Bekker (Berlin, 1831) · Loveday & Forster (1913)
Loveday & Forster (1913)
Chapter 1 (791a1–792a3)
791a
1 Ἁπλᾶ τῶν χρωμάτων ἐστὶν ὅσα τοῖς στοιχείοις συνακολουθεῖ,
οἷον πυρὶ καὶ ἀέρι καὶ ὕδατι καὶ γῇ. ἀὴρ μὲν γὰρ
καὶ ὕδωρ καθ' ἑαυτὰ τῇ φύσει λευκά, τὸ δὲ πῦρ καὶ ὁ
ἥλιος ξανθά. καὶ ἡ γῆ δ' ἐστὶ φύσει λευκή, παρὰ δὲ τὴν
5 βαφὴν πολύχρους φαίνεται. δῆλον δ' ἐπὶ τῆς τέφρας τοῦτ'
ἐστίν· ἐκκαυθέντος γὰρ τοῦ τὴν βαφὴν πεποιηκότος ὑγροῦ
λευκὴ γίνεται, οὐ παντελῶς δὲ διὰ τὸ τῷ καπνῷ βεβάφθαι
μέλανι ὄντι. διὸ καὶ ἡ κονία ξανθὴ γίνεται, τοῦ φλογοειδοῦς
καὶ μέλανος ἐπιχρώζοντος τὸ ὕδωρ. τὸ δὲ μέλαν χρῶμα
10 συνακολουθεῖ τοῖς στοιχείοις εἰς ἄλληλα μεταβαλλόντων.
τὰ δ' ἄλλα ἐκ τούτων εὐσύνοπτα τῇ μίξει κεραννυμένων
ἀλλήλοις γίνεται. τὸ δὲ σκότος ἐκλείποντος τοῦ φωτὸς γίνεται.
τριχῶς γὰρ τὸ μέλαν ἡμῖν φαίνεται. ἢ γὰρ ὅλως
τὸ μὴ ὁρώμενόν ἐστι τῇ φύσει μέλαν (ἁπάντων γὰρ τῶν
15 τοιούτων ἀνακλᾶταί τι φῶς μέλαν), ἢ ἀφ' ὧν μηδὲν ὅλως
φέρεται φῶς πρὸς τὰς ὄψεις· τὸ γὰρ μὴ ὁρώμενον, ὅταν
ὁ περιέχων τόπος ὁρᾶται, φαντασίαν ποιεῖ μέλανος. φαίνεται
δὲ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἡμῖν ἅπαντα μέλανα, ἀφ' ὅσων
ἀραιὸν καὶ ὀλίγον ἰσχυρῶς ἀνακλᾶται τὸ φῶς. διὸ καὶ αἱ
20 σκιαὶ φαίνονται μέλαιναι. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, ὅταν
τραχυνθῇ, καθάπερ ἡ τῆς θαλάττης φρίκη· διὰ γὰρ τὴν
τραχύτητα τῆς ἐπιφανείας ὀλίγων τῶν αὐγῶν προσπιπτουσῶν
καὶ διασπωμένου τοῦ φωτός, τὸ σκιερὸν μέλαν φαίνεται.
καὶ τὸ νέφος, ὅταν ᾖ πυκνὸν ἰσχυρῶς, διὰ τοῦτο.
25 κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ὁ ἀήρ, ὅταν ᾖ
μὴ παντελῶς διαδῦνον τὸ φῶς. καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα εἶναι δοκεῖ
μέλανα, βάθος ἔχοντα, διὰ τὸ παντελῶς ἀραιὰς ἀνακλᾶσθαι
1SIMPLE colours are the proper colours of the elements, i.e. of fire, air, water, and earth. Air and water when pure are by nature white, fire (and the sun) yellow, and earth is naturally white. The variety of hues which earth assumes is due to coloration by tincture, as is shown by the fact that ashes turn white when the moisture that tinged them is burnt out. It is true 5they do not turn a pure white, but that is because they are tinged afresh, in the process of combustion, by the smoke, which is black. And this is the reason why lye-mixture turns yellow, the water being coloured by hues of flame and black. Black is the proper colour of elements in process of transmutation. The remaining colours, it may easily be seen, arise from blending by mixture of these primary colours.
Darkness is due to privation of light. For we see black 10under three different conditions. Either (1) the object of vision is naturally quite black? (for black light is always reflected from black objects); or (2) no light at all passes to the eyes from the object (for an invisible object surrounded by a visible patch looks black); and (3) objects always appear black to us when the light reflected from them is very rare and scanty. This last condition is the reason why shadows appear black. It also explains the blackness 15of ruffled water, e.g. of the sea when a ripple passes over it: owing to the roughness of the surface few rays of light fall on the water and the light is dissipated, and so the part which is in shadow appears black. The same principle applies to very dense cloud, and to masses of water and of air which light fails to penetrate: for water and air look black when present in very deep masses, because of the extreme rarity of the rays reflected, the parts of the mass 20between the illuminated surfaces being in darkness and therefore looking black. There are many arguments to prove that darkness is not a colour, but merely privation of light, the best being that darkness, unlike all other objects of vision, is never perceived as having any definite magnitude or any definite shape.
Light is clearly the colour of fire; for it is never found with any other hue than this, and it alone is visible in its own right, whilst all other 25things are rendered visible by it.
But there is this point to be considered, that some things,? though they are not in their nature fire nor any species of fire, yet seem to produce light.
Darkness is due to privation of light. For we see black 10under three different conditions. Either (1) the object of vision is naturally quite black? (for black light is always reflected from black objects); or (2) no light at all passes to the eyes from the object (for an invisible object surrounded by a visible patch looks black); and (3) objects always appear black to us when the light reflected from them is very rare and scanty. This last condition is the reason why shadows appear black. It also explains the blackness 15of ruffled water, e.g. of the sea when a ripple passes over it: owing to the roughness of the surface few rays of light fall on the water and the light is dissipated, and so the part which is in shadow appears black. The same principle applies to very dense cloud, and to masses of water and of air which light fails to penetrate: for water and air look black when present in very deep masses, because of the extreme rarity of the rays reflected, the parts of the mass 20between the illuminated surfaces being in darkness and therefore looking black. There are many arguments to prove that darkness is not a colour, but merely privation of light, the best being that darkness, unlike all other objects of vision, is never perceived as having any definite magnitude or any definite shape.
Light is clearly the colour of fire; for it is never found with any other hue than this, and it alone is visible in its own right, whilst all other 25things are rendered visible by it.
But there is this point to be considered, that some things,? though they are not in their nature fire nor any species of fire, yet seem to produce light.
791b
1 τὰς ἀκτῖνας· τὰ γὰρ μεταξὺ μόρια τοῦ φωτὸς αὐτῶν
ἅπαντα εἶναι δοκεῖ μέλανα διὰ τὸ σκότος. ὅτι δὲ τὸ σκότος
οὐ χρῶμα ἀλλὰ στέρησίς ἐστι φωτός, οὐ χαλεπὸν ἐξ
ἄλλων τε πολλῶν καταμαθεῖν, καὶ μάλιστα ἐκ τοῦ μηδὲ
5 αἰσθητὸν εἶναι τὸ πηλίκον καὶ ποῖόν τι τῷ σχήματι τετύχηκεν
ὂν τὸ σκότος, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὁρατῶν. τὸ
δὲ φῶς ὅτι πυρός ἐστι χρῶμα, δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ μηδεμίαν ἄλλην
ἢ ταύτην ἔχον εὑρίσκεσθαι χρόαν, καὶ διὰ τὸ μόνον
τοῦτο δι' ἑαυτοῦ ὁρατὸν γίνεσθαι, τὰ δ' ἄλλα διὰ τούτου.
10 ἐπισκεπτέον δὲ τοῦτο. ἔνια γὰρ οὐκ ὄντα πῦρ οὐδὲ πυρὸς εἴδη
τὴν φύσιν φῶς ποιεῖν φαίνεται. εἰ μὴ ἄρα τὸ μὲν τοῦ πυρὸς
χρῶμα φῶς ἐστίν, οὐ μέντοι καὶ τὸ φῶς πυρός ἐστι
χρῶμα μόνου, ἀλλ' ἐνδέχεται μὴ μόνῳ μὲν ὑπάρχειν τῷ
πυρὶ τὴν χρόαν ταύτην, εἶναι μέντοι χρῶμα τὸ φῶς αὐτοῦ.
15 οὐδενὶ γοῦν ἄλλῳ τὴν ὅρασιν αὐτοῦ συμβαίνει γίνεσθαι πλὴν
τῷ φωτί, καθάπερ καὶ τὴν τῶν ἄλλων σωμάτων ἁπάντων
τῇ τοῦ σώματος φαντασίᾳ. τὸ δὲ μέλαν χρῶμα συμβαίνει
γίνεσθαι, ὅταν ὁ ἀὴρ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς διακαυθῇ,
διὸ καὶ πάντα τὰ καόμενα μελαίνεται, καθάπερ ξύλα
20 καὶ ἄνθρακες σβεσθέντος τοῦ πυρός, καὶ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ κεράμου
καπνὸς ἐκκρινομένου τοῦ ἐνυπάρχοντος ἐν τῷ κεράμῳ ὑγροῦ
καὶ καομένου. διὸ καὶ τοῦ καπνοῦ γίνεται μελάντατος ὁ
ἀπὸ τῶν πιόνων καὶ λιπαρῶν, οἷον ἐλαίου καὶ πίττης καὶ
δᾳδός, διὰ τὸ μάλιστα ταῦτα κάεσθαι καὶ συνέχειαν
25 ποιεῖν. μέλανα δὲ καὶ ταῦτα γίνεται, δι' ὅσων ῥεῖ τὸ
ὕδωρ, ὅταν βρυωθέντων πρῶτον ἀναξηρανθῇ τὸ ὑγρόν, καθάπερ
καὶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς τοίχοις κονιάματα. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ οἱ
1So we cannot say in the same breath, ‘ The colour of fire is identical with light, and yet light is the colour of other things besides fire,’ but we can say, ‘ This hue is to be found in other things besides fire, and yet light is the colour of fire.’ Anyhow, it is only by aid of light that fire is rendered visible, just as all other objects are made visible by the appearance of their colour.
The colour 5black occurs when air and water are thoroughly burnt by fire, and this is the reason why burning objects turn black, as e.g. wood and charcoal when the fire is put out, and smoke from clay® as the moisture is gradually secreted and burnt. This is also why the blackest smoke is given off by fat and greasy substances like oil and pitch and resinous wood, because these objects burn most com- pletely, and the process of combustion is most continuous in them.
Again, things turn black through which water 10percolates, 2; if they first become coated with lichen and then the moisture dries off. The stucco on walls is an example of this, and much the same applies to stones under water, which get covered with lichen and turn black when dried.
This then is the list of simple colours.
From these primary colours the rest are derived in all their variety of chromatic effects by blending of them and by their presence in varying strengths.1 The. different shades of crimson and violet depend on differences in the strength 15of their constituents, whilst blending is exemplified by mixture of white with black, which gives grey. So a dusky black mixed with light gives crimson. For observation teaches us that black mixed with sunlight or firelight always turns crimson, and that black objects heated in the fire all change to a crimson colour, as e.g. smoky tongues of flame, or charcoal when subjected to intense heat, are seen to have a crimson colour. Buta vivid bright violet is obtained from a blend of feeble sunlight with 20a thin dusky white. That is why the air sometimes looks purple at sunrise and sunset, for then these conditions are best realized, the air being dusky and the impinging rays feeble. So, too, the sea takes a purple hue when the waves rise so that one side of them is in shadow: the rays of the sun strike without force on that slope and so produce a violet colour. The same thing may also be observed in birds’ wings, which get a purple colour if extended against the light, but if the amount of light falling 25on them is diminished the result is the dark colour called brown, whilst a great quantity of light blended with primary black gives crimson. Add vividness and lustre, and crimson changes to flamecolour.
The colour 5black occurs when air and water are thoroughly burnt by fire, and this is the reason why burning objects turn black, as e.g. wood and charcoal when the fire is put out, and smoke from clay® as the moisture is gradually secreted and burnt. This is also why the blackest smoke is given off by fat and greasy substances like oil and pitch and resinous wood, because these objects burn most com- pletely, and the process of combustion is most continuous in them.
