Such are the views, reasonings, and conclusions of, at the time, one of
the first physicians and philosophers of Germany;--views and reasonings
which would have been received with eagerness and applause two hundred
years ago, but which the philosophy and improvements of later times seem
to have banished to the abodes of ignorance and barbarity.

The origin of almost all our knowledge may be traced to the earlier
periods of antiquity. This is peculiarly the case with respect to the
arts denominated magical. There were few ancient nations, however
barbarous, which could not furnish many individuals to whose spells and
enchantments the power of nature and the material world were supposed to
be subjected. The Chaldeans, the Egyptians, and indeed all the oriental
nations were accustomed to refer all natural effects, for which they
could not account to the agency of demons, who were believed to preside
over herbs, trees, rivers, mountains, and animals. Every member of the
human body was under their power, and all corporeal diseases were
produced by their malignity. For instance, if any happened to be
affected with a fever, little anxiety was manifested to discover its
cause, or to adopt rational measures for its cure; it must no doubt have
been occasioned by some evil spirit residing in the body, or
influencing, in some mysterious way, the fortunes of the sufferer. That
influence could be counteracted only by certain magical rites; hence the
observance of those rites soon obtained a permanent establishment in the
East. Even at the present day, many uncivilized people hold that all
nature is filled with genii, of which some exercise a beneficent, and
others a destructive power. All evils with which man is afflicted, are
considered the work of these imaginary beings, whose favour must he
propitiated by sacrifices, incantations, and songs. If the Greenlander
be unsuccessful in fishing, the Huron in hunting, or in war; if even the