Louis (Budé, 1964–69) · Thompson (1910)
Thompson (1910)
Greek line numbers are exact. The translations carry no Bekker numbers of their own, so those beside the English are aligned to the Greek: upright = fixed (anchored to this point in the text), italic grey = approximate (interpolated estimate).
Book 8,Chapter 1 (588a16–589a9)
588a
Τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τὴν ἄλλην φύσιν τῶν ζῴων καὶ τὴν
γένεσιν τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον· αἱ δὲ πράξεις καὶ οἱ βίοι
κατὰ τὰ ἤθη καὶ τὰς τροφὰς διαφέρουσιν. Ἔνεστι γὰρ ἐν τοῖς
πλείστοις καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ἴχνη τῶν περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν
20 τρόπων, ἅπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔχει φανερωτέρας τὰς διαφοράς·
καὶ γὰρ ἡμερότης καὶ ἀγριότης, καὶ πραότης καὶ
χαλεπότης, καὶ ἀνδρία καὶ δειλία, καὶ φόβοι καὶ θάρρη,
καὶ θυμοὶ καὶ πανουργίαι καὶ τῆς περὶ τὴν διάνοιαν συνέσεως
ἔνεισιν ἐν πολλοῖς αὐτῶν ὁμοιότητες, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν μερῶν
25 ἐλέγομεν. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ τῷ μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον διαφέρει
πρὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος πρὸς πολλὰ τῶν ζῴων
(ἔνια γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων ὑπάρχει μᾶλλον ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ, ἔνια
δ' ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ζῴοις μᾶλλον), τὰ δὲ τῷ ἀνάλογον διαφέρει·
ὡς γὰρ ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ τέχνη καὶ σοφία καὶ σύνεσις,
30 οὕτως ἐνίοις τῶν ζῴων ἐστί τις ἑτέρα τοιαύτη φυσικὴ δύναμις.
Φανερώτατον δ' ἐστὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν παίδων
ἡλικίαν βλέψασιν· ἐν τούτοις γὰρ τῶν μὲν ὕστερον ἕξεων
ἐσομένων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν οἷον ἴχνη καὶ σπέρματα, διαφέρει δ'
We have now discussed the physical characteristics of animals and their methods of generation. Their habits and their modes of living vary according to their character and their food.
In the great majority of animals there are traces of psychical qualities or attitudes, which qualities are more markedly differentiated in the case of human beings. For just as we pointed out 20resemblances in the physical organs, so in a number of animals we observe gentleness or fierceness, mildness or cross temper, courage, or timidity, fear or confidence, high spirit or low cunning, and, with regard to intelligence, something equivalent to sagacity. Some of these qualities in man, as compared with the corresponding qualities in animals, differ only quantitatively: that is to say, a man has more or less of this quality, and an animal has more or less 25of some other; other qualities in man are represented by analogous and not identical qualities: for instance, just as in man we find knowledge, wisdom, and sagacity, so in certain animals there exists some other natural potentiality akin to these. The truth of this statement will be the more clearly apprehended if we have regard to the phenomena of childhood: for in children may be observed the traces and seeds of what will one day be settled psychological habits, 30though psychologically a child hardly differs for the time being from an animal; so that one is quite justified in saying that, as regards man and animals, certain psychical qualities are identical with one another, whilst others resemble, and others are analogous to, each other.
In the great majority of animals there are traces of psychical qualities or attitudes, which qualities are more markedly differentiated in the case of human beings. For just as we pointed out 20resemblances in the physical organs, so in a number of animals we observe gentleness or fierceness, mildness or cross temper, courage, or timidity, fear or confidence, high spirit or low cunning, and, with regard to intelligence, something equivalent to sagacity. Some of these qualities in man, as compared with the corresponding qualities in animals, differ only quantitatively: that is to say, a man has more or less of this quality, and an animal has more or less 25of some other; other qualities in man are represented by analogous and not identical qualities: for instance, just as in man we find knowledge, wisdom, and sagacity, so in certain animals there exists some other natural potentiality akin to these. The truth of this statement will be the more clearly apprehended if we have regard to the phenomena of childhood: for in children may be observed the traces and seeds of what will one day be settled psychological habits, 30though psychologically a child hardly differs for the time being from an animal; so that one is quite justified in saying that, as regards man and animals, certain psychical qualities are identical with one another, whilst others resemble, and others are analogous to, each other.
588b
1 οὐδὲν ὡς εἰπεῖν ἡ ψυχὴ τῆς τῶν θηρίων ψυχῆς κατὰ τὸν
χρόνον τοῦτον, ὥστ' οὐδὲν ἄλογον εἰ τὰ μὲν ταὐτὰ τὰ δὲ
παραπλήσια τὰ δ' ἀνάλογον ὑπάρχει τοῖς ἄλλοις ζῴοις.
Οὕτω δ' ἐκ τῶν ἀψύχων εἰς τὰ ζῷα μεταβαίνει κατὰ μικρὸν
5 ἡ φύσις, ὥστε τῇ συνεχείᾳ λανθάνει τὸ μεθόριον αὐτῶν
καὶ τὸ μέσον ποτέρων ἐστίν. Μετὰ γὰρ τὸ τῶν ἀψύχων
γένος τὸ τῶν φυτῶν πρῶτόν ἐστιν· καὶ τούτων ἕτερον
πρὸς ἕτερον διαφέρει τῷ μᾶλλον δοκεῖν μετέχειν ζωῆς,
ὅλον δὲ τὸ γένος πρὸς μὲν τἆλλα σώματα φαίνεται σχεδὸν
10 ὥσπερ ἔμψυχον, πρὸς δὲ τὸ τῶν ζῴων ἄψυχον. Ἡ δὲ
μετάβασις ἐξ αὐτῶν εἰς τὰ ζῷα συνεχής ἐστιν, ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη
πρότερον. Ἔνια γὰρ τῶν ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ διαπορήσειεν
ἄν τις πότερον ζῷόν ἐστιν ἢ φυτόν· προσπέφυκε γάρ, καὶ
χωριζόμενα πολλὰ διαφθείρεται τῶν τοιούτων, οἷον αἱ μὲν
15 πίνναι προσπεφύκασιν, οἱ δὲ σωλῆνες ἀνασπασθέντες οὐ δύνανται
ζῆν. Ὅλως δὲ πᾶν τὸ γένος τὸ τῶν ὀστρακοδέρμων
φυτοῖς ἔοικε πρὸς τὰ πορευτικὰ τῶν ζῴων. Καὶ περὶ αἰσθήσεως,
τὰ μὲν αὐτῶν οὐδ' ἓν σημαίνεται, τὰ δ' ἀμυδρῶς.
Ἡ δὲ τοῦ σώματος ἐνίων σαρκώδης ἐστὶ φύσις, οἷον τά τε
20 καλούμενα τήθυα καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀκαληφῶν γένος· ὁ δὲ σπόγγος
παντελῶς ἔοικε τοῖς φυτοῖς. Ἀεὶ δὲ κατὰ μικρὰν διαφορὰν
ἕτερα πρὸ ἑτέρων ἤδη φαίνεται μᾶλλον ζωὴν ἔχοντα
καὶ κίνησιν. Καὶ κατὰ τὰς τοῦ βίου δὲ πράξεις τὸν αὐτὸν
ἔχει τρόπον. Τῶν τε γὰρ φυτῶν ἔργον οὐδὲν ἄλλο φαίνεται
25 πλὴν οἷον αὐτὸ ποιῆσαι πάλιν ἕτερον, ὅσα γίνεται διὰ σπέρματος·
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν ζῴων ἐνίων παρὰ τὴν γένεσιν
οὐδὲν ἔστιν ἄλλο λαβεῖν ἔργον. Διόπερ αἱ μὲν τοιαῦται πράξεις
κοιναὶ πάντων εἰσί· προσούσης δ' αἰσθήσεως ἤδη, περί
τε τὴν ὀχείαν διὰ τὴν ἡδονὴν διαφέρουσιν αὐτῶν οἱ βίοι,
30 καὶ περὶ τοὺς τόκους καὶ τὰς ἐκτροφὰς τῶν τέκνων. Τὰ μὲν
οὖν ἁπλῶς, ὥσπερ φυτά, κατὰ τὰς ὥρας ἀποτελεῖ τὴν οἰκείαν
γένεσιν· τὰ δὲ καὶ περὶ τὰς τροφὰς ἐκπονεῖται τῶν
τέκνων, ὅταν δ' ἀποτελέσῃ, χωρίζονται καὶ κοινωνίαν οὐδεμίαν
1Nature proceeds little by little from things lifeless to animal life in such a way that it is impossible to determine the exact line of demarcation, nor on which side thereof an intermediate form should lie. Thus, next after lifeless things in the upward scale comes the 5plant, and of plants one will differ from another as to its amount of apparent vitality; and, in a word, the whole genus of plants, whilst it is devoid of life as compared with an animal, is endowed with life as compared with other corporeal entities. Indeed, as we just remarked, there is observed in plants a continuous scale of ascent 10towards the animal. So, in the sea, there are certain objects concerning which one would be at a loss to determine whether they be animal or vegetable. For instance, certain of these objects are fairly rooted, and in several cases perish if detached; thus the pinna is rooted to a particular spot, and the solen (or razor-shell) cannot 15survive withdrawal from its burrow. Indeed, broadly speaking, the entire genus of testaceans have a resemblance to vegetables, if they be contrasted with such animals as are capable of progression.
In regard to sensibility, some animals give no indication whatsoever of it, whilst others indicate it but indistinctly. Further, the substance 20of some of these intermediate creatures is fleshlike, as is the case with the so-called tethya (or ascidians) and the acalephae (or sea-anemones); but the sponge is in every respect like a vegetable. And so throughout the entire animal scale there is a graduated differentiation in amount of vitality and in capacity for motion.
A similar 25statement holds good with regard to habits of life. Thus of plants that spring from seed the one function seems to be the reproduction of their own particular species, and the sphere of action with certain animals is similarly limited. The faculty of reproduction, then, is common to all alike. If sensibility be superadded, then their 30lives will differ from one another in respect to sexual intercourse through the varying amount of pleasure derived therefrom, and also in regard to modes of parturition and ways of rearing their young.
In regard to sensibility, some animals give no indication whatsoever of it, whilst others indicate it but indistinctly. Further, the substance 20of some of these intermediate creatures is fleshlike, as is the case with the so-called tethya (or ascidians) and the acalephae (or sea-anemones); but the sponge is in every respect like a vegetable. And so throughout the entire animal scale there is a graduated differentiation in amount of vitality and in capacity for motion.
A similar 25statement holds good with regard to habits of life. Thus of plants that spring from seed the one function seems to be the reproduction of their own particular species, and the sphere of action with certain animals is similarly limited. The faculty of reproduction, then, is common to all alike. If sensibility be superadded, then their 30lives will differ from one another in respect to sexual intercourse through the varying amount of pleasure derived therefrom, and also in regard to modes of parturition and ways of rearing their young.
589a
1 ἔτι ποιοῦνται· τὰ δὲ συνετώτερα καὶ κοινωνοῦντα
μνήμης ἐπὶ πλέον καὶ πολιτικώτερον χρῶνται τοῖς ἀπογόνοις. Ἓν μὲν
οὖν μέρος τῆς ζωῆς αἱ περὶ τὴν τεκνοποιίαν εἰσὶ πράξεις
αὐτοῖς, ἔτι δ' ἕτερον αἱ περὶ τὴν τροφήν· περὶ γὰρ δύο τούτων
5 αἵ τε σπουδαὶ τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι πᾶσαι καὶ ὁ βίος. Αἱ
δὲ τροφαὶ διαφέρουσι μάλιστα κατὰ τὴν ὕλην ἐξ οἵας συνεστήκασιν.
Ἡ γὰρ αὔξησις ἑκάστοις γίνεται κατὰ φύσιν ἐκ
ταύτης. Τὸ δὲ κατὰ φύσιν ἡδύ· διώκει δὲ πάντα τὴν κατὰ
φύσιν ἡδονήν.
1Some animals, like plants, simply procreate their own species at definite seasons; other animals busy themselves also in procuring food for their young, and after they are reared quit them and have no further dealings with them; other animals are more intelligent and endowed with memory, and they live with their offspring for a longer 5period and on a more social footing.
The life of animals, then, may be divided into two acts-procreation and feeding; for on these two acts all their interests and life concentrate. Their food depends chiefly on the substance of which they are severally constituted; for the source of their growth in all cases will be this substance. And whatsoever is in conformity with nature is pleasant, and all animals pursue 10pleasure in keeping with their nature.
The life of animals, then, may be divided into two acts-procreation and feeding; for on these two acts all their interests and life concentrate. Their food depends chiefly on the substance of which they are severally constituted; for the source of their growth in all cases will be this substance. And whatsoever is in conformity with nature is pleasant, and all animals pursue 10pleasure in keeping with their nature.
Book 8,Chapter 2 (589a10–592a27)
10 Διῄρηνται δὲ κατὰ τοὺς τόπους· τὰ μὲν γὰρ πεζὰ τὰ
δ' ἔνυδρα τῶν ζῴων ἐστίν. Διχῶς δὲ λεγομένης ταύτης τῆς
διαφορᾶς, τὰ μὲν τῷ δέχεσθαι τὸν ἀέρα, τὰ δὲ τῷ τὸ
ὕδωρ, λέγεται τὰ μὲν πεζὰ τὰ δ' ἔνυδρα· τὰ δ' οὐ δεχόμενα
μέν, πεφυκότα μέντοι πρὸς τὴν κρᾶσιν τῆς ψύξεως
15 τὴν ἀφ' ἑκατέρου τούτων ἱκανῶς, τὰ μὲν πεζὰ τὰ δ' ἔνυδρα
καλεῖται, οὔτ' ἀναπνέοντα οὔτε δεχόμενα τὸ ὕδωρ. Τὰ δὲ τῷ
τὴν τροφὴν ποιεῖσθαι καὶ διαγωγὴν ἐν ἑκατέρῳ τούτων.
Πολλὰ γὰρ δεχόμενα τὸν ἀέρα, καὶ τοὺς τόκους ἐν τῇ
γῇ ποιούμενα, τὴν τροφὴν ἐκ τῶν ἐνύδρων ποιεῖται τόπων
20 καὶ διατρίβει τὸν πλεῖστον ἐν ὕδατι χρόνον· ἅπερ ἔοικεν
ἐπαμφοτερίζειν μόνα τῶν ζῴων· καὶ γὰρ ὡς πεζὰ καὶ
ὡς ἔνυδρά τις ἂν θείη. Τῶν δὲ δεχομένων τὸ ὑγρὸν οὐδὲν
οὔτε πεζὸν οὔτε πτηνόν, οὐδὲ τὴν τροφὴν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ποιεῖται,
τῶν δὲ πεζῶν καὶ δεχομένων τὸν ἀέρα πολλά. Καὶ τὰ μὲν
25 οὕτως ὥστε μηδὲ ζῆν δύνασθαι χωριζόμενα τῆς τοῦ ὕδατος
φύσεως, οἷον αἵ τε καλούμεναι θαλάττιαι χελῶναι καὶ
κροκόδειλοι καὶ ἵπποι ποτάμιοι καὶ φῶκαι καὶ τῶν ἐλαττόνων
ζῴων οἷον αἵ τ' ἐμύδες καὶ τὸ τῶν βατράχων γένος·
ταῦτα γὰρ ἅπαντα μὴ διά τινος ἀναπνεύσαντα χρόνου
30 ἀποπνίγεται. Καὶ τίκτει δὲ καὶ ἐκτρέφει ἐν τῷ ξηρῷ,
τὰ δὲ πρὸς τῷ ξηρῷ, διάγει δ' ἐν τῷ ὑγρῷ. Περιττότατα
δὲ πάντων ὁ δελφὶς ἔχει τῶν ζῴων, καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τοιοῦτόν
ἐστι καὶ τῶν ἐνύδρων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων κητωδῶν, ὅσα τοῦτον
Animals are also differentiated locally: that is to say, some live upon dry land, while others live in the water. And this differentiation may be interpreted in two different ways. Thus, some animals are termed terrestrial as inhaling air, and others aquatic as taking in water; and there are others which do not actually take in these elements, but nevertheless are constitutionally 15adapted to the cooling influence, so far as is needful to them, of one element or the other, and hence are called terrestrial or aquatic though they neither breathe air nor take in water. Again, other animals are so called from their finding their food and fixing their habitat on land or in water: for many animals, although they inhale air and breed on land, yet derive their food from the water, and live in 20water for the greater part of their lives; and these are the only animals to which as living in and on two elements the term 'amphibious' is applicable. There is no animal taking in water that is terrestrial or aerial or that derives its food from the land, whereas of the great number of land animals inhaling air many get their food from the water; moreover some are so peculiarly organized that if they be shut off 25altogether from the water they cannot possibly live, as for instance, the so-called sea-turtle, the crocodile, the hippopotamus, the seal, and some of the smaller creatures, such as the fresh-water tortoise and the frog: now all these animals choke or drown if they do not from time to time breathe atmospheric air: they breed and rear their young on dry land, or near the land, but they pass their lives in water.
But the 30dolphin is equipped in the most remarkable way of all animals: the dolphin and other similar aquatic animals, including the other cetaceans which resemble it; that is to say, the whale, and all the other creatures that are furnished with a blow-hole.
But the 30dolphin is equipped in the most remarkable way of all animals: the dolphin and other similar aquatic animals, including the other cetaceans which resemble it; that is to say, the whale, and all the other creatures that are furnished with a blow-hole.
589b
1 ἔχει τὸν τρόπον, οἷον φάλαινα καὶ ὅσ' ἄλλ' αὐτῶν
ἔχει αὐλόν. Οὐ γὰρ ῥᾴδιον οὔτ' ἔνυδρον θεῖναι μόνον τούτων
ἕκαστον οὔτε πεζόν, εἰ πεζὰ μὲν τὰ δεχόμενα τὸν ἀέρα θετέον,
τὰ δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ ἔνυδρα τὴν φύσιν. Ἀμφοτέρων γὰρ
5 μετείληφεν· καὶ γὰρ τὴν θάλατταν δέχεται καὶ ἀφίησι
κατὰ τὸν αὐλόν, καὶ τὸν ἀέρα τῷ πλεύμονι. Τοῦτο γὰρ
ἔχουσι τὸ μόριον, καὶ ἀναπνέουσιν· διὸ καὶ λαμβανόμενος
ὁ δελφὶς ἐν τοῖς δικτύοις ἀποπνίγεται ταχέως διὰ τὸ μὴ
ἀναπνεῖν. Καὶ ἔξω δὲ ζῇ πολὺν χρόνον μύζων καὶ στένων,
10 ὥσπερ καὶ τἆλλα τῶν ἀναπνεόντων ζῴων· ἔτι δὲ καθεύδων
ὑπερέχει τὸ ῥύγχος, ὅπως ἀναπνέῃ. Τὰ δ' αὐτὰ τάττειν
εἰς ἀμφοτέρας τὰς διαιρέσεις ἄτοπον, ὑπεναντίους οὔσας·
ἀλλ' ἔοικεν εἶναι τὸ ἔνυδρον ἔτι προσδιοριστέον. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ
δέχεται τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ἀφίησι διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν δι' ἥνπερ
15 τὰ ἀναπνέοντα τὸν ἀέρα, καταψύξεως χάριν, τὰ δὲ
διὰ τὴν τροφήν· ἀνάγκη γὰρ ἐν ὑγρῷ λαμβάνοντα ταύτην
καὶ τὸ ὑγρὸν ἅμα δέχεσθαι, καὶ δεχόμενα ὄργανον ἔχειν
ᾧ ἐκπέμψει. Τὰ μὲν οὖν ἀνάλογον τῇ ἀναπνοῇ χρώμενα
τῷ ὑγρῷ βράγχια ἔχει, τὰ δὲ διὰ τὴν τροφὴν αὐλὸν τῶν
20 ἐναίμων ζῴων. Ὁμοίως δὲ τά τε μαλάκια καὶ τὰ μαλακόστρακα·
καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα δέχεται τὸ ὑγρὸν διὰ τὴν τροφήν.
Ἔνυδρα δ' ἐστὶ τὸν ἕτερον τρόπον, διὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος
κρᾶσιν καὶ τὸν βίον, ὅσα δέχεται μὲν τὸν ἀέρα
ζῇ δ' ἐν τῷ ὑγρῷ, ἢ ὅσα δέχεται μὲν τὸ ὑγρὸν καὶ
25 ἔχει βράγχια, πορεύεται δ' εἰς τὸ ξηρὸν καὶ λαμβάνει
τροφήν. Ἓν δὲ μόνον νῦν ὦπται τοιοῦτον, ὁ καλούμενος
κορδύλος· οὗτος γὰρ πλεύμονα μὲν οὐκ ἔχει ἀλλὰ
βράγχια, τετράπουν δ' ἐστὶν ὡς καὶ πεζεύειν πεφυκός.