Again, things turn black through which water 10percolates, 2; if they first become coated with lichen and then the moisture dries off. The stucco on walls is an example of this, and much the same applies to stones under water, which get covered with lichen and turn black when dried.
This then is the list of simple colours.
From these primary colours the rest are derived in all their variety of chromatic effects by blending of them and by their presence in varying strengths.1 The. different shades of crimson and violet depend on differences in the strength 15of their constituents, whilst blending is exemplified by mixture of white with black, which gives grey. So a dusky black mixed with light gives crimson. For observation teaches us that black mixed with sunlight or firelight always turns crimson, and that black objects heated in the fire all change to a crimson colour, as e.g. smoky tongues of flame, or charcoal when subjected to intense heat, are seen to have a crimson colour. Buta vivid bright violet is obtained from a blend of feeble sunlight with 20a thin dusky white. That is why the air sometimes looks purple at sunrise and sunset, for then these conditions are best realized, the air being dusky and the impinging rays feeble. So, too, the sea takes a purple hue when the waves rise so that one side of them is in shadow: the rays of the sun strike without force on that slope and so produce a violet colour. The same thing may also be observed in birds’ wings, which get a purple colour if extended against the light, but if the amount of light falling 25on them is diminished the result is the dark colour called brown, whilst a great quantity of light blended with primary black gives crimson. Add vividness and lustre, and crimson changes to flamecolour.
792a
1 καθ' ὕδατος λίθοι· καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι βρυωθέντες, ὕστερον ἀποξηραινόμενοι
τῷ χρώματι γίνονται μέλανες. τὰ μὲν οὖν
ἁπλᾶ τῶν χρωμάτων ταῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτά ἐστιν.
1For + it is after this fashion that we ought to proceed in treating of the blending of colours, starting from an observed colour as our basis and making mixtures with it. (But we must not assign to all colours a similar origin,” for there are some colours which, 5though not simple, bear
Chapter 2 (792a4–792b32)
Τὰ δ' ἄλλα ἐκ τούτων τῇ κράσει καὶ τῷ μᾶλλον καὶ
5 ἧττον γιγνόμενα πολλὰς καὶ ποικίλας ποιεῖ χρωμάτων
φαντασίας. κατὰ μὲν τὸ μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον, ὥσπερ τὸ
φοινικοῦν καὶ τὸ ἁλουργές, κατὰ δὲ τὴν κρᾶσιν, ὥσπερ τὸ
λευκὸν καὶ τὸ μέλαν, ὅταν μιχθέντα φαιοῦ ποιήσῃ φαντασίαν.
διὸ τὸ μέλαν καὶ σκιερὸν τῷ φωτὶ μιγνύμενον φοινικοῦν.
10 τὸ γὰρ μέλαν μιγνύμενον τῷ τε τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τῷ
ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς φωτὶ θεωροῦμεν ἀεὶ γιγνόμενον φοινικοῦν, καὶ
τὰ μέλανα πυρωθέντα πάντα εἰς χρῶμα μεταβάλλοντα
φοινικοῦν· αἵ τε γὰρ καπνώδεις φλόγες καὶ οἱ ἄνθρακες,
ὅταν ὦσι διακεκαυμένοι, φαίνονται χρῶμα ἔχοντες φοινικοῦν.
15 τὸ δ' ἁλουργὲς εὐανθὲς μὲν γίνεται καὶ λαμπρόν, ὅταν
τῷ μετρίῳ λευκῷ καὶ σκιερῷ κραθῶσιν ἀσθενεῖς αἱ τοῦ ἡλίου
αὐγαί. διὸ καὶ περὶ ἀνατολὰς καὶ δύσεις ὁ ἀὴρ πορφυροειδὴς
ἔστιν ὅτε φαίνεται, περὶ ἀνατολὴν καὶ δύσιν ὄντος
τοῦ ἡλίου· ἀσθενεῖς γὰρ οὖσαι τότε μάλιστα πρὸς σκιερὸν
20 ὄντα τὸν ἀέρα προσβάλλουσιν. φαίνεται δὲ καὶ ἡ θάλαττα
πορφυροειδής, ὅταν τὰ κύματα μετεωριζόμενα κατὰ τὴν
ἔγκλισιν σκιασθῇ· πρὸς γὰρ τὸν ταύτης κλισμὸν ἀσθενεῖς
αἱ τοῦ ἡλίου αὐγαὶ προσβάλλουσαι ποιοῦσι φαίνεσθαι τὸ
χρῶμα ἁλουργές. ὃ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πτερωμάτων θεωρεῖται
25 γιγνόμενον· ἐντεινόμενα γάρ πως πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἁλουργὲς
ἔχει τὸ χρῶμα. ἐλάττονος δὲ τοῦ φωτὸς προσβάλλοντος
ζοφερόν, ὃ καλοῦσιν ὄρφνιον· πολὺ δὲ καὶ τῷ πρώτῳ μέλανι
κραθὲν φοινικοῦν. εὐανθὲς δ' ὂν καὶ στίλβον εἰς τὸ φλογοειδὲς
χρῶμα μεταβάλλει. κατὰ γὰρ τὴν πρὸς ἄλληλα
30 κρᾶσιν οὕτως ληπτέον, ἐξ ὑποκειμένου τεθεωρημένου χρώματος
ποιοῦντας τὴν μίξιν, ἀλλὰ μὴ πάντων ὁμοίαν γένεσιν
ποιοῦντας. ἔστι γὰρ τῶν χρωμάτων οὐχ ἁπλᾶ μέν, λόγον
δ' ἔχει πρός τινα τὸν αὐτὸν τῶν συνθέτων ὅνπερ τὰ
ἁπλᾶ πρὸς ἑαυτά, διὰ τὸ τὰ ἁπλᾶ πρὸς μίξιν ἑνὸς ἔχειν,
the same relation to their products that simple colours bear to them,” inasmuch as a simple colour has to be mixed with one other colour to produce them.) And when the° constituents are obscure in the compound product, we must still try to establish our conclusions by reference to observation. For,4 whether 10we are considering the blend which gives (say) violet or crimson, or whether we are considering the mixtures of these colours which produce other tints, we must explain their origin on the same kind of principles,> even though they look dissimilar. So we must start from a colour previously established, and observe what happens 15when it is blent. Thus we find that wine colour results from blending rays of sunlight with pure lustrous black, may be seen in grapes on the bunch, which grow winecoloured as they ripen; for, as they blacken, their crimson turns to a violet. After the manner indicated we must treat all differences of colours, getting comparisons 20by moving coloured objects,® keeping our eye on actual phenomena, assimilating different cases of mixture on the strength of the particular known instances in which a given origin and blending produce a certain chromatic effect,’ and verifying our results. But we must not proceed in this inquiry by blending pigments as painters 25do, but rather by comparing the rays reflected from the aforesaid known colours, this being the best way of investigating the true nature of colour-blends. Verification from experience and observation of similarities are necessary, if we are to arrive at clear conclusions about the origin of different colours, and the chief ground 30of similarities is the common origin of nearly all colours in blends of different strengths of sunlight and firelight, and of air and water. At the same time we ought to draw comparisons from the blends of other colours, as well as the primary, with rays of light.
792b
1 καὶ μὴ εὔσημον ἐν τῷ παντί, καὶ προστεθεωρημένον κατασκευάζειν
ὁμοίως. τὴν γὰρ τοῦ ἁλουργοῦ ἢ φοινικιοῦ κρᾶσιν
λέγοντας ἀνάγκη ὁμοίως τοῖς ἐκ τούτων μιγνυμένοις καὶ
ποιοῦσιν ἄλλην χρόαν τὴν γένεσιν διηγεῖσθαι, καὶ μὴ
5 ὁμοίαν ἔμφασιν ποιεῖν. διόπερ ἐκ τοῦ προκατεσκευασμένου
ληπτέον καὶ θεωρητέον τὴν κρᾶσιν, οἷον ὅτι τὸ οἰνωπὸν
χρῶμα γίνεται, ὅταν ἀκράτῳ τῷ μέλανι καὶ στίλβοντι
κραθῶσιν αὐγαὶ ἠεροειδεῖς, ὥσπερ καὶ αἱ τῶν βοτρύων ῥᾶγες·
καὶ γὰρ τούτων οἰνωπὸν φαίνεται τὸ χρῶμα ἐν τῷ
10 πεπαίνεσθαι· μελαινομένων γὰρ τὸ φοινικοῦν εἰς τὸ ἁλουργὲς
μεταβάλλει. κατὰ δὲ τὸν ὑποδεδειγμένον τρόπον θεωρητέον
πάσας τὰς τῶν χρωμάτων διαφοράς, ἐκ κινήσεως
τὴν ὁμοιότητα λαμβάνοντας κατ' αὐτὸ τὸ φαινόμενον, τὴν
ἐν ἑκάστῳ μίξιν ὁμοιοῦντας καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ μέρος ἐν γενέσει
15 τινὶ καὶ κράσει ποιούντων φαντασίαν, καὶ πίστιν προςφερομένους.
δεῖ δὲ καὶ πάντων τούτων ποιεῖσθαι τὴν θεωρίαν
μὴ καθάπερ οἱ ζωγράφοι τὰ χρώματα ταῦτα κεραννύντας,
ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῶν εἰρημένων τὰς ἀνακλωμένας αὐγὰς
πρὸς ἀλλήλας συμβάλλοντας· μάλιστα γὰρ δύναιτ' ἄν
20 τις κατὰ φύσιν θεωρῆσαι τὰς τῶν χρωμάτων κράσεις. τὰς
δὲ πίστεις καὶ τὰ ὅμοια δεῖ ἐν οἷς ἡ γένεσις ἔσται φανερὰ
τῶν χρωμάτων. ταῦτα δὲ μάλιστά ἐστι τό τ' ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου
φῶς καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ· κεραννύμενα
γὰρ τῷ μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον ταῦτα μάλιστα πάσας
25 ὡς εἰπεῖν τὰς χρόας ἀποτελεῖ. ἐπιληπτέον δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν
ἄλλων χρωμάτων ταῖς αὐγαῖς κεραννυμένων τὴν ὁμοιότητα·
οἱ γὰρ ἄνθρακες καὶ ὁ καπνὸς καὶ ὁ ἰὸς καὶ τὸ θεῖον
καὶ τὰ πτερώματα κεραννύμενα τὰ μὲν ταῖς τοῦ ἡλίου αὐγαῖς,
τὰ δὲ ταῖς τοῦ πυρός, πολλὰς καὶ ποικίλας ποιοῦσι
30 μεταβολὰς χρωμάτων. τὰ δὲ καὶ τῇ πέψει θεωρητέον, γινόμενα
ἐν φυτοῖς καὶ καρποῖς καὶ τριχώμασι καὶ πτερώμασι
καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις πᾶσιν.
1Thus charcoal and smoke, and rust, and brimstone, and birds’ plumage blent, some with firelight and others with sunlight, produce a great variety of chromatic effects. And we must also observe the results of maturation in plants and fruit, 5and in hair, feathers, and so on.
We must not omit to consider the several conditions which give rise to the manifold tints and infinite variety of colours. It will be found that variations of tint occur:
(1) Because colours are introcepted by varying and irregular strengths of light and shade.t 10For both light and shade may be present in very different strengths, and so whether pure or already mixed with colours they alter the tints of the colours they introcept.
Or (2) because the colours blent vary in fullness and in effectiveness.
Or (3) because they are blent in different 15proportions.
Thus violet and crimson and white and all colours vary very much both in strength and in intermixture and purity.
(4) Difference of hue may also depend on the relative brightness and lustre or dimness and dullness of the blend. Lustre is simply continuity and density of light; e.g. we have a 20glistening gold colour when the yellow colour of sunlight is highly concentrated and therefore lustrous.
That explains why pigeons’ necks and drops of falling water look lustrous when light is reflected from them.
Again, (5) some objects change their colour and assume a variety of hues when polished 25by rubbing or other means, like silver, gold, copper, and iron, when they are polished; aud some kinds of stones give rise to different colours, ? 1 ff. It may be doubted whether λαμβάνεσθαι is genuine. If there is any difference of meaning between ἀνίσως and ἀνωμάλως, the former will refer to 30successive admixtures of a colour with different strengths of light or of shade, the latter to simultaneous admixture of different parts of a stretch of colour with such different strengths.
