st. john of damascus (676-749 - Cristo Raul

"
ON NATURAL SCIENCE. 183
from it. The description is not, apparently, taken
from Aristotle s Historia Animalium ; for while in
that work the skull of the male is said to have three
sutures, and of the female one, cases being also
known in which no suture at all was perceptible, here
the author makes five to be the regular number, and
a skull with one suture to be something extraordinary.
He assigns also three membranes as coverings to the
brain, instead of the two, the dura mater and pia
mater, usually given. The brain is
lastly, in his
esteem, the abode of life itself, and the depth pro
found of thoughts."
It is obvious, from this short analysis of what
Damascenus has left on subjects connected with
physical science, that it would be out of place to
expect from him anything of the nature of true
scientific enquiry. In this, as in other and more
important sections of his writings, he does not profess
to be a discoverer, but only a collector and preserver
of the knowledge gained by others. He performs
individually, as has been remarked, somewhat of the
same office that his native country has done on a
wider scale he has been a transmitter. And hence
it is of the less importance to ascertain the authors
from whom he gathered his information. There are
a few indications which seem to show that he may
have met with Aristotle s treatise De ccelo. He may
also have seen some portions of the Megale Syntaxis
of Ptolemy, better known afterwards under its Arabic
title of Almagest. But he may also have had no
more original authorities than Nemesius and Basil.
The Heptaemeron of the latter he undoubtedly had