he land where, many ages before, this science had
been successfully studied by the Chaldeans, was in his power, and upon
its ample plains a degree of the earth's circle was repeatedly
measured, so as to determine the whole circumference of the globe to be
twenty-four thousand miles. The obliquity of the ecliptic they settled
at twenty-three degrees and a half: the annual movement of the
equinoxes and the duration of the tropical year were brought to within
a very little of the exact observations of modern times, the slight
error they admitted resulting from the preference they gave to the
system of Ptolemy. Albathani, or, as his name has been Latinized,
Albatenius, in the ninth century, after continuing his observations for
forty years, drew up tables, known as the Sabean tables, which, though
not now in very high repute because of more accurate calculations,
{260} were for a long time justly esteemed. Other Arabian astronomers
have rendered considerable service to this science. Mohammedanism did
not, like ancient paganism, adore the stars; but its disciples studied
them with a diligence, without which, perhaps, Newton, Flamstead, and
Halley had observed and calculated almost in vain.

Architecture was an art in which the Arabs greatly excelled; their wide
extension gave them command of whatever was worthy of observation, and
their vast revenues afforded the most abundant means of indulging a
taste thus called into exercise. The history of Arabian architecture
comprises a period of about eight centuries, including its rise,
progress, and decay: their building materials were mostly obtained from
the ruined structures and cities that fell into their hands; and if no
one particular style was followed by them, it was because they
successfully studied most of the styles then known. On their buildings
but little external art was bestowed; all their pains were exhausted on
the interior, where no expense wag spared that could promote luxurious
ease and personal comfort. Their walls and ceilings were highly
embellished, and the light was mostly admitted in such manner as, by
excluding all external objects, to confine the admiration of the
spectator to the beauties produced within. With the art {261} of
preserving their structures from decay they must have had an adequate
acquaintance. Their stucco composition may still be found as hard as
stone, without a crack or flaw: the floors and ceilings of the
Alhambra, the ancie