ARISTOTLE 



Perhaps philosophers, like the visitors who came to 

 call on Heracleitus and found him in the kitchen, 

 have felt embarrassed at finding Aristotle in his 

 laboratory, and have thought it more dignified to 

 wait until he came out ; failing to perceive that 

 " there too gods are present." " And where the gods 

 are, there too is beauty, however mean and however 

 small the creature may be which is the subject of 

 study — greater beauty than is to be found in the 

 products of human skill ; for these are the workman- 

 ship of Nature, who does nothing idly or without 

 purpose ; and in them too is to be found the activity 

 of Soul, working through its instrument pneuma, 

 which is the terrestrial counterpart of the celestial 

 " quintessence," aither, the divine constituent of the 

 heavenly spheres and of the stars ; in them, therefore. 

 Form at its highest and Matter at its highest are seen 

 operating in unison. For men of science, the Genera- 

 tion of Animals has a special interest, in that it is 

 the first systematic treatise on animal reproduction 

 and embryology, containing records of observations, 

 marking out schemes of classification, and suggesting 

 methods of dealing with problems, much of which has 

 proved of permanent value ; indeed, Aristotle's work 

 was not resumed until after the lapse of nearly two 

 thousand years, and some of his observations were 

 not repeated until comparatively recent times. Of 

 this I shall have more to say presently. 



Aristotle's Embryology 

 Aristotle's The De gencratione animaUum is the culminating 



zoological 



works. a See P. A. I. 645 a. 20 S. 



