Note 39 — Chapter IV · THE PROPERTIES AND FUNCTIONS.

It is because men converted the result into a principle, and supposed that Life preceded the Organism, that they were led to puzzle themselves over such facts as the continuance of vitality in divided organisms. Aristotle felt the force of the objection: “Plants when divided are seen to live, and so are certain insects, as if still possessing the same Vital Principle (ψυχή) considered specifically (τῷ εἴδει) though not the same numerically (μὴ ἀριθμῷ). Each of these parts has sensation and locomotion for a time; and there is no room for surprise at their not continuing to manifest these properties, seeing that the organs necessary for their preservation are absent.”—De Anima, Lib. I. Ch. IV. Compare Basso, Philos. Naturalis adversus Aristotelem, Amsterdam, 1649, p. 260; and Taurellus, Contra Cæsalpinum, 1650, p. 850; neither of them grappling with the difficulty so firmly as Aristotle.