PYTHAGORAS. 213 



a naturalist this great man taught some most 

 extraordinary doctrines for his time of the world 

 and nation. He stated that virtue was with him 

 and his followers, a harmony, unity, and an en- 

 deavour to resemble the Deity. The whole life of 

 man should be an attempt to represent, on earth, 

 the beauty and harmony displayed in the order of 

 the universe. The mind should have the body and 

 the passions under perfect control ; the gods should 

 be worshipped by simple purifications and offerings, 

 and above all by sincerity and purity of heart. 

 Pythagoras, by his- good teaching and example, 

 established a great school of philosophy, which 

 influenced the world subsequently in a marked 

 manner. A political riot dispersed his followers, 

 and he died about 504 B.C. 



A notice of the life of Aristoteles as botanist and 

 zoologist has already been given, and now a few 

 words must be said about the opinions held by this 

 very remarkable man regarding changes in the 

 earth. He progressed beyond Pythagoras, for he 

 refers to many examples of changes now constantly 

 going on, and insists, emphatically, on the great 

 results which they must produce in the lapse of 

 ages. The changes of the earth, he says, are so 

 slow in comparison to the duration of our lives, that 

 they are overlooked, and the migrations of people 

 after great catastrophes, and their removal to other 

 regions, cause the event to be forgotten. In one 

 work Aristoteles wrote : " The distribution of land 

 and sea, in particular regions, does not endure 



