SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

NATURAL SCIENCE.

The Philosophy of Magic, Prodigies, and apparent Miracles. Prom the French of Eusebe Salverte. With Notes, illustrative, explanatory, and critical, by Anthony Todd Thomson, M.D., F.L.S., &c. In two volumes Bentley.

THEOLOGY,

Sermons. Published at the request of his Congregatic.?.. By Alfr..d Gutty, M.A., Vicar of Ecciesileld Painter.

TRAVELS,

Algeria in 1845. A Visit to the French Possessions in Africa. By Count St. Marie,

formerly in the French Military Service. • Bentley. A Peep into Toorkistan. By Captain Rollo Bursiem Thirteentl. Prince Albert's Light Infantry Bialiardson. Ficruon,

The Privateer's-Man, One Hundred Years Ago. ily Captain ifarryat, R.N. In two

volumes Longman and Co.

DR. THOMSON'S TRANSLATION OF SALVERTE'S PHILO- SOPHY OP MAGIC. AND MIRACLES.

Tax object of Sakerte's work was to endeavour to uphold -the verity of the prodigies narrated in ancient authors, by referring them to natural phtenomena, or a mastery over nature, such as we (now that science and practice are open) denominate natural philosophy. The book in which these views were -finally promulgated was of slow growth ; for its germ appeared in 1817, but the first edition of the work in its present form was not published till 1829. As a storehouse of general arguments and particular facts it has long been resorted to by the com- piler, though it has never appeared in a complete form in English. In supplying this desideratum, Dr. Thomson has added a number of notes, sometimes corrective of the text, when the variety of Salverte's pursuits may have rendered his knowledge deficient, or his national disposition induced him to draw conclusions from insufficient premises ; but more generally, expounding the scientific principles to which Salverte only atilt- ded, or giving biographieal information respecting the names in the text; As Salverte ,placed all the alleged miracles of antiquity upon an equal footing, and explained Scriptural prodigies as well as Classical, Dr. Thomson "felt it his duty to expunge every passage referring to the sacred volume." It might have been as well had he given equal attention to a much smaller matter—the correction of his proof-sheets : we have rarely met with a more incorrectly printed book, especially in dates.

The basis of Salverte's argument is this. Many phenomena occur in modern times analogous to the prodigies that we read of in ancient an- thors,—as bloodstained streams, arising from innumerable insects or vegetables (the point is hardly settled which); appearances analogous to human flesh and skin, which are attributed to the same source. Hence, the opportune occurrence of such natural phrenomena would enable the ancient priests to connect the occurrence with some event, representing that as connected which was only coincident ; or if -theappearances are owing to infnsoria, and they were acquainted with that fact, they pro- bably had the means of producing and of course of .predicting the phre- nomenon. As regards miracles and magic, or things which seem-super- natural because the spectator cannot produce them, some are clearly. impassible, and are to be attributed to legerdemain or delusion,—as one man appearing in several forms. The: greater part, however, are readily explainable by the sciences of chemistry, optics, mechanics, or by ventrilo- quism and other practical arts. To say the ancients did not possess this knowledge, is to assume the point at issue, and that in the teeth of facts and probability. We know that it tasks us with all our boasted knowledge of mechanics to raise an Egyptian obelisk into its place, although with the ancient Egyptians this labour would seem to have been a common one. We may see in the Hindoo jugglers and similar igno- rant persons, the power over animals which observation and practical skill can attain to, aided probably in the ease of serpents by some sleight-of-hand tricks and delusion, very difficult to detect even by foreign and sceptical observers. We know that the art of ventriloquism is carried to a high pitch among people so barbarous as the Negroes and Esquimaux; and as many of the miracles of the ancient priesthood can be performed, and even excelled, by means of chemistry, optics, and me- chanics, it is more rational to think that these means were used to pro- duce real events, than with some to ascribe them to supernatural agency, or with others to attribute falsehood or credulity to the ancient authors. The argument from the loss of this scientific knowledge is readily met. Many works of ancient writers have altogether perished : the ancient philosophers, except Democritus, Aristotle, and some physicians, looked down upon experiment, and devoted themselves to speculation.: without the art of printing and the facilities of communication of modern times, much knowledge might remain little known, and be easily lost. The main cause, however, of the destruction of ancient acquirements is to be found in the circumstances. The knowledge was secret. Both interest and religion induced its concealment; and from scattered facts preserved to us, there is little doubt that any one attempting to penetrate, much more to betray the mysteries, was "taken off." The principles of the knowledge were confined to the higher priesthood; the majority, like mo- dern mountebanks, worked only from recipes. The decline of Paganism would not induce the hierarchs to hasten its extinction by exposing its impostures, though it was very likely to stop their studies, and eventually to cause the loss of their science. The empirical practice long survived, if it is even now extinct.; passing through the jugglers of the middle ages to the mountebanks and conjurors of modern times. All this is only an indication of the arguments of Salverte, which are embodied throughout the volumes ; and are sometimes pushed too far, whilst at others the conclusions are almost too obvious to be formally drawn. A perusal of the book is necessary to test the reasoning, but a specimen of the writer's better style may be drawn from his concluding chapter.

