REFLECTIONS AND CONCLUSION. 401 



that the salamander could quench fire, that the 

 basilisk killed serpents by its breath and men by 

 its glance, and many similar things equally prepos- 

 terous. ' 



The frame of mind, even of the most intelligent 

 men, was such, that the extraordinary tales of Marco 

 Polo and Sir John Mandeville were credited as 

 readily as the most ordinary facts of history or 

 biography. It was indeed difficult to exaggerate the 

 powers or marvels of animated nature to such an ex- 

 tent that they would be pronounced unworthy of 

 credence. But the world has moved since the times 

 of Polo and Mandeville. Science has made wondrous 

 strides forward since the days of Kepler and Kircher. 

 Men are now more familiar with the laws and proc- 

 esses of the organic world, and have learned to rec- 

 ognize the value and necessity of careful observation 

 on the part of the votaries of science. 



And in proportion as our knowledge has widened, 

 and become more precise, so likewise have our con- 

 ceptions of nature and of the Deity's methods of 

 work been modified and exalted. We no longer 

 look upon God as an architect, a carpenter, an arti- 

 ficer ; one who must plan and labor in a human 

 fashion, as He was contemplated in the infancy of 



l ln the " Physiologus" we read the following about the ant- 

 lion, or myrmekoleon : " His father hath the shape of a lion, his 

 mother that of an ant; the father liveth upon flesh and the 

 mother upon herbs. And these bring forth the ant-lion, a com- 

 pound of both and in part like to either, for his forepart is that 

 of a lion and his hind part like that of an ant. Being thus com- 

 posed he is neither able to eat flesh like his father, nor herbs like 

 his mother, therefore he perishes from inanition." See "En- 

 cyclopedia Britannica," art., Physiologus. 



