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"O 
 
THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 OF DANTE 
 
Sherratt &^ Hughes 
 
 Publishers to the University of Manchester 
 
 Manchester : 34 Cross Street 
 
 London ; 33 Soho Square, W. 
 
THE SCIENTIFIC 
 KNOWLEDGE OF DANTE 
 
 A Lecture delivered at the Victoria University of Manchester 
 before the Members of the " Manchester Dante Society " 
 
 BY 
 
 D. LLOYD ROBERTS, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.R.C.P. 
 
 MANCHESTER 
 
 At the University Press 
 1914 
 
001 
 
 TEINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION 
 
The Scientific Knowledge of Dante. 
 
 L'un .... de' famigliari 
 di quel sommo Ippocrate. 
 
 Purg. XXIX, V. 136-7. 
 
 In May, 1265, was born in the city of Florence — the 
 most illustrious of its many illustrious citizens — 
 Dante Alighieri, poet, philosopher, and physician ; 
 but we have it on the authority of Dante himself 
 that he simply desired to be designated "poet." 
 
 Dante was a member of a patrician family (he 
 prided himself on having descended from a noble 
 family of old (in Paradiso XVI.)), and as such, 
 according to the laws of Florence, he could not 
 hold any public office. We know that before a 
 Florentine could be admitted to Citizenship, so as 
 to qualify him for civic and other public duties, it 
 was necessary that he should be enrolled as a 
 member of one of the great guilds of the city, 
 Dante relinquished whatever privileges ancestry 
 conferred upon him, in order to seek admission 
 to one of these guilds.^ 
 
 His choice fell upon the Guild of Physicians and 
 Apothecaries, the craftsmanship of which he knew 
 the most.^ Signor FraticeUi, the biographer of 
 
 1. Says Carducci, however ("Opere," Zanichelli, Bologna, 
 Vol. I., page tO]), when Dante was exiled by the Oligarchy: 
 "in lui risorse I'antico aristocralico." 
 
 2. Carducci (ibid, page 102), says, " Dante .... per amor 
 della patria s'erafatto speziale.'' 
 
6 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 Dante, says that he saw the codex in the State 
 archives, and on foUo 47 he read the inscription : — 
 
 "Dante degli Alighiehi, Poeta Fiorentino." 
 
 Apothecaries' estabhshments were distributed 
 over the city, and were probably under the super- 
 vision of the guild and its officers, as they were at a 
 later period in England. Not only were drugs and 
 chemicals vended, but also precious stones and books, 
 so when a philosopher or other learned man wanted 
 to see any new book that had reached the city, it was 
 at the apothecaries' shops that he would expect to 
 find it. Consequently, these stores became places of 
 meeting and resort for the learned and scientific in 
 their daily peregrinations, and this practice holds 
 good in Italy to the present day. 
 
 The apothecaries, being chemists or alchemists, 
 were regarded as authorities on precious stones, and 
 as such would be consulted by the people as to the 
 genuineness or otherwise of gems submitted to 
 them ; and they were also experts in the fabrication 
 of imitations of the genuine articles. 
 
 In the beginnings of medicine, the physician not 
 only prescribed medicines, but prepared and com- 
 pounded them, afterwards distributing them to his 
 patients, though later, these latter duties were 
 delegated to the apothecaries, the physician finding 
 ample employment in the more studious and 
 scientific side of his profession. 
 
OF DANTE 7 
 
 It is recorded that Dante, on one occasion, 
 visited an apothecary's sliop, and, as it is customary 
 in Italy, he took a seat on a bench outside. A 
 book was handed to him which he had searched for 
 in vain for years, and he became so deeply engrossed 
 in it that he was oblivious to everything except 
 the subject of his study. At the time a fete 
 was in progress in the city, causing much ex- 
 citement and commotion in the street, and when 
 a friend enquired if the noise had not disturbed 
 him, he received the almost incredible reply : 
 ' No, I have heard nothing of it.' Similarly our own 
 Newton, when he was absorbed in his deep studies, 
 by which he revealed to us wondrous scientific truths, 
 never noticed what was taking place in his imme- 
 diate surroundings. In the age and time of Dante, 
 perhaps the greatest seat of learning was the 
 University of Bologna, (at this time spoken 
 of as the " Studium "), completely equipped as it 
 undoubtedly was in all departments of art, letters, 
 science and medicine. To this great centre Dante 
 naturally repaired, where, although he had already 
 achieved some fame as a poet, he was accorded no 
 special welcome, which is perhaps accounted for by 
 the fact that he had gone there solely for the 
 purposes of study. 
 
