philosopher, astronomer and physician. He cultivated the different sciences and arts, with equal success. But the verses he composed, were of an amatory character, which drew upon him the dislike of those of his own sect. After having suffered many persecutions at their hands, he died in 1265, poisoned, it is said, by them.* Finally, we note Nathaniel ben Joseph Almoli, who translated, in 1298, the fifth part of the Arabic commentary of Maimonides on the Mischnah, that is to say, the treatise of the Holiness. § XLVII. FACULTY OF MONTPELIER. At this epoch, central France was not less prolific in Jewish physicians. The clergy were so enraged at this, that they revived against them, the ancient laws of the church. Thus in 1246 the council of Beziers prohibited Christians from being attended by Israelite physicians,† and the council of Alby held 1254, also prohibited the employment of Hebrew physicians.‡ All of these physicians came from the school of Montpelier, of which many of the Rabbis were agreges. We have already spoken of Jehuda, master of Nachmanide. This doctor, a disciple of the celebrated Isaac ben-Abraham, then governed in conjunction with the regent Nicholas, the medical school. Another professor of this school, was the doctor Jacob ha-Katon, a man well skilled in the Hebrew, Arabic, Latin, and provincial languages. He was the translator, from the Latin into the Hébrew, of the pharmacopia of Nicholas, a translation of which, is found in the Royal Library of Paris.|| This same Library likewise possesses, a treatise on Purgation, by our learned physician, which he had translated from the Arabic into Hebrew, for *Leo Afric. loc. cit. † Labbé, Concil. tom. II. page 606. § This word is retained as in the original. Ibid. No. 367. || Ancien fonds, Nos. 381 and 399. 1 the celebrated Nachmanide, as he has stated in his preface. The author of this treatise is Ebn Roschd. Another physician of this school is Samuel Aben-Tybbon. He has been justly styled Rosch ha Maatikim, the prince of interpreters, for he was the best interpreter from the Arabic into the Hebrew language. He was born at Lunel, and at the solicitation of the learned men of that city, he translated the works of Maimonides, such as the Myre Nobochim, the commentary on the Perke Abot, and in the second chapter of the treatise of the Sanhedrim, the letter upon the resurrection of the dead, printed at Venice, in quarto, in the year 1601. The epistle to Joseph ben-Aknin, a MSS. in our cabinet, and also numbers three, four and five of the medical works of Maimonides, as we have stated in a previous part of this work. Samuel Aben-Tybbon, did not devote all his leisure to the translation of Arabic works, as his father Jehuda Aben Tybbon had done. He also composed many original works, which were held in great esteem; among others, a philosophical treatisé, entitled Jikavou ha-Maïm, printed for the first time at Presburg, and in 8vo. in 1837, in which he endeavors, among other things, to demonstrate the causes, which prevent the waters of the sea from encroaching on the land. Among the great number of works, of every description, that he translated from the Arabic into Hebrew, we note the commentary of Ali ben Razman upon the medical treatise of Galen, entitled Sefer Melachah-Katana, different copies of which are found in MSS. in the Royal Library of Paris.* From the inscription of the first, we learn that he completed it at Beziers, the 10th of the month Elul, the year 4959 of the creation, which corresponds to September 1199 of the common era. This version was followed by a translation of the treatise of the understanding of Intellectual Subjects, by Abou Naser Al Farabi, which is likewise preserved in the Royal Library of Paris.t Ancien fonds, Nos. 398 and 399. † Ibid, No. 110. Samuel finished his days at Lune!, where he died the 4991st year of the creation,* corresponding to the 1239th year of the common era. § XLVIII. SCHEM-TOB. Marseilles on her part, had also at that period many Israelite physicians, at the head of whom should be ranged Schem-Tob ben Isaac, originally of Catalonia, in which province he was born, at the town of Tortosa, in the year 1196. He was destined by his parents for maritime commerce, to which he devoted himself with great ardor, until an affair of honort changed his profession all at once. Happening to be at St. Jean d'Acre, in the year 1226, he went to consult a famous doctor of the law, residing in that city, upon a case of conscience, of which he desired a speedy explanation. The doctor being much engaged at that moment in solving a geometrical problem, repulsed him rudely, and