Religious beliefs were developed from struggles to conceive the inconceivable and discover the infinite. Religions led to studies of mysteries and ceremonies and rites. Magic developed and this also had its customs, dogmas, and rites. The difference between magic and religion was that the magician was consulted by his personal friends, whereas the holders of religious beliefs had a common bond uniting them in one strict form of worship. Magic was not systematized, while religion was a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, and chiefly to the regulation of moral concepts and conduct. The intimate association of religion, magic, necromancy, and science continued until the early Greek era. There were many temples erected in Greece and dedicated to Æsculapius, the god of medicine. Cures were believed to be effected through the valuable offerings made to the god by patients and their friends. It was thought that the ways to health would be indicated to them by the god through dreams. Recent investigations of the representative ceremonial rites of the aboriginal peoples of Australasia and of North and South America have yielded a remarkably rich fund of information on the causes and conditions which operated in prehistoric eras in developing the mental, moral, and physical sciences. Some of the most romantic stories ever developed by the human intellect are to be found in recent scientific works dealing with the history and principles of the tribal customs, ceremonies, and religious rites of primitive peoples. The early chapters in the history of man's mental development and the evolution of science from distant origins in mystic forces, through magic and necromancy to religion and philosophy, must give abundant pleasure to all thoughtful persons by showing how it came that the high state of civilization now attained was brought about by slow processes, operating through immense periods of time and blossoming only during the past two or three thousand years. A study of these stories cannot fail to show how intimately science has been associated with religion, why every normal individual is essentially religious, and why the continuation of our civilization, and the very existence of the human race, are absolutely contingent upon the recognition of the moral laws, in the future as in the past. The history of science establishes the fact that moral sanctions, which require religious ceremonies to keep them vital, are the essential bases of human progress. CHAPTER II PRIMITIVE MAN AND EARLY CIVILIZATIONS The development of scientific history has not followed a uniform course. Progress has been rhythmic. There has been always a reaction coming in the steps of brilliant discoveries. Periods of feverish experimental activities have been succeeded by others during which little apparent progress was made.