190 THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT 



The thirteenth century, however, knew nothing 

 of such explanations ; cherishing the tale rather on 

 account of the wild mystery which it breathes. No 

 wonder then if the labours of Michael Scot as an 

 exponent of Aristotle gave some force to the popular 

 idea that he dealt in forbidden arts. 



Need we point out that the same may be said 

 of his fame as a Master in astrology and alchemy ? 

 We have seen how close was the relation in which 

 these sciences stood to the magic of the day. As 

 to mathematics, for which Scot was so renowned, 

 it is to be observed that the kind of divination 

 called Geomancy, which was performed by casting 

 figures in a box filled with sand, was remarkably like 

 the method of working sums which is still practised 

 among the Moors. 1 We may add that the facility 

 with which difficult problems could be solved by the 

 new methods of calculation borrowed from that people 

 must have seemed little less than supernatural to 

 those as yet unacquainted with the secrets of algebra. 



It seems probable indeed that at least one 

 starting-point of Michael Scot's legendary and 

 romantic fame may be looked for in the very quarter 

 to which we have just begun to direct our attention. 

 There is in the author's possession a manuscript 

 which promises to throw some light on the obscurity 

 of this matter. 2 It consists of sixteen quarto pages 



1 A Geomancy, said to be the work of Scot, is preserved in the 

 Munich Library, No. 489 in 4to, saec. xvi. See the Thousand Nights for 

 instances of the prevalence of this art. 



2 This MS. reached me from Germany. It is unbound and contained 

 in an envelope made from the leaf of an old choir-book covered with 

 manuscript music. This cover is secured by three large seals bearing the 

 arms of Dunkelsphuhl, to which family it seems to have belonged. The 

 preface is dated at Prague. It is possible the MS. may have had something 

 to do with the magical studies of Dr. John Dee, who spent some time in 

 Prague at the beginning of the seventeenth century. See Appendix iv. 



