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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
mythology of his people, exposing its fallacies and the allego- 
rical character of the gods. This, no doubt, drew upon him 
the animosity of the orthodox of that day, more than did his 
physical discoveries ; for we find that in every age the revela- 
tions of science have had the simultaneous effect of dispelling 
the clouds of ignorance and superstition. 
But we must retrace our steps and return to the earliest 
astronomical discoveries. 
W e find that, at all times in the history of our race, the most 
important advances in knowledge have been, more or less, 
directly associated with the physical requirements of the people 
by whom they were made ; and in no phase of human intelli- 
gence is this so manifest as in that which relates to the progress 
of astronomical knowledge.* 
Let us for a moment suppose a completely untutored race of 
human beings placed in some tolerably fertile region of the 
globe, with purely animal wants and instincts, and with the 
capacity of adapting themselves to surrounding circumstances. 
These lowly wants would alone compel them to direct their 
attention to astronomical occurrences. 
At first the natural and spontaneous productions of the soil 
suffice for them sustenance. Fruits, esculent roots, and the 
flesh of animals not only afford them nourishment, but even 
minister to their taste for luxuries. As evening approaches 
they find themselves weary and lie down to rest, and with each 
returning morn comes the renewed strength which Providence 
infuses during sleep, and which prepares for the labours and 
pleasures of the coming day. 
But such a people as we are describing soon discovers that 
trees do not always bear fruits, that game is not always found 
in plenty, and that when plants appear to die, the animals 
which feed on them, and which in their turn serve the human 
inhabitants as food, retire to their haunts to seek shelter from 
the inclement season. 
The human denizens, however, continue to multiply in 
winter as in summer, in rain as in sunshine, and a store of food 
must therefore be laid up for their little ones as well as them- 
selves, or they would perish. 
Their earliest observations, prompted by their lowest animal 
feelings and appetites, cause them to perceive that whenever 
they are most in need of food and warmth the Sun is low — that 
then it possesses but little power — whilst, when their trees and 
shrubs are producing fruit, and food is plentiful, he stands high 
* The publication of the “Nautical Almanack” by the first maritime 
nation in the world, has, perhaps, prompted a more diligent scrutiny of the 
heavens than any other circumstance in the history of our race. 
