유란시아 책
III 부. 유란시아의 역사
Paper 88
Fetishes, Charms, and Magic
Fetishes, Charms, and Magic
88:0.1 (967.1)
THE concept of a spirit’s entering into an inanimate object, an animal, or a human being, is a very ancient and honorable belief, having prevailed since the beginning of the evolution of religion. This doctrine of spirit possession is nothing more nor less than fetishism. The savage does not necessarily worship the fetish; he very logically worships and reverences the spirit resident therein.
88:1.1 (967.3)
Primitive man always wanted to make anything extraordinary into a fetish; chance therefore gave origin to many. A man is sick, something happens, and he gets well. The same thing is true of the reputation of many medicines and the chance methods of treating disease. Objects connected with dreams were likely to be converted into fetishes. Volcanoes, but not mountains, became fetishes; comets, but not stars. Early man regarded shooting stars and meteors as indicating the arrival on earth of special visiting spirits.
88:1.2 (967.4)
The first fetishes were peculiarly marked pebbles, and “sacred stones” have ever since been sought by man; a string of beads was once a collection of sacred stones, a battery of charms. Many tribes had fetish stones, but few have survived as have the Kaaba and the Stone of Scone. Fire and water were also among the early fetishes, and fire worship, together with belief in holy water, still survives.
88:1.3 (967.5)
Tree fetishes were a later development, but among some tribes the persistence of nature worship led to belief in charms indwelt by some sort of nature spirit. When plants and fruits became fetishes, they were taboo as food. The apple was among the first to fall into this category; it was never eaten by the Levantine peoples.
88:1.4 (967.6)
If an animal ate human flesh, it became a fetish. In this way the dog came to be the sacred animal of the Parsees. If the fetish is an animal and the ghost is permanently resident therein, then fetishism may impinge on reincarnation. In many ways the savages envied the animals; they did not feel superior to them and were often named after their favorite beasts.
동물이 주물로 여겨지게 되면, 주물이 된 동물의 고기를 먹지 못하도록 금기가 뒤따라 나타났다. 꼬리 없는 원숭이와 꼬리 있는 원숭이는 사람을 닮았으므로 일찍부터 주물로 여겨지는 동물이 됐으며;나중에는 뱀과 새와 돼지가 비슷한 존재로 간주됐다. 한때는 소가 주물이었는데, 우유가 금기인 반면 그 배설물은 높이 평가됐다. 뱀은 팔레스틴 지역에서 숭배됐고, 특히 페니키아인이 그랬는데, 그들은 유대인을 따라서 그것을 악한 영들의 대변자로 간주했다. 심지어 많은 현대인도 파충류의 마력을 믿는다. 아라비아로부터 인도 전역을 거쳐서 홍색인 가운데 모키 부족의 뱀 춤에 이르기까지, 뱀을 숭배했다.
88:1.5 (967.7)
When animals became fetishes, there ensued the taboos on eating the flesh of the fetish animal. Apes and monkeys, because of resemblance to man, early became fetish animals; later, snakes, birds, and swine were also similarly regarded. At one time the cow was a fetish, the milk being taboo while the excreta were highly esteemed. The serpent was revered in Palestine, especially by the Phoenicians, who, along with the Jews, considered it to be the mouthpiece of evil spirits. Even many moderns believe in the charm powers of reptiles. From Arabia on through India to the snake dance of the Moqui tribe of red men the serpent has been revered.
88:1.6 (968.1)
Certain days of the week were fetishes. For ages Friday has been regarded as an unlucky day and the number thirteen as an evil numeral. The lucky numbers three and seven came from later revelations; four was the lucky number of primitive man and was derived from the early recognition of the four points of the compass. It was held unlucky to count cattle or other possessions; the ancients always opposed the taking of a census, “numbering the people.”
침은 강력한 주물이었으며;사람에게 침을 뱉음으로써 마귀가 쫓겨난다고 여겼다. 연장자나 윗사람이 누군가에게 침 뱉는 것은 최고의 인사였다. 인간 신체 부위가 잠재적 주물로 여겨졌는데, 특히 머리카락과 손톱이 그랬다. 족장의 길게 자란 손톱을 고귀하게 여겼고, 그것을 다듬고 남은 조각은 강력한 주물이었다. 해골을 주물로 여기는 믿음은 후대의 머리-사냥을 잘 설명한다. 탯줄은 높게 평가되는 주물이었으며;아프리카에서는 지금도 그렇게 간주된다. 인류 최초의 노리개는 모아둔 탯줄이었다. 진주로 장식하는 경우가 종종 있었는데, 이것이 사람의 목걸이의 시초였다.