 At Bologna, as indeed in all the universities of 
 the middle ages, medical education was held to 
 consist of a knowledge of the seven liberal arts : 
 grammar, logic, rhetoric, music, arithmetic, geo- 
 metry and astronomy ; in fact, before anyone could 
 
8 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 apply himself to the practice of medicine, he must 
 have shown himself acquainted with the various 
 sciences.^ 
 
 We have it on the authority of Villani and 
 Boccaccio that Dante studied at Bologna, and 
 although the author of the " Decameron " has been 
 regarded of late as a romancer, somewhat unjustly I 
 think, the numerous, and I would say minute and 
 precise allusions to Bologna in the "Divine Comedy" 
 and the " Vulgari Eloquio " must convince us, not 
 only that the poet visited the famous city, but 
 that he resided in it for a considerable time. Dr. 
 Corrado Ricci, in his essay, " Dante alio studio di 
 Bologna," proved conclusively that Dante was at 
 Bologna, and thinks that the poet was there in 
 1287 when a young man of twenty-two, and again 
 after his exUe. Along with other subjects, doubtless, 
 he would study anatomy, as we have it recorded 
 that at this time anatomy was taught by means of 
 lectures and dissections, and it is positively known 
 that in 1315 Mondinus {Raimondo Licci) practised 
 dissections on the bodies of two women at Bologna 
 and wrote a work on anatomy containing a 
 description of the human body, with illustrations 
 drawn from nature. 
 
 It was not tiU the second haK of the XII 
 century that teachers of medicine assumed the title 
 of '' Doctor " or " Professor," or that graduations 
 can be shown to have taken place, and the school 
 
 1. See Dr. Paget Toynbee's "Dante Dictionary," under 
 " Trivium " and " Quadrivium." 
 
OF DANTE 9 
 
 of medicine was then first organised after the 
 fashion already estabhshed in the schools of law 
 and arts. Degrees were conferred at this time by 
 the University of Bologna, and it is most probable 
 that Dante graduated after passing the usual 
 examination on the completion of his studies ; and 
 there can be little doubt, that he owed his scien- 
 tific knowledge and profound acquaintance with 
 the different departments of medicine to the training 
 he received there. 
 
 In the second decade of the XII century, a 
 decree was promulgated by Pope Honorius III, 
 that no priest should practise dissections, and, as a 
 necessary consequence, medicine and theology were 
 divorced from this time. The reason for this decree 
 appears to have been that the study of medicine 
 diverted the priests from their theological and other 
 professional duties, and the rule was so strictly 
 enforced, that the priests were not allowed to 
 absent themselves from their duties under any 
 circumstances for more than two months at a time. 
 " It is worthy of note," says Dr. Rashdall, " that 
 one of the first academically trained physicians who 
 taught at Bologna, was Nicholaus of Farnham, who, 
 after teaching art in Paris and Oxford, professed 
 medicine at Bologna, and afterwards became Bishop 
 of Durham in 1241." The foundation of a Scien- 
 tific School of Medicine at Bologna is generally 
 associated with the name of Taddeus of Florence, 
 called by Villani, "ilsommo Fisi.ziano" and accounted 
 the greatest Hippocratic physician in Europe at the 
 
10 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 time, and who began to teach in the city about the 
 year 1260. Dante incidentally mentions his name 
 in Paradiso, XII, lines 82 and 83. Marvellous 
 stories (Professor Rashdall tells us) were told of 
 Taddeus' wealth and professional exactions. He 
 received 3,000 librae to attend a patient at Modena, 
 and he would not go to Rome to attend the Pope for 
 less than 100 golden ducats J9er diem, arguing that 
 as the Pope was the most exalted sovereign on 
 earth. His Holiness should be charged accordingly. 
 On the other hand, we know that in his will he 
 bequeathed large sums of money to the poor, and 
 did not forget his pupils who had gained renown in 
 the medical art. Taddeus wrote learned treatises 
 in Latin ; he held, however, the vernacular in such 
 respect that he translated the ethics of Aristotle 
 into Italian. Dante somewhat severely criticises 
 this translation in the Convivio} 
 