" Bat, again, how ;s it that conceptions of such high interests have never descended to us? Histories have been lost over all the world connected with the greatest parts of past times; and also much knowledge of every kind, the posses- sion of which by the ancients cannot.be disputed. To the general causes of de- atruction which have occasioned these immense gaps in the domain of human intelligence, are joined two in particular, the power. of which we have described: the one is the mystery with which religious and political interests endeavoured to envelop free ideas; the other is the want of a systematic connexion, which alone could have established between them an accurate theory, a connexion without which facts were successively lost. There was also no possibility remaining for those which survived to recover those which sank gradually into the. abyss of oblivion, from the lapse of time, from negligence, fear, superstition, and ignorance. 0 We must not judge ancient conceptions by =own. Experimental chemistry, considered as a science, dates from the last century. It only existed before as a capricious empiricism, directed by chance, misled by the dreams of the alchymist. More anciently, the Romans had copied the writings of the Greeks; who them- selves, without attempting more experiments, copied what they found in the most ancient books, or in the recitals of foreign authors, whom they did not always understand. Democritus alone seems to have felt the necessity of observing, of learning, and of knowing for himself. He passed his life in making experiments, in noting down in a book which treats of nature, facts that he had verified. We may ask, to what point had he conducted his researches, in pursuing which he had probably no theory to serve him as a guide? It is difficult to conjecture, his works having long since perished. It is at least certain that in the general opinion they had acquired very great authority. So great was the weight of his testimony in physics and in natural history, that works published under his name, but not written by him, circulated widely; although filled with ridiculous fables neon the properties of minerals, animals and plants. Pliny, who often quotes these pretended works of Democritus, believed in their authenticity; but Aulus Gellius has unveiled the impositions, and is justly indignant at the outrage made on the memory of so great a man. "In a passage unfortunately too concise, Minns seems to present Democritus as engaged in a frequent contest against the magi, and opposing to their im- postures pbmnomena prodigious in appearance, but nevertheless natural, to show them how far the power of the hidden properties of bodies can extend. De- mocritns,' says Lucian, `believed in no miracle; persuaded that those which were effected owed their success to deception; and he applied himself to discover the method by which they could deceive: in a word, his philosophy brought him to this conclusion, that magic (an art well known by him, since the magi were its institutors) was entirely confined to the application and the imitation of the laws and the works of nature.'

" This opinion, professed by the first acknowledged philosopher of antiquity who studied science as it ought to be, is precisely that which we have striven to establish."

