igitur animalia, de quibus loquimur, spiritum haberent immaterialem,
rationalem, ac immortalem, et proinde capacem beatitudinis ac
damnationis, congruum est, quod corpus, cui talis spiritus copulatur,
simile sit omnium animalium nobilissimo, corpori humano. Ex hac
positione sequitur, quod ejus corporis partes ordinem inter se
essentialem habere deberent; nec enim pes capiti, aut ventri manus
conjungi deberet: sed congrua membrorum essentiali dispositione
ordinata, ut essent idonea ministeriis propriis perficiendis. Quo autem
ad partes componentes ipsarum organa, dico quod necessarium esset, ut
nonnullæ ipsarum essent solidiores, aliæ minus solidæ, aliæ tenues,
aliæ tenuissimæ pro necessitate operationis organicæ. Nec contra hanc
positionem facile potest asseri tenuitas ipsorum corporum: quippe
soliditas aut crassities organicarum partium, de qua dicimus, non
esset talis simpliciter, sed comparative ad alias partes tenuiores. Et
hoc patere potest in omnibus corporibus fluidis naturalibus, ut vino,
oleo, lacte, etc.; quantumvis enim omnes partes in ipsis videantur
homogeneæ ac similares, non tamen ita est: nam in ipsis est pars
terrea, pars aquea, sal fixum, sal volatile, et pars sulfurea, quæ
omnia manipulatione spargirica oculis subjici possunt. Ita esset in
casu nostro: posito enim quod talium animalium corpora subtilia et
tenuia, ut corpora naturalia fluida, velut aqua et aer, essent, non
tamen tolleretur, quin in ipsorum partibus diversæ inter se essent
qualitates, et aliquæ ipsarum comparative ad alias essent solidæ, et
aliæ tenuiores, quamvis totum corpus ex ipsis compositum tenue dici
posset.
52. I reply: As regards their figure, we neither can nor should be
affirmative, since it escapes our senses, being too delicate for
our sight or our touch. That we must leave to themselves, and to
such as have the privilege of intuitive acquaintance with immaterial
substances. But, so far as probability goes, I say that their figure
tallies with the human body, save some distinctive peculiarity, should
the very tenuity of their body not be deemed sufficient. I am led to
that by the consideration that of all the works of God the human frame
is the most perfect, and that whilst all other animals stoop to the
ground, because their soul is mortal, God, as Ovid, the poet, says, in
his _Metamorphoses_,
_Gave man an erect figure, bidding him behold the heavens
And raise his face towards the stars_,
man’s soul having been made immortal for the heavenly abode.
Considering that the animals we are speaking of would be gifted with
a spirit immaterial, rational and immortal, capable therefore of
beatitude and damnation, it is proper to admit that the body to which
that spirit is united may be like unto the most noble animal frame,
that is to say to the human frame. Whence it follows that in the
divers parts of that body there must be an essential order; that the
foot, for instance, cannot be an appendage to the head, nor the hand
to the belly, but that each organ is in its right place, according
to the functions it has to perform. As to the constitutive parts of
those organs, it is, in my opinion, necessary that there should be
some more or less strong, others more or less slender, in order to
meet the requirements of the organic working. Nor can this be fairly
objected to on the ground of the slenderness of the bodies themselves;
for the strength or thickness of the organic parts alluded to would
not be absolute, but merely in comparison with the more slender ones.
That, moreover, may be observed in all natural fluids, such as wine,
oil, milk, etc.; however homogeneous and similar to each other their
component parts may look, yet they are not so: for some are clayish,
others aqueous; there are fixed salts, volatile salts, brimstone, all
of which are made obvious by a chemical analysis. So it would be in
our case: for, supposing the bodies of those animals to be as subtile
and slender as the natural fluids, air, water, etc., there would
nevertheless be discrepancies in the quality of their constitutive
parts, some of which would be strong when compared with others more
slender, although the whole body which they compose might be called
slender.
