especially, which falls under the senses, so the surface is more apprehensible than the line, and the line than the point; as the multitude (οἱ πολλοὶ) are already conversant with them, while the sequences are to be acquired only by attention, or some peculiar mental faculty. Thus, to speak generally, it is best to gather knowledge concerning sequences through their antecedents; for this is by far the most scientific mode of conducting an inquiry. In fine, whatever falls under the senses seems, from being familiar to us, to be more apprehensible than principles or causes, which are more or less abstractions; as, the falling of a stone seems to be more apprehensible than the principle of Gravitation. But as the knowledge of any subject may be also acquired through the study of its accidents, that is, its essential properties, so it is suggested that the knowledge of Vital Principle may be arrived at through the study of its faculties.