The matter of the work throughout may be said to consist of fact and argument, though sometimes one predominates and sometimes the other. The earlier portions are chiefly devoted to unfolding the author's theory, and the more general arguments on which he bases it,—such as the deceptive appearances of nature, especially to ignorant or terrified observers ; figurative style, improperly interpreted; the surprising phaenomena occasionally observed ; the blending of the allegorical with the real till the symbol is taken literally ; the writer's views and opinion of the ancient magi and magi; with other analogous topics : and here reasoning is dominant, though it is continually supported by instances. The remainder and greater part of the book considers particular miracles or prodigies under their respective heads; and, though nominally treating of ancient wonders, is really coextensive with superstition it- self ; the arts and magic of every people, from the Orientals to the Red Indians and the Hyperboreans, being introduced as accessories if not as principals : and in these sections facts or anecdotes form the principal matter, though continually serving to uphold a view. Through- out this wide survey the reader may often meet examples with which he is already acquainted, various writers having systematically bandied par- ticular parts of the subject, from whose collections the more curious facts have been made familiar to the general reader. Sometimes Salverte's generalization is carried too far. The inference is not so much false as wide ; the deduction is probable, but upon principles much too general to admit of conclusion. At other times he rather overshoots his mark, and makes too much of an obvious inference. These, how- ever, are slight drawbacks. The book is a vast collection of singular facts, illustrative alike of human knowledge and human ignorance ; and an exposition of a curious theory, which, though it may some- times be overdone, and sometimes suffer from the enthusiasm of the author, is, we believe, true in the main. The vast majority of mankind are bounded by their own ignorance, whilst men of a higher experience or larger studies find a difficulty in abstracting themselves from the present and realizing the exact condition of manners, practice, and opinions among peoples of the past. Within the last half century, the application (for it is not discovery) of natural powers to mechanical multiplication of manufactures, and the increased facilities of locomotion, have given a power of communication which never existed before, and induced the people of this age to look upon themselves as miracles, and " think our fathers fools, so wise we grow." The more extensive our inquiry, the more we shall have reason to doubt our boasted superiority in anything but mechanics and diffusion; which perhaps rather produces shallowness in knowledge, and deprives mankind of the strength of faith or even of medulity.

The notes with which Dr. Todd Thomson has illustrated Salverte's text have the rare merit of not only being useful, but of as high a character and with as much interest as the original composition, especially in che- mical subjects. We quote a few examples.

ANCIENT USE OF PRUSSIC ACID.

The bitter almond contains the constituents of prussic acid and a peculiar volatile oil, resembling the peach-blossom in its odour; both are developed when the almond is bruised and brought into contact with water. When the bitter almond, therefore, is masticated and receives moisture in the mouth and stomach, the prussic acid then formed operates as a powerful sedative upon the nervous system, and renders the body less susceptible of the influence of excitants, conse- quently of wise. It forms, as it were, the balance in the opposite scale, and pre- serves the equilibrium between the sinking which would result from its use were no wine taken and the intoxication which would follow an excess of wine were the bitter almonds not eaten. Plutarch informs us that the sons of the physician of the Emperor Tiberius knew this fact; and although most intrepid topers, yet they kept themselves sober by eating bitter almonds.

Moore's " Fly not yet" has rendered the miraculous fountain of Jupiter ,Ammon well known, but Dr. Thomson doubts the prodigy.

"The ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Ammon are situated in an oasis, five de-

ea West of Cairo, called the Oasis of Siwah. They were discovered by vnae, who travelled into Upper Egypt in 1792; and were visited by Horneman in 1798, and Belzoni in 1816. Hemmen discovered there the Fountain of the San, described by Herodotus as warm at dawn, cool as the day advanced, ex- tremely cold at noon, gradually again becoming warmer until sunset, and boiling hot at midnight Belzoni bad no thermometer to measure its temperature; bat, judging from his feelings, he states that he found it about 80° early in the morn- ing, 40° at noon, and 100° at midnight. The well is sixty feet deep in a shaded spot; and it is probable that were its temperature measured by a thermometer, it would be found nearly the same at all times; but when measured by the hand, a fallacy is produced by the different temperament of the body at the time. At midnight, the body being cool, the water would feel hot; but at midday, the body being hot, the water of the same temperature as at midnight would feel coolr

The following is a probable explanation of the origin of the Upas-tree story.

" A real valley of death exists in Java: it is termed the Valley of Poison, and is filled to a considerable height with carbonic acid gas, which is exhaled from crevices in the ground. If a man or any animal enter it, he cannot return; and he is not sensible of his danger until he feels himself sinking under thepoisonous influence of the atmosphere which surrounds him; the carbonic acid of which it chiefly consists rising to the height of eighteen feet from the bottom of the valley. Birds which fly into this atmosphere drop down dead; and a living fowl thrown into it dies before it reaches the bottom, which is strewed with the carcases of various animals that have perished in the deleterious gas."