Part 6

51. Fourth question: What would their figure be, human or otherwise? Would the ordering of the divers parts of their body be essential, as with other animals, or merely accidental, as with fluid substances, such as oil, water, clouds, smoke, etc.? Would those organic parts consist of various substances, as is the case with the organs of the human body, wherein are to be found very gross parts, such as the bones, others less gross, such as the cartilages, and others slender, such as the membranes?

52. Respondeo, quod quantum ad figuram corpoream nihil certi affirmare debemus, aut possumus, cum talis figura non sit exacte nobis sensibilis, nec quoad visum, nec quoad tactum, præ sui corporis tenuitate, ac perspicacitate; qualis proinde vere sit, noverent ipsi, aliique, qui substantias immateriales intuitive cognoscere possunt. Quoad congruentiam et probabilitatem dico, illa referre speciem corporis humani, cum aliquo distinctivo a corpore humano, nisi forte ad hoc sufficiat sua ipsorum tenuitas. Ducor, quia corpus humanum plasmatum a Deo perfectissimum est, inter animalia quæque, et cum cætera bruta in terram sint prona, eo quia anima eorum mortalis est, Deus, ut ait poeta Ovid., =Metamorphos.=:

=Os homini sublime dedit, cœlumque tueri Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus=;

quia anima hominis immortalis ordinata est ad cœlestem mansionem. Cum 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?