The Tree of Science

Arbor Elementalis. 9

[Column 1]

By means of power, just as goodness, magnitude, duration, power, etc., are principles through a principle which gives them its likeness, just as it receives likeness from them. We understand a general principle in two ways: namely, substantial and accidental. Substantial, such as the efficient, form, matter, and final cause. Accidental: such as quantity, quality, relation, and other general accidents. The principle which is efficient is like fire which begins to heat, and a natural agent which begins to generate, just as a human: who generates another human. The formal principle is like form, which informs matter, just as the vegetative form, which informs the matter of a tree: insofar as it makes that matter remain vegetative. The material principle is like the matter of iron, which is a principle for many things, such as for a nail, for a sword, and for a knife. The final principle is like a human: who is the final principle of all his parts, because all