CHAPTER I.

Of Artificial Magic. Argument
AGIC is of two kinds, natural
and artificial. Natural or legiti- mate magic was, together with all other knowledge, a gift from God to Adam, who by peopling the world handed it down to posterity. This, as Psellus* (De Daemonibus) and Proclus f (De Magia) have noted, is no more than a more exact knowledge of the secrets of Nature, which by observing the courses and influence of the stars in the heavens, and the sympathies and antipathies subsisting between separate things, compares one thing with another and so effects marvels
* “Psellus.”? Michael Constantine Psellus, roz0-1110 (Caillet); or c. ror18-c. 1078 (Adrian Fortescue), the celebrated Byzantine philosopher, attained a vast reputation at Con- stantinople, and even now Krumbacher, ““By- zantinische Litteraturgesch.”’ (2nd ed., Munich, 1897), regards him as ‘‘the first man of his time.” At Paris, 1615, was published the ““*De Operatione Demonum’ Dialogus Gil- bertus Gaulminus Molinensis primus Grace edidit et notis illustrauit.”’
“Proclus.”? Born at Constantinople, 410; died at Athens, 485. ‘‘The scholastic of Neo- Platonism.” His writings were collected by Cousin, *‘Procli Opera,” Paris, 1820-25.
4 COMPENDIUM
which to the ignorant seem to be miracles or illusions. As when Tobias dispersed his father’s blindness with the gall bladder of a fish, a virtue which Galen and many others attri- bute to the dragonet.* Also the sound of a drum made from a wolf’s skin will burst a drum made from the skin of a lamb. Many other notable examples are mentioned by S. Augus- tine :} such as the peacock’s flesh which cannot decompose; chaff which by its coldness preserves snow, and by its heat ripens fruit; a chalk which is set on fire by water, but will not burn if oil be poured upon it; the salt of Girgenti which melts in fire, but becomes hard and groans in water; and many other such things.
The other kind is artificial magic, which effects marvels by means of human skill. This again is two-fold, Mathematic and Prestidigital. Mathe- matical magic involves the principles of Geometry, Arithmetic or Astronomy: and examples of this are the setting fire to the ships at the siege of Syra- cuse { by means of mirrors; the flying wooden doves of Archytas § of Taren-
* ““Dragonet.”” Cf. Pliny, ‘Historia Natur- alis,” XXXII, 7: “Callionymi fel cicatrices sanat, et carnes oculorum superuacuas consu- mit.”
+ “S. Augustine.” “De Ciuitate Dei,” XXI, 4, 5, and 6. “‘A chalk which ts set on fire by water,” ““Eam uiuam calcem loquimur,”’ i.e. “‘quicklime.” “‘The salt of Girgentz.’’ Cf. Pliny, ‘‘Historia Naturalis,’ XXXI, 7: *‘Agrigentinus (sal) ignium patiens ex aqua exsilit.”? This is repeated by Solinus, “‘Poly- historia,” XI; and S. Isidore ‘‘Etymologiae,”’ AVI, By be
t “Siege of Syracuse.” Syracuse was cap- tured by Claudius Marcellus in 212 B.c. The story of the burning of the Roman fleet by the reflected rays of the sun, a device said to be due to the genus of Archimedes, 1s not found in Plutarch, Polybius, or Livy. It is first men- tioned by Galen, “‘“De Temp.” Ill, 2; and Lucian, “Hipp.” IT, 2. In fuller detail it is recorded by Foannes Tzetzes, ‘‘Chiliades,” II, 103; $4.
§ “‘Archytas.” He probably lived about
BK. I. CH. Il.
tum; the golden singing birds || of the Emperor Leo; and such matters. Yet we affirm that by this means nothing can be effected which is opposed to the nature of things, but rather that it necessarily requires the help of natural causes and the correct appli- cation of certain movements and dimensions. The other sort, which may be called Prestidigital, is ludic- rous and illusionary, and its effects are not such as they seem to be. To this sort belongs much that is believed to be done by conjurers and rope- walkers by means of feigned incanta- tions as well as by the agility of their hands and feet. Such feats are at times performed by carefully trained brute animals; sometimes they are effected by the stealthy movements of hidden persons, as in the case of the priests of Bel ] who claimed that the food was eaten by the Dragon. Now thaumaturgy and natural magic are in themselves good and lawful, as any art is of itself good. But it may happen to become unlawful: first, when it is done for an evil purpose; second, when it gives rise to scandal, being thought to be done with the help of demons; third, when it in- volves any spiritual or bodily danger to the conjurer or the spectators. And it must be noted that, for every ten tricks of prestidigital illusion, these men perform one of pure sleight of hand, so as to foster the belief that there is no illusion or sorcery in any-
400 B.C. Our chief authority for the little known of his life 1s Diogenes Laertius, VII,
79-83. Tae
| “‘Golden singing birds.’ ‘‘When _ the Crusaders came from their grey castles to Con- stantinople, they were dazzled by the magnifi- cence they saw at the Emperor's Court. They told, when they came back, almost fabulous tales of the wonders they had seen, the costly toys, golden lions that roared, trees of jewels where enamelled birds flapped their wings and sang, thrones of ivory and sheets of porphyry.” Foriescue, ‘‘The Orthodox Eastern Church,’’