Charles Mackay (
1814-
1889), from
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions And The Madness Of Crowds
Avicenna, whose real name was
Ebn Cinna, another great alchymist, was born at
Bokhara, in
980. His reputation as a physician and a man skilled in all sciences was so great, that the
Sultan Magdal Douleth resolved to try his powers in the great science of government. He was accordingly made Grand
Vizier of that Prince, and ruled the state with some advantage: but, in a science still more difficult, he failed completely. He could not rule his own passions, but gave himself up to wine and women, and led a life of shameless debauchery. Amid the multifarious pursuits of business and pleasure, he nevertheless found time to write seven treatises upon the
philosopher's stone, which were for many ages looked upon as of great value by pretenders to the art. It is rare that an eminent physician, as Avicenna appears to have been, abandons himself to sensual gratification; but so completely did he become enthralled in the course of a few years, that he was dismissed from his high office, and died shortly afterwards, of premature old age and a complication of maladies, brought on by debauchery. His death took place in the year
1036. After his time, few philosophers of any note in
Arabia are heard of as devoting themselves to the study of alchymy; but it began shortly afterwards to attract greater attention in
Europe. Learned men in
France,
England,
Spain, and
Italy expressed their belief in the science, and many devoted their whole energies to it. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries especially, it was extensively pursued, and some of the brightest names of that age are connected with it. Among the most eminent of them are
Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas.
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