 Del Virgilio, too, was a professor at the 
 Studium of Bologna, say Wicksteed and Gardner 
 in their work on " Dante and Giovanni del 
 Virgilio" : " He had earned the cognomen, ' del 
 Virgilio,' by the success of his expositions or imita- 
 tions of the old masters." " He was on terms of 
 intimacy with Dante, and was filled with admiration 
 for his genius ; but he was not in the least recon- 
 ciled to his bold departure from literary tradition 
 in the subject of his poem, and, above all, in the 
 medium in which he expressed himself (i.e. the 
 mother tongue)." Del Virgilio, in the first Eclogue, 
 
 1. Treatise 1, Chap. X., lines 70 and T\, Oxford Edition. 
 
OF DANTE 11 
 
 urges Dante to write a poem in Latin, so that 
 he might, with great ceremony, be crowned a 
 poet at the Studium of Bologna ; but the poet 
 dechned the Laurel Crown under such conditions, 
 as he still cherished the hope of returning to his 
 beloved Florence ; indeed, it was said that the 
 word " Florence" was engraven on his heart.^ This 
 is somewhat similar to what Browning said of him- 
 self in his poem "De Gustibus," "See my heart, 
 and you wUl see graved inside of it ' Italy.' " 
 
 When Dante had completed what he regarded as 
 his curriculum, it is most probable that he visited 
 Paris. Paris (Parigi, Parisi) is mentioned by 
 Dante several times both in the Rime (Rhymes) 
 and in the " Divine Comedy." In Purgatorio XI, 
 the poet says of Oderisi da Gubbio the famous 
 illuminator : 
 
 . . . tonor di queW arte 
 die alluminarc e chiamata in Parisi, 
 (that art, which in Paris is called illumination). 
 
 Paris, in fact, in the middle ages, was 
 the centre of the production of illuminated 
 MSS. In Paradiso X, line 137, speaking of 
 Sigieri de Brabant, a scholar of the XIII century, 
 Dante says : ' that he taught philosophy in the 
 University of Paris, situated in the 'Vico degli 
 Strami' (Rue du FouarreJ; thus showing that the 
 poet must have frequented that seat of learning 
 since he locates it with such great precision. 
 
 I can quite conceive, and give credence to the 
 
 1. He says in "De Vulgari Eloquio," 1st Book : " Florentiam 
 adeo diligamus ut, quia diteximus, exilium patiamvr iniuste." (Oxford 
 Edition, lines 20-21). 
 
12 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 assumption that from Paris Dante passed on to the 
 University of Oxford (I refer my readers to Dr. 
 Axon's careful study, " Dante's British Allusions "), 
 then enjoying a high reputation among the seats of 
 culture, largely due to the influence and profound 
 learning of the Franciscan Order, to which all 
 Europe was flocking on account of its renown in the 
 faculties of science, theology and medicine. 
 
 I now propose, briefly, to discuss a few of the 
 scientific subjects that Dante must have studied, 
 and with such marvellous results. His intimate 
 acquaintance with the phenomena of mind and 
 matter is repeatedly shown in his works, by allusions 
 to the hidden workings of the processes of nature, 
 which he elucidates with all the prophetic vision 
 of genius endowed with an intelligence well nigh 
 omniscient, and capable of interpreting the funda- 
 mental principles which underlie Nature's manifes- 
 tations. To this end does he place under contribu- 
 tion the collective knowledge of his epoch, com- 
 prising medicine, (which of course includes pathol- 
 ogy, embryology, and physiology,) psychology, zoo- 
 logy, botany, astronomy and physical geography, as 
 weU as, incidentally, the arts of music and painting. 
 
 In our time, when knowledge is increased so 
 much that every branch of science yields countless 
 sub-divisions, acquaintance with each of which 
 demands the devotion of a lifetime, it would be 
 quite impossible for the greatest genius to attain 
 even an elementary knowledge of every branch 
 of science ; but in Dante's day this was not so 
 
OF DANTE 13 
 
 difficult of accomplishment by an earnest student ; 
 consequently, the weU-educated Statesman, Artist, 
 Physician and Scholar were more or less con- 
 versant with all the sciences, the possession 
 of such general knowledge being an indispensable 
 equipment for their particular calling. As in the 
 City of Florence it was the law that no one could 
 engage in any public office in connection with the 
 State before the age of 30 years, there was ample 
 time for the intellectual and persevering student 
 to become master of the various sciences — a master- 
 ship fully acquired by Dante, as shown in his works. 
 
