# De causis plantarum (lib. 2-6) 6.4.2

Theophrastus, De causis plantarum (lib. 2-6), Book 6, Chapter 4. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/theophrastus/de-causis-plantarum-lib-2-6/6.4.2

Ἀλλὰ γὰρ τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἴσως διαφέροι πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἄλλων θεωρίαν. Ὁ δὲ ἀριθμὸς ὁ τῶν ἑπτὰ καιριώτατος καὶ φυσικώτατος. Πότερον δὲ τοὺς μὲν ὥσπερ ἀρχὰς τοὺς δὲ ὡς στερήσεις δεῖ λέγειν οἷον τὸν μὲν γλυκὺν καὶ λιπαρὸν καὶ ὅσοι σύστοιχοι τούτοις ἀρχὰς, ἐκ τούτων γὰρ αἱ γενέσεις καὶ αἱ τροφαὶ, τοὺς δ' ἄλλους στερήσεις, ἢ πάντας φυσικούς; ἔοικε γὰρ εἰ μὲν εἰς τὸ ἄριστον δεῖ τάττειν τὴν φύσιν ἐν τούτοις εἶναι μόνον, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τὸ τῆς τροφῆς καὶ γενέσεως ἀληθινόν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ὡς εἰπεῖν οὔτε τρέφεσθαι δοκεῖ διὰ τῶν ἑτέρων οὔτε γίνεσθαι. Εἰ δ' εἰς τὸ πλείονα εἴδη εἶναι ἐκεῖνοί γε μᾶλλον ἢ οὐχ ἧττον κατὰ φύσιν, ὀλίγοι γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει.

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Theophrastus Phil., De causis plantarum (lib. 2-6). Text: The Greek Library, from the Perseus Digital Library and other open sources, CC BY 4.0. Changes: apostrophes normalised and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source: https://thegreeklibrary.pages.lisn.upsaclay.fr/works/tlg0093.tlg014.local001/.