80 RICHARD MCKEON 



The Meteorology finally turns to phenomena less regular than 

 the motions of the primary body, aither, below the region of 

 the motion of the stars. These include, in addition to meteor- 

 ological phenomena in the strict sense, the composition of 

 elements into homogeneous bodies and of homogeneous bodies 

 into structured or organic bodies. Two of the primary qualities, 

 hot and cold, are active, and two, dry and moist, are passive. 

 The combinations of elements may be mechanical mixtures 

 (sunthesis) or chemical compounds (mixis) . The latter are 

 " homoeomerous " bodies, inorganic (gold, silver, stone) , vege- 

 table (bark, wood) , or animal (bone, flesh, sinew) , Homoeo- 

 merous bodies are distinguished by qualities which act on the 

 senses (white, fragrant, resonant, sweet, hot or cold) and more 

 intrinsic qualities which, like moist and dry, are passive, such as 

 solubility, solidifiability, flexibility, frangibility, plasticity, duc- 

 tility, malleability, combustibility, compressibility.^ Homoeo- 

 merous bodies are composed of elements, and are in turn the 

 material for more complex " non-homoeomerous " bodies. Aris- 

 totle's examples of inorganic structured complex bodies are 

 artificial objects, like flutes and saws, which have specific 

 functions, while his examples of organic complex bodies are 

 leaf and root, hands, feet, and eyes." The bodies composed, 

 in turn, of non-homoeomerous bodies are men and plants and 

 the like. In the course of discussing homoeomerous bodies 

 Aristotle makes use of the distinction between masses or cor- 

 puscles (onkos) and pores (poros) , which is used later in the 

 history of elements and is thought to derive from Democritus' 

 distinctions between atoms and void; it is to be observed, 

 however, that these particles would have the status of molecules 

 relative to simpler atoms or elements. 



Philosophers continued to form theories concerning elements 

 after Aristotle, and Aristotle's history of elements as the prin- 

 ciples of the early philosophers was usually combined with a 

 Stoic or Neoplatonic conception of elements. These were the 



» Meteorologica, IV, 8, 384b24-385al8. 



" Ibid., IV, 10, 388al0-29; 12, 389b23-390b22. 



