ABSTRACT
Rigidified in a system of formulas and dominated by mysticism, medicine was forced to exist in a state of scholastic dogmatism, in which it is difficult to find any animating ideas. Arabian medicine is in reality formed by various diverse currents which exercised their predominating influences according to the times and places in which they developed. Only a few of the writers and teachers of so-called Arabian medicine were native Arabs. The Arabs soon came into contact with Oriental medicine, and especially with the schools of Alexandria and of Syria. In the Nestorian schools of Edessa and Nisibis, illustrious masters taught medicine, translating the ancient Greek classics into Syrian and Persian. The Arab dominion of lower Spain also developed a Moorish medicine that included famous names. The teaching of medicine and the organization of sanitary services showed rapid and marked progress.
