jurations—are evidently most suitable agents for the worker of magic to employ. We must also mention Aristotle's attribution of "souls" to plants and animals, a theory which would readily lend itself to an assumption of magic properties in herbs and beasts.
Aristotle himself in his works upon natural science accepts such properties to a considerable extent, A few citations from his History of Animals[1] will show that we have not been misled in inferring from Pliny that Greek science at its best was not untainted by magic. The History of Animals seems to attribute undue influence to the full moon and the dog-star,[2] and to hold that honey is distilled from the air by the stars and that the wax alone is made by the bees.[3] Aristotle repeats the story that the salamander is a fire-extinguisher.[4] He mentions as a cure for the sting of a certain snake the drinking of a small stone "taken from the tomb of one of the ancient kings." Like Pliny, he makes human saliva a defense against serpents.[5] He says of certain things that they are ominous of certain events.[6]
- ↑ Aristotelis De Animalibus Historiae Libri X (Graece et Latine. Io. Gottlob Schneider. Lipsiae, 1811). Vol. i contains the Greek text In the following foot-notes I shall refer to the book, chapter and section by Roman and arabic numerals, but in the text the book and chapters are denoted by letters of the Greek alphabet. There is an English translation of the work by Richard Creswell, London, 1862. (Bohn Library.)
- ↑ Bk. v, ch. xx, sec. 2; bk. vi, ch. xi, sec. 2; bk. vi, ch. xiv, sec. 1; bk. vii, ch, xi; bk. viii, ch. xvii, sec. 4; bk, viii, ch, xx, sec. 12.
- ↑ Bk. v, ch. xix, sec. 4. Γίγνεται δὲ κηρίον μὲν ἐξ ἀνθέων, κήρωσιν δὲ φέρουσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ δακρύου τῶν δένδρων, μέλι δὲ τὸ πῖπτον ἐκ τοῦ ἀέρος, καὶ μάλιστα ἐν ταῖς τῶν ἄστρων ἐπιτολαῖς, καὶ ὅταν κατασκήψῃ ἡ ἶρις. Ὅλως δ᾿ οὐ γίγνεται μέλι πρὸ Πλειάδος ἐπιτολῆς. τὸν μὲν οὖν κηρόν ποιεῖ, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, ἐκ τῶν ἀνθέων, τὸ δὲ μέλι ὅτι οὐ ποιεῖ, ἀλλὰ φέρει τὸ πῖπτον, σημεῖον. ἐν μιᾷ γὰρ ἢ δυσὶν ἡμέραις πλήρη εὑρίσκουσι τὰ σμήνη οἱ μελιττουργοὶ μέλιτος. Ἔτι δὲ τοῦ μετοπώρου ἄνθη γίγνεται μὲν, μέλι δ᾿ οὔ, ὅταν ἀφαιρεθῇ.
- ↑ Bk. v, ch. xvii, sec. 13.
- ↑ Bk, viii, ch. xxviii, sec. 2.
- ↑ Bk. iii, ch, ix, sec. 7 and bk. vi, ch. ii, sec. 4.