Τούτων δὲ πάντων ἔοικεν ἡ φύσις ὡσπερανεὶ διεστράφθαι,
30 καθάπερ τῶν τ' ἀρρένων ἔνια γίνεται θηλυκὰ καὶ τῶν
θηλέων ἀρρενωπά. Ἐν μικροῖς γὰρ μορίοις λαμβάνοντα
τὰ ζῷα διαφορὰν μέγα διαφέρειν φαίνεται κατὰ τὴν
τοῦ ὅλου σώματος φύσιν. Δηλοῖ δ' ἐπὶ τῶν ἐκτεμνομένων·
1One can hardly allow that such an animal is terrestrial and terrestrial only, or aquatic and aquatic only, if by terrestrial we mean an animal that inhales air, and if by aquatic we mean an animal that takes in water. For the fact is the dolphin performs both these processes: he takes in water and 5discharges it by his blow-hole, and he also inhales air into his lungs; for, by the way, the creature is furnished with this organ and respires thereby, and accordingly, when caught in the nets, he is quickly suffocated for lack of air. He can also live for a considerable while out of the water, but all this while he keeps up a dull moaning sound corresponding to the 10noise made by air-breathing animals in general; furthermore, when sleeping, the animal keeps his nose above water, and he does so that he may breathe the air. Now it would be unreasonable to assign one and the same class of animals to both categories, terrestrial and aquatic, seeing that these categories are more or less exclusive of one another; we must accordingly 15supplement our definition of the term 'aquatic' or 'marine'. For the fact is, some aquatic animals take in water and discharge it again, for the same reason that leads air-breathing animals to inhale air: in other words, with the object of cooling the blood. Others take in water as incidental to their mode of feeding; for as they get their food in the water they cannot but 20take in water along with their food, and if they take in water they must be provided with some organ for discharging it. Those blooded animals, then, that use water for a purpose analogous to respiration are provided with gills; and such as take in water when catching their prey, with the blow-hole. Similar remarks are applicable to molluscs and crustaceans; for again 25it is by way of procuring food that these creatures take in water.
Aquatic in different ways, the differences depending on bodily relation to external temperature and on habit of life, are such animals on the one hand as take in air but live in water, and such on the other hand as take in water and are furnished with gills but go upon dry land and get their living there. 30At present only one animal of the latter kind is known, the so-called cordylus or water-newt; this creature is furnished not with lungs but with gills, but for all that it is a quadruped and fitted for walking on dry land.
Aquatic in different ways, the differences depending on bodily relation to external temperature and on habit of life, are such animals on the one hand as take in air but live in water, and such on the other hand as take in water and are furnished with gills but go upon dry land and get their living there. 30At present only one animal of the latter kind is known, the so-called cordylus or water-newt; this creature is furnished not with lungs but with gills, but for all that it is a quadruped and fitted for walking on dry land.
590a
1 μικροῦ γὰρ μορίου πηρωθέντος εἰς τὸ θῆλυ μεταβάλλει
τὸ ζῷον. Ὥστε δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐξ ἀρχῆς συστάσει
ἀκαριαίου τινὸς μεταβάλλοντος τῷ μεγέθει, ἂν ᾖ ἀρχοειδές,
γίνεται τὸ μὲν θῆλυ τὸ δ' ἄρρεν, ὅλως δ' ἀναιρεθέντος
5 οὐδέτερον. Ὥστε καὶ τὸ πεζὸν καὶ τὸ ἔνυδρον εἶναι κατ' ἀμφοτέρους
τοὺς τρόπους, ἐν μικροῖς μορίοις γινομένης τῆς μεταβολῆς.
Διὸ συμβαίνει γίνεσθαι τὰ μὲν πεζὰ τὰ δ' ἔνυδρα
τῶν ζῴων. Καὶ τὰ μὲν οὐκ ἐπαμφοτερίζει, τὰ δ' ἐπαμφοτερίζει,
διὰ τὸ μετέχειν τι τῆς ὕλης ἐν τῇ συστάσει τῆς
10 γενέσεως, ἐξ οἵας ποιεῖται τὴν τροφήν· προσφιλὲς γὰρ
ἑκάστῳ τῶν ζῴων τὸ κατὰ φύσιν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται καὶ
πρότερον.
Διῃρημένων δὲ τῶν ζῴων εἰς τὸ ἔνυδρον καὶ πεζὸν τριχῶς,
τῷ τε δέχεσθαι τὸν ἀέρα ἢ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τῇ κράσει τῶν
15 σωμάτων, τὸ δὲ τρίτον ταῖς τροφαῖς, ἀκολουθοῦσιν οἱ βίοι
κατὰ ταύτας τὰς διαιρέσεις· τὰ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τὴν κρᾶσιν
καὶ τὴν τροφὴν ἀκολουθοῦσι, καὶ κατὰ τὸ δέχεσθαι τὸ ὕδωρ
ἢ τὸν ἀέρα, τὰ δὲ τῇ κράσει καὶ τοῖς βίοις μόνον. Τῶν μὲν
οὖν ὀστρακοδέρμων ζῴων ἔνια μὲν ἀκινητίζοντα τρέφεται τῷ
20 ποτίμῳ (διηθεῖται γὰρ διὰ τῶν πυκνῶν διὰ τὸ λεπτότερον
εἶναι τῆς θαλάττης συμπεττομένης), ὥσπερ καὶ τὴν ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς
λαμβάνει γένεσιν. Ὅτι δ' ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ πότιμον ἔνεστι
καὶ τοῦτο διηθεῖσθαι δύναται, φανερόν ἐστιν. Ἤδη γὰρ εἰληφέναι
τούτου συμβέβηκε πεῖραν· ἐὰν γάρ τις κήρινον πλάσας
25 λεπτὸν ἀγγεῖον καὶ περιδήσας καθῇ εἰς τὴν θάλατταν κενόν,
ἐν νυκτὶ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ λαμβάνει ὕδατος πλῆθος, καὶ τοῦτο
φαίνεται πότιμον. Αἱ δ' ἀκαλῆφαι τρέφονται ὅ τι ἂν προςπέσῃ
ἰχθύδιον. Ἔχει δὲ τὸ στόμα ἐν μέσῳ· δῆλον δὲ τοῦτο
μάλιστ' ἐστὶν ἐπὶ τῶν μεγάλων. Ἔχει δὲ καὶ ὥσπερ τὰ ὄστρεια,
30 ᾗ ὑποχωρεῖ ἔξω ἡ τροφή, πόρον. Ἔστι δ' οὗτος ἄνω· ἔοικε
γὰρ ἡ ἀκαλήφη ὥσπερ τὸ ἔσω εἶναι τῶν ὀστρέων τὸ σαρκῶδες,
τῇ δὲ πέτρᾳ χρῆσθαι ὡς ὀστρέῳ. Καὶ αἱ λεπάδες δ' ἀπολυόμεναι
μεταχωροῦσι καὶ τρέφονται. Ὅσα δὲ κινητικά, τὰ
1In the case of all these animals their nature appears in some kind of a way to have got warped, just as some male animals get to resemble the female, and some female animals the male. The fact is that animals, if they be subjected to a modification in minute organs, are liable to immense modifications in their general 5configuration. This phenomenon may be observed in the case of gelded animals: only a minute organ of the animal is mutilated, and the creature passes from the male to the female form. We may infer, then, that if in the primary conformation of the embryo an infinitesimally minute but absolutely essential organ sustain a change of magnitude one way or the other, the animal will in one case turn to male and 10in the other to female; and also that, if the said organ be obliterated altogether, the animal will be of neither one sex nor the other. And so by the occurrence of modification in minute organs it comes to pass that one animal is terrestrial and another aquatic, in both senses of these terms. And, again, some animals are amphibious whilst other animals are not amphibious, owing to the circumstance 15that in their conformation while in the embryonic condition there got intermixed into them some portion of the matter of which their subsequent food is constituted; for, as was said above, what is in conformity with nature is to every single animal pleasant and agreeable.
Animals then have been categorized into terrestrial and aquatic in three ways, according to their assumption of air or of water, 20the temperament of their bodies, or the character of their food; and the mode of life of an animal corresponds to the category in which it is found. That is to say, in some cases the animal depends for its terrestrial or aquatic nature on temperament and diet combined, as well as upon its method of respiration; and sometimes on temperament and habits alone.
Of testaceans, some, that are incapable of 25motion, subsist on fresh water, for, as the sea water dissolves into its constituents, the fresh water from its greater thinness percolates through the grosser parts; in fact, they live on fresh water just as they were originally engendered from the same. Now that fresh water is contained in the sea and can be strained off from it can be proved in a thoroughly practical way. Take a thin vessel of moulded 30wax, attach a cord to it, and let it down quite empty into the sea: in twenty-four hours it will be found to contain a quantity of water, and the water will be fresh and drinkable.
Sea-anemones feed on such small fishes as come in their way.
Animals then have been categorized into terrestrial and aquatic in three ways, according to their assumption of air or of water, 20the temperament of their bodies, or the character of their food; and the mode of life of an animal corresponds to the category in which it is found. That is to say, in some cases the animal depends for its terrestrial or aquatic nature on temperament and diet combined, as well as upon its method of respiration; and sometimes on temperament and habits alone.
Of testaceans, some, that are incapable of 25motion, subsist on fresh water, for, as the sea water dissolves into its constituents, the fresh water from its greater thinness percolates through the grosser parts; in fact, they live on fresh water just as they were originally engendered from the same. Now that fresh water is contained in the sea and can be strained off from it can be proved in a thoroughly practical way. Take a thin vessel of moulded 30wax, attach a cord to it, and let it down quite empty into the sea: in twenty-four hours it will be found to contain a quantity of water, and the water will be fresh and drinkable.
Sea-anemones feed on such small fishes as come in their way.
590b
1 μὲν ζῳοφαγοῦντα τρέφεται τοῖς μικροῖς ἰχθυδίοις, οἷον
ἡ πορφύρα (σαρκοφάγον γάρ ἐστι, διὸ καὶ δελεάζεται τοῖς
τοιούτοις), τὰ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ φυομένοις. Αἱ δὲ
χελῶναι αἱ θαλάττιαι τά τε κογχύλια νέμονται (ἔχουσι
5 γὰρ τὸ στόμα ἰσχυρότατον πάντων· ὅτου γὰρ ἂν ἐπιλάβηται,
ἢ λίθου ἢ ἄλλου ὁτουοῦν, ἀπεσθίει καὶ κατάγνυσιν), καὶ ἐξιοῦσα
τὴν πόαν νέμεται. Πονοῦσι δὲ καὶ ἀπόλλυνται πολλάκις,
ὅταν ἐπιπολάζουσαι ξηρανθῶσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου· καταφέρεσθαι
γὰρ πάλιν οὐ δύνανται ῥᾳδίως. Τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον καὶ τὰ
10 μαλακόστρακα· καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα παμφάγα· καὶ γὰρ λίθους
καὶ ἰλὺν καὶ φυκία νέμονται καὶ κόπρον, οἷον οἱ πετραῖοι
τῶν καρκίνων, καὶ σαρκοφαγοῦσιν. Οἱ δὲ κάραβοι κρατοῦσι
μὲν καὶ τῶν μεγάλων ἰχθύων, καί τις συμβαίνει περιπέτεια
τούτων ἐνίοις· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ καράβους οἱ πολύποδες
15 κρατοῦσιν, ὥστε κἂν ὄντας πλησίον ἐν ταὐτῷ δικτύῳ αἴσθωνται,
ἀποθνήσκουσιν οἱ κάραβοι διὰ τὸν φόβον. Οἱ δὲ κάραβοι
τοὺς γόγγρους· διὰ γὰρ τὴν τραχύτητα οὐκ ἐξολισθαίνουσιν
αὐτῶν. Οἱ δὲ γόγγροι τοὺς πολύποδας κατεσθίουσιν· οὐδὲν
γὰρ αὐτοῖς διὰ τὴν λειότητα δύνανται χρῆσθαι. Τὰ δὲ
20 μαλάκια πάντα σαρκοφάγα ἐστίν. Νέμονται δ' οἱ κάραβοι
τὰ ἰχθύδια θηρεύοντες παρὰ τὰς θαλάμας· καὶ γὰρ
ἐν τοῖς πελάγεσιν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις γίνονται τόποις οἳ ἂν
ὦσι τραχεῖς καὶ λιθώδεις· ἐν τούτοις γὰρ ποιοῦνται καὶ
τὰς θαλάμας· ὅ τι δ' ἂν λάβῃ, προσάγεται πρὸς τὸ
25 στόμα τῇ δικρόᾳ χηλῇ καθάπερ οἱ καρκίνοι. Βαδίζει δὲ
κατὰ φύσιν μὲν εἰς τοὔμπροσθεν, ὅταν ἄφοβος ᾖ, καταβαλὼν
τὰ κέρατα πλάγια· ὅταν δὲ φοβηθῇ, φεύγει ἀνάπαλιν
καὶ μακρὰν ἐξακοντίζει. Μάχονται δὲ πρὸς ἀλλήλους
ὥσπερ οἱ κριοὶ τοῖς κέρασιν, ἐξαίροντες καὶ τύπτοντες·
30 ὁρῶνται δὲ μετ' ἀλλήλων καὶ ἀθρόοι πολλάκις ὥσπερ
ἀγέλη.
Τὰ μὲν οὖν μαλακόστρακα τοῦτον ζῇ τὸν τρόπον, τῶν δὲ
μαλακίων αἱ τευθίδες καὶ αἱ σηπίαι κρατοῦσι καὶ τῶν μεγάλων
1The mouth of this creature is in the middle of its body; and this fact may be clearly observed in the case of the larger varieties. Like the oyster it has a duct for the outlet of the residuum; and this duct is at the top of the animal. In other words, the sea-anemone corresponds to the inner fleshy part of the oyster, 5and the stone to which the one creature clings corresponds to the shell which encases the other.
The limpet detaches itself from the rock and goes about in quest of food. Of shell-fish that are mobile, some are carnivorous and live on little fishes, as for instance, the purple murex-and there can be no doubt that the purple murex is carnivorous, as it is caught by a bait of fish; others are carnivorous, 10but feed also on marine vegetation.
The sea-turtles feed on shell-fish-for, by the way, their mouths are extraordinarily hard; whatever object it seizes, stone or other, it crunches into bits, but when it leaves the water for dry land it browses on grass). These creatures suffer greatly, and oftentimes die when they lie on the surface of the water exposed to a scorching sun; for, when once they have 15risen to the surface, they find a difficulty in sinking again.
Crustaceans feed in like manner. They are omnivorous; that is to say, they live on stones, slime, sea-weed, and excrement-as for instance the rock-crab-and are also carnivorous. The crawfish or spiny-lobster can get the better of fishes even of the larger species, though in some of them it occasionally finds more than its match. Thus, this 20animal is so overmastered and cowed by the octopus that it dies of terror if it become aware of an octopus in the same net with itself. The crawfish can master the conger-eel, for owing to the rough spines of the crawfish the eel cannot slip away and elude its hold. The conger-eel, however, devours the octopus, for owing to the slipperiness of its antagonist the octopus can make nothing of it. The 25crawfish feeds on little fish, capturing them beside its hole or dwelling place; for, by the way, it is found out at sea on rough and stony bottoms, and in such places it makes its den. Whatever it catches, it puts into its mouth with its pincer-like claws, like the common crab. Its nature is to walk straight forward when it has nothing to fear, with its feelers hanging sideways; if it be frightened, it 30makes its escape backwards, darting off to a great distance. These animals fight one another with their claws, just as rams fight with their horns, raising them and striking their opponents; they are often also seen crowded together in herds.
The limpet detaches itself from the rock and goes about in quest of food. Of shell-fish that are mobile, some are carnivorous and live on little fishes, as for instance, the purple murex-and there can be no doubt that the purple murex is carnivorous, as it is caught by a bait of fish; others are carnivorous, 10but feed also on marine vegetation.
The sea-turtles feed on shell-fish-for, by the way, their mouths are extraordinarily hard; whatever object it seizes, stone or other, it crunches into bits, but when it leaves the water for dry land it browses on grass). These creatures suffer greatly, and oftentimes die when they lie on the surface of the water exposed to a scorching sun; for, when once they have 15risen to the surface, they find a difficulty in sinking again.
Crustaceans feed in like manner. They are omnivorous; that is to say, they live on stones, slime, sea-weed, and excrement-as for instance the rock-crab-and are also carnivorous. The crawfish or spiny-lobster can get the better of fishes even of the larger species, though in some of them it occasionally finds more than its match. Thus, this 20animal is so overmastered and cowed by the octopus that it dies of terror if it become aware of an octopus in the same net with itself. The crawfish can master the conger-eel, for owing to the rough spines of the crawfish the eel cannot slip away and elude its hold. The conger-eel, however, devours the octopus, for owing to the slipperiness of its antagonist the octopus can make nothing of it. The 25crawfish feeds on little fish, capturing them beside its hole or dwelling place; for, by the way, it is found out at sea on rough and stony bottoms, and in such places it makes its den. Whatever it catches, it puts into its mouth with its pincer-like claws, like the common crab. Its nature is to walk straight forward when it has nothing to fear, with its feelers hanging sideways; if it be frightened, it 30makes its escape backwards, darting off to a great distance. These animals fight one another with their claws, just as rams fight with their horns, raising them and striking their opponents; they are often also seen crowded together in herds.
591a
1 ἰχθύων. Οἱ δὲ πολύποδες μάλιστα κογχύλια συλλέγοντες,
ἐξαιροῦντες τὰ σαρκία τρέφονται τούτοις· διὸ καὶ
τοῖς ὀστράκοις οἱ θηρεύοντες γνωρίζουσι τὰς θαλάμας αὐτῶν.
Ὃ δὲ λέγουσί τινες, ὡς αὐτὸς αὑτὸν ἐσθίει, ψευδές ἐστιν·
5 ἀλλ' ἀπεδηδεσμένας ἔχουσιν ἔνιοι τὰς πλεκτάνας ὑπὸ τῶν
γόγγρων.
Οἱ δ' ἰχθύες τοῖς μὲν κυήμασι τρέφονται πάντες, ὅταν
οἱ χρόνοι καθήκωσιν οὗτοι, τὴν δ' ἄλλην τροφὴν οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν
ποιοῦνται πάντες. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν εἰσι σαρκοφάγοι μόνον,
10 οἷον τά τε σελάχη καὶ οἱ γόγγροι καὶ αἱ χάνναι καὶ οἱ
θύννοι καὶ λάβρακες καὶ σινόδοντες καὶ ἀμίαι καὶ ὀρφοὶ
καὶ μύραιναι· αἱ δὲ τρίγλαι καὶ φυκίοις τρέφονται καὶ
ὀστρέοις καὶ βορβόρῳ καὶ σαρκοφαγοῦσιν· κέφαλοι δὲ τῷ
βορβόρῳ, ὁ δὲ δάσκιλλος τῷ βορβόρῳ καὶ κόπρῳ, σκάρος
15 δὲ καὶ μελάνουρος φυκίοις, ἡ δὲ σάλπη τῇ κόπρῳ καὶ φυκίοις·
βόσκεται δὲ καὶ τὸ πράσον, θηρεύεται δὲ καὶ κολοκύνθῃ
μόνη τῶν ἰχθύων. Ἀλληλοφαγοῦσι δὲ πάντες μὲν
πλὴν κεστρέως, μάλιστα δ' οἱ γόγγροι. Ὁ δὲ κέφαλος καὶ ὁ
κεστρεὺς ὅλως μόνοι οὐ σαρκοφαγοῦσιν· σημεῖον δέ, οὔτε γὰρ
20 ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ πώποτ' ἔχοντες εἰλημμένοι εἰσὶ τοιοῦτον οὐδέν,
οὔτε δελέατι χρῶνται πρὸς αὐτοὺς ζῴων σαρξὶν ἀλλὰ μάζῃ.
Τρέφεται δὲ πᾶς κεστρεὺς φυκίοις καὶ ἄμμῳ. Ἔστι δ' ὁ μὲν
κέφαλος, ὃν καλοῦσί τινες χελῶνα, πρόσγειος, ὁ δὲ περαίας
οὔ· βόσκεται δ' ὁ περαίας τὴν ἀφ' αὑτοῦ μύξαν, διὸ
25 καὶ νῆστίς ἐστιν ἀεί. Οἱ δὲ κέφαλοι νέμονται τὴν ἰλύν, διὸ
καὶ βαρεῖς καὶ βλεννώδεις εἰσίν, ἰχθὺν δ' ὅλως οὐκ ἐσθίουσιν·
διὰ δὲ τὸ ἐν τῇ ἰλύϊ διατρίβειν ἐξανακολυμβῶσι πολλάκις,
ἵνα περιπλύνωνται τὸ βλέννος. Τὸν δὲ γόνον αὐτῶν οὐδὲν ἐσθίει
τῶν θηρίων, διὸ γίνονται πολλοί· ἀλλ' ὅταν αὐξηθῶσι,
30 τότε κατεσθίονται ὑπό τε τῶν ἄλλων ἰχθύων καὶ μάλιστα
1So much for the mode of life of the crustacean.
Molluscs are all carnivorous; and of molluscs the calamary and the sepia are more than a match for fishes even of the large species. The octopus for the most part gathers shellfish, extracts the flesh, and feeds on that; in fact, fishermen recognize 5their holes by the number of shells lying about. Some say that the octopus devours its own species, but this statement is incorrect; it is doubtless founded on the fact that the creature is often found with its tentacles removed, which tentacles have really been eaten off by the conger.