reproached him for his total ignorance of the faith of his fathers. Schem-Tob was indignant at this treatment, and retired full of rage; but upon cool reflection, finding that the reproaches of the doctor were too well founded, he was ashamed of himself, and took a solemn oath, that he would not engage in any commercial business, until he had first studied the religion of his ancestors. He returned immediately to his own country, and became a pupil of the Rabbi Isaac ben Meschulam of Barcelona. Schem-Tob, although already more than thirty years of age, commenced the elements of the law, and undertook the study of medicine with incredible zeal. He thus made prodigious advances, and astonished the profession by his brilliant performances. Having received the doctorate of medicine, he came to France, stopped at Montpelier, and ultimately established himself at Mar *MSS. of our collection, No. 83. † An affair of honor at the present day, has a much more belligerent meaning than our author gives to it. seilles, where he rendered himself celebrated for the practice of his art, as well as by the numerous works which he then composed and translated. The following is a notice of his principal works: 1. Sefer-ha Schimusch, the book of service, or practice; a medical treatise, composed by the celebrated Al-Zaharabi, in Arabic, and translated from this language into Hebrew, by Schem- Tob, in the 5014th year of the creation, the 1254th of the common era. This translation, which is found in MSS. in the Royal Library of Paris,* has in a long preface, a kind of introduction to medicine, in which he gives advice to physicians, in reference to the proper manner of conducting themselves both in their attendance on the sick, and in the composition of medicines. According to the belief of the times, he professes to prove, among other things, that the stars exert an influence over our bodies, and over medicines. He speaks also of his education and of his studies, and it is from that source that we have extracted the details of the history of his life, which we have just related. Unfortunately, the copy that we have under our inspection is imperfect. We find in it only a part of the work of Al-Zaharabi, and that part very much abridged. But there is in the same library another copy,† which contains the twenty-first book, and all of this great work. We shall give a summary of the contents of these books: XXI. Of a disease of the throat and windpipe, the remedies which are proper for them, as well simple as compound, gargles, pills and ointments. XXII. Remedies proper for the diseases of the breast, and of the lungs; of asthma, of shortness of breath, &c. XXIII. Of ointments, and liquid liniments, adapted to all diseases, from those of the head, to those of the feet. XXIV. Of other plasters and compounds. XXV. Of oils extracted from simple drugs, their properties and qualities, the manner of extracting them, and their use. MSS. Heb. ancien fonds, No. 382. Ibid. No. 419. XXVI. And last, a book of the articles of food, suitable to each disease in general and particular. 2. A Treatise on Medicine, by Almansor, translated from the Arabic into Hebrew. This translation, completed in 1264, is found in MSS. in the Library of the Vatican.* It is divided into ten parts, and we may form an opinion of their extent, by the title of the ninth:- Of all the diseases which may exist, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head. 3. Sefer he Nefesch, a treatise of the spirit of Aristotle, a MSS. found in the Royal Library of Paris.† § XLIX. JACOB BEN ABBA MARI. JACOB BEN ABBA MARI, was another physician of Marseilles; his family was of the highest rank among the Jews of that city. Benjamin of Tudela, speaks of his grandfather Simeon ben Antoli, and of the brother of this last, the master Jacob, both of them professors in the Rabbinical school of Marseilles. Abba Mari, son of Simeon ben Antoli, who walked in the footsteps of his father and uncle, had two sons; the first, called Isaac benAbba Mari, is celebrated for his book which was crowned (Sefer ha-Ittur,) the second, is the physician who forms the subject of this article. After finishing the regular course of study, he took up his residence at Lunel, and devoted himself to medicine, and was under the preceptorial instruction of Samuel Aben Tybbon, who, so far from feeling any jealousy of his talents, brought him forward as a young man of the brightest promise, and gave him his daughter in marriage. Jacob ben Abba Mari, passed a great part of his life at Nar * BARTHOLOCCI, Biblioth. rabbin, tom 1, p. 220. MASOHOTH, chap. i. † Ancien fonds, No. 313. |