6 INTEODUCTOEY. 



to be traced in the most unexpected connections. Sir Alex 

 ander Grant tells us that the passages in Aristotle s De Ccelo, 

 ii. c. 14, 298 a, in which he inclines to a belief that the 

 ocean to the west of Europe and that to the east of India 

 are one and the same, did much to influence the mind of 

 Columbus and send him on his memorable voyage, and that 

 they were the cause of the islands of Central America being 

 called the West Indies, and the aborigines of North America 

 being called Indians. Further, there are many words and 

 phrases which have become firmly established, although 

 with modified meanings, chiefly through the influence of 

 the Aristotelian writings. Among these words and phrases 

 may be mentioned the following : 



aorta essence motive 



category faculty natural history 



cetacea final cause physician 



coleoptera form predicament 



diptera habit principle 



energy malacostraca quintessence 



entelechy maxim selachia 



enthymeme mean between extremes syllogism 



entomology metaphysics 



The well-known saying, &quot; There is nothing new under 

 the sun,&quot; is several times given by Aristotle, in equivalent 

 language, e. g. in his Meteorol. i. c. 3, s. 4, he says that the 

 same ideas have recurred to men times without end; and, 

 in his Polit. vii. c. 9, 13296, he expresses his belief that 

 discoveries and inventions come easily to men, and have 

 been made over and over again by different peoples and in 

 different countries. 



The foregoing is but an outline to indicate the vast 

 extent to which Aristotle s writings have exercised the 

 minds and influenced the conduct of men in many countries 

 and in almost every age for more than two thousand years. 

 He has had many adverse critics, but many more followers 

 or admirers possessed with an enthusiasm for his philosophy 

 which has often been nearly as great as that shown by the 

 Aristotelian, Thomas Aquinas. Many of them have written 

 commentaries on some parts of his works, especially his 

 Ethics, Politics, Metaphysics, De Anima, and parts of his 

 Organon, and so vast is the Aristotelian literature that no 

 man can hope to attain more than a general knowledge 

 of it. 



