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. For even the genesis of the universe is
thus explained by them. After a like fashion do they deal also with
the development of plants and of animals. They say, for instance, that
the water contained in the body causes by its currents the formation
of the stomach and the other receptacles of food or of excretion;
and that the breath by its passage breaks open the outlets of the
nostrils; air and water being the materials of which bodies are
made; for all represent nature as composed of such or similar
substances.
But if men and animals and their several parts are natural
phenomena, then the natural philosopher must take into consideration
not merely the ultimate substances of which they are made, but also
flesh, bone, blood, and all other homogeneous parts; not only these,
but also the heterogeneous parts, such as face, hand, foot; and must
examine how each of these comes to be what it is, and in virtue of
what force. For to say what are the ultimate substances out of which
an animal is formed, to state, for instance, that it is made of fire
or earth, is no more sufficient than would be a similar account in the
case of a couch or the like. For we should not be content with
saying that the couch was made of bronze or wood or whatever it
might be, but should try to describe its design or mode of composition
in preference to the material; or, if we did deal with the material,
it would at any rate be with the concretion of material and form
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