ii8 With Feet to the Earth 



sharing. It is a custom that makes other 

 people look up to them as higher beings, 

 maybe, and it is pleasant to be a high 

 being. This sort of humbug began with 

 the priests of Egypt and India. The man 

 who wanted to learn of them how much 

 were two and two ; what other parts of an 

 isosceles triangle were unequal to its base ; 

 and which end of a plant came up first, 

 had to go through a special course of 

 sprouts before these precious knowledges 

 could be imparted. What was called phi- 

 losophy and it wasn't was to be dis- 

 cussed only by people who had stumbled 

 around in dark rooms, been dangled over 

 pits by a rope around the waist, been 

 asked to meditate before skulls, been made 

 to jump through fire, and do all manner 

 of boyish things. After this maltreatment 

 they constituted an order of the illuminati 

 who were then allowed to have fun with 

 other candidates, and whose very existence 

 struck an awe into the breasts of their 

 fellow-citizens. 



But this circusing of science was not 

 over in the ancient days. It was pro- 