Fishes, all without exception, feed on spawn in the spawning season; but in 10other respects the food varies with the varying species. Some fishes are exclusively carnivorous, as the cartilaginous genus, the conger, the channa or Serranus, the tunny, the bass, the synodon or Dentex, the amia, the sea-perch, and the muraena. The red mullet is carnivorous, but feeds also on sea-weed, on shell-fish, and on mud. The grey mullet feeds on mud, the 15dascyllus on mud and offal, the scarus or parrot-fish and the melanurus on sea-weed, the saupe on offal and sea-weed; the saupe feeds also on zostera, and is the only fish that is captured with a gourd. All fishes devour their own species, with the single exception of the cestreus or mullet; and the conger is especially ravenous in this respect. The cephalus and 20the mullet in general are the only fish that eat no flesh; this may be inferred from the facts that when caught they are never found with flesh in their intestines, and that the bait used to catch them is not flesh but barley-cake. Every fish of the mullet-kind lives on sea-weed and sand. The cephalus, called by some the 'chelon', keeps near in to the shore, the 25peraeas keeps out at a distance from it, and feeds on a mucous substance exuding from itself, and consequently is always in a starved condition. The cephalus lives in mud, and is in consequence heavy and slimy; it never feeds on any other fish. As it lives in mud, it has every now and then to make a leap upwards out of the mud so as to wash the slime from off its body.
Molluscs are all carnivorous; and of molluscs the calamary and the sepia are more than a match for fishes even of the large species. The octopus for the most part gathers shellfish, extracts the flesh, and feeds on that; in fact, fishermen recognize 5their holes by the number of shells lying about. Some say that the octopus devours its own species, but this statement is incorrect; it is doubtless founded on the fact that the creature is often found with its tentacles removed, which tentacles have really been eaten off by the conger.
Fishes, all without exception, feed on spawn in the spawning season; but in 10other respects the food varies with the varying species. Some fishes are exclusively carnivorous, as the cartilaginous genus, the conger, the channa or Serranus, the tunny, the bass, the synodon or Dentex, the amia, the sea-perch, and the muraena. The red mullet is carnivorous, but feeds also on sea-weed, on shell-fish, and on mud. The grey mullet feeds on mud, the 15dascyllus on mud and offal, the scarus or parrot-fish and the melanurus on sea-weed, the saupe on offal and sea-weed; the saupe feeds also on zostera, and is the only fish that is captured with a gourd. All fishes devour their own species, with the single exception of the cestreus or mullet; and the conger is especially ravenous in this respect. The cephalus and 20the mullet in general are the only fish that eat no flesh; this may be inferred from the facts that when caught they are never found with flesh in their intestines, and that the bait used to catch them is not flesh but barley-cake. Every fish of the mullet-kind lives on sea-weed and sand. The cephalus, called by some the 'chelon', keeps near in to the shore, the 25peraeas keeps out at a distance from it, and feeds on a mucous substance exuding from itself, and consequently is always in a starved condition. The cephalus lives in mud, and is in consequence heavy and slimy; it never feeds on any other fish. As it lives in mud, it has every now and then to make a leap upwards out of the mud so as to wash the slime from off its body.
591b
1 ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀχάρνου. Λαίμαργος δὲ μάλιστα τῶν ἰχθύων ὁ
κεστρεύς ἐστι καὶ ἄπληστος, διὸ ἡ κοιλία περιτείνεται, καὶ
ὅταν ᾗ μὴ νῆστις, φαῦλος· ὅταν δὲ φοβηθῇ, κρύπτει τὴν
κεφαλὴν ὡς ὅλον τὸ σῶμα κρύπτων. Σαρκοφαγεῖ δὲ καὶ ὁ
5 σινόδων, καὶ τὰ μαλάκια κατεσθίει. Πολλάκις δὲ καὶ οὗτος
καὶ ἡ χάννα ἐκβάλλουσι τὰς κοιλίας διώκοντες τοὺς ἐλάττους
ἰχθῦς, διὰ τὸ πρὸς τῷ στόματι τὰς κοιλίας τῶν ἰχθύων εἶναι
καὶ στόμαχον μὴ ἔχειν. Τὰ μὲν οὖν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, σαρκοφάγα
μόνον ἐστίν, οἷον δελφὶς καὶ σινόδων καὶ χρύσοφρυς
10 καὶ οἱ σελαχώδεις τῶν ἰχθύων καὶ τὰ μαλάκια· τὰ δ' ὡς
ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ νέμονται μὲν τὸν πηλὸν καὶ τὸ φῦκος καὶ τὸ
βρύον καὶ τὸ καλούμενον καυλίον καὶ τὴν φυομένην ὕλην,
οἷον φυκὶς καὶ κωβιὸς καὶ οἱ πετραῖοι· ἡ δὲ φυκὶς ἄλλης
μὲν σαρκὸς οὐχ ἅπτεται, τῶν δὲ καρίδων. Πολλάκις δὲ
15 καὶ ἀλλήλων ἅπτονται, καθάπερ εἴρηται, καὶ τῶν ἐλαττόνων
οἱ μείζους. Σημεῖον δ' ὅτι σαρκοφαγοῦσιν· ἁλίσκονται
γὰρ τοιούτοις δελέασιν. Καὶ ἀμία δὲ καὶ θύννος καὶ λάβραξ
τὰ μὲν πολλὰ σαρκοφαγοῦσιν, ἅπτονται δὲ καὶ φυκίων. Ὁ
δὲ σάργος ἐπινέμεται τῇ τρίγλῃ, καὶ ὅταν ἡ τρίγλη κινήσασα
20 τὸν πηλὸν ἀπέλθῃ (δύναται γὰρ ὀρύττειν), ἐπικαταβὰς
νέμεται καὶ τοὺς ἀσθενεστέρους ἑαυτοῦ κωλύει συνεπινεῖν.
Δοκεῖ δὲ τῶν ἰχθύων ὁ καλούμενος σκάρος μηρυκάζειν
ὥσπερ τὰ τετράποδα μόνος. Τοῖς μὲν οὖν ἄλλοις ἰχθύσιν ἡ
θήρα τῶν ἡττόνων καταντικρὺ γίνεται τοῖς στόμασιν, ὅνπερ
25 πεφύκασι τρόπον νεῖν· οἱ δὲ σελαχώδεις καὶ οἱ δελφῖνες
καὶ πάντες οἱ κητώδεις ὕπτιοι ἀναπίπτοντες λαμβάνουσιν·
κάτω γὰρ τὸ στόμα ἔχουσιν. Διὸ σώζονται μᾶλλον οἱ ἐλάττους·
εἰ δὲ μή, πάμπαν ἂν ὀλίγοι δοκοῦσιν εἶναι· καὶ γὰρ
ἡ τοῦ δελφῖνος ὀξύτης καὶ δύναμις τοῦ φαγεῖν δοκεῖ εἶναι
30 θαυμαστή. Τῶν δ' ἐγχελύων τρέφονται ὀλίγαι μέν τινες καὶ
1There is no creature known to prey upon the spawn of the cephalus, so that the species is exceedingly numerous; when, however, the is full-grown it is preyed upon by a number of fishes, and especially by the acharnas or bass. Of all fishes the mullet is the most voracious and insatiable, and in consequence its belly is kept 5at full stretch; whenever it is not starving, it may be considered as out of condition. When it is frightened, it hides its head in mud, under the notion that it is hiding its whole body. The synodon is carnivorous and feeds on molluscs. Very often the synodon and the channa cast up their stomachs while chasing smaller fishes; for, be it remembered, fishes have their stomachs close to the mouth, and are 10not furnished with a gullet.
Some fishes then, as has been stated, are carnivorous, and carnivorous only, as the dolphin, the synodon, the gilt-head, the selachians, and the molluscs. Other fishes feed habitually on mud or sea-weed or sea-moss or the so-called stalk-weed or growing plants; as for instance, the phycis, the goby, and the rock-fish; and, by the way, the only meat that the phycis will touch is 15that of prawns. Very often, however, as has been stated, they devour one another, and especially do the larger ones devour the smaller. The proof of their being carnivorous is the fact that they can be caught with flesh for a bait. The mackerel, the tunny, and the bass are for the most part carnivorous, but they do occasionally feed on sea-weed. The sargue feeds on the leavings of the trigle or red mullet. 20The red mullet burrows in the mud, when it sets the mud in motion and quits its haunt, the sargue settles down into the place and feeds on what is left behind, and prevents any smaller fish from settling in the immediate vicinity.
Of all fishes the so-called scarus, or parrot, wrasse, is the only one known to chew the cud like a quadruped.
As a general rule the larger fishes catch the smaller ones in their 25mouths whilst swimming straight after them in the ordinary position; but the selachians, the dolphin, and all the cetacea must first turn over on their backs, as their mouths are placed down below; this allows a fair chance of escape to the smaller fishes, and, indeed, if it were not so, there would be very few of the little fishes left, for the speed and voracity of the dolphin is something marvellous.
Some fishes then, as has been stated, are carnivorous, and carnivorous only, as the dolphin, the synodon, the gilt-head, the selachians, and the molluscs. Other fishes feed habitually on mud or sea-weed or sea-moss or the so-called stalk-weed or growing plants; as for instance, the phycis, the goby, and the rock-fish; and, by the way, the only meat that the phycis will touch is 15that of prawns. Very often, however, as has been stated, they devour one another, and especially do the larger ones devour the smaller. The proof of their being carnivorous is the fact that they can be caught with flesh for a bait. The mackerel, the tunny, and the bass are for the most part carnivorous, but they do occasionally feed on sea-weed. The sargue feeds on the leavings of the trigle or red mullet. 20The red mullet burrows in the mud, when it sets the mud in motion and quits its haunt, the sargue settles down into the place and feeds on what is left behind, and prevents any smaller fish from settling in the immediate vicinity.
Of all fishes the so-called scarus, or parrot, wrasse, is the only one known to chew the cud like a quadruped.
As a general rule the larger fishes catch the smaller ones in their 25mouths whilst swimming straight after them in the ordinary position; but the selachians, the dolphin, and all the cetacea must first turn over on their backs, as their mouths are placed down below; this allows a fair chance of escape to the smaller fishes, and, indeed, if it were not so, there would be very few of the little fishes left, for the speed and voracity of the dolphin is something marvellous.
592a
1 ἐνιαχοῦ καὶ τῇ ἰλύϊ καὶ σιτίοις, ἐάν τις παραβάλῃ, αἱ
μέντοι πλεῖσται τῷ ποτίμῳ ὕδατι· καὶ τοῦτο τηροῦσιν οἱ ἐγχελυοτρόφοι
ὅπως ὅτι μάλιστα καθαρὸν ᾖ, ἀπορρέον ἀεὶ
καὶ ἐπιρρέον ἐπὶ πλαταμώνων· ἢ κονιῶνται τοὺς ἐγχελεῶνας.
5 Ἀποπνίγονται γὰρ ταχύ, ἐὰν μὴ καθαρὸν ᾖ τὸ ὕδωρ·
ἔχουσι γὰρ τὰ βράγχια μικρά. Διόπερ ὅταν θηρεύωσι, ταράττουσι
τὸ ὕδωρ· καὶ ἐν τῷ Στρυμόνι δὲ περὶ Πλειάδας
ἁλίσκονται· τότε γὰρ ἀναθολοῦται τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ὁ πηλὸς
ὑπὸ πνευμάτων γινομένων ἐναντίων· εἰ δὲ μή, συμφέρει
10 ἡσυχίαν ἔχειν. Ἀποθανοῦσαι δ' αἱ ἐγχέλυς οὐκ ἐπιπολάζουσιν
οὐδὲ φέρονται ἄνω, ὥσπερ οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἰχθύων· ἔχουσι
γὰρ τὴν κοιλίαν μικράν. Δημὸν δ' ὀλίγαι μὲν ἔχουσιν, αἱ δὲ
πλεῖσται οὐκ ἔχουσιν. Ζῶσι δ' ἐκ τοῦ ὑγροῦ ἀφαιρούμεναι
ἡμέρας καὶ πέντε καὶ ἕξ, καὶ βορείων μὲν ὄντων πλείους,
15 νοτίων δ' ἐλάττους. Καὶ μεταβαλλόμεναι τοῦ θέρους εἰς τοὺς
ἐγχελεῶνας ἐκ τῶν λιμνῶν ἀποθνήσκουσι, χειμῶνος δ' οὔ.
Καὶ τὰς μεταβολὰς δ' οὐχ ὑπομένουσι τὰς ἰσχυράς, οἷον
καὶ τοῖς φέρουσιν ἐὰν βάπτωσιν εἰς ψυχρόν· ἀπόλλυνται
γὰρ ἀθρόαι πολλάκις. Ἀποπνίγονται δὲ καὶ ἐὰν ἐν ὀλίγῳ ὕδατι
20 τρέφωνται. Τὸ δ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμβαίνει
ἰχθύων· ἀποπνίγονται γὰρ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ὕδατι καὶ
ὀλίγῳ ἀεὶ ὄντες, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἀναπνέοντα, ἐὰν περιπωμασθῇ
ὀλίγος ἀήρ. Ζῶσι δ' ἔνιαι ἐγχέλυς καὶ ἑπτὰ καὶ ὀκτὼ
ἔτη. Τροφῇ δὲ καὶ οἱ ποτάμιοι χρῶνται ἀλλήλους τ' ἐσθίοντες
25 καὶ βοτάνας καὶ ῥίζας, κἄν τι ἐν τῷ βορβόρῳ λάβωσιν.
Νέμονται δὲ μᾶλλον τῆς νυκτός, τὴν δ' ἡμέραν εἰς τὰ
βαθέα ὑποχωροῦσιν.
1Of eels a few here and there feed on mud and on chance morsels of food thrown to them; the greater part of them subsist on fresh water. Eel-breeders are particularly careful to have the water kept perfectly clear, by its perpetually flowing on to flat slabs of stone and then flowing off again; sometimes they coat the eel-tanks with 5plaster. The fact is that the eel will soon choke if the water is not clear as his gills are peculiarly small. On this account, when fishing for eels, they disturb the water. In the river Strymon eel-fishing takes place at the rising of the Pleiads, because at this period the water is troubled and the mud raised up by contrary winds; unless the water be in this condition, it is as well to leave the eels alone. When 10dead the eel, unlike the majority of fishes, neither floats on nor rises to the surface; and this is owing to the smallness of the stomach. A few eels are supplied with fat, but the greater part have no fat whatsoever. When removed from the water they can live for five or six days; for a longer period if north winds prevail, for a shorter if south winds. If they are removed in summer from the pools to the tanks 15they will die; but not so if removed in the winter. They are not capable of holding out against any abrupt change; consequently they often die in large numbers when men engaged in transporting them from one place to another dip them into water particularly cold. They will also die of suffocation if they be kept in a scanty supply of water. This same remark will hold good for fishes in general; for they are suffocated 20if they be long confined in a short supply of water, with the water kept unchanged-just as animals that respire are suffocated if they be shut up with a scanty supply of air. The eel in some cases lives for seven or eight years. The river-eel feeds on his own species, on grass, or on roots, or on any chance food found in the mud. Their usual feeding-time is at night, and during the day-time they retreat into deep 25water. And so much for the food of fishes.
Book 8,Chapter 3 (592a28–594a3)
Τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τὴν τῶν ἰχθύων τροφὴν τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν
τρόπον. Τῶν δ' ὀρνίθων ὅσοι μὲν γαμψώνυχες, σαρκοφάγοι
30 πάντες εἰσί, σῖτον δ' οὐδ' ἐάν τις ψωμίζῃ δύνανται καταπίνειν,
Of birds, such as have crooked talons are carnivorous without exception, and cannot swallow corn or bread-food even if it be put into their bills in tit-bits; as for instance, the eagle of every variety, the kite, the two species of hawks, to wit, the dove-hawk and the sparrow-hawk-and, by the way, these two hawks differ greatly in size from one another-and the buzzard.
592b
1 οἷον τά τε τῶν ἀετῶν γένη πάντα καὶ ἰκτῖνοι καὶ
ἱέρακες ἄμφω, ὅ τε φαβοτύπος καὶ ὁ σπιζίας (διαφέρουσι δ'
οὗτοι τὸ μέγεθος πολὺ ἀλλήλων), καὶ ὁ τριόρχης· ἔστι δ' ὁ
τριόρχης τὸ μέγεθος ὅσον ἰκτῖνος, καὶ φαίνεται οὗτος διὰ
5 παντός. Ἔτι φήνη καὶ γύψ· ἔστι δ' ἡ μὲν φήνη τὸ μέγεθος
ἀετοῦ μείζων, τὸ δὲ χρῶμα σποδοειδές, τῶν δὲ γυπῶν δύο
ἐστὶν εἴδη, ὁ μὲν μικρὸς καὶ ἐκλευκότερος, ὁ δὲ μείζων καὶ
σποδοειδέστερος. Ἔτι τῶν νυκτερινῶν ἔνιοι γαμψώνυχές εἰσιν,
οἷον νυκτικόραξ, γλαύξ, βύας. Ἔστι δ' ὁ βύας τὴν μὲν ἰδέαν
10 ὅμοιος γλαυκί, τὸ δὲ μέγεθος ἀετοῦ οὐδὲν ἐλάττων. Ἔτι
δ' ἐλεὸς καὶ αἰγώλιος καὶ σκώψ. Τούτων δ' ὁ μὲν ἐλεὸς
μείζων ἀλεκτρυόνος, ὁ δ' αἰγώλιος παραπλήσιος, ἀμφότεροι
δὲ θηρεύουσι τὰς κίττας· ὁ δὲ σκὼψ ἐλάττων γλαυκός·
πάντα δὲ ταῦτα τρία ὄντα ὅμοια τὰς ὄψεις καὶ σαρκοφάγα
15 πάντα. Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν μὴ γαμψωνύχων ἔνιοι
σαρκοφάγοι, οἷον ἡ χελιδών. Τὰ δὲ σκωληκοφάγα, οἷον
σπίζα, στρουθός, βατίς, χλωρίς, αἰγιθαλός. Ἔστι δὲ τῶν αἰγιθαλῶν
εἴδη τρία, ὁ μὲν σπιζίτης μέγιστος (ἔστι γὰρ ὅσον
σπίζα), ἕτερος δ' ὀρεινὸς διὰ τὸ διατρίβειν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν,
20 οὐραῖον μακρὸν ἔχων· ὁ δὲ τρίτος ὅμοιος μὲν τούτοις, διαφέρει
δὲ κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος· ἔστι γὰρ ἐλάχιστος. Ἔτι δὲ συκαλίς,
μελαγκόρυφος, πυρρούλας, ἐρίθακος, ἐπιλαΐς, οἶστρος,
τύραννος· οὗτος τὸ μέγεθος μικρῷ μείζων ἀκρίδος, ἔστι δὲ
φοινικοῦν λόφον ἔχων, καὶ ἄλλως εὔχαρι τὸ ὀρνίθιον καὶ εὔρυθμον.
25 Ἄνθος· οὗτος τὸ μέγεθος ὅσον σπίζα. Ὀρόσπιζος·
οὗτος σπίζῃ ὅμοιος καὶ τὸ μέγεθος παραπλήσιος, πλὴν ἔχει
<τὸ> περὶ τὸν αὐχένα κυανοῦν, καὶ διατρίβει ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν.
Ἔτι βασιλεύς, σπερμολόγος. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τὰ μὲν
ὅλως, τὰ δ' ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ σκωληκοφάγα, τὰ δὲ τοιάδε
30 ἀκανθοφάγα, ἀκανθίς, θραυπίς, ἔτι ἡ καλουμένη χρυσομῆτρις.
1The buzzard is of the same size as the kite, and is visible at all seasons of the year. There is also the phene (or lammergeier) and the vulture. The phene is larger than the common eagle and is ashen in colour. Of the vulture there are two varieties: one small and whitish, the other 5comparatively large and rather more ashen-coloured than white. Further, of birds that fly by night, some have crooked talons, such as the night-raven, the owl, and the eagle-owl. The eagle-owl resembles the common owl in shape, but it is quite as large as the eagle. Again, there is the eleus, the Aegolian owl, and the little horned owl. Of these birds, the 10eleus is somewhat larger than the barn-door cock, and the Aegolian owl is of about the same size as the eleus, and both these birds hunt the jay; the little horned owl is smaller than the common owl. All these three birds are alike in appearance, and all three are carnivorous.
Again, of birds that have not crooked talons some are carnivorous, such as the 15swallow. Others feed on grubs, such as the chaffinch, the sparrow, the 'batis', the green linnet, and the titmouse. Of the titmouse there are three varieties. The largest is the finch-titmouse--for it is about the size of a finch; the second has a long tail, and from its habitat is called the hill-titmouse; the third resembles the other two in appearance, 20but is less in size than either of them. Then come the becca-fico, the black-cap, the bull-finch, the robin, the epilais, the midget-bird, and the golden-crested wren. This wren is little larger than a locust, has a crest of bright red gold, and is in every way a beautiful and graceful little bird. Then the anthus, a bird about the size of a finch; and the 25mountain-finch, which resembles a finch and is of much the same size, but its neck is blue, and it is named from its habitat; and lastly the wren and the rook. The above-enumerated birds and the like of them feed either wholly or for the most part on grubs, but the following and the like feed on thistles; to wit, the linnet, the thraupis, and the goldfinch.
