2 9 o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



A sage at Paris recently cut a snake into small sections except that the 

 skin of its belly on which it crawled was left intact; and that snake crawled as 

 best it could to a certain herb, by touching which it was instantly made whole. 

 Thus the performer of the experiment discovered an herb of wonderful virtue. 



But Albertus Magnus has an experiment to match this. He says : 



'An emerald was recently seen among us, small indeed in size but marvel- 

 ously beautiful. When its power was to be tested, some one suggested that if a 

 circle was made about the toad with the emerald and then the stone was dis- 

 played to the toad, one of two things would happen. Either the stone would be 

 broken by the gaze of the toad, if the stone was of weak virtue; or the toad 

 would burst, if the gem was in its full natural vigor. Things were immediately 

 arranged as suggested, and, after a moderate interval of time, during which 

 the toad kept its eye unswervingly upon the gem, the latter began to crack like 

 a nut and a portion of it flew from the ring. Then the toad, which hitherto 

 had stood immovable, began to move away, as if it had just been freed from 

 the power of the stone. 



While medieval men still accept in large measure these far-fetched 

 virtues, they have a semi-scientific theory to account for them. It is 

 not a case of unreasoning superstition. They agree that no satisfac- 

 tory physical explanation of such virtues can be given, that the varying 

 composition of objects from the four elements is not enough to account 

 for such powers. Vincent thinks them due to divine influence, Hilde- 

 gard sometimes connects them with demons; but other writers, as 

 Eoger Bacon, Peter of Abano, and Thomas Aquinas, attribute them to 

 the influences impressed on matter by the stars. Here again we see 

 how important a part astrology played in medieval science. 



We, however, can find an explanation which will explain both the 

 belief in occult virtues and the belief in astrology. They are survivals 

 from magic. The conception of occult virtues in particular objects is 

 magical. Much sympathetic magic, too, may be found stranded on the 

 shores of medieval science, as is seen in the reasoning why the mouse 

 cures epilepsy, and in the eating of lion's flesh in order to grow strong. 

 Furthermore, incantations, amulets, characters, astrological images, are 

 occasionally found in medieval science and medicine. Sometimes their 

 experiments seem like feats of magic. 



The reason for this is that science and magic were for a long time 

 closely connected. As anthropologists have shown, magic plays a great 

 part in the life and thought of primitive peoples, and it is only grad- 

 ually that the science and religion of civilized peoples free themselves 

 from the old habits and instincts. True, it is one of the glories of 

 modern science that it has freed men from superstition and mental 

 anarchy. But science did not come down from above nor invade from 

 without. It grew up in the very midst of superstition and mental 

 anarchy, just as the states of modern Europe had their beginnings in 

 feudal society. As the kings in the middle ages had to govern under 

 feudal limitations and even by feudal means, so science for a long time 



