INTRODUCTOEY. 13 



are very difficult to translate or understand, but, in most 

 cases, the difficulties are chiefly due to the abstruse nature 

 of the subjects to which the passages relate. 



Aristotle often sets forth what he intends to discuss, and 

 the order in which he proposes to discuss the various 

 branches of a subject, and he often gives a valuable descrip- 

 tion and criticism of the views of other philosophers on the 

 subject under discussion. 



Numerous instances might be given of the pertinence of 

 his style, e. g., cc. 1-12 of his work on Bespiration, his 

 description of the arrangement of the blood-vessels, in his 

 History of Animals, iii. cc. 2-4, his descriptions of four of 

 his groups of animals, the Malakia, MalaJiOstraka, Ostra- 

 'koderma, and Entoma, in his History of Animals, iv. cc. 

 1-7, his descriptions of many separate animals, e. g., the 

 Chamseleon, the Cuckoo, the Elephant, and the Barbary 

 Ape, in various parts of his History of Animals, and his 

 description of rainbows, primary and secondary, in his 

 Meteorology, iii. c. 2, ss. 3-5. The reader is sometimes 

 checked by suddenly coming upon a passage which has little 

 or no apparent connection with Vv^hat precedes it, but some 

 passages of this kind are interpolations, and may be com- 

 mentators' marginal notes which have found their way into 

 the texts. The apparent interpolations are rarely of any 

 value, and are often inaccurate. 



Generally speaking, Aristotle's method of treating a 

 subject is very different from Plato's. There is certainly 

 much abstract reasoning in some of his works, but this is 

 avoided in his History of Animals, in many parts of his 

 other zoological works, and in many parts of his Meteoro- 

 logy, which contain records of a vast number of interesting 

 phenomena and facts. He is eminently practical, and is 

 the first to condescend to regard the observation of things 

 themselves as an important part of the foundation of know- 

 ledge. In some cases, where he could not or did not 

 observe for himself, he seems to have relied on the state- 

 ments of hunters, fishermen, and others. As might be 

 expected, some of his worst errors resulted from his adop- 

 tion of these statements. 



Many w^ords, some of which were recognized Greek 

 words before his time, are employed by Aristotle in a 

 special sense. Most of his assertions are made in short, / 

 simple sentences, and ellipses often occur. There are also 

 repetitions of many statements in the same or slightly 



