ARISTOTELIAN PERIOD. 15 



sought not only for the cause but also for the end of the 

 natural phenomena which came under his notice. Of 

 course, in many instances the final causes which he assigns 

 for particular phenomena are not only ludicrously 

 inadequate, but are also based upon a totally false view 

 of the facts ; as, for example, when he states that ' animals 

 are four-footed because their souls are not powerful 

 enough to carry the weight of their bodies in an erect 

 position,' and that the reason why man (and man only) 

 has flesh on his legs is that the upper part of his body 

 may be rendered lighter, and he may thus be enabled 

 to walk erect. In the present age, the existence of a 

 teleological side to nature is very generally denied; and 

 it may well be that we may never be in a position to 

 investigate the ends of any natural structures ; so that, for 

 us, teleology may have practically no existence. Never- 

 theless, it is probable enough that this is a point upon 

 which the last word has not yet been spoken. 



Apart altogether from the accuracy of his observations, 

 or the value of his theoretical views, the importance of 

 Aristotle's works depends, as has been remarked by 

 Carus,* upon the fact that ' he first created a systematic 

 and scientific method of treating the animal kingdom. 

 This method of treatment not only was fitted to serve, 

 and did serve, as a starting-point for well-grounded 

 investigations directed towards the discovery of new lines 

 of research, or the perfection of old ones ; but, above 

 all, it for the first time put zoology in its proper place 

 in the series of the inductive sciences.' The facts which 



* 'Geschichte der Zoologic,' p. 71. 



