228 JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
It is obvious that views so utterly discrepant require the pro- 
duction of some historic light by which one of the extremes shall 
be seen to be false; or else the application of a solving principle 
that shall harmonize the main statements, even though the highly- 
coloured phrases in each be relegated to the fires of an unsparing 
criticism. In order to arrive at a conclusion free from the partiality 
of schools of thought, and, so far as possible, unbiassed by what 
Butler, with sententious wisdom, calls that ‘‘delusive faculty ’’?— 
Imagination, let us look at the actual facts, and see therefrom 
what the Greeks have given us, that, in its bearing on our efforts 
to solve some of the great problems of life, places us under 
obligation to them. 
First of all, it is certain that we owe the beginning of some of 
the special Physical Sciences to Greek Investigators. The very 
enumeration of Aristotle's works might suffice to prove that, 
whether on sound principles or not, the Greek mind was occupied 
with most of the subjects now developed into well-established 
sciences. Recent attempts have been made* to set forth, in the 
full light of our more developed science, what are termed his crude 
notions, and his ignorance of important facts, as, also, to take away 
the glory of certain well-known anticipations of the results of 
modern research, by the insinuation that they were lucky guesses, 
and not the result of true scientific prevision. It seems, however, 
to me, to be a species of hypercriticism to look for the finish and 
accuracy of the superstructure in the labours of the foundation 
layers. It is unquestionable that Hippocrates and Aristotle began 
for all time the important sciences of Anatomy and Physiology ; 
and, in spite of all detraction, to the great Stagirite must be 
ascribed the honour of discovering the first traces of a nervous 
system, the germ of the doctrine of homologies,t and the law of 
economy, by which nature everywhere gives to one part what she 
takes from another. Aristotle, also, was the first to propound the 
progressive complexity of life which, in the hands of Oken and 
Kant, paved the way for our modern Darwinism. It appears to be 
well established that though much of his enormous labour in the 
department of mechanics was scientifically fruitless, yet he first 
set forth the doctrine of the “parallelogram of forces ;’’§ while to 
* Lewes’s “ Aristotle,” pp. 152-185. 
+ Ibid, pp. 167-9. } Ibid, p. 157. 
§ Ibid, pp. 148, 190-196. 
