A History of Magic and Experimental Science during the First Thirteen Centuries of Our Eraby Lynn ThorndykeReview by: W. P. MustardThe American Journal of Philology, Vol. 45, No. 1 (1924), p. 93Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/289229 .

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REVIEWS. REVIEWS.

A History of Magic and Experimental Science during the first thirteen Centuries of our Era. By LYNN THORNDYKE. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1923. 2 vols. 877 + 1306 pp. $10.00.

This is a detailed study of the history of magic and experi- mental science and their relations to Christian thought during the first thirteen centuries of our era. Under magic the writer includes all occult arts and sciences, superstitions and folk- lore, and special attention is given to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It is probably the most comprehensive treatment of the entire subject yet published. It is an excellent book, well written, well printed, well indexed.

It is divided into five sections: I. The Roman Empire (Pliny, Ptolemy, Galen, etc.); II. Early Christian Thought (Origen, Basil, Augustine, etc.); III. The Early Middle Ages (The Alexander Legend, Post-Classical Medicine, Latin Astro- logy and Divination, etc.); IV. The Twelfth Century (Adelard of Bath, Bernard Silvester, John of Salisbury, Alexander Neckam, etc.); V. The Thirteenth Century (Michael Scot, William of Auvergne, Bartholomew of England, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, etc.).

In Vol. I, p. 42, the quotation from Pliny is mistranslated; Pliny's claim is that he alone of Romans has celebrated Nature in every particular. Vol. II, p. 132, "Rhenus a mari impetu emittitur" can hardly mean "the Rhine is sent forth by the force of the sea." Vol. II, p. 10, the quotation from the Georgics should have been verified. Vol. I, p. 97, the reference to Cicero in note 9 should be De Div. I. 111. In the verses quoted Vol. I, p. 398, "gemmis" should be "gemmas." Isidore's Etymologiae should be quoted from Lindsay's edition, not from Migne. Vol. II, p. 905, the account of fish that paralyze the fisherman might be compared with Claudian's graphic description of the angler and the torpedo.

W. P. MUSTARD.

L'Etna Poeme. Texte etabli et traduit par J. VESSEREAU. Paris: Societe d'Edition " Les Belles Lettres," 1923. xxxiv + 82 pp. 9 frs.

People who have followed any of the recent discussion of the Appendix Vergiliana will be interested in a new edition of the Aetna. This is a revised edition of a good book published in 1905-revised to fit the plan of the new French series of Greek and Latin classics. It contains an introduction, the text, a

A History of Magic and Experimental Science during the first thirteen Centuries of our Era. By LYNN THORNDYKE. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1923. 2 vols. 877 + 1306 pp. $10.00.

This is a detailed study of the history of magic and experi- mental science and their relations to Christian thought during the first thirteen centuries of our era. Under magic the writer includes all occult arts and sciences, superstitions and folk- lore, and special attention is given to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It is probably the most comprehensive treatment of the entire subject yet published. It is an excellent book, well written, well printed, well indexed.

It is divided into five sections: I. The Roman Empire (Pliny, Ptolemy, Galen, etc.); II. Early Christian Thought (Origen, Basil, Augustine, etc.); III. The Early Middle Ages (The Alexander Legend, Post-Classical Medicine, Latin Astro- logy and Divination, etc.); IV. The Twelfth Century (Adelard of Bath, Bernard Silvester, John of Salisbury, Alexander Neckam, etc.); V. The Thirteenth Century (Michael Scot, William of Auvergne, Bartholomew of England, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, etc.).

In Vol. I, p. 42, the quotation from Pliny is mistranslated; Pliny's claim is that he alone of Romans has celebrated Nature in every particular. Vol. II, p. 132, "Rhenus a mari impetu emittitur" can hardly mean "the Rhine is sent forth by the force of the sea." Vol. II, p. 10, the quotation from the Georgics should have been verified. Vol. I, p. 97, the reference to Cicero in note 9 should be De Div. I. 111. In the verses quoted Vol. I, p. 398, "gemmis" should be "gemmas." Isidore's Etymologiae should be quoted from Lindsay's edition, not from Migne. Vol. II, p. 905, the account of fish that paralyze the fisherman might be compared with Claudian's graphic description of the angler and the torpedo.

W. P. MUSTARD.

L'Etna Poeme. Texte etabli et traduit par J. VESSEREAU. Paris: Societe d'Edition " Les Belles Lettres," 1923. xxxiv + 82 pp. 9 frs.

People who have followed any of the recent discussion of the Appendix Vergiliana will be interested in a new edition of the Aetna. This is a revised edition of a good book published in 1905-revised to fit the plan of the new French series of Greek and Latin classics. It contains an introduction, the text, a

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