88:1.8 (968.3)
Saliva was a potent fetish; devils could be driven out by spitting on a person. For an elder or superior to spit on one was the highest compliment. Parts of the human body were looked upon as potential fetishes, particularly the hair and nails. The long-growing fingernails of the chiefs were highly prized, and the trimmings thereof were a powerful fetish. Belief in skull fetishes accounts for much of later-day head-hunting. The umbilical cord was a highly prized fetish; even today it is so regarded in Africa. Mankind’s first toy was a preserved umbilical cord. Set with pearls, as was often done, it was man’s first necklace.
곱사등과 불구의 몸으로 태어난 아이는 주물로 간주됐으며;정신 이상자는 달빛 작용에 영향을 받는다고 여겼다. 원시인은 천재와 정신이상을 구분하지 못했으며;정신박약아는 맞아죽거나, 아니면 주물 인물로서 숭배됐다. 광란{狂亂}은 마법에 대한 대중적 믿음을 더욱 확고하게 만들었으며;간질 환자들이 사제와 주술사가 되는 경우가 흔히 있었다. 술에 취한 상태는 영에 사로잡힌 형태로 간주됐으며;미개인이 실컷 마셨을 때에는, 자기 행동에 대한 책임을 회피할 목적으로 머리에 나뭇잎을 꽂았다. 독물{毒物}과 마취제가 주물이 됐으며;그것에 홀리게 된다고 생각했다.
88:1.9 (968.4)
Hunchbacked and crippled children were regarded as fetishes; lunatics were believed to be moon-struck. Primitive man could not distinguish between genius and insanity; idiots were either beaten to death or revered as fetish personalities. Hysteria increasingly confirmed the popular belief in witchcraft; epileptics often were priests and medicine men. Drunkenness was looked upon as a form of spirit possession; when a savage went on a spree, he put a leaf in his hair for the purpose of disavowing responsibility for his acts. Poisons and intoxicants became fetishes; they were deemed to be possessed.
88:1.10 (968.5)
Many people looked upon geniuses as fetish personalities possessed by a wise spirit. And these talented humans soon learned to resort to fraud and trickery for the advancement of their selfish interests. A fetish man was thought to be more than human; he was divine, even infallible. Thus did chiefs, kings, priests, prophets, and church rulers eventually wield great power and exercise unbounded authority.
88:2.1 (968.6)
It was a supposed preference of ghosts to indwell some object which had belonged to them when alive in the flesh. This belief explains the efficacy of many modern relics. The ancients always revered the bones of their leaders, and the skeletal remains of saints and heroes are still regarded with superstitious awe by many. Even today, pilgrimages are made to the tombs of great men.
88:2.2 (968.7)
Belief in relics is an outgrowth of the ancient fetish cult. The relics of modern religions represent an attempt to rationalize the fetish of the savage and thus elevate it to a place of dignity and respectability in the modern religious systems. It is heathenish to believe in fetishes and magic but supposedly all right to accept relics and miracles.
88:2.3 (969.1)
The hearth—fireplace—became more or less of a fetish, a sacred spot. The shrines and temples were at first fetish places because the dead were buried there. The fetish hut of the Hebrews was elevated by Moses to that place where it harbored a superfetish, the then existent concept of the law of God. But the Israelites never gave up the peculiar Canaanite belief in the stone altar: “And this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall be God’s house.” They truly believed that the spirit of their God dwelt in such stone altars, which were in reality fetishes.
88:2.4 (969.2)
The earliest images were made to preserve the appearance and memory of the illustrious dead; they were really monuments. Idols were a refinement of fetishism. The primitives believed that a ceremony of consecration caused the spirit to enter the image; likewise, when certain objects were blessed, they became charms.