53. Quod si dicatur, quod hæc repugnant positioni supra firmatæ, circa
partium essentialem ordinationem inter se: quandoquidem videmus,
quod in corporibus fluidis ac tenuibus una pars non servat ordinem
essentialem ad aliam, sed accidentalem tantum, ita ut hæc pars vini,
quæ modo alteri parti contigua est, mox inverso vase, aut moto vino,
alteri parti unitur, et sic omnes partes diversam positionem habent
quantumvis semper idem vinum sit, et ex hoc sequeretur, quod talium
animalium corpora figurata stabiliter non essent, et consequenter, nec
organica.
53. It may be objected that this is repugnant to what was said above
concerning the essential ordering of the parts among themselves;
that it is seen that, in fluid and subtile bodies, one part is not
essentially but only accidentally connected with another; that a part
of wine, for instance, just now contiguous with some other, soon
comes in contact with a third, if the vessel be turned upside down or
the wine shaken, and that all the parts together exchange positions
at the same time, though it be still the same wine. Whence it should
be inferred that, the bodies of those animals would have no permanent
figure, and would consequently not be organic.
54. Respondeo negando assumptum; etenim in corporibus fluidis, quamvis
non appareat, manet tamen essentialis partium ordinatio, qua stante
stat in suo esse compositum, et hoc patet manifeste in vino: expressum
enim ab uvis videtur liquor totaliter homogeneus, non tamen ita est;
in eo enim sunt partes crassæ, quæ tractu temporis subsident in
doliis: sunt etiam partes tenues, quæ evaporant: sunt partes fixæ, ut
tartarus, sunt partes volatiles, ut sulphur, sive spiritus ardens; sunt
partes mediæ inter volatile ac fixum, ut phlegma. Partes istæ ordinem
essentialem inter se mutant; nam statim ac expressum est ab uvis, et
mustum dicitur sulphur, sive spiritus volatilis, ita implicatum manet
particulis tartari, qui fixus est, ut nullo modo avolare valeat.
54. I reply that I deny the assumption. In fact, if in fluid bodies
the essential ordering of the parts is not apparent, it subsists none
the less, and causes a compound to preserve its own state. Wine,
for instance, when expressed from the grapes, seems a thoroughly
homogeneous liquor, and yet is not so; for there are gross parts which,
in the long run, subside in the casks; there are also slender parts
which evaporate; fixed parts, such as tartar; volatile parts, such as
brimstone and alcohol; others again, half volatile and half fixed, such
as phlegm. Those divers parts do not respectively maintain an essential
order; for no sooner has the must been expressed from the grapes, and
been styled brimstone or volatile spirits, than it continues so closely
involved with the particles of tartar, which is fixed, as not to be in
any way able to escape.
55. Hinc est, quod a musto recenter ab uvis expresso nullo modo potest
distillari spiritus sulphureus, qui communiter vocatur =aqua vitæ=: sed
post quadraginta dies fermentationis particulæ vini ordinem mutant,
ita ut spiritus, qui alligati erant particulis tartareis, et propria
volatilitate eas suspensas tenebant, et vicissim ab eis ne possent
avolare detinebantur, ac tartareis particulis separantur, et divulsi
ac confusi remanent cum partibus phlegmaticis, a quibus per actionem
ignis faciliter separantur, et avolant; sicque per distillationem fit
aqua vitæ, quæ aliud non est quam sulphur vini volatile cum tenuiore
parte phlegmatis simul cum dicto sulphure vi ignis elevata. Post
quadraginta dies, alia incipit vini fermentatio, quæ longiori, aut
minus longo tempore perficitur, pro vini perfectiori aut imperfectiori
maturitate, et alio atque alio modo terminatur, pro minore aut majore
spiritus sulphurei abundantia. Si enim abundat in vino sulphur, acescit
fermentatione, et evadit acetum; si autem parum sulphuris continet,
lentescit vinum, et Italice dicitur =vino molle=, aut =vino guasto=.
