Noftra
Phyfica

quam fingit & for

mat effe

Яio.

Qu. Ac.

III.

But where shall we fix among all thefe Uncertainties; or by what Direction fhall we fteer tu nofti, que conti- in fo difficult a Way? Plutarch, in the fecond nentur ex Volume of his Opufcula, reports at large the effe&tione different Opinions of the ancient Naturalifts, & ex maas Tully had done before him in his Books of teriâ eâ Academick Questions; and both the one and the other acquiefce in that of Ariftotle, as, upon a nice Examination, preferable to all the reft. In which Judgment they are follow'd by Galen, and by all the greatest Genius's of fucceeding Times. We have here a noble Appearance in Laudemus Ariftotle's behalf; and what can be alledg'd Deum qui more for the Honour and Advantage of this Separavit great Philofopher,than the concurrent Teftimony Ariftote of fo many famous Men, admir'd for the Solilem ab ali-dity of their Judgment, and Exactness of their is in perfe- Cenfure. The fame Opinion, of Ariftotle's appropria- Worth was afterwards entertain'd by all that apvitque plied themfelves to contemplate the vast Capaultimam city of his mighty Genius. S. Jerom confeffes, ei dignita that the Soul of this Philofopher was a Kind of nam, quam Prodigy in Nature, and that he knew as much nullus po- as 'tis poffible for Man, by his own unaffifted seft attin- Strength to attain. Medina, a Spanish Divine, gere. do's not stick to affert, that the Force of huEx Aver. 1. r. de man Understanding could not go fo far into the Gener. Knowledge of natural Things, as Ariftotle apHieron. pears to have, done, without the peculiar Aid Epift.

&ione,

tem buma

In Div.

Th. 1. 2.

Eu. 109.

A. I.

either of a good or evil Spirit. And it must be granted, that as he gives us a Rehearsal of all that had been propos'd in Phyficks before his Time, in order to refute it; fo there has scarce been any Thing rationally advanc'd in this Science, which did not pafs thro' his Invention, and derive it's Principles from his Store. But because Men either feldom study him in the Ori

ginal, or feldom understand him, they are too apt to take what he approves for what he reJects, and what he rejects for what he approves. And 'twas this produc'd that frequent Contradiction among his Followers, who to gain the Support and Honour of his Authority, brought him to their Side whether he would or no. And then 'tis not ftrange they should fo miferably lofe themselves, when they had first compell'd their Guide to go aftray. i baz

બે

Yet let us not be dazled with this Splendor of Ariftotle's Name and Glory; let us fet afide the Voice of fo many Ages, and the Suffrage of all the Learned concurring in his Favour. Let us view Ariftotle as he appears in himself; let us obferve how he has managed the Subject of natural Philofophy, that great Rock upon which fo many of his Profeflion have fplit, and that we may pass the more equitable Judgment on his Doctrine, let us first confider it in its Principles. We may expect that fo great a Genius, and fo much above the ordinary Standard, could not proceed, but by uncommon Ways. He begins therefore with a Kind of Hiftory of the Opinions of all the Philofophers before him; he defires to know all that others have faid, that his Mind may be ftor'd and replenish'd with his Matter, and he may deliver nothing but upon the fulleft Information. And whereas Plato af fected a perfonal View of all his learned Contemporaries of all Nations, and travell'd into Egypt, Perfia, and Italy, to enjoy their Converse, and be fatisfied of their Opinions; Aristotle shut himself up in his Study, to infpect and examine all that had been written upon the Subject of Nature, and upon this Examination to build his own Hypothefis, rejecting every Thing that