Again, of birds that have not crooked talons some are carnivorous, such as the 15swallow. Others feed on grubs, such as the chaffinch, the sparrow, the 'batis', the green linnet, and the titmouse. Of the titmouse there are three varieties. The largest is the finch-titmouse--for it is about the size of a finch; the second has a long tail, and from its habitat is called the hill-titmouse; the third resembles the other two in appearance, 20but is less in size than either of them. Then come the becca-fico, the black-cap, the bull-finch, the robin, the epilais, the midget-bird, and the golden-crested wren. This wren is little larger than a locust, has a crest of bright red gold, and is in every way a beautiful and graceful little bird. Then the anthus, a bird about the size of a finch; and the 25mountain-finch, which resembles a finch and is of much the same size, but its neck is blue, and it is named from its habitat; and lastly the wren and the rook. The above-enumerated birds and the like of them feed either wholly or for the most part on grubs, but the following and the like feed on thistles; to wit, the linnet, the thraupis, and the goldfinch.
593a
1 Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα ἐπὶ τῶν ἀκανθῶν νέμεται, σκωλήκα
δ' οὐδὲν οὐδ' ἔμψυχον οὐδέν· ἐν ταὐτῷ δὲ καθεύδει καὶ
νέμεται ταῦτα. Ἄλλα δ' ἐστὶ σκνιποφάγα, ἃ τοὺς σκνῖπας θηρεύοντα
ζῇ μάλιστα, οἷον πιπὼ ἥ τε μείζων καὶ ἡ ἐλάττων·
5 καλοῦσι δέ τινες ἀμφότερα ταῦτα δρυοκολάπτας·
ὅμοια δ' ἀλλήλοις, καὶ φωνὴν ἔχουσιν ὁμοίαν, πλὴν μείζω
τὸ μεῖζον· νέμεται δ' ἀμφότερα ταῦτα πρὸς τὰ ξύλα
προσπετόμενα. Ἔτι κελεός· ἔστι δ' ὁ κελεὸς τὸ μέγεθος ὅσον
τρυγών, τὸ δὲ χρῶμα χλωρὸς ὅλος· ἔστι δὲ ξυλοκόπος
10 σφόδρα, καὶ νέμεται ἐπὶ τῶν ξύλων τὰ πολλά, φωνήν τε
μεγάλην ἔχει· γίνεται δὲ μάλιστα τὸ ὄρνεον τοῦτο περὶ Πελοπόννησον.
Ἄλλος ὃς καλεῖται κνιπολόγος, τὸ δὲ μέγεθος μικρὸς
ὅσον ἀκανθυλλίς, τὴν δὲ χρόαν σποδοειδὴς καὶ κατάστικτος·
φωνεῖ δὲ μικρόν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ξυλοκόπον. Ἄλλα
15 δ' ἔστιν ἃ ζῇ καρποφαγοῦντα καὶ ποοφαγοῦντα, οἷον φάψ,
φάττα, περιστερά, οἰνάς, τρυγών. Φάττα μὲν οὖν καὶ περιστερὰ
ἀεὶ φαίνονται, τρυγὼν δὲ τοῦ θέρους· τοῦ γὰρ χειμῶνος
ἀφανίζεται· φωλεῖ γάρ. Οἰνὰς δὲ τοῦ φθινοπώρου καὶ φαίνεται
μάλιστα καὶ ἁλίσκεται· ἔστι δὲ τὸ μέγεθος ἡ οἰνὰς
20 μείζων μὲν περιστερᾶς, ἐλάττων δὲ φαβός· ἡ δ' ἅλωσις
αὐτῆς γίνεται μάλιστα καπτούσης τὸ ὕδωρ. Ἀφικνοῦνται δ' εἰς
τοὺς τόπους τούτους ἔχουσαι νεοττούς· τὰ δ' ἄλλα πάντα τοῦ
θέρους ἀφικνούμενα νεοττεύει ἐνταῦθα, καὶ ἐκτρέφει τὰ πλεῖστα
ζῴοις, πλὴν τῶν περιστεροειδῶν. Πάντων δ' ὡς εἰπεῖν τῶν ὀρνίθων
25 οἱ μὲν πεζεύουσι περὶ τὴν τροφήν, οἱ δὲ περὶ ποταμοὺς
καὶ λίμνας βιοτεύουσιν, οἱ δὲ περὶ τὴν θάλατταν, ὅσοι μὲν
στεγανόποδες, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ὕδατι ποιούμενοι τὴν πλείστην διατριβήν,
ὅσοι δὲ σχιζόποδες, περὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ὕδωρ· καὶ τούτων
ἔνιοι διὰ τῶν φυομένων τρέφονται, ὅσοι μὴ σαρκοφάγοι.
1All these birds feed on thistles, but never on grubs or any living thing whatever; they live and roost also on the plants from which they derive their food.
There are other birds whose favourite food consists of insects found beneath the bark of trees; as for instance, the 5great and the small pie, which are nicknamed the woodpeckers. These two birds resemble one another in plumage and in note, only that the note of the larger bird is the louder of the two; they both frequent the trunks of trees in quest of food. There is also the greenpie, a bird about the size of a turtle-dove, green-coloured all over, that 10pecks at the bark of trees with extraordinary vigour, lives generally on the branch of a tree, has a loud note, and is mostly found in the Peloponnese. There is another bird called the 'grub-picker' (or tree-creeper), about as small as the penduline titmouse, with speckled plumage of an ashen colour, and with a poor note; it is a variety 15of the woodpecker.
There are other birds that live on fruit and herbage, such as the wild pigeon or ringdove, the common pigeon, the rock-dove, and the turtle-dove. The ring-dove and the common pigeon are visible at all seasons; the turtledove only in the summer, for in winter it lurks in some hole or other and is never seen. The rock-dove 20is chiefly visible in the autumn, and is caught at that season; it is larger than the common pigeon but smaller than the wild one; it is generally caught while drinking. These pigeons bring their young ones with them when they visit this country. All our other birds come to us in the early summer and build their nests here, and the 25greater part of them rear their young on animal food, with the sole exception of the pigeon and its varieties.
The whole genus of birds may be pretty well divided into such as procure their food on dry land, such as frequent rivers and lakes, and such as live on or by the sea.
There are other birds whose favourite food consists of insects found beneath the bark of trees; as for instance, the 5great and the small pie, which are nicknamed the woodpeckers. These two birds resemble one another in plumage and in note, only that the note of the larger bird is the louder of the two; they both frequent the trunks of trees in quest of food. There is also the greenpie, a bird about the size of a turtle-dove, green-coloured all over, that 10pecks at the bark of trees with extraordinary vigour, lives generally on the branch of a tree, has a loud note, and is mostly found in the Peloponnese. There is another bird called the 'grub-picker' (or tree-creeper), about as small as the penduline titmouse, with speckled plumage of an ashen colour, and with a poor note; it is a variety 15of the woodpecker.
There are other birds that live on fruit and herbage, such as the wild pigeon or ringdove, the common pigeon, the rock-dove, and the turtle-dove. The ring-dove and the common pigeon are visible at all seasons; the turtledove only in the summer, for in winter it lurks in some hole or other and is never seen. The rock-dove 20is chiefly visible in the autumn, and is caught at that season; it is larger than the common pigeon but smaller than the wild one; it is generally caught while drinking. These pigeons bring their young ones with them when they visit this country. All our other birds come to us in the early summer and build their nests here, and the 25greater part of them rear their young on animal food, with the sole exception of the pigeon and its varieties.
The whole genus of birds may be pretty well divided into such as procure their food on dry land, such as frequent rivers and lakes, and such as live on or by the sea.
593b
1 Οἷον περὶ μὲν τὰς λίμνας καὶ τοὺς ποταμοὺς ἐρωδιὸς
καὶ ὁ λευκερωδιός· ἔστι δ' οὗτος τὸ μέγεθος ἐκείνου ἐλάττων,
καὶ ἔχει τὸ ῥύγχος πλατὺ καὶ μακρόν. Ἔτι πελαργὸς καὶ λάρος·
ὁ δὲ λάρος τὸ χρῶμα σποδοειδής. Καὶ σχοινίλος καὶ
5 κίγκλος καὶ πύγαργος· οὗτος μέγιστος τῶν ἐλαττόνων τούτων·
ἔστι γὰρ ὅσον κίχλη. Πάντες δ' οὗτοι τὸ οὐραῖον κινοῦσιν.
Ἔτι σκαλίδρις· ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ὄρνεον ποικιλίαν ἔχον, τὸ δ'
ὅλον σποδοειδές. Καὶ τὸ τῶν ἁλκυόνων δὲ γένος πάρυδρόν
ἐστιν. Τυγχάνει δ' αὐτῶν ὄντα δύο εἴδη, καὶ ἡ μὲν φθέγγεται,
10 καθιζάνουσα ἐπὶ τῶν δονάκων, ἡ δ' ἄφωνος· ἔστι δ' αὕτη
μείζων· τὸν δὲ νῶτον ἀμφότεραι κυανοῦν ἔχουσιν. Καὶ τροχίλος.
Περὶ δὲ τὴν θάλατταν καὶ ἁλκυὼν καὶ κήρυλος. Καὶ
αἱ κορῶναι δὲ νέμονται ἁπτόμεναι τῶν ἐκπιπτόντων ζῴων·
παμφάγον γάρ ἐστιν. Ἔτι δὲ λάρος ὁ λευκὸς καὶ κέπφος,
15 αἴθυια, χαραδριός. Τῶν δὲ στεγανοπόδων τὰ μὲν βαρύτερα
περὶ ποταμοὺς καὶ λίμνας ἐστίν, οἷον κύκνος, νῆττα, φαλαρίς,
κολυμβίς, ἔτι βόσκας, ὅμοιος μὲν νήττῃ, τὸ δὲ μέγεθος
ἐλάττων, καὶ ὁ καλούμενος κόραξ· οὗτος δ' ἐστὶ τὸ μὲν
μέγεθος οἷον πελαργός, πλὴν τὰ σκέλη ἔχει ἐλάττω, στεγανόπους
20 δὲ καὶ νευστικός, τὸ δὲ χρῶμα μέλας· καθίζει δὲ
οὗτος ἐπὶ τῶν δένδρων καὶ νεοττεύει ἐνταῦθα μόνος τῶν τοιούτων.
Ἔτι χήν, καὶ ὁ μικρὸς χὴν ὁ ἀγελαῖος, καὶ χηναλώπηξ
καὶ αἲξ καὶ πηνέλοψ. Ὁ δ' ἁλιαίετος καὶ περὶ τὴν θάλατταν
διατρίβει καὶ τὰ λιμναῖα κόπτει. Πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ
25 παμφάγοι τῶν ὀρνίθων εἰσίν. Οἱ δὲ γαμψώνυχοι καὶ τῶν
ἄλλων ἅπτονται ζῴων, ὅσων ἂν κρατῶσι, καὶ τῶν ὀρνέων·
πλὴν οὐκ ἀλληλοφάγοι τοῦ γένους τοῦ οἰκείου εἰσίν, ὥσπερ οἱ
ἰχθύες ἅπτονται πολλάκις καὶ αὑτῶν. Ἔστι δὲ τὸ τῶν ὄρνεων
γένος πᾶν μὲν ὀλιγόποτον, οἱ δὲ γαμψώνυχοι καὶ
1Of water-birds such as are web-footed live actually on the water, while such as are split-footed live by the edge of it-and, by the way, water-birds that are not carnivorous live on water-plants, (but most of them live on fish), like the heron and the spoonbill that frequent the banks of lakes and rivers; and the spoonbill, 5by the way, is less than the common heron, and has a long flat bill. There are furthermore the stork and the seamew; and the seamew, by the way, is ashen-coloured. There is also the schoenilus, the cinclus, and the white-rump. Of these smaller birds the last mentioned is the largest, being about the size of the common thrush; all three may be described as 'wag-tails'. Then there is the scalidris, 10with plumage ashen-grey, but speckled. Moreover, the family of the halcyons or kingfishers live by the waterside. Of kingfishers there are two varieties; one that sits on reeds and sings; the other, the larger of the two, is without a note. Both these varieties are blue on the back. There is also the trochilus (or sandpiper). The halcyon also, including a variety termed the cerylus, is found near 15the seaside. The crow also feeds on such animal life as is cast up on the beach, for the bird is omnivorous. There are also the white gull, the cepphus, the aethyia, and the charadrius.
Of web-footed birds, the larger species live on the banks of rivers and lakes; as the swan, the duck, the coot, the grebe, and the teal-a bird resembling the duck but less in size-and the water-raven or cormorant. 20This bird is the size of a stork, only that its legs are shorter; it is web-footed and is a good swimmer; its plumage is black. It roosts on trees, and is the only one of all such birds as these that is found to build its nest in a tree. Further there is the large goose, the little gregarious goose, the vulpanser, the horned grebe, and the penelops. The sea-eagle lives in the neighbourhood of the sea 25and seeks its quarry in lagoons.
A great number of birds are omnivorous. Birds of prey feed on any animal or bird, other than a bird of prey, that they may catch. These birds never touch one of their own genus, whereas fishes often devour members actually of their own species.
Birds, as a rule, are very spare drinkers.
Of web-footed birds, the larger species live on the banks of rivers and lakes; as the swan, the duck, the coot, the grebe, and the teal-a bird resembling the duck but less in size-and the water-raven or cormorant. 20This bird is the size of a stork, only that its legs are shorter; it is web-footed and is a good swimmer; its plumage is black. It roosts on trees, and is the only one of all such birds as these that is found to build its nest in a tree. Further there is the large goose, the little gregarious goose, the vulpanser, the horned grebe, and the penelops. The sea-eagle lives in the neighbourhood of the sea 25and seeks its quarry in lagoons.
A great number of birds are omnivorous. Birds of prey feed on any animal or bird, other than a bird of prey, that they may catch. These birds never touch one of their own genus, whereas fishes often devour members actually of their own species.
Birds, as a rule, are very spare drinkers.
594a
1 ἄποτοι πάμπαν, εἰ μή τι ὀλίγον γένος καὶ ὀλιγάκις.
Μάλιστα δὲ τοιοῦτον ἡ κεγχρίς. Καὶ ἰκτῖνος ὀλιγάκις μέν,
ὦπται δὲ πίνων.
1In fact birds of prey never drink at all, excepting a very few, and these drink very rarely; and this last observation is peculiarly applicable to the kestrel. The kite has been seen to drink, but he certainly drinks very seldom.
Book 8,Chapter 4 (594a4–24)
Τὰ δὲ φολιδωτὰ τῶν ζῴων, οἷον σαῦρός τε καὶ τὰ
5 τετράποδα τἆλλα καὶ οἱ ὄφεις, παμφάγα ἐστίν· καὶ γὰρ
σαρκοφάγα, καὶ πόαν ἐσθίουσιν. Οἱ δ' ὄφεις καὶ λιχνότατοι
τῶν ζῴων εἰσίν. Ἔστι μὲν οὖν ὀλιγόποτα καὶ ταῦτα καὶ τἆλλα
ὅσα ἔχει τὸν πλεύμονα σομφόν· ἔχουσι δὲ σομφὸν τὰ
ὀλίγαιμα πάντα καὶ τὰ ᾠοτόκα. Οἱ δ' ὄφεις καὶ πρὸς τὸν
10 οἶνόν εἰσιν ἀκρατεῖς, διὸ θηρεύουσί τινες καὶ τοὺς ἔχεις εἰς
ὀστράκια διατιθέντες οἶνον εἰς τὰς αἱμασιάς· λαμβάνονται
γὰρ μεθύοντες. Σαρκοφάγοι δ' ὄντες οἱ ὄφεις, ὅ τι ἂν λάβωσι
ζῷον, ἐξικμάζοντες ὅλα κατὰ τὴν ὑποχώρησιν προΐενται.
Σχεδὸν δὲ καὶ τἆλλα τὰ τοιαῦτα, οἷον οἱ ἀράχναι·
15 ἀλλ' ἔξω οἱ ἀράχναι ἐκχυμίζουσιν, οἱ δ' ὄφεις ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ.
Λαμβάνει μὲν οὖν ὁ ὄφις ὅθεν ἂν τύχῃ τὸ διδόμενον
(ἐσθίει γὰρ καὶ ὀρνίθια καὶ θηρία, καὶ ᾠὰ καταπίνει), λαβὼν
δ' ἐπανάγει, ἕως ἂν ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον ἐλθὼν εἰς εὐθὺ καταστήσῃ,
κἄπειθ' οὕτω συνάγει αὑτὸν καὶ συστέλλει εἰς μικρὸν
20 ὥστ' ἐκταθέντος κάτω γίνεσθαι τὸ καταποθέν. Ταῦτα
δὲ ποιεῖ διὰ τὸ τὸν στόμαχον εἶναι λεπτὸν καὶ μακρόν. Δύναται
δ' ἄσιτα καὶ τὰ φαλάγγια καὶ οἱ ὄφεις πολὺν χρόνον
ζῆν· ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο θεωρῆσαι ἐκ τῶν παρὰ τοῖς φαρμακοπώλαις
τρεφομένων.
Animals that are coated with tessellates-such as the 5lizard and the other quadrupeds, and the serpents-are omnivorous: at all events they are carnivorous and graminivorous; and serpents, by the way, are of all animals the greatest gluttons.
Tessellated animals are spare drinkers, as are also all such animals as have a spongy lung, and such a lung, scantily supplied with blood, is found in all oviparous 10animals. Serpents, by the by, have an insatiate appetite for wine; consequently, at times men hunt for snakes by pouring wine into saucers and putting them into the interstices of walls, and the creatures are caught when inebriated. Serpents are carnivorous, and whenever they catch an animal they extract all its juices and eject the creature whole. And, by 15the way, this is done by all other creatures of similar habits, as for instance the spider; only that the spider sucks out the juices of its prey outside, and the serpent does so in its belly. The serpent takes any food presented to him, eats birds and animals, and swallows eggs entire. But after taking his prey he stretches himself until he stands 20straight out to the very tip, and then he contracts and squeezes himself into little compass, so that the swallowed mass may pass down his outstretched body; and this action on his part is due to the tenuity and length of his gullet. Spiders and snakes can both go without food for a long time; and this remark may be verified by observation of specimens kept 25alive in the shops of the apothecaries.
Tessellated animals are spare drinkers, as are also all such animals as have a spongy lung, and such a lung, scantily supplied with blood, is found in all oviparous 10animals. Serpents, by the by, have an insatiate appetite for wine; consequently, at times men hunt for snakes by pouring wine into saucers and putting them into the interstices of walls, and the creatures are caught when inebriated. Serpents are carnivorous, and whenever they catch an animal they extract all its juices and eject the creature whole. And, by 15the way, this is done by all other creatures of similar habits, as for instance the spider; only that the spider sucks out the juices of its prey outside, and the serpent does so in its belly. The serpent takes any food presented to him, eats birds and animals, and swallows eggs entire. But after taking his prey he stretches himself until he stands 20straight out to the very tip, and then he contracts and squeezes himself into little compass, so that the swallowed mass may pass down his outstretched body; and this action on his part is due to the tenuity and length of his gullet. Spiders and snakes can both go without food for a long time; and this remark may be verified by observation of specimens kept 25alive in the shops of the apothecaries.
Book 8,Chapter 5 (594a25–595a6)
25 Τῶν δὲ τετραπόδων καὶ ζῳοτόκων τὰ μὲν ἄγρια καὶ
καρχαρόδοντα πάντα σαρκοφάγα· πλὴν τοὺς λύκους φασίν,
ὅταν πεινῶσιν, ἐσθίειν τινὰ γῆν, μόνον δὴ τοῦτο τῶν ζῴων·
πόας δ' ἄλλοτε μὲν οὐχ ἅπτονται, ὅταν δὲ κάμνωσι, καθάπερ
καὶ αἱ κύνες ἐσθίουσαι ἀνεμοῦσι καὶ καθαίρονται.
30 Ἀνθρωποφαγοῦσι δ' οἱ μονοπεῖραι τῶν λύκων μᾶλλον [αὐτῶν]
ἢ τὰ κυνηγέσια. Ὃν δὲ καλοῦσιν οἱ μὲν γλάνον οἱ δ' ὕαιναν, ἔστι
μὲν τὸ μέγεθος οὐκ ἐλάττων λύκου, χαίτην δ' ἔχει ὥσπερ
Of viviparous quadrupeds such as are fierce and jag-toothed are without exception carnivorous; though, by the way, it is stated of the wolf, but of no other animal, that in extremity of hunger it will eat a certain kind of earth. These carnivorous animals never eat grass except when they are sick, just as dogs 30bring on a vomit by eating grass and thereby purge themselves.
The solitary wolf is more apt to attack man than the wolf that goes with a pack.
The solitary wolf is more apt to attack man than the wolf that goes with a pack.
