History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2): Revised EditionDraper, John William
History
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2): Revised Edition
Draper, John William
Europe -- Civilization
controlled by its outlying or superior one, and hence it follows that
the earth, which is thus disturbed by the conspiring or conflicting
action of all above it, is liable to the most irregularities; that,
since animals are nourished by the earth, it needs must enter into their
composition, but that water is required to hold the earthy matters
together; that every element must be looked upon as living, since it is
pervaded by the soul of the world; that there is an unbroken chain from
the simple element through the plant and animal up to man, the different
groups merging by insensible shades into one another: thus zoophytes
partake partly of the vegetable and partly of the animal, and serve as
an intermedium between them; that plants are inferior to animals in
this, that they do not possess a single principle of life or soul, but
many subordinate ones, as is shown by the circumstance that, when they
are cut to pieces, each piece is capable of perfect or independent
growth or life. Their inferiority is likewise betrayed by their
belonging especially to the earth to which they are rooted, each root
being a true mouth; and this again displays their lowly position, for
the place of the mouth is ever an indication of the grade of a creature:
thus in man, who is at the head of the scale, it is in the upper part of
the body; that in proportion to the heat of an animal is its grade
higher; thus those that are aquatic are cold, and therefore of very
little intelligence, and the same maybe said of plants; but of man,
whose warmth is very great, the soul is much more excellent; that the
possession of locomotion by an organism always implies the possession of
sensation; that the senses of taste and touch indicate the qualities of
things in contact with the organs of the animal, but that those of
smell, hearing, and sight extend the sphere of its existence, and
indicate to it what is at a distance: that the place of reception of the
various sensations is the soul, from which issue forth the motions; that
the blood, as the general element of nutrition, is essential to the
support of the body, though insensible itself: it is also essential to
the activity of the soul; that the brain is not the recipient of
sensations: that function belongs to the heart; all the animal
activities are united in the last; it contains the principle of life,
being the principle of motion: it is the first part to be formed and the
last to die; that the brain is a mere appendix to the heart, since it is
formed after the heart, is the coldest of the organs and is devoid of
blood; that the soul is the reunion of all the functions of the body: it
is an energy or active essence; being neither body nor magnitude, it
cannot have extension, for thought has no parts, nor can it be said to
move in space; it is as a sailor, who is motionless in a ship which is
moving; that, in the origin of the organism, the male furnishes the soul
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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