 That Dante made a special study of medicine, 
 and in particular of pathology, is evident through- 
 out his works : The Inferno, Purgatorio and 
 Pciradiso, the Vita Nuova, and Convivio. In 
 Infekno iv, 118 and 119, the poet mentions that in 
 the Limbo, on a green sward {verde smalto), he saw 
 amongst "glispiriti?nagni" (mighty spirits) Hippo- 
 crates and Galen. 
 
 A careful study of the works mentioned, has 
 given me the impression that if the Poet had 
 devoted himself wholly to medical science his 
 name would have come down to us as one of its 
 greatest exponents. As it is, in his delineations of 
 some of the fundamental principles of science, he 
 astonishes us with his penetration, perspicacity, and 
 his breadth of knowledge. In many instances, in 
 propounding scientific truth, as in discoursing on 
 the various diseases that afflict the condemned 
 spirits in Hell, he is so accurate in his description 
 
14 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 that, as Professor Segre, of the University of Rome, 
 affirmed in his lecture before the Manchester 
 Dante Society, " The poet may indeed be said to 
 put to shame the most learned nosological treatises 
 of the present time." 
 
 Let me quote a few instances : 
 
 In the first canto of the Inferno, lines 1 9 — 20, 
 the poet, describing how he escaped from the 
 wild beast (la lupa) says : — 
 
 Allorfu la paura un poco queta, 
 che nel lago del cor wHera durata. 
 
 Then my fear was somewhat quietened, which 
 had continued in the lake of my heart. 
 
 (Dr. Carlyle). 
 
 Here the poet gives us a physiological definition 
 in which he may be said to have adumbrated, not 
 of course forestalled, Harvey's wondrous discovery 
 of the circulation of the blood. 
 
 Again, in the II canto, line 15, in alluding to 
 Virgil's statement in the yEneid that ^neas had 
 visited the nether world, the poet says of him : — 
 
 . . . . efu sensibilmente, [i.e. in the body) 
 
 a definition of the Sensorial, so accurate and scientific 
 that it could be set as a thesis for a candidate sitting 
 for his examination in physiology. 
 
 We also find a hint of pathology in :— 
 
 ella (the beast) mi fa tremar le vene e ipolsi; 
 (she makes my veins and pulses tremble); 
 
 Thus showing that the poet was imbued with the 
 
OF DANTE 15 
 
 principle of science acquired in the University of 
 Bologna. 
 
 It is interesting to note the extreme simplicity 
 of the remedies employed by physicians in the 
 time of Dante as contrasted with the poh-pharmacy 
 that was rampant in a later century, when the 
 prescriptions were not only remarkable for the 
 mvdtiplicity of the ingredients, but perhaps even 
 more so for their fantastic and often disgusting 
 character. The XIV century seemed to have 
 reverted to those empiric remedies to which Dr. 
 CasarteUi, the Bishop of Salford, alluded in his 
 second lecture on " Medical and Ethical Science 
 in ancient Iran," at the University of Manchester, 
 March 24th, 1909. 
 
 I shall endeavour to illustrate the simple nature 
 of the remedies used in the time of Dante, as sug- 
 gested by the poet himself in his "Divine Comedy," 
 and how wonderfully efficacious they were, and, 
 in many instances, how applicable to the ailments 
 and disorders of the present day. For instance, at 
 the end of chapter IX of the third treatise of the 
 Convivio, the poet says : — 
 
 Although greatly overtasking my 
 
 sight by studious reading, I so wealcened the 
 visual spirits {spiriti visivi), that the stars all 
 appeared to me to he discoloured by a land of 
 white haze .... and, he continues, . ... by 
 giving the eyes a long rest, in dark and 
 cool rooms, and by cooling the ball of the eye 
 with pure water {acqua chiara) — " steiilized 
 
16 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 water " as we now call it — I regained the power 
 that had been dispersed, so that I recovered 
 the former healthy condition, of the sight. 
 
 (Jackson). 
 
 What a simple and effective remedy ! Is it not 
 practised to this very day? Indeed, I am not so sure 
 that there was not more of rampant superstition 
 in later days, as evidenced by the divinations, 
 sorceries, charms and witchcraft, than there was in 
 the period under our review. 
 
 TWO INSTANCES OF EPILEPSY. (Fainting fit). 
 
 Inferno, Canto III, lines 134 — 136. 
 
