682 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



The best medicine, we are told, is moderation in all things. Drinking hot 

 water each morning is prescribed as a cure for many ills. Combing the hair, 

 brushing the teeth, and walking exercise are strongly recommended as part 

 of the regular morning routine ; and there is a touch of modernity about the 

 praise of baths and late dinners. But some of the prescriptions are decidedly 

 quaint, though not quite so quaint as those of ancient Egypt. Pearls, rubies, 

 emeralds, and gold-dust are good things no doubt, but hardly as ingredients 

 in physic ! And the extent to which complex astrological calculations enter 

 into medicinal practice compares unfavourably with the more sober methods 

 of Arabian medicine of the time. Knowledge must have been esteemed 

 power indeed when it was deemed possible to make the stars in their courses 

 fight the battles of man ! 



As a matter of fact, the Secretum Secretorum is not Aristotelian at all. 

 It contains some Greek ideas, but was probably written originally in Syriac 

 between the seventh and ninth centuries a.d. It was translated into Arabic 

 early in the ninth century, thence into Hebrew in the twelfth century, and 

 from Hebrew into Italian, German, and the Romance languages. Even 

 metrical versions were made of it — one such, the Anglo-Norman version 

 of Piere d'Abernun, is included in the present volume. By the beginning 

 of the thirteenth century there were current many MSS. of the Secretum 

 Secretorum differing to some extent in substance and in arrangement. Roger 

 Bacon, believing it to be of genuine Aristotelian origin, edited the treatise 

 and provided it with an Introduction and Notes. The editing appears to 

 have been carried out before 1257, but the Introduction was written only 

 about 1270. 



Bacon's Introduction is really a complete little treatise on astrology. 

 It begins with a vindication of astrology as opposed to magic. Bacon 

 distinguishes between and true false mathematicians. (Mathematics, he 

 says, includes four sciences — geometry, arithmetic, music, and astrology, 

 which last contains judiciary and operative astronomy.) The false mathe- 

 maticians are mere magicians who resort to witches' charms, talismans, 

 sacrifices, and demons, and believe that the power of the stars is irresistible, 

 leaving no room for the exercise of free-will. True mathematicians, on the 

 other hand, presume no such necessity ; they do not attempt to foretell 

 all events, nor any with certainty. They foresee possibilities, but allow for 

 free-will. Their art consists in knowing the positions of the planets in the 

 signs of the zodiac and their relation to each other and the fixed stars, so that 

 they can estimate their influence on mundane matters. But God, or even a 

 good Christian, may alter impending events. Such alteration may also be 

 effected in animate bodies. The human body is disposed, though not forced, 

 to various actions by various constellations. Just as a man may do things 

 in the company of his friends which he would not have done otherwise, 

 so the constellations may influence his disposition without coercing him. 

 Having vindicated astrology to his own satisfaction. Bacon proceeds to give 

 a clear exposition of the turbid subject : he describes the movements of the 

 ten heavens round the earth, and expounds the lore of the planets and the 

 signs of the zodiac — their " properties," " aspects," " dignities," etc. There 

 is some soul of goodness in things evil. Even astrology may have done some 

 good. The restrictions which it imposed on the times for blood-letting and 

 taking medicine must have been a blessing in days of rough surgery and 

 noisome medicine. But the extent to which Christendom generally was 

 addicted to astrology in the thirteenth century is certainly remarkable, 

 considering the way in which Arabian thinkers managed to keep clear of it. 

 More remarkable still is it to observe a genius like Roger Bacon badly smitten 

 with magic and alchemy. But Natura non agit per saltum : even man does 

 not advance by leaps. '' 



A. Wolf. 



