis, M anget,
eptesis. Ce n’ est ni un mot Latin, ni un mot arabe, mais certain ement
I ’Styyjat; ( n) , Faction de faire cuire, mot dont Aristote s’est continuel-
lem ent servi dans les M ctcores ; mot assez com p lcxe d ’ailleurs, puis-
que Yoptesis est bien Faction de faire cuire, mais en grillant, taudis
que Yepsesis est egalem en t la cuisson, mais en b o u il la n t ; done cuisson
seehe et cuisson liumide correspondant aux exhalaisons seches et
exhiihiisons vaporeuses. Enfin, pour m ontrer l ’ origine aristotelique
et non avicenienne de ce traite, j e demanderai encore aux Arahes
un nouvel argument. L e manuscrit arabe supplement 1815, de la
Bib liotheque nationale : L c present des fre rcs dc la p u rcte et dc la
sin ccrite , an milieu de nombreuses citations d ’A ristote, contient un
cliapitre des M in e r a u x et nous y lisons : ‘ Les mineraux sont divises
en trois classes en raison de leur plus ou moins de promptitude a se
reconstituer a l ’ etat parfait ou delinitif. Ils sont aussi cousideres au
point de vue de leur consistance et de leur aptitude a la fusion. 11s

1. Manget, B ib lM U e c a Chemica C u riosa , 1702, ii, p. 14.

2. h oc. cit.
U. As a matter of fact, we find that lliis word does not occur in the original
(Aruhic) text, hut must have been used by Alfred the Englishman to translate the
Arabic which bears approximately tlie same meaning.
 INTRODUCTION 5
provien n en t de liqu ifies souterrains in ega lem en t soumis ;'i Taction du
chaud e t du fro id . L es m ontagnes soulevees an sein des eaux par des
vapours intestines, se fragm en ten t e t les eaux repoussoos so n ivellen t
et dessinent les contours des contrees ’ . N ’est-ce pas, en quelques
lign es, un resum e du tra ite de M in eris ... ? n
T h e re , then, we have the tw o opposing view s, one m ain tain in g that
the M in c m lia is, or ra th er contains, a genuine w ork o f A r is to tle ’s,
and the oth er asserting that it is not A ris to te lia n hut A vicen n ia n in
origin . A g a in st the second o f these tw o opinions the fact th at in the
M id d le A g es m any alch em ical hooks ascribed to A vicen n a w ere cur­
re n t must have told h e a v ily ; it would have appeared in cred ib le that
the man who denied the possib ility o f transm utation in the M in c m lia
should have w ritten oth er hooks in which he not m e re ly accepts the
truth o f alch em y hut describes the philosophers’ stone with circu m ­
stantial d e ta il. On the oth er hand, wo shall find th at the v e r y view s
which a re expressed in the M in c m lia are unanim ously attribu ted to
A vicen n a by M uslim authors, who presum ably w e re in a b ettor position
to speak w ith au th ority on tho m atter.
Ibn Khaldun, the g rea test philosophic historian o f Islam , m ay be
quoted first. In his P ro le g o m e n a ( ' ) ho says : “ Sacliez m aintenant
quo la p ratiqu e do cot art [a lc h im ie ] date des tem ps les plus recules,
e t quo les ancieus en out tra ite ainsi quo les m odernes. Nous allons
exp oser leurs doctrin es, e t nous donnerons ensuite notre opinion
touchant la re a lite du grand o e u v r e ___ D one nous dirons quo les
doctrines cm ises p ar los philosophcs a co sujot d e riv e n t de l ’une on
de l ’ autre des deux th eories qu’ils so sont faitos au sujet do la nature
dos sept m otaux les plus communs, savoir : l ’o r, l ’argon t, lo plom b,
l ’etain, le cu ivre, lo fe r e t lo zinc. Y a -t-il en tre ces m otaux des
differen ces specifiques, d e sorte que chacun d ’ eux form e uno espece
a p art? ou hien d ifferen t-ils par leurs qu alitcs p a rticu lieres (le in an iere
a n ’e tre que des va rietes d ’une m em o especo ? ___Selon Ib n Sina
(A v ic e n n e ) ot les philosophes de l ’ O rien t ses d iscip les, les m etau x se

I. French translation by de Slane, iii, 254-G.

r, AVICENNAE SI IN EU ALIA

<listiii” iiont par des differences specifiques, et cliacun d'eu x form e

une espece separee et independante des autres, espece qui se laisse
constater par des caracteres reels. C ette espece, eointne toutes les
autres, a sa differen ce e t son gen re particu liers. Abou N a sr el-F a -
rabi ( ') , ayan t adinis coinnie p rin cipe quo les inetaux appartiennent
tons a une m em o espece, in fera de la la possibilito de co n vertir un
m etal dans mi autre, puisqti’ il est possible d ’en changer les accidents
et de le tra ito r par des operations (ch im iqu es). A son point de vne,
l ’alch im ie sera it un a rt reel et fa cile a e x e rc e r. Ibn Sina, ayant
adopte pour system e que les m etanx differen t en espece, d ecla ra que
l ’existen ce de l ’a lcliim ie coniine un a rt re e l et verita b le e ta it im pos­
sible. ‘ Car, d isait-il, il n’y a pas m oyen de souinettre les differences
specifiques aux operations (d e la c h iin ie ); les differences out ete
creees par I)ie u , createu r e t ordonnateur de toutes choses ; lour
ve rita b le nature nous est inconnue et nous ne pouvons pas en form er
memo* une idee. Com m ent alors peut-on ch erch er a changer ces d iffe­
rences par des m anipulations ? ’ «
I f this passage is com pared with the follow in g e x tra c t from the
L a tin Version o f the M in e m lia ("’) it w ill be seen th at the correspon­
dence is v e r y close : — Caeterum quod d ifferen tia specified to lla tu r
itujenio, non cred op ossib ile, et non est quod com plexio tm a in a lia m
con certa tu r : qu ia ista sensibilia non sunt d ifferen tia , q u a p c rm u ta tu r
species, sed sunt accidentia, et p r o p r ie t ie s . D iffe re n tia e autcm corum
non sunt cognitae, q u ia et cum d ifferentia s it ignota, quomodo potest
s c ir i u tru m to lla tu r necnc, cel quomodo to llip o s s it ?
T h e evid en ce does not end h ere, how ever. I.Iajji K h a lifa states Q
that Ibn Sina denied the truth o f alchem y in the P ro lego m en a to his
Boole o f the Item ed;i (K it a b a l-S h ifiV ), w h ile A l-J ild a k i ( j circa 13G0

1. Celebrated Muslim disciple of Aristotle ; died 950 A. D.

2. Cf. page 5t.
•'!. L e x ic o n B ib lio g ra p h icu m , ed. Fluegel, V, 270. — Homines in ea (alchemy)
judicanda in duas abeunt partes. Multi eorum statuunt, earn minime ad etTectum
adduoi posse. Ita statuit Sheikh Heyis Ib n S in d , qui earn vanani et inanem esse
in prolegomenis libri S hefa demonstrat.
 INTRODUCTION 7

A . D . ) lias tlie follow in g passage in his hook entitled T h e G uarded

P e a r l ( A l - D u r r a l-M a k n u n ) ( ' ) : — “ ‘ A l i ihn Sina denied tho ex is­
tence o f a lch em y iu tho S h if a ’ , and so did A l-B iru n i in his L a p id a ry
(K it a h a l-A h ja r ) ; A bu li a k r Muhammad ilm Z a k a r iy a a l- I'a z i, h ow ­
e v e r , in las B o o k o f the Tw elve (K it a h a l-A th n a ‘ A s h r iy a t ), and 11m
A r f a ‘ I i a ’ s, in his poem en titled T he P a rtic le s o f G o ld (D u v a n S h u d h u r
a l-D h a h a b ), maintained its r e a lity » . A g a in , in his com m en tary
(N ih a y a t a l-T a la b , The E n d o f the S e a rch ) upon the C u ltiv a tio n o f
G o ld (K it a h a l- Ih n a l-M u k ta sa b f i Z i r d ‘at td -D h a h a h ) o f A b u ’l-Qasim
a l- ‘ Ir a q i, A l- J ild a k i says : “ A vice n n a considered that each o f the
six metals was a distinct species o f one genus, ju st as the genus plant
includes different species, and the genus animal likew ise. And in the
same w a y that it is impossible to convert a horse into a dog or a
bird into a horse, or a man into a bird, so it is impossible to convert
silver into gold or copper into s ilver or lead into iron .... H e b elieved ,
h ow ev er, that it was possible to dy e copper white, and thus to giv e
it the appearance and colour o f silver, but it would still be copper,
only dyed ; and to d ye silv er red and thus to g iv e i t tho appearance
and colour o f gold, but it would still be silver, only d yed, and not
gold. T h e white d ye, he b eliev ed , was e x tr a c te d from arsenic, m e r ­
cury and silver, and the red from sulphur, gold and sal-ammoniac,
and also from certain plants and animals. »
F in a lly , re ference m a y bo made to IJerthelot, La Cliimic an Moycn
Aye (*), w h ere the origin o f the M ineralia is c orrectly surmised : —
“ On li t dans ces traductions latinos, sous le 110111 d ’A v ic e n n e .... un
opuscule [Aviccnnac de Conyclationc et Conylutinationc Lapidum \
re la t if a la form ation des pie rres e t des montagnes, lequel ren fe rm e
des vues rem arquables sur la double production de celles-ci par sou-
le v e m e n t et p a r action de l ’ eau, ainsi que sur l ’origine des fossiles.

1. The quotations from Al-Jildaki are taken from MSS. in (he possession of
one of us. These MSS. are modern copies of others preserved in the Royal Library
at Cairo.
2. Tome iii, p. 225 (Paris, 1893).
8 AVICENNAK MINEItALIA

II y est question d ’un aerolithe ou p ierre tom bee till ciel (a p m l L u r -

y eam ), dont uu roi voulut ,se faire fabriquer des epees. Or ce rec it
figure egale m en t dans un ouvrage arabe qui porte le nom d ’A vicenne
et qui est intitule : L a G u erison . L ’ auteur y parle d ’un aerolithe
tombe dans le Djordjan, dont le sultan Mahinoud Gliizni voulut se
faire fabriquer line e p e e , lui attribuant sans doute des proprietes
merveilleuses. C'est 1’ e x em p le rare d ’ un tex te arabe actuellement
existant et qui figure daus les collections alcbimiques latines du
m oyen age. L a concordance m e rite done d ’ etre notee. «
T h is b r ie f re v ie w o f the problem prepares us for the truth o f the
m a tter, which is that the M in c r a lia is p a rtly a direct translation and
partly a resume o f sections o f a genuine w ork o f Avicenna, v iz ., the
K ila b u l- S h if a ’, the “ Hook o f the R e m e d y « , which he composed in
response to his friend Al-Juzja ni’s request that he should w rite a
general com m en tary 011 A r is t o tle ’s works. l i e was too busy to write
a formal com m entary, but compromised by writing a plain exposition
free from any a ttem p t at refutation o f adverse views. l i e had already
written the first book o f his grea t Canon o f M ed ic in e, and thereafter
worked at the S h ifiV and Canon simultaneously. A t this period he
was living at Ila m ad ban under the protection o f the liu w ayh id prince
Shams al-I)aula (d ie d 1021 A . D . ) , whose v izier lie was. A ft e r tlie
death o f Shams al-I)aula, A vicenn a secretly le ft Ilam ad ban and was
honourably received at Ispahan by the K a k w a y h id ‘A l a al-Daula Abu
J a ‘ lar .Muhammad ibn Dushmanzar, who annexed Ila m ad ban in 1023
by the deposition o f Sama al-Daula, son o f Shams al-Daula. I t was
during the time o f his stay with ‘ A l a al-Daula that the S h ifa ’ was
finished, and according to Ibn Abi U s a y b i‘ a the chapters which partic­
ula rly interest us, viz. those 011 Physics, w ere composed after the
death o f Shams al-Daula (1 0 2 1 ) but before A v icen n a went to Ispahan
(p ro bab ly 1023). We are therefore able to date them v e r y p re­
cis ely ( ') .

1. Cf. Baron Carra ile Vuux, A vicenne (Paris, 1900), p. 145 etc.
 INTRODUCTION 9

The Arabic version.

T

The Latin rendering is divided into three Chapters, v is. dc eonyc-

(a title by which the whole work
la tio n c el co n y lu tin a lio n c la p id u m
is often known) ; de causa m ontium ; and dc q u a lu o r specicbus corp o-
ru m m in c ra liu m . The first two of these are translations, full or
abridged, of Section 1 of Discourse II of Subject (f a n n ) V of the
Physics of the S h i f a ’ . The third, dc q u a lu o r spccicbns co rp oru m m in c­
r a liu m , is a translation of Section 1 of the same Discourse. F a n n V
as a whole consists of two Discourses (m a q d la ) upon meteorological
phenomena understood in the Aristotelian sense of the term , Sections
1 and 1 dealing with topics which Aristotle would no doubt have
treated in the Fourth Book of his M clc o ro lo y ic a if he had ever com­
pleted it.

The Latin Translation.

W e have seen that it is possible to date the S h if d ' very accurately,
and fortunately we are iu a position to date the translation almost as
closely. From the explicit of the Nuremberg MS. to which reference
has already been made ('), we know th at the iirst three books of tho
M cte o ro lo g ica were translated by Gerard of Cremona from the Arabic ;
the fourth book, from the Greek, was translated by Ilenricus Aris­
tippus. To the fourth book were added the three chapters which form
the subject of the present discussion, and we are definitely told (2)
th at these were translated from the Arabic by Alfred the Englishman
or Alfred of Sareshel ( ’)• Now Alfred translated also the pseudo-
Aristoteliau treatise D e vegetabilibus , and dedicated his translation

1. P age 3.
2. h oc. cit.
3. For Alfred the Englishm an, cf. D. N. B., vol. I, p. 285; H askins, S tu d ie s i n
M ed ia ev a l Science, pp. 128 ff., etc.
10 AVICENNAE MINERALIA

to Ilo g e r o fH e r o fo r d (')• A ccordin g to Lyn n T h orn d ik e ( ”). tlie defin ite

dates in Hoger o f H e re fo rd ’s life seem to fall in the decade 1170-1 ISO,
though his association w ith A lfre d m ay w ell have heen la ter. ?
In tho commentary to the Dc vcyetabilibus, Alfred cites a Liber de
conyelatis which he had translated from the Arabic as an appendix
of three “ chapters » to the Melcoroloyica. There can be no hesitation
in identifying the Dc conyelatis with the Mineralia Aviccnnac, and
we may therefore! conclude that the translation of this work was made
toward the end of the twelfth century, and prior to that of the Dc
vcyetabilibus. In a subsequent work, entitled Dc motu cordis, Alfred
shows a much wider acquaintance with Aristotle than in the De vcye­
tabilibus, so that the latter is presumably tlie earlier of the two
works. The Dc motu cordis was dedicated to Alexander Neckham,
who died in 1217, so assuming that the Dc vcyctabilibus was earlier
than the D c motu cordis, we have a terminus ad tjucm for the date ot
the IAbcr de conyelatis. In round numbers, 1200 A. D. may be taken
as the most probable tim e, with the proviso that it may have been
two or three decades earlier or, less probably, a few years later (').
It is surprising how qu ick ly the origin o f the M ineralia was for­
gotten . Thus, w h ile A lbertu s Magnus knew that the translation was
m ade from A vicen n a, R o g e r Bacon seems to have been v e ry hazy on
the point ; in his llrcvc Jireviarum he quotes the passage Terra pura
etc. Tractatus Trium Vcrborum he ascribes it
as A ris to te le s ’ , in the
to (io ra rd o f Crem ona, and only in 1200 or thereabouts does he find
that it was an addition o f A lfr e d ’s, still a p p aren tly in ignorance o f its
A viceu n ian o rigin — (Commioiia N aturalium , lib . 1) : « E t taceant
stulti qui abutuntur au toritate ilia in fine p rim e translationis M eth eo-
rorum , quarn contra verita tem allega n t, dicentes scriptum esse sciant
1. According lo H askins, op. cit., p. 128, footnote 47, a copy in tlie library of
tlie U niversity of B arcelona reads ; — Incipit liber de plantis quern A lveredns de
arabico trnnslulit in latinum m ittens ipsuni m agistro Rogero de H erfodia.
2. H is to ry o f M agic, 1923, ii, p. 182.
3. T he inform ation in this paragraph has heen taken from H askins, op. cit.,
pp. 128, 129. B e vegetabilibus w as probably w ritten by N icholas of D am ascus,
 INTRODUCTION 11
artificcs ctc. ac si uset vei'huin Aristotelis, cum nichil cjus sit a prin-
eipio illius capituli Terra pura lapis non /it etc. set additum ab
Alveredo. » (')
Nature of the Book.
From a scientific point of view, Ibn Sina’s opinions upon tlie form­
ation of stone, rocks and mountains are rem arkably interesting, in
that, they show an astonishingly accurate insight into geological phe­
nomena. They are so clearly and concisely expressed that we have
felt it unnecessary to give a synopsis, preferring that Ibn Sin/i should
lie allowed to speak for himself. Similar rem arks apply to his theories
upon the nature of minerals, and particularly to his ruthless criticism
of the alchemists and their attem pts to transm ute the base metals
into gold. On the latter subject lie was taken to task by the celebrated
vizier Al-TuglmVi, who wrote his llaqd'iqal-Islishhdd with the definite
aim of refuting the heretical opinions of the S h ifd ' . Tlie arguments of
the llaqd'iq al-Istishhdd are of the usual type, so that 110 good service
would be performed in reproducing them here. Ilm Sina appears to
have made up his mind only late in life ; it is possible that at an
earlier period he actually wrote books in favour of alchemy. However
this may lie, he had, in the S h ifd ’, given the alchemists a ldow the
repercussions of which were felt throughout many succeeding cen­
turies — the passage beginning Scianl artifices alchimiac is quoted
innum erable times in mediaeval alchemical literature.

