CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCIENCES 63 



Bacon's views and the medieval. The weakest part 

 of Hugo's classification is that which deals with 

 natural philosophy. Physica, he says, undertakes the 

 investigation of the causes of things in their effects, 

 and of effects in their causes. It deals with the ex- 

 planation of earthquakes, tides, the virtues of plants, 

 the fierce instincts of wild animals, every species of 

 stone, shrub, and reptile. When we turn to his spe- 

 cial work, however, on this branch of knowledge, 

 Concerning Beasts and Other Things, we find no 

 attempt to subdivide the field of physica, but a se- 

 ries of details in botany, geology, zoology, and human 

 anatomy, mostly arranged in dictionary form. 



When we refer to Bacon's classification we find 

 that Physics corresponds to Hugo's Physica. It 

 studies natural phenomena in relation to their ma- 

 terial causes. For this study, Natural History, ac- 

 cording to Bacon, supplies the facts. Let us glance, 

 then, at his work on natural history, and see how 

 far he had advanced from the medieval toward the 

 modern conception of the sciences. 



For purposes of scientific study he divided the 

 phenomena of the universe into (1) Celestial phe- 

 nomena ; (2) Atmosphere ; (3) Globe ; (4) Substance 

 of earth, air, fire, water; (5) Genera, species, etc. 

 Great scope is given to the natural history of man. 

 The arts are classified as nature modified by man. 

 History means, of course, descriptive science. 



