If, however, thou seekest to trace the operation of the soul in the formation of the body, "take heed to thyself ," as Moses says, and thou wilt read, as in a book, the history of the works of the soul; for nature itself expounds to thee, more clearly than any discourse, the varied occupations of the soul in the body, alike in general and in particular acts of construction.

But I deem it superfluous to declare at length in words what is to be found in ourselves, as though we were expounding some wonder that lay beyond our boundaries:-who that looks on himself needs words to teach him his own nature? For it is possible for one who considers the mode of his own life, and learns how closely concerned the body is in every vital operation, to know in what the vegetative principle of the soul was occupied on the occasion of the first formation of that which was beginning its existence; so that hereby also it is clear to those who have given any attention to the matter, that the thing which was implanted by separation from the living body for the production of the living being was not a thing dead or inanimate in the laboratory of nature.

Moreover we plant in the ground the kernels of fruits, and portions torn from roots, not deprived by death of the vital power which naturally resides in them, but preserving in themselves, hidden indeed, yet surely living, the property of their prototype; the earth that surrounds them does not implant such a power from without, infusing it from itself (for surely then even dead wood would proceed to growth), but it makes that manifest which resides in them, nourishing it by its own moisture, perfecting the plant into root, and bark, and pith, and shoots of branches, which could not happen were not a natural power implanted with it, which drawing to itself from its surroundings its kindred and proper nourishment, becomes a bush, or a tree, or an ear of grain, or some plant of the class of shrubs.

Εἰ δὲ ζητεῖς ἐν τῇ τοῦ σώματος πλάσει τὰς ψυχικὰς ἐνεργείας͵ πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ͵ φησὶ Μωσῆς͵ καὶ ἀναγνώσῃ καθάπερ ἐν βίβλῳ τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ἔργων τὴν ἱστορίαν. Αὐτὴ γάρ σοι διηγεῖται ἡ φύσις λόγου παντὸς ἐναργέστερον τὰς ποικίλας ἐν τῷ σώματι τῆς ψυχῆς ἀσχολίας͵ ἔν τε ταῖς καθόλου καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐπὶ μέρους διασκευαῖς.

Ἀλλὰ περιττὸν οἶμαι λόγῳ τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς διεξιέναι͵ καθάπερ τι τῶν ὑπερορίων διηγουμένους θαυμάτων. Τίς γὰρ ἑαυτὸν βλέπων͵ [240] λόγῳ δεῖται τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν διδάσκεσθαι; δυνατὸν γάρ ἐστι τὸν τῆς ζωῆς τρόπον κατανοήσαντα͵ καὶ ὡς πρὸς πᾶσαν ζωτικὴν ἐνέργειαν ἐπιτηδείως ἔχει τὸ σῶμα καταμαθόντα͵ γνῶναι περὶ τί κατησχολήθη τὸ φυσικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς παρὰ τὴν πρώτην τοῦ γινομένον διάπλασιν. Ὥστε καὶ διὰ τούτου φανερὸν εἶναι τοῖς οὐκ ἀνεπισκέπτοις͵ τὸ μὴ νεκρόν τε καὶ ἄψυχον ἐν τῷ ἐργαστηρίῳ γενέσθαι τῆς φύσεως͵ ὃ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ζώου φυτείαν ἐκ τοῦ ζῶντος σώματος ἀποσπασθὲν ἐνετέθη.  

Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τῶν καρπῶν τὰς ἐντεριώνας καὶ τὰς τῶν ῥιζῶν ἀποσπάδας οὐ νεκρωθείσας τῆς ἐγκειμένης τῇ φύσει ζωτικῆς δυνάμεως τῇ γῇ καταβάλλομεν͵ ἀλλὰ συντηρούσας ἐν ἑαυταῖς κεκρυμμένην μὲν ζῶσαν δὲ πάντως τοῦ πρωτοτύπου τὴν ἰδιότητα. Τὴν δὲ τοιαύτην δύναμιν οὐκ ἐντίθησιν ἡ περιέχουσα γῆ ἔξωθεν παρ' ἑαυτῆς ἐπεισκρίνουσα - ἦ γὰρ ἂν καὶ τὰ νεκρὰ τῶν ξύλων εἰς βλάστην προήγετο - ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐπικειμένην ἔκδηλον ἀπεργάζεται͵ διὰ τῆς οἰκείας ἰκμάδος τιθηνουμένη εἰς ῥίζαν καὶ φλοιὸν καὶ ἐντεριώνην καὶ τὰς τῶν κλάδων ἐκφύσεις τὸ φυτὸν τελειοῦσα. Ὅπερ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἦν γίνεσθαι͵ μή τινος φυσικῆς δυνάμεως συνεντεθείσης͵ ἥτις τὴν συγγενῆ καὶ κατάλληλον ἐκ τῶν παρακειμένων τροφὴν εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἕλκουσα͵ θάμνος ἢ δένδρον ἢ στάχυς ἤ τι τῶν φρυγανικῶν βλαστημάτων ἐγένετο.