suits, an invention of a later age, which was fond of piquant anec- 

 dotes. He probably lost his sight by severe study. This loss did 

 not disturb the cheerful disposition of his mind and his views of 

 human life, which was to look at the cheerful, comical side of things, 

 which later writers took to mean that he always laughed at the fol- 

 lies of men. (Senec. de Ira., ii. 10; Aelian, V. H., iv. 20.) His 

 knowledge was universal, from mathematics and natural science to 

 philosophy and poetry. Aristotle wrote a work on his problems, and 

 Cicero praised his works for poetic beauties and liveliness of style, 

 comparing them with the works of Plato. Unfortunately, his works 

 have not come down to us, or only in fragments considered spurious. 

 He carried out Leucippus's theory of atoms, especially in his obser- 

 vation on nature. [For explanations of this theory, see Adolph Stahr's 

 account of Democritus, in Greek and Roman Mythology, from which 

 these notices are excerpted, exhibiting the first dawn of the theory of 

 atoms, or obscure gropings of the mind, which ultiniated, now stand 

 the sublime formulae of science.] In his ethical philosophy, Demo- 

 critus considered the acquisition of peace of mind the end and ulti- 

 mate object of our actions. (Diog. Lae'rt., ix. 45; Cic. de Fin., v. 29.) 

 This peace, this tranquillity of mind, and freedom from fear and 

 passion, is the last, and fairest fruit of philosophical inquiry. The 

 noblest and purest ethical tendency is manifested in his views on 

 virtue and on good. Truly pious, and beloved by the gods, he says, 

 are only those who hate that which is wrong. The purest joy and 

 the truest happiness are only the fruit of the higher mental activity 

 exerted in the endeavor to understand the nature of things, of the 

 peace of mind arising from good actions, and of a clear conscience. 



The titles of the works which the ancients ascribe to Democritus 

 may be found in Diogenes Laertius. [They almost form a system of 

 Pantology.] A. S. 



Greek and Roman Myth, and Eiog. 



Cuvier believed it his duty to call Democritus the first Comparative 

 Anatomist. Hist, des Sciences Nalurelle, p. 103. 



611 