Ibn Sink’s “ Book of Definitions ».

In the section of the S h ifu ’ with which we are concerned in the
present hook, Ilm Sina uses many philosophical-scientific term s, such
as and which are very frequently employed in alchemy.
For this reason, coupled with the fact th at the exact meanings of the
1. F or these references to B acon’s w orks, we are indebted to Mr. R obert S teele.
12 AVICENNAE MINEEALIA

term s are not always readily available, we would draw attention to

Ibn Sina’s Kiii'ib al-II ml Ail, or Ilook o f Definitions, in which the
need is admirably met. This work exists in Arabic in the India Office
Library, MS. Loth 771, and the greater portion of it was translated
into Latin by Andreas Alpagus, who died about 1520. The translation
was first published in 1510, at Venice, in a volume which contains
other works of Avicenna rendered into Latin by the same hand.

SOURCES.
A. Arabic Text.
A list of the chief MSS. of the S h ifa ’ is given by Brockelmann in
his Geschiehte der aruhischen Litteratur, I, 454. The complete work
has never been printed in a European edition, though selections from
Fann 9 of the first Jum la are given by Margoliouth in his Analecta
Orientulia ad Voetieam Aristoteleam, published in London in 1887.
The second and fourth books of tho S h ifa 1, treating of physics and
metaphysics respectively, were published in a lithographed edition
at Teheran in 1885, with marginal notes to the first p art of the second
book by Aqa Jam al al-Din Khwilnsari, and to the whole of the fourth
by Mulla l^adra and others. Latin versions of various sections of the
work were comparatively frequently printed in the sixteenth century ;
thus in the Venice edition of 1508 are included F ann 1, ilfaqalas 1
and 2, and Fasls 1 and 2 of Maqala 3 of Iiook 2 of the Fhysica,
translated by Dominicus Gundisalvus.
The MSS. we have used in the preparation of the present text are
three : — A. India Office, M S . 1796 (Loth 47G). This is an excellent
MS. in a good state of preservation. It forms the second volume of a
copy of the S h ifa ’ in three volumes, made by Muhammad Sadiq ibn
l.lajji ‘Abd ul-l.lukiin by order of Sayyul Muhammad l.lusaini iu the
years 1148-1154 A. II. This second volume is w ritten on 313 leaves,
size 11 jI in. by 0 3j, thirty lines to a page ; it is dated Kashm ir, Sha'ban
1150, and seems to have been transcribed from the same MS. — of
 INTRODUCTION 13

tlie year 808 A. II. — as the preceding volume, Loth 175. The tex t
is good and has heen made the hasis of our own.
B. B ritish M useum Or. ,287:!. This is described as follows at
pp. 184, 485 of Rieu’s Supplement to the Catalogue of Arabic MSS.,
1804 — “ Foil. 248 ; 12 j in. by 7 j ; 25 lines, 4 in. long ; written in
small and close Nestalik ; dated Shahjahan-abad (Delhi), D ul-ka‘dah,
A. II. 1072 (A. D. 1 6 6 2 ) .......Faun V. 1^ , in two Makalahs,
beginning at foil. 115a and 120 a ......... Tho copyist, ‘Abdallah, says
in the colophon that ho was not very proficient ill Arabic, and he
begs to be excused for errors of transcription. In the margins of foil.
18a, 40«, 58 b, etc., there are colophons, apparently transcribed from
the original MS., which was dated Sam arkand, A. II. 802. »
This MS. was somewhat difficult to read — at least in rotograph —
and was inconclusive in many places owing to absence of diacritical
points. The text itself is good.
C. Bodleian Library, Oxford. Poc. 116. Fol. Sla-fol. 110b. This
is very clearly written, and in great p art vocalized. The text, however,
is very corrupt in many places, hut proved useful in elucidating
certain difficulties in the other MSS.
In the footnotes to the Arabic text, wo have used “ A » for the
India Office, “ B » for the British Museum, and “ C n for the Bodleian
manuscripts respectively. The figures in square brackets in the text,
thus [Page 145a], refer to pages in the India Office MS.
B. Latin Text.
W e have made no attem pt to establish a Latin text of the M iner­
alia, since it became perfectly clear in the course of our investigation
that Alfred the Englishman had not seldom misunderstood the original
version, or th at he worked from a defective text — perhaps both.
In these circumstances it is obviously impossible to come to any final
conclusions upon details, and with the Arabic text now available
there seemed to be no reason to spend time and labour upon a neces­
sarily unproductive task. W e have, however, given the Latin text as
14 AVICENNAE JTINEUALIA

it appears in a XVth. Cent. MS. in tlie library of Trinity College,

Cambridge (MS. 1400 or 0 . 8-25, ft'. 8 rcrso-11 verso), and have
collated it with (a) the text, of another XVth. Cent. MS. in the same
library (MS. 1122 or 0 . 2-18, ff. 192 verso- 194 verso) and ( b) a copy
of the text printed in the Bologna edition ('), 1501, compared with
that of the Lyons edition (2) of 1528, kindly lent us by Professor
II. E. Stapleton.
It will be seen that the MSS. agree closely, for the most part, with
the printed text, but differ widely in detail from the version printed
in A rtis auriferae (') and in Manget (4). The latter version, indeed,
appears to derive from a different family of MSS., though when the
divergence occurred wo arc unable to say. The text of our MSS. and
of the Bologna and Lyons editions is much truer to the Arabic tlmn
that of A rtis auriferae and Manget.
In the footnotes to the Latin text we have referred to the MSS.
and Bologna and Lyons editions as follows : —
(1). TA.-MS. Trin. Coll. 1100 or O. 8-25.
(2). TB.-MS. Trin. Coll. 1122 or 0 . 2-18.
(3). B.-Bologna Edition.
(4). L.-Lyons Edition.
1. A ristotelis, pbilosophornm maximi, secretum secretornm ad A lexand ru m ; de
Ilcgiim regim m e; de S anitalis conservalione; de Physionom ia. Ejusdera de Mine-
ralilm s. A lexandri A pbrodisei, clarissim i peripatetici, de Intellectu. A verrois m agni
com m cntatoris, de Aniine beatitudine. A lexandri Acbillini B ononiensis, de Uni-
versalibus, A lexandri M acedonis, in septentrione m onarche, de Miral>ililnis Indiac,
ad A ristotelem . (A t en d :) Kl im pressus Bononiae, im pensis B enedicti Ilectoris,
anno Doiuini 1501 . . . 20 octobris, illustrissim o Joanne seenndo Bentivolo rei
publicae B ononiensis babenas foelieiter m oderante [Bologna, 1501, folio, 3G ff.].
2. Socrela sen etornm A ristotelis . . . M aximi pbilosopbi A ristotelis de signis
a(|tiarnm , ventorum el tem pestatum . Alaxiini pbilosopbi A ristotelis de M ineralibus.
A lexandri Aplirodisei de Intellectu. Averrois de B eatitudine anim e. A lexandri
M aoedonis ad A ristotelem de M irabilibus Indie. [Lugduni, in aedibus A. B lancbard,
1528. lOmo., black letter, 83 ff.]
3. A r tis a u r ife ra e q u a m Clietniam vacant a n tiq u is s im i auclores, B asle,
MDCX, vol. i, p. 240.
4. B ibliotheca C hem ica Cttriosa, Cologne, 1702, vol. i, p. 630.
English Translation of the Arabic Text
 THE BOOK OF THE REMEDY (').

In the nam e o f God, the M ercifu l, tho Com passionate !

The F i f t h Subject o f the P h y s ic s , consisting o f tw o discourses upon

m eteo ro lo gica l phenom ena ( ’) . T h is subject com prises the secondary

1. rem edy, tlie becom ing free from disease, or the giving ol'liealtli. In m edi­
aeval L atin the word w as w rongly tran slated S ufftc ien tia . T he vocalization has
apparently given trouble to lexicographers, th e C alcutta edn. of the Qiimus reading
(Lane, s. v.). Steinsclm eider (E urop. Uebers., I. 32) accepts this reading
(Scliafn). C arra de V ans, A vicenne, 115 footnote, says : « Le mol en question
dans le sens de rem ede, guerison, est vocalise c h a fa dans le grand dictionnaire
arahe-latin de Freylag, et cliifA dans les dictionnaires de I'universite de B eyrouth,
edition lran(;aise de 1893 et edition anglaise de 1899. Les editeurs rom ains du
N fidjd t, de 1593, ont d o n n e iice livre un fort heau litre vocalise dans lecpiel entre
le m ot qui nous occupe et ou ils ont precisem ent omis celte voyelle scahreuse » .
2. *i)W I jlflll. T he M a fA tih al-'UliXm, ed. van V loten, 1895, p. 133, s a y s : —
jUaoDI ^Jj JI lolj

* o W jju JJ 14JV o sy 'U-XJI icU oj

T he scope of P hysics is described by Ibn K haldftn (P ro le g o m en a , De S lane’s
translation, III, 1G1) : « La Physi(pie est une science qui a pour objet le corps en
ta u t qu’il eprouve du m ouvem ent et du repos. Elle exam ine les corps celestes, les
corps elem entaires et leurs produits, tels que I’homme, l’aniinul (irratiouel) le
vegetal, le m ineral, ce qui se produit dans le sol en fait de sources et de trem ble-
m ents de terre, ce qui a lieu dans le ciel en fait de im ages, de vapeurs, de lonuerre,
d ’eclairs et d’ouragans, etc. Elle s'em ploie aussi pour faire reconnaitre l’agent qui
donne Ie m ouvem ent aux corps, ag en t identique avec l’ume d an s ses diverses
especes, sav oir: l’am e hum aine, l’am e anim ale et l’am e vegitale.
« Les livres com poses sur cette m atiere p ar A ristote se trouvent entre les m ains
du public, ay a n t ete trad uits (en arabe) sous le regne d’El-M am oun et a la memo
epoque que les au tres traites sur les sciences pliilosopliiques (des Grecs). (Les
m usulm ans) coinposerent ensuite des livres su r le inome plan, a l’aide d ’eclaircis-
sem ents et d’explications (qu’ils avaient recueillis), et celui d’enlre eux qui traita
18 4VICENNAE M INEEALIA

causes ( ' ) o f the inanim ate creation such as m inerals, m eteo ro lo gica l
phenom ena anti tho lik e .
The, F ir s t D is co u rs e , upon those things which occur upon the earth .
S e c t io n 1. U pon M o u n ta in s .

W e shall begin hy establishing tlie condition o f the form ation o f

m ountains and the opinions that must bo known upon this subject. T h e
first [to p ic ] is the condition o f the form ation o f stone ( 2), the second
is tho condition o f the form ation o f stones great in bulk o r in num ber,
and the third is tlie condition o f the form ation o f cliffs and heights.
W e say that, fo r the m ost p art ( 3), pure earth does not p e trify ,
because tho predom inance o f dryness o v e r [i. e. in ] the earth endows
it not with coherence but ra th er with crum bliness. In gen era l, stone
is form ed in tw o ways on ly ( « ) through the hardening ( 4) o f clay, and
(b ) hy tho congelation [ o f w a ters] ( 3). M any stones in fact, a re form ed

ce sujel ilo la immit're la plus com plete fill Ihn Sina (Avieenne). Nous uvons (lit
qu’il avuit reuni, dans son K itu b es-Chefu, les sept sciences philosophiques. »
Ihn Shift's b yle jlfl correspond lo « ce qui n lieu dans le ciel en fait de im ages,
de vapeurs, de tonnerre, il'eclairs el d’om agnns, elc. »
1. j i c plural of iie signifies seco n da ry causes as opposed lo p rim a ry
causes. Of. Ihn Khaldrtn, ed. cit., II, i28 : « Four faire qti’une chose ait lieu, il faut
en connaitre les causes prem ieres et secondaires, ninsi que les conditions neces­
s itie s u sa production; en un mot, il faut connaitre les principes d ’ou elle d eriv e;
car les choses se presentent loujours dans un ordre et une liaison reguliers ».
jl i j j ^ D J v lb * yw oljcul
^Ubl V) LJIj 1)1 V jl 4jjU « bj ibyi. jl iile

2. hijiira, collective plural. It seem s as though the next ought lo

l,e a h jd r, the ordinary plural, hut all three M SS. we have used read
Stapleton, however, w orking from the T eheran edition nnd a MS. of the A siatic
Society of Bengal, gives the suggested reading.
3. T he L atin version begins here.
•i. yJzU T his word, rendered in the Latin version by co n g lu tin a tio , is unknow n
to the dictionaries. It appears to m ean the conversion of clay into the hard form
which it assum es w hen baked.
5. L atin congelatio. T he reference is to the deposition of solids from w ater,
interpreted by Ihn Sinfi (and others) as a solidification of the w ater itself.
 SECTION ON STONES ANT) MOUNTAINS 10
from a substance (‘) in which earthiness predominates, and m any of
them are derived from a substance in which aquosity predominates.
Often a clay dries and is changed at first into something interm ediate
between stone and clay, viz. a soft stone, and afterwards is changed
into stone [proper]. The clay which most readily lends itself to this
is that which is agglutinative, for if it is not agglutinative it usually
crumbles before it petrifies. In my childhood I saw, on tlie bank of
the Oxus (*), deposits of the clay which people use for washing their
h e a d s Q ; subsequently I-observed that it had become converted into
a soft stone, and that was in the space of approxim ately 23 years (4).
Stone has also been form ed from flow in g w a ter in two ways (a ) by
the con gelation o f the w a ter as it falls drop by drop or as a w hole
during its flow (/'), and ( b) by the deposition from it, in its course,

1. jn u h a r , essence, essential substance, substance as opposed lo accident.

2. Ja ih ftn . Y aqul (Barbier de M eynard. D ic lio n n a ire yto y ra p h iq n e , hislori-
qite et littera ire de la P erse et des contrdes adjacentes, e x tr a it d u Mo’djem el-
B ouldan de Y uq o ut, P aris, 18G1, pp. \8 ‘\ ff.) gives a long description of the Oxus.
— « Ce iioin (Jaihm i) est etranger, et e’est sans raison que quelques auteurs le
font deliver du m ol qui signifie ddraciner, arracher, parce que ce lleuve
devore ses deux rives. C ette opinion lie m erite pas d’etre discutee. Selon H am zali,
le nom prim itif de D jelhoun esl lle r o n n v allie du Khora^iln, nu milieu
de laquelle esl la ville de DjeihAn dont les P ersans, dans leur pronon-
ciation em pliatique, onl fait D jeih ou n. — D’apres Ibn el-Fuqih, il sort d ’un en-
droit noinm e liiw sa r& n m ontague qui touche aux pays du Sind, de
l’lnde el de K ab o u l; cetle m ontngne donne naissance A une source pres d’un lieu
nom ine ‘In d e m is — Le Dje'ihoun, dit el-Isthakhri, esl d'ubord une
riviere nom inee D jonrbdb qui sort du pays de W e k k h d b sur les
i’r ontieres du lied a klisch d n . II se jo in t ii d ’au lres rivieres dan s le pays de K h o tte l
( j s i .) et de W a k lish ( j ii- j) , et de la reunion de tons ces affluents provient le
grand ilenve D jeihoun », etc.
3. (S ta p leton .) « T his clay, which is know n in B aghdad as T in K h d m a h , pre­
sum ably contains sodium carbonate, b u t we have been unable to obtain a sam ple
in C alcutta. In India the naturally occurring S a j ji M a tti (crude sodium carbonate)
is used for the sam e purpose ». It is green in colour and of a cream y consistency.
4. T he L atin version says 33 years, bill Ibis is clearly an error.
5. &Zay> lit, w ith its rope, i. e. altogether, as a w hole (Lane, s. v.). Tlie Latin
tran slato r om itted the latter p art o f this sentence, probably because he did not
understand it.
20 AVICK'NNAIO MINHUAIilA

of something which adheres to the surface of its hed and [then]

petrifies. Running waters lmve heen observed, p art of which, dripping
upon a certain spot, solidifies into stone or pebbles of various colours,
and dripping water has been seen which, though not congealing nor­
mally, yet immediately petrifies when it falls upon stony ground near
its channel. W e know therefore th at in that ground there m ust be a
congealing petrifying virtue which converts tho liquid to the solid.
Thus the bases of the formation of stone are [either] a soft clayey
substance or a substance in which aquosity predominates. Congelation
of the latter variety must he caused by a mineralizing, solidifying
virtue, or earthiness must have become predominant in it in the same
way in which salt is coagulated, i. c. earthiness becomes predominant
in it by reason of its [peculiar] virtue and not of its amount. If indeed
the earthy quality is not like that in salt, hut is of a different kind,
nevertheless the two must be similar in that they are transformed by
heat, and in that the advent of heat coagulates them. Or it may be
that the virtue is yet another, unknown to us. Alternatively, the
converse may be true — that its earthiness has prevailed merely
by a cold dry virtue.
In short, it is in the nature of water, as you know ('), to become
transformed into earth through a predominating earthy virtue ; you
know, too, that it is in the nature of earth to become transformed
into water through a predominating aqueous virtue. In this connection,
there is a substance used hy those; folk who have lost their way amid
their artful contrivances (2) which, when they are so minded, they
1. Or, a s I lini'e sho w n, which is perhaps m ore probable, though MS. C defi­
nitely vocalises in tlie second person m asculine singular.
2. A th ru st a t the alchem ists. S tapleton s a y s : — « T he full rendering of the
A rabic of these last tw o sentences is as follows : ‘ T here is a thing th a t certain
people, who have gone astray , prepare in their experim ents, called V ir g in ’s M ilk,
which is composed of two w aters. T his coagulates into a dry substance, which
clearly proves the truth of w hat we have stated above (i. e. th at w ater can be
turned into stone). T hey have likew ise m any other tilings th at they prepare
during the processes o f liquefaction and coagulation th a t also prove these law s ’.
T he version of the Latin tran slato r betrays the fact th at he him self is num bered
 SECTION ON STONES AND MOUNTAINS 21
ciiU Virgin’s ]\[illi ( ') ; it is compounded of two waters which coagu­
late into a hard solid. This is a indication of the truth of [what I have

