BOOK I
Chapter [I]
Distinction between the effects of (a) the organism’s psyche or soul (b) its physis or nature. The author proposes to confine himself to a consideration of the latter—the vegetative—aspect of life.
Chapter [II]
Definition of terms. Different kinds of motion. Alteration or qualitative change. Refutation of the Sophists’ objection that such change is only apparent, not real. The four fundamental qualities of Hippocrates (later Aristotle). Distinction between faculty, activity (function), and effect (work or product).
Chapter [III]
It is by virtue of the four qualities that each part functions. Some authorities subordinate the dry and the moist principles to the hot and the cold. Aristotle inconsistent here.
Chapter [IV]
We must suppose that there are faculties corresponding in number to the visible effects (or products) with which we are familiar.