212 SCIENCE IN GRECO-ROMAN ANTIQUITY 



to a high degree of perfection thanks to a comprehen- 

 sive set of implements, as is shown by the surgical 

 instruments discovered at Pompeii. 1 



The credit of having established the scientific bases 

 of the natural sciences belongs to Aristotle and his 

 disciples. It has been mentioned that Aristotle rescued 

 zoology from oblivion. This, however, as Gomperz 

 points out, is to honour him both too much and too 

 little, for it is attributing to him an almost superhuman 

 work and at the same time a mass of errors for which he 

 is not responsible. 2 Aristotle had predecessors amongst 

 the philosophers and especially amongst the physicians, 

 whose opinions he often quotes either with approval 

 or disapproval. However, although he profited by the 

 work of his predecessors, he made more use of the 

 observations he himself was able to make, and the 

 information he methodically gleaned. 



In the three great works which he published 

 (Historia animalitim ; De partibus animalium ; De 

 generatione animalium) he interprets the facts observed 

 according to finalistic views, and by considering 

 mechanical causes as aids to final causes. According 

 to him, the life of nature is divided into two spheres, 

 in one of which necessity reigns, whilst the other is 

 ruled by tendencies and by finality {De generatione 

 animalium, 759 b). 2 Life is motion. Now all motion 

 implies both a form which moves and a matter which 

 is moved. The form is the soul, the matter is the 

 body. The soul is the permanent force which moves the 

 body and determines its structure. But as form only 

 gradually overcomes the resistance of matter, the 

 psychic life comprises three degrees : nutrition, sensa- 



1 10 Diels, Antike, p. 23. 



2 14 Gomperz, Penseurs, III, p. 150. — F. Houssay, Nature it 

 Sciences naturelles, Flammarion, Paris, p. 62. — 22a Robin, 

 La Pensee grecque, p. 351 et seq. 



