PARTS OF ANIMALS 



It will be seen that the first three Causes tend 

 naturally to coalesce under the aegis of the Formal 

 Cause, in opposition to the fourth, the Material 

 Cause, a contrast which is clearly put by Adam of 

 St. Victor in one of his hymns : 



effectiva vel formalis 

 causa Deiis, etjiiialis, 

 sed nuviquam materia. 



Hence, of course, comes the regular contrast of 

 " form " and " matter," in which, oddly enough, in 

 modern usage the two terms have almost exchanged 

 meanings. " Mere form," " empty form," in con- 

 trast with " the real matter," are phrases which 

 indicate a point of view very different from that of 

 Aristotle. An equally drastic reversal of meaning 

 has overtaken the term " substance," as contro- 

 versies on " transubstantiation," and the existence 

 of the word " unsubstantial " prove. " Cause " has 

 certainly been more fortunate ; but its meaning has 

 been narrowed down, so that " cause " now usually 

 suggests the " efficient " cause only. At the same 

 time, we allow ourselves a wider variety of " efficient " 

 causes than Aristotle, and are more ready to admit 

 actions and events or even series of actions and events. 

 We have, in fact, applied Aristotle's precise termin- 

 ology to the wider uses of everyday non-technical 

 purposes. For Aristotle, the doctrine of the Four 

 Causes provides an exhaustive and precise classifica- 

 tion of the things which can be responsible for another 

 thing's existence, and by the naming of them the 

 thing can be completely accounted for. 



As an illustration the following will serve. 

 Suppose the object to be explained is an oak. The 



25, 



