EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHERS IN ITALY 



and that the reasoning sense is immortal, but the others 

 are mortal. And that the soul is nourished by the 

 blood; and that reasons are the winds of the soul. 

 That it is invisible, and so are its reasons, since the 

 sether itself is invisible. That the links of the soul are 

 the veins and the arteries and the nerves. But that 

 when it is vigorous, and is by itself in a quiescent state, 

 then its links are words and actions. That when it is 

 cast forth upon the earth it wanders about, resem- 

 bling the body. Moreover, that Mercury is the stew- 

 ard of the souls, and that on this account he has 

 the name of Conductor, and Commercial, and Infernal, 

 since it is he who conducts the souls from their bodies, 

 and from earth and sea ; and that he conducts the pure 

 souls to the highest region, and that he does not allow 

 the impure ones to approach them, nor to come near one 

 another, but commits them to be bound in indissoluble 

 fetters by the Furies. The Pythagoreans also assert 

 that the whole air is full of souls, and that these are 

 those which are accounted daemons and heroes. Also, 

 that it is by them that dreams are sent among men, and 

 also the tokens of disease and health; these last, too, 

 being sent not only to men, but to sheep also, and other 

 cattle. Also that it is they who are concerned with 

 purifications and expiations and all kinds of divination 

 and oracular predictions, and things of that kind." 5 



A brief consideration of this summary of the doc- 

 trines of Pythagoras will show that it at least outlines 

 a most extraordinary variety of scientific ideas, (i) 

 There is suggested a theory of monads and the con- 

 ception of the development from simple to more com- 



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