Le livre des questions sur l'œil de Ḥonain Ibn Isḥâq by Paul Sbath; Max MeyerhofReview by: G. S.Isis, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Nov., 1938), pp. 430-431Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/225492 .

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430 ISIS, XXIX, 2

of the mind of Latin Christendom culminating in a sentence straight out of eighteenth century skepticism: "From a roar, Revelation had dwindled to a whisper -- into the Pope's ear".

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ROBERT S. WOODBURY.

Paul Sbath et Max Meyerhof.-Le livre des questions sur l'ceil de HONAIN IBN ISIAQ. Mbnoires presentes h l'Institut d'tgypte, 36, 147 p. Le Caire, Imprimerie de l'Institut francais d'arch6ologie orientale, 1938.

1,dition de ce trait6 arabe avec traduction fran9aise par le Pere SBATH

et une savante introduction par MEYRHOF. C'est l'un des premiers livres arabes sur l'ceil, d'autant plus pr&cieux que les livres grecs sur ce sujet ont tous disparu. " Le premier discours du Livre des questions sur l'oeil concerne l'anatomie de l'meil et en partie sa physiologie; le deuxieme les causes des maladies oculaires, et le troisi6me les maladies oculaires et leurs symptomes. I1 n'est donc pas question de traitement dans ces trois discours. HONAIN lui-meme renvoie le lecteur a son grand livre Les dix discours sur l'eil dont le dernier discours comprend la prescription des ordonnances. II est donc probable que les Dix discours n'etaient pas encore reunis en un seul livre a l'epoque otu HoNAIN a compos6 ses Questions sur l'oeil. On peut conclure des propres paroles de HONAIN dans son dixi6me discouis qu'il a reuni les discours pr6c6dents apres l'ann6e 86o ap. J.-C.: par consequent it a dfi composer les Questions sur l'ceil avant ce terme, quand ses fils 6taient des adolescents et 6tudiants en medecine." (p. 7). " Quant au contenu des Questions sur l'cfil, HIONAIN a puise pour le premier discours (Anatomie et physiologie de l'aeil) dans le livre De usu partium de GALIEN. Pour le deuxieme discours (Causes des maladies) il a utilis6 les trait6s gal6niques De morborum causis et De symptomatum causis. Et pour le troisieme discours (Symp- tomes des maladies oculaires) un trait6 perdu que GALIEN paraft avoir compose dans son jeune Age: Sur le diagnostic des maladies des yeux." (p. 8) " L'irnportance historique du petit ' livre des questions sur l'aeil ' de HONAIN IBN ISHAQ reside dans le fait qu'il est un des premiers trait6s speciaux d'ophtalmolgie venus jusqu'a nous, qu'il rend fidelement la pensee anatomique, physiologique et pathologique des Grecs, con- cernant l'aeil et supplee ainsi au manque d'un precis d'ophtalmologie theorique en langue grecque. C'est en plus, un exemple de la maniere didactique que les m6decins chretiens syro-arabes ont employee pour transmettre les tr6sors scientifiques des Grecs aui monde musulman du IXe siecle de l'ere chr6tienne. Et enfin, c'est une source pr6cieuse des

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REVIEWS 431

termes scientifiques arabes crees par les memes medecins, et surtout par UIONAIN lui-meme, 1'auteur de ce petit pr6cis." (p. iI)

L'6dition est baste sur un Ms. appartenant au P. SBATH (acquis par lui a Alep en '933; date I671) mais it a tenu compte des 5 autres MSS deja connus. I1 a ajoute a la traduction fran9aise un glossaire des termes medicaux qui sera fort utile. G. S.

Christiaan Huygens (I629-95).--(Euvres complktes de CHRISTIMAN HUYGENS, publi6es par la Societe hollandaise des sciences. Tome dix-neuvieme, Mecanique theorique et physique de i666 a I69. HUYGENS a l'Academie royale des sciences. 688 p. La Haye, MARTINUS NIJHOFF, 1937.

The volumes of this admirable edition have been announced to our readers just as soon as we heard of the publication of each, and after the publication of vol. XVII we wrote a general account of vols. I to XVII, I888-1932 (Isis 2, 213-15). Vol XVIII (I934) was announced more briefly (Isis 25, 215). The recent publication of vol. XIX gives us a welcome opportunity of speaking again of the whole collection, which is not as well known as it deserves to be. This is probably due to the fact that when a government (or an institution) spends a large amount of money on such a monumental publication it wrongly believes that it has done enough, does little if anything to advertize it, and even grudges review copies to scholars! The Editor of Isis has not received a single volume, and this has caused not the suppression of the reviews, for he would not think of retaliating in that way, but their unavoidable delay, for instead of knowing of the publication of each volume just as soon as it came out, he only knew of it indirectly as luck would have it.

In my general account (Isis 21, 2I3-5), I described briefly the contents of each volume; I shall now explain the circumstances of their edition. A special committee for the publication of HUYGENS' works was appointed by the Dutch Society of sciences in i882. The most active members were DAVID BIERENS DE HAAN (i822-95) and JoHANNE

BOSSCHA (I83 1-19I ); the only surviving member is DIEDERIK JOHANNES KORTEWEG (born I848). The present editor, JOHAN ADRIAAN VOLLGRAFF

(b. in Haarlem in I877), was asked by KORTEWEG to join the commnittee in I9IO. From I9IO to I928 the committee never met, its work being organized by KORTEWEG who corresponded or discussed with each member, especially with the illustrious physicist, HENDRIK ANTOON

LORENTZ (I853-1928), who was the secretary of the Society sponsoring the undertaking. VOLLGRAFF had obtained his doctor's degree in mathe- matics and physics in Leiden 1903, his thesis being devoted to electro-

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