12 PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



Such, briefly, is Aristotle's inductive method so that 

 Aristotle will ever be regarded as the FATHER OF INDUCTIVE 

 PHILOSOPHY. 



And we must not think, as some writers do, that, having 

 propounded a method, Aristotle thought it sufficiently good 

 for his disciples' use, and did not put it into practice himself ; 

 on the contrary, he did practise it as much as it lay in his 

 power. The briefest outline is sufficient to show this : 



Ancient writers record, for instance, that in Natural 

 History, he had specimens collected from every part of the 

 then known world, so as to deal with facts only. He had, 

 it is also said, menageries, collections of plants and minerals 

 of all kinds, in order to write his "Natural History" from 

 observation. " One cannot," says Cuvier, the founder of 

 Palaeontology, " turn a page of it without deep amazement." 

 And this statement is justified. 



He classified nature into two classes : Organic and 

 Inorganic a classification retained to this day by many. 



He was the founder of ZOOLOGY, and many of the divisions 

 which he determined are accepted even now such, for instance, 

 as the two which he called the oviparous and the viviparous. 



He foresaw the great law of EVOLUTION " Animals/' 

 he said, " begin where plants end, for some forms are so 

 similar both to plants and to animals that it is impossible 

 to determine in which division they should be classed." 



He pointed out that a continuous chain can be traced 

 from the lowest plant to the most developed animal each 

 being separated from the next "by almost imperceptible 

 differences." The idea of gradual growth and development 

 from low to high organisms, is, if not expressed in these 

 terms, at least implied in his pregnant exposition of natural 

 history. He based his classification of animals upon their 

 organs and the manner in which these organs are used. 



In PHYSIOLOGY, few facts were left untouched by him, 

 and he frequently guessed the real process of nature, as our 

 own XlXth century scientists acknowledge. He discussed 

 and rejected the spontaneous generation theory, and believed 

 in that of Epigenesis (germs the spring of life), which he 

 defended with great power. 



