ABSTRACT
Magic is a precursor of science in the sense that the logic on which it is built is a precursor of the logic which is at the base of all scientific work. All magic may be divided into two categories according to the logic on which it rests. The first has been called sympathetic magic. The second category has been called homoeopathic magic; its logic may be rendered by the Latin proverb similia similibus. A raging fire may be arrested by magic means, usually the rite of a circumambulation accompanied, of course, by the murmuring or singing of charms. Harm may be dealt out to an enemy, and it is curious to note the close relationship between the ritual of a relatively high religion and the magic ritual of witch or wizard. The story of the magician’s apprentice, known from Lucian’s Philopseudes, will come to mind at once.
