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= ROOT|Philosophy|400BC-301BC|aristotle-history-78.txt =

page 14 of 127



degree in birds. It is the reverse with man; for there is scarcely any
part of the body in which man is so fleshy as in the buttock, the
thigh, and the calf; for the part of the leg called gastroenemia or is
fleshy.

    Of blooded and viviparous quadrupeds some have the foot cloven
into many parts, as is the case with the hands and feet of man (for
some animals, by the way, are many-toed, as the lion, the dog, and the
pard); others have feet cloven in twain, and instead of nails have
hooves, as the sheep, the goat, the deer, and the hippopotamus; others
are uncloven of foot, such for instance as the solid-hooved animals,
the horse and the mule. Swine are either cloven-footed or
uncloven-footed; for there are in Illyria and in Paeonia and elsewhere
solid-hooved swine. The cloven-footed animals have two clefts
behind; in the solid-hooved this part is continuous and undivided.

    Furthermore, of animals some are horned, and some are not so.
The great majority of the horned animals are cloven-footed, as the ox,
the stag, the goat; and a solid-hooved animal with a pair of horns has
never yet been met with. But a few animals are known to be
singled-horned and single-hooved, as the Indian ass; and one, to wit
the oryx, is single horned and cloven-hooved.

    Of all solid-hooved animals the Indian ass alone has an astragalus
or huckle-bone; for the pig, as was said above, is either solid-hooved
or cloven-footed, and consequently has no well-formed huckle-bone.
Of the cloven footed many are provided with a huckle-bone. Of the
many-fingered or many-toed, no single one has been observed to have
a huckle-bone, none of the others any more than man. The lynx,
however, has something like a hemiastragal, and the lion something
resembling the sculptor's 'labyrinth'. All the animals that have a
huckle-bone have it in the hinder legs. They have also the bone placed
straight up in the joint; the upper part, outside; the lower part,
inside; the sides called Coa turned towards one another, the sides
called Chia outside, and the keraiae or 'horns' on the top. This,
then, is the position of the hucklebone in the case of all animals
provided with the part.

    Some animals are, at one and the same time, furnished with a mane
and furnished also with a pair of horns bent in towards one another,
as is the bison (or aurochs), which is found in Paeonia and Maedica.
But all animals that are horned are quadrupedal, except in cases where
a creature is said metaphorically, or by a figure of speech, to have
horns; just as the Egyptians describe the serpents found in the
neighbourhood of Thebes, while in point of fact the creatures have
merely protuberances on the head sufficiently large to suggest such an
epithet.

    Of horned animals the deer alone has a horn, or antler, hard
and solid throughout. The horns of other animals are hollow for a
certain distance, and solid towards the extremity. The hollow part
is derived from the skin, but the core round which this is wrapped-the
hard part-is derived from the bones; as is the case with the horns
of oxen. The deer is the only animal that sheds its horns, and it does
so annually, after reaching the age of two years, and again renews
them. All other animals retain their horns permanently, unless the
horns be damaged by accident.

    Again, with regard to the breasts and the generative organs,
animals differ widely from one another and from man. For instance, the
breasts of some animals are situated in front, either in the chest
or near to it, and there are in such cases two breasts and two
teats, as is the case with man and the elephant, as previously stated.
For the elephant has two breasts in the region of the axillae; and the
female elephant has two breasts insignificant in size and in no way
proportionate to the bulk of the entire frame, in fact, so
insignificant as to be invisible in a sideways view; the males also
have breasts, like the females, exceedingly small. The she-bear has
four breasts. Some animals have two breasts, but situated near the
thighs, and teats, likewise two in number, as the sheep; others have
four teats, as the cow. Some have breasts neither in the chest nor
at the thighs, but in the belly, as the dog and pig; and they have a
considerable number of breasts or dugs, but not all of equal size.
Thus the shepard has four dugs in the belly, the lioness two, and
others more. The she-camel, also, has two dugs and four teats, like
the cow. Of solid-hooved animals the males have no dugs, excepting
in the case of males that take after the mother, which phenomenon is
observable in horses.

    Of male animals the genitals of some are external, as is the case
with man, the horse, and most other creatures; some are internal, as
with the dolphin. With those that have the organ externally placed,
the organ in some cases is situated in front, as in the cases
already mentioned, and of these some have the organ detached, both
penis and testicles, as man; others have penis and testicles closely
attached to the belly, some more closely, some less; for this organ is
not detached in the wild boar nor in the horse.

    The penis of the elephant resembles that of the horse; compared
with the size of the animal it is disproportionately small; the
testicles are not visible, but are concealed inside in the vicinity of
the kidneys; and for this reason the male speedily gives over in the
act of intercourse. The genitals of the female are situated where
the udder is in sheep; when she is in heat, she draws the organ back
and exposes it externally, to facilitate the act of intercourse for
the male; and the organ opens out to a considerable extent.

    With most animals the genitals have the position above
assigned; but some animals discharge their urine backwards, as the
lynx, the lion, the camel, and the hare. Male animals differ from
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