am ongst tliose who ‘ have gone astray Ihn S ina in using the word lyUS evidently
refers to the ‘ too-ingenious ’ experim enter ».
1. L a c virgiilis is a nam e applied to m any substances in alchem ical literature.
T he following passage occurs in a hook called D io d o ri E u c h y o n tis de 1'olychy-
m ia lib ri q u a lu o r (Basle, 1!)G7, p. 47); — A q u a lac v ir g in u m dicta. I!ec.
L ithargyri urgent! in m ortario suhtiliter pulverizati, (piantm n volueris, m aceretur
per hiduuin vel tridm un, in acelo forlissim o vini alhi, ill quatuor digitis supra
pulverem em inent, et singulis diehus q uater agiletur. T erlio deinde vel quarto die
eH’undalur paulatim acetum , ne ag itelur nut confundatnr cum aceto pulvis in
fuiido residens, in vasculum , quod seorsim optim e ohturatum , in loco frigido con-
servetur. llae c aipia suhilo splendorem el nitnrem rebus inducit. D einde p aretu r
lixivium acre, ex cinerihus optim is alhis, nec dum exlinctis, de ligno seu carboni-
hus quernis. P o tesl vero cum a(jua pluvia seu lluviatili vel decoctione ad terliae
partis consum ptionem lixivium fieri, vel deslillatione per tillrum . Q uihus sic pam lis
si ad >isum revocare liheal, efTundalur in volam m antis aquae praescriptae ex
lithargyro nim iruiti d estillalae, g ultu la una, ctti illiquid lixivii prim i adinisceatur,
et de oleo crepino pars una, sic in lac suhilo, paulo vero post in caseum conver-
tutilur. Ul prim tttn autem acetum a lithargyri pulvere, til supra dictum esl, fnerit
separatum , aq u a frigida perfiiudatur, et hacculo sal qui fundo adliaeret agiletur,
sicque poslea exiccettir et servelur. E st enim ad allm m honae operationis. Calcis
(juoque liuius usus quandoque est, ubi testae ovortim ad m atins non sunt, necque
euim calx sem per inveniri potest, nisi de nova fiat. Sim iliter pro lithargyro sunii
potest, aluiiien iam enum et rocliae, sal geimiieiis, vel sal alkali, etc. Ilaec enim
om nia contrita et pulverizala, in aq u a clara, quae trilm s out quatuor digitis
einineal, ad lertiae parlis consum ptionem decoquuntur. Iluic decoctae aquae, si
prior de lithargyro, com m iscealtir, suhilo lit conversio in lac, el paulo posl in
caseum coagulatio, atque hoc ipso quoque ad decorem et veuuslalem m ulieres
utuntur.
According lo W illiam Johnson, L e x ic o n C h y m ic u m , printed in M angel’s llibl.
Chem. C uriosa, vol. 1, page 247, L a c v irg in is esl aq u a M ercnrialis. Eliam L a c
virgiilis, est M ercurius Philosophorum , sticctis S olariae et Lunuriae.
B erthelot (M o yeu Age, ii, page 29) says : Le la it v ir g in a l est une denom ination
sym boliqtie, souvent usilee chez les alchim istes. Ce serait en jiarticulier le nom
que les chim istes donnent au inercure, suiv ant le lexique de B ar B ahloul. On doit
d ’ailletirs entendre p ar la un chlorure de m ercure, plutot que le inercure m etal-
lique.
II seem s clear th a t Ihn S in a’s reference is m erely to tw o liquids w hich w hen
m ixed give a w hite precipitate, such as th e solutions ot lead acetate and potassium
carbonate m entioned in th e extract from the P o ly c h y m ia above. T h a t a w hite
22 AVICENNAE MINERALIA

said above] ('). They have also many tilings which they use in lique­
faction and coagulation which bear witness to tho soundness of these
judgments.
Stones are formed, then, either by the hardening of agglutinative
clay in the sun, or by the coagulation of aquosity by a desiccative
earthy quality, or hy reason of a desiccation through heat. If what is
said concerning the petrifaction of animals and plants is true, the
cause of this [phenomenon] is a powerful mineralizing and petrifying
virtue which arises in certain stony spots, or emanates suddenly
from the earth during earthquakes and subsidences (2), and petrifies
whatever comes into contact with it. As a m atter of fact, the petri­
faction of the bodies of animals and plants is not more extraordinary
than the transformation of waters.
It is not impossible for compounds to be converted into a single
elem ent if the virtue of the latter gets the mastery over them, for
each of the elements they contain may be converted into that element.
For this reason anything which falls into salt-pans is converted into
salt, while objects which fall into the fire are converted into fire. As
for the swiftness or slowness of the conversion, that is a m atter which
necessarily varies according to the variation in tho strength of tho
virtues ; if they are very violent they perform the conversion in a
short time. In Arabia there is a tract of volcanic earth Q which turns

solid is throw n down from a m ixture of these solutions w as known to Jab ir ihn
llayyAn, who m entions the fact in his K itd b a l-K h a w A s s a l-K a b ir (B ritish
M useum MS.).
1. L it. of this.
2. JL_i_ m eans it s a n k d o w n in to the earth. Cf. Q ur'an, xxviii, 82, J i 4 i
= w e h a d been s w a llo w e d up by the earth.
3. jji.. Lane describes a lia rra as a stony tract, of which the stones are black
and worn and crum bling, as though burned w ith fire. Stapleton lias the following
n o te : « I l a r r a h is an outcrop of volcanic rock often found in A rabia. B urton
(P ilg rim a g e lo A l-M a d in a h a n d Meccali, M em orial Ed. Vol. I, p. 421) says :
‘ Ilarrah , from Ila rr (heat) is the generic nam e of lava, porous basalt, scoriae,
greenstone, schiste, and other [stones] supposed to be of igneous origin. It is also
 SECTION ON STONES AND MOUNTAINS 23

to its own colour everyone who lives there and every object which
falls upon it. I myself have seen a loaf of bread in tlie shape of a
raghif (') — baked, thin in tlie middle, and showing tlie marks of
a bite — which had petrified but still retained its original colour,
and on one of its sides was the impression of the lines in the oven.
I found it thrown away on a mountain near Jajarm (2), a town of
Khurasan, and I carried it about with me for a time. These things
appear strange only 011 account of their infrequent occurrence ; their
natural causes, however, are manifest and well-known.
Certain varieties of stone are formed during the extinction of fire,
and frequently ferreous and stony bodies originate during thunder­
storms, by reason of the accidental qualities of coldness and dryness
which fieriness acquires when it is extinguished. In the country of
the Turks (') there fell, amid thunder and lightning, coppery bodies
in the shape of arrowheads with a projection turned back towards
the top. A sim ilar one fell in Jil and Dailam (;), and when it fell it
penetrated into the earth. The substance of all these was coppery
and dry. I myself undertook, in Khwarazm (s), tlie difficult task of
fusing a head of that kind, but it would not m e l t ; a greenish fume

used to denote a ridge or liill of such form ation. ’ Several fam ous ones exist close
to M udinali. »
D oughty, A r a b i a lieserta, 192.'?, I, 419, says : — « In the train of Ila rra s we
see a spectacle of tlie old vulcanic violence th at torm ented this border of the
A rabian peninsula. I have followed these Ila rra s alm ost to Mecca ; th a t is through
nearly seven degrees of latitude ». D oughty h as num erous other references to
h a r ra s, for which see the index to his book.
1. Lane : — A r a g h i f is « a round cake of bread, such as is thick, or not thin,
generally ab o ut a span, or less, in w idth, and from h alf an inch to an inch in
thickness ». Dozy, S u p p lem e n t, sub voce : — « D ans le Minlio, notam m enl a
O porto el a B raga, on donne le nom de regueifa a des pains blancs en forme
d'unneau. »
2. L atin L u r g e a m ! Jajarm lies approxim ately 5G° E. by 37° N. (in m odern
P ersia).
3. L atin version : i n P ersia.
4. Tw o P ersian provinces on the south-w est shores of the C aspian Sea.
5. M odern Khiva.
21 AVICENNAE MINERALIA

continued to come off from it until at length an ashy substance rem ain­
ed (').
I regard as true, on unexceptionable evidence, an event which
happened in .Tftzjanan (2) in our own tim e: a ferreous bodv, which
perhaps weighed 150 mana (1), fell from the sky, penetrated the
ground, and then rebounded once or twice like a ball which has been
thrown against a wall ; afterwards it penetrated into the ground again.
People heard a tremendous, terrifying, noiso and when they investi­
gated the m atter they took possession of the object and carried it to
the Governor of Juzjanan. lie wrote about it to the Sultan of K hura­
san, contemporary with us, the Amir Yamin al-Daula wa ’Amin
al-Milla Abu’l-Qasim Mahmud ihn Sahaktagin al-Muzaffar al-Mughal-
lib (*), who ordered him to send him tlie object or a part of it. Its
1. M ention of tlie greenish fume confirms Ibn Sinn’s identification of tlie sub­
stance as « coppery », though perhaps it may have been nickel ns is the ense w ith
m any m eteorites.
2. JflzjilnAn is in H erat (Klmrasrtn). It is fam ous ns the spot from which Nnsir-
i-Khiisraw, author of the S a f a r - n a m a , set out upon his travels on D ecem ber 1!),
1015 A. 1). Ibn Sim i’s friend and com panion A bu ‘U haidallnh ‘A bdu’l-W ahid
ihn M uham m ad cam e from JilzjAnan.
!!. A m a n a is about two pounds. A m ong tlie C haldaeans and E gyptians the
m a n a w as tho sixtieth p art of the talent, which itself w eighed 93.05 lbs. II is an
extrem ely ancient w eight, for th e A shinolean M useum has a specim en dating
from Hie reign of Entem ena, greal-grandson of Ur-Nina ; it is pear-shaped, with
u deep groove on each side running from the point to the base, and carries the
following inscription: — One m a n a o f w a y e s in wool. Dialii the Iliyh -F riest.
It w eighs (>80.485 gram s (about 1 1 lbs.).
One would not have thought th at n w eight of rath er less than 3 cw l. w as very
difficult to transport (p. 25). T he L atin version has 100 m arks, i. e., approxim ately
100 lbs.
4. S. Lane-Poole, M o lia m m a d a n D yn a sties, 1925, pp. 280 and 287: — « Vainin
nl-Dnula M ahimld ibn S ahaktagin cam e lo the throne in A. D. 998 (A. H. 388) ».
« M alunftd of G haznn, the son of S ahaktagin, is one of the g reatest figures in
M oham m adan history'. A fter overcoming his younger brother Ism a'il, who had
forced a contest, he repudiated the suprem acy of the feeble representative of the
Sam anids, and received an investiture for the governm ents of K hurasan and
G haznn direct from the Caliph of B aghdad, ‘ the dispenser of pow ers w hich he
him self no longer enjoyed ’ ..... Besides his Indian w ars, M ahm ud h eat off the
 SECTION ON STONES ANI) MOUNTAINS

rem o va l, h ow ever, p roved too difficu lt on account o f its w eigh t, so

th ey a ttem p ted to b reak oil' a p iece o f it, but the tools could w ork it
on ly w ith difficu lty, e v e r y d rill and chisel used upon it break in g.
A t len gth , h o w ever, th ey cut o ff a fragm en t o f it and sent it to the
Sultan, who ord ered a sword to be struck from it, but this proved too
difficult. I t is said that the substance was e n tire ly com posed o f sm all
rounded granular p a rticles adh erin g to one another ( ') . A ll this was
seen by m y frien d the la w y e r Abu ‘ U b aid allah ‘ A b d u ’l-W a h id ibn
M uham m ad al-Jiizjani ( 2). I am told that m any o f the beautiful swords
o f the Yam an are m ade from this kind o f iron on ly Q and that the
poets o f the A rab s h a ve described the fact in th e ir poem s ( 4).

attack of tlie llak Khan, reduced Glior (1010) and the country of the U pper M ar-
glrnb (1012), and even annexed T ransoxania w ith its tw o g rea t cities of S am ar­
kand and B ukhara in 101G *.
1. Cf. E ncycl. B r ita n n ic a , XV111, p. 2G4 (E leventh E ditio n ): — A bout eleven
out of every tw elve of the know n m eteoric stones belong to a division to which
R ose gave the nam e clionilritic (ydvSpos, a g ra in ); they present a very fine-grain­
ed b ut crystalline m atrix or paste, consisting of olivine and en statile or bronzile,
w ith m ore or less nickel-iron, troilite, chrom ite, augite and triclinic fe ld sp ar;
through this p aste are dissem inated round chondrules of various sizes and gen er­
ally w ith the sam e com position as the m atrix ; in som e cases the ehondniles
consist w holly or in p art of glass. Som e m eteorites consist alm ost solely of chon­
drules ; others contain only lew ; in som e cases the chondrules are easily sep ar­
able from the surrounding m aterial.
2. Ibn S in a’s faithful com panion for m any years.
IS. S ir R obert A. lladlield, F. R. S., the em inent authority on iron and steel,
whom we consulted upon this point, w rites : — A s regards the sw ord m ade from
m eteoric iron, as the la tte r is usually a com pound of Iron und Nickel, w ith Cobalt
and som e other elem ents, y et a t the sam e tim e hardly any Carbon, il is quite to
he understood th at this m aterial, although forgeable, would only give a product
w hich on quenching would be lough b u t quite soft, and not carry a cutting edge.
4. H aving been unable to confirm this statem ent, we asked the help of Profes­
sor R. A. N icholson, who w rites : — « I cannot find any authority for the sta te ­
m ent of Ibn S ina th at the A rab poets refer to m eteoric iron as the m aterial from
which the best sw ords w ere m ade. P ossibly Ibn S ina m ay have m isunderstood
such p assages as th a t in which M uslim b. al-VValn'd describes a flashing sw ord as
« a deadly m eteor » ^ le wh°Ie subject of the sw ord in A rabic
poetry has been treated very fully by Schw arzglose in his W a ffe n der alteil
A ra b e r, b u t there is nothing in bis citations to support Ibn Sina ».
20 AVICENNAE MINERALIA

T h is, then, is one kind o f w ay in which stone is form ed. A trust­

w orth y man from am ong the Shaikhs o f the kingdom o f Isfahan, Abu
Mansur Horm uz I)iy a r ibn M ashakzar, one in close relation w ith the
illustrious A m ir Abu J a 'fa r M uhammad ibn Dushinanzar (m a y God
have m ercy upon him !) ( ') , told me that there fe ll from the sky, in
the mountains o f Tabaristau, an object the fall o f which resem bled
the fall o f the above-m entioned mass o f iron, ex cep t that in this case
it was a huge stone. T h is com pletes the discourse upon the form ation
o f stones (*).

A s for the form ation o f la rge stones, this m ay occur a ll at once ( !),
by intense heat acting suddenly upon a la rge mass o f c la y, or little
by little w ith the passage o f tim e.
T h e form ation o f heights is brought about by ( « ) a n essential cause ( 4)

1. S. I.ane-Poole, M o h m n m m ltin D y n a stie s , 1025, p. 145: — « M oham m ad 1>.

D ushm aiizar, know n as Ilm-Knkwavli, was first cousin to M ajd-al-daw la the Bu-
wuyhid, of Ilum tidhftn, whoso dom inions he annexed hy (lie deposition of Samft-
ul-daw la in 102:1 A. 1). lie had previously taken Ispahan in 1007 A. I). T lie family
continued to ride in Ispnhftn, Ilam adhan, Yazd, N aliaw and, etc., until their con­
quest hy the Seljiik Tuglnil Beg in 1051 A. D. >
2. C np n t I does nol end w itli this sentence, as it should, h ut willi tlie following
one. W ith regard to Ihn Shift's description of m eteorites the appended passages
from tlie E n cyclo pa ed ia Jlrita n u ic u , Vol. X V III, are of in te re st: — (p. 2(52)
« T he fall of stones from the sky, though not credited l>y scientific men till the
end of the ISth cenlury, had been again and again placed on record.... T he oldest
existing m eteorite of which the fall is known to have been observed is th at which
fell a t Eusisheim in Elsass on the 10th of Novem ber 1402. It w as seen to strike
the ground and w as im m ediately dug o u l; it had penetrated to a depth of 5 ft.
and w as found to weigh 200 pounds.... Aleteoritic falls are independent of th u n ­
derstorm s and all other terrestrial circum stances.... T he largest single m ass seen
to fall is one of those which came down at R niyahinya, H ungary, in 18(5(5, and
w eighed 517 lb ; but far larger m asses, inferred from their characters to be m eteor­
ites, have been m et with.... In the case of the Ilessle fall, several stones fell on
the ice, which w as only a few inches thick, nud rebounded w ithout breaking the
ice or being broken them selves.... »
In the sam e vol., p. 2(51, it is stated th a t an abundant m eteoric display took
place on O ctober 15, 1002 A. D., a date which accords well w ith the observations
of Ihn Shift.
3. j . 4. o UJIj wwm.
 SECTION ON STONES AND MOUNTAINS 27

and ( b) an accidental cause (')• The essential cause [is concerned]

when, as in many violent earthquakes, tlie wind which produces the
earthquake raises a p art of the ground and a height is suddenly form­
ed (5). In the case of the accidental cause, certain parts of the
ground become hollowed out while others do not, by tho erosive action
of winds and Hoods which carry away one p art of the earth but not
another. T hat p art which suffers the action of the current becomes
hollowed out, while that upon which the current does not ilow is left
as a height. The current’ continues to penetrate the first-formed
hollow’ until at length it forms a deep valley, while the area from
which it has turned aside is left as an eminence. This m ay be taken
as what is definitely known about mountains and the hollows and
passes between them (3).
Very often both w ater and wind would he ineffectual except for
the fact that the earth is not uniform, some parts of it being soft and