 . . . Baleno una luce vermiglia 
 
 La qual mi vinse ciascun sentimento : 
 
 E caddi, come T uom cui sonno piglia. 
 
 A crimson light flashed, which conquered all 
 my senses, and I fell hke one who is seized with 
 sleep. (Carlyle). 
 
 Inferno, Canto V, lines 140 — 142. 
 
 . . . Di pietade 
 
 lo venni men si com'io morisse ; 
 
 E caddi, come corpo morto cade. 
 
 I fainted with pity, as if I had been dying, 
 and fell as the dead body falls. (Carlyle). 
 
 CONSCIOUSNESS REGAINED. 
 
 Inferno, Canto IV, lines 1- 
 
 Ruppemi V alto sonno nella testa 
 Vn greve tuono, d ch' io mi riscossi 
 Come persona cheperforza e desta. 
 
or DANTE 17 
 
 A heavy thunder broke the deep sleep in my 
 head, so that I started hke one who is awakened 
 by force. (Carlyle). 
 
 EFFECTS OF INTENSE GRIEF. Inferno, VI, 91—93. 
 
 Oli diritti occhi torse allora in hiechi, 
 Ouardommi un poco e poi chino la testa; 
 Cadde con essa al par degli altri ciechi. 
 
 Therewith he writhed his straight eyes 
 asquint, winked at me a httle, then bent his 
 head and fell down with it like his blind com- 
 panions. (Carlyle). 
 
 PHYSIOLOGY. (Optics). 
 
 InfernOj Canto IX, lines 73 — 74. 
 
 . . . Or drizza il nerho 
 
 Del viso su per quella schiuma antica. 
 
 Now turn thy nerve of vision on that 
 ancient foam.^ 
 
 FEVER SYMPTOMS. 
 
 Inferno, Canto XVII, lines 85 — 87. 
 
 Qiial e colui che ha si presso il riprezzo 
 della quartana c' hagia I'unghie smorte 
 e trema tutto, pur gtiardando il rezzo. 
 
 As one who has the shivering of the Quartan 
 so near that he has his nails already pale, and 
 trembles all stiU. looking on the shade. 
 
 PHYSICS. Phenomenon scientifically described. 
 
 Inferno, Canto XV, lines 2 — 3. 
 
 Ilfummo del ruscel di sopyra aduggia 
 
 St che dalfuoco salva V OAiqua e gli argini. 
 
 The exhalation of the rivulet quenches all 
 the flames above it, etc. 
 
 1. See also Prfrorfwo, XVI, 70-72. 
 
18 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 PATHOLOGY. Malaria and other diseases. 
 
 Infehno, Canto XXIX, lines 46 — 48, 
 
 spedali 
 
 di Val di Ghiana tra Luglio e Settembre 
 E di Maremma e di Sardigna i mali. 
 
 The hospitals of Val di Chiana between July 
 and September, and of Maremma and Sardinia, 
 aU the maladies prevalent in those regions. 
 
 METEOROLOGY. A tempest ; how it is caused : disequilibrium 
 of atmosphere. 
 
 Inferno, Canto IX, lines 67 — 72. 
 
 Non altrimenti fatto die d'un vento 
 impetuoso per gli avversi ardori, 
 chefier la selva e senza aleun rattento 
 li rami sehianta, abbatte e porta fori : 
 dinanzi polveroso va superbo 
 efafuggir lefiere e li pastori. 
 
 A sound as of a wind impetuous for the 
 
 adverse heats, which smites the forest, and, 
 
 without any stay, shatters off the boughs, beats 
 
 down and sweeps away, dusty in front it goes 
 
 superb, and makes the flock and the shepherd 
 
 flee.i (Carlyle). 
 
 AERONAUTICS. 
 
 Inferno, Canto XVII, lines 115 — 117. 
 
 Ella sen va notando lenta lenta, 
 Ruota e discende ; ma non me n'accorgo, 
 Se non ch' al viso, e disotto mi venta. 
 
 He (Geryon, the monster) goes swimming 
 slowly, wheels and descends, but I perceive it 
 
 1. See also Paro^^iw, XXXI^ 7.^-75. 
 
OF DANTE 19 
 
 not, otherwise than by a wind upon my face 
 and from below. 
 
 It must be remembered that Dante and Virgil 
 are riding the monster who conveys them down to 
 the 8th circle. This (XVII) is a magnificent 
 canto, and Dante may indeed be said to be one of 
 the forerunners of the art of aeronautics, which has 
 of late made such wondrous strides. 
 