모세는, 달라마시아에서 통용됐던 고대의 도덕 규약에 둘째 계명을 덧붙이면서, 히브리인 가운데서 자행되던 주물 숭배를 통제하려고 애썼다. 주물로서 신성시될 수 있는 어떤 종류의 형상도 만들지 못하도록 면밀하게 지시했다. 그는 분명하게 말했다;“너희는, 하늘을 날거나 땅 위에 기어 다니거나 물속에 있는 어떤 것이든지, 그와 비슷한 형상을 만들거나 새겨서는 안 된다.” 이런 계명은 유대인 가운데서 예술을 몹시 퇴보시켰지만 주물 숭배를 줄이기는 했다. 그러나 모세는 매우 현명했으므로, 옛 주물을 갑자기 버리도록 시도하지는 않았으며, 그래서 그는 전쟁을 위한 제단인 동시에 종교적 성소였던 궤 속에, 율법{십계명 돌판}과 함께 특정한 유품들을 넣도록 승낙했다.
88:2.5 (969.3)
Moses, in the addition of the second commandment to the ancient Dalamatian moral code, made an effort to control fetish worship among the Hebrews. He carefully directed that they should make no sort of image that might become consecrated as a fetish. He made it plain, “You shall not make a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters of the earth.” While this commandment did much to retard art among the Jews, it did lessen fetish worship. But Moses was too wise to attempt suddenly to displace the olden fetishes, and he therefore consented to the putting of certain relics alongside the law in the combined war altar and religious shrine which was the ark.
88:2.6 (969.4)
Words eventually became fetishes, more especially those which were regarded as God’s words; in this way the sacred books of many religions have become fetishistic prisons incarcerating the spiritual imagination of man. Moses’ very effort against fetishes became a supreme fetish; his commandment was later used to stultify art and to retard the enjoyment and adoration of the beautiful.
옛날에는, 주물이 된 권위 있는 말씀은 두려움을-고취시키는 교리였는데, 사람을 노예 삼는 모든 폭군 중에서 가장 무서웠다. 주물이 된 교리는, 필사적 사람으로 하여금 본성을 드러내서, 완고함, 광신, 미신, 불관용, 그리고 가장 지독하고 야만적인 학대 행위를 일삼도록 이끈다. 현대인이 지혜와 진리를 존중하려는 태도는, 주물을 만들려는 경향으로부터 더 높은 사고와 이성{理性}의 수준으로 최근에 회피한 것일 뿐이다. 다양한 종교인들이 신성시되는 책으로 여긴, 축적된 주물 문서들에 관해서 말하자면, 그 책 속에 있는 것이 진실일 뿐만 아니라, 모든 진리가 그 책 속에 있다고 믿었다. 이런 신성시되는 책들 가운데 하나가 공교롭게도 지구가 평평하다고 말한다면, 여러 세대 동안, 다른 면에서는 멀쩡한 남녀들조차, 지구가 둥글다는 명확한 증거를 받아들이려하지 않을 것이다.
88:2.7 (969.5)
In olden times the fetish word of authority was a fear-inspiring doctrine, the most terrible of all tyrants which enslave men. A doctrinal fetish will lead mortal man to betray himself into the clutches of bigotry, fanaticism, superstition, intolerance, and the most atrocious of barbarous cruelties. Modern respect for wisdom and truth is but the recent escape from the fetish-making tendency up to the higher levels of thinking and reasoning. Concerning the accumulated fetish writings which various religionists hold as sacred books, it is not only believed that what is in the book is true, but also that every truth is contained in the book. If one of these sacred books happens to speak of the earth as being flat, then, for long generations, otherwise sane men and women will refuse to accept positive evidence that the planet is round.
88:2.8 (969.6)
The practice of opening one of these sacred books to let the eye chance upon a passage, the following of which may determine important life decisions or projects, is nothing more nor less than arrant fetishism. To take an oath on a “holy book” or to swear by some object of supreme veneration is a form of refined fetishism.
88:2.9 (969.7)
But it does represent real evolutionary progress to advance from the fetish fear of a savage chief’s fingernail trimmings to the adoration of a superb collection of letters, laws, legends, allegories, myths, poems, and chronicles which, after all, reflect the winnowed moral wisdom of many centuries, at least up to the time and event of their being assembled as a “sacred book.”
88:3.2 (970.3)
Totemism is a combination of social and religious observances. Originally it was thought that respect for the totem animal of supposed biologic origin insured the food supply. Totems were at one and the same time symbols of the group and their god. Such a god was the clan personified. Totemism was one phase of the attempted socialization of otherwise personal religion. The totem eventually evolved into the flag, or national symbol, of the various modern peoples.