t*
2. Cf. the opinion of A ristotle, in Metcorologicti, th at earthquakes are due lo
the form ation of winds w ithin the earth.
W illi the views expressed here and later in this section, il is interesting to
com pare those which Ovid ascribes to P ythago ras (M etam o rp h oses, XV, trails,
hy F. J. Miller, l'JIG, pp. 383 etc.) : — « I m yself have seen w hat w as once solid
land changed into s e a ; and again I have seen land m ade from the sea. Sea-shells
have heen seen lying far from the ocean, and an ancient anchor h as heen found
on a m ountain-top. W h at once w as a level plain, down-llowing w aters have mudo
into a v alley ; and hills hy the force of Hoods have heen w ashed into Ihe sea.
W h at w as once m arsh is now u parched stretch of dry sand, and w hat w as once
dry and thirsty now is a m arshy pool.....N ear T roezen, ruled hy P illheus, there
is a hill, high and treeless, w hich once w as a perfectly level plain, hut now a
h ill; for, horrible to relate, the wild forces of the w inds, shul up in d ark regions
underground, seeking an outlet for their flowing and striving vainly lo obtain a
freer space, since there w as 110 chink in all their prison through which their
breath could go, puffed out and stretched the ground, ju s t us w hen one inflates a
bladder w ith his breath, or the skin of a horned goat. T h a t sw elling in tlie ground
rem ained, h as still the appearance of a high hill, and has hardened as the years
w ent by ».
3. T h a t is, so far Ibn Sina has m erely been statin g w hat w as generally accep­
ted ; his own views upon th e details an d m ethods of th e processes follow.
28 AVICENNAE MINEHALIA

others stony. T h e soft, ea rth y parts becom e hollow ed out aiul the
stony parts are le ft behind as elevation s. W ith the passage o f tim e,
the channel is excavated and w idened m ore and m ore, w h ile the
raised portion is le ft, becom ing r e la tiv e ly h igh er and high er as m ore
earth is hollow ed out from [b e s id e j it. Th ese, then, are the p rin cipal
causes o f the th ree changes [m en tion ed at tlie beginning o f the fa s l,
v iz . the form ation o f stone, the form ation o f stones g rea t in bulk or
in num ber, and the form ation o f cliffs and h eigh ts] ( ‘).
M ountains have been form ed by one [on o th e r] o f the causes o f the
form ation o f stone, most probably from agglu tin ative cla y which
slo w ly d ried and petrified during ages o f which we have no record.
I t seem s lik e ly that this habitable w o rld was in form er days uninhab­
itable and, indeed, subm erged beneath the ocean ( ') . Th en , becom ing
exposed little by little , it petrified in the course o f ages the lim its
o f which h istory has not preserved ; o r it m ay have petrified beneath
the w aters bv reason o f the intense heat confined under the sea. T h e
m ore probable [ o f these two p ossib ilities] is that p etrifa ction occurred
a fte r the earth had been exposed, and that the condition o f the clay,
w hich would then be a gglu tin a tive, assisted the p etrifaction Q .
It is for this reason [t. c. that the earth was once covered by the
sea ] that in m any stones, when th ey are broken, a re found parts o f
aquatic anim als, such as shells, etc. ( l)
It is not im possible that the m in eralizin g virtu e (5) was gen erated
th ere [ i . e. in the p e trify in g c la y ] and aided the process, w h ile the

1. Cf. page 18.

2. A suggestion which goes hack at least ns far as X enophanes of Colophon
((114 1!. C.) and was accepted by H erodotus, Straho, A ristotle and others.
!i. Cf. page 1!).
4. Ihn S ina w as not alone in this anticipation of the conclusions of N icolas
Sleno, for X enophanes and the other philosophers m entioned in footnote 2 based
their views upon the occurrence of shells in regions far from the sea. A fter the
death of Ibn Sina, however, orthodox belief repudiated the n atu ral deduction from
the observed facts, although Leonardo da Vinci w as courageous enough to re­
affirm it.
5. Cf. page 22.
 SECTION ON STONES AND MOUNTAINS 20

waters also may have petrified. Most probably, mountains wero form­
ed by all these causes.
T1 ie abnndancc of stone in them is duo to the abundance, in tlie
sea, of clay which was afterwards exposed. Their elevation is due to
tlie excavating action of Hoods and winds 011 the m atter which lies
between them, for if you examine tlie m ajority of mountains you will
see that the hollows between them have been caused by floods. This
action, however, took place and was completed only in the course
of many ages, so that the trace of each individual Hood has not been
l e f t ; only that of the most recent of them can be seen.
At the present time, most mountains are in the stage of decay and
disintegration, for they grew and were formed only during their
gradual exposure by the waters. Now, however, they are in the grip
of disintegration, except those of them which God wills should increase
through the petrifaction of waters upon them , or through Hoods which
bring them a large quantity of clay that petrifies 011 them. I have,
I believe, heard that this has been observed on certain mountains.
As for [the similar phenomenon] which I witnessed upon the banks
of the Oxus, that place cannot properly be called a mountain (').
Of the land which was exposed by the retreat of the waters, those
parts which were of h arder clay or more strongly petrified or of
greater bulk than the rest remained as elevations and heights when
the other parts had been carried away.
As for the veins of clay th a t are found in mountains, it is possible
th at these were formed not from the main substance which has
undergone petrifaction, but from debris of the mountains that turned
into dust and filled the valleys and ravines. It then became moistened
by streams which flowed upon it, and was covered by the layers of
stone forming the mountains, or interlaid with the good clay of the
litte r (2). It is possible also th at the ancient clay of the sea was not
1. Cf. page 19.
2. S tapleton renders this p assage as fo llow s: — T h is deposit w a s then m o ist­
ened by flow in g s tre a m s a n d either covered w ith refuse f r o m the m o u n ta in s ,
no AVICENNAE MINEHAI jIA

uniform in substance, and that in succession (‘) some of it petrified

thoroughly, while some did not jietrify at all, and some was converted
only into a soft stone through a certain quality predominant in it or
by reason of some one of innumerable other causes.
It is also possible that the sea may have happened to flow little
by little over laud consisting of both plain and mountain and then
have ebbed away from i t ; and so it came to pass th at the plain was
turned into clay without the same befalling the mountain. Once con­
verted into clay, it was in a fit state to undergo petrifaction when it
became exposed, and its petrifaction would be complete and strong.
When exposure of the m atter which was petrifying took place, it
must frequently have happened that the old petrified portions [i. c.
tlie mountains] were in a state fit for disintegration, and so would
suffer tho converse of what was happening to the earth. That is, they
became moist and soft and turned into dust again, which itself is in
a fit state for petrifaction. For example, when you soak a brick, some
earth and some clay in water, and then expose each of them to the
fire, the soaking will increase the tendency of the brick to be disinte­
grated again by tlie fire, and will also increase the tendency of the
earth and the clay to petrify strongly.
or m ix e d ivith good c la y fr o m the s a m e source. It would seem th at liis text w as
defective ; no doubt it read for jalibjl and ih li. for iiU i. jofc) is an
uncom m on word, and European dictionaries we have consulted do not give much
help, the only one to m ention it at all being th at of Salm one. T here is, however,
a lengthy article upon the word and its derivatives 0 11 pp. 310 and .'111 of vol. 8
of the L is d n n 'l-'A m b , 1st. edn., liotilak, 11501 A. II., from which the following
extracts are taken. T he rendering of jalAjI given in tlie translation probably
expresses its sense in tlie present conneclion. W e have, in fact, taken jel& y as
equivalent to the plural of vJL jj .
jaxj Jjusu jJI . f •— iiolyull jjiuJ) jaAIjjJI . I
£ .....r -—
Tlie m eaning of isJUi. is clear from the context, but sim ilar uses are not un­
com m on. Cf. Lane, s. v.
1. ^ .
 SECTION ON 8TONKS AND MOUNTAINS 31

It is possible that each time the laud was exposed hy the ebbing
of tlie sea a layer was left, since we see that, some mountains appear
to have been piled up layer by layer, and it, is therefore likely that
the clay from which they were formed was itself at one tim e arranged
in layers. One layer was formed first, then, at a different period, a
further layer was formed and piled [upon the first, and so on]. Over
each layer there spread a substance of different m aterial, which form­
ed a partition between it and the next layer ; but when petrifaction
took place something occurred to the partition which caused it to
break up ;md disintegrate from between the layers (').
As to the bottom of the sea, its clay is either sedim entary or prim ­
aeval, the latter not being sedim entary. It is probable that the
sedim entary clay was formed by the disintegration of the strata of
mountains (*).
1. T he text of fhe first sentence of this passage is unsatisfactory in all llirec
M SS. we have used. W e have therefore adopted S tapleto n ’s rendering, as lie
seem s to have had a text more correct th an ours in this passage. H e 1ms, however,
not translated the passage from p ile d up la y e r by la y e r to between the layers,
rem arking th at the A rabic original of the latter portion of F a s t I is full of m is­
takes, and th a t if the m ediaeval tran slato r had a sim ilar text before him , it is easy
to understand the difficulty he evidently experienced in rendering the A rabic
into Latin.
Except for the sentence above-m entioned, the passage in question does not
p resent any peculiar difficulty if our text is correct, though it is true th at w hat
Ibn Sind m eans to convey about the partitions betw een the layers is not as clear
as could be desired. It is evident th at he wished to explain (a) why the various
layers of clay did not mix w hile they w ere still in a viscous state, which he does
by p ostulating the form ation o f partitions ; and (b) w hy the partitions are n ol to
be discovered in aclual practice.
2. Cf. E n c yc lo p a ed ia I ir ita n n ic a , XI, p. 050: — « T he sedim entary or stra ti­
fied rocks form by much the larger p art of the dry land of the globe, and they are
prolonged to an unknow n distance from the shores under th e bed of the sea.
T hey include those m asses of m ineral m atter which, unlike the igneous rocks,
can be traced back to a definite origin oil the surface of th e earth. T hree distinct
types m ay be recognized am ong them : (a) By far the larg est proportion of them
consists of different kinds of sedim ent derived from th e disintegration of p re­
existing rocks. In this « fragm ental » group are placed all the varieties o f shingle,
gravel, sand, clay and m ud, w hether these m aterials rem ain in a loose incoherent
 AVICENNAE -MINETIAEIA

Such is tlie formation of mountains (')•

condition, or have been com pacted into solid stone. (6) A nother group consists ot
m aterials th at bave been deposited by chemical precipitation from solution in
w ater. Tlio w bite sinter laid down by calcareous springs is a fam iliar exam ple
011 a sm all scale. Beds of rock-salt, gypsum and dolom ite have, in som e regions,
been accum ulated to a thickness of m any thousand feet, by successive precipita­
tions of the salt contained in the w ater of inland seas, (c) A n abundant and highly
im portant series of sedim entary form ations has been formed from the rem ains of
plants and anim als .... A s the sedim entary rocks have for the m ost p art been laid
down under w ater, and m ore especially on the sea floor, they are often spoken
of as « aqueous », in contradistinction to the igneous ro c k s .....II is from the sedi­
m entary rocks th at the m ain portion of geological history is derived. T hey have
been deposited one over another in successive stra ta from a rem ote period in the
developm ent of the globe down to the present tim e. From this arrangem ent they
bave been term ed * stratified », in contrast to the unstratified or igneous series.
T hey have preserved m em orials of the geographical revolutions which the surface
of the earth lias undergone; and above all, in the abundant fossils which they
have enclosed, they furnish a m om entous record of the various tribes of plants
and anim als which have successively llourished 011 land and sea. »
1. C ap u t I I of the Latin version ends here.
 SECTION ON THE FORMATION OF MINERALS.
The time lias now arrived for ns to give an account of the proper­
ties (') of m ineral substances. AVe say, therefore, that mineral bodies
may be roughly divided into four groups, viz. stones, fusible sub­
stances, sulphurs and salts (2). This is for the following reason : some
1; J V J .
2. Cf. tlie classification given by Al-Razi in bis K itd b a l-A sr d r (see Fleischer,
C atalog u s L ib r o r u m M a n n sc rip lo r n m q u i i n Bibliotlieca S e n a io r in C ivita tis
L ip sie n sis a sserva n tu r, eilidit N a u m a n n , 1838, Codices O rie n ta liu m L in g u a -
ru m , p. 509, K. 215, no. CCLXVI). —
E le m e n ta terrestria sex g e n e rn m s u n t:
cy ;
1. S p ir itu s q u a tu o r :
; jjliAJI ; £ j ; yt ;
2. C orpora septem :
; Soitl ; ; joUoyi ; >>{.*3^)1,
3. L a p id e s tr e d e c im :
>^JI - Ixw*aax*JI | j | Ij | j > *

I. V itr io la q n in q n e :
jy-JII Elyi ; j-jjitfJI ; jUaHSJI ; ; Sialfll.
5. N i t r u s e x :
jjy ! ; > Sil-aJI j j j J i ; ‘r ’;* 1*
0. S a les u n d e c i m :
>Jk}\ ^1*11 ; J*»l eJUI ; ^UM ; ;
^ lo j I ^^°yi j -
Ilorum elem entorum sex arte qiiaerim lur : ,votoll j ^ihSlSII - jUCisJf ;
; ju y i ; J jjl ;
cetera n atu ra praebet.
Cf. also the classification of substances given in the M a fd tih al-‘Ulilm (ed.
van Vloten, 1895, pp. 258-203), which is apparently based upon th at of Al-Razi.
O ther schem es of classification are given in the L etters o f the B re th re n o f
P u r ity (ed. D ieterici, Leipzig, 1886), etc.
3
 AVICENNAE M INERAI jIA

of the mineral bodies are weak in substance (') and feeble in compo­
sition (2) and union Q , while others are strong in substance. Of the
latter, some are malleable and some are not malleable. Of [the
former, i. e.] those which are feeble in substance, some have the
nature of salt and are easily dissolved by moisture, such as alum,
vitriol, sal-ammoniac and qalqaml (‘), while others are oily in nature
and are not easily dissolved hy moisture alone, such as sulphur and
arsenic [sulphides] (3).
M ercury is included in the second group, inasmuch as it is the
essential constituent elem ent of malleable bodies or at least is similar
to it (c).
All malleable bodies are fusible, though sometimes only indi­
rectly (’), whereas most non-malleable substances cannot be fused in
the orthodox way (') or even softened except with difficulty.
The material (’) of malleable bodies is an aqueous substance united
so firmly with an earthy substance that the two cannot be separated
from one another. This aqueous substance has been congealed by cold
after heat has acted upon it and matured it (in). Included in the group
[of malleable bodies], however, are some which are still quick (")
1. f y i - .
2. wk-Jy.
3‘
4. qulqum l, jjjtlJ, xaXxavOo;, green vitriol, FeSO-t. 7IIoO .V id e in fr a , p. 3G etc.
f,_ g J jj , s a r n ik h , realgar, orpiinent, A sjS i and As-jSa.
C. T his is not merely an expression of Ihn Sind’s natural caution hut a refer­
ence to general alchem ical opinion, vis. Our m ercu ry is n o t (he m ercu ry o f the
vu lg a r. T he word rendered hy essen tia l co n stitu en t elem ent is
7. iLsdU lit. though it he by artifice.
8.
!)■ Sj U.
10. lit. roasting, cooking. Cf. page 4.
11. In the sense of alive, or as in quicksilver. T his passage proved very trouble­
som e to the Latin translator, or a t least to the copyists, the general rendering
being : E t erit exem pluin a vino quod n o n d n m g ela vit p ro pter s u a tn nnctuosi-
ta tem : et ideo n o n est ductile. T he T rinity MS. 1122, however, seem s to read
 SUCTION ON TH E FORMATION O r MINERALS

and have not congealed on account of their oily nature ; for this
reason, too, they are malleable (')•
As regards tho stony kinds of naturally-occurring mineral substan­
ces, the m aterial of which they are made is also aqueous, hut they
have not heen congealed by cold alone. T heir congelation has, on the
contrary, been brought about hy dryness which has converted the
aquosity into terrestreitv. They do not contain a quick, oily humidity
a vivo for a vino, so th a t il is possible th at A lfred the E nglishm an w as not far
out.
1. T h a t est ductile, and not n o n est ductile, is correct is show n not m erely by
the agreem ent of all the A rabic M SS. b ut by the w hole argum ent (see below).
On the theory th at m etals are com posed of an aqueous substance and ail earthy
substance, cf. A ristotle, following H eraclitus (\V. I). Ross, Aristotle, London,
1923, p. 109): — « T here are two 1 exhalations ’ produced by the sun 's rays acting
on the surface of the earth. W hen the sun’s rays fall on dry land, they draw up
from it un exhalation which is hot and dry, and which A ristotle likens for the
m ost p art lo sm oke but also to fire and to wind. W hen they full upon w ater, they
draw up un exhulution which like w ater is m oist and cold, and is called the
vaporous in opposition to the sm oky exhalation. T he dry exhalation consists of
m inute particles of earth oh the w ay to being fire, and exhibiting already, though
in a w eaker degree, the properties of fire — heat and dryness. T he m oist exhala­
tion consists of m inute particles of w ater on the w ay to becom ing air, but exhibiting
in the m ain the qualities of w ater — coldness und m oisture .... A ristotle turns
next to the effects produced by the exhalations w hen ‘ im prisoned ’ iu the earth,
i. e. tlie m inerals. T hese are divided into tlie m etals, w hich are form ed by the
m oist exhulution. and the ‘ fossiles ’, formed of tlie dry ; m ost of the latter are
said to be either ‘ coloured pow ders ’ or stones formed out of such. »
A ccording to Jab ir ibn ITayyan (see C h e m istry to D a lto n , by E. J. H olm yurd,
Oxford, 1925, p. 18), there are two constituents of m etals, an earthy sm oke and
a w atery steam . C ondensation of these exhalations in tlie bow els of the earlh
gives rise to sulphur and m ercury ; com bination of sulphur and m ercury results
in the form ation of m etals.
A bu’l-Qftsim al-‘Iraqi (see his K ita h a l-'Ilm a l-M u kta su b , edited and translated
by E. J. Holm yurd, Puris, 1923, p. 13) s a y s : — « T he m oistness and dryness of
which m inerals are com posed are nothing b u t w atery steam and earthy sm oke ;
if com pounded together in right proportion, they give rise to the six m etuls, while
if the dryness, th at is, the sm oke, is in too g reat proportion, then are formed
brittle stones such as the m arcasites, m agnesias, tutias, and the stones related lo
the m ineral substances from leulil und z a r n ik h , etc. If tlie m oistness, th at is, the
steam , is in too great proportion, m ercury, and nothing else, will result. »
 AVICKNNAE MINERALIA

