At length, the nations, particularly the Babylonians and the Mexicans, acquired a wider knowledge of the different stars. As the most important ones, Sun, Moon, and Venus, guided the seasons and hence all natural phenomena, a certain mundane significance was naturally ascribed also to the younger ones. Not only seasons, months, days, and hours were each ruled by its star, but so was everything in nature; different winds, provinces, trades, bodily organs, animals, persons, each possessed its star and celestial protector. Comprehensive studies of these correspondences and connections were made and the conclusions were drawn from immaterial semblances and often wholly arbitrarily,--as regards persons from the configuration of the stars at the time of birth. Thus grew an enormously extensive collection of correspondence- and sympathy-doctrines accompanied by a detailed symbolism, an entire quasi-science, which must never be questioned as it originated with the infallible priests. With the Babylonians, religion and science completely melted together and even art was entirely subservient to the same interests. Occasionally the loss of this blissful state draws forth a sigh. Fortunately it is gone never to return. The oriental wisdom was brought over to Greece and was there amalgamated with the Platonic-Aristotelian philosophy. In this form the Babylonian heritage held sway over the thought of mankind up to less than 200 years ago. The most important branches of this fanciful, so-called science were astrology and alchemy. Tycho Brahe himself made it the object of his life to strengthen astrology by contributing new material to it. Kepler is said not to have believed in astrology but he nevertheless cast horoscopes not only for princes and persons of high position in order to improve his economy, but also for his own family. Probably traces of the old superstition clung to him, and presumably he thought: “If it does no good, neither does it do any harm.” In the same manner, alchemy was carried on by faithful adepts, but more often by impostors, seldom averse to “occult” sciences. Astrologers and alchemists exist even yet among the numerous devotees to occultism; at high price many of them make their predictions or sell their secrets. I have heard a Swedish engineer of very high standing state that their prognostications agreed with events. Among the few alchemists in Europe, most of whom seem to be religious visionaries, Strindberg is of a certain interest to us. Correspondence-theory has played a very large part in the speculations of the learned up to comparatively recent time. It is utilized extensively in the later fantastic writings of Swedenborg. Numerous traces are to be found also in the weakest works of Strindberg.