We must not omit to consider the several conditions which give rise to the manifold tints and infinite variety of colours. It will be found that variations of tint occur:
(1) Because colours are introcepted by varying and irregular strengths of light and shade.t 10For both light and shade may be present in very different strengths, and so whether pure or already mixed with colours they alter the tints of the colours they introcept.
Or (2) because the colours blent vary in fullness and in effectiveness.
Or (3) because they are blent in different 15proportions.
Thus violet and crimson and white and all colours vary very much both in strength and in intermixture and purity.
(4) Difference of hue may also depend on the relative brightness and lustre or dimness and dullness of the blend. Lustre is simply continuity and density of light; e.g. we have a 20glistening gold colour when the yellow colour of sunlight is highly concentrated and therefore lustrous.
That explains why pigeons’ necks and drops of falling water look lustrous when light is reflected from them.
Again, (5) some objects change their colour and assume a variety of hues when polished 25by rubbing or other means, like silver, gold, copper, and iron, when they are polished; aud some kinds of stones give rise to different colours, ? 1 ff. It may be doubted whether λαμβάνεσθαι is genuine. If there is any difference of meaning between ἀνίσως and ἀνωμάλως, the former will refer to 30successive admixtures of a colour with different strengths of light or of shade, the latter to simultaneous admixture of different parts of a stretch of colour with such different strengths.
Chapter 3 (792b33–794a15)
Δεῖ δὲ μὴ λανθάνειν τὸ πολυειδὲς καὶ τὸ ἄπειρον τῶν
χρωμάτων, διὰ πόσα συμβαίνει γίνεσθαι. εὑρήσομεν γὰρ
like...1 which are black but make white marks.
793a
1 ἤτοι διὰ τὸ τῷ φωτὶ καὶ ταῖς σκιαῖς ἀνίσως καὶ ἀνωμάλως
λαμβάνεσθαι· καὶ γὰρ αἱ σκιαὶ καὶ τὸ φῶς κατὰ τὸ
μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον πολὺ διαφέρουσιν αὑτῶν, ὥστε καὶ καθ'
αὑτὰς καὶ μετὰ τῶν χρωμάτων μιγνύμεναι ποιοῦσι μεταβολὰς
5 χρωμάτων, ἢ τῷ τὰ κεραννύμενα τῷ πλήθει καὶ
ταῖς δυνάμεσι διαφέρειν, ἢ τῷ λόγους ἔχειν μὴ τοὺς αὐτούς.
πολλὰς γὰρ καὶ τὸ ἁλουργὲς ἔχει διαφορὰς καὶ τὸ φοινικιοῦν
καὶ τὸ λευκὸν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστον καὶ κατὰ τὸ
μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον καὶ κατὰ τὴν πρὸς ἄλληλα μίξιν καὶ
10 εἰλικρίνειαν αὐτῶν. ποιεῖ δὲ διαφορὰν καὶ τὸ λαμπρὸν ἢ
στίλβον εἶναι τὸ μιγνύμενον ἢ τοὐναντίον αὐχμηρὸν καὶ
ἀλαμπές. ἔστι δὲ τὸ στίλβον οὐκ ἄλλο τι ἢ συνέχεια φωτὸς
καὶ πυκνότης. τὸ γὰρ χρυσοειδὲς γίνεται, ὅταν τὸ ξανθὸν
καὶ τὸ ἡλιῶδες πυκνωθὲν ἰσχυρῶς στίλβῃ. διὸ καὶ οἱ τῶν
15 περιστερῶν τράχηλοι καὶ τῶν ὑδάτων οἱ σταλαγμοὶ φαίνονται
χρυσοειδεῖς τοῦ φωτὸς ἀνακλωμένου. ἔστι δὲ ἃ λειούμενα
τρίψει καὶ δυνάμεσί τισιν ἀλλοίας ἴσχει καὶ ποικίλας
χρόας, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ ἄργυρος παρατριβόμενος καὶ χρυσὸς
καὶ χαλκὸς καὶ σίδηρος. καί τινα γένη λίθων διαφόρους
20 ποιεῖ χρόας, καθάπερ καὶ ... μέλαιναι γὰρ οὖσαι λευκὰς
γράφουσι γραμμάς, διὰ τὸ πάντων τῶν τοιούτων τὰς μὲν
ἐξ ἀρχῆς συστάσεις ἐκ μικρῶν εἶναι μορίων καὶ πυκνῶν
καὶ μελάνων, ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς ἐν τῇ γενέσει βαφῆς ἁπάντων
τῶν πόρων κεχρωσμένων δι' ὧν διελήλυθεν αὐτῶν ἡ βαφή,
25 ἄλλην ἐσχηκέναι τὴν τοῦ χρώματος φαντασίαν. ὁ δ' ἀποτριβόμενος
ἀπ' αὐτῶν οὐκέτι γίνεται χρυσοειδὴς οὐδὲ χαλκοειδὴς
οὐδ' ἄλλην οὐδεμίαν τοιαύτην ἔχων χροιάν, ἀλλὰ
πάντως μέλας, διὰ τὸ τοὺς μὲν πόρους παρατριβομένων αὐτῶν
ἀναρρήγνυσθαι, δι' ὧν ἡ βαφὴ διελήλυθε, φύσει δὲ
30 καὶ τῶν αὐτῶν εἶναι. τοῦ γὰρ προτέρου χρώματος οὐκέτι ὄντος
ἡμῖν φανεροῦ παρὰ τὸ διασπᾶσθαι τὴν βαφήν, τὸ
κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχον αὐτοῖς χρῶμα ὁρῶμεν· διὸ καὶ
πάντα φαίνεται μέλανα. ἐν δὲ τῷ παρατρίβεσθαι πρὸς
ὁμαλὲς καὶ λεῖον ἕκαστον τούτων, καθάπερ καὶ πρὸς τὰς
1This is because the original composition of all such substances is of small dense and black particles, but in the course of their formation they have been tinged, and all the pores through which the tincture 5passed have taken its colour, so that finally the whole material appears to be of that colour. But the dust that is rubbed off from them loses this golden copper colour (or whatever the hue may be), and is quite black, because rubbing breaks up the pores through 10which the tincture passed, and black is the original colour of the substance.” The other colour is no longer apparent because 3° the colouring matter is dissipated, and so we see the original natural colour of the material, and this is why these substances 15all appear black. But when rubbed against a smooth and even surface, as e.g. against a touchstone, they” lose their blackness and get back their other colour, which comes through where the lines of the tincture in the pores are unbroken and continuous.’
(6) In 20the case of objects burning, dissolving, or melting in the fire, we find that those have the greatest variety which are dark in colour and give off a thin hazy smoke, such as the smoke of brimstone or rusty copper vessels, and those which, like silver, are dense 25and smooth.
(7) Apart from these cases, variety of hue is characteristic of all dark smooth objects, such as water, clouds, and birds’ plumage. For these last, owing to their smoothness and the variety of blends into which the impinging rays of light enter, 30show various colours, as also does...* (8) Lastly, we never see a colour in absolute purity: it is always blent, if not with another colour, then with rays of light or with shadows, and so it assumes a new tint.
(6) In 20the case of objects burning, dissolving, or melting in the fire, we find that those have the greatest variety which are dark in colour and give off a thin hazy smoke, such as the smoke of brimstone or rusty copper vessels, and those which, like silver, are dense 25and smooth.
(7) Apart from these cases, variety of hue is characteristic of all dark smooth objects, such as water, clouds, and birds’ plumage. For these last, owing to their smoothness and the variety of blends into which the impinging rays of light enter, 30show various colours, as also does...* (8) Lastly, we never see a colour in absolute purity: it is always blent, if not with another colour, then with rays of light or with shadows, and so it assumes a new tint.
793b
1 βασάνους, ἀποβάλλοντα ἀπολαμβάνει πάλιν τὴν χρόαν
ἐν τῇ συνάψει καὶ συνεχείᾳ, τὸ τῆς βαφῆς διαφαινόμενον.
ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν καυστῶν καὶ διαλυομένων καὶ τηκομένων
ἐν τῷ πυρὶ ταῦτα πλείστας ἔχει χρόας, ὅσων ὁ καπνός
5 ἐστι λεπτὸς καὶ ἀεροειδὴς καὶ τὰ χρώματα σκιώδη, ὥσπερ
ὅ τε ἀπὸ τοῦ θείου καὶ τῶν ἰωμένων χαλκείων, καὶ ὅσα ἐστὶ
πυκνὰ καὶ λεῖα, καθάπερ ὁ ἄργυρος. ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων
ὅσα σκιώδεις ἔχει τὰς χρόας καὶ λειότητος μετέχει, ὥςπερ
τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὰ νέφη καὶ τὰ πτερώματα τῶν ὀρνίθων·
10 καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα διά τε τὴν λειότητα καὶ τὰς προσπιπτούσας
αὐγάς, ἄλλοτε ἄλλως κεραννυμένας, ποιεῖ διαφόρους
τὰς χρόας, καθάπερ καὶ τὸ σκότος. τῶν δὲ χρωμάτων
οὐδὲν ὁρῶμεν εἰλικρινὲς οἷόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ πάντα κεκραμένα
ἐν ἑτέροις· καὶ γὰρ ἂν μηδενὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ταῖς γε τοῦ
15 φωτὸς αὐγαῖς καὶ ταῖς σκιαῖς κεραννύμενα ἀλλοῖα, καὶ
οὐχ οἷά ἐστι, φαίνεται. διὸ καὶ τὰ ἐν σκιᾷ θεωρούμενα καὶ
ἐν φωτὶ καὶ ἡλίῳ, καὶ σκληρᾷ αὐγῇ ἢ μαλακῇ, καὶ κατὰ
τὰς ἐγκλίσεις οὕτως ἢ οὕτως ἔχοντι, καὶ κατὰ τὰς ἄλλας
διαφοράς, ἀλλοῖα φαίνεται. καὶ ταῖς πρὸς τῷ πυρὶ καὶ
20 τῇ σελήνῃ, καὶ ταῖς τῶν λύχνων αὐγαῖς, διὸ καὶ τὸ φῶς
ἑκάστου τούτων ἀλλοιοτέραν ἔχει χρόαν. καὶ τῇ πρὸς ἄλληλα
δὲ μίξει τῶν χρωμάτων· δι' ἀλλήλων γὰρ φερόμενα
χρώζεται. τὸ γὰρ φῶς ὅταν προσπεσὸν ὑπό τινων
χρωσθῇ, καὶ γένηται φοινικιοῦν ἢ ποῶδες, καὶ τὸ ἀνακλασθὲν
25 προσπέσῃ πρὸς ἕτερόν τι χρῶμα, πάλιν ὑπ' ἐκείνου
κεραννύμενον ἄλλην τινὰ λαμβάνει τοῦ χρώματος κρᾶσιν.
καὶ τοῦτο πάσχον συνεχῶς μὲν οὐκ αἰσθητῶς δὲ ἐνίοτε
παραγίνεται πρὸς τὰς ὄψεις ἐκ πολλῶν μὲν κεκραμένον
χρωμάτων, ἑνὸς δέ τινος τῶν μάλιστα ἐπικρατούντων ποιοῦν
30 τὴν αἴσθησιν. διὸ καὶ καθ' ὕδατος ὑδατοειδῆ μᾶλλον φαίνεται,
καὶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς κατόπτροις ὁμοίας ἔχοντα χρόας ταῖς
τῶν κατόπτρων. ὃ καὶ περὶ τὸν ἀέρα οἰητέον συμβαίνειν.