find so arc non-malleable ; and becausc their solidification lias been

causcd mainly by dryness, tlie majority of them are infusible unless
they arc subjected to some physical process which facilitates fusion (').
Alum and sal-ammoniac belong to the family of salts (2), though
sal-ammoniac possesses a fieriness in excess of its earthiness, and
may therefore bo completely sublimed. It consists of water combined
with a hot smoke, very tenuous and excessively fiery, and has been
coagulated by dryness.
In the case of the sulphurs, their aquosity has suffered a vigorous
leavening with carthiness and aeriness under the leavening action of
heat, so far as to become oily in nature ; subsequently it has been
solidified by cold.
The vitriols (’) arc composed of a salty principle, a sulphureous
principle and .stone, and contain the virtue of .some of the fusible
bodies [metals]. Those of them which resemble qalqnnd and qalqahtr ( ')
t. For this elegant rendering o f £|| t J c W UijiTI 2J jU JJj
we are indebted to Prof. Stapleton.
2. It will be rem em bered th at Al-Uazi classifies alum as a stone and sal-am m o­
niac as a spirit. Sal-am m oniac is practically universally classed as a spirit by the
A rabs, Ibn S ina being the only exception so far as we are aw are.
3-4. E. W iedem ann has tbe following inform ative passage upon vitriols (Sit-
eunijsberichle der 1‘h ysika lisc h -m e d izin isc h e n S ozieliit in E rla n g e n , vol. 43,
p. !)7, — « liei den V itriolen erw iihnt D im a sc h q i einen gelben kyprisclien
u. s. w. Die Lisle der V ilriole ist bei den M a fd tih sehr uiivollsliiiidig. N ach Seidel
wllre QalqntiXr kupferhaltiger E isen vitriol; Zftg im allgem einen Eisensulfnt. Eine
Heihe von A ngaben fiber den Vitriol b at de Goeje gesam m elt gelegentlich der
Erw iihnung des Vorkom m ens des V itriols der T inte (Ilibr) in der Nlllie von Kairo
(M u q a d d a s i S. 20!)). Sie ist der gelbe V arietilt ( Q m w i n i Bd. 1, S. 220), sie heisst
nucli al d a h a b i die goldige, diese kom m t in K a r m a n (Q(tz. Bd. 2, S. 104) vor;
Ib n ((I l l a i l d r und Ib n G a z la nennen sie Q alqa n t oder Q ulq n m l oder auch nur
zfttj (Mas. Bd. 2, S. 407); T. A. sagt, sie gehort zu den B estandteilen der T inte.
Von ihr ist eine andere A rt zu unlerscheiden, die auch geib ist, der V itriol der
Fiirber (S a b fly a in ) oder der Schuhflicker (Asitkifa). Die grim e heisst nach Qas.
auch Q a lq a td r und Q alqand, w ahrend Ib n B a i td r und I b n G a sla die gelbe
Q alqatdr, die grim e Q alqa n t nennen. Die w eisse A rt heisst Q alqadis und Schft-
g ijd r (Ib n G asla ) und S ch ab b (Qas.). Die rote aus Zypern kom m ende a l sitri,
das griechische awpu, ist das w ertvollste. Die sebw arze wird n ur bei Q azw. er-
wilhut. »
 SECTION OX T11E FORMATION OF MINERALS 37

are formed from crude vitriols l>y partial solution, the salty constit­
uent aloue dissolving, together with whatever sulphureity there may
In liis book K ita b a l-B u rh A n f i A s r A r 'I l m u l-M isA n, A l-Jildaki inis a section
on vitriols, of which tlie following is n sum m ary : — « T here arc seven kinds of
vitriol, viz. the yellow, the green, the red, q a lq a tu r, q u lq a n d , q u lq u d is and
s h a ltir a ; they are all naturally-occurring m inerals, and from any one of them all
the others may be prepared. Q nlqn d is is w hile vitriol, q a lq a n d yellow, shading
off into green and black, q a lq a tA r is yellow vitriol in which are shining golden
eyes. A l-siiri is red vitriol ; a l-s h a h ir a is yellow shading off into green and pure
blue. Al-Razi says lh a l there are seven sorts of vitriol [bill cf. footnote 2, p. 33] bill
m entions only six, and one of these is alum , which is not a v itrio l; y et in another
place he groups the alum s and the vitriols separately in spile of w hat he. said
previously. In still another place he says th a t q u lq u d is is u w hite vitriol, which
is correct, and th at q u lq a n d is green vitriol, b ut this is only partially true for it
im plies th at every green vitriol is q a lq a n d , and this is not so. lie say s too th at
q n lq a tA r is yellow vitriol and th at u l-su ri is red vitriol, b ut does not say how
they may be distinguished. Finally he says th at the vitriol m ines are in C yprus
and that vitriols are formed from [crude] vitriols and alum s, which the w aters d is­
solve and carry down with them inlo the hollows of the earth, after which the
heat of the sun coagulates them together. This, however, is only partially true,
for the alum s are different from the vitriols in nature, reactions and properties.
A ccording to Ibn Sina, the vitriols are partially soluble bodies, which have been
dissolved and then solidified [c/-. te x t |; q n lq a tA r is yellow vitriol, q u lq u d is is
white, q a lq a n t is green and u l-su ri red. D ioscorides and G alen do not m ention
q u lq u n t am ong the species of vitriol, b ut m ention q u lq u d is alone, saying th at its
nam e ill G reek is ch u lka n th o s. It is clear to anyone who exam ines their w ritings
th at q a lq a n t w ith them is q u lq u d is itself, and th at w hat they call vitrio l is green
vitriol, which Ibn Sina calls q a lq a n t. Ibn Juljul [c/'. Brockelm unn, I, 237 — Abu
DiVud SulaimAn ibn Ilu ssan ibn Juljul w as physician in ordinary to the Spanish-
A rab Caliph Ilishtlm II al-M u‘uyyad billah, 97(5-100!) A. I). T here is a Latin version
of one of his w orks on sim ples in the B odleian : S u p p lc m e n tu m sim pU cinm ,
q ua e in D ioscoride d esid cra n tu r] says that w hoever m aintains th at q a lq a n t is
q u lq u d is has erred, und th at his error proves his ignorance of these two sub­
stances. G alen and D ioscorides say th at it has been m aintained that s h a h ir u is
green vitriol, and Ibn Sinit says the sam e. O thers say th at s h a liira , which is the
vitriol of ‘ Iraq, is cobblers ’ vitriol. Abil Ja'fa r M uham m ad ibn A hm ad ibu Sayyid
al-K hafiqain, one of the reliable authorities on sim ples, quoting from G alen in the
9th. chapter of his book on M ed ic in a l S im ples, describes the vitriol m ines in
C yprus [here follows a long description]. D ioscorides says th at the com m onest
sort of q a lq a n t is th at which has the colour of lazw ard [lapis lazuli], and is hard,
heavy, clean and pure. I [i. e. A l-Jildaki] say th at why vitriols are boiled [and
crystallized] is to purify them from their earthy particles which becom e mixed
38 AVICENNAE MINEKALIA

bo. Coagulation follow s, a fte r a virtu e lias been acqu ired from a
m eta llic ore. Those that acqu ire the virtu e o f iron becom e red or
y e llo w , e. g . qa lqa td r, w h ile those which acqu irc the virtu e o f copper
becom e green . I t is fo r this reason th at th ey a rc so ea sily prepared
by m eans o f this a rt ( ') .
M ercu ry seem s to be w a ter w ith w hich a v e r y tenuous and sulphu­
reous earth has becom e so in tim a tely m ix ed that no surface can be
separated from it w ithout som ething o f that dryness coverin g it.
C onsequently it does not clin g to the hand o r confine its e lf closely to
the shape o f the vessel which contains it, but rem ains in no particu lar
shape unless it is subdued ( 2). Its w hiteness is d erived from the pu rity
o f that aquosity, from the w hiteness o f the subtle eartliiness which
it contains, and from the ad m ixtu re o f aeriness w ith it 0 .
A p ro p erty o f m ercu ry is that it is solidified by the vapours o f
sulphureous substances ( l) ; it is th erefo re q u ick ly solidified by lead ( ’J

w ith them in tlie m ines and w eaken their properties. T here is general agreem ent
th at the choicest sort of q n lq u td r is th at which is coppery in colour and is easily
pow dered ; it has 110 stone in it. T he best kind of vitriol is th at which com es from
Cyprus. »
1. W e have taken the U of U to be U though the
T rinity M S. 1400 reads u n d e im p ossibile est a rtificia liler ista duo fieri.
A sim ilar use of iUJsueJI lo occurs later.
2. Probably the m eaning is : unless it is am algam ated or sublim ed or fixed, i. e.
converted into a com pound.
3. Cf. Geber, S u m o f P erfection, Third P art, Chap. VI (London, 1G78) : —
« A rgentvive, which is also called M ercury by the A ncients, is a viscous w ater in
the bowels of the earth, by m ost tem perate H eat united, in a total Union through
its least p arts, w ith the substance of w hite subtile earth, until the humid be con-
tem pered by the dry, and the dry by the humid, equally. Therefore it runs easily
npon a plain superficies, by reason of its W atery H u m id ity ; b ut it adheres not,
although it hath a viscous H um idity, by reason ot the D ryness of th at which
contem perates it, am i perm its it not to adhere. It is also, as some say, the M atter
of M etals w ith Sulphur. »
4. I. e. converted into sulphides.
5. It is rath er difficult to understand w hy lead should be given as an exam ple
of u sulphureous substance which coagulates m ercury. Ibn Sina m ay be confusing
elem entary lead w ith g a len a , P bS , o r perhaps lead, is an error for
s a r n i k h , arsenic sulphide.
 SECTION ON T H E FORMATION OF MINEltAES 39

or by sulphur vapour. It scorns, moreover, that mercury, or something

resembling it, is the essential constituent elem ent (') of all the fusible
bodies, for all of them are converted into m ercury on fusion (2). Most
of them, however, fuse only a t a very high tem perature ("), so that
their mercury appears red. In the case of lead, an onlooker does not
doubt that this is mercury, since it melts at a lower tem perature,
but if during the fusion it is heated to the high tem perature [men­
tioned above], its colour becomes the same as that of the other fusible
bodies, i. c. fiery-red.
It is for this reason, viz. that it is of their substance, that mercury
so easily clings to all these bodies (‘). lint these bodies differ in their
composition from it by reason of variation in the m ercury itself —
or whatever it is that plays the same p art — and also through varia­
tion in what is mixed with it and causes its solidification (!).
If the mercury be pure, and if it be commingled with and solidified
by the virtue of a white sulphur which neither induces combustion (6)
nor is impure, but 011 the contrary is more excellent than th at p repar­
ed by the adepts (’), then the product is silver. If the sulphur besides
being pure is even better than that just described, and whiter, and
if in addition it possesses a tinctorial, fiery, subtle and non-combustive
virtue — in short, if it is superior to that which the adepts can p re­
pare — it will solidify the mercury into gold.
Then again, if the mercury is of good substance, but the sulphur
which solidifies it is impure, possessing on the contrary a property
of combustibility, the product will be copper. If the mercury is cor­
rupt, unclean, lacking in cohesion and earthy, and the sulphur is also
1-
2. T his naive interpretation of the n ature of a fused m elal is com m on in al­
chemy.
3. m eans literally a vehem ent heat.
4. I. e. am algam ates w ith the m etals.
5. I. e. sulphur or som ething resem bling it.
0.
7. I. e. the alchem ists.
40 AVJCENNAE MINE11ALIA

impure, tlio product will be irou. As for tin, it is probable that its
mercury is good, but that its sulphur is c o rru p t; and that the com­
mingling [of the two] is not firm, hut has taken place, so to speak,
layer hy layer, for which reason the metal shrieks (')• Lead, it, seems
likely, is formed from an impure, heavy, clayey mercury and an
impure, fetid and feeble sulphur, for which reason its solidification
has not been thorough (2).
Ther •e is little doubt that, hy alchemy, the adepts can contrive
solidifications in which the qualities of the solidifications of mercury
by the sulphurs are perceptible to the senses, though the alchemical
qualities are not identical in principle or in perfection with the
natural ones, but merely bear a resemblance and relationship to
them (n). Hence the belief arises that their natural formation takes
1. A reference to tlie w ell-know n cry o f tin. Cf. G eber, ed. cit., p. 103: — « T hat
there is u twofold substance o f argentvive in tin, w hereof one is not fixed, and
the other fixed, is proved, because it m akes a crashing noise before its calcination,
but after it hath been thrice calcined, th a t crashing is n o t; the reason of this is,
because the fugitive substance of its argentvive, m aking th at crashing, is flown
aw ay. » [M odem chem istry ascribes the cry to friction of the crystalline particles.]
2. A ccording to G eber, op. cit., p. ICG, « lead differs not from tin .... except that
it hath u more unclean substance, commixed of the two more gross substances,
viz; of sulphur and argentvive, and th at the sulphur in it is burning, and more
adhesive to the substance of its own arg e n tv iv e; and th at it hath m ore of the
substance of fixed sulphur to its com position than Ju p iter hath. »
IS. Tho passage beginning T here is little d oubt is not easy to render literally,
though the m eaning is clear, viz. th at the alchem ists can artificially prepare sub­
stances which to all appearance are m etals, though the ap p aren t qualities are not
absolutely identical with those of real m etals. The Latin translation evades the
difficulty of exactness w ith E t artifices ijelationem fere s im ile m a rtificia liter
fn c in n t, q itn m vis a rtific ia lia n o n eoilem m odo s u n t quo n a tu r a lia .
I’l'of. Stapleton, in his lough rendering, tran slates as follows : — « T here is little
doubt th at experts can bring about by va r io u s alchem ical devices coagulations,
sim ilar to those produced by the union of mercury and the sulphurs, although the
artificial products tints o btained are not precisely identical w ith those occurring
in nature, b u t o n ly bear a m ore or less close resem blance to them. »
In this rendering, we think th at Prof. S tapleton has been too much influenced
by the L atin v ersio n : no doubt he w ould have revised it if occasion had arisen.
I t will he seen from a later p assage [p. 42J th at Ibn S ina w as of opinion th at
 SKOTION ON T IIE FORMATION OF M1NH11AI.S 11

place in this way or in some similar way, though alchemy falls short
of nature in this respect and, in spile of great effort, cannot overtake
her (').
As to the claims of the alchemists (2), it must he clearly understood
that it is not in their power to hring about any true change of species.
They can, however, produce excellent imitations O , dyeing the red
[metal] white so that it closely resembles silver, or dyeing it yellow
so that it closely resembles gold. They can, too, dye the white [metal]
with any colour they desire, until it bears a close resemblance to
gold or copper ; and they can free the leads (l) from most of their
defects and impurities. Yet in theso [dyed metals] the essential nature
remains unchanged ; they are merely so dominated by induced quali­
ties that errors may be made concerning them , just as it happens
that men are deceived by salt, qalqand, sal-ammoniac, etc. (').
I do not deny that such a degree of accuracy may lie reached as
to deceive even the shrewdest (6), but the possibility of eliminating
or imparting tho specific difference has never heen clear to me. On
the contrary, I regard it as impossible, since there is 110 way of split­
ting up one combination into another (’). Those properties which are
perceived by tho senses (8) are probably not the differences which
tlie sensible qualities — in the A ristotelian sense of the word — w ere perhaps
not tl lose which in reality distinguish one m etallic species from an o th er ; hence
his use of the word
1. B ut the general view of the alchem ists w as th at expressed in a m arginal
note lo one of the T rinity M SS. — N a t u r a n o n n u n q u a m o p c m tu r a rte iu c a n te
(le q u a hie n o n loquitur.
2. H ere begins the passage so fam ous in the M iddle Ages.

4. I. e. lead and tin.

5. Ibn S ina seem s lo im ply th at artificial sal-am m oniac, q a lq a n d , etc. are 110 I
identical with the n atu ral [products — u view which is paralleled to-day am ong
the general public, who usually im agine th at synthetic indigo, for exam ple, is not
veritable indigo b ut only a very good im ilation.
G. ityill.
7- >“ " c'}*” J' J ' J * “ #.
42 AVICENNAE MINERALIA

separate the m etals into species, but rath er accidents ( ' ) or conse­
quences ( 2), the specific differen ces beiDg unknown. A n d i f a tilin g is
unknown, how is it possible fo r anyone to endeavour to produce it or
to d estroy it ?
As fo r the rem oval o r im p artin g o f the dyes [ab ove-m en tion ed ], or
such acciden tal p rop erties as odours and d en sities, these are things
which one ought not to persist in den yin g m e re ly because o f lack o f
kn ow led ge concerning them , fo r th ere is no p ro o f w h a tever o f th eir
im p ossib ility.
I t is lik e ly th at the p roportion o f the elem en ts ( 3) which en ter into
the com position ( ‘) o f the essential substance ( s) o f each o f the m etals
enum erated is d ifferen t from that o f any oth er. I f this is so, one
m etal cauuot be con verted into another unless the compound is broken
up and con verted into the com position o f that into which its trans­
form ation is desired ( B). T h is, h o w ever, cannot be effected by fusion,
w hich m aintains the union and m e re ly causes the introduction of
som e fo reign substance or virtu e.
T h e re is much I could have said upon this subject i f I had so
d esired , but th ere is little p rofit in it nor is th ere any necessity for
it h ere ( 7).

1.
2. r>y.
3.
4. ,

5. jfc)*-.
6. Cf. (fie Latin version of this passage. It will fie seen that the A rabic says
nothing of converting the substance into its prim e m atter, though perhaps this is
implied.
7. T he L atin version om its the la st se n te n c e : no doubt the sarcasm of it w as
unpalatable.
Text of the Latin Version
 MAXIMl PHILOSOPHORUM ARISTOTELIS
DE MINERALIBUS (').

T e r r a pura lapis non fit quia continuacionom non la c it sed commu-

t.acionem ( 2) V in cen s tam en ( 3) in ea siccitas noil p c n n ittit earn con-
glu tin ari Fiu n t autem lapides duobis m odis / conglutinac.ione / et
congelacione. In quibusdam enim lapidibus doininans est terra / In
alijs vero aqua A liq u otien s desiceatu r lutum / fitque prim um quod
m edium est in te r lutum e t lap idein / e t deinceps fit lapis Lutum vero
huic transitioni apparens (*) est unctuosum ( r‘) / quod enim tale est ( c)
coniunctivum e rit In ipso ( 7) quoquo Gion visa est te rra que dicitu r
in lapidem com m uti ( s) in spacio annorum centum Q I )e aqua autem
fiunt lapides duolms m odis Unus quidem est quod cou gelatnr aqua
gu ttatim cadens A liu s quando descen d it de aqua cu rren te illiquid
quod ( ia) resid et in superficic fundi ipsius / quod fit ( " ) lapis Sunt
eciam certa loca que aque infusa convertuntur in la])id cs diversornm
colorum Suntque aque que seorsum a ccep te non conglutinantur que
si prope alveum suum fundantur / congelantur / fiuntque lapides.

1. TB M in e r u lia Avicennc.
2. TB co m m in u c io u e m , w hidi ngreos Letter w ith tlie A rahie
3. B, L enim .
4. T B aplius.
5. T B viscosinn.
0. B, L n o n est. T he sense requires the om ission of the negative.
7. B, h ipsis. T heatruni Chemicum has, correctly, i n ripis, in which it agrees
w ith A rtis A uriferae anil M anget. TB illegible here.
8. B, L converti.
9. TB in spacio x x x i i i a n n o r u m . T he A rabic has 23 years. Gion is of course
Jaih u n, Oxus.
10. B q u i d d a m ; L q u id a m ; TB q u o d d a m .
11. B, L om it quod. TB fitque.
•10 AVICENNAE M IN EItA IJA

Scimus quoque (') quod in terra ilia est visi vistal (2) que eongelat
ipsam Q I’rincipalia quoque (4) lapidum utrorumque (5) vel sunt ex
substancia Iutea unctuosa vel ex substancia in qua vivit (6) aqua / que
virtute quadam (7) congelatur / vel vineit siccitas in ea (8) terre faciens
earn congelari eodern modo quo coagulatur sal / salem enim 11011
sufficit terrea vis perinutare (’) sed adiuvat ipsum calor Calor euim
adveniens eongelat ipsum virtute occulta / et fortassis (t0) fit virtute
terrea frigida et sicca. Aqua enim fit terra cum vicerint earn quali-
tates terre et econverso Est autem res qua utuntur quidam ingeniosi
qui (") voluerunt rem siccatam coagulare que componitur ex duabus
aquis et dicitur lac virgineus (l2) / et hie cius est (n) certissiinus
effectus. Sunt eciam m ulta alia quibus coagulant et liquefaciunt (n)
certissime. Fiunt ergo Iapides ex luto unctuoso p er calorem solis vel
ex aqua coagulata (|r’) virtute terrea ex causa calida desiccativa simi­
liter quoque quedam vegetabilia et quedam animalia vertuntur in
Iapides virtute quadam minerali lapidificativa / et fit in loco lapidoso
vel discontinuantur subito virtute quadam que exit a terra in hora
terre motus (pie convertit Iapides quod consequitur in hora ilia (l6)
Et hec transmutacio corporum animalium et vegetabilium eque pro-
pinqua est (n) sicut transmutacio aquaruin Est autem impossibile
1. 15, L ergo ; TIJ ig itur.
2. B, L visi v i s i a l ; TB correclly vis m iiierulis.
.‘i. TB a qu as.
4. B, L ergo ; TB igitur.
5. B, Ij n tra q u e ; TB omits.
(5. TB I'orreclly vineit.
7. T B inserts correctly m in era li.
8. T B omits.
!). TB om its p erm u la re .
10. B, L, TB fortasse.
11. B, L om it q u i; TB cum.
12. TB virginis.
13. B, L est hie e i u s ; TB estque eius, and effectus certissim us.
14. TB inserts terre.
15. TA. P age 9, recto.
10. T B om its quoil co n sequ itur i n h o ra ilia .
17. B, L om it est.
 MAXIMI PIIILOSOPHORUM ARISTOTEM S DE MINKRAMHUS -17

quod illiqu id ( ' ) com plexionatu m verta tu r ( 2) in unuin clctncnttiin /

sod elem en ta m utantur adinvioom o f sic transem it in dorninans /
U nde quod cadit in salinas fit sal / e t quod in igncin cad it fit ignis
sed quedam cicius quedam tardius / e t hoc est Q secundum poten-
ciam activarum et existen ciam ( l) passivarum . Est ( 5) locus in A ra b ia
qui colora t om nia corpora in eo ex isten cia coloro suo / Panis qnoque
prope to ra c e m .in lapidem conversus est / rem an sit tam en ei color
suus Sunt ta lia m iranda ( 6) / quia raro accidunt C eterum cause eormn
m anifesto sunt Sepe eciam fiunt lapides ex igrie cum extin gu itu r / et
sepe con tin git corpora fc rre a v e l lap id ea cadere cum corruscacionihus
quia ignis fit frigidus e t siccus cum extin ccion e sua E t in PartJiia ( 7)
cadunt eciam cum corruscacione corpora a erea ut (*) es ustum et
sim ilia sagittis ham atis (°) e t non possunt liq u cfieri / quia p er ignem
evaporatum ( l0) est ( " ) fimium v irid ita ti convenientem ( Ia) Donee
residuus sit ( n) cinis / C ecid it quoque apud vergeto s ( u) frustrum ( '')
fe rri centum liliraru m arenorum ('*) quod pro du ricia sua fere ei'at
in fran gih ile / missa est tam en pars eius re g i cuidam ( n) / qui cum
p recep isset inde fie ri enses era t in fa b rica b ile. D icunt tam en arahes

1. B, L, TB aliquod.
2. T B convertatur. B, L, TB add tolum .
3. TB om its et hoc est.
4. B, L, T B resistenciam .
5. B, L, TB eslque.
C. B, L u n a (cleurly an error for m i n i ) ; TB m ir a .
7. TB P ersia.
8. B, L vel.
9. TB barburicis.
10. TB eva po ra nt.
11. T B in.
12. TB a ttin g en le m .
13. B, L, T B fit.
14. B, L v e r g e d ; T B apnilragem .
15. L fr u s tu m .
1G. T B illegible here. MS. 1G142 o fth e B ibliotheque N ationale lias fr u s tu m fe rr i
p o n d e ris cen tum q u in q u a g e n la m a r c a r u m , Ulus agreeing w ith the A rabic.
17. B, L corvices; TB illegible. T heatrum Chemicum T ora ti. [A rabic Khurasftn-1
 AVICENNA E MINERALIA

quod enses L a n ia n tii ( ' ) qui o p tim i sunt de ta li forro fiunt cum autem
c e c id e rit massa ilia r e s ilit a terra aliqu otiens ut pila / e ra t enim ( 2)
com p osita .ex m inim is frustulis coeuntibus adin vicem ad quantitatem
granorum m ilii m agnorum S im ilite r ( 3) quoque liuic re i cv e n it apud
tem pestatem ( ‘) / Sic ergo ( 3) fiunt lap id es / eorum siquidem gen eracio
vel subito fit p er magnum calorem ( 6) accidentern Into unctuoso / aut
paulatim e t successive induresc.unt ( 7) M ontes quoque quandoque fiunt
e x causa essenciali ( 8) cum veh em en ti te rre inotu eleva tu r te rra et
fit mons. A c c id e n ta l vero Q ut cum ex ventis v e l e x aque ductu
a ccid it aren atio C") profunda e t fit paulatim donee fit vasta profunditas
et tunc e rit ( " ) iuxta cam m agna em inencia E t hec est precipua
monciuin causa. Sunt eciain quedam te rre m olles / et quedam dure /
M olles in aquednctibus ( l2, n) ventisquo tolluntur D ureque rem an en t
et sic ( “ ) fit cm in en cia / fit eciain gen eracio m oncium sicut lapidum /
quia ( r‘) aqueductus adducit lutum unctuosum ( l6) continue quod lon-
gitudine tem poris ( l7) desiccatur et fit lapis / sed ( l8) vis m in eralis

1. 15, L a l a m u n t i i ; T B a le m a n ie ; A rlis A uriferae a lcm n n ici. [A rabic al-Ya-

mani.]
2. Ii, L om it e n im ; TB qualibet.
H. TB sim ile.
4. B, trepastem ; T B th o rp asten (?). [Arabic T abarislan.]
.r>. T B iyitu r. [TA P age 0 verso.]
(>. TB m a x i m u m cn lid ita tem .
7. TB vel p a u la tim vel p er m u ltu m lem po ru m ; B, L m i t p a u la tim temporis.
8. T B adds correctly q u a n d o q u e ex accidentali. M ost printed editions read
M onies quoque q u a n d o q u e fiu n t ex c a u sa essentiali, q u a n d o q u e ex c a u sa
accidentali.
!). B, L om it vero.
10. TB c o n tin u a tim apparently. M ost printed editions have, correctly, cavatio.
11. B, L erit ergo ; TB erit igitur.
12. B, L m olles quoque aque d u c tib u s ; TB molles quoque dnctibus.
13. TA here has quoque scored through.
14. B, L n eque; T B fitque.
15. T B que.
1C). T B illic viscosum .
17. TB p er lo n g ilu d in e m tem porum .
IS. B, L et n o n longe q u i f i t ; TB et n o n longe deficit q uo d (?) s it hec virtiis.
 MAXIMI PIIIEOSOPHORUM A R tSTO TEIJS BE MINERAEIHUS

brovius (’) vertit aquam (2) in Iapides E t ideo in multis lapidibus

inveniuntur partes quedam quorundam animalium aquaticorum et
aereonim (’). Montes vero per m ulta tem pora facti sunt ut predixi do
eis (l) scd iam (!) sunt decrescentes Veno autem Iuteo que reperiuntur
in eminentibus locis non sunt de m ateria ilia lapidoa sod de eo quod (°)
dim ittitur (r) do montilms vel terrostris aliqna (*) substancia quam
adducunt aque cum lutis et herbis que adm iscentur cum Into mentis
vel forte antiquum lutuin maris non est imius substancie que (9) pars
eius fit lapis / et pars eius non sod mollitur et dissolvitur aliqua qua-
litate vincente. Maris quoque ascensus ('") quedam loca eavat (") /
quedam extollit quia (l2) quandoquo totam terrain cooperuit / et inde
quedam mollia ab rasit/ dura voro(13) reliqu it/ et ipsa in quibusdam ('*)
congessit mollia quedam quoque ab eo congesta cum abscinderet ea
desiccata sunt et in moutes conversa Hoc inatorialia corpora in
quatuor dividuntur species / in Iapides / liquefactiva / sulplmrea / et
sales E t liorum quedam sunt rare substancie et debilis cornplexionis /
et quedam fortis substancie (1C) / quedam ductilia (n) et quedam non
E t eorum que debilis substancie sunt / quedam sunt sales ut que

1. B, L, T it om it brevius.
2. B, L, TB vertens a qu as.
3. B, L, TB correctly a lio rn m .
4. B, L i n eis ; TB om its i n eis ami 1ms u t p r e d ix im u s .
u. B, L, TB nunc.
C. T B que.
1. T B devolm m U ir.
8. T B a n t.
9. T B q u a ru m .
10. TB accessus el recessus.
11. T B iuserts et.
12. T B quod.
13. TB et d u r a queda m .
14. TB adds locis.
15. TB correctly, and in agreem ent w ith m ost printed editions, has C orpora
m in e r a lia .
10. B, L, TB in sert et.
17. T A puge 10 recto.
4
so AVICENNAE M INERAM A

liquefiunt cx liumido leviter (') ut alumen calcantum et sal armonia-

cum E t quedam sunt unctuosa / uec liquescunt (2) solo humido (3)
facile / ut sulphur et auripigmentmn Sed argentum vivum de parte
secunda (4) est quamvis sit eleinentuin ductilissiinmn (5) sciencie (e) /
aliquibus ductibilibus (’) sunt autein ductilia omnia liquabilia / et ut
plurimum (8) non ductilia neqiie non liquabilia mollificantur nisi cum
magna violencia E t m ateria liquabilium (9) est substancie aquea m ixta
cum substancia terrea m ixtura forti nec potest unum separari ab
altero (10) ut gelatur substancia aque illius (") cum frigore post accio-
liem caloris in ipsum (l2) que est obtesis (n) et erit exemplum alu-
men ('*) quod noiulum gelavit propter suain unctuositatem et id est
ductibile (l!) Lapidea vero de substanciis mineralibus m aterialiter (16)
sunt aque / sed non congelantur aqua sola / sed eciam cum siccitate
que alterat aqueitatem ad terreitatem et non est in eis humor nimis
unctuosus et ideo non ducuntur / et (”) quia eorum coagulacio est ex
siccitate non solvimtur ut inultum nisi par ingenia naturalia solvencia /
Alumen autem et sal armoniacuni sunt de genere salis nisi quia
igne (IB) inanimato (l9) magis quam terrea / unde et totum sublimatur
1. T B s ta tim .
2. T B liquefiunt.
3. TB hiimore.
4. TB adds d ivisio n is m in e r a liu m .
5. B, L d n c tis s h n w n ; TB d uctiliu m .
0. TB correctly vel sim ile.
7. TB ductilibus.
8. li, L m i i l l n m ; TB et s u n t m u ltu m d u c tilia n o n liq u a b ilia (correctly).
9. TB d u c tiliu m .
10. TB a l t r i ; B, L e t ; TB el congelalur.
11. TB istins, om itting aque.
12. TB ipsa.
13. TB optesis.
14. TB ap p aren tly a vivo q u o d non.
15. TB et ideo est ductile.
10. T B n a tu r a .
17. TB om its n o n d u c u n tu r et.
18. T B ignis.
19. TB correctly i n sa le a rm o niaco.
 MAXIMI PIIILOSOI'IIORUM AKISTOTKIilS I)K M INERAI jTHITS !>1

et ipsum est aqua cum (') adm iscetur fumus caliilus fumo subtili multo
igneitati (2) est coagulatum ex siccitate Aquaitas vero sulphureorum
m ixta est (3) cum terra forti conunixtione confeccione (4) caloris donee
facta sunt iinctuosa et postea coagulata ex frigore A ttram enta vero
composita sunt cum (5) sale et sulplmre et ex lapidibus et est in eis
vis aliquorum (°) corporum liquabilium Quod autem ex eis fuerit (’)
ut calcantum et alachar generantur ex maioribus granis attram enti
et non (8) solvitur nisi salsedo (9) eius cum eo quod est in eo sulpliu-
reum et postea coagulatur et illud (l0) iam accepit (") vim mineralem
ab aliquibus corporibus quod autem accepit (l2) vim ferreain erit
rubeum et croceum ut calcar Quod vero vim aeream accepit erit
viride / unde impossibile (13) est (“) artificialiter ista duo fieri (l5)
Argentum vivum vero ut aqua (IC) commiscetur (,7) cum terra nimium (,8)
subtili sulplmrea mixtione forti ne (l9) quiescat in superficie plana /
et hoc est ex siccitate magna que inest illi (i0) et ideo non (2‘) adhei'et

1. T B cut.
2. TB incorrectly aqu eita tis.
3. T B p er m ix a c io n e m .
4. TB correctly ferm entacio ne.
5. TB ex.
C. T B alioriitn.
7. TB jiunt.
8. TA page 10 verso.
!). T B udeo.
10. TB idem .
11. T B uccidit.
12. TB ceperit.
13. B, L, T B possibile.
14. B e t ; T B erit.
15. TB a secundo a rtific ia liter fieri.
10. B, L, TB que.
17. B, L, T B m iscetur.
18. TB n im is.
19. TB donee non.
20. TB ilia .
21. TB om its, incorrectly, n on.
52 AVICENNAE MINEKAT jIA

tangenti / est quod (') albedo eius ex claritato illius (2) aque / et ex
albedine terre subtilis que est in eo / et eciam (’) admixtione Q aeris
cum eo quod proximmn eius quod coagulatur ex vapore sulplmris (r')
facile videtur autem quod argentum vivum et aque illi sunt similia
ele (6) sit (7) eletnentum omnium (8) liquabilium / quia omnia liqua­
bilia cum liquantur convertuntur ad ipsum (9) / ipsa tam en non
liquantur prius (l0) quam calefiant / cumque calefacta fuerint apparent
rubea Sed plumbum procul dubio cum liquatur est argentum vivum
sed non liquatur nisi prius calefiat E t cum calefactum (") fuerit con-
vertitur ad colorem coinmunem omnibus liquabilibus ut igneum rubo-
rem et ideo m iscetur (l2) argentum vivum cum illis corporibus quia
est de substancia eorum Sed ilia (l3) corpora differunt in composicione
sua ab eo illo (“) modo quo differt argentum vivum ad sua similia (lo)
et per commixtionem que (l6) miscentur cum illis donee congelentur /
et si (") fuerit vivum argeutum purum / coget (,s) illud vis sulphuris
albi et non urentis et istud (l9) est (20) optimum (5I) quod (2i) possunt
1. B, L est que ; TB E t quoqiie.
2. T B ipsitts.
3. T B inserts ex.
4. TB im m ix tio n e .
5. TB inserts correctly et forte hoc moito (jelatur p e r p lu m b u m vel ex vapore
su lp h u ris.
C. TA Ims et aque illi s u n t s im ilia ele (sic) scored through. B, L, T B et que
illi s u n t s im ilia elem e n tu m s u n t ...
1. B, L sint.
8. T B om its o m n iu m .
9. T B ip sa .
10. T B om its p riu s.
11. T B liq u a tu m .
12. TB p ro m iscetur.
13. TB ista.
14. B, L, TB illo eo.
15. TB a s k i s s im ilib u s.
1G. TB E t p r o m ix tio n e s alie.
17. TB cum .
18. TB el congelabit.
19. TB id
20. TB inserts res.
21. TB o ptim a.
22. TB q u a m .
 M AXIJII n ilL O S O rJIO IiU Jt A IU 8TO TEIJ8 I>E JIJNEHALIHUS 53

reperire (') illi qui operantur (2) allcimia (3) ut (*) convertant illud in
argentum E t si fuerit sulphur nitidum (’) optimum cum rubore claruin
ct fuerit (6) in eo vis igueitatis simplicis non urentis / erit res optima
quam recipcre (’) possunt alkimistc ut ex eo fiat aurum IIoc enim
ipsum convertit (8) / et si fuerit argentum vivum bonum et bone sub-
stancie et sulphur non purum quod non sit in eo vis adurcns convertet
ipsum in aes Argentum autem vivum si fuerit maculatum (9) non
mundum C") terreum porosum / et sulfur (") non mundum fiet ex eo
ferrum In stagno videtur esse argentum vivum bonum sulphur vero
malum ct non bene m ixta (l2) Plumbi vero argentum vivum est
immundum luteum (”) et sulphur eius malum / multi ('*) vaporis et
fetidi (ls) / unde non (l6) bene congelatur E t artifices gelacionem fere
similem (”) artificialiter faciunt quamvis artificilia non eodem modo
sunt quo naturalia nec tam certa licet propinqua sint similia / ct ideo
creditin’ quod composicio eius naturalis hoc modo sit vel v id u a liuic /
sed ars est debilior quam natura et non consequitur cam quamvis

1. TB accipere.
2. TA page 11 redo.
3. TB a lk im ia m .
4. TB et.
5. TB E t fiu n t s u lp h u r m u n d u m .
G. TB fiunt.
7. TB reperire.
8. B, L c o n v e r ta t; TB convertitur. TB adds in a u r u m .
9. TB m a lu m .
10. TB im m u n d u m .
11. TB adds sicut.
12. B, L et haec s i bene m ix ta . T B adds sed ta n q u a m .... com posita. The prin ­
ted editions usually have sed ta n q u a m p e r p a r v a com posita, el ideo n o n fit
tale. F or the last phrase TB has et ideo bene fit tale. B, L have el ideo fit sal.
13. B, L P lu m b i vero grossi a r g e n tu m v iv u m est m a le p o n d e ro s u m lu te u m :
TB P lu m b i vero grossi a r g e n tu m v iv u m est m a l u m p o n d e r o s u m et luteum .
14. T B m a li.
15. B, L add et debilis.
1G. TB om its non.
17, B, L sensibilem .
54 AVICENNAE MINEEALIA

multum laboret Quaro sciant (') artifices alkirnic species metallorum (2)
m utarc ( ’) non posse / sed sitnilia (*) facere possimt et tingere rubeurn
citrino (*) ut videatur aurmn / ant tingere albo donee sit multum
.simile argento (6) / aut eri aut (7) plumbi immundicias abstergere
possunt / vcrum tam en semper erit (") plumbum quamquam (D) videa-
ttir argentum optinebunt tam en (in) in eo aliene qualitatis (") Ceterum
quod (l2) differcucia specifica aliquo tollatur ingenio (n) non credo
possibile / quia in talibus ('*) non est quod (,5) complexio convertatur
quia (IS) ista sensil)ilia non sunt de quibus m utantur species sed sunt
accidentalia et proprietatis ("). Differencie metallorum (l8) enim (n )
non sunt cognite / et (2n) cum differencia non sit cognita quornodo
poterit sciri utrum tollatur (5I) nec no vel quomodo tolli possit / sed
expoliacio intus accidentum ut saporis coloris ponderis vel saltern

1. B, L, T B s c ia n t a utem .
2. B, L i'ere ; TB aeris.
B, L p e r m a t a r i ; T B p cn iiu tn re .
4. B, L insert c e l; T B inserts a lia (?).
5. TB citrone.
0. B, L et a lb u m tingere colore quo vo lu n t donee s it m u l tu m s im ile a u r o ;
T B et a lb u m tingere colore quo vo lu n t donee s in t sim ile m a terie a u t auro.
7. B, L om it tlie second aut.
8. TB esset.
9. B, L etsi. TB q u a m vis.
10. B, L sed obtinebnnt. T B o p lin e b u n tu r in eo q u a litu tes a liena s.
11. B, L q u a lita te s aliene. B, L mlil ne errent i n eo hom in es n is i q u ia acci-
p i u n t i n eo s u l a r m o n ia c u m ; TB adds u t errent i n eo q u i a cc ip iu n t solem et
s a le m et a rg e n tu m . Cf. tlie Arabic.
12. T B que.
13. B, L in sert ego.
14. B, L oinit q u ia i n ta lib u s and in sert et.
15. B, L in sert n n a .
10. B, L quod.
17. B, L a cciden tia el proprietates, agreeing w ith TB.
18. T A page 11 verso.
19. B, L differen tia e a u te m e o r u m m eta llo ru m .
20. B, L om it et.
21. B c o la ; L c o ll a ; TB tollitur.
 MAXIMI PHILOSOPHORUJI ARISTOTEM S DE JIIN EliA M R U S

diminucio non impossibilis (') quia tunc liec. (!) ratio non stat Ceterum
qui (’) proportio terran u n substaneiarum compositis non crit in omni­
bus eadem Hoc compositio (l) in aliain mutari non poterit composi-
tioncm nisi forto in primain rcducantur m ateriam et sic in aliud quain
prius erat pcrinutatur (5) / Hoc autem p er solain liqiiefactionem non
fit sed acciduntur (6) ei ox hoc res quedam extranee (7) / etc. Finis.

1. TB sed expoliacio a c liv u m fieri potest u t colorum v a p o ru m p o n d e r u m

vel saltern d im in u c io n o n est possibile, w ith n o n est inpossibile interlined.
2. TB co n tra hoc.
3. T A has q u i scored through. TB celerum proposicio com posicionis sub slan -
tia r u m is ta r u m n o n erit i n o m n ib u s (ea d em om itted).
4. B, L om it com positio b ut add ergo ; TB ig itur.
5. B, L p e r m u te tu r ; TB p e r m u te n tu r .
C. L, TB accidunt.
7. B, L add E x p lic it liber m in e r a liu m A r is to te lis ; TB adds E x p lic it capi-
tu lu m m in e r a liu m A vicenne,
 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY.

B erthelot, M. L a C h im ic an M o y c n A g e , Paris, 1893.

Ferguson, J. B ib lio th c c a Cltcm ica, Glasgow, 1900.
Fobos, F. II. A r is to tc lis M c lc o ro lo g ic o ru m L i b r i Q u a ttu or, Cambridge,
Mass., 1919.
— — M ed ia eva l V ersion s o f A r is to tle ’s M e te o ro lo g y , Classical
Philology, X, 1915, pp. 297-31-1.
Gilbert, 0 . D ie m ctcorologischen T h c o ric n des g riech isch cn A U c r lu m s ,
Leipzig, 1907.
H am m cr-Jensen, I . D a s sogcnannte iv . B u c k der M e le o ro lo g ic des
A ris to te lcs , Ile rm e s , v o l. L , 1915, pp.113-130.
Heitz, E . D ie verlorenen S c h rifle n des A ris lo le le s , Leipzig, 1805.
Hoofer, F. H is to ir e dc la C h im ic, Paris, 18G0.
Ilo lm y a r d , E . J. A b u 'l-Q d s im a l - I r a q i ’s K itd b a l - l l m a l-M ulciasab,
Paris, 1923.
Joachim , II. II. T h e W o rk s o f A r is to tle translated in to E n g lis h , De,
G eneratione ct C o rn q d io n e , Oxford, 1922. (Oxford
Translation of Aristotle).
— — A r is to tle ’s C onception o f C hem ical C om bin a tion , Journal
of Philology, XXIX, 1903, pp. 72-80.
Jourdain, A. Iiccherches a -iliq u c s s u r Vdgc ct I ’o rig in e des trad uctions
Paris, 1819 and 1843.
la lin cs d ’A r is to tc ,
Kopp, II. B c itrd g e z u r G eschichtc der C hrm ie, Braunschweig, 1809.
Leclerc, L. H is to ir e dc la medecinc arabe, Paris 1870.
Lippm ann, E . O. von. D ie E n ts tch u n g und A u s b re itu n g der A lch e m ic,
Berlin, 1919.
Mely, F. de. L e L a p id a irc d 'A r is lo te , Revue des Etudes Grecques,
V II, 1894, pp. 181-191.
Schwab, M. B ib lio g ra p h ic d 'A r is to tc , Paris, 1890.
Shute, R. H is to r y o f the A r is to te lia n W r itin g s , Oxford, 1888.
58 AVICENNAE MINERALIA

Steinschneider, M. D ie E u ropU isch en Ucbcrsetzungen aus dem A r a -

bischen, W ien, 1904.
— — D ie arabischcn U cbcrsctzungcn aus dem G riech isch en ,
Centralblatt fiir Bibliothekswesen, 1889.
Thorndike, L. H is to r y o f M a g ic and E x p e rim e n ta l S cience d u rin g
the F i r s t T h irte e n C enturies o f o u r E r a , London, 1923.
Ross, W . D. A r is to tle , London, 1923.
Ruska, J. D a s S lein b u ch des A ris to tc le s , Heidelberg, 1912.
— — A ra b is ch e A lch e m is te n , I and I I , Heidelberg, 1924.
— — Ta b u la S m a ra gd in a , Heidelberg, 192G.
Vaux, Baron Carra de. A v ice n n e , Paris, 1900.
W ebster, E . W . The W o rk s o f A r is to tle translated in to E n g lis h ,
M e te o ro lo g ica , Oxford, 1923. (Oxford Translation of
Aristotle).
W iedemann, E . Z u r A lc h e m ic bei den A ra b e rn , Journal fiir praktische
Chemie, neue Folge, Bd. 76, 1907, pp. 78-80.
W uestenfeld, E . Geschichte der arabischcn A e rtz e u n d N a tu rfo rs c h e r,
1840.
Zeller, E. A r is to tle and the E a r lie r P e rip a te tic s , trans. by Costellow
and M uirhead, London, 1897.
 INDEX OF PERSONS.

‘Abdullah (copyist), 13.

‘Abdu’l-VValud ibn M uhammad, see Al-Juzjani.
Aboul-Kheir el-IIassan ben Saouar, 3.
Abu Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Sayyid al-Khafiqain,
Abu J a ‘far Muhammad ibn Dushmauzar, 8.
Abu’l-Qasim al-‘Iraqi, 7, 35.
Albertus Magnus, 3, 4, 10.
Al-Biruni, 7.
A lexander (the Great), 14.
Alexander Achillini, 14.
Alexander of Aphrodisias, 14.
AI-Farabi, G.
Alfred the Englishm an, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 13, 35.
Al-Isthakhri, 19.
Al-Jildaki, 6, 7, 37.
Al-Ma’mun, 17.
Al-Razi, 7, 33, 3G, 37.
A l-T u g h ra ’i, 11.
Aluredus Anglictis, see Alfred the Englishman.
A n d reas A lpagu s, 12.
Aristotle, 1, 3-5, 8, 9, 14, 17, 27, 28, 35.
Averrhoes (Ibn Rushd), 14.
Avicenna, sec Ibn Sina.
Bacon, Roger, 10.
B a r B ah lou l, 21.
B arbier de M eynard, 19.
Benedictus, Hector, 14.
Bentivolus, Johannes, 14.
CO AVJCENNAE MINFJtALIA

Berthelot, M. P. E ., 7, 21.
Blanchard, A., 14.
Bonus, Petrus, 4.
Brockolmann, C., 12, 37.
Burton, Sir It. F ., 22.
Carra de Vaux, 8, 17.
de Goeje, 30.
de Mely, 1, 2, 4.
de Slane, 5, 17.
Dieterici, 33.
Dimaschqi, 30.
Diodorus Euchyontis, 21.
Dioscorides, 37.
Doughty, C., 23.
Dozy, 23.
Dudu, 24.
Entem ena, 24.
Fleischer, 33.
Fluegel, G.
Fobes, F. H., 3.
Frey tag, 17.
Galen, 37.
Geber, sec Jab ir ibn ljayyan.
Gerard of Cremona, 3, 9, 10.
Gundisalvus, Dominictis, 12.
Hadtield, Sir II. A., 25.
l.Iajji Khalifa, G.
Ham m er-Jenscn, 2.
Ilamzah, 19.
 INDEX OE l'ERSONS 01
Haskins, C. II., 9, 10.
llenricus Aristippus, 3, 9.
Heraclitus, 35.
Herodotus, 28.
Ilisham II, 37.
H oliu yard , E. J ., 35.

Ia liv a ben B a th riq , 3.

Ibu A b i U s a y b i‘ a, 8.
Ibn al-B a ita r, 30.
Ib n a l-F a q ili, 19.
Ibn A r fa ‘ H a’ s, 7.
Ibn Gazla, 30.
Ibn Juljul, 37.
Ib n K a k w a yh , see M uham m ad ilm Dushmauzar.
Ibn M ashakzar, 20.
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), 4-8, 10-12, 18, 21, 24-28, 31, 31, 30-38, 40, 41.
Ilak Khan, 24.
Ism a‘il ibn Sabaktagin, 24.
Jabir ibn l.fayyan (Geber), 4, 22, 35, 38, 40.
Johnson, AY., 21.
Jourdain, 3.
K h w an sari, A q a Jainal al-D in , 12.

Lano, 17, 19, 22, 23, 30.

Lane-Poole, 24, 20.
Leonardo da Vinci, 28.
Mahmud Ghizni, 8.
Mahmud ibn Sabaktagin, 24.
Majd al-Daula, 26.
Manget, 4, 14, 20.
Margoliouth, 12.
02 AVICENNAE M INEBA1IA

Miller, F. J ., 27.
Muhammad IJusaini, 12.
Muhammad ibn Dushmanzar, 8, 2G.
M uham m ad S/idiq ibu I.lajjl ‘ A b d al-I.lakim , 12.
M u lla §a d ra , 12.
Muslim ibn al-VValud, 25.
Nasir-i-Khusraw, 24.
Naumanu, 33.
Neckham , Alexander, 10.
Nicholas of Damascus, 10.
Nicholson, R. A., 25.
Ovid, 27.
Pythagoras, 27.
Qazwini, 30.
Roger of Hereford, 10.
Rose, 3.
Ross, W. D ., 35.
Salmone, 30.
Sama al-DauIa, 8.
Sclnvarzglose, 25.
Shams al-Daula, 8.
Stapleton, I I . E ., 14, 18-20, 22, 29, 31, 3G, 40.
Steele, R., 11.
Steinschneider, 17.
Stem), N., 28.
Strabo, 28.
Thorndike, L., 10.
Tughril Beg, 26.
 1NI>EK OF PERSONS 63

Ur-Nina, 24.
van Vloten, 17, 33.
Yiucent of Beauvais, 3, -1.
Voltaire, 2.
W iedemann, E ., 3G.
W illiam I of Sicily, 3.
Xenophanes, 28.
Yaqut, 19.
 SUBJECT INDEX.

Accidental cause, 27.

Aerolitlis, attem pted working of, 23-25.
fall of, 8, 23.
formation of, 2.
Alchemy, 4-G, 11, 40-42.
A l - D u r r a l-M a h iu n , 7.
Alum, 34, 30.
A ra b ia , 22.
Arabic text, sources of, 12, 13.
Arsenic, 7, 34.
A r t i s a u rife ra e , 14.

Boole o f D e fin itio n s , 11.

B o o h o f the Tw elve, 7.
B rethren of Purity, 4.
B> 'eve B re v ia ru m , 10.

Canon o f M e d ic in e , 8.
C h im ic au M o y c n A g e , 7.
Clay, for washing heads, 19.
petrifaction of, 19.
Composition of the S h if d ’ , date of, 8.
Copper, 5, 7, 38, 39.
Coracem, 1.
C u ltiv a tio n o f G o ld , 7.

Dailam, 23.
D e m otu cord is, 10.
D e vegctabilibus, 9, 10.
. 7.
D iw d n S h u d h u r a l-D h a h a b
Dyeing of m etals, 7, 41, 42.
 SUBJECT INDEX

Earthquakes, 22, 27.

E n d o f the S enrch, 7.
E p h trs is , 4.
E psesis, 4.
E jitc s is , 4.
Essential cause, 2G.
Exhalations, 4.
Fossils of aquatic animals, 28.
Fusible substances, 33.
G o ld , 5 , 7 , 3 9 , 4 1 .
G uarded P e a r l, 7.