Quod si vinum maturum sit, ut cæteris paribus est, vinum dulce breviori
tempore, aut acescit, aut lentescit, ut quotidiana constat experientia.
In dicta autem fermentatione ordo essentialis partium vini mutatur;
non enim ipsius quantitas, aut materia imminuitur, aut mutatur:
videmus enim lagenam vino plenam tractu temporis evadere plenam aceto,
nullatenus mutatam circa quantitatem materiæ, quæ prius ibi extabat,
sed tantum mutato partium essentiali ordine: nam sulphur, quod, ut
diximus, erat phlegmati unitum, ac a tartaro separatum, iterum tartaro
implicatur, et cum eo fixatur, et proinde si distilletur acetum, primo
prodit phlegma insipidum, et post spiritus aceti, qui est sulphur vini
illaqueatum particulis tartari minus fixi. Mutatio autem essentialis
partium supradictarum variat substantiam liquoris expressi ab uva,
quod manifeste patet ex variis et contrariis effectibus, quos causant
mustum, vinum, et acetum, et vinum lentum, quod vocatur corruptum, ut
proinde duo prima apta materia sint ad consecrationem, secus alia duo.
Hanc porro vini economiam hausimus ab erudito opere Nicolai Lemerii,
Regis Galliarum aromatarii, =Curs. de Chimi.=, p. 2. c. 9.
55. That is the reason why must recently expressed from the grapes
is of no use for the distillation of the sulfurous spirits, commonly
called _brandy_; but, after forty days fermentation, the particles of
the wine change places: the spirits, no longer bound with the tartaric
particles which they kept in suspension through their own volatility,
whilst they were, in return, kept down by them and prevented from
escaping, sever from those particles, and continue confused with
the phlegmatic parts from which they become easily released by the
operation of fire, and evaporate: thus, by means of distillation,
brandy is made, which is nothing but the brimstone of wine volatilized
by heat with the most slender part of phlegm. At the end of forty days
another fermentation begins, which extends more or less, according as
the maturity of the wine is more or less perfect, and the termination
of which is dependent on the greater or lesser abundance of sulphurous
spirits. If abounding with brimstone, the wine sours and turns to
vinegar; if, on the contrary, it holds but little brimstone, it ropes,
and becomes what the Italians call _vino molle_ or _vino guasto_.
If the wine is at once ripe, as happens in other cases, it sours or
ropes in less time, as is shown by every day experience. Now, in said
fermentation the essential order of the parts of wine is altered,
but not so its quantity nor its matter, which neither changes nor
decreases: a bottle that had been filled with wine is, after a certain
time, found to be filled with vinegar, without any alteration in its
quantity of matter; the essential order of its parts has alone been
modified: the brimstone, which, as we have said, was united to the
phlegm and separated from the tartar, becomes again involved and fixed
with the tartar; so that, on distilling the vinegar, there issues from
it first an insipid phlegm, and then spirits of vinegar, which are the
brimstone of wine intermixed with particles of tartar that is less
fixed. Now, the essential shifting of the aforesaid parts alters the
substance of the juice of the grapes, as is clearly shown by the varied
and contrary effects of must, wine, vinegar, and ropy or spoiled wine;
for which cause the two first are fit, but the two last unfit materials
for consecration. We have borrowed the above exposition of the economy
of wine from the able work of Nicholas Lemery, perfumer to the King of
France, _Course of Chemistry_, p. 2. c. q.
56. Datam ergo naturalem doctrinam applicando consequenter dico, quod
data dictorum animalium corporeitate subtili et tenui, sicut corpora
liquidorum, et data pariter eorumdem organizatione et figuratione,
quæ partium essentialem ordinationem exigunt, non sequerentur
inconvenientia ex adverso illata: nam sicut (quemadmodum dicebamus) ex
confusione partium vini, et diversa ipsarum accidentali positione non
variatur ordinatio earumdem essentialis, ita esset in corpore tenui
dictorum animalium.