ὥστε ἐκ τριῶν εἶναι τὰς χρόας ἁπάσας μεμιγμένας, τοῦ
φωτός, καὶ δι' ὧν φαίνεται τὸ φῶς, οἷον τοῦ τε ὕδατος
1That is why objects assume different tints when seen in shade and in light and sunshine, and according as the rays of light are strong or weak, and the objects themselves slope this way or that, 5and under other differential conditions. Again, they vary when seen by firelight or moonlight torchlight, because the colours of those lights differ somewhat. They vary also in consequence of mixture with other colours, for when coloured light 10passes through a medium of another colour it takes a new tinge. For if light falls on a given object and is coloured by it (say) crimson herb-green, and then the light reflected from that object falls on another colour, it is again modified by 15this second. colour, and so it gets a new chromatic blend. This happening to it continuously, though imperceptibly, light when it reaches the eye may be a blend of many colours, though the sensation produced is not of a blend but of some colour 20predominant in the blend. This is why objects under water tend to have the colour of water, and why reflections in mirrors resemble the colour of the mirrors, and we must suppose that the same thing happens in the case of air. Thus all hues 25represent a threefold mixture of light, a translucent medium (e.g. water or air), and underlying colours from which the light is reflected. A translucent white medium, when of a very rare consistency, looks hazy in colour; but if it is dense, like 30water or glass, or air when thick, a sort of mist covers its surface, because the rays of light are inadequate at every point on it owing to its density, and so we cannot see the interior clearly.
794a
1 καὶ τοῦ ἀέρος, καὶ τρίτου τῶν ὑποκειμένων χρωμάτων, ἀφ'
ὧν ἀνακλᾶσθαι συμβαίνει τὸ φῶς. τὸ δὲ λευκὸν καὶ διαφανὲς
ὅταν μὲν ἀραιὸν ᾖ σφόδρα, φαίνεται τῷ χρώματι
ἀεροειδές· ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν πυκνῶν ἐπὶ πάντων ἐπιφαίνεταί τις
5 ἀχλύς, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ ὑάλου καὶ τοῦ ἀέρος,
ὅταν ᾖ παχύς. τῶν γὰρ αὐγῶν διὰ τὴν πυκνότητα πανταχόθεν
ἐκλειπουσῶν, οὐ δυνάμεθα τὰ ἐντὸς αὐτῶν ἀκριβῶς
διορᾶν. ὁ δ' ἀὴρ ἐγγύθεν μὲν θεωρούμενος οὐδὲν ἔχειν
φαίνεται χρῶμα (διὰ γὰρ τὴν ἀραιότητα ὑπὸ τῶν αὐγῶν
10 κρατεῖται, χωριζόμενος ὑπ' αὐτῶν πυκνοτέρων οὐσῶν καὶ
διαφαινομένων δι' αὐτοῦ), ἐν βάθει δὲ θεωρουμένου, ἐγγυτάτω
φαίνεται τῷ χρώματι κυανοειδὴς διὰ τὴν ἀραιότητα.
ᾗ γὰρ λείπει τὸ φῶς, ταύτῃ σκότῳ διειλημμένος φαίνεται
κυανοειδής. ἐπιπυκνωθεὶς δέ, καθάπερ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, πάντων
15 λευκότατόν ἐστιν.
1Air seen close at hand appears to have no colour, for it is so rare that it yields and gives passage to the denser rays of light, which thus shines through it; but when seen in a deep mass it looks practically dark blue. This again is the result of its rarity, for where light fails the air lets darkness through.
When densified, air is, like water, the whitest of things.
Coloration may also be due to a process of 5tincture dyeing, when one thing takes its hue from another. Common sources of such coloration are the flowers of plants and their roots, bark, wood, leaves, or fruit, and again, earth, foam, and metallic inks. Sometimes colora-
When densified, air is, like water, the whitest of things.
Coloration may also be due to a process of 5tincture dyeing, when one thing takes its hue from another. Common sources of such coloration are the flowers of plants and their roots, bark, wood, leaves, or fruit, and again, earth, foam, and metallic inks. Sometimes colora-
Chapter 4 (794a16–794b11)
Τὰ δὲ βαπτόμενα πάντα τὰς χρόας ἀπὸ τῶν βαπτόντων
λαμβάνει. πολλὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἄνθεσι βάπτεται
τοῖς φυομένοις, πολλὰ δὲ ῥίζαις, πολλὰ δὲ φλοιοῖς ἢ ξύλοις
ἢ φύλλοις ἢ καρποῖς. ἔτι δὲ πολλὰ μὲν γῇ, πολλὰ
20 δ' ἀφρῷ, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ μελαντηρίᾳ. τὰ δὲ καὶ τοῖς τῶν
ζῴων χυλοῖς, καθάπερ καὶ τὸ ἁλουργὲς τῇ πορφύρᾳ. τὰ
δὲ οἴνῳ, τὰ δὲ καπνῷ, τὰ δὲ κονίᾳ, τὰ δὲ θαλάττῃ, ὥςπερ
τὰ τριχώματα τῶν θαλαττίων· καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα πάντα
ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάττης γίγνονται πυρρά. καὶ ὅλως ὅσα χρόας
25 ἰδίας ἔχει. ἀεὶ γὰρ ἀπὸ πάντων αὐτῶν, ἅμα τῷ τε ὑγρῷ
καὶ θερμῷ τῶν χρωμάτων συνεισιόντων εἰς τοὺς τῶν βαπτομένων
πόρους, ὅταν ἀποξηρανθῇ, τὰς ἀπ' ἐκείνων χρόας
λαμβάνει. διὸ καὶ πολλάκις αὐτῶν ἐκπλύνεται, τῶν ἀνθῶν
ἐκ τῶν πόρων ἐκρυέντων. πολλὰς δὲ καὶ αἱ στύψεις ἐν
30 τῇ βαφῇ ποιοῦσι διαφορὰς καὶ μίξεις, καὶ τὰ πάθη τῶν
βαπτομένων, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κράσεως εἴρηται πρότερον.
βάπτεται δὲ καὶ τὰ μέλανα τῶν ἐρίων, οὐ μὴν ὁμοίως γε
τῷ χρώματι γίγνεται λαμπρά, διὰ τὸ βάπτεσθαι τοὺς πόρους
αὐτῶν εἰς τοὺς τῶν ἀνθῶν εἰσιόντας, τὰ δὲ μεταξὺ
tion is due to animal juices (e.g. the juice of the purplefish, with which clothes are dyed violet), in other cases to wine, or smoke, or lye mixture, or to sea-water, as happens, for instance, to the hair of marine animals, which is always turned red by the sea. In short, anything that 10has a colour of its own may transfer that colour to other things, and the process is always this, that colour leaving one object passes with moisture and heat into the pores of another, which on drying takes the hue of the object from which the colour came. This explains why colour so often washes out: the dye runs out of the pores again. Furthermore, steeping material to be dyed in different astringent solutions during the dyeing produces a great variety of hues and mixtures, and these are also affected by the 15condition of the - material itself, in much the same way that blending of colours was shown in the last chapter to be affected. Even black fleeces are used for dyeing, but they do not take so bright a colour as white. The reason is that whilst the pores of the wool are tinged by the dye that enters them, the intervals of solid hair between the pores do not take” the colour, and if they are white, then in juxtaposition to the colour of the pores they make the dye look brighter, but if they are black, they make it look 20dark and dull. For the same reason a more vivid brown is obtained on black wool than on white, the brown dye blending with the rays of black and so looking purer. For the intervals between the pores are too small to be separately seen, just tin is invisible when blent with copper in bronze; and there are other parallel cases.
These then are the reasons for the changes in colour produced by dyeing.
As for hair and feathers and flowers and fruit and all plants, it is abundantly clear that all the changes of colour 25which they undergo coincide with the process of maturation. But what the origins of colour in the various classes of plants are, and what kinds of changes these colours undergo, and from what materials these changes are derived, and the reasons why they are thus affected, and any other difficulties connected with them—in considering all these questions we must start from the following premises. In all plants the original colour is herb-green; thus shoots and leaves and fruit begin by taking this colour. This can 30also be seen in the case of rain-water; when water stands for a considerable time and then dries up, it leaves a herb-green behind it. So it is intelligible why herb-green is the first - colour to form in all plants. For all water in process of time first turns yellow-green on blending with the rays of the sun; it then gradually turns black, and this further mixture of black and yellow-green produces herb-green.
These then are the reasons for the changes in colour produced by dyeing.
As for hair and feathers and flowers and fruit and all plants, it is abundantly clear that all the changes of colour 25which they undergo coincide with the process of maturation. But what the origins of colour in the various classes of plants are, and what kinds of changes these colours undergo, and from what materials these changes are derived, and the reasons why they are thus affected, and any other difficulties connected with them—in considering all these questions we must start from the following premises. In all plants the original colour is herb-green; thus shoots and leaves and fruit begin by taking this colour. This can 30also be seen in the case of rain-water; when water stands for a considerable time and then dries up, it leaves a herb-green behind it. So it is intelligible why herb-green is the first - colour to form in all plants. For all water in process of time first turns yellow-green on blending with the rays of the sun; it then gradually turns black, and this further mixture of black and yellow-green produces herb-green.
794b
1 διαστήματα τῆς τριχὸς μηδεμίαν λαμβάνειν βαφήν. ταῦτα
λευκὰ μὲν ὄντα, καὶ παρ' ἄλληλα κείμενα τοῖς χρώμασι,
ποιεῖ πάντα φαίνεσθαι τὰ ἄνθη λαμπρότερα· τὰ μέλανα
δὲ τοὐναντίον σκιερὰ καὶ ζοφώδη. διὸ καὶ τὸ καλούμενον
5 ὄρφνιον εὐανθέστερον γίνεται τῶν μελάνων ἢ τῶν λευκῶν·
οὕτω γὰρ ἀκρατέστερον αὐτῶν φαίνεται τὸ ἄνθος, κεραννύμενον
ταῖς τοῦ μέλανος αὐγαῖς. καθ' αὑτὸ μὲν γὰρ τὸ μεταξὺ
διάστημα τῶν πόρων οὐχ ὁρᾶται διὰ σμικρότητα, καθάπερ
οὐδὲ καττίτερος τῷ χαλκῷ κραθείς, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων
10 οὐθὲν τῶν τοιούτων. τῶν δὲ βαπτομένων τὰ χρώματα ἀλλοιοῦται
διὰ τὰς εἰρημένας αἰτίας.
1For, as has already been remarked, moisture becoming Stale and drying up of itself turns black. This can be seen, for example, on the stucco of reservoirs; here all the part that is always under water turns black, because the moisture, as it cools, dries up of itself, but the part from which the water has been drawn off, and which is exposed to 5the sun, becomes herb-green, because yellow mingles with the black. Moreover, with the increasing blackness of the moisture, the herb-green tends to become very deep and of a leek-green hue. This is why the old shoots of all plants are much blacker than the young shoots, which are yellower because the moisture in them has not yet begun to turn black. In the older shoots, the growth being slow and the moisture remaining in them a 10long time, owing to the fact that the liquid, as it cools, turns very black, a leek-green is produced by blending with pure black. But the colour of shoots in which the moisture does not mix with the rays of the sun, remains white, unless moisture has settled in them and dried and turned black at an earlier stage. In all plants, therefore, the parts above ground are at first of a yellow-green, while the parts under the ground, 15namely the lower portions of the stalks and the roots, are white. The shoots, too, are white as long as they are underground, but if the earth be removed from round them, they turn herb-green; and all fruit, as has been already said, becomes herb-green at first, because the moisture, which passes through the shoots into it, has a natural tendency to assume
Chapter 5 (794b12–797a32)
Τὰ δὲ τριχώματα καὶ τὰ πτερώματα καὶ τὰ ἄνθη
καὶ οἱ καρποὶ καὶ τὰ φυτὰ πάντα ὅτι μὲν ἅμα τῇ πέψει
πάσας τὰς τῶν χρωμάτων λαμβάνει μεταβολάς,
15 φανερὸν ἐκ πολλῶν· τίνες δέ εἰσιν ἑκάστοις τῶν φυομένων
ἀρχαὶ τῶν χρωμάτων, καὶ ποίας τὰς μεταβολὰς ἐκ ποίων
λαμβάνουσι, καὶ δι' ἃς αἰτίας ταῦτα πάσχει, κἂν εἴ τινας
ἄλλας ἀπορίας αὐτοῖς συμβαίνει παρακολουθεῖν, περὶ
πάντων τούτων ἐπισκεπτέον ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων. ἐν πᾶσι δὴ τοῖς
20 φυτοῖς ἀρχὴ τὸ ποῶδές ἐστι τῶν χρωμάτων· καὶ γὰρ οἱ
βλαστοὶ καὶ τὰ φύλλα καὶ οἱ καρποὶ γίνονται κατ' ἀρχὰς
ποώδεις. ἴδοι δ' ἄν τις τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὑομένων
ὑδάτων· ὅπου ἂν πλείονα χρόνον συστῇ τὸ ὕδωρ, πάλιν
ἀποξηραινόμενον γίνεται τῷ χρώματι ποῶδες. κατὰ λόγον
25 δὲ συμβαίνει καὶ τὸ πρῶτον ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς φυομένοις τοῦτο
συνίστασθαι τῶν χρωμάτων. τὰ γὰρ ὕδατα πάντα χρονιζόμενα
κατ' ἀρχὰς μὲν γίνεται χλωρά, κεραννύμενα ταῖς
τοῦ ἡλίου αὐγαῖς, κατὰ μικρὸν δὲ μελαινόμενα, πάλιν
μιγνύμενα τῷ χλωρῷ, γίνεται ποώδη. τὸ γὰρ ὑγρόν,
30 ὥσπερ εἴρηται, καθ' ἑαυτὸ παλαιούμενον καὶ καταξηραινόμενον
μελαίνεται, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ ἐν ταῖς δεξαμεναῖς
κονιάματα· καὶ γὰρ τούτων ὅσα μέν ἐστιν ἀεὶ καθ' ὕδατος,
ταῦτα μὲν ἅπαντα γίγνεται μέλανα διὰ τὸ καθ'
αὑτὰ μὴ ξηραίνεσθαι διαψυχόμενον τὸ ὑγρόν, ὅσον δ'
this colour and is quickly absorbed to promote the growth of the fruit. 20But when the fruit ceases to grow because the liquid nourishment which flows into it no longer predominates, but the moisture on the contrary is consumed by the heat—then it is that all fruit becomes ripe; and the moisture already present in it being heated by the sun and the warmth of the atmosphere, each species of fruit takes its colour from its juice, just as dyed material takes the hue of the colouring matter in which it is 25steeped. This is why fruits colour gradually, those parts of them which face the sun and heat being most affected; it is also the reason why all fruits change their colour with the changing seasons. This explanation agrees with the observed facts; for all fruits, as soon as they begin to ripen, change from herbgreen to their normal proper colour. They become white and black and grey and yellow and blackish+ and dusky and crimson 30and wine-coloured and saffron—in fact, assume° practically every variety of colour. Since most hues are the result of the blending of several colours, the hues of plants must certainly also be due to the same blends; for the moisture percolating through the plants washes and carries along with it all the ingredients on which their colours depend.