made

454

made against it, and taking in every Thing that
afforded it Countenance and Support. This is
the firft Draught of his Method; he offers no-
thing but what he is affur'd of by his per-
fect Comprehenfion of the feveral Doctrines
advanced by his Predeceffors. His Phyficks
are an Abridgment of thofe of Pythagoras, Ocellus
Lucanus, Timaus, Leucippus, Parmenides, Hippocra
tes, Meliffus, Democritus, and the rest of the elder
Sages. And it may be affirm'd that he fhews a
greater Concern to destroy their Systems, than
to establish his own. At least, Jofeph Scaliger,
who ftudied him very clofely, appears to have
been of this Judgment. The greatest Part of the
ancient Naturalifts afferted Things precariously,
and utter'd their Fancies and imaginary Schemes.
Aristotle alone fearch'd his Matter to the Bot-
tom, prepared and difpofed it, by ridding all
contrary Tenets out of the Way, and pronoun-
ced upon nothing till he had defeated the oppo-
fite Affertion, which was his peculiar Talent.
By this gradual Method his own Principles of
Nature are introduc'd. For having refuted
the Notion of Parmenides and Meliffus, who
held but one Principle, infinite and immove-
able; and having evinced the Abfurdity of
Democritus, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, &c. He
fubftitutes his own three Principles, Matter,
Form and Privation, as those by which we might
best comprehend the Change that is made in all
natural Productions; in which we always fup-
pofe fomewhat that receives, and fomewhat
that is receiv'd; or fome common Subject of
the Form excluded, and the Form admitted
in its Place: And this is fo true and certain that
we can form no Idea of a natural Generation
without it. Plato who allow'd two of Aristotle's
Principles, Matter and Form, did not diftin

guilh Privation from Matter, and therefore Ariftotle, the Author of the Distinction, boasts of it as his own peculiar Work. And hence he Ex Caraffirms in the laft Chapters of the firft Book of pent. his Phyficks, that most of the Errors of anci- præf. in ent Philofophy, were owing to the Neglect of Alcino. Philofophers, in not framing a clear and accurate Difcerniment between Matter and Privation. What he calls Form, is no more than the Caufe and Original of the feveral Difpofitions, Qualities and Operations, in every compound Being; or that which conftitutes a Thing in its E effential Perfections. Thus if we take these three Principles of Ariftotle, as a proper Method to give us an Idea of what paffes in the common Generation of Things, and to facilitate our Knowledge of Nature, they feem preferable to all that have been invented by other Authors. Let us now take a curfory View of the Series of his general Phyficks.

V.

In the first Book he fets down the Method and Order of his following Defign, and fince the Face of Nature is fo dark and obfcure, he maintains that we ought to raife our Speculation by fo many Steps and Degrees, from confus'd and inevident Notions to thofe that are Clear and Evident, and to defcend in this Science, from Generals to Particulars: He adds that there is no other Way of Illuftrating the latter, but by bringing them to the notice of Senfe, and by cloathing them in their proper Circumftances. Having fettled this Method, in the remaining Part of the Book, he refutes the Principles of the other Philofophers, and establishes his own in their Room. In the fecond Book he difcourfes of Nature, and ftates the true Meaning and Import of that Term. In the fame Book, as alfo in their Third, Fourth

and

and Fifth, he treats of the Divifion of Caufes of Motion and Place, the Affection of natural Bodies. In the Sixth he explains the Nature of Quantity, and makes a juft Treatife on that one Subject. He begins in his feventh Book to fettle the Doctrine of a first Mover; and in the eighth he fpeaks of Time, the natural Rule and Meafure of Motion. He defcribes the heavenly Bodies, their Matters or Substance, their Qualities, Motion, Situation and Figure, and all that relates to the Syftem of the World, in his firft and fecond Book de Cœlo: In the third and fourth, he treats of the Gravity and Levity of the heavenly Bodies, and of the different Opinions entertain'd by the Ancients on that Subject. In his first Book of Meteors, he represents thofe that are produc'd in the Air; as in the third and fourth, thofe that are generated in the Earth and Sea: It is here that he accounts for Winds, and Thunder, and Lightning, and Exhalations; for the Rainbow, and the Parbelia. In the fourth he difcourfes of Heat and Cold, of Drinefs and Moisture, of Putrefaction and of Salts, of the various Qualities of mixt Bodies, their Composition and Temperament. In his three Books of the Soul, he explains all that belongs to its Nature and Operations, whether in refpect of the outward Senfes, or of the inward Faculties. In his Book of Parva Naturalia, he enlarges more particularly on the Subject of Senfation, Memory, aud Reminiscence of Sleeping and Waking, of Dreams, and the Prognosticks of Dreams, of the Motions of Animals, and their various Gate and Pace; of the Length and Shortness of Life, of Youth and Old Age; of Reputation, of Health and Sickness. The History of Animals is his Mafter-piece, and the most finish'd of all his Treatifes of Nature:

the