56. If now we apply that natural doctrine to our subject, I say
that, being given the corporeity of the animals in question, subtile
and slender like the substance of liquids; being given also their
organisation and figure, which demand an essential order of the various
parts, an adverse supposition could raise no argument contrary to their
existence; for, just as the jumbling together of the parts of wine
and the diversity of their accidental dispositions do not alter their
essential order, even so it would be with the slender frame of our
animals.
57. Quinta interrogatio est, an talia obnoxia essent ægritudinibus,
ac aliis imperfectionibus, quibus homines laborant, ut ignorantia,
metu, segnitie, sensuum impedimentis, etc.? An laborando lassarentur,
et ad virium reparationem egerent somno, cibo, ac potu, et quo? et
consequenter an interirent, et subinde, an a cæteris animalibus casu,
aut ruina possent occidi?
57. Fifth question: Would those animals be subject to diseases and
other infirmities under which mankind lies, such as ignorance, fear,
idleness, sensual paralysis, etc? Would they be wearied through labour,
and require, for recruiting their strength, sleep, food, drink? And
what food, what drink? Would they be fated to die, and might they be
killed casually, or by the instrumentality of other animals?
58. Respondeo, quod ex quo corpora ipsorum, quamvis tenuia, essent
materiata, essent quidem corruptioni obnoxia; et ex consequenti possent
pati ab agentibus contrariis, et ita ægrotare, puta, aut simpliciter,
aut nisi ægre, perverse, aut vitiose præstare non posse munera, ad
quæ eorum organa essent ordinata; in hoc siquidem consistit animalium
quorumdam ægritudo quævis: ut resolutive docet præstantissimus Michael
Ettmullerus, =Physiol.= c. 5., thes. 1. Verum est, quod ex eo, quod
tantam materiæ crassitatem non haberent, et forte ex tot elementorum
mixtione eorum corpus non constaret, et minus compositum esset quam
humanum, non tam facile paterentur a contrariis, et consequenter non
tot ægritudinibus velut homines essent obnoxia, et longiorem, etiam
homine, vitam ducerent: quo enim perfectius est animal, a tota specie,
etiam cæteris diutius vivit, ut patet de specie humana, cujus vita
longior cæteris animalibus est. Nec enim admitto sæcularem vitam
cornicum, cervorum, corvorum et similium, de quibus more suo fabulatur
Plinius, et ejus somnia sine prævia discussione secuti sunt cæteri:
quandoquidem nullus est, qui talium animalium natale et interitum
fideliter adnotaverit, ut pari modo de eo scripserit; sed insolitam
diu fabulam quisque secutus est; sicut etiam illud, quod de phœnice
dicitur, quod ut quid fabulosum, circa ejus vitæ spatium recenset
Tacitus, l. 6. =Annal.= Inferendum subinde esset quod illorum animalium
vita etiam humana deberet esse diuturnior: ut enim infra dicemus, illa
essent homine nobiliora; consequenter dicendum esset, quod essent
obnoxia cæteris corporeis pathematis, et quiete, et cibo indigerent,
quale diximus supra, nº 50. Quia vero rationalia, et proinde
disciplinabilia essent, ex consequenti etiam capacia ignorantiæ, si
eorum ingenia non essent exculta studiis, et disciplina, et inter ea
pro intellectus eorum majori, et minori acumine essent aliqua magis,
aliqua minus in scientiis excellentia: universaliter vero, et a tota
specie essent homine doctiora, non ob eorum corpoream subtilitatem,
tum forte, ob majorem spirituum activitatem, tum ob diuturniorem vitæ
durationem, in qua plura, quam homines discere possent, quas causas
assignat D. Augustinus, lib. de =Divin. Dæm.= c. 3. init. tom. 3.,
et lib. de =Spir. et Anima=, c. 37., pro futurorum prænotione in
Dæmonibus. Ab agentibus autem naturalibus pati quidem possent, ac