795a
1 ἀπαντλούμενον ἡλιοῦται, τὸ μὲν ποῶδες γίνεται διὰ τὸ τὸ
ξανθὸν τῷ μέλανι κεράννυσθαι. μᾶλλον μὲν οὖν τοῦ ὑγροῦ
μελαινομένου τὸ ποῶδες γίνεται κατακορὲς ἰσχυρῶς καὶ
πρασοειδές. διὸ καὶ πάντων οἱ παλαιοὶ βλαστοὶ πολὺ
5 μᾶλλόν εἰσι τῶν νέων μέλανες· οἱ δὲ ξανθότεροι διὰ τὸ
μήπω τὸ ὑγρὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς μελαίνεσθαι. τῆς γὰρ αὐξήσεως
αὐτῶν βραδυτέρας γιγνομένης, καὶ τῆς ὑγρασίας πολὺν
χρόνον ἐμμενούσης, διὰ τὸ ψυχόμενον ἰσχυρῶς μελαίνεσθαι
τὸ ὑγρόν, γίνεται πρασοειδὲς ἀκράτῳ τῷ μέλανι
10 κεραννύμενον. ἐν ὅσοις δὲ τὸ ὑγρὸν μὴ μίγνυται ταῖς τοῦ
ἡλίου αὐγαῖς, τούτων διαμένει τὸ χρῶμα λευκόν, ἐὰν μὴ
χρονιζόμενον καὶ καταξηραινόμενον μελανθῇ πρότερον. διὸ
καὶ τὰ μὲν ὑπὲρ γῆς χλωρὰ πάντων τῶν φυομένων τὸ
πρῶτόν ἐστι, τὰ δὲ κατὰ γῆς, καυλοὶ καὶ ῥίζαι λευκαί.
15 καὶ οἱ βλαστοὶ κατὰ γῆς μὲν ὄντες εἰσὶ λευκοί, περιαιρεθείσης
δὲ τῆς γῆς τὸ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ὡς προείρηται, πάντες
γίγνονται ποιώδεις διὰ τὸ καὶ τὴν ὑγρασίαν τὴν διὰ
τῶν βλαστῶν εἰς αὐτοὺς διηθουμένην τοιαύτην ἔχειν τὴν τοῦ
χρώματος φύσιν, καὶ ταχέως αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν αὔξησιν καταναλίσκεσθαι
20 τὴν τῶν καρπῶν· ὅταν δὲ μηκέτι αὐξάνωνται
διὰ τὸ μὴ κρατεῖν ἤδη τὸ θερμὸν τῆς ἐπιρρεούσης τροφῆς,
ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὐναντίον ἀναλύηται τὸ ὑγρὸν ὑπὸ τῆς
θερμότητος. ὅταν δὲ πεπαίνωνται οἱ καρποὶ πάντες, καὶ
τῆς ὑπαρχούσης ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑγρασίας συνεψομένης ὑπό τε
25 τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τῆς τοῦ ἀέρος θερμότητος ἕκαστοι ἀπολαμβάνουσι
τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν φυτῶν χρόας, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ βαπτόμενα
τῶν ἀνθῶν. διὸ κατὰ μικρὸν χρώζονται, καὶ
μάλιστα αὐτῶν τὰ πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἐστραμμένα καὶ τὴν
ἀλέαν. ὥστε καὶ τὰς χρόας αὐτῶν ἅμα ταῖς ὥραις ἁπάντων
30 μεταβάλλειν. φανερὸν δὲ τοῦτο ἐστίν· οἱ γὰρ τοῦ ποώδους
χρώματος ἅπαντες ἤδη πεπαινόμενοι μεταβάλλουσιν
εἰς τὸ κατὰ φύσιν χρῶμα. καὶ γὰρ λευκοὶ καὶ μέλανες
καὶ φαιοὶ καὶ ξανθοὶ καὶ μελανοειδεῖς καὶ σκιοειδεῖς καὶ
1When this moisture is heated up by the sun and the warmth of the atmosphere at the time of the ripening of the fruit, each of the colours forms separately, some quickly and some slowly. The same thing happens 5in the process of dyeing with purple; when, after breaking up the shell and extracting all the moisture from it, they pour it into earthenware vessels and boil it, at first no definite colour is noticeable in the dye, because, as the liquid boils more and 10more and the colours still remaining in the vessels mix together, each of the hues gradually undergoes a great variety of alterations; for black and white and brown and hazy shades appear, and finally the dye all turns purple, when the colours are sufficiently 15boiled up together; so as a result of the blending no other colour is separately noticeable. This is just what happens with fruit. In many instances, because the maturing of all the colours does not take place simultaneously, but some colours form earlier and 20others later, changes from one to another take place, as in the case of grapes and dates. Some of these are crimson at first; but when black colour forms in them, they turn to a wine colour, and in the end they become of a dark-bluish hue, when the crimson is 25finally mixed with a large quantity of pure black. For the colours which appear late, when they predominate, change the earlier colours. This is best seen in black fruits; for, broadly speaking, most of them, as has already been remarked, first change from 30herb-green to a pinkish shade and become reddish, but quickly change again from the reddish hue and become dark blue because of the pure black present in them.
795b
1 φοινικιοῖ καὶ οἰνωποὶ καὶ κροκοειδεῖς καὶ σχεδὸν ἁπάσας
ἔχοντες γίγνονται τὰς τῶν χρωμάτων διαφοράς. ἐπεὶ δὲ
τὰ πλεῖστα γίνεται τῶν χρωμάτων πλειόνων κεραννυμένων
ἀλλήλοις, φανερὸν ὅτι καὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς φυτοῖς χρόας
5 ἀνάγκη τὰς αὐτὰς ἔχειν κράσεις· διὰ γὰρ τούτων τὸ ὑγρὸν
διηθούμενον, καὶ μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ συνεκκλύζον, ἁπάσας λαμβάνει
τὰς τῶν χρωμάτων δυνάμεις. καὶ τούτου συνεψομένου
περὶ τὰς τῶν καρπῶν πέψεις ὑπό τε τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τῆς
τοῦ ἀέρος θερμότητος, ἕκαστα καθ' ἑαυτὰ συνίσταται τῶν
10 χρωμάτων, τὰ μὲν θᾶττον τὰ δὲ βραδύτερον, καθάπερ
συμβαίνει καὶ περὶ τὴν βαφὴν τὴν τῆς πορφύρας. καὶ
γὰρ ταύτην ὅταν κόψαντες ἅπασαν ἐξ αὐτῆς τὴν ὑγρασίαν
ἐκκλύσωσι, καὶ ταύτην ἐγχέαντες ἕψωσιν ἐν ταῖς
χύτραις, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον οὐδὲν ὅλως ἐν τῇ βαφῇ τῶν
15 χρωμάτων φανερόν ἐστι διὰ τὸ κατὰ μικρὸν ἕκαστον αὐτῶν
τοῦ ὑγροῦ συνεψομένου μᾶλλον καὶ τῶν ἔτι ὑπαρχόντων
ἐν αὐτοῖς χρωμάτων μιγνυμένων ἀλλήλοις πολλὰς
καὶ ποικίλας λαμβάνειν διαφοράς· καὶ γὰρ μέλαν
καὶ λευκὸν καὶ ὄρφνιον καὶ ἀεροειδὲς καὶ τότε ἅπαν γίνεται
20 συνεψηθέντων, ὥστε διὰ τὴν κρᾶσιν μηκέτι καθ' αὑτὸ
μηδὲν τῶν ἄλλων χρωμάτων φανερὸν εἶναι. τὸ δ' αὐτὸ
τοῦτο συμβαίνει καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν καρπῶν. ἐν πολλοῖς γὰρ διὰ
τὸ μὴ πάσας ἅμα γίνεσθαι τὰς τῶν χρωμάτων πέψεις,
ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν αὐτῶν συνίστασθαι πρότερον τὰ δ' ὕστερον,
25 ἐξ ἑτέρων εἰς ἕτερα μεταβάλλουσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ βότρυες
καὶ οἱ φοίνικες. καὶ γὰρ τούτων ἔνιοι τὸ μὲν πρῶτον γίνονται
φοινικοῖ, τοῦ δὲ μέλανος ἐν αὐτῷ συνισταμένου μεταβάλλουσι
πάλιν εἰς τὸ οἰνωπόν· τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον γίνονται
κυανοειδεῖς, ὅταν ἤδη καὶ τὸ φοινικιοῦν πολλῷ καὶ
30 ἀκράτῳ τῷ μέλανι μιχθῇ. τὰ γὰρ ὕστερον ἐπιγινόμενα
τῶν χρωμάτων, ὅταν κρατήσῃ, τὰς προτέρας χρόας ἐξαλλάττει.
μάλιστα δὲ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῶν μελάνων καρπῶν
φανερόν ἐστιν· σχεδὸν γὰρ αὐτῶν οἱ πλεῖστοι, καθάπερ
1The presence of crimson is proved by the fact that the twigs and shoots and leaves of all such plants are crimson,® because that colour is present in them in large quantities; while 5that black fruits partake of both colours is clear from the fact that their juice is always of a wine colour. Now the crimson hues come into existence at an earlier stage in growth than the black. This is clear from the fact that 10pavement upon which there is any dripping, and, generally speaking, any spot where is a slight flow of water in a shady place, always turn first from herb-green to a crimson colour, and the pavement be seen from the following 15examples. The fruit of the pomegranate and the petals of roses are white at first, but in the end, when the juices in them are beginning to be tinged as they mature, they alter their colours and change to violet and crimson 20hues. Other parts of plants have a number of shades, for example the juice of the poppy and the scum of olive oil; for this is white at first, as is the fruit of the pomegranate, but, after being white,! it changes to crimson, and 25finally mingling with a large quantity of black it becomes of a dark-bluish hue. So, too, the petals of the poppy are crimson at their ends, because the process of maturation takes place quickly there, but at their base they 30are black, because this colour is already predominant at that end; just as it predominates in the° fruit, which also finally becomes black.
