30-33.] NOTES. 109 



tion of Jerusalem, Christ said, "There shall arise false Christs, 

 and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders ; 

 insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very 

 elect." Matt. xxv. 24. St. Paul, foretelling the defections from 

 the purity of the Christian faith, says, "Then shall that wicked 

 be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume. . . . Even him, 

 whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and 

 signs and lying wonders. " 2 Thess. ii. 8. 



1. 16. Plinius was a Roman writer on Natural History, A.D. 

 23-79. 



Cardanus (1501-1576), a physician of Milan, who wrote 

 on Natural History, Medicine, and Astrology. 



Albertus also wrote on Natural History. He was Bishop 

 of Ratisbon, and on account of his learning was called * The 

 Great.' He was born A.D. 1193. 



1. 17. the Arabians, see Gibbon, ch. 52, and Whewell's History 

 of the Inductive Sciences, bk. iv. , ch. 2. They became acquainted 

 with the philosophy and science of the Greeks in the eighth 

 century after Christ. It was through them that the Schoolmen 

 became acquainted with the physical and metaphysical works of 

 Aristotle : and their commentaries on the works of Aristotle, 

 especially those of Ibn-Raschid, known in Europe as Averroes, 

 had a considerable influence on the Scholastic philosophies. In 

 philosophy, however, the Arabians confined themselves to ex 

 plaining and developing the doctrines of Aristotle : it was in the 

 sphere of science that they displayed originality. To the science 

 of medicine especially, and also to the sciences of chemistry and 

 algebra, they made considerable contributions. 



1. 18. untried, unverified. 



1. 22. exquisite, p. 26, 1. 14. 



1. 26. worthy the recording, this record of extraordinary narra 

 tions, which the author had heard, is not really by Aristotle. 

 With this passage cf. 2, i. 3. 



1. 31. to the memory of man, i.e., to posterity. 



1. 35. which have had, etc., which are rather fanciful than 

 rational. Literally, which have corresponded more closely, and 

 been more nearly allied, to imagination than to reason. The 

 Latin translation has 'which rest more upon imagination and 

 faith than upon reason and proofs.' For natural magic and 

 alchemy, see Bk. 2, p. 51. 



Page 33, 1. 2. astrology. The so-called science of Astrology 

 came originally from the Chaldeans. The chief power which 

 astrologers claimed was that of prediction. It was thought 

 that the heavenly bodies influenced the course of natural 

 phenomena : and that each of the stars had a different influence 



