Note 50 — THE DEMONOMANIA OF THE MIDDLE AGES.

Magic had rank among the sciences of the school of Alexandria 150 years before our era, in a medico-theosophical sect, whose members applied to cosmogony the doctrine of emanation. These admitted that demons come from the source of eternal light, and that man might become their equal by leading a contemplative life. There were a number of such demons, all phenomena of nature, and particularly all diseases were attributed to demonic power. These demons were incorporeal, and their light surrounded certain bodies in the same manner that the sun gleams in water without being contained therein. (See Sprengel). Let it not be forgotten that the Alexandrian Library, the richest institution of the kind in ancient times, and the Temple of Serapis, in which it was installed, were committed to the flames at the instigation of the monks, by order of their creature, the apathetic Emperor Theodosius.