western civilization, was at this time impoverished, and hence
could not provide the monetary stimulus so essential to artistic
and scientific no less than to material progress. There were no
patrons of science and literature such as the Ptolemies of that
elder Alexandrian day. There were no great libraries; no colleges
to supply opportunities and afford stimuli to the rising
generation. Worst of all, it became increasingly difficult to
secure books.

This phase of the subject is often overlooked. Yet a moment's
consideration will show its importance. How should we fare to-day
if no new scientific books were being produced, and if the
records of former generations were destroyed? That is what
actually happened in Europe during the Middle Ages. At an earlier
day books were made and distributed much more abundantly than is
sometimes supposed. Bookmaking had, indeed, been an important
profession in Rome, the actual makers of books being slaves who
worked under the direction of a publisher. It was through the
efforts of these workers that the classical works in Greek and
Latin were multiplied and disseminated. Unfortunately the climate
of Europe does not conduce to the indefinite preservation of a
book; hence very few remnants of classical works have come down
to us in the original from a remote period. The rare exceptions
are certain papyrus fragments, found in Egypt, some of which are
Greek manuscripts dating from the third century B.C. Even from
these sources the output is meagre; and the only other repository
of classical books is a single room in the buried city of
Herculaneum, which contained several hundred manuscripts, mostly
in a charred condition, a considerable number of which, however,
have been unrolled and found more or less legible. This library