594b
1 ἵππος, καὶ ἔτι σκληροτέρας καὶ βαθυτέρας τὰς τρίχας,
καὶ καθ' ὅλης τῆς ῥάχεως· ἐπιβουλεύει δὲ καὶ θηρεύει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους,
τοὺς δὲ κύνας καὶ ἐμοῦσα θηρεύει ὥσπερ οἱ ἄνθρωποι·
καὶ τυμβωρυχεῖ δὲ ἐφιέμενον τῆς σαρκοφαγίας
5 τῆς τοιαύτης. Ἡ δ' ἄρκτος παμφάγον ἐστί. Καὶ γὰρ καρπὸν
ἐσθίει, καὶ ἀναβαίνει ἐπὶ τὰ δένδρα διὰ τὴν ὑγρότητα τοῦ
σώματος, καὶ τοὺς καρποὺς τοὺς χέδροπας· ἐσθίει δὲ καὶ
μέλι τὰ σμήνη καταγνύουσα, καὶ καρκίνους καὶ μύρμηκας,
καὶ σαρκοφαγεῖ. Διὰ γὰρ τὴν ἰσχὺν ἐπιτίθεται οὐ μόνον
10 τοῖς ἐλάφοις ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἀγρίοις ὑσίν, ἂν δύνηται λαθεῖν
ἐπιπεσοῦσα, καὶ τοῖς ταύροις· ὁμόσε χωρήσασα γὰρ
τῷ ταύρῳ κατὰ πρόσωπον ὑπτία καταπίπτει, καὶ τοῦ ταύρου
τύπτειν ἐπιχειροῦντος τοῖς μὲν βραχίοσι τὰ κέρατα περιλαμβάνει,
τῷ δὲ στόματι τὴν ἀκρωμίαν δακοῦσα καταβάλλει
15 τὸν ταῦρον. Βαδίζει δ' ἐπί τινα χρόνον ὀλίγον καὶ τοῖν
δυοῖν ποδοῖν ὀρθή. Τὰ δὲ κρέα πάντα κατεσθίει προσήπουσα
πρῶτον. Ὁ δὲ λέων σαρκοφάγον μέν ἐστιν, ὥσπερ καὶ τἆλλα
ὅσα ἄγρια καὶ καρχαρόδοντα, τῇ δὲ βρώσει χρῆται λάβρως,
καὶ καταπίνει πολλὰ ὅλα οὐ διαιρῶν, εἶθ' ἡμέρας
20 δύο ἢ τρεῖς ἀσιτεῖ· δύναται γὰρ διὰ τὸ ὑπερπληροῦσθαι.
Ὀλιγόποτον δ' ἐστίν. Τὸ δὲ περίττωμα προΐεται σπανίως· διὰ
τρίτης γὰρ ἢ ὅπως ἂν τύχῃ προχωρεῖ, καὶ τοῦτο σκληρὸν καὶ
ἐξικμασμένον, ὅμοιον κυνί. Προΐεται δὲ καὶ τὴν φῦσαν σφόδρα
δριμεῖαν καὶ τὸ οὖρον ἔχον ὀσμήν, διὸὥςπερ <ὥς>περ οἱ κύνες
25 ὀσφραίνεται τῶν δένδρων· οὐρεῖ γὰρ αἴρων τὸ σκέλος ὥσπερ
οἱ κύνες. Ἐμποιεῖ δὲ καὶ ὀσμὴν βαρεῖαν ἐν τοῖς ἐσθιομένοις
καταπνέων· καὶ γὰρ ἀνοιχθέντος αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔσω ἀτμίδα ἀφίησι
βαρεῖαν. Ἔνια δὲ τῶν τετραπόδων καὶ ἀγρίων ζῴων
ποιεῖται τὴν τροφὴν περὶ λίμνας καὶ ποταμούς· περὶ δὲ τὴν
30 θάλατταν οὐδὲν ἔξω φώκης. Τοιαῦτα δ' ἐστὶν ὅ τε καλούμενος
κάστωρ καὶ τὸ σαθέριον καὶ τὸ σατύριον καὶ ἐνυδρὶς καὶ ἡ
καλουμένη λάταξ· ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο πλατύτερον τῆς ἐνυδρίδος, καὶ
1The animal called 'glanus' by some and 'hyaena' by others is as large as a wolf, with a mane like a horse, only that the hair is stiffer and longer and extends over the entire length of the chine. It will lie in wait for a man and chase him, and will inveigle a dog within its reach by making a noise 5that resembles the retching noise of a man vomiting. It is exceedingly fond of putrefied flesh, and will burrow in a graveyard to gratify this propensity.
The bear is omnivorous. It eats fruit, and is enabled by the suppleness of its body to climb a tree; it also eats vegetables, and it will break up a hive to get at the honey; it eats crabs and ants also, and is in a 10general way carnivorous. It is so powerful that it will attack not only the deer but the wild boar, if it can take it unawares, and also the bull. After coming to close quarters with the bull it falls on its back in front of the animal, and, when the bull proceeds to butt, the bear seizes hold of the bull's horns with its front paws, fastens its teeth into his shoulder, 15and drags him down to the ground. For a short time together it can walk erect on its hind legs. All the flesh it eats it first allows to become carrion.
The lion, like all other savage and jag-toothed animals, is carnivorous. It devours its food greedily and fiercely, and often swallows its prey entire without rending it at all; it will then go fasting for two or three days 20together, being rendered capable of this abstinence by its previous surfeit. It is a spare drinker. It discharges the solid residuum in small quantities, about every other day or at irregular intervals, and the substance of it is hard and dry like the excrement of a dog. The wind discharged from off its stomach is pungent, and its urine emits a strong odour, a phenomenon 25which, in the case of dogs, accounts for their habit of sniffing at trees; for, by the way, the lion, like the dog, lifts its leg to void its urine. It infects the food it eats with a strong smell by breathing on it, and when the animal is cut open an overpowering vapour exhales from its inside.
Some wild quadrupeds feed in lakes and rivers; the seal is the only one that 30gets its living on the sea. To the former class of animals belong the so-called castor, the satyrium, the otter, and the so-called latax, or beaver.
The bear is omnivorous. It eats fruit, and is enabled by the suppleness of its body to climb a tree; it also eats vegetables, and it will break up a hive to get at the honey; it eats crabs and ants also, and is in a 10general way carnivorous. It is so powerful that it will attack not only the deer but the wild boar, if it can take it unawares, and also the bull. After coming to close quarters with the bull it falls on its back in front of the animal, and, when the bull proceeds to butt, the bear seizes hold of the bull's horns with its front paws, fastens its teeth into his shoulder, 15and drags him down to the ground. For a short time together it can walk erect on its hind legs. All the flesh it eats it first allows to become carrion.
The lion, like all other savage and jag-toothed animals, is carnivorous. It devours its food greedily and fiercely, and often swallows its prey entire without rending it at all; it will then go fasting for two or three days 20together, being rendered capable of this abstinence by its previous surfeit. It is a spare drinker. It discharges the solid residuum in small quantities, about every other day or at irregular intervals, and the substance of it is hard and dry like the excrement of a dog. The wind discharged from off its stomach is pungent, and its urine emits a strong odour, a phenomenon 25which, in the case of dogs, accounts for their habit of sniffing at trees; for, by the way, the lion, like the dog, lifts its leg to void its urine. It infects the food it eats with a strong smell by breathing on it, and when the animal is cut open an overpowering vapour exhales from its inside.
Some wild quadrupeds feed in lakes and rivers; the seal is the only one that 30gets its living on the sea. To the former class of animals belong the so-called castor, the satyrium, the otter, and the so-called latax, or beaver.
595a
1 ὀδόντας ἔχει ἰσχυρούς· ἐξιοῦσα γὰρ νύκτωρ πολλάκις
τὰς περὶ τὸν ποταμὸν κερκίδας ἐκτέμνει τοῖς ὀδοῦσιν. Δάκνει
δὲ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ ἡ ἐνυδρίς, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίησιν, ὡς λέγουσι,
μέχρι ἂν ὀστοῦ ψόφον ἀκούσῃ. Τὸ δὲ τρίχωμα ἔχει ἡ λάταξ
5 σκληρόν, καὶ τὸ εἶδος μεταξὺ τοῦ τῆς φώκης τριχώματος
καὶ τοῦ τῆς ἐλάφου.
1The beaver is flatter than the otter and has strong teeth; it often at night-time emerges from the water and goes nibbling at the bark of the aspens that fringe the riversides. The otter will bite a man, and it is said that whenever it bites it will never let go until it hears a bone crack. The hair of the 5beaver is rough, intermediate in appearance between the hair of the seal and the hair of the deer.
Book 8,Chapter 6 (595a7–595b3)
Πίνει δὲ τῶν ζῴων τὰ μὲν καρχαρόδοντα λάπτοντα·
ἔνια δὲ καὶ τῶν μὴ καρχαροδόντων, οἷον οἱ μύες. Τὰ δὲ
συνόδοντα σπάσει, οἷον ἵπποι καὶ βόες. Ἡ δ' ἄρκτος οὔτε
10 σπάσει οὔτε λάψει, ἀλλὰ κάψει. Καὶ τῶν ὀρνέων δὲ τὰ μὲν
ἄλλα σπάσει, πλὴν τὰ μὲν μακραύχενα διαλείποντα καὶ
αἴροντα τὴν κεφαλήν, ὁ δὲ πορφυρίων μόνος κάψει.
Τὰ δὲ κερατώδη τῶν ζῴων, καὶ ἥμερα καὶ ἄγρια,
καὶ ὅσα μὴ καρχαρόδοντα, πάντα καρποφάγα καὶ ποηφάγα
15 ἐστί, μὴ λίαν κατεχόμενα τῷ πεινῆν, ἔξω τῆς ὑός·
αὕτη δ' ἥκιστα ποηφάγον καὶ καρποφάγον· ῥιζοφάγον
δὲ μάλιστα ἡ ὗς ἐστι τῶν ζῴων διὰ τὸ εὖ πεφυκέναι τὸ
ῥύγχος πρὸς τὴν ἐργασίαν ταύτην, καὶ εὐχερέστατον πρὸς
πᾶσαν τροφὴν τῶν ζῴων ἐστίν. Τάχιστα δὲ καὶ ἐπιδίδωσιν εἰς
20 παχύτητα ὡς κατὰ μέγεθος· πιαίνεται γὰρ ἐν ἑξήκοντα
ἡμέραις· ὅσον δ' ἐπιδίδωσιν, γινώσκουσιν οἱ περὶ ταῦτα
πραγματευόμενοι νῆστιν ἱστάντες. Πιαίνεται δὲ προλιμοκτονηθεῖσα
ἡμέρας τρεῖς· σχεδὸν δὲ καὶ τἆλλα πάντα προλιμοκτονούμενα
πιαίνεται. Μετὰ δὲ τὰς τρεῖς ἡμέρας εὐωχοῦσιν
25 ἤδη οἱ πιαίνοντες τὰς ὗς. Οἱ δὲ Θρᾷκες πιαίνουσι τῇ μὲν
πρώτῃ πιεῖν διδόντες, εἶτα διαλείπουσιν ἡμέραν μίαν τὸ πρῶτον,
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα δύο, εἶτα τρεῖς καὶ τέτταρας μέχρι
τῶν ἑπτά. Πιαίνεται δὲ τὸ ζῷον τοῦτο κριθαῖς, κέγχροις,
σύκοις, ἀκύλοις, ἀχράσι, σικύοις. Μάλιστα δὲ καὶ ταῦτα
30 καὶ τἆλλα τὰ ἔχοντα κοιλίαν θερμὴν ἡ ἀτρεμία πιαίνει·
τὰς δ' ὗς καὶ τὸ λούεσθαι ἐν πηλῷ. Νέμεσθαι δὲ βούλονται
Jag-toothed animals drink by lapping, as do also some animals with teeth differently formed, as the mouse. Animals whose upper and lower teeth meet evenly drink by suction, as the horse and the ox; the bear neither laps nor sucks, but gulps down his drink. Birds, a rule, drink by 10suction, but the long necked birds stop and elevate their heads at intervals; the purple coot is the only one (of the long-necked birds) that swallows water by gulps.
Horned animals, domesticated or wild, and all such as are not jag-toothed, are all frugivorous and graminivorous, save under great stress of hunger. The pig is an exception, it cares little for grass or fruit, but of all 15animals it is the fondest of roots, owing to the fact that its snout is peculiarly adapted for digging them out of the ground; it is also of all animals the most easily pleased in the matter of food. It takes on fat more rapidly in proportion to its size than any other animal; in fact, a pig can be fattened for the market in sixty days. Pig-dealers can tell the amount of flesh taken 20on, by having first weighed the animal while it was being starved. Before the fattening process begins, the creature must be starved for three days; and, by the way, animals in general will take on fat if subjected previously to a course of starvation; after the three days of starvation, pig-breeders feed the animal lavishly. Breeders in Thrace, when fattening pigs, give them a 25drink on the first day; then they miss one, and then two days, then three and four, until the interval extends over seven days. The pigs' meat used for fattening is composed of barley, millet, figs, acorns, wild pears, and cucumbers. These animals-and other animals that have warm bellies-are fattened by repose. (Pigs also fatten the better by being allowed to wallow in mud. They like 30to feed in batches of the same age. A pig will give battle even to a wolf.)
Horned animals, domesticated or wild, and all such as are not jag-toothed, are all frugivorous and graminivorous, save under great stress of hunger. The pig is an exception, it cares little for grass or fruit, but of all 15animals it is the fondest of roots, owing to the fact that its snout is peculiarly adapted for digging them out of the ground; it is also of all animals the most easily pleased in the matter of food. It takes on fat more rapidly in proportion to its size than any other animal; in fact, a pig can be fattened for the market in sixty days. Pig-dealers can tell the amount of flesh taken 20on, by having first weighed the animal while it was being starved. Before the fattening process begins, the creature must be starved for three days; and, by the way, animals in general will take on fat if subjected previously to a course of starvation; after the three days of starvation, pig-breeders feed the animal lavishly. Breeders in Thrace, when fattening pigs, give them a 25drink on the first day; then they miss one, and then two days, then three and four, until the interval extends over seven days. The pigs' meat used for fattening is composed of barley, millet, figs, acorns, wild pears, and cucumbers. These animals-and other animals that have warm bellies-are fattened by repose. (Pigs also fatten the better by being allowed to wallow in mud. They like 30to feed in batches of the same age. A pig will give battle even to a wolf.)
595b
1 κατὰ τὰς ἡλικίας. Μάχεται δ' ὗς καὶ λύκῳ. Ἀπογίνεται
δ' ἀπὸ τοῦ σταθμοῦ, ὅσον ἕλκει ζῶσα, τὸ ἕκτον μέρος εἰς τρίχας
καὶ αἷμα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. Θηλαζόμεναι δὲ καὶ αἱ ὕες
καὶ τἆλλα πάντα λεπτότερα γίνεται.
1If a pig be weighed when living, you may calculate that after death its flesh will weigh five-sixths of that weight, and the hair, the blood, and the rest will weigh the other sixth. When suckling their young, swinelike all other animals-get attenuated. So much for these animals.
Book 8,Chapter 7 (595b4–21)
Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τοῦτον
5 ἔχει τὸν τρόπον. Οἱ δὲ βόες εἰσὶ μὲν καὶ καρποφάγοι καὶ
ποηφάγοι, πιαίνονται δὲ τοῖς τε φυσητικοῖς, οἷον ὀρόβοις
καὶ κυάμοις ἐρηριγμένοις καὶ χλόῃ κυάμων, καὶ ἄν τις
τὸ δέρμα ἐντεμὼν φυσήσῃ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα παράσχῃ τὴν
τροφὴν τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις, ἔτι δὲ κριθαῖς καὶ ἁπλῶς καὶ
10 ἐπτισμέναις, καὶ τοῖς γλυκέσιν, οἷον σύκοις καὶ ἀσταφίσι,
καὶ οἴνῳ καὶ τοῖς φύλλοις τῆς πτελέας· μάλιστα δ' οἱ ἥλιοι
καὶ τὰ λουτρὰ τὰ θερμά. Τὰ δὲ κέρατα τῶν νέων χλιαινόμενα
τῷ κηρῷ ἄγεται ῥᾳδίως ὅπου ἄν τις ἐθέλῃ· καὶ τοὺς
πόδας δ' ἧττον ἀλγοῦσιν, ἄν τις τὰ κέρατα ἀλείφῃ κηρῷ ἢ
15 ἐλαίῳ ἢ πίττῃ. Πονοῦσι δ' αἱ ἀγελαῖαι μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τῆς
πάχνης μετανιστάμεναι ἢ ὑπὸ χιόνος. Αὐξάνονται δ' ὅταν
πλείω ἔτη ἀνόχευτοι ὦσιν· διὸ οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἠπείρῳ τὰς καλουμένας
Πυρρικὰς βοῦς ἐννέα ἔτη διατηροῦσιν ἀνοχεύτους καὶ
καλοῦσιν ἀποταύρους, ὅπως αὐξάνωνται. Τούτων δὲ τὸ μὲν
20 πλῆθος εἶναί φασι περὶ τετρακοσίας, ἰδίους τῶν βασιλέων,
ζῆν δ' ἐν ἄλλῃ χώρᾳ οὐ δύνασθαι· καίτοι πεπειρᾶσθαί τινας.
Cattle feed on corn and grass, and fatten on 5vegetables that tend to cause flatulency, such as bitter vetch or bruised beans or bean-stalks. The older ones also will fatten if they be fed up after an incision has been made into their hide, and air blown thereinto. Cattle will fatten also on barley in its natural state or on barley finely winnowed, or on sweet food, such as figs, or pulp from the wine-press, or on elm-leaves. But nothing is so fattening 10as the heat of the sun and wallowing in warm waters. If the horns of young cattle be smeared with hot wax, you may mold them to any shape you please, and cattle are less subject to disease of the hoof if you smear the horny parts with wax, pitch, or olive oil. Herded cattle suffer more when they are forced to change their pasture ground by frost than when snow is the cause of change. Cattle grow all the more 15in size when they are kept from sexual commerce over a number of years; and it is with a view to growth in size that in Epirus the so-called Pyrrhic kine are not allowed intercourse with the bull until they are nine years old; from which circumstance they are nicknamed the 'unbulled' kine. Of these Pyrrhic cattle, by the way, they say that there are only about four hundred in the world, that they are the 20private property of the Epirote royal family, that they cannot thrive out of Epirus, and that people elsewhere have tried to rear them, but without success.
Book 8,Chapter 8 (595b22–596a2)
Ἵπποι δὲ καὶ ὀρεῖς καὶ ὄνοι καρποφάγοι μέν εἰσι καὶ
ποηφάγοι, μάλιστα δὲ πιαίνεται τῷ ποτῷ· ὡς γὰρ ἂν πίνῃ
τὰ ὑποζύγια τὸ ὕδωρ, οὕτω καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν ἔχει
25 τῆς τροφῆς, καὶ ὅπου δ' ἂν ἧττον δυσχεραίνῃ τὸ ποτόν, τοῦτο
μᾶλλον εὔχορτόν ἐστιν. Ἡ δὲ κράστις λειοτριχεῖν ποιεῖ, ὅταν
ἔγκυος ᾖ· ὅταν δ' ἀθέρας ἔχῃ σκληρούς, οὐκ ἀγαθή. Τῆς δὲ
πόας τῆς Μηδικῆς ἥ τε πρωτόκουρος φαύλη, καὶ ὅπου ἂν
δυσῶδες ὕδωρ ἐπάγηται· ὄζει γὰρ τῆς πόας. Πίνειν δ' οἱ
30 μὲν βόες ζητοῦσι καθαρόν, οἱ δ' ἵπποι ὥσπερ αἱ κάμηλοι·
ἡ δὲ κάμηλος πίνει ἥδιον θολερὸν καὶ παχύ· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν
Horses, mules, and asses feed on corn and grass, but are fattened chiefly by drink. Just in proportion as beasts of burden drink water, so will they more or less enjoy their food, and a place will give good or bad feeding according as the water is good 25or bad. Green corn, while ripening, will give a smooth coat; but such corn is injurious if the spikes are too stiff and sharp. The first crop of clover is unwholesome, and so is clover over which ill-scented water runs; for the clover is sure to get the taint of the water. Cattle like clear water for drinking; but the horse in this respect resembles the camel, for the camel likes turbid and thick water, 30and will never drink from a stream until he has trampled it into a turbid condition.
596a
1 ποταμῶν πρότερον πίνει ἢ συνταράξαι. Δύναται δ' ἄποτος
ἀνέχεσθαι καὶ τέτταρας ἡμέρας· εἶτα μετὰ ταῦτα πίνει
πολὺ πλῆθος.
1And, by the way, the camel can go without water for as much as four days, but after that when he drinks, he drinks in immense quantities.
Book 8,Chapter 9 (596a3–12)
Ὁ δ' ἐλέφας ἐσθίει πλεῖστον μὲν <κριθῶν> μεδίμνους
Μακεδονικοὺς ἐννέα ἐπὶ μιᾶς ἐδωδῆς· ἐπικίνδυνον δὲ τὸ τοσοῦτον
5 πλῆθος· τὸ δ' ἐπίπαν ἓξ μεδίμνους ἢ ἑπτά, ἀλφίτων δὲ
πέντε μεδίμνους καὶ οἴνου πέντε μάρεις (ἔστι δ' ὁ μάρις ἓξ
κοτύλαι). Ἤδη δέ τις ἔπιεν ἐλέφας μετρητὰς ὕδατος Μακεδονικοὺς
εἰσάπαξ δέκα καὶ τέτταρας, καὶ πάλιν τῆς δείλης
ἄλλους ὀκτώ. Ζῶσι δ' αἱ μὲν πολλαὶ τῶν καμήλων περὶ
10 ἔτη τριάκοντα, ἔνιαι δὲ πολλῷ πλείω· καὶ γὰρ εἰς ἔτη ἑκατὸν
ζῶσιν. Τὸν δ' ἐλέφαντα ζῆν οἱ μὲν περὶ ἔτη διακόσιά
φασιν, οἱ δὲ τριακόσια.
