108 SCIENCE IN GRECO-ROMAN ANTIQUITY 



but rather a dimension of experience as a whole. We 

 see that, for the linking of secondary causes which our 

 sciences explain by formulae and laws, primitive man 

 substitutes another type of connection, that of occult 

 and mystical powers. It is these powers which render 

 effective the connections which we perceive between 

 sensible phenomena in the effects of poison, drought, 

 etc. It is therefore to these that heed must be taken 

 for the guidance and right direction of life. Conse- 

 quently the links which the scientist carefully notes in 

 the succession of phenomena, have, for the primitive 

 mind, only a relative importance, since they can be 

 used indifferently by the occult power, and their con- 

 nection is not inevitable. It is only the purpose of 

 the spirits acting on these phenomena which needs to 

 be considered, and not the means they use for its 

 realization. Certainly savage races are not lacking in 

 technical skill, and the pottery, baskets and canoes 

 which they have succeeded in constructing with their 

 clumsy tools are admirable. But this technical skill 

 may be merely the result of long practice, it does not 

 necessarily imply a scientific and thoughtful mental 

 activity. It may be compared " to the skill of a good 

 billiard player, who, without knowing a word of 

 geometry or mechanics, without need for reflection, 

 has acquired a rapid and sure intuition of the move- 

 ment to be made in a given position of the balls." x To 

 sum up, there is a profound difference between the 

 conceptions of the pre-scientific mind and those of the 

 rational mind. To the former, the production of each 

 phenomenon is linked to the benevolent or malevolent 

 disposition of the occult powers. The man may make 

 use of certain talismans and practices to ensure the 

 regular and favourable course of phenomena. By 

 ritual prayers and sacrifices, fixed according to circum- 

 stances, he may propitiate the spirits and hence the 

 1 Levy-Bruhl, work quoted, p. 518. 