 In Cantos XXI — XXV in particular, the supreme 
 art of Dante is made manifest, and, in fact, the whole 
 plan of the "Divine Comedy "is essentially scientific, 
 and transcends human imagination. 
 
 In Canto XXXI, Infekno, Dante defines the 
 principles of Evolution, when in describing the 
 giants who towered above the rampart that encom- 
 passed the pit, he says : — 
 
 Surely Nature did very right when she 
 abandoned the art of making living beings of 
 such vast proportions, for, where the faculty 
 of the mind is joined to evil intent and to 
 power, the race of men can make no defence 
 against it. 
 
 Finally, in Canto XXXIV, the last of the 
 Inferno, lines 110 and 111. 
 
 . . . . Tu passasti il punto 
 al qualsi traggon d'ogni parte ipesi. 
 
 Thou did'st pass the point (the centre of the 
 earth) to which all gravities from every side are 
 drawn. 
 
20 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 Whilst Dante defined, Newton established the 
 theory of the law of gravitation. 
 
 EMBRYOLOGY. 
 
 Before I deal with Dante's wondrous dissertation 
 on Embryology, I must refer my readers to Chaps. 
 XXI to XXIII (inclusive) of Treatise IV, of the 
 Convivio, which are, so to speak, a prelude to the 
 scientific doctrines enunciated in Canto XXV of the 
 Purgatorio, lines 37 — 108 inclusive. We must not 
 forget that Dante's early works, as Professor 
 Herford told us in his comment on Mr. White- 
 head's paper on the Convivio, are a preparation 
 to that Trilogy in which, as the poet affirms: 
 pose mano, e cielo e terra. 
 
 Says Dante : — 
 
 When the reproductive element falls into the 
 matrix, it carries with it the virtue of the 
 generating soul, and the virtue of tlie Heaven, 
 and the virtue of the elements hound up in it, 
 that is to say, its completion ; and it ripens 
 and adapts the material to receive the forma- 
 tive virtue which is given by the soul of the 
 generator. 
 
 Commenting on the above Canto, Benedetto 
 Varchi says that the poet wishing to discourse on 
 the power of generation, first he defines the 
 properties of the sperm in the manner of a "Medico," 
 and gives a dissertation in which he shows : 
 
 quanto sia la scienza e quajito Parte di qtiesto 
 poeta e filosofo. 
 
OF DANTE 21 
 
 (How consummate is the art and the science 
 of this great poet and philosopher). 
 
 Dante, as is known, puts into the mouth of 
 Statius, a dissertation on the generation of the 
 vegetative and sensitive soul, both of which are 
 evolved out of the potentiality of the substance. 
 The Latin poet ends by demonstrating how the 
 embryo from being a mere animal becomes 
 endowed with a rational soul : 
 
 si move e sente 
 
 Come FUNGo making ; ed indi imprende 
 Ad organar le posse ond 'e semente. 
 
 It moves and feels as does a sea-fungus, and 
 after that it undertakes to organise the powers 
 of which it is the germ. ( W. Warren Vernon). 
 
 Is it too much to say that by this definition 
 Dante forestalled modern scientific truths ? 
 
 As Dr. Barlow, the eminent Dante scholar 
 observes : " To appreciate the physiological science 
 shown by Dante, in his masterly resume of the 
 formation and development of a human being, from 
 the first mysterious movings of embryonic life to 
 the completion of the foetal economy and the birth 
 of an immortal soul, we must go back to that period 
 when little or nothing more was known of the 
 function of generation than what had been said 
 by Aristotle, and repeated by his commentator 
 Averrhoes. " 
 
 Benedetto Varchi, that encyclopaedic man of the 
 " Cinquecento, " who, like Boccaccio, was charged 
 
22 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 later by the Florentines to comment publicly on 
 the "Divine Comedy," in his dissertation on 
 Purgatorio XXV, calls Dante " one of the greatest 
 physicians that the world ever saw." 
 
 In many other branches of science Dante's pre- 
 science is marvellously demonstrated throughout 
 his works. 
 
 In Canto V of the Purgatorio for example, 
 Buonconte da Montefeltro, relating how his body 
 was borne away by the overflowing of the stream 
 near which he lay, the poet explains the pheno- 
 menon of the rain thus : — 
 
 Thou hnow'st how in the atmosphere collects 
 That vapour damp, returning into water 
 Soon as it mounts where cold condenses it. 
 