difficulter occidi ratione velocitatis, qua possunt se subtrahere a
nocentibus; quapropter, nec a brutis, nec ab homine armis naturalibus,
seu artificialibus nisi maxima difficultate possent occidi, aut
mutilari, et maxima eorumdem velocitate in declinando contrarium
impetum. Possent vero in somno aut in non advertentia occidi, et
mutilari a corpore solido, ut ense vibrato ab homine, aut lapide
delapso per ruinam, quia eorum corpus licet tenue, tamen et quantum,
et divisibile esset, velut aer qui ferro, fuste, aut alio corpore
solido dividitur quamvis tenuis sit. Eorum autem spiritus impartibilis
esset, et ceu anima hominis totus in toto, et totus in quavis corporis
parte. Hinc fieret quod diviso corpore ipsorum, ut præfertur, per aliud
corpus, sequi posset mutilatio, et proinde etiam mors: non enim fieri
posset ut diviso corpore idem spiritus utramque partem informaret, cum
ipse indivisibilis esset. Verum est quod sicut partes aeris divisæ, per
intermedium corpus, hoc sublato iterum uniuntur, et evadit idem aer,
possent pariter partes corporis divisæ, ut supra ponitur, reuniri, et
ab eodem spiritu revivificari. Sed hoc modo nequirent talia animalia
ab agentibus naturalibus aut artificialibus occidi: sed rationabilior
esset prima positio; ex hoc enim, quod communicarent cum cæteris in
materia, æquum est, ut a cæteris etiam usque ad eorum interitum pati
possent, ut fit cum cæteris.
58. I reply: Their bodies, though subtile, being material, they would
of course be liable to decay: they might therefore suffer from adverse
agencies, and consequently be diseased; that is, their organs might
not perform, or painfully and imperfectly perform the office assigned
to them, for therein consist all diseases whatever with certain
animals, as has been distinctly explained by the most illustrious
Michael Ettmuller, _Physiology_, c. v. thesis 1. In sooth, their body
being less gross than the human frame, comprising less elements mixed
together, and being therefore less composite, they would not so easily
suffer from adverse influences, and would therefore be less liable
to disease than man; their life would also exceed his; for, the more
perfect an animal, as a species, the longer its days; thus mankind,
whose existence extends beyond that of other animals. For I do not
believe in the centenary existence of crows, stags, ravens and the
like, of which Pliny tells his customary stories; and although his
dreams have been reechoed by others without previous inquiry, it is
no less clear that before writing thus, not one has faithfully noted
the birth nor the death of those animals: they have been content with
taking up the strange fable, as has been the case with the Phenix,
whose longevity is discarded as a story by Tacitus, _Annals_, b. 6.
It were therefore to be inferred that the animals we are speaking
of would live longer still than man; for, as shall be said below,
they would be more noble than he; consequently also, they would be
subject to the other bodily affections, and require rest and food, as
mentioned, number 50. Now, as rational beings amenable to discipline,
they might also continue ignorant, if their minds did not receive
the culture of study and instruction, and some amongst them would be
more or less versed in science, more or less clever, according as
their intelligence had been more or less trained. However, generally
speaking, and considering the whole of the species, they would be more
learned than men, not from the subtilty of their body, but perhaps
because of the greater activity of their mind or the longer space of
their life, which would enable them to learn more things than men: such
are indeed the motives assigned by S. Austin (_Divin. Demon._ ch.