The elephant at the most can eat nine Macedonian medimni of fodder at one meal; but so large an amount is unwholesome. As a general rule it can take six or 5seven medimni of fodder, five medimni of wheat, and five mareis of wine-six cotylae going to the maris. An elephant has been known to drink right off fourteen Macedonian metretae of water, and another metretae later in the day.
Camels live for about thirty years; in some exceptional cases they live much longer, and instances have been known of their living to the age 10of a hundred. The elephant is said by some to live for about two hundred years; by others, for three hundred.
Camels live for about thirty years; in some exceptional cases they live much longer, and instances have been known of their living to the age 10of a hundred. The elephant is said by some to live for about two hundred years; by others, for three hundred.
Book 8,Chapter 10 (596a13–596b9)
Πρόβατα δὲ καὶ αἶγες εἰσὶ μὲν ποηφάγα, τὴν δὲ
νομὴν ποιοῦνται τὰ μὲν πρόβατα προσεδρεύοντα καὶ μονίμως,
15 αἱ δ' αἶγες ταχὺ μεταβάλλουσαι καὶ τῶν ἄκρων
ἁπτόμεναι μόνον. Πιαίνει δὲ μάλιστα τὸ πρόβατον τὸ ποτόν,
διὸ καὶ τοῦ θέρους διδόασιν ἅλας διὰ πέντε ἡμερῶν μέδιμνον
τοῖς ἑκατόν· γίνεται γὰρ οὕτως ὑγιεινότερον καὶ πιότερον
τὸ ποιμνίον. Καὶ τὰ πολλὰ δ' ἁλίζοντες διὰ τοῦτο προςφέρουσιν,
20 οἷον ἔν τε τοῖς ἀχύροις ἅλας πολλούς (διψῶντα γὰρ
πίνει μᾶλλον) καὶ τοῦ μετοπώρου τὴν κολοκύνθην ἁλὶ πάττοντες·
τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ γάλα ποιεῖ πλεῖον. Καὶ κινούμεναι δὲ
μεσημβρίας πίνουσι μᾶλλον πρὸς τὴν δείλην. Πρός τε τοὺς
τόκους ἁλιζόμεναι μείζω τὰ οὔθατα καθιᾶσιν. Πιαίνει δὲ τὰ
25 πρόβατα θαλλός, κότινος, ἀφάκη, ἄχυρα ὁποῖα ἂν ᾖ· ἅπαντα
δὲ μᾶλλον πιαίνει ἅλμῃ προσρανθέντα. Παχύνεται
δὲ καὶ ταῦτα μᾶλλον προλιμοκτονηθέντα τρεῖς ἡμέρας. Ὕδωρ
δὲ τοῖς προβάτοις τοῦ μετοπώρου τὸ βόρειον τοῦ νοτίου
ἄμεινον, καὶ αἱ νομαὶ αἱ πρὸς ἑσπέραν συμφέρουσιν, λεπτύνουσι
30 δ' αἱ ὁδοὶ καὶ αἱ ταλαιπωρίαι. Οἱ δὲ ποιμένες
γινώσκουσι τὰς ἰσχυούσας τῶν οἰῶν, ὅταν χειμὼν ᾖ, τῷ
Sheep and goats are graminivorous, but sheep browse assiduously and steadily, whereas goats shift their ground rapidly, and browse only on the tips of the herbage. Sheep are much improved in condition by drinking, and accordingly they give the flocks salt 15every five days in summer, to the extent of one medimnus to the hundred sheep, and this is found to render a flock healthier and fatter. In fact they mix salt with the greater part of their food; a large amount of salt is mixed into their bran (for the reason that they drink more when thirsty), and in autumn they get cucumbers with a sprinkling of salt on them; this 20admixture of salt in their food tends also to increase the quantity of milk in the ewes. If sheep be kept on the move at midday they will drink more copiously towards evening; and if the ewes be fed with salted food as the lambing season draws near they will get larger udders. Sheep are fattened by twigs of the olive or of the oleaster, by vetch, and bran of every 25kind; and these articles of food fatten all the more if they be first sprinkled with brine. Sheep will take on flesh all the better if they be first put for three days through a process of starving. In autumn, water from the north is more wholesome for sheep than water from the south. Pasture grounds are all the better if they have a westerly aspect.
Sheep will lose 30flesh if they be kept overmuch on the move or be subjected to any hardship.
Sheep will lose 30flesh if they be kept overmuch on the move or be subjected to any hardship.
596b
1 ἔχειν πάχνην, τὰς δὲ μὴ ἔχειν· διὰ γὰρ τὴν ἀσθένειαν
κινούμεναι ἀποβάλλουσιν αἱ μὴ ἰσχύουσαι. Παντὸς δὲ τετράποδος
τὰ κρέα χερίω, ὅπου ἑλώδη χωρία νέμονται ἢ ὅπου
μετεωρότερα. Εἰσὶ δὲ δυσχειμερώτεραι αἱ πλατύκερκοι οἶες
5 τῶν μακροκέρκων καὶ αἱ κολέραι τῶν λασίων· δυσχείμεροι
δὲ καὶ αἱ οὖλαι. Ὑγιεινότεραι μὲν οὖν αἱ οἶες τῶν αἰγῶν,
ἰσχύουσι δὲ μᾶλλον αἱ αἶγες τῶν οἰῶν. Τῶν δὲ λυκοβρώτων
προβάτων τὰ κώδια καὶ τὰ ἔρια καὶ τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἱμάτια
φθειρωδέστερα γίνεται πολὺ μᾶλλον τῶν ἄλλων.
1In winter time shepherds can easily distinguish the vigorous sheep from the weakly, from the fact that the vigorous sheep are covered with hoar-frost while the weakly ones are quite free of it; the fact being that the weakly ones feeling oppressed with the burden shake themselves and so get rid of it. The 5flesh of all quadrupeds deteriorates in marshy pastures, and is the better on high grounds. Sheep that have flat tails can stand the winter better than long-tailed sheep, and short-fleeced sheep than the shaggy-fleeced; and sheep with crisp wool stand the rigour of winter very poorly. Sheep are healthier than goats, but goats are stronger than sheep. (The fleeces and the wool of sheep that 10have been killed by wolves, as also the clothes made from them, are exceptionally infested with lice.)
Book 8,Chapter 11 (596b10–18)
10 Τῶν δ' ἐντόμων τὰ μὲν ἔχοντα ὀδόντας παμφάγα
ἐστί, τὰ δὲ γλῶτταν μόνον τοῖς ὑγροῖς τρέφεται, πάντοθεν
ἐκχυλίζοντα ταύτῃ. Καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν παμφάγα (πάντων
γὰρ γεύεται τῶν χυμῶν), οἷον αἱ μυῖαι, τὰ δ' αἱμοβόρα,
καθάπερ μύωψ καὶ οἶστρος· τὰ δὲ φυτῶν καὶ καρπῶν
15 ζῇ χυλοῖς. Ἡ δὲ μέλιττα μόνον πρὸς οὐδὲν σαπρὸν
προσίζει, οὐδὲ χρῆται τροφῇ οὐδεμιᾷ ἀλλ' ἢ τῇ γλυκὺν ἐχούσῃ
χυμόν· καὶ ὕδωρ δ' ἥδιστα εἰς ἑαυτὰς λαμβάνουσιν, ὅπου ἂν
καθαρὸν ἀναπηδᾷ.
Of insects, such as have teeth are omnivorous; such as have a tongue feed on liquids only, extracting with that organ juices from all quarters. And of these latter some may be called omnivorous, inasmuch as they feed on every kind of juice, as for instance, the common fly; others 15are blood-suckers, such as the gadfly and the horse-fly, others again live on the juices of fruits and plants. The bee is the only insect that invariably eschews whatever is rotten; it will touch no article of food unless it have a sweet-tasting juice, and it is particularly fond of drinking water if it be found bubbling up clear from a spring underground.
So much for the food of animals 20of the leading genera.
So much for the food of animals 20of the leading genera.
Book 8,Chapter 12 (596b19–597b30)
Τροφαῖς μὲν οὖν χρῶνται τὰ γένη τῶν ζῴων ταῖς εἰρημέναις.
20 Αἱ δὲ πράξεις αὐτῶν ἅπασαι περί τε τὰς ὀχείας
καὶ τὰς τεκνώσεις εἰσί, καὶ περὶ τὰς εὐπορίας τῆς τροφῆς,
καὶ πρὸς τὰ ψύχη καὶ τὰς ἀλέας πεπορισμέναι, καὶ πρὸς
τὰς μεταβολὰς τὰς τῶν ὡρῶν. Πάντα γὰρ τῆς κατὰ τὸ
θερμὸν καὶ ψυχρὸν μεταβολῆς αἴσθησιν ἔχει σύμφυτον,
25 καὶ καθάπερ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ μὲν εἰς τὰς οἰκίας τοῦ χειμῶνος
μεταβάλλουσιν, οἱ δὲ πολλῆς χώρας κρατοῦντες θερίζουσι
μὲν ἐν τοῖς ψυχροῖς χειμάζουσι δ' ἐν τοῖς ἀλεεινοῖς,
οὕτω καὶ τῶν ζῴων τὰ δυνάμενα μεταβάλλειν τοὺς τόπους.
Καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς συνήθεσι τόποις εὑρίσκεται τὰς
30 βοηθείας, τὰ δ' ἐκτοπίζει, μετὰ μὲν τὴν φθινοπωρινὴν ἰσημερίαν
ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου καὶ τῶν ψυχρῶν τόπων φεύγοντα τὸν
The habits of animals are all connected with either breeding and the rearing of young, or with the procuring a due supply of food; and these habits are modified so as to suit cold and heat and the variations of the seasons. For all animals have an instinctive perception of the changes of temperature, and, just as men seek shelter in houses in winter, or as men 25of great possessions spend their summer in cool places and their winter in sunny ones, so also all animals that can do so shift their habitat at various seasons.
Some creatures can make provision against change without stirring from their ordinary haunts; others migrate, quitting Pontus and the cold countries after the autumnal equinox to avoid the approaching winter, and after the 30spring equinox migrating from warm lands to cool lands to avoid the coming heat.
Some creatures can make provision against change without stirring from their ordinary haunts; others migrate, quitting Pontus and the cold countries after the autumnal equinox to avoid the approaching winter, and after the 30spring equinox migrating from warm lands to cool lands to avoid the coming heat.
597a
1 ἐπιόντα χειμῶνα, μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐαρινὴν ἐκ τῶν θερμῶν εἰς
τοὺς τόπους τοὺς ψυχροὺς φοβούμενα τὰ καύματα, τὰ μὲν ἐκ
τῶν ἐγγὺς τόπων ποιούμενα τὰς μεταβολάς, τὰ δὲ καὶ ἐκ
τῶν ἐσχάτων ὡς εἰπεῖν, οἷον αἱ γέρανοι ποιοῦσιν. Μεταβάλλουσι
5 γὰρ ἐκ τῶν Σκυθικῶν πεδίων εἰς τὰ ἕλη τὰ ἄνω τῆς
Αἰγύπτου, ὅθεν ὁ Νεῖλος ῥεῖ· οὗ καὶ λέγονται τοῖς Πυγμαίοις
ἐπιχειρεῖν· οὐ γάρ ἐστι τοῦτο μῦθος, ἀλλ' ἔστι κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν
γένος μικρὸν μέν, ὥσπερ λέγεται, καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ
ἵπποι, τρωγλοδύται δ' εἰσὶ τὸν βίον. Καὶ οἱ πελεκᾶνες δ'
10 ἐκτοπίζουσι, καὶ πέτονται ἀπὸ τοῦ Στρυμόνος ἐπὶ τὸν
Ἴστρον, κἀκεῖ τεκνοποιοῦνται· ἀθρόοι δ' ἀπέρχονται, ἀναμένοντες
οἱ πρότεροι τοὺς ὕστερον, διὰ τὸ ὅταν ὑπερπτῶνται τὸ
ὄρος ἀδήλους γίνεσθαι τοὺς προτέρους τοῖς ὑστέροις. Καὶ οἱ
ἰχθύες δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον οἱ μὲν ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου καὶ εἰς τὸν
15 Πόντον μεταβάλλουσιν, οἱ δ' ἐν μὲν τῷ χειμῶνι ἐκ τοῦ πελάγους
πρὸς τὴν γῆν, τὴν ἀλέαν διώκοντες, ἐν δὲ τῷ θέρει
ἐκ τῶν προσγείων εἰς τὸ πέλαγος, φεύγοντες τὴν ἀλέαν.
Καὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ δὲ τῶν ὀρνέων ἐν μὲν τῷ χειμῶνι καὶ τοῖς
πάγοις εἰς τὰ πεδία καταβαίνουσι διὰ τὴν ἀλέαν, ἐν δὲ τῷ
20 θέρει ἀποχωροῦσιν εἰς τὰ ὄρη ἄνω διὰ τὰ καύματα. Ποιεῖται
δ' ἀεὶ τὰ ἀσθενέστερα πρῶτα τὴν μετάστασιν καθ' ἑκατέραν
τὴν ὑπερβολήν, οἷον οἱ μὲν σκόμβροι τῶν θύννων, οἱ δ'
ὄρτυγες τῶν γεράνων· τὰ μὲν γὰρ μεταβάλλει τοῦ Βοηδρομιῶνος,
τὰ δὲ τοῦ Μαιμακτηριῶνος. Ἔστι δὲ πιότερα πάντα
25 ὅταν ἐκ τῶν ψυχρῶν τόπων μεταβάλλῃ ἢ ὅταν ἐκ
τῶν θερμῶν, οἷον καὶ οἱ ὄρτυγες τοῦ φθινοπώρου μᾶλλον ἢ
τοῦ ἔαρος. Συμβαίνει δ' ἐκ τῶν ψυχρῶν τόπων ἅμα μεταβάλλειν
καὶ ἐκ τῆς ὥρας τῆς θερμῆς. Ἔχουσι δὲ καὶ πρὸς
τὰς ὀχείας ὁρμητικώτερον κατὰ τὴν ἐαρινὴν ὥραν καὶ ὅταν
30 μεταβάλλωσιν ἐκ τῶν θερμῶν. Τῶν μὲν οὖν ὀρνέων αἱ γέρανοι,
καθάπερ εἴρηται πρότερον, ἐκτοπίζουσιν εἰς τὰ ἔσχατα
ἐκ τῶν ἐσχάτων. Πέτονται δὲ πρὸς τὸ πνεῦμα. Τὸ δὲ περὶ
1In some cases they migrate from places near at hand, in others they may be said to come from the ends of the world, as in the case of the crane; for these birds migrate from the steppes of Scythia to the marshlands south of Egypt where the Nile has its source. And it is here, by the way, that they are 5said to fight with the pygmies; and the story is not fabulous, but there is in reality a race of dwarfish men, and the horses are little in proportion, and the men live in caves underground. Pelicans also migrate, and fly from the Strymon to the Ister, and breed on the banks of this river. They depart in flocks, and the birds in front wait for those in the rear, owing to the 10fact that when the flock is passing over the intervening mountain range, the birds in the rear lose sight of their companions in the van.
Fishes also in a similar manner shift their habitat now out of the Euxine and now into it. In winter they move from the outer sea in towards land in quest of heat; in summer they shift from shallow waters to the deep sea to escape the 15heat.
Weakly birds in winter and in frosty weather come down to the plains for warmth, and in summer migrate to the hills for coolness. The more weakly an animal is the greater hurry will it be in to migrate on account of extremes of temperature, either hot or cold; thus the mackerel migrates in advance of the tunnies, and the quail in advance of the cranes. The former migrates 20in the month of Boedromion, and the latter in the month of Maemacterion. All creatures are fatter in migrating from cold to heat than in migrating from heat to cold; thus the quail is fatter when he emigrates in autumn than when he arrives in spring. The migration from cold countries is contemporaneous with the close of the hot season. Animals are in better trim for breeding 25purposes in spring-time, when they change from hot to cool lands.
Of birds, the crane, as has been said, migrates from one end of the world to the other; they fly against the wind. The story told about the stone is untrue: to wit, that the bird, so the story goes, carries in its inside a stone by way of ballast, and that the stone when vomited up is a touchstone for gold.
The 30cushat and the rock-dove migrate, and never winter in our country, as is the case also with the turtle-dove; the common pigeon, however, stays behind.
Fishes also in a similar manner shift their habitat now out of the Euxine and now into it. In winter they move from the outer sea in towards land in quest of heat; in summer they shift from shallow waters to the deep sea to escape the 15heat.
Weakly birds in winter and in frosty weather come down to the plains for warmth, and in summer migrate to the hills for coolness. The more weakly an animal is the greater hurry will it be in to migrate on account of extremes of temperature, either hot or cold; thus the mackerel migrates in advance of the tunnies, and the quail in advance of the cranes. The former migrates 20in the month of Boedromion, and the latter in the month of Maemacterion. All creatures are fatter in migrating from cold to heat than in migrating from heat to cold; thus the quail is fatter when he emigrates in autumn than when he arrives in spring. The migration from cold countries is contemporaneous with the close of the hot season. Animals are in better trim for breeding 25purposes in spring-time, when they change from hot to cool lands.
Of birds, the crane, as has been said, migrates from one end of the world to the other; they fly against the wind. The story told about the stone is untrue: to wit, that the bird, so the story goes, carries in its inside a stone by way of ballast, and that the stone when vomited up is a touchstone for gold.
The 30cushat and the rock-dove migrate, and never winter in our country, as is the case also with the turtle-dove; the common pigeon, however, stays behind.
597b
1 τοῦ λίθου ψεῦδός ἐστι· λέγεται γὰρ ὡς ἔχουσιν ἕρμα λίθον,
ὃς γίνεται χρήσιμος πρὸς τὰς τοῦ χρυσοῦ βασάνους, ὅταν
ἀνεμέσωσιν. Ἀπαίρουσι δὲ καὶ αἱ φάτται καὶ αἱ πελειάδες,
καὶ οὐ χειμάζουσι, καὶ αἱ χελιδόνες καὶ αἱ τρυγόνες· αἱ
5 δὲ περιστεραὶ καταμένουσιν. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ οἱ ὄρτυγες, ἐὰν
μή τινες ὑπολειφθῶσι καὶ τῶν τρυγόνων καὶ τῶν ὀρτύγων ἐν
εὐείλοις χωρίοις. Ἀγελάζονται δ' αἵ τε φάτται καὶ αἱ τρυγόνες,
ὅταν τε παραγίνωνται καὶ πάλιν ὅταν ὥρα ᾖ πρὸς
τὴν ἀνακομιδήν. Οἱ δ' ὄρτυγες ὅταν ἐμπέσωσιν, ἐὰν μὲν εὐδία
10 ἢ βόρειον ᾖ, συνδυάζονταί τε καὶ εὐημεροῦσιν, ἐὰν δὲ
νότος, χαλεπῶς ἔχουσι διὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι πτητικοί· ὑγρὸς
γὰρ καὶ βαρὺς ὁ ἄνεμος· διὸ καὶ οἱ θηρεύοντες ἐπιχειροῦσι
τοῖς νοτίοις. Εὐδίας δ' οὐκ εὖ πέτονται διὰ τὸ βάρος· πολὺ γὰρ
τὸ σῶμα. Διὸ καὶ βοῶντες πέτονται· πονοῦσι γάρ. Ὅταν μὲν
15 οὖν ἐκεῖθεν παραβάλλωσιν, οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἡγεμόνας· ὅταν δ'
ἐντεῦθεν ἀπαίρωσιν, ἥ τε γλωττὶς συναπαίρει καὶ ἡ ὀρτυγομήτρα
καὶ ὁ ὦτος καὶ ὁ κύχραμος, ὅσπερ αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀνακαλεῖται
νύκτωρ· καὶ ὅταν τούτου τὴν φωνὴν ἀκούσωσιν οἱ
θηρεύοντες, ἴσασιν ὅτι οὐ καταμένουσιν. Ἡ δ' ὀρτυγομήτρα
20 παραπλήσιος τὴν μορφὴν τοῖς λιμναίοις ἐστί, καὶ ἡ γλωττὶς
γλῶτταν ἐξαγομένην ἔχουσα μέχρι πόρρω. Ὁ δ' ὦτος
ὅμοιος ταῖς γλαυξὶ καὶ περὶ τὰ ὦτα πτερύγια ἔχων· ἔνιοι
δ' αὐτὸν νυκτικόρακα καλοῦσιν. Ἔστι δὲ κόβαλος καὶ μιμητής,
καὶ ἀντορχούμενος ἁλίσκεται, περιελθόντος θατέρου τῶν
25 θηρευτῶν, καθάπερ ἡ γλαύξ. Ὅλως δὲ τὰ γαμψώνυχα
πάντα βραχυτράχηλα καὶ πλατύγλωττα καὶ μιμητικά·
καὶ γὰρ τὸ Ἰνδικὸν ὄρνεον ἡ ψιττάκη, τὸ λεγόμενον ἀνθρωπόγλωττον,
τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· καὶ ἀκολαστότερον δὲ γίνεται, ὅταν
πίῃ οἶνον. Ἀγελαῖοι δὲ τῶν ὀρνίθων εἰσὶ γέρανος, κύκνος, πελεκάν,
30 χὴν ὁ μικρός.