 The theory of rain-production could not have 
 been more clearly and tersely expressed in a modern 
 text book dealing with the scientific explanation 
 of natural phenomena. ^ 
 
 References to botany (flowers and plants in 
 general) are numerous in Dante's works, and several 
 appropriate passages could be quoted from the 
 "Divine Comedy," well-known to many of my 
 readers, and showing the poet's accuracy and 
 inner knowledge of the subject. 
 
 1. Dr. Leynardi iii his work on " La psicologia dell' Arte nella 
 D.C." speaks of "i fen6meni dell' aria, dipinti (da Dante) con 
 maestria . . . . " 
 
OF DANTE 23 
 
 Just to mention one very striking example in the 
 Purgatorio, Canto XVI, line 114 : — 
 
 . . . Ogni erba si conosce da lo seme. 
 (Every herb is known by its seed). 
 
 In the ethical sense, St. Matthew says : — 
 Exfructihus eorum cognoseetis eos. 
 
 Professor Visiani of Florence goes so far as to 
 say that this conception is the same on which is 
 founded the distinction of all the plants, in the 
 method now adopted to classify them, following 
 which, plants are divided into various primary 
 groups according to the character of the embryo, 
 which is the essential part of the seed. 
 
 The principle propounded by Dante, and applied 
 to the science two centuries later by Cesalpino, the 
 Tuscan, furnished in the XVIII century the basis 
 for that method of classification which, conceived as 
 it was by the Brothers Jussieu, the great French 
 naturalists, goes under the name of the " Natural 
 Method." Barlow alludes to the interesting fact 
 in vegetable physiology that flowers are only 
 metamorphosed leaves ; this discovery is commonly 
 attributed to Goethe, but it was first observed by 
 Dante, and expressed by him {Purg. XXXII, I. 39) 
 in these words : — 
 
 . . . fiori e . . altra fronda. 
 (Flowers and other leaves). 
 
 The sweet Mantuan poet, whom Dante calls "il 
 mio Dottore," was himself a keen observer of nature 
 (V. particularly the Georgica). The people of the 
 Middle Ages, as Professor Comparetti tells us in 
 
24 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 his " Virgilio nel Medio Evo," attributed to him 
 wonderful powers, amongst which was that of 
 curing loathsome diseases. 
 
 That Dante made profound studies in astronomy, 
 is inferred from the cosmography of the " Divine 
 Comedy," one of the grandest conceptions that the 
 human mind ever imagined. 
 
 Very numerous are the references to this branch 
 of science, not only in the immortal poem, but also 
 in the Convivio and Vita Nuova. The subject has 
 been dealt with exhaustively by Dr. Moore 
 in his Studies, 3rd series, pages I — 108. I must 
 therefore refer my readers to that volume where they 
 will obtain a mass of information. 
 
 " It is a matter of regret," says Dr. Moore, " that 
 even students of ability and culture often refuse 
 so much as to attempt to understand Dante's 
 astronomical references." 
 
 GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 Those who have read carefully the " Divine 
 Comedy " cannot fail to have been impressed with 
 the accuracy with which Dante describes the Geo- 
 graphical features of Italy, nay Europe, and of the 
 then known world. 
 
 Of a scientific treatise on Physical Geography, 
 by Dante, I must make mention. When Father 
 Moncetti brought out in 1508 the Qumstio de 
 Aqua et Terra, professing to be a lecture delivered 
 by Dante -in the Church of Sant' Elena, at 
 Verona, its authenticity was not seriously called 
 
OF DANTE 25 
 
 in question. In the latter part of the XVII 1 
 century, when a revival in the study of Dante 
 was apparent, its genuineness began to be disputed. 
 In the last decade, however, men of great 
 weight have reconsidered the problem, with 
 the result that, if they do not implicitly believe 
 in its genuineness, they will not discard it until 
 further proofs of its forgery is forthcoming. 
 Dr. Moore, in his " Studies in Dante," (3rd 
 series, page 303), frankly confessed that, although 
 he at one time admitted the spuriousness of Dante's 
 lecture, nevertheless, in reviewing the proof sheets 
 of his edition of " Tutte le Opere di Dante 
 Alighieri" he was struck with the ring of genuineness 
 about it, and the thoroughly Dantesque character, 
 not only of the arguments themselves, but of their 
 form and the details of the language. Of late, an 
 ItaUan professor. Dr. Vincenzo Biagi, in an 
 exhaustive work, comes forth with quite an 
 astounding array of arguments in its favour. The 
 question, let it be remembered, is, "Can water, 
 in its own space or natural circumference, be in any 
 place higher than the dry or habitable part of the 
 earth ? " Dante's answer is in the negative. 
 Although it cannot be said that Dr. Biagi has 
 proved conclusively the authenticity of the 
 quoestio, yet an advance towards it has been 
 made. Another significant fact is, that the 
 majority of EngUsh Dante scholars are now against 
 the notion that the work is spurious. 
 
