vii Aristotle on Birds 169 



likely to be content to remain at home to work the 

 pestle and mortar. He had that wonderful thirst for 

 universal knowledge which seems to be getting rarer 

 as the field of knowledge itself grows wider and more 

 accurately worked. It was only a small part of his 

 ambition to know about plants and animals; he 

 wanted also to know about man, the nature of his 

 mind, his sense of right and wrong, and the way he 

 gathers into states and lives under various forms of 

 government. There was but one city in Greece where 

 studies like these could be effectually followed the 

 city where Plato was teaching, and where every 

 young Greek who really wished to learn was certain 

 sooner or later to find himself. It was when he was 

 about twenty that Aristotle first went to Athens. 

 There he attached himself to Plato's school, caught 

 the spirit of the great master, and began those 

 philosophical works which have more especially 

 made his name immortal. 



It seems probable that Aristotle wrote the greater 

 part of his book on animals in early life, before he 

 gave himself up to the higher influences of philosophy. 

 But, like all or most of his works, it was not finished 

 and rounded off all at once. He knew very well that 

 a good book on such a subject cannot be turned out 

 in a moment like a table or a chair; it must be 

 continually growing, as additional knowledge comes 

 to its author. Throughout his life, which lasted 



