20 PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



period we find this to be more decidedly the case than 

 before; but only when his powerful influence takes effect 

 upon his disciples and followers do we find science grounded 

 upon firm foundations. The reason of his influence lay, 

 as we have seen, in the imposing work he performed, and we 

 shall see in the course of the present survey that this vital 

 work of his was of a nature to evolve, necessarily, a long 

 series of fruitful results. The right method had at last come 

 into existence. 



460 357. Democritus made two assertions, no doubt 

 due to profound observation and meditation, which modern 

 science has demonstrated to be well founded, viz. that the 

 MILKY WAY is an immense conglomeration of stars, and 

 that the Universe is built up by conglomerations of atoms. 

 The latter doctrine had been held in India by the Nyaya 

 school of philosophers founded by Canade. Whether Demo- 

 critus derived his notion from the Hindu ATOMIC SYSTEM is 

 quite possible, considering that the Persian empire stretched 

 as far as the Indus, and that glimpses of Hindu philosophy 

 may have reached the Greeks through Persia. The Magi were 

 likely to be well acquainted with neighbouring philosophies. 



460 357. Hippocrates, the most famous physician of 

 antiquity, and the FATHER OF MEDICINE, destroyed the 

 theological theory of disease, which consisted in the doctrine 

 that every sickness was due to the anger of an offended God 

 a theory revived in our Middle Ages. He taught that disease 

 arises from natural causes. This was the great principle 

 which caused him to be considered as the founder of scientific 

 medicine. His Aphorisms, or Maxims, embody his immense 

 experience of pathology and therapeutics. They have been 

 a guide to generations of physicians, on account of their 

 profound wisdom and truth. 



432 B.C. Meton having observed that 235 lunar months 

 correspond closely to 19 solar years, introduced (in 432) the 

 METONIC PERIOD* a cycle of 19 YEARS, by which he adjusted 

 the calendar with the course of the sun and moon. 



* This cycle, intended to associate lunations with the year, was known 

 to the Chinese long before Meton. It is still in use in our almanacs; 

 the Golden Number (used to find Easter) is calculated in reference to it. 