1The quail also migrates; only, by the way, a few quails and turtle-doves may stay behind here and there in sunny districts. Cushats and turtle-doves flock together, both when they arrive and when the season for migration comes round again. When quails come to land, if it be fair 5weather or if a north wind is blowing, they will pair off and manage pretty comfortably; but if a southerly wind prevail they are greatly distressed owing to the difficulties in the way of flight, for a southerly wind is wet and violent. For this reason bird-catchers are never on the alert for these birds during fine weather, but only during the prevalence 10of southerly winds, when the bird from the violence of the wind is unable to fly. And, by the way, it is owing to the distress occasioned by the bulkiness of its body that the bird always screams while flying: for the labour is severe. When the quails come from abroad they have no leaders, but when they migrate hence, the glottis flits along with them, 15as does also the landrail, and the eared owl, and the corncrake. The corncrake calls them in the night, and when the birdcatchers hear the croak of the bird in the nighttime they know that the quails are on the move. The landrail is like a marsh bird, and the glottis has a tongue that can project far out of its beak. The eared owl is like an ordinary 20owl, only that it has feathers about its ears; by some it is called the night-raven. It is a great rogue of a bird, and is a capital mimic; a bird-catcher will dance before it and, while the bird is mimicking his gestures, the accomplice comes behind and catches it. The common owl is caught by a similar trick.
As a general rule all birds with crooked 25talons are short-necked, flat-tongued, and disposed to mimicry. The Indian bird, the parrot, which is said to have a man's tongue, answers to this description; and, by the way, after drinking wine, the parrot becomes more saucy than ever.
Of birds, the following are migratory-the crane, the swan, the pelican, and the lesser goose.
As a general rule all birds with crooked 25talons are short-necked, flat-tongued, and disposed to mimicry. The Indian bird, the parrot, which is said to have a man's tongue, answers to this description; and, by the way, after drinking wine, the parrot becomes more saucy than ever.
Of birds, the following are migratory-the crane, the swan, the pelican, and the lesser goose.
Book 8,Chapter 13 (597b31–599a19)
Τῶν δ' ἰχθύων οἱ μέν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, μεταβάλλουσι
πρὸς τὴν γῆν ἐκ τοῦ πελάγους καὶ εἰς τὸ πέλαγος ἀπὸ τῆς
Of fishes, some, as has 30been observed, migrate from the outer seas in towards shore, and from the shore towards the outer seas, to avoid the extremes of cold and heat.
598a
1 γῆς, φεύγοντες τὰς ὑπερβολὰς τοῦ ψύχους καὶ τῆς ἀλέας.
Ἀμείνους δ' εἰσὶν οἱ πρόσγειοι τῶν πελαγίων· πλείω γὰρ καὶ
βελτίω νομὴν ἔχουσιν· ὅπου γὰρ ἂν ὁ ἥλιος ἐπιβάλλῃ, πλείω
φύεται καὶ βελτίω καὶ ἁπαλώτερα, οἷον ἐν κήποις. Καὶ ὁ
5 θὶς †..... ὁ μέλας φύεται πρὸς τῇ γῇ, ὁ δ' ἄλλος ὅμοιός ἐστι
τοῖς ἀγρίοις. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ κεκραμένοι τυγχάνουσι καλῶς τῷ
θερμῷ καὶ τῷ ψυχρῷ οἱ τόποι οἱ πρόσγειοι τῆς θαλάττης·
διὸ καὶ αἱ σάρκες συνεστᾶσι μᾶλλον τῶν τοιούτων ἰχθύων,
τῶν δὲ πελαγίων ὑγραί εἰσι καὶ κεχυμέναι. Εἰσὶ δὲ πρόςγειοι
10 σινόδων, κάνθαρος, ὀρφώς, χρύσοφρυς, κεστρεύς, τρίγλη,
κίχλη, δράκων, καλλιώνυμος, κωβιὸς καὶ τὰ πετραῖα
πάντα· πελάγιοι δὲ τρυγὼν καὶ τὰ σελάχη καὶ
γόγγροι οἱ λευκοί, χάννη, ἐρυθρῖνος, γλαῦκος· φάγροι δὲ
καὶ σκορπίοι καὶ γόγγροι οἱ μέλανες καὶ μύραιναι καὶ
15 κόκκυγες ἐπαμφοτερίζουσιν. Εἰσὶ δὲ διαφοραὶ τούτων καὶ
κατὰ τοὺς τόπους, οἷον περὶ Κρήτην οἱ κωβιοὶ καὶ τὰ πετραῖα
πάντα πίονα γίνεται. Γίνεται δὲ καὶ ὁ θύννος ἀγαθὸς
πάλιν μετ' Ἀρκτοῦρον· ἤδη γὰρ οἰστρῶν παύεται ταύτην τὴν
ὥραν· διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐν τῷ θέρει χείρων ἐστίν. Γίνονται δὲ
20 καὶ ἐν ταῖς λιμνοθαλάτταις πολλοὶ τῶν ἰχθύων, οἷον σάλπαι,
χρύσοφρυς, τρίγλη καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σχεδὸν οἱ πλεῖστοι.
Γίνονται δὲ καὶ ἀμίαι, οἷον περὶ Ἀλωπεκόννησον· καὶ
ἐν τῇ Βιστωνίδι λίμνῃ ἔνεστι τὰ πλεῖστα γένη τῶν ἰχθύων.
Τῶν δὲ κολιῶν οἱ πολλοὶ εἰς μὲν τὸν Πόντον οὐκ ἐμβάλλουσιν,
25 ἐν δὲ τῇ Προποντίδι θερίζουσι καὶ ἐκτίκτουσι, χειμάζουσι
δ' ἐν τῷ Αἰγαίῳ. Θυννίδες δὲ καὶ πηλαμύδες καὶ
ἀμίαι εἰς τὸν Πόντον ἐμβάλλουσι τοῦ ἔαρος καὶ θερίζουσιν,
σχεδὸν δὲ καὶ οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν ῥυάδων καὶ ἀγελαίων ἰχθύων.
Εἰσὶ δ' οἱ πλεῖστοι ἀγελαῖοι. Ἔχουσι δ' οἱ ἀγελαῖοι ἡγεμόνας
30 πάντες. Εἰσπλέουσι δ' εἰς τὸν Πόντον διά τε τὴν τροφήν· ἡ
γὰρ νομὴ καὶ πλείων καὶ βελτίων διὰ τὸ πότιμον, καὶ τὰ
1Fish living near to the shore are better eating than deep-sea fish. The fact is they have more abundant and better feeding, for wherever the sun's heat can reach vegetation is more abundant, better in quality, and more delicate, as is seen in any ordinary garden. Further, the black shore-weed grows near to shore; the other shore-weed is like wild weed. 5Besides, the parts of the sea near to shore are subjected to a more equable temperature; and consequently the flesh of shallow-water fishes is firm and consistent, whereas the flesh of deep-water fishes is flaccid and watery.
The following fishes are found near into the shore-the synodon, the black bream, the merou, the gilthead, the mullet, the red mullet, the wrasse, the weaver, the callionymus, the goby, and rock-fishes of all kinds. 10The following are deep-sea fishes--the trygon, the cartilaginous fishes, the white conger, the serranus, the erythrinus, and the glaucus. The braize, the sea-scorpion, the black conger, the muraena, and the piper or sea-cuckoo are found alike in shallow and deep waters. These fishes, however, vary for various localities; for instance, the goby and all rock-fish are fat off the coast of Crete. Again, the tunny is out of season in summer, 15when it is being preyed on by its own peculiar louse-parasite, but after the rising of Arcturus, when the parasite has left it, it comes into season again. A number of fish also are found in sea-estuaries; such as the saupe, the gilthead, the red mullet, and, in point of fact, the greater part of the gregarious fishes. The bonito also is found in such waters, as, for instance, off the coast of Alopeconnesus; and most species of fishes are 20found in Lake Bistonis. The coly-mackerel as a rule does not enter the Euxine, but passes the summer in the Propontis, where it spawns, and winters in the Aegean. The tunny proper, the pelamys, and the bonito penetrate into the Euxine in summer and pass the summer there; as do also the greater part of such fish as swim in shoals with the currents, or congregate in shoals together. And most fish congregate in shoals, and shoal-fishes in 25all cases have leaders.
Fish penetrate into the Euxine for two reasons, and firstly for food. For the feeding is more abundant and better in quality owing to the amount of fresh river-water that discharges into the sea, and moreover, the large fishes of this inland sea are smaller than the large fishes of the outer sea. In point of fact, there is no large fish in the Euxine excepting the dolphin and the porpoise, and the dolphin is a small 30variety; but as soon as you get into the outer sea the big fishes are on the big scale.
The following fishes are found near into the shore-the synodon, the black bream, the merou, the gilthead, the mullet, the red mullet, the wrasse, the weaver, the callionymus, the goby, and rock-fishes of all kinds. 10The following are deep-sea fishes--the trygon, the cartilaginous fishes, the white conger, the serranus, the erythrinus, and the glaucus. The braize, the sea-scorpion, the black conger, the muraena, and the piper or sea-cuckoo are found alike in shallow and deep waters. These fishes, however, vary for various localities; for instance, the goby and all rock-fish are fat off the coast of Crete. Again, the tunny is out of season in summer, 15when it is being preyed on by its own peculiar louse-parasite, but after the rising of Arcturus, when the parasite has left it, it comes into season again. A number of fish also are found in sea-estuaries; such as the saupe, the gilthead, the red mullet, and, in point of fact, the greater part of the gregarious fishes. The bonito also is found in such waters, as, for instance, off the coast of Alopeconnesus; and most species of fishes are 20found in Lake Bistonis. The coly-mackerel as a rule does not enter the Euxine, but passes the summer in the Propontis, where it spawns, and winters in the Aegean. The tunny proper, the pelamys, and the bonito penetrate into the Euxine in summer and pass the summer there; as do also the greater part of such fish as swim in shoals with the currents, or congregate in shoals together. And most fish congregate in shoals, and shoal-fishes in 25all cases have leaders.
Fish penetrate into the Euxine for two reasons, and firstly for food. For the feeding is more abundant and better in quality owing to the amount of fresh river-water that discharges into the sea, and moreover, the large fishes of this inland sea are smaller than the large fishes of the outer sea. In point of fact, there is no large fish in the Euxine excepting the dolphin and the porpoise, and the dolphin is a small 30variety; but as soon as you get into the outer sea the big fishes are on the big scale.
598b
1 θηρία δὲ τὰ μεγάλα ἐλάττω· ἔξω γὰρ δελφῖνος καὶ φωκαίνης
οὐδέν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ, καὶ ὁ δελφὶς μικρός. Ἔξω
δ' εὐθὺς προελθόντι μεγάλοι. Διά τε δὴ τὴν τροφὴν εἰςπλέουσι
καὶ διὰ τὸν τόκον· τόποι γάρ εἰσιν ἐπιτήδειοι ἐντίκτειν,
5 καὶ τὸ πότιμον καὶ τὸ γλυκύτερον ὕδωρ ἐκτρέφει
τὰ κυήματα. Ὅταν δὲ τέκωσι καὶ τὰ γενόμενα αὐξηθῇ, ἐκπλέουσιν
εὐθὺς μετὰ Πλειάδα. Ἂν μὲν οὖν νότιος ὁ χειμὼν ᾖ,
βραδύτερον ἐκπλέουσιν, ἂν δὲ βόρειος, θᾶττον διὰ τὸ τὸ
πνεῦμα συνεπουρίζειν· καὶ ὁ γόνος δὲ τότε μικρὸς ἁλίσκεται
10 περὶ Βυζάντιον ἅτ' οὐ γενομένης πολλῆς ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ διατριβῆς.
Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι καὶ ἐκπλέοντες καὶ εἰσπλέοντες
δῆλοί εἰσιν, οἱ δὲ τριχίαι μόνοι εἰσπλέοντες μὲν ἁλίσκονται,
ἐκπλέοντες δ' οὐχ ὁρῶνται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅταν ληφθῇ τις
περὶ Βυζάντιον, οἱ ἁλιεῖς τὰ δίκτυα περικαθαίρουσι διὰ τὸ
15 μὴ εἰωθέναι ἐκπλεῖν. Αἴτιον δ' ὅτι οὗτοι μόνοι ἀναπλέουσιν
εἰς τὸν Ἴστρον, εἶθ' ᾗ σχίζεται, καταπλέουσιν εἰς τὸν Ἀδρίαν.
Σημεῖον δέ, ἐκεῖ γὰρ συμβαίνει τοὐναντίον· εἰσπλέοντες μὲν
γὰρ οὐχ ἁλίσκονται εἰς τὸν Ἀδρίαν, ἐκπλέοντες δ' ἁλίσκονται.
Εἰσπλέουσι δ' οἱ θύννοι ἐπὶ δεξιὰ ἐχόμενοι τῆς γῆς,
20 ἐκπλέουσι δ' ἐπ' ἀριστερά· τοῦτο δέ φασί τινες ποιεῖν ὅτι
τῷ δεξιῷ ὀξύτερον ὁρῶσι, φύσει οὐκ ὀξὺ βλέποντες. Τὴν μὲν
οὖν ἡμέραν οἱ ῥυάδες κομίζονται, τὴν δὲ νύκτα ἡσυχάζουσι
καὶ νέμονται, ἂν μὴ σελήνη ᾖ· τότε δὲ κομίζονται καὶ
οὐχ ἡσυχάζουσιν. Λέγουσι δέ τινες τῶν περὶ τὴν θάλατταν
25 ὡς ὅταν τροπαὶ χειμεριναὶ γένωνται, οὐκέτι κινοῦνται ἀλλ'
ἡσυχάζουσιν, ὅπου ἂν τύχωσι καταληφθέντες, μέχρι ἰσημερίας.
Οἱ μὲν οὖν κολίαι εἰσπλέοντες ἁλίσκονται, ἐξιόντες δ'
ἧττον· ἄριστοι δ' εἰσὶν ἐν τῇ Προποντίδι πρὸ τοῦ τίκτειν. Οἱ δ'
ἄλλοι ῥυάδες ἐξιόντες ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου ἁλίσκονται μᾶλλον καὶ
30 ἄριστοι τότε εἰσίν· ὅταν δ' εἰσπλέωσιν, ἐγγύτατα τοῦ Αἰγαίου
πιότατοι ἁλίσκονται, ὅσῳ δ' ἀνωτέρω, ἀεὶ λεπτότεροι.
1Furthermore, fish penetrate into this sea for the purpose of breeding; for there are recesses there favourable for spawning, and the fresh and exceptionally sweet water has an invigorating effect upon the spawn. After spawning, when the young fishes have attained some size, the parent fish swim out of the Euxine immediately after 5the rising of the Pleiads. If winter comes in with a southerly wind, they swim out with more or less of deliberation; but, if a north wind be blowing, they swim out with greater rapidity, from the fact that the breeze is favourable to their own course. And, by the way, the young fish are caught about this time in the neighbourhood of Byzantium very small in size, as might have been expected from the shortness 10of their sojourn in the Euxine. The shoals in general are visible both as they quit and enter the Euxine. The trichiae, however, only can be caught during their entry, but are never visible during their exit; in point of fact, when a trichia is caught running outwards in the neighbourhood of Byzantium, the fishermen are particularly careful to cleanse their nets, as the circumstance is so singular and exceptional. 15The way of accounting for this phenomenon is that this fish, and this one only, swims northwards into the Danube, and then at the point of its bifurcation swims down southwards into the Adriatic. And, as a proof that this theory is correct, the very opposite phenomenon presents itself in the Adriatic; that is to say, they are not caught in that sea during their entry, but are caught during their exit.
Tunny-fish 20swim into the Euxine keeping the shore on their right, and swim out of it with the shore upon their left. It is stated that they do so as being naturally weak-sighted, and seeing better with the right eye.
During the daytime shoal-fish continue on their way, but during the night they rest and feed. But if there be moonlight, they continue their journey without resting at all. Some people accustomed to sea-life 25assert that shoal-fish at the period of the winter solstice never move at all, but keep perfectly still wherever they may happen to have been overtaken by the solstice, and this lasts until the equinox.
The coly-mackerel is caught more frequently on entering than on quitting the Euxine. And in the Propontis the fish is at its best before the spawning season. Shoal-fish, as a rule, are caught in greater 30quantities as they leave the Euxine, and at that season they are in the best condition.
Tunny-fish 20swim into the Euxine keeping the shore on their right, and swim out of it with the shore upon their left. It is stated that they do so as being naturally weak-sighted, and seeing better with the right eye.
During the daytime shoal-fish continue on their way, but during the night they rest and feed. But if there be moonlight, they continue their journey without resting at all. Some people accustomed to sea-life 25assert that shoal-fish at the period of the winter solstice never move at all, but keep perfectly still wherever they may happen to have been overtaken by the solstice, and this lasts until the equinox.
The coly-mackerel is caught more frequently on entering than on quitting the Euxine. And in the Propontis the fish is at its best before the spawning season. Shoal-fish, as a rule, are caught in greater 30quantities as they leave the Euxine, and at that season they are in the best condition.
599a
1 Πολλάκις δὲ καὶ ὅταν πνεῦμα ἀντικόψῃ νότιον ἐκπλέουσι
καὶ τοῖς κολίαις καὶ τοῖς σκόμβροις, κάτω ἁλίσκονται μᾶλλον
ἢ περὶ Βυζάντιον.
Τοὺς μὲν οὖν ἐκτοπισμοὺς τοῦτον ποιοῦνται τὸν τρόπον. Τὸ
5 δ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο συμβαίνει πάθος καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν χερσαίων κατὰ
τὴν φωλείαν· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ χειμῶνος ὁρμῶσι πρὸς τὴν
φωλείαν, ἀπαλλάττονται δὲ κατὰ τὴν θερμοτέραν ὥραν. Ποιοῦνται
δὲ τὰ ζῷα καὶ τὰς φωλείας πρὸς τὴν βοήθειαν καὶ
τὰς ὑπερβολὰς τῆς ὥρας ἑκατέρας. Φωλεῖ δὲ τῶν μὲν ὅλον
10 τὸ γένος, ἐνίων δὲ τὰ μὲν τὰ δ' οὔ. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ὀστρακόδερμα
πάντα φωλεῖ, οἷον τά τε ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ, πορφύραι
καὶ κήρυκες καὶ πᾶν τὸ τοιοῦτον γένος· ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν ἀπολελυμένων
ἐπιδηλότερός ἐστιν ἡ φωλεία (κρύπτουσι γὰρ αὑτά,
οἷον οἱ κτένες, τὰ δ' ἴσχει ἐπιπολῆς ἐπικάλυμμα, οἷον
15 οἱ χερσαῖοι κοχλίαι), τῶν δ' ἀναπολύτων ἄδηλος ἡ μεταβολή.
Φωλοῦσι δ' οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ὥραν, ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν κοχλίαι
τοῦ χειμῶνος, αἱ δὲ πορφύραι καὶ οἱ κήρυκες ὑπὸ κύνα
περὶ ἡμέρας τριάκοντα, καὶ οἱ κτένες περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον.
Τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα αὐτῶν φωλεῖ καὶ ἐν τοῖς σφόδρα ψύχεσι
20 καὶ ἐν ταῖς σφόδρα ἀλέαις.
1At the time of their entrance they are caught in very plump condition close to shore, but those are in comparatively poor condition that are caught farther out to sea. Very often, when the coly-mackerel and the mackerel are met by a south wind in their exit, there are better catches to the southward than in the neighbourhood of Byzantium. 5So much then for the phenomenon of migration of fishes.
Now the same phenomenon is observed in fishes as in terrestrial animals in regard to hibernation: in other words, during winter fishes take to concealing themselves in out of the way places, and quit their places of concealment in the warmer season. But, by the way, animals go into concealment by way of refuge against extreme heat, as well as against extreme cold. 10Sometimes an entire genus will thus seek concealment; in other cases some species will do so and others will not. For instance, the shell-fish seek concealment without exception, as is seen in the case of those dwelling in the sea, the purple murex, the ceryx, and all such like; but though in the case of the detached species the phenomenon is obvious-for they hide themselves, as is seen in the scallop, or they are provided with 15an operculum on the free surface, as in the case of land snails-in the case of the non-detached the concealment is not so clearly observed. They do not go into hiding at one and the same season; but the snails go in winter, the purple murex and the ceryx for about thirty days at the rising of the Dog-star, and the scallop at about the same period. But for the most part they go into concealment when the weather is either 20extremely cold or extremely hot.
