For a time, the magi surpassed the rest of the world in knowledge, and were the friends, companions, and counsellors, of its mightiest sovereigns. But their science, from having no solid basis, sank, after a while, into insignificance. On the ruins of its reputation other persons sought to build theirs. A man who knew, or could perform some things, with which others had no acquaintance, or for which they had no power, announced himself as a magician. Nor were the people indisposed to concede to him the credit he desired, especially if he claimed alliance with spiritual beings; and, in not a few instances, they attributed his marvels to such agency. Thus, then, the magician may be traced to the _magus_, or magian; and magic, to the so-called philosophy of the east. Magic squares are of great antiquity. A square of this kind is divided into several other small equal squares, or cells, filled up with the terms of any progression of numbers, but generally an arithmetical one; so that those in each band, whether horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, shall always make the same sum. The ancients ascribed to them great virtues; and the disposition of numbers formed the basis and principle of many of their talismans. Accordingly, a square of one cell, filled up with unity, was the symbol of the Deity, on account of the unity and immutability of God; for they remarked that this square was, by its nature, unique and immutable; the product of unity by itself being always unity. The square of the root two, was the symbol of imperfect matter, both on account of the four elements, and of its being supposed impossible to arrange this square magically. A square of nine cells was assigned or consecrated to Saturn; that of sixteen to Jupiter; that of twenty-five to Mars; that of thirty-six to the sun; that of forty-nine to Venus; that of sixty-four to Mercury; and that of eighty-one, or nine on each side, to the moon. Those who can find any relation between two planets, and such an arrangement of numbers, must have minds strongly tinctured with superstition; yet so it was in the mysterious philosophy of Iamblichus, Porphyry, and their disciples. Plants, as well as numbers, were long considered to be endowed with magical properties. Pliny enumerates those which, according to Pythagoras, were supposed to have the power of concealing waters. To others were attributed extraordinary effects. The _asyrites_, as it was denominated by the Egyptians, was used under the idea that it acted as a defence against witchcraft; and the _nepenthes_, which Helen presented, in a potion, to Menelaus, was believed, by the same people, to be powerful in banishing sadness, and in restoring the mind to its accustomed, or even to greater cheerfulness. Whatever may be the virtues of such herbs, they were used rather from an idea of their magical than of their medicinal qualities; every cure was cunningly ascribed to some mysterious and occult power.