796a
1 εἴρηται, κατ' ἀρχὰς μὲν ἐκ τοῦ ποώδους μεταβάλλοντες
μικρὸν ἐπιφοινικίζουσι καὶ γίνονται πυρροί, ταχὺ δὲ μεθίστανται
πάλιν ἐκ τοῦ πυρροῦ καὶ ἀκράτου τοῦ μέλανος ἐν
τοῖς τοιούτοις ἐνυπάρχοντος. δηλοῖ δέ· καὶ γὰρ τὰ κλήματα
5 καὶ τὰ ἔρια καὶ τὰ φύλλα πάντων ἐστὶ τῶν τοιούτων
μέλανα διὰ τὸ πλείστην ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑπάρχειν τὴν τοιαύτην
χρόαν, ἐπεὶ διότι γε τῶν καρπῶν οἱ μέλανες ἀμφοτέρων
τῶν χρωμάτων μετέχουσι, φανερόν ἐστιν· πάντων
γὰρ ὁ χυλὸς γίνεται τῶν τοιούτων οἰνωπός. τὰ δὲ χρώματα
10 ἐν τῇ γενέσει προτερεῖ τὰ φοινικιᾶ τῶν μελάνων.
δηλοῖ δέ· καὶ γὰρ τὰ ὑπὸ τοὺς σταλαγμοὺς ἐδάφη, καὶ
ὅλως ὅπου συμβαίνει γίνεσθαι μετρία ὑδάτων ἔκρυσις ἐν
τόποις σκιεροῖς, ἅπαντα μεταβάλλει πρῶτον ἐκ τοῦ ποώδους
εἰς τὸ φοινικιοῦν χρῶμα, καὶ γίνεται τὸ ἔδαφος ὡς
15 ἂν αἵματος ἀρτίως ἐπεσφαγμένου κατὰ τὸν τόπον τοῦτον,
καθ' ὃν ἂν λάβῃ τὸ ποῶδες τῶν χρωμάτων τὴν πέψιν·
τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον καὶ τοῦτο μέλαν ἰσχυρῶς γίνεται καὶ
κυανοειδές. ὅπερ συμβαίνει καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν καρπῶν. ὅτι δὲ
χρωμάτων ὕστερον ἐπιγινομένων, ὅταν κρατῆται τὰ πρότερον,
20 τὸ χρῶμα τῶν καρπῶν μεταβάλλει, καὶ διὰ τῶν
τοιούτων ῥᾴδιον συνιδεῖν. καὶ γὰρ τῆς ῥοιᾶς ὁ καρπὸς καὶ
τὰ τῶν ῥόδων φύλλα κατ' ἀρχὰς μὲν γίνεται λευκά, τὸ
δὲ τελευταῖον ἤδη χρωζομένων ἐν αὐτοῖς τῶν χυλῶν ὑπὸ
τῆς πέψεως ἀποχραίνεται, καὶ μεταβάλλει πάλιν εἰς τὸ
25 τοῦ ἁλουργοῦ χρῶμα καὶ τὸ φοινικιοῦν. τὰ δὲ καὶ πλείους
ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἔχει χρόας, καθάπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς μήκωνος ὁ
ὀπὸς καὶ τῆς ἐλαίας ὁ ἀμόργης· καὶ γὰρ οὗτος τὸ μὲν
πρῶτον γίνεται λευκός, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ τῆς ῥοιᾶς καρπός,
λευκανθεὶς δὲ πάλιν εἰς τὸ φοινικιοῦν μεταβάλλει χρῶμα,
30 τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον πολλῷ τῷ μέλανι κραθεὶς γίνεται κυανοειδής.
διὸ καὶ τὰ τῆς μήκωνος φύλλα τὰ μὲν ἄνω ἔχει
φοινικιοῦντα παρὰ τὸ γίνεσθαι ταχεῖαν αὐτῶν τὴν ἔκπεψιν,
τὰ δὲ πρὸς ταῖς ἀρχαῖς μέλανα, ἤδη τούτου τοῦ
1In the case of plants which have only one colour—white, for example, or black or crimson or violet—the fruit always keeps a single kind of colour, when once it has changed from _ herb-green to another colour. Sometimes the 5blossoms are of the same colour as the fruit—as, for instance, in the pomegranate, the fruit and blossoms of which are both crimson; but sometimes they are of very dissimilar hues— as, for example, in the bay-tree and the ivy, whose blossoms are always yellow, but their fruit 10respectively black and crimson. The same is true of the apple-tree; its blossom is white with a tinge of pink, while its fruit is yellow. In the poppy the flower is crimson, but the fruit may be black white, according to the different time at which the juices present in the plant 15ripen. The truth of the last statement can be seen from many examples; for, as has been said, some fruits come to differ greatly as they ripen. This is why the peculiar odours and flavours of flowers and fruits differ so much. This effect of the time of ripening is still more 20evident in the actual blossoms. For part of the same petal may be black and part crimson, or, in other cases, part white and part purplish. The best example of all is the iris; for its blossom shows a great variety of hues 2. λευκανθείς is perhaps to be suspected, and may be due 25to λευκός; possibly ἀποχρανθείς should be read, cp. 1. 2.
according to the different states of maturation in its different parts, just as grapes do when they are already ripening. Therefore the extremities of blossoms always ripen most completely, whilst the parts near the vital 30principles of the plant have much less colour; for in some cases the moisture is, as it were, burnt out before the blossom undergoes its proper process of maturation.
according to the different states of maturation in its different parts, just as grapes do when they are already ripening. Therefore the extremities of blossoms always ripen most completely, whilst the parts near the vital 30principles of the plant have much less colour; for in some cases the moisture is, as it were, burnt out before the blossom undergoes its proper process of maturation.
796b
1 χρώματος ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐπικρατοῦντος, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ καρποῦ·
καὶ γὰρ τὸ τελευταῖον γίνεται μέλας. ἐν ὅσοις δ'
ὑπάρχει τῶν φυτῶν ἓν χρῶμα μόνον, οἷον τὸ λευκὸν ἢ
τὸ μέλαν ἢ τὸ φοινικιοῦν ἢ τὸ ἁλουργές, τούτων δὲ πάντων
5 οἱ καρποὶ διαμένουσιν ἀεὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχοντες τοῦ χρώματος
φύσιν, ὅταν ἅπαξ ἐκ τοῦ ποώδους εἰς ἄλλην χρόαν
μεταβάλλωσιν. τὰ δ' ἄνθη τοῖς καρποῖς ἐπ' ἐνίων μὲν
ὁμόχροα συμβαίνει γίνεσθαι, καθάπερ ἔχει καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς
ῥοιᾶς· καὶ γὰρ ὁ καρπὸς αὐτῆς γίνεται φοινικιοῦς καὶ τὸ
10 ἄνθος· ἐπ' ἐνίων δὲ πολὺ τῷ χρώματι διαφέρει, οἷον ἐπί
τε τῆς δάφνης καὶ τοῦ κιττοῦ· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἄνθος ἐστὶν αὐτῶν
ἁπάντων ξανθόν, ὁ δὲ καρπὸς τῶν μὲν μέλας τῶν
δὲ φοινικιοῦς. ὁμοίως δ' ἔχει καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς μηλέας· καὶ
γὰρ ταύτης τὸ μὲν ἄνθος ἐστὶ λευκὸν ἐπιπορφυρίζον, ὁ δὲ
15 καρπὸς ξανθός. τῆς δὲ μήκωνος τὸ μὲν ἄνθος φοινικιοῦν,
ὁ δὲ καρπὸς ὁ μὲν μέλας ὁ δὲ λευκός, παρὰ τὸ καὶ τὰς
πέψεις τῶν ἐνυπαρχόντων ἐν αὐτοῖς χυλῶν κατ' ἄλλους
γίνεσθαι χρόνους. ῥᾴδιον δὲ τοῦτο ἐκ πολλῶν συνιδεῖν· καὶ
γὰρ τῶν καρπῶν ἔνιοι, καθάπερ εἴρηται, πολλὰς διαφορὰς
20 ἅμα τῇ πέψει λαμβάνουσιν. διὸ καὶ τὰς ὀσμὰς καὶ
τοὺς χυλοὺς πολὺ διαφόρους συμβαίνει τοῖς ἄνθεσι καὶ τοῖς
καρποῖς συνακολουθεῖν. ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον τοῦτό ἐστιν ἐπ' αὐτῶν
τῶν ἀνθῶν φανερόν· τοῦ γὰρ αὐτοῦ φύλλου τὸ μέν ἐστι
μέλαν τὸ δὲ φοινικιοῦν, ἐνίων δὲ τὸ μέν τι λευκὸν τὸ δὲ
25 πορφυροειδές. οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ τοῦτο φανερόν ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῆς
ἴριδος· πολλὰς γὰρ ἔχει καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἄνθος ἐν αὑτῷ ποικιλίας
παρὰ τὰς τῆς πέψεως διαφοράς, ὥσπερ καὶ τῶν
βοτρύων, ὅταν ἤδη πεπαινόμενοι τυγχάνωσιν. διὸ καὶ πάντων
μάλιστα συμβαίνει πέττεσθαι τῶν ἀνθῶν τὰ ἄκρα,
30 τὰ δὲ πρὸς ταῖς ἀρχαῖς ἀχρούστερα γίνεται πολλῷ. σχεδὸν
γὰρ ἐνίων ὥσπερ ἐκκάεται τὸ ὑγρὸν πρότερον ἢ λαβεῖν τὴν
οἰκείαν πέψιν. διὸ καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄνθη τῷ χρώματι διαμένει,
οἱ δὲ καρποὶ πεττόμενοι μεταβάλλουσιν· τὰ μὲν γὰρ διὰ
1It is for this reason that the blossoms remain the same in colour, while the fruit changes it grows riper; for the former, owing to the presence of only a small amount of nutriment, soon over-mature, 5while the fruit, owing to the presence of a large quantity of moisture, changes as it ripens to all the various hues which are natural to it. This can also be seen, as has already been remarked, in the process of colour-dyeing. When in dyeing purple they 10put in the colouring matter from the vein of the purple-fish,! at first it turns brown and black and hazy; but when the dye has been boiled sufficiently, a vivid, bright violet appears. So it must be from similar reasons that the blossoms of a plant frequently 15differ in colour from its fruit, and that some pass to a stage beyond, whilst others never attain to their natural colour, according as they do do not mature thoroughly. For these reasons, then, blossoms and fruit differ from one another in their 20colouring.
finally becomes yellow. The leaves of the pear-tree and the arbutus and some other trees become crimson when they mature; but the leaves even of these, if they dry up quickly, turn yellow, because the nutriment fails before maturity is reached. 25It seems very probable then that the differences of colour in plants are due to the above causes.
settles 1 owing to its abundance. So, too, with the pubes and beard; when the hair is just beginning to grow on the pubic region and chin, it also is reddish 30at first, because the moisture in it, being scanty, quickly dries up, but the nutriment is carried more and more to those regions the hair turns black.
finally becomes yellow. The leaves of the pear-tree and the arbutus and some other trees become crimson when they mature; but the leaves even of these, if they dry up quickly, turn yellow, because the nutriment fails before maturity is reached. 25It seems very probable then that the differences of colour in plants are due to the above causes.
settles 1 owing to its abundance. So, too, with the pubes and beard; when the hair is just beginning to grow on the pubic region and chin, it also is reddish 30at first, because the moisture in it, being scanty, quickly dries up, but the nutriment is carried more and more to those regions the hair turns black.
797a
1 μικρότητα τῆς τροφῆς ταχέως ἐκπέττεται, οἱ δὲ καρποὶ
διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς ὑγρασίας εἰς πάσας ἅμα τῇ πέψει τὰς
κατὰ φύσιν χρόας μεταβάλλουσιν. φανερὸν δὲ τοῦτο ἐστί,
καθάπερ εἴρηται πρότερον, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν βαπτομένων ἀνθῶν.