26 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 ARTIST. 
 
 We may surmise that Dante was an artist of no 
 mean distinction ; it is, in fact, recorded in the 
 Vita Niiova that the poet was drawing the figure 
 of an angel on a tablet when some friend unex- 
 pectedly called to see him. Browning dwelt with 
 complacency on this point in the introductory lines 
 of " One word more " : " Dante once prepared to 
 paint an angel." 
 
 One of Dante's earliest and most steadfast friends 
 was Giotto, equally great as painter, sculptor, and 
 architect, who sketched that beautiful fresco-portrait 
 which was uncovered and presented to the view of 
 the citizens of Florence, in the Bargello in 1840. 
 Doubts have been expressed as to whether Giotto 
 actually painted the portrait : this is indeed an age 
 of systematic demolition and negation. It is a 
 source of great satisfaction to know that an Enghsh- 
 man, Baron Seymour Kirkup, was the chief 
 instrument in this discovery. (See Monograph : 
 " La Maschera di Dante," by Senator D'Ancona.) 
 
 Dr. Cossio, in his book : "Art in Dante," 
 traces the influence which the "grete poete of 
 Itaille," as Chaucer called him, exercised on the 
 fine arts, and proves by an array of facts that in 
 Dante's works we find evidence of such extensive 
 architectural skill, that we are compelled to acknow- 
 ledge that he must have possessed an extraordinary 
 acquaintance with this branch of art. As my readers 
 wUl remember, Carlyle, in his " Heroes and Hero- 
 
OF DANTE 27 
 
 worship," insists on the " architectural harmony " 
 that reigns in the great poem ; whilst Longfellow, 
 in his "Sonnets" on the "Divine Comedy" 
 compares it to a vast minster. 
 
 Dante, in his youth, greatly delighted in the 
 art of music. ^ Boccaccio says of him in his 
 "Vita" : "sommamente ilpoeta si diletto in canti e 
 suoni nella sua giovinezza." The musicality of 
 Dante's poem is a sure proof that he must have 
 devoted many years of study to this art. Signor 
 Bonavia, in his lecture on " Music in Dante's 
 time," teUs us that in mediasval times there were 
 two distinct schools, " one devoted to combining 
 sounds, thus paving the way to harmonies, and 
 the other a popular growth, giving expression to 
 some internal desires for song repeating, guided not 
 by art but by natural instinct." " That Dante was 
 perfectly acquainted with both systems, the harmonic 
 and the monodic," continues Sig. Bonavia, "is shown 
 in many passages of the ' Divine Comedy,' and in the 
 other works of the poet." 
 
 I have thus endeavoured to place before my readers 
 a few scintillations from the refulgent splendour of 
 Dante's intellectual gifts. I have not presumed to 
 discuss his poetic genius, that genius before which 
 the whole world unites in one lasting paean of 
 
 1. Mr. Collmann in his lecture on "Francescada Rimini," at 
 Manchester University, gave an exhaustive list of the various 
 passages in the " Divine Comedy " which had been set to music 
 by great composers. 
 
28 THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE 
 
 admiration, but have only directed their attention to 
 the fact that, in addition to being a poet of the first 
 magnitude, Dante was a many-sided and learned 
 man. He could temper the abstruse deductions of 
 science to his own use, clothing in poetic imagery 
 the results of crude observations, transforming them 
 into beauteous similes, as by the skill of the lapidary, 
 the precious stone with its native dulness is con- 
 verted into a gem of the first water. Throughout 
 many of the great poet's Cantos these transfigured 
 fragments of science, like gorgeous-hued inlays of 
 mosaic, form lustrous stars, irradiating with intrinsic 
 beauty, pregnant with hidden meaning. 
 
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