Page:The Anatomy of Tobacco.pdf/86

 To whom rejoin the Orthopoetics that the essence of anything is "that which makes it to be what it is"; that essence is divided into two parts—the material part or genus, and the formal part or differentia. Now the definition of a circle is "A circle is a plane figure contained by one line which is called the circumference," which definition "a plane figure" is the genus, and "contained by one line" the differentia; and since if the differentia be taken away the essence no longer remains, therefore if the idea of circumference be separated from the idea of circle, as the Cyclosematics direct, then no essence remains, and a circle does not exist. But we know that circles do exist, therefore their arguments are erroneous and absurd.

Now amongst the arguments of the Cœlosphaerics we noticed one that made comparison between the root of a tree and the bowl of a pipe. Know, then, that the Orthopoetics have made a similar comparison between the parts of a pipe and the parts of a lily in blossom. First