3. and _Spirit and Soul_, ch. 37), to the prescience of the future in
Demons. They might indeed suffer from natural agencies; but they could
hardly be killed, on account of the speed with which they could escape
from danger; it is therefore most unlikely that they could, without
the greatest difficulty, be put to death or mutilated by beast or by
man, with natural or artificial weapons, so quick would they be at
avoiding the impending blow. Yet, they might be killed or mutilated in
their sleep, or in a moment of inadvertence, by means of a solid body,
such as a sword brandished by a man, or the fall of a heavy stone; for,
although subtile, their body would be divisible, just like air which,
though vaporous, is yet divided by a sword, a club, or any other solid
body. Their spirit, however, would be indivisible, and like the human
soul, entire in the whole and in each and every part of the body.
Consequently, the division of their body by another body, as aforesaid,
might occasion mutilation and even death, for the spirit, itself
indivisible, could not animate both parts of a divided body. True, just
as the parts of air, separated by the agency of a body, unite again as
soon as that body is withdrawn, and constitute the same air as before,
even so the parts of the body divided, as above-mentioned, might unite
and be revived by the same spirit. But then, it must be inferred that
those animals could not be slain by natural or artificial agencies: and
it were more rational to keep to our first position; for, if sharing
matter with other creatures, it is natural that they should be liable
to suffer through those creatures, according to the common rule, and
even unto death.
59. Sexta interrogatio est, an ipsorum corpora possent alia corpora
penetrare, ut parietes, ligna, metalla, vitrum, etc., et an multa
ipsorum possent in eodem loco materiali consistere, et ad quantum
spatium extenderetur, seu restringeretur eorum corpus?
59. Sixth question: Could their bodies penetrate other bodies, such as
walls, wood, metals, glass, etc? Could many of them abide together on
the same material spot, and to what space would their body extend or be
restrained?
60. Respondeo, quod cum in omnibus corporibus quantumvis compactis
dentur pori, ut ad sensum patet in metallis, de quibus major esset
ratio, quod in ipsis non darentur pori: microscopio perfecte elaborato
discernuntur pori metallorum, cum suis diversis figuris, utique
possent per poros insinuari quibusvis corporibus, et hoc modo ista
penetrare, quantumvis tales pori penetrari non possent ab alio liquore,
aut spiritu materiali, aut vini, salis ammoniaci, aut similium, quia
longe tenuiora essent istis liquoribus illorum corpora. Quamvis
autem plures Angeli possint esse in eodem loco materiali, et etiam
restringi ad locum minorem minore non tamen in infinitum, ut probat
Scotus in 2. dist. 2. q. 6. =§ Ad proposi.= et quæst. 8., per totum,
hoc tamen concedendum non esset de corporibus talium animalium; tum
quia corpora ipsa essent quanta, et eorum dimensio non esset reciproce
penetrabilis; tum quia si duo corpora gloriosa non possunt esse in
eodem loco, quamvis possent simul esse gloriosum, et non gloriosum, ut
voluit Gotofredus de Fontibus, quodlibet 6. q. 5., a quo non discordat
Scotus in 2. distinct. 2. q. 8. in fine; multo minus possent simul esse
istorum corpora, quæ, licet subtilia, non tamen æquarent subtilitatem
corporis gloriosi. Quo autem ad extensionem et restrictionem dicendum
esset, quod sicut ex rarefactione, et condensatione, majus aut
minus spatium occupatur ab aere, qui etiam arte potest constringi,
ut in minori loco contineatur, quam sit suæ quantitati naturaliter
debitus, ut patet in magnis pilis lusoriis, quæ per fistulam seu tubum
inflatorium inflantur: in his siquidem aer violenter immittitur, et
constringitur, et ejus major ibi continetur quantitas, quam naturalis
pilæ capacitas exigat; ita pariformiter talia corpora ex ipsorum
naturali virtute possent ad majus spatium, non tamen excedens eorum
quantitatem, extendi: ut pariter etiam restringi, non tamen circa
determinatum locum suæ quantitati debitum. Et quia ipsorum nonnulla,
prout etiam in hominibus est, essent magna, et nonnulla parva, congruum
esset, ut magna possent plus extendi, quam parva, et hæc ad minorem
locum restringi, quam magna.