of Pythagorean reverence for
numbers and numerical proportion to which Aristotle is a stranger.
Intervals of sound and number are to him sacred things which have a law
of their own, not dependent on the variations of sense. They rise above
sense, and become a connecting link with the world of ideas. But it is
evident that Plato is describing what to him appears to be also a fact.
The power of a simple and characteristic melody on the impressible
mind of the Greek is more than we can easily appreciate. The effect of
national airs may bear some comparison with it. And, besides all this,
there is a confusion between the harmony of musical notes and the
harmony of soul and body, which is so potently inspired by them.

The second paradox leads up to some curious and interesting
questions--How far can the mind control the body? Is the relation
between them one of mutual antagonism or of mutual harmony? Are they
two or one, and is either of them the cause of the other? May we not at
times drop the opposition between them, and the mode of describing them,
which is so familiar to us, and yet hardly conveys any precise meaning,
and try to view this composite creature, man, in a more simple manner?
Must we not at any rate admit that there is in human nature a higher
and a lower principle, divided by no distinct line, which at times
break asunder and take up arms against one another? Or again, they are
reconciled and move together, either unconsciously in the ordinary work
of life, or consciously in the pursuit of some noble aim, to be attained
not without an effort, and for which every thought and nerve are
strained. And then the body becomes the good friend or ally, or servant
or instrument of the mind. And the mind has often a wonderful and almost
superhuman power of banishing disease and weakness and calling out a
hidden strength. Reason and the desires, the intellect and the senses
are brought into harmony and obedience so as to form a single human
being. They are ever parting, ever meeting; and the identity or
diversity of their tendencies or operations is for the most part
unnoticed by us. When the mind touches the body through the appetites,
we acknowledge the responsibility of the one to the other. There is a
tendency in us which says 'Drink.' There is another which says, 'Do
not drink; it is not good for you.' And we all of us know which is the
rightful superior. We are also responsible for our health, although into
this