Now the same phenomenon is observed in fishes as in terrestrial animals in regard to hibernation: in other words, during winter fishes take to concealing themselves in out of the way places, and quit their places of concealment in the warmer season. But, by the way, animals go into concealment by way of refuge against extreme heat, as well as against extreme cold. 10Sometimes an entire genus will thus seek concealment; in other cases some species will do so and others will not. For instance, the shell-fish seek concealment without exception, as is seen in the case of those dwelling in the sea, the purple murex, the ceryx, and all such like; but though in the case of the detached species the phenomenon is obvious-for they hide themselves, as is seen in the scallop, or they are provided with 15an operculum on the free surface, as in the case of land snails-in the case of the non-detached the concealment is not so clearly observed. They do not go into hiding at one and the same season; but the snails go in winter, the purple murex and the ceryx for about thirty days at the rising of the Dog-star, and the scallop at about the same period. But for the most part they go into concealment when the weather is either 20extremely cold or extremely hot.
Book 8,Chapter 14 (599a20–29)
Τὰ δ' ἔντομα σχεδὸν ἅπαντα
φωλεῖ, πλὴν εἴ τι ἐν ταῖς οἰκήσεσι συνανθρωπεύεται
αὐτῶν, καὶ ὅσα φθείρεται καὶ μὴ διετίζει. Τἆλλα δὲ φωλεῖ
τοῦ χειμῶνος. Φωλεῖ δὲ τὰ μὲν πλείους ἡμέρας, τὰ δὲ
τὰς χειμεριωτάτας, οἷον αἱ μέλιτται· καὶ γὰρ αὗται φωλοῦσιν.
25 Σημεῖον δ' ὅτι οὐδὲν φαίνονται γευόμεναι τῆς παρακειμένης
τροφῆς· κἄν τις αὐτῶν ἐξερπύσῃ, φαίνεται διαφανής,
καὶ οὐδὲν ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ ἐνὸν δῆλον. Ἡσυχάζει δ' ἀπὸ
Πλειάδος δύσεως μέχρι τοῦ ἔαρος. Ποιεῖται δὲ τὰ ζῷα τὰς
φωλείας ἀποκρυπτόμενα ἐν ἀλεεινοῖς καὶ ἐν οἷς εἴωθε τόποις
30 ἐπικοιτάζεσθαι.
Insects almost all go into hiding, with the exception of such of them as live in human habitations or perish before the completion of the year. They hide in the winter; some of them for several days, others for only the coldest days, as the bee. For the bee also goes into hiding: and the proof that it does so is that during a certain period bees never touch the food set before them, and if a 25bee creeps out of the hive, it is quite transparent, with nothing whatsoever in its stomach; and the period of its rest and hiding lasts from the setting of the Pleiads until springtime.
Animals take their winter-sleep or summer-sleep by concealing themselves in warm places, or in places where they have been used to lie concealed.
Animals take their winter-sleep or summer-sleep by concealing themselves in warm places, or in places where they have been used to lie concealed.
Book 8,Chapter 15 (599a30–600a9)
Φωλεῖ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐναίμων πολλά,
οἷον τά τε φολιδωτά, ὄφεις τε καὶ σαῦροι καὶ ἀσκαλαβῶται
καὶ κροκόδειλοι οἱ ποτάμιοι, τέτταρας μῆνας τοὺς
χειμεριωτάτους, καὶ οὐκ ἐσθίουσιν οὐδέν. Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι ὄφεις
Several blooded animals take this sleep, such as the pholidotes or tessellates, namely, the 30serpent, the lizard, the gecko, and the river. crocodile, all of which go into hiding for four months in the depth of winter, and during that time eat nothing. Serpents in general burrow under ground for this purpose; the viper conceals itself under a stone.
599b
1 ἐν τῇ γῇ φωλοῦσιν, αἱ δ' ἔχιδναι ὑπὸ τὰς πέτρας
ἀποκρύπτουσιν αὑτάς. Φωλοῦσι δὲ πολλοὶ καὶ τῶν ἰχθύων, ἐπιφανέστατα
δ' ἵππουρος καὶ κορακῖνος τοῦ χειμῶνος· οὗτοι γὰρ
μόνοι οὐχ ἁλίσκονται οὐδαμοῦ πλὴν κατά τινας χρόνους τακτοὺς
5 καὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀεί, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ πάντα σχεδόν. Φωλεῖ δὲ
καὶ μύραινα καὶ ὀρφὼς καὶ γόγγρος. Κατὰ συζυγίας δ' οἱ
πετραῖοι φωλοῦσιν οἱ ἄρρενες τοῖς θήλεσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ νεοττεύουσιν,
οἷον κίχλαι, κόττυφοι, πέρκαι. Φωλοῦσι δὲ καὶ οἱ
θύννοι τοῦ χειμῶνος ἐν τοῖς βάθεσι, καὶ γίνονται πιότατοι
10 μετὰ τὴν φωλείαν, καὶ ἄρχονται θηρεύεσθαι ἀπὸ Πλειάδος
ἀνατολῆς μέχρι Ἀρκτούρου δύσεως τὸ ἔσχατον· τὸν δ' ἄλλον
χρόνον ἡσυχίαν ἔχουσι φωλοῦντες. Ἁλίσκονται δ' ἔνιοι περὶ
τὸν χρόνον τῆς φωλείας καὶ τούτων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τινὲς
τῶν φωλούντων κινούμενοι, ἂν ἀλεεινὸς ᾖ ὁ τόπος καὶ ἐπιγίνωνται
15 εὐδῖαι παράλογοι· ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς θαλάμης προέρχονται
μικρὸν ἐπὶ νομήν· καὶ ταῖς πανσελήνοις. Εἰσὶ δ' οἱ
πολλοὶ φωλοῦντες ἥδιστοι. Αἱ δὲ πριμάδες κρύπτουσιν ἑαυτὰς
ἐν τῷ βορβόρῳ· σημεῖον δὲ τό τε μὴ ἁλίσκεσθαι καὶ ἰλὺν
ἐχούσας ἐπὶ τοῦ νώτου φαίνεσθαι πολλὴν καὶ τὰ πτερύγια
20 ἐντεθλιμμένα. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐαρινὴν ὥραν κινοῦνται καὶ προέρχονται
πρὸς τὴν γῆν ὀχευόμεναι καὶ τίκτουσαι, καὶ ἁλίσκονται
κύουσαι· καὶ τότε δοκοῦσιν ὡραῖοι εἶναι, οἱ δὲ μετοπωρινοὶ
καὶ χειμερινοὶ χείρους· ἅμα δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄρρενες φαίνονται
πλήρεις ὄντες θοροῦ. Ὅταν μὲν οὖν μικρὰ τὰ κυήματ'
25 ἔχωσι, δυσάλωτοί εἰσιν, ὅταν δὲ μείζω, πολλοὶ ἁλίσκονται
διὰ τὸ οἰστρᾶν. Φωλεῖ δὲ τὰ μὲν ἐν τῇ ἄμμῳ τὰ δ' ἐν
τῷ πηλῷ, ὑπερέχοντα τὸ στόμα μόνον. Τὰ μὲν οὖν πλεῖστα
φωλεῖ μόνον τοῦ χειμῶνος, τὰ δὲ μαλακόστρακα καὶ τῶν
ἰχθύων οἱ πετραῖοι καὶ βάτοι καὶ τὰ σελαχώδη τὰς χειμεριωτάτας
30 μόνον ἡμέρας· δηλοῖ δὲ τὸ μὴ ἁλίσκεσθαι ὅταν
ᾖ ψύχη. Ἔνιοι δὲ τῶν ἰχθύων φωλοῦσι καὶ τοῦ θέρους, οἷον ὁ
γλαῦκος· οὗτος γὰρ τοῦ θέρους φωλεῖ περὶ ἑξήκονθ' ἡμέρας.
Φωλεῖ δὲ καὶ ὁ ὄνος καὶ ὁ χρύσοφρυς· σημεῖον δὲ δοκεῖ
1A great number of fishes also take this sleep, and notably, the hippurus and coracinus in winter time; for, whereas fish in general may be caught at all periods of the year more or less, there is this singularity observed in these fishes, that they are caught within a certain fixed period of the year, and never by any 5chance out of it. The muraena also hides, and the orphus or sea-perch, and the conger. Rock-fish pair off, male and female, for hiding (just as for breeding); as is observed in the case of the species of wrasse called the thrush and the owzel, and in the perch.
The tunny also takes a sleep in winter in deep waters, and gets exceedingly fat after the sleep. The fishing season for the tunny begins at the 10rising of the Pleiads and lasts, at the longest, down to the setting of Arcturus; during the rest of the year they are hid and enjoying immunity. About the time of hibernation a few tunnies or other hibernating fishes are caught while swimming about, in particularly warm localities and in exceptionally fine weather, or on nights of full moon; for the fishes are induced (by the warmth or the light) to 15emerge for a while from their lair in quest of food.
Most fishes are at their best for the table during the summer or winter sleep.
The primas-tunny conceals itself in the mud; this may be inferred from the fact that during a particular period the fish is never caught, and that, when it is caught after that period, it is covered with mud and has its fins damaged. In the spring these tunnies get in 20motion and proceed towards the coast, coupling and breeding, and the females are now caught full of spawn. At this time they are considered as in season, but in autumn and in winter as of inferior quality; at this time also the males are full of milt. When the spawn is small, the fish is hard to catch, but it is easily caught when the spawn gets large, as the fish is then infested by its parasite. Some 25fish burrow for sleep in the sand and some in mud, just keeping their mouths outside.
Most fishes hide, then, during the winter only, but crustaceans, the rock-fish, the ray, and the cartilaginous species hide only during extremely severe weather, and this may be inferred from the fact that these fishes are never by any chance caught when the weather is extremely cold. Some fishes, however, hide during 30the summer, as the glaucus or grey-back; this fish hides in summer for about sixty days. The hake also and the gilthead hide; and we infer that the hake hides over a lengthened period from the fact that it is only caught at long intervals.
The tunny also takes a sleep in winter in deep waters, and gets exceedingly fat after the sleep. The fishing season for the tunny begins at the 10rising of the Pleiads and lasts, at the longest, down to the setting of Arcturus; during the rest of the year they are hid and enjoying immunity. About the time of hibernation a few tunnies or other hibernating fishes are caught while swimming about, in particularly warm localities and in exceptionally fine weather, or on nights of full moon; for the fishes are induced (by the warmth or the light) to 15emerge for a while from their lair in quest of food.
Most fishes are at their best for the table during the summer or winter sleep.
The primas-tunny conceals itself in the mud; this may be inferred from the fact that during a particular period the fish is never caught, and that, when it is caught after that period, it is covered with mud and has its fins damaged. In the spring these tunnies get in 20motion and proceed towards the coast, coupling and breeding, and the females are now caught full of spawn. At this time they are considered as in season, but in autumn and in winter as of inferior quality; at this time also the males are full of milt. When the spawn is small, the fish is hard to catch, but it is easily caught when the spawn gets large, as the fish is then infested by its parasite. Some 25fish burrow for sleep in the sand and some in mud, just keeping their mouths outside.
Most fishes hide, then, during the winter only, but crustaceans, the rock-fish, the ray, and the cartilaginous species hide only during extremely severe weather, and this may be inferred from the fact that these fishes are never by any chance caught when the weather is extremely cold. Some fishes, however, hide during 30the summer, as the glaucus or grey-back; this fish hides in summer for about sixty days. The hake also and the gilthead hide; and we infer that the hake hides over a lengthened period from the fact that it is only caught at long intervals.
600a
1 εἶναι τοῦ τὸν ὄνον πλεῖστον φωλεῖν χρόνον τὸ διὰ πλείςτου
χρόνου ἁλίσκεσθαι. Τοῦ δὲ καὶ θέρους τοὺς ἰχθῦς φωλεῖν
δοκεῖ σημεῖον εἶναι τὸ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἄστροις γίνεσθαι τὰς ἁλώσεις,
καὶ μάλιστα ἐπὶ κυνί· τηνικαῦτα γὰρ ἀνατρέπεσθαι τὴν θάλατταν.
5 Ὅπερ ἐν τῷ Βοσπόρῳ γνωριμώτατόν ἐστιν· ἡ γὰρ ἰλὺς
ἐπάνω γίνεται καὶ ἐπιφέρονται οἱ ἰχθύες. Φασὶ δὲ καὶ
πολλάκις τριβομένου τοῦ βυθοῦ ἁλίσκεσθαι πλείους ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ
βόλῳ τὸ δεύτερον ἢ τὸ πρῶτον. Καὶ ἐπειδὰν ὄμβροι γένωνται
μεγάλοι, πολλὰ φαίνεται ζῷα τῶν πρότερον ἢ ὅλως
10 οὐχ ἑωραμένων ἢ οὐ πολλάκις.
1We are led also to infer that fishes hide in summer from the circumstance that the takes of certain fish are made between the rise and setting of certain constellations: of the Dog-star in particular, the sea at this period being upturned from the lower depths. This phenomenon may be observed to best advantage in the Bosporus; 5for the mud is there brought up to the surface and the fish are brought up along with it. They say also that very often, when the sea-bottom is dredged, more fish will be caught by the second haul than by the first one. Furthermore, after very heavy rains numerous specimens become visible of creatures that at other times are never seen at all or seen only at intervals.
Book 8,Chapter 16 (600a10–26)
Φωλοῦσι δὲ πολλοὶ καὶ
τῶν ὀρνίθων, καὶ οὐχ ὥς τινες οἴονται, εἰς ἀλεεινοὺς τόπους
ἀπέρχονται πάντες· ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν πλησίον ὄντες τοιούτων τόπων,
ἐν οἷς ἀεὶ διαμένουσι, καὶ ἰκτῖνοι καὶ χελιδόνες, ἀποχωροῦσιν
ἐνταῦθα, οἱ δὲ πορρωτέρω ὄντες τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἐκτοπίζουσιν
15 ἀλλὰ κρύπτουσιν ἑαυτούς. Ἤδη γὰρ ὠμμέναι
πολλαὶ χελιδόνες εἰσὶν ἐν ἀγγείοις ἐψιλωμέναι πάμπαν, καὶ
ἰκτῖνοι ἐκ τοιούτων ἐκπετόμενοι χωρίων, ὅταν φαίνωνται τὸ
πρῶτον. Φωλοῦσι δ' οὐδὲν διακεκριμένως καὶ τῶν γαμψωνύχων
καὶ τῶν εὐθυωνύχων· φωλεῖ γὰρ καὶ πελαργὸς καὶ
20 κόττυφος καὶ τρυγὼν καὶ κόρυδος, καὶ ἥ γε τρυγὼν ὁμολογουμένως
μάλιστα πάντων· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὡς εἰπεῖν λέγεται
τρυγόνα ἰδεῖν οὐδαμοῦ χειμῶνος. Ἄρχεται δὲ τῆς φωλείας
σφόδρα πίειρα οὖσα, καὶ πτερορρυεῖ μὲν ἐν τῇ φωλείᾳ, παχεῖα
μέντοι διατελεῖ οὖσα. Τῶν δὲ φασσῶν ἔνιαι μὲν φωλοῦσιν,
25 ἔνιαι δ' οὐ φωλοῦσιν, ἀπέρχονται δ' ἅμα ταῖς χελιδόσιν.
Φωλεῖ δὲ καὶ ἡ κίχλη καὶ ὁ ψάρος, καὶ τῶν γαμψωνύχων
ἰκτῖνος ὀλίγας ἡμέρας καὶ ἡ γλαύξ.
A great number of birds also go 10into hiding; they do not all migrate, as is generally supposed, to warmer countries. Thus, certain birds (as the kite and the swallow) when they are not far off from places of this kind, in which they have their permanent abode, betake themselves thither; others, that are at a distance from such places, decline the trouble of migration and simply hide themselves where they are. Swallows, for instance, have 15been often found in holes, quite denuded of their feathers, and the kite on its first emergence from torpidity has been seen to fly from out some such hiding-place. And with regard to this phenomenon of periodic torpor there is no distinction observed, whether the talons of a bird be crooked or straight; for instance, the stork, the owzel, the turtle-dove, and the lark, all go into hiding. The case of the 20turtledove is the most notorious of all, for we would defy any one to assert that he had anywhere seen a turtle-dove in winter-time; at the beginning of the hiding time it is exceedingly plump, and during this period it moults, but retains its plumpness. Some cushats hide; others, instead of hiding, migrate at the same time as the swallow. The thrush and the starling hide; and of birds with crooked talons 25the kite and the owl hide for a few days.
Book 8,Chapter 17 (600a27–601a22)
Τῶν δὲ ζῳοτόκων
καὶ τετραπόδων φωλοῦσιν οἵ τε ὕστριχες καὶ αἱ ἄρκτοι. Ὅτι
μὲν οὖν φωλοῦσιν αἱ ἄγριαι ἄρκτοι, φανερόν ἐστι, πότερον δὲ
30 διὰ ψῦχος ἢ δι' ἄλλην αἰτίαν, ἀμφισβητεῖται. Γίνονται
γὰρ περὶ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον οἱ ἄρρενες καὶ αἱ θήλειαι πιότατοι,
ὥστε μὴ εὐκίνητοι εἶναι. Ἡ δὲ θήλεια καὶ τίκτει περὶ
Of viviparous quadrupeds the porcupine and the bear retire into concealment. The fact that the bear hides is well established, but there are doubts as to its motive for so doing, whether it be by reason of the cold or from some other cause. About this period the male and the female become so fat as to be hardly capable of motion. The female brings forth her young 30at this time, and remains in concealment until it is time to bring the cubs out; and she brings them out in spring, about three months after the winter solstice.
600b
1 τοῦτον τὸν καιρόν, καὶ φωλεῖ ἕως ἂν ἐξάγειν ὥρα ᾖ τοὺς
σκύμνους· τοῦτο δὲ ποιεῖ τοῦ ἔαρος περὶ τρίτον μῆνα ἀπὸ τροπῶν.
Τὸ δ' ἐλάχιστον φωλεῖ περὶ τετταράκονθ' ἡμέρας· τούτων
δὲ δὶς ἑπτὰ λέγουσιν ἐν αἷς οὐδὲν κινεῖται, ἐν δὲ ταῖς
5 πλείοσι ταῖς μετὰ ταῦτα φωλεῖ μὲν κινεῖται δὲ καὶ ἐγείρεται.
Κύουσα δ' ἄρκτος ἢ ὑπ' οὐδενὸς ἢ πάνυ ὀλίγων εἴληπται.
Ἐν δὲ τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ φανερόν ἐστιν ὅτι οὐδὲν ἐσθίουσιν·
οὔτε γὰρ ἐξέρχονται, ὅταν τε ληφθῶσι, κενὰ φαίνεται
ἥ τε κοιλία καὶ τὰ ἔντερα. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ διὰ τὸ μηδὲν
10 προσφέρεσθαι τὸ ἔντερον ὀλίγου συμφύεσθαι αὐτῇ, καὶ διὰ
τοῦτο πρῶτον ἐξιοῦσαν γεύεσθαι τοῦ ἄρου πρὸς τὸ ἀφιστάναι τὸ
ἔντερον καὶ διευρύνειν. Φωλεῖ δὲ καὶ ὁ ἐλειὸς ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς
δένδρεσι, καὶ γίνεται τότε παχύτατος, καὶ ὁ μῦς ὁ Ποντικὸς
ὁ λευκός.
15 Τῶν δὲ φωλούντων ἔνιοι τὸ καλούμενον ἐκδύνουσι γῆρας·
ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ἔσχατον δέρμα καὶ τὸ περὶ τὰς γενέσεις
κέλυφος. Τῶν μὲν οὖν πεζῶν καὶ ζῳοτόκων περὶ τῆς ἄρκτου
ἀμφισβητεῖται ἡ αἰτία τῆς φωλείας, καθάπερ ἐλέχθη
πρότερον· τὰ δὲ φολιδωτὰ φωλεῖ μὲν σχεδὸν τὰ πλεῖστα,
20 ἐκδύνει δὲ τὸ γῆρας ὅσων τὸ δέρμα μαλακὸν μὴ ὀστρακῶδες
ὥσπερ τῆς χελώνης (καὶ γὰρ ἡ χελώνη τῶν φολιδωτῶν
ἐστὶ καὶ ὁ ἐμύς), ἀλλ' οἷον ἀσκαλαβώτης τε καὶ σαῦρος
καὶ μάλιστα πάντων οἱ ὄφεις· ἐκδύνουσι γὰρ καὶ τοῦ ἔαρος,
ὅταν ἐξίωσι, καὶ τοῦ μετοπώρου πάλιν. Ἐκδύνουσι δὲ καὶ οἱ
25 ἔχεις τὸ γῆρας καὶ τοῦ ἔαρος καὶ τοῦ μετοπώρου, καὶ οὐχ ὥςπερ
φασί τινες τοῦτο τὸ γένος τῶν ὄφεων μὴ ἐκδύεσθαι μόνον.
Ὅταν δ' ἄρχωνται ἐκδύνειν οἱ ὄφεις, ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν
ἀφίσταται πᾶσι πρῶτον, ὥστε δοκεῖν γίνεσθαι τυφλοὺς τοῖς
μὴ συννοοῦσι τὸ πάθος· μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς,
30 καὶ λευκὴ φαίνεται πάντων. Ἐν νυκτὶ δὲ σχεδὸν καὶ ἡμέρᾳ
πᾶν ἀποδύεται