OF THE ORIGIN 0? CHEMISTRY. 77 



of Scmirarrm was removed from Egypt into 

 Chaldea, by Belus, who afterwards inftituted 

 there a faccrdutal college. But it fhould ap- 

 pear, that the fcicnccs had flourifhcd among the 

 Chaldeans long before; and were entitled as 

 much, if not more, to the praife of antiquity 

 with them, than among the Egyptians. They 

 confulcr 7,oronfter as the founder of their philo- 

 fophy ; of whofc name the Greeks were entirely 

 ignorant until the time of Pythagoras *. But, 

 indeed, any account of him is involved in fo 

 much obieuiity, that \ve are hardly authorifed 

 to afiign to him a place among the learned. Pic 

 is reported to have difcovcrcd the principles of 

 the world, and magical arts, and diligently to 

 have attended to the motions of the planers f. 

 In the following pages we /hall perhaps men- 

 tion a few things, of which we are not certain 

 whether they relate at all to this Zoroailcr. 



Zardus, or Zaradut, or, as he is called, Mog, 

 was celebrated among the Perilans as the inven- 

 tor of magic. Pliny infills, that this art took 

 iti rile in Pcrfia from 7.oronftcr, who was in- 

 itructcd in it by A'/.onace}: And that it fccm- 

 ed more properly to lay claim to Inch an ori- 

 gin, as he is reported to have laughed on the 

 very day of his birtli ; and it is faid of him, thut 

 the palpitation of his brain was fo great, as to 



rcpt'l 



* Cicm. Alex Sir. 



f Plato in AlciblaJc pjioru Jufliniu:, 1. I. 

 i L. xxx. c. (. 



