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•^Chapter Eighth
THE IDEA OF COMBINING different ranks of natural
bodies was developed by ancient philosophers through
this approach. They learned the strength of ranks of
medicine, food and others, and then combined them
together until they discovered the benefits of medicines and
their various effects. It is necessary to mention here an
important fact; the ancient philosophers disagreed about what
the simple bodies are and how many they are. Some researchers
say that the basic and primordial natural elements are heat,
coldness, moisture and dryness. They agreed, however, that
they are qualities and basic simple elements. Then they called
them compounds as we say hot, cold, moist and dry. When we
say hot, we mean that a matter has acquired heat and the same
can be said about the other elements. This is different from
saying heat, coldness, etc. After this combination, there is
another combination as in saying hot and dry, hot and moist,
cold and dry, and cold and moist. This combination is
secondary because it is not one; heat is neither dryness nor
moisture and the same applies to coldness with relation to other
elements. There is a third combination as in saying fire, air,
water and earth. This combination is in addition to the first
basic elements and the second and third combinations.
Following that is a fourth combination which pertains to
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