5 τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ὅταν βάπτοντες τὴν πορφύραν καθιῶσι
τὰς αἱματίδας, ὄρφνιαι γίνονται καὶ μέλαιναι καὶ
ἀεροειδεῖς· τοῦ δ' ἄνθους συνεψηθέντος ἱκανῶς ἁλουργὲς γίνεται
εὐανθὲς καὶ λαμπρόν. ὥστ' ἀνάγκη καὶ τῶν ἀνθῶν
ὁμοίως πολλὰ τοῖς χρώμασι τῶν καρπῶν διαλλάττειν,
10 καὶ τὰ μὲν ὑπερβαίνειν τὰ δὲ ἀπολείπειν τῶν κατὰ
φύσιν χρωμάτων, διὰ τὸ τῶν μὲν ἀτελῆ τῶν δὲ τελείαν
γίνεσθαι τὴν πέψιν. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄνθη καὶ τοὺς καρποὺς διὰ
ταύτας τὰς αἰτίας συμβαίνει τοῖς χρώμασιν ἀλλήλων διαφέρειν·
τὰ δὲ φύλλα τῶν πλείστων δένδρων τὸ τελευταῖον
15 γίνεται ξανθὰ διὰ τὸ τῆς τροφῆς ὑπολειπούσης φθάνειν
αὐτὰ καταξηραινόμενα πρότερον ἢ μεταβάλλειν εἰς τὸ κατὰ
φύσιν χρῶμα, ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν ἀπορρεόντων καρπῶν ἔνιοι γίνονται
τῷ χρώματι ξανθοὶ διὰ τὸ καὶ τούτων τῆς πέψεως
πρότερον τὴν τροφὴν ὑπολείπειν. ἔτι δὲ ὅ τε σῖτος καὶ τὰ
20 φυόμενα πάντα· καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα τὸ τελευταῖον γίνεται
ξανθά. τὸ γὰρ ὑγρὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς οὐκέτι μελαινόμενον διὰ τὸ
καταξηραίνεσθαι ταχέως ποιεῖ τὴν τοῦ χρώματος μεταβολήν.
μελαινόμενον γὰρ καὶ τῷ χλωρῷ κεραννύμενον γίνεται,
καθάπερ εἴρηται, ποῶδες· ἀσθενεστέρου δὲ τοῦ μέλανος
25 ἀεὶ γινομένου, πάλιν κατὰ μικρὸν εἰς τὸ χλωρὸν μεταβάλλει
χρῶμα, καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον γίνεται ξανθόν, ἐπεὶ τά γε
τῆς ἀπίου φύλλα καὶ τῆς ἀνδράχνης καί τινων ἄλλων
πεττόμενα γίνεται φοινικιᾶ. πλὴν ὅσα καὶ τούτων καταξηραίνεται
ταχέως, ταῦτα γίνεται ξανθὰ διὰ τὸ τούτων πρὸ
30 τῆς πέψεως τὴν τροφὴν ὑπολείπειν. τὰς μὲν οὖν τῶν φυτῶν
διαφορὰς μάλιστα εὔλογον συμβαίνειν διὰ τὰς εἰρημένας
αἰτίας.
1But the hair on the rest of the body remains reddish for a considerable time owing to lack of nutriment; for as long as it is growing, it keeps on turning black like the pubes and the hair of the head. This 5is clear from the fact that hairs which have any length are generally blacker near the body and yellower towards the ends, because the moisture which reaches these parts of them is very scanty and soon dries up. This is the case with the hair of sheep and 10horses as well as with human hair;? the feathers, too, of black birds are in all cases darker to near the body and lighter at the ends. The same is the case with the parts about the neck and, generally speaking, any part which receives scanty nutriment. This 15can be illustrated by the fact that before turning grey all hair changes colour and becomes reddish, because the nutriment again fails and dries up quickly; finally it becomes white, because the nutriment in it is completely matured before the moisture 20turns black. This can be illustrated from the parts of beasts of burden which are under the yoke; here the hair always turns white, for in those parts because, owing to the feebleness of the heat, they cannot draw up much nourishment as the rest of the body, 25the moisture quickly dries up and turns white. So men tend especially to turn grey in the region of the temples, and generally speaking in any part which is weak and ailing. So, too, white is the colour to which more than any other a change tends to take 30place in instances of deviation from natural colour. For example, a hare has been known before now
Chapter 6 (797a33–799b20)
Γίνεται δὲ καὶ τὰ τριχώματα καὶ τὰ πτερώματα
καὶ τὰ δέρματα καὶ ἵππων καὶ βοῶν καὶ προβάτων καὶ
35 ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ἁπάντων καὶ λευκὰ καὶ
to be white—while black hares have also been seen!—and similarly white deer and bears have sometimes occurred; similarly white quails, partridges, and swallows.
797b
1 φαιὰ καὶ πυρρὰ καὶ μέλανα διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν, λευκὰ
μὲν ὅταν ἔτι ὑπὸ τῆς πέψεως τὸ ὑγρὸν τὸ οἰκεῖον ἔχον
χρῶμα καταξηρανθῇ, μέλανα δὲ τοὐναντίον ὅταν αὐτῶν ἐν
τῇ γενέσει τὸ περὶ τὸν χρῶτα ὑγρόν, καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις
5 ἅπασι, παλαιούμενον καὶ χρονιζόμενον διὰ τὸ πλῆθος
μελανθῇ· πάντων γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων ὅ τε χρὼς καὶ τὰ δέρματα
γίνεται μέλανα. φαιὰ δὲ καὶ πυρρὰ καὶ ξανθὰ καὶ
τὰς ἄλλας ἔχοντα χρόας, ὅσα φθάνει καταξηραινόμενα
πρότερον ἢ τελέως ἐν αὐτοῖς μεταβάλλειν εἰς τὸ μέλαν
10 χρῶμα τὸ ὑγρόν. οἷς δ' ἂν ἀνωμάλως τοῦτο συμβῇ, καὶ τὰ
χρώματα τοιαῦτα γίνεται ποικίλα. διὸ καὶ πάντα τοῖς
δέρμασι καὶ τῷ χρώματι συνακολουθεῖ, ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων
τῶν ἐμπύρρων καὶ τὰ τριχώματα γίνεται λευκόπυρρα,
τῶν δὲ μελάνων μέλανα· κἂν κατὰ μέρος τι τοῦ
15 σώματος ἐξανθήσῃ λεύκη, καὶ τὰς τρίχας ἴσχουσιν ἅπαντες
λευκὰς κατὰ τὸν τόπον τοῦτον, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ ποικίλα
τῶν ζῴων. οὕτως ἅπαντα τὰ τριχώματα καὶ τὰ πτερώματα
τοῖς δέρμασι συνακολουθεῖ, καὶ τὰ κατὰ μέρος καὶ
τὰ κατὰ σῶμα ὅλον. ὁμοίως δὲ τούτοις ὁπλαὶ καὶ χηλαὶ
20 καὶ ῥύγχη καὶ κέρατα· καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα τῶν μὲν μελάνων
γίνεται μέλανα, τῶν δὲ λευκῶν λευκά, διὰ τὸ καὶ τούτοις
ἅπασι διὰ τοῦ δέρματος τὴν τροφὴν εἰς τὴν ἐκτὸς περιοχὴν
διηθεῖσθαι. ὅτι δὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν αἴτιον, οὐ χαλεπὸν ἐκ πολλῶν
συνιδεῖν. τῶν τε γὰρ παιδίων ἁπάντων αἱ κεφαλαὶ κατ'
25 ἀρχὰς μὲν γίνονται πυρραὶ διὰ τὴν ὀλιγότητα τῆς τροφῆς.
φανερὸν δὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν· καὶ γὰρ ἀσθενεῖς αἱ τρίχες καὶ
ἀραιαὶ καὶ βραχεῖαι τὸ πρῶτον ἅπασιν ἐπιγίνονται τοῖς
παιδίοις. προϊούσης δὲ τῆς ἡλικίας μελαίνονται πάλιν χρωζομένοις
αὐτοῖς διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς ἐπιρρεούσης τροφῆς.
30 ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τὴν ἥβην καὶ τὸ γένειον, ὅταν ἄρχωνται
τὸ πρῶτον ἡβᾶν καὶ γενειᾶν, καὶ αὗται γίνονται κατ'
ἀρχὰς μὲν πυρραὶ ταχέως διὰ τὴν ὀλιγότητα τῆς ὑγρασίας
ἐν αὐταῖς καταξηραινομένης, τῆς τροφῆς δὲ πλέον
ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον ἐπιφερομένης μελαίνονται πάλιν. αἱ δὲ ἐπὶ
35 τοῦ σώματος πλεῖστον χρόνον πυρραὶ διαμένουσι διὰ τὴν ἔνδειαν
1For all these creatures, when weak in their growth, come to maturity too soon owing to lack of nutriment, and so turn white. 5Similarly some infants at birth have white hair and eyelashes and eyebrows, a circumstance which normally occurs when old age is coming on and is then clearly 10due to weakness and lack of nutriment. Therefore in most classes of animals the white specimens are weaker than the black; for, owing to lack of nutriment, they 15over-mature before their growth is complete, and so turn white, just as does fruit when it is unhealthy; for fruit is still more apt to get over-mature 20through weakness. But when animals grow white and at the same time are far superior to the rest of their species, as is the case with horses and dogs,” the change 25from their natural colour to white is due to generous nutriment. For in such animals the moisture, not settling long, but being absorbed in the process of 30growth, does not turn black. Such animals are soft and well covered with flesh, because they are well nourished, and white hairs, therefore, never change colour.
798a
1 τῆς τροφῆς, ἐπεὶ καθ' ὃν ἂν χρόνον αὐξηθῶσι, καὶ
ταύτας ὁμοίως συμβαίνει μελαίνεσθαι καθάπερ καὶ τὰς
ἐπὶ τῆς ἥβης καὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς. φανερὸν δ' ἐστίν· καὶ γὰρ
ὅσα μῆκος ἔχει τῶν τριχωμάτων, ὡς τὸ πολύ ἐστι τὰ μὲν
5 πρὸς τῷ σώματι μελάντερα, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τοῖς ἄκροις ξανθότερα.
καὶ αἱ μὲν τῶν προβάτων καὶ ἵππων καὶ ἀνθρώπων,
διὰ τὸ τὴν τροφὴν ἐλαχίστην αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τούτους φέρεσθαι
τοὺς τόπους, καὶ καταξηραίνεσθαι ταχέως. γίνονται
δὲ καὶ τὰ πτερώματα τῶν μελάνων ὀρνίθων τὰ μὲν πρὸς
10 τῷ σώματι μελάντερα πάντων, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τοῖς ἄκροις
ξανθότερα. τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον τοῦτον καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν
τράχηλον, καὶ ὅλως ὅσα βραχεῖαν τὴν τροφὴν λαμβάνει.
δῆλον δέ· καὶ γὰρ πρὸ τῆς πολιώσεως ἅπαντα τὰ τριχώματα
μεταβάλλει καὶ γίνεται πυρρὰ διὰ τὸ πάλιν τὴν
15 τροφὴν ὑπολείπουσαν καταξηραίνεσθαι ταχέως. τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον
λευκά, πρότερον ἢ μελανθῆναι τὸ ὑγρόν, τῆς τροφῆς
ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐκπεττομένης. μάλιστα δὲ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῶν ὑποζυγίων
φανερόν ἐστιν· πάντων γὰρ τὰ τριχώματα γίνεται
λευκά. τῶν γὰρ τόπων οὐ δυναμένων ὁμοίως ἐπισπᾶσθαι
20 τὴν τροφὴν διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τὴν τοῦ θερμοῦ, ταχέως καταξηραινόμενον
τὸ ὑγρὸν γίνεται λευκόν. καὶ τὰ περὶ τοὺς
κροτάφους μάλιστα πάντων πολιοῦνται, καὶ ὅλως περὶ τοὺς
ἀσθενεῖς καὶ πεπονηκότας τῶν τόπων. παρὸ καὶ παρὰ πάντα
μάλιστα εἰς τοῦτο τὸ χρῶμα μεταβάλλει, ὅταν τὴν φύσιν
25 παραλλάξῃ τὴν οἰκείαν. καὶ γὰρ λαγὼς ἤδη γέγονε
λευκός, καὶ μέλας δέ ποτε πέφηνε καὶ ἔλαφος καὶ ἄρκτος,
ὁμοίως δὲ τούτοις καὶ ὄρτυξ καὶ πέρδιξ καὶ χελιδών.
