THE FINAL SYSTEM: GALEN 



detailed arguments sometimes seem but to am- 

 plify his general or introductory phrases. 



It is the work of Nature to form all the parts ] 

 of the animal while still in the womb, and / 

 after birth to bring the animal to its full size, / 

 and maintain it. This is a threefold effect, and / 

 the activities are three, " namely genesis,/ 

 growth, and nutrition. /Genesis, however, isf 

 not a simple activity of Nature, but is com-* 

 pounded of alteration and shaping. That is to 

 say, in order that bone, nerve, veins, and all 

 other [tissues] may come into existence, the 

 underlying substance 69 from which the animal 

 springs must be altered; and in order that the 

 substance so altered may acquire its appro- 

 priate shape and position, its cavities, out- 

 growths, attachments and so forth, it has to 

 undergo a shaping or formative process." 70 ~~ 



Then, proceeding from the partly false anal- 

 ogy of the semen and the seed cast into the 

 earth, he enlarges his descriptive detail, with- 

 out, of course, penetrating any further into the 

 process itself. He next takes up the faculty of 

 growth, which " is one of increase and expan- 

 sion in length, breadth and thickness of the 

 solid parts of the animal (those which have 

 been subjected to the moulding or shaping 



[113] 



