Note 43 — Chapter XVI · THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY UPON THE EVOLUTION OF MEDICINE
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John the Grammarian, whose nativity is not stated by Le Clerc, was at first a simple boatman who ferried back and forth those who attended a school which was located on one of the islands at Alexandria. As a result of his frequent talks with these men, he became enamored with philosophy and decided, notwithstanding his age (forty years), to devote himself entirely to the study of the subject. Accordingly, he sold his boat and attended the lectures regularly, becoming at last an expert in philosophy. He wrote several important treatises and commentaries, some of them dealing with medical topics, and he also made a number of translations from the Greek into Arabic.