88:3.3 (970.4)
A fetish bag, a medicine bag, was a pouch containing a reputable assortment of ghost-impregnated articles, and the medicine man of old never allowed his bag, the symbol of his power, to touch the ground. Civilized peoples in the twentieth century see to it that their flags, emblems of national consciousness, likewise never touch the ground.
사제 직책과 왕의 직책의 휘장은 결국 주물로 숭배됐고, 최고 국가 주물은 씨족에서 부족으로, 종주권에서 주권으로, 토템에서 깃발로 발전하는 여러 단계를 거쳤다. 주물로 여겨진 왕은 “거룩한 권한”으로 통치했고, 여러 다른 형태의 정부가 생겼다. 또한 사람들은 민주주의라는 하나의 주물을 만들었는데, 이것은 집단적으로 “여론”을 형성했을 때 보통 사람의 관념을 찬미하고 찬양한다. 한 사람의 의견 자체만으로는 별로 진가를 인정받지 못하지만, 여러 사람이 민주적 체제에서 집단으로 작용할 때에는, 바로 이 진부한 판단이 응보의 중재자요 정의의 표준이라고 여긴다.
88:3.4 (970.5)
The insignia of priestly and kingly office were eventually regarded as fetishes, and the fetish of the state supreme has passed through many stages of development, from clans to tribes, from suzerainty to sovereignty, from totems to flags. Fetish kings have ruled by “divine right,” and many other forms of government have obtained. Men have also made a fetish of democracy, the exaltation and adoration of the common man’s ideas when collectively called “public opinion.” One man’s opinion, when taken by itself, is not regarded as worth much, but when many men are collectively functioning as a democracy, this same mediocre judgment is held to be the arbiter of justice and the standard of righteousness.
88:4.1 (970.6)
Civilized man attacks the problems of a real environment through his science; savage man attempted to solve the real problems of an illusory ghost environment by magic. Magic was the technique of manipulating the conjectured spirit environment whose machinations endlessly explained the inexplicable; it was the art of obtaining voluntary spirit co-operation and of coercing involuntary spirit aid through the use of fetishes or other and more powerful spirits.
88:4.5 (970.10)
The objects of science are identical with those of magic. Mankind is progressing from magic to science, not by meditation and reason, but rather through long experience, gradually and painfully. Man is gradually backing into the truth, beginning in error, progressing in error, and finally attaining the threshold of truth. Only with the arrival of the scientific method has he faced forward. But primitive man had to experiment or perish.
88:4.6 (970.11)
The fascination of early superstition was the mother of the later scientific curiosity. There was progressive dynamic emotion—fear plus curiosity—in these primitive superstitions; there was progressive driving power in the olden magic. These superstitions represented the emergence of the human desire to know and to control planetary environment.
88:4.7 (971.1)
Magic gained such a strong hold upon the savage because he could not grasp the concept of natural death. The later idea of original sin helped much to weaken the grip of magic on the race in that it accounted for natural death. It was at one time not at all uncommon for ten innocent persons to be put to death because of supposed responsibility for one natural death. This is one reason why ancient peoples did not increase faster, and it is still true of some African tribes. The accused individual usually confessed guilt, even when facing death.
88:4.8 (971.2)
Magic is natural to a savage. He believes that an enemy can actually be killed by practicing sorcery on his shingled hair or fingernail trimmings. The fatality of snake bites was attributed to the magic of the sorcerer. The difficulty in combating magic arises from the fact that fear can kill. Primitive peoples so feared magic that it did actually kill, and such results were sufficient to substantiate this erroneous belief. In case of failure there was always some plausible explanation; the cure for defective magic was more magic.
몸과 관련된 모든 것이 주물이 될 수 있었으므로, 가장 초기의 마술은 머리카락이나 손톱과 관련이 있었다. 육신의 배설{排泄}을 은밀히 행하는 습관은, 육체에서 나온 어떤 것을 적{敵}이 취하여, 해로운 마술을 부릴지도 모른다는 두려움에서 유래됐으며;따라서 몸에서 나온 모든 배설물을 신중히 땅에 묻었다. 공공장소에서 침 뱉는 행위를 자제한 것은, 해롭게 하는 마술에 그 타액이 이용될 수 있다는 두려움 때문이었으며;뱉은 침은 반드시 감췄다. 심지어 남은 음식이나 옷이나 장신구도 마술의 도구가 될 수 있었다. 미개인은 자신이 먹은 음식을 절대로 식탁에 남겨두지 않았다. 그리고 이 모든 행위는, 적이 이것을 마술적 제례에 사용할 수 있다는 두려움 때문이었고, 그런 풍습에 위생 가치가 있음을 전혀 인식하지 못했다.
