e nearly the same effects as public fasts, and,
in catholic countries, processions, as at present, in times of danger,
by exalting the courage, and by animating hope. The disease having,
probably, reached its highest pitch of malignity when the musician
arrived, must afterwards have become less contagious by degrees; till,
at length, ceasing of itself, by the air wafting away the seeds of
infection, and recovering its former purity, the extirpation of the
disease was attributed by the people to the music of Thaletas, who had
been thought the sole mediator, to whom they owed their happy
deliverance.

This is exactly what Plutarch means, who tells the story; and what Homer
meant, in attributing the curation of the plague among the Greeks, at
the siege of Troy, to music:

With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends,
The Poeans lengthen'd till the sun descends:
The Greeks restor'd, the grateful notes prolong;
Apollo listens and approves the song.[120]

For the poet in these lines seems only to say, that Apollo was rendered
favourable, and had delivered the Greeks from the scourge with which
they were attacked, in consequence of Chriseis having been restored to
her father, and of sacrifices and offerings.

M. Burette thinks it easy to conceive, that music may be really
efficacious in relieving, if not in removing, the pains of sciatica; and
that independent of the greater or less skill of the musician. He
supposes this may be effected in two different ways: first, by
flattering the ear, and diverting the attention; and, secondly, by
occasioning oscillations and vibrations of the nerves, which may,
perhaps, give motions to the humours, and remove the obstructions which
occasion this disorder. In this manner the action of musical sounds
upon the fibres of the brain and animal spirits, may sometimes soften
and alleviate the sufferings of epileptics and lunatics, and calm even
the most violent fits of these two cruel disorders. And if antiquity
affords examples of this power, we can oppose to them some of the same
kind said to have been effected by music, not of the most exquisite
sort. For not only M. Burette, but many modern philosophers, physicians,
and anatomists, as well as ancient poets and historians, have believed,
that music has the power of affecting, not only the mind, but the
nervous system, in such a manner as will give a temporary relief in
certain diseases, and, at length, even operate a radical cure.