ὅταν γὰρ ἀσθενήσωσι τῇ γενέσει, πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα διὰ
τὴν ὀλιγότητα τῆς τροφῆς πρὸ ὥρας ἐκπεττόμενα γίνεται
30 λευκά. οὕτως καὶ τὰ τῶν παίδων εὐθὺς καὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς
ἴσχει λευκὰς καὶ τὰ βλέφαρα καὶ τὰς ὀφρῦς, ὥσπερ καὶ
τῶν ἄλλων ἑκάστῳ πρὸς τὸ γῆρας φανερῶς ἅπασι δι' ἀσθένειαν
καὶ ὀλιγότητα [τῆς τροφῆς] συμβαίνει τὸ πάθος. διὸ
1This is clear from the fact that black hairs, when the nutriment in them fails and matures too completely, turn reddish before they grow grey, but finally turn 5white. Yet some people hold that hair always turns black because its nutriment is burnt up by heat, just blood and all other substances turn black under these conditions; but they are in error, 10for individuals of some species of animals are black from birth—dogs, for example, and goats, and oxen, and, generally speaking, those creatures whose skin and hair get nutriment from the very first— 15but they are less black as they get older. If their supposition were correct this ought not to be the case, but it would necessarily follow that the hair of all animals would turn black at their 20prime, when heat predominates in them, and that they would be more likely to be grey at first.
For in the beginning the heat is always somewhat weaker than at the time when the hair begins to turn 25white. This is clear in the case of white animals also. Some of them are very white in colour at birth, those, namely, which at first have an abundance of nutriment, the moisture in which has not been 30prematurely dried up; but as they grow older their hair turns yellow, because less nutriment afterwards flows into it.
For in the beginning the heat is always somewhat weaker than at the time when the hair begins to turn 25white. This is clear in the case of white animals also. Some of them are very white in colour at birth, those, namely, which at first have an abundance of nutriment, the moisture in which has not been 30prematurely dried up; but as they grow older their hair turns yellow, because less nutriment afterwards flows into it.
798b
1 καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν ζῴων ἀσθενέστερα γίνεται τὰ λευκὰ
τῶν μελάνων· πρότερον γὰρ ἢ τὴν αὔξησιν αὐτῶν τελειωθῆναι
διὰ τὴν ὀλιγότητα τῆς τροφῆς ἐκπεττόμενα γίνεται
λευκά, καθάπερ καὶ τῶν καρπῶν ὅσοι νενοσηκότες τυγχάνουσιν·
5 καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι πολὺ μᾶλλον δι' ἀσθένειαν ἐκπέττονται.
ὅσα δὲ γίνεται λευκά, πολὺ διαφέροντα ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων,
οἷον ἵπποι καὶ κύνες. τὰ δὲ τοιαῦτα μεταβάλλει
πάντα ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν χρώματος εἰς τὸ λευκὸν διὰ τὴν
εὐτροφίαν. τὸ γὰρ ὑγρὸν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις οὐ χρονιζόμενον,
10 ἀλλ' ἀναλισκόμενον διὰ τὴν αὔξησιν, οὐ γίνεται μέλαν.
τὰ πλεῖστα γάρ ἐστι τῶν τοιούτων ὑγρὰ καὶ εὔσαρκα διὰ τὴν
εὐτροφίαν. διόπερ οὐδὲ μεταβάλλει τὰ λευκὰ τῶν τριχωμάτων.
φανερὸν δὲ τοῦτο ἐστίν· καὶ γὰρ τὰ μέλανα πρότερον
τῆς πολιώσεως γίνεται πυρρά, ἤδη τῆς τροφῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς
15 ὑπολειπούσης καὶ μᾶλλον ἐκπεττομένης, τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον
λευκά. καίτοι τινὲς ὑπολαμβάνουσι μέλανα γίνεσθαι
πάντα διὰ τὸ συγκάεσθαι τὴν τροφὴν αὐτῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ θερμοῦ
καθάπερ καὶ τὸ αἷμα καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστον, διαμαρτάνοντες.
ἔνια γὰρ καὶ τῶν ζῴων εὐθὺς ἐν ἀρχῇ γίνεται μέλανα,
20 οἷον κύνες καὶ αἶγες καὶ βόες, καὶ ὅλως ὅσων τὰ
δέρματα καὶ τὰ τριχώματα κατ' ἀρχὰς ἔχει τροφήν,
προϊούσης δὲ τῆς ἡλικίας ἧττον. καίτοι γε οὐκ ἐχρῆν, ἀλλὰ
πάντων ἔδει καὶ τὰ τριχώματα μελαίνεσθαι κατὰ τὴν
ἀκμήν, καθ' ὃν ἂν χρόνον μάλιστα αὐτῶν ἰσχύῃ καὶ τὸ
25 θερμόν, καὶ μᾶλλον ἅπαντα πολιοῦσθαι κατ' ἀρχάς. πολὺ
γὰρ ἁπάντων ἀπὸ πρώτης ἀσθενέστερόν τι γίνεται τὸ θερμὸν
ἢ καθ' ὃν χρόνον ἄρχεται τὰ τριχώματα αὐτῶν λευκαίνεσθαι.
φανερὸν δὲ τοῦτο ἐστὶ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λευκῶν, ἔνια
μὲν γὰρ εὐθὺς ἴσχει τὸ χρῶμα λευκότατον, ὅσα καὶ τούτων
30 πλείστην ἔχει κατ' ἀρχὰς τροφήν, καὶ μὴ πρὸ ὥρας
ἐν αὐτῇ καταξηραίνεται τὸ ὑγρόν· προϊούσης δὲ τῆς ἡλικίας
ξανθά, τροφῆς αὐτοῖς ἐλάττονος ὕστερον ἐπιρρεούσης. τὰ δὲ
ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν γίνεται ξανθά, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἀκμὴν λευκότατα,
1Others are yellow at first and are whitest at their prime. Similarly birds change colour when the nutriment in them fails. 5That this is the case can be seen in the fact that in all these animals it is the parts round the neck, and, generally speaking, any parts which are stinted 10when the nourishment is scanty, which turn yellow; for it is clear that, just as reddish colour turns black and vice versa, so white turns yellow and vice 15versa. This happens also in plants, some of which revert from a later stage in the process of maturation back again to an earlier stage. The best illustration 20of this is to be found in the pomegranate. At first its seeds are crimson, as are also its leaves, owing to the small amount of nourishment which 25matures completely; afterwards they turn to a herb-green, because a quantity of nutriment flows into them and the process of maturation is less able to predominate 30than before; but in the end the nutriment does mature and the colour reverts to crimson.
799a
1 καθάπερ καὶ τῶν ὀρνίθων μεταβάλλουσι τὰ χρώματα
πάλιν τῆς τροφῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑπολειπούσης. δηλοῖ δέ·
πάντα γὰρ αὐτὰ γίνεται ξανθὰ καὶ περὶ τὸν τράχηλον,
καὶ ὅλως ὅσα σπανίζει τροφῆς τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑπολειπούσης.
5 δῆλον δέ· ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ τὸ πυρρὸν εἰς τὸ μέλαν μεταβάλλει
καὶ τὸ μέλαν πάλιν εἰς τὸ πυρρόν, οὕτω καὶ τὸ
λευκὸν εἰς τὸ ξανθόν. συμβαίνει δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν φυτῶν·
ἔνια γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ὑστέρας πέψεως ἀνατρέχει πάλιν ἐπὶ
τὴν προτέραν. μάλιστα δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ῥοιᾶς φανερόν
10 ἐστιν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς οἱ κόκκοι γίνονται φοινικοῖ,
καὶ τὰ φύλλα, δι' ὀλιγότητα τῆς τροφῆς ἐκπεττομένης·
ὕστερον δὲ πάλιν μεταβάλλουσιν εἰς τὸ ποῶδες χρῶμα,
πολλῆς τροφῆς ἐπιρρεούσης καὶ τῆς πέψεως οὐχ ὁμοίως δυναμένης
κρατεῖν· τὸ τελευταῖον δὲ πεττομένης ἤδη τῆς τροφῆς
15 πάλιν γίνεται τὸ χρῶμα φοινικιοῦν. καθόλου δὲ εἰπεῖν
καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων τριχωμάτων καὶ πτερωμάτων, ἅπαντα
λαμβάνει τὰς μεταβολάς, οἷς μέν, καθάπερ εἴρηται, τῆς
τροφῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑπολειπούσης, οἷς δὲ τοὐναντίον πλεοναζούσης.
διόπερ ἄλλα κατ' ἄλλους χρόνους τῆς ἡλικίας καὶ
20 λευκότατα καὶ μελάντατα γίνεται τῶν τριχωμάτων, ἐπεὶ
1To sum the matter up, in hair and feathers of every kind, changes always occur either—as has already been remarked—when the nutriment in 5them fails, or when, on the contrary, it is too abundant. Therefore the age at which the hair is at its whitest or blackest varies in different cases; for even ravens’ feathers 10turn yellow 799” in the end, when the nutriment in them fails. But hair is never crimson or violet or green or any other colour of that kind, because all such colours arise 15only by mixture with the rays of the sun, and further because in all hairs which contain moisture the changes take place beneath the skin, and so they admit of no admixture.
799b
1 καὶ τῶν κοράκων τὰ πτερώματα τὸ τελευταῖον εἰς τὸ ξανθὸν
χρῶμα μεταβάλλει, τῆς τροφῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς ὑπολειπούσης.
τῶν δὲ τριχωμάτων οὐδὲν οὔτε φοινικιοῦν οὔθ' ἁλουργὲς
οὔτε πράσινον οὔτε ἄλλην οὐδεμίαν ἔχον τοιαύτην γίνεται
5 χρόαν, διὰ τὸ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα χρώματα γίνεσθαι μιγνυμένων
αὐτοῖς τῶν τοῦ ἡλίου αὐγῶν, ἔτι δὲ τῶν τριχωμάτων
ἁπάντων τῶν ὑγρῶν ἐντὸς τῆς σαρκὸς συμβαίνειν
τὰς μεταβολάς, καὶ μηδεμίαν αὐτὰ λαμβάνειν μίξιν.
δῆλον δ' ἐστίν· καὶ γὰρ τῶν πτερωμάτων τὸ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς
10 οὐδὲν γίνεται τῷ χρώματι τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ποικίλα
τῶν ὀρνέων πάνθ' ὡς εἰπεῖν μέλανα, οἷον ὅ τε ταὼς καὶ ἡ
περιστερὰ καὶ ἡ χελιδών· ὕστερον δὲ λαμβάνει πάσας τὰς
τοιαύτας ποικιλίας, ἤδη τῆς πέψεως αὐτῶν ἔξω τοῦ σώματος
γιγνομένης, ἔν τε τοῖς πτερώμασι καὶ τοῖς καλαίοις· ὥστε
15 συμβαίνει, καθάπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν φυτῶν, καὶ τούτων ἔξω τοῦ
σώματος γίγνεσθαι τὴν τῶν χρωμάτων πέψιν. διὸ καὶ τὰ
λοιπὰ τῶν ζῴων, τά τ' ἔνυδρα καὶ τὰ ἑρπετὰ καὶ τὰ κογχύλια,
παντοδαπὰς ἴσχει χρωμάτων μορφάς, πολλῆς καὶ τούτοις
τῆς πέψεως γινομένης. τὴν μὲν οὖν περὶ τὰ χρώματα
20 θεωρίαν μάλιστ' ἄν τις ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων δύναιτο συνιδεῖν.
1This is clear from the fact that no feathers have their distinctive colouring at first, but practically all gaily coloured birds start by being blaek—the 5peacock, for example, and the dove and the swallow; it is only later that they assume all their varied colours, the process of maturation taking place outside their bodies in their feathers and combs 10and wattles.! Thus in birds, as in plants, the maturation of the colours 1; takes place outside the body. So, too, the other forms of animal life—aquatic creatures, reptiles, and shell-fish—have 15all sorts and manners of colouring, because in them too the process of maturation is violent.
From what has been set forth in this treatise one may best understand the scientific theory of colours.
From what has been set forth in this treatise one may best understand the scientific theory of colours.