292 MYTH AND SCIENCE. 



of churches, thus transforming number into a mys- 

 terious, entified, and efficacious power, in the same 

 way that every ancient people, whether barbarous 

 or civilized, mythically venerated certain numbers; 

 the Peruvians, for instance, and some other American 

 peoples regarded the number " four" as sacred. 



In addition to the cherished remembrance always 

 inspired by portraits of those we love, a breathing 

 of life, as if the dead or absent person were com- 

 municating with us in spirit, is perhaps unconsciously 

 infused into the picture while we look at it. These 

 are transient states of consciousness, of which we are 

 scarcely aware, although they do not escape the 

 notice of careful observers. Any dishonour or insult 

 offered to images, whether sacred or profane, deeply 

 moves both the learned and unlearned, both bar- 

 barous and civilized peoples, not merely as a base 

 and sacrilegious act against the person represented, 

 but from an instinctive and spontaneous feeling that 

 he is actually present in the image. Any one who 

 analyzes the matter will find it impossible to separate 

 these two sentiments, and many disgraceful and 

 sanguinary scenes which have led to the gallows or 

 the stake have actually resulted from the identifica- 

 tion of the image with the thing represented. 



Even when a man of high culture and refined 

 taste for beauty stands before the canvas or sculpture 

 of some great ancient or modern artist, his spiritual 

 and aesthetic enjoyment of these wonderful works is, 