88:5.1 (971.3)
Since anything connected with the body could become a fetish, the earliest magic had to do with hair and nails. Secrecy attendant upon body elimination grew up out of fear that an enemy might get possession of something derived from the body and employ it in detrimental magic; all excreta of the body were therefore carefully buried. Public spitting was refrained from because of the fear that saliva would be used in deleterious magic; spittle was always covered. Even food remnants, clothing, and ornaments could become instruments of magic. The savage never left any remnants of his meal on the table. And all this was done through fear that one’s enemies might use these things in magical rites, not from any appreciation of the hygienic value of such practices.
88:5.2 (971.4)
Magical charms were concocted from a great variety of things: human flesh, tiger claws, crocodile teeth, poison plant seeds, snake venom, and human hair. The bones of the dead were very magical. Even the dust from footprints could be used in magic. The ancients were great believers in love charms. Blood and other forms of bodily secretions were able to insure the magic influence of love.
88:5.4 (971.6)
The milk of a black cow was highly magical; so also were black cats. The staff or wand was magical, along with drums, bells, and knots. All ancient objects were magical charms. The practices of a new or higher civilization were looked upon with disfavor because of their supposedly evil magical nature. Writing, printing, and pictures were long so regarded.
원시인은, 이름 특히 신들의 이름을 특별하게 존중해야한다고 믿었다. 그 이름은, 실재 곧 육체적 인물과는 다른 어떤 영향력으로 간주됐으며;혼이나 그림자와 똑같이 존중됐다. 이름을 저당 잡아 돈을 빌렸으며;빌린 것을 갚음으로써 다시 찾기 전에는 자기 이름을 사용할 수 없었다. 오늘날에는 증서에 자기 이름을 서명한다. 개인의 이름은 마술에서 곧 중요한 요소가 됐다. 미개인은 두 가지 이름을 가졌는데;중요한 하나는 너무 신성하게 여겨서 평상시에는 사용하지 않았으며, 따라서 두 번째 곧 일상적 이름--별명--을 사용했다. 낯선 자들에게는 자신의 진짜 이름을 밝히지 않았다. 특별난 성질의 어떤 체험을 해도 이름을 바꿔야했으며;어떤 경우에는 병을 치료하거나 불운을 그치게 하려는 방책으로 이름을 바꿨다. 미개인은 부족장으로부터 새 이름을 살 수 있었으며;사람들은 여전히 직위와 학위를 따기 위하여 투자하고 있다. 그러나 아프리카의 부시먼 종족 같은, 가장 원시적인 부족 가운데서는 개인의 이름이 없다.
88:5.5 (971.7)
Primitive man believed that names must be treated with respect, especially names of the gods. The name was regarded as an entity, an influence distinct from the physical personality; it was esteemed equally with the soul and the shadow. Names were pawned for loans; a man could not use his name until it had been redeemed by payment of the loan. Nowadays one signs his name to a note. An individual’s name soon became important in magic. The savage had two names; the important one was regarded as too sacred to use on ordinary occasions, hence the second or everyday name—a nickname. He never told his real name to strangers. Any experience of an unusual nature caused him to change his name; sometimes it was in an effort to cure disease or to stop bad luck. The savage could get a new name by buying it from the tribal chief; men still invest in titles and degrees. But among the most primitive tribes, such as the African Bushmen, individual names do not exist.
88:6.1 (972.1)
Magic was practiced through the use of wands, “medicine” ritual, and incantations, and it was customary for the practitioner to work unclothed. Women outnumbered the men among primitive magicians. In magic, “medicine” means mystery, not treatment. The savage never doctored himself; he never used medicines except on the advice of the specialists in magic. And the voodoo doctors of the twentieth century are typical of the magicians of old.
