Ahmad ibn aby al'ash'ath (959 AD) studied gastric physiology in a live lion.

The recent article of Amjad Hussain [1] reminded me of the famous old physician from Mosul, Iraq, aHmad ibn aby al’ash`ath (dec 975 AD) [‘ash`ath means disheveled] who was also a great and wise teacher and the renowned author of several medical books. He described the physiology of the stomach in a live lion in his book “a l g A y w a a l m u g t a y” which he finished writing in April 959 AD at the Castle of Barqa in Armenia [2]. A manuscript fragment of “a l g A y waalmugta y” is preserved in the British Museum (Supplement 786) [2-3]. I have a photographic copy of this manuscript in my library [4].