difficult than almost any others to eradicate. Always, and
everywhere, superstitions based upon unwarranted early scientific
deductions have been the most implacable foes to the progress of
science. Men have built systems of philosophy around their
conception of anthropomorphic deities; they have linked to these
systems of philosophy the allied conception of the immutability
of man's spirit, and they have asked that scientific progress
should stop short at the brink of these systems of philosophy and
accept their dictates as final. Yet there is not to-day in
existence, and there never has been, one jot of scientific
evidence for the existence of these intangible anthropomorphic
powers back of nature that is not susceptible of scientific
challenge and of more logical interpretation. In despite of which
the superstitious beliefs are still as firmly fixed in the minds
of a large majority of our race as they were in the mind of our
prehistoric ancestor. The fact of this baleful heritage must not
be forgotten in estimating the debt of gratitude which historic
man owes to his barbaric predecessor.



II. EGYPTIAN SCIENCE

In the previous chapter we have purposely refrained from
referring to any particular tribe or race of historical man. Now,
however, we are at the beginnings of national existence, and we
have to consider the accomplishments of an individual race; or
rather, perhaps, of two or more races that occupied successively
the same geographical territory. But even now our studies must
for a time remain very general; we shall see little or nothing of