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

page 3 of 127



    Some creatures provide themselves with a dwelling, others go
without one: of the former kind are the mole, the mouse, the ant,
the bee; of the latter kind are many insects and quadrupeds.
Further, in respect to locality of dwelling place, some creatures
dwell under ground, as the lizard and the snake; others live on the
surface of the ground, as the horse and the dog. make to themselves
holes, others do not

    Some are nocturnal, as the owl and the bat; others live in the
daylight.

    Moreover, some creatures are tame and some are wild: some are
at all times tame, as man and the mule; others are at all times
savage, as the leopard and the wolf; and some creatures can be rapidly
tamed, as the elephant.

    Again, we may regard animals in another light. For, whenever a
race of animals is found domesticated, the same is always to be
found in a wild condition; as we find to be the case with horses,
kine, swine, (men), sheep, goats, and dogs.

    Further, some animals emit sound while others are mute, and
some are endowed with voice: of these latter some have articulate
speech, while others are inarticulate; some are given to continual
chirping and twittering some are prone to silence; some are musical,
and some unmusical; but all animals without exception exercise their
power of singing or chattering chiefly in connexion with the
intercourse of the sexes.

    Again, some creatures live in the fields, as the cushat; some
on the mountains, as the hoopoe; some frequent the abodes of men, as
the pigeon.

    Some, again, are peculiarly salacious, as the partridge, the
barn-door cock and their congeners; others are inclined to chastity,
as the whole tribe of crows, for birds of this kind indulge but rarely
in sexual intercourse.

     Of marine animals, again, some live in the open seas, some near
the shore, some on rocks.

    Furthermore, some are combative under offence; others are
provident for defence. Of the former kind are such as act as
aggressors upon others or retaliate when subjected to ill usage, and
of the latter kind are such as merely have some means of guarding
themselves against attack.

    Animals also differ from one another in regard to character in
the following respects. Some are good-tempered, sluggish, and little
prone to ferocity, as the ox; others are quick tempered, ferocious and
unteachable, as the wild boar; some are intelligent and timid, as
the stag and the hare; others are mean and treacherous, as the
snake; others are noble and courageous and high-bred, as the lion;
others are thorough-bred and wild and treacherous, as the wolf: for,
by the way, an animal is highbred if it come from a noble stock, and
an animal is thorough-bred if it does not deflect from its racial
characteristics.

    Further, some are crafty and mischievous, as the fox; some are
spirited and affectionate and fawning, as the dog; others are
easy-tempered and easily domesticated, as the elephant; others are
cautious and watchful, as the goose; others are jealous and
self-conceited, as the peacock. But of all animals man alone is
capable of deliberation.

    Many animals have memory, and are capable of instruction; but no
other creature except man can recall the past at will.

    With regard to the several genera of animals, particulars as to
their habits of life and modes of existence will be discussed more
fully by and by.

                                   2

    Common to all animals are the organs whereby they take food and
the organs where into they take it; and these are either identical
with one another, or are diverse in the ways above specified: to
wit, either identical in form, or varying in respect of excess or
defect, or resembling one another analogically, or differing in
position.

    Furthermore, the great majority of animals have other organs
besides these in common, whereby they discharge the residuum of
their food: I say, the great majority, for this statement does not
apply to all. And, by the way, the organ whereby food is taken in is
called the mouth, and the organ whereinto it is taken, the belly;
the remainder of the alimentary system has a great variety of names.

    Now the residuum of food is twofold in kind, wet and dry, and
such creatures as have organs receptive of wet residuum are invariably
found with organs receptive of dry residuum; but such as have organs
receptive of dry residuum need not possess organs receptive of wet
residuum. In other words, an animal has a bowel or intestine if it
have a bladder; but an animal may have a bowel and be without a
bladder. And, by the way, I may here remark that the organ receptive
of wet residuum is termed 'bladder', and the organ receptive of dry
residuum 'intestine or 'bowel'.

                                   3

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