It is useless to pursue this subject much farther: in the course of a few centuries, the realms of superstition were increased to almost an immeasurable extent; the consequence was, that the air, the rocks, the seas, the rivers, nay, every lake, pool, brook, or spring, were so filled with spirits, both good and evil, that of each province it might be said, in the words of the Roman satirist, “Nosiba regio tam plena est numinibus, ut facilius possis deum quam hominem invenire.” Hence the modification which took place of systems of demonology, so as to admit of the classification of all descriptions of devils, whether Teutonic, Celtic, or Eastern systems of mythology. “Our schoolmen and other divines,” says Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy, “make nine kinds of bad devils, as Dionysius hath of angels. In the _first rank_, are those false gods of the Gentiles, which were adored heretofore in several idols, and gave oracles at Delphos and elsewhere, whose prince is Beelzebub. The _second rank_ is of liars and equivocators, as Apollo, Pythias, and the like. The _third_ are those vessels of anger, inventors of all mischief, as that of Theutus in Plato. Esay calls them vessels of fury: their prince is Belial. The _fourth_ are malicious, revengeful devils, and their prince is Asmodeus. The _fifth_ kind are coseners, such as belong to magicians and witches; their prince is Satan. The sixth are those aërial devils that corrupt the air, and cause plagues, thunders, fires, &c. spoken of in Apocalypse and Paule; the Ephesians name them the prince of the air: Meresin is their prince. The _seventh_ is a destroyer, captaine of the furies, causing wars, tumults, combustions, uproares, mentioned in the Apocalypse, and called Abaddon. The _eighth_ is that accusing or calumniating devil, whom the Greeks call Διάβολος, that drives us to despair. The _ninth_ are those tempters in several kindes, and their prince is Mammon.”