Abstract
THE basal texts of the alchemical knowledge of the Middle Ages in Europe are the “Turba Philosophorum” and the “Tabula Chemica” of Senior Zadith, son of Hamuel; but although both of them are obviously derived from Arabic sources, the latter have not hitherto been traced. Some twenty-five years ago an Arabic manuscript containing three of the works—two in verse and the other in prose—of the tenth century alchemist Muhammad bin Umail came into our possession from Lucknow, and the work in prose, entitled “Al-Ma'al-Waraqi wa-l-Ard an-Najmiyah” (“Silvery Water and Starry Earth”), was cursorily examined, as—being largely a compendium of quotations from older alchemical writers—it seemed likely to throw some light on a similar work (the “Shawahid”) of the well-known authority on alchemy, Muhammad bin Zakarya ar-Razi, who died in A.D, 925. As, however, no connexion could at the time be established between the two works, and the Indian text was somewhat, defective, the manuscript was put on one side until its collation with other manuscripts of the same work could be made.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
STAPLETON, H., HUSAIN, M. Arabic Source of Zadith's “Tabula Chemica”. Nature 127, 926 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/127926a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/127926a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.