마술에는 공적{公的} 국면과 사적{私的} 국면 둘 다 있다. 주술사나 무당 또는 사제가 행하는 것은, 부족 전체의 유익을 위한 것이라고 생각했다. 마녀나 요술쟁이나 마법사는 사사로운 마술, 즉 사람의 적에게 재앙을 가져오는 강제적 방법으로 사용되는, 개인적이고 이기적인 마술을 시행했다. 이중 영 체계 곧 선한 영과 악한 영 개념은, 백 마술과 흑 마술에 대한 후대의 믿음을 기원시켰다. 그리고 종교가 진화되면서, 마술은 자기 종파 바깥에서 작용하는 영에게 적용하는 용어였고, 마술은 또한 유령을 믿는 더 옛날의 믿음을 가리키기도 했다.
88:6.2 (972.2)
There was both a public and a private phase to magic. That performed by the medicine man, shaman, or priest was supposed to be for the good of the whole tribe. Witches, sorcerers, and wizards dispensed private magic, personal and selfish magic which was employed as a coercive method of bringing evil on one’s enemies. The concept of dual spiritism, good and bad spirits, gave rise to the later beliefs in white and black magic. And as religion evolved, magic was the term applied to spirit operations outside one’s own cult, and it also referred to older ghost beliefs.
88:6.3 (972.3)
Word combinations, the ritual of chants and incantations, were highly magical. Some early incantations finally evolved into prayers. Presently, imitative magic was practiced; prayers were acted out; magical dances were nothing but dramatic prayers. Prayer gradually displaced magic as the associate of sacrifice.
88:6.4 (972.4)
Gesture, being older than speech, was the more holy and magical, and mimicry was believed to have strong magical power. The red men often staged a buffalo dance in which one of their number would play the part of a buffalo and, in being caught, would insure the success of the impending hunt. The sex festivities of May Day were simply imitative magic, a suggestive appeal to the sex passions of the plant world. The doll was first employed as a magic talisman by the barren wife.
88:6.5 (972.5)
Magic was the branch off the evolutionary religious tree which eventually bore the fruit of a scientific age. Belief in astrology led to the development of astronomy; belief in a philosopher’s stone led to the mastery of metals, while belief in magic numbers founded the science of mathematics.
88:6.6 (972.6)
But a world so filled with charms did much to destroy all personal ambition and initiative. The fruits of extra labor or of diligence were looked upon as magical. If a man had more grain in his field than his neighbor, he might be haled before the chief and charged with enticing this extra grain from the indolent neighbor’s field. Indeed, in the days of barbarism it was dangerous to know very much; there was always the chance of being executed as a black artist.
과학이 도박성 요소를 삶에서 점차 제거하고 있다. 그러나 현대 교육 방법이 실패한다면, 마술에 대한 원시적 믿음으로 거의 즉시 되돌아갈 것이다. 이런 미신은, 문명인이라고 불리는 여러 사람의 정신에 여전히 자리잡고 있다. 언어는 그 인종이 마술적인 미신에 오랫동안 물들었음을 증명하는 많은 흔적을 내포하는데, 마법에 걸렸다, 팔자가 사납다, 귀신이 붙었다, 영감 받는다, 영처럼 사라진다, 재주가 많다, 넋을 빼앗겼다, 벼락 맞는다, 깜짝 놀랐다, 등의 말이 있다. 그리고 지성적인 인간이, 행운이나 흉안이나 점성술을 여전히 믿고 있다.
88:6.7 (972.7)
Gradually science is removing the gambling element from life. But if modern methods of education should fail, there would be an almost immediate reversion to the primitive beliefs in magic. These superstitions still linger in the minds of many so-called civilized people. Language contains many fossils which testify that the race has long been steeped in magical superstition, such words as spellbound, ill-starred, possessions, inspiration, spirit away, ingenuity, entrancing, thunderstruck, and astonished. And intelligent human beings still believe in good luck, the evil eye, and astrology.
88:6.8 (973.1)
Ancient magic was the cocoon of modern science, indispensable in its time but now no longer useful. And so the phantasms of ignorant superstition agitated the primitive minds of men until the concepts of science could be born. Today, Urantia is in the twilight zone of this intellectual evolution. One half the world is grasping eagerly for the light of truth and the facts of scientific discovery, while the other half languishes in the arms of ancient superstition and but thinly disguised magic.