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It is asked whether there should be a science of vegetables original: "de vegetabili." In this context, "vegetable" refers to the entire kingdom of plant life and the "vegetative" power of the soul responsible for growth and nutrition.	176
It is asked whether there is a natural science concerning vegetables	176
It is asked whether the whole of the vegetable nature is determined here	176
It is asked whether this science ought to be separated from the science of animals	177

It is asked whether a soul original: "animam." For medieval thinkers following Aristotle, the "soul" is the animating principle of any living thing. Plants were thought to have a "vegetative soul," which allows for growth but not movement or sensation. is to be placed in plants	177
It is asked whether a soul is in all things	177
It is asked whether life is in animals	178
(It is asked regarding the plant, whether life is in plants)	179
It is asked concerning the composition of life in plants and in animals	180
It is asked by what life is caused in plants	181
It is asked of what thing life is the act original: "actus." In Aristotelian philosophy, "act" or "actuality" refers to the realization or functioning of a potential; here, it asks what part of the plant is "activated" by life. in the plant	181
It is asked through what life is possessed in the plant	182

It is asked whether plants have spirit original: "spiritum." This refers to "vital spirits," a subtle substance or vapor believed to circulate through living bodies to sustain life functions.	183
It is asked whether plants have an intellectual soul	184
It is asked whether plants have sense, and it is asked whether they have taste	185
It is asked whether plants have touch	186
It is asked whether desire exists in plants	187
It is asked whether plants have movement according to place original: "motum secundum locum." This refers to locomotion, or the ability to move oneself from one location to another.	188

It is asked whether the animal nature destroys the animal in death and works continuously toward the destruction of the animal	189
It is asked whether genera and species These are the hierarchical categories of classification; Bacon is asking if the name of a broad category (like "Animal") applies to the specific individuals within it. give names to lower things	189
It is asked whether the heaven original: "celum." Medieval cosmology often debated whether the celestial spheres were "animate" or living beings with souls. is a noble animal, as it says here	190
It is asked whether the heaven possesses life	191

It is asked whether some quality is required for nourishment original: "alimentum."	191
(It is asked what that quality is which is required for the work of feeding)	191
It is asked whether the qualities of the soul are required on the part of active nourishment	192

It is asked what quality serves the operation of attracting original: "attrahendi." Medieval physiology identified four "natural virtues" or powers of nutrition: attraction (drawing in food), digestion, retention, and expulsion. ¹	193
(It is asked concerning the work of digesting food)	193
(It is asked what quality is required in that through which it retains)	194
(It is asked what quality serves the operation of expelling)	195
It is asked whether the four elements original: "elimentarres." The four basic building blocks of matter: earth, water, air, and fire. are required on the part of the plant itself	195

¹ attracting] expelling Manuscript note. The editor notes that the original manuscript mistakenly used the word for "expelling" here, but "attracting" is the intended meaning in this context of the four powers.