Ilam adhan, 8.
lla q d 'iq a l-Is tis h h d d , 11.
11a r m , 22.
Hills, formation of, 2G-31.
Iron, 5, 7, 38, 40.
Isfahan, 8, 2G.
•Tajarm, 23.
Jil, 23.
Juzjanan, 24.
Khurasan, 23, 24.
Khwarazm, 23.
K ita h a l-A ll j a r , 7.
K ita h a l-A th n d ‘A s h r h jd t, 7 .
K ita h a l-llu d u d , 12.
K ita h a l - l l m a l-M ulctasah, 7.

L a c v ir g in is , 21.
L a p id a irc d ’A r is to tc , 1.
CO AVIOENNAE M INEBALIA

of Al-Biruni, 7.
L a p id a ry
Latin text, sources of, 13, 14.
Latin translation, date of, 9, 10.
Lead, 5, 7, 38-40.
Lurgeam, 1.
Malleable bodies, composition of, 34.
M a rg a rita P re c io s a N o v e lla , 4.
M ercury, 1, 7, 34, 38-40.
M e te o r ologica , 1-4.
Minerals, classification of, 33.
formation of, 33-42.
Mountains, formation of, 18 ff.
N ih a y a t a l-T a la b , 7.
Optesis, 4.
P a r tic le s o f G o ld , 7.
Petrification of a loaf, 23.
Prolegom en a of Ibn Khaldun, 5.

Qalqand, 34, 41.

Q alqa ta r, 36-38.
Itaghif, 23.
Sal ammoniac, 7, 36, 41.
Salt, 20, 41.
Salt-pans, 22.
Salts, 33.
Secondary cause, 18.
Sedim entary clay, 31.
Silver, 5, 7, 39, 41.
Specific differences of metals, 5, 6, 42.
 SUBJECT INDEX (17

Stones, composition of, 35.

formation of largo, 2(i.
Stratification, explanation of, 31.
Sulphur, 33, 30, 39, 40.
Swords, said to have been struck from meteoric iron, 25.
Tabaristan, 20.
Tin, 5, 40.
cry of, 40.
Traclatus Trium Verborum, 10.
Transmutation, possibility of, 0, 11, 40-42.
Virgin’s milk, 21.
Vitriol, 34, 30, 37.
W ater, congelation of, 19, 20.
Zinc, 5.
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 oj5vf (J [Page 148 6]
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 ARABIC TEXT

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84 AVICENNAE MINERALIA

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 ARABIC TEXT 85

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86 AVICENNAE MINEEALIA

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 L IB R A IR IE O R IE N T A L IST E P A U L G E U T H N E R
science naiitiqus : Sindbad le Marin, Abou Zeld, les Merveilles de Unde, Chelkh MAdjid, Ibn MAdjid,
Soleiman el-Iuehri. — Les grand» voyageurs: al-Btrouni, Ibn Djobdlr, Ibn Batoutalu — Les sciences
exactes, Varithntetique et Valgebre : AUKhArizmi, Omar KlidyAm, — la giotnttrie: les Banou Mousa,
ThAbit fils de Korrah, NasYr ed*Dln Tousi, — la m teanique : Ahmed fils de Mousa, B6di'oz*Z6man
cbDjazari, el KhAzini, — Vastronomie: FazAri, al-Batt&ni, Abou’J*WefA, Al-Birouni, Z&rkali, aUBit-
roudji, JaySinph, Ibn el-IIaltham,— les sciences naturelles, la m4decine:KtUha, Avicenne, Ibn Zohr,
Abou'bKassis, Ibn ebBelthar, — Vhistoire naturelle : Ibn el-’Awam, Dantfri, — mintralogie et alchi-
m ie : Khftlid et Geber*
Tome I I I : L ’E xd g ise, la T r a d itio n et la Ju risp ru d en ce , 423 pages, 1922.
L a Perse avcint V Islam : Anochirvan, Hormnzd, Enenvtz, — VArabie avant VIslam, — vie de
Mahomet (forme traditionnelle), critique de la vie de Mahomet, — critique du Coran, — la conqutte
arabe, — les Khalifes Otneyades: Othman, Mo’Awiah, ‘Abd eUMelik et NWlId, el-IIeddjAdj, — la
tradition : Ibn ‘AbbAs, Aytfchah, Bokhari Moslem, N£s6fi, Ibn Firishtah, — la Jurisprudence, les
grands imans, fondateurs de rites : Abou Hanffah, Mftlik, ChafW, Ibn Hazm, — analyse d'ouvrages
c4lebres: AJbou Yousof, MAwerdi, Sidi Khalil, Gazali, NawAwi, — les commentateurs du Coran :
Tabari, Zamakliachari.
T o m e IV : L a S ch o la stiq u e, la T h M o g ie et la M ystiqu e, — L a M usique,
384 pages, 1923.
L a Scholastique, Ecole orientals : El-Kindi, Farabi, Avicenne, — Ecole occidentale : Princes
Almohades, IbnTotall, Averrods, — les Soctetes de Philosophes: les SocitH^s secrfctes, les Sabeens,
les Frferes de la puret<5, — la thiologie : le KalAm, Motekallims et Motaz61ites, Ibn Hanbal, Ach'ari,
Gazali, Xdsefi, el-1dji, — la m ystique : HudjVtri et Suhrawerdi, El-HellAdj et sa « passion Ibn
‘Arabi, Ibn el-FArid, Vies de Soufis, — les sceptiques : AbouVAla de Ma'arrah, Omar Kh6yAm, IlAfiz
et les Ghazels, Fozouli, — les poete* persans \ Sadi, Ferfd ed-Dfn AttAr, Djelfll ot-Dtn Iloumi, Djami,
Wehchi, — la m usique : origines, le - Livre des Chansons ►, chanteurs et chanteuses, musique ct
religion, th^orie de la nmsique arabe, Farabi, Safi ed«Din*
Tome V : L e s Sectes, le L ib e ra lism e m oderne, 431 pages, 1926.
P artie : Les Sectes, le Chiisme et ses derives: — A li et le Chiisme, — les Ismagliens, — les
Druses, — le Babisme . — 2* P artie : Penetration des idees europdennes dans VIslam, Le libera­
lisme moderne: — la Turquie moderne, — les reformes, — la Jeune Turquie, — le haut enseigne-
ment, — VEgypte moderne, formation de VEgypte moderne : M^hemet-AR, Rifa'at Bey, — VEsprit
moderne en religion: el-Azbar, Chelkh ‘Abdo, Clielkh Tantawi, — le Nationalistic: Mustafa*Kainel,
Sa‘d Zagliloul, — Arabie et A frique: les Wahabis, le Soudan, Tombouctou, les U niversity de Tunis
et de lez, — VInde moderne : les Sikhs, la r^volte des Cipayes, Ecole du Brahmo-Samadj, Syed
Ahmed Khan et lTJniversitS d'Alygarli, — la Perse, fa Tartarie, la femme: pontes franco*j>ersans
actuels, *In&yat Klian, Sadry MaksoudofF, — la musulmano moderne, Islatn et Orient, — botes. —
Correspondance des dates musulmanes et clu’etiennes.
FER R A N D (G.). I n s tr u c tio n s n a u tiq u e s e t r o u tie r s a r a b e s e t p o r tu g a is
d e s X V 6 e t XVI® si6 c le s r e p r o d u its , trad uits et a n n o td s:
Tome I : I b n M & jid. Le pilote des m ers de I’lnde, de la Chine et de l’lndon&sie,
p ar S hihab ad-D ln A hm ad bin M&jid, dit « le lion de la m er texte a ra b e,
reproduction phototypique du MS. 2292 de la Biblioth&que N ationale public
p ar G. F erran d , 3G2 planches en phototypie du texte arabe, III, 8 pp., in*8,
1923 . . . . . ................................................................ 2 5 0 fr.
L’ceuvre nauticjue de Ibn MAjid qui a ^te rddig^e entre 14C2 et 1469-00, apparait comme la somme
des connaissances acquises de son teinps tant dans la thSorie que dans la pratique de la navigation.
C*est done plus et mieux que le resultat d'une experience et de travaux personnels: nous aevons
tenir ces documents pour une sorte de synthise ae la science nautique dans les dernieres amides
du Mouen-dge,
Ibn MAjid est nar aUlours un personnage historinue de marque. XI sera Hablipar des documents
d4cisifs qu’il fut le pilote arabe qui conduisit de Malindi, sur la c6te orientate d Afrique, & Calicut,
Vescadre portugaise aue commandait Vasco de Gama,
t Les oeuvres d’Ibn MAjid que nous intitulons < Le [>ilote des mers de l’lnde, de la Chine et de
l’lndon^sie » compreanent 22 traitds en prose et en vers*
Tome I I : S u la y m & n a l-M a h ri et I b n M A jid. Le pilote des m ers de l’lnde, de la
Chine et de 1’Indonesie, p ar Sulaym fin al-M ahri et Shihab ad-D in A hm ad bill
Mftjid, te xte a ra be, reproduction pjiototypiaue du MS. 2559 de la Bibliothfeque
N ationale de P aris, puoli6 p ar G. F ehrand, 288 planches en phototypie du texte
arabe, IX et 9 pp., in-8, 1 9 E .......................................................................... 2 0 0 fr.
FER R A N D (G.). L e T u h f a t al-A L b ab d e A b u H a m id a l A n d a lu s i a l G a r -
n a t i (texte arabe), edit^ d ’apres les M ss. 2167, 2168, 2170 de la B ibliotheque
N ationale et le Ms. d ’A lger (et traduction partielle du texte), 8 planches, 260 pp.
in-8 (T. Journal A siatique), 1925.......................................................................... 6 0 fr.
Lea manuscrits du Tuhfat al-Alb&b. — Bio<jrnphio d’Abft Ilamid. — Le Tuhfat aUAlbHb. —
Bibliographie. — Texte arabe* — llt'suine aDalytique et traduction partielle du texte. — Notes com-
plementaires. — Additions et corrections. — Index g£n£ral» — Index des ourrages orienianx.
Le Tuhfat aUAlb&b a (Ho r^dige en 1162, alors que l’auteur se trouvait & Mossoul. AbQ H&mid
l'Espagnol est n6 & Grenade en 1080 et mort b Damas en 1170. Depuis son premier voyage (1115) en
Egypte, il n*a pas cess6 de voyager et sojourner &l'^tranger, en Sardaigne, Cicile, &Alexandrie, au
Caire, Damas, Bagd&d, en Perse, & Saksin, BulgAr de la Volga, Bactres, i Basgird (la HongrieJ, dans
le IQior&s&n et eiifm en Syrie. Les renseignenients qu’il nous donne sur ces diflerents pays et parti-
-culiorement sur l’Egypte sont de premifere importance. La traduction complete de ce texte arabe
paraitra prochainement dans la Bibliotheque des yeographes arabes que publie ma librairie.
■GOLDZ1HER (J.). L e d o g m e e t l a lo i d e 1’I s l a m ; histoire du d£veloppem ent
dogm atique et juridique de la religion m usulm ane, traduction de F. A bin , V III-
315 pp., gr. in-8, 1920 ............................................................................................... 5 0 fr.
Muhammed et l’lslam. — Le developpement juridique. — D^veloppement dogmatique. — Asc^tisme
-et sufisme. * Les sectes. — Formations posUrieures.
 L IB R A IR IE O R IE N TALISTE P A U L G E U T H N E R
GUIDI (I.). L ’A r a b ie antfiislam ique, 108 pp., in-16, 1921 . . 12 fr. 5 0
Les rovaumes de I’Arabie septentrionale ct centrale avant M ahom et.— Les progrfcs intellectuels
chez les Arabes. — Les progr£s materiels. — Les Arabes du sud et l’Abyssinie*
H OLM YARD (E.-J.). K ita b a l 'Ilm A l-M u k ta sa b 11 Z ir a ’a t adh-Dhahab,
book of Knowledge acquired concerning the cultivation of Gold the arabic text1
edited with a translation and introduction. 62, 53 pp., in-8, 1925 . 4 0 fr.
EbMuktasab contains an exposition of the theory of transmutation of metals and directions for
compounding tlie elixirs required to turn silver, copper and the other metals into gold. All that seems
to be known of El'Jrarp is that he enjoyed some considerable repute as a writer on alchemy and
similar subjects. He is believed lo have nourished in the seventh (thirteenth) century. His book is
constructed on a methodical plan and written in plain language* A commentary on it by Jildaki eighth
(fourteenth) century is in existence, and has been used in the preparation of this edition.
No one need feel surprised if he finds the directions impossible to carry out, but as material for
the history of alchemy, EUMuktasab is clearly of considerable value. It compares very favourably
with the obscure and enigmatical works, like those of Jabir, published by Berthelot, or the treatise
of Ibn Bashrun, included by Ibn Khaldun in his Prolegomena, which make up a large proportion of
the few Arabic alchemical books which have been printed hitherto. The theory and practice described
both look as if they dated from pre-Islamic times, and it seems to be very difficult to discover any
indication of independent practical knowledge on the part of tlie author. Mr* Holmyard will no doubt
consider these questions in a later volume which he promises. He is to be thanked for a useful intro­
duction and a carefully edited text. His translation is generally very successful in conveying the
meaning and overcoming a number of not inconsiderable difficulties* The edition altogether is a
good sound piece of work (Review in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society).
IBN KHALDOUN. H is to ire des Berbferes et des d yn asties musulmanes de
l ’A fr iq u e Septentrionale, traduite par le Baron de S la ne , nouvelle edition
autorisie, publiee avec notice sur Ibn-Khaldoun, bibliographic d’lbn-Khaldoun
et table ginirale par P aul C asanova , 5 volumes, 1925-1928 . . 3 5 0 fr.
k
; Payable la livraison des deux premiers tomes.
Tome Ier : L X V I et 452 pp., gr. in-8, 1925.:— Tome I I : 605 pp., gr. in-8, 1927. —
v Tome I I I : S o u s presse. — Tomes IV-V : en preparation.
II n’est accepts nue des sousenptions 4 l’ouvrage complet.
La notice sur IJhvKHALDOUN, !a biblioeraphie et les tables generates de THistoire des Berbtres
' formeront le tome V. ■Les tables des 4 volumes de l’£dition ancienne seront r£unies en une seule.
: M ASSIGNON (L.). E ssai sur les o rigin es du lex iq u e technique de la m ys-
. tiqu e Musulmane, 303 pp. de texte et de 104 pp. de textes arabes, in-8
raisin . . ;. . ■ . . .................................................10 0 fr.
I : Liste alnhab^tique des termes techniques de la mystique relev^s dans les ceuvres d’al.Hallaj. —
I I : Analyse du Lexique. — III: Conclusions generates. — IV : Les premieres vocations mystiques en
Islam. — V : Les ^coles du in* siecle de l’hegire.
MASSIGNON (L.). L a passion d’A l-H osayn -Ib n M ansour- a l-H a lla j m ar­
t y r m ystique de l’ls la m ex6cut6 a B a g d a d le 3 6 m ars 9 2 2 . Etude his-
torique religieuse, 28 pi., 2 vol. in-8 raisin (1-100 pp.), 1922 . . • 2 0 0 fr.
TOME I : I : La biographie__ I I : Les ann^es d’apprentissage— III: Les voyages el I'npostolat,
— IV : La predication publique et- I’inculpation politique (la predication publique a Bagdad); Vincul-
nation politique: la da wat al-roboObiyah, usurpation du pouvoir supreme de Dieu, du droit divin. —
V : L’accusation, lo tribunal et les acteurs du drame. — V I: Les proces. — VII t Le martyre. — V III:
Al-Hallaj (levant l’lslam. — IX : Al-Hallaj devant le souflsme. — X : La legends.
TOME II: X I: Thfiologie mystique. — X II: Tht-olnpe dogmatiqne'd’Al-Hallaj. — X III: Les cctnsc-
, miences iuridiques; et les objections adressles d cette doctrine. — XIV: Les oeuvres d'AMLallaj. —
XV: Bibliographic hallagicnne. — Index. ' *
EN N AC IRI (Ahmed ben Khaled, es-SIaoui). K ita b e l-istiq ?a li a k h b a r doual
el*M a gh rib e l-A q ja . (Histoire du Maroc). Tome premier, traduction de
A. G raulle , V III, 302 pp., in-8. Archiv. Maroc, XXX, 1923 . . 4 0 fr.
Introduction (par A.G raulle) : Essoi de reconstitution de Vhistoire ancienne du Maroc, de lVpoque
llgendaire il la conqufite arabe. — Biographie de l’auteur jm r les Fils Ja’far en-Naciri et Mohammed
en-Naciri. — Les Califes orthodoxes. — Les Berbferes (origine et histoire). — Index alphab6tique.
Tome deuxieme. — Les Idrisides, traduction de A. G r a u l le . — Les Almoravides,
traduction de G.-S. C o lu n , 1 tableau, 238 pp., gr. in-8, 1925. Archiv! Maroc.
Tome XXXI.
Dynastie des Idrisites. — Dynasties senates. — Dynastic des Almoravides. — Index.
ROUSSEAU (G.). L a Mausol6e des princes S a’diens a M a rra k ech , preface
par E dmond Doirrri:, texte arabe et traduction des Inscriptions par F elix Arin..
Aquarelles, dessins et releves de l’auteur.
Un volume de texte de 3 plans, X X II et 71 pp., gr. in-4, broche, 1925.
' (Preface de M. E dmond D outte ). — Description au Cimetiere et des Qoubbas.
— Les inscriptions arabes. — Repertoire des Tombeaux et des Inscriptions-
funt'raires.
Un Atlas de IX pp., 16 planches en couleurs d’apres les aquarelles originales
reproduisant les aspects pittoresques des mausolees, le detail de la decoration
■murale et mosatques, etc., 32 planches en phototypie, reproduisant les details
architectural^ et les motifs decoratifs des deux mausolees, 2 planches en simili-
gravure et 33 planches en photolithographic Teproduisant les dessins de l’auteur
d’apres estampages et les etudes d’apres nature, soit 83 planches, gr. in-4, sous
cartonnage, 192a ........................................................ . 3 5 0 fr.
Louvain (Belgique). — Imprimerie J.*B. ISTAS.