oundation they built up a
superstructure of original knowledge. They advanced learning in
various forms, and furnished means for the advancement of civilization
in the west.

_The Foundations of Science and Art_.--In the old caliphates of Bagdad
and Damascus there had developed great interest in learning. The
foundation of this knowledge, as has been related, was derived from the
Greeks and the Orientals. It is true that the Koran, which had been
accepted by them as gospel and law, had aroused and inspired the
Arabian mind to greater desires for knowledge. Their knowledge,
however, could not be set by the limitations of the Koran, and the
desire {308} for achievement in learning was so great that scarcely a
century had passed after the burning of the libraries of Alexandria
before all branches of knowledge were eagerly cultivated by the
Arabians. They ran a rapid course from the predominance of physical
strength and courage, through blind adherence to faith, to the position
of superior learning. The time soon came when the scholar was as much
revered as the warrior.

In every conquered country the first duty of the conquerors was to
build a mosque in which Allah might be worshipped and his prophet
honored. Attached to this mosque was a school, where people were first
taught to read and write and study the Koran. From this initial point
they enlarged the study of science, literature, and art, which they
pursued with great eagerness. Through the appreciation of these things
they collected the treasures of art and learning wherever they could be
found, and, dwelling upon these, they obtained the results of the
culture of other nations and other generations. From imitation they
passed to the field of creation, and advances were made in the
contributions to the sum of human knowledge. In Spain schools were
founded, great universities established, and libraries built which laid
the permanent foundation of knowledge and art and enabled the
Arab-Moors to advance in science, art, invention, and discovery.

_The Beginnings of Chemistry and Medicine_.--In chemistry the careful
study of the elements of substances and the agents in composition was
pursued by the Arab-Moors in Spain, but it must be remembered that the
chemistry of their day is now known as alchemy. Chemistry then was in
its formative period and not a science as viewed in the modern sense.
Yet when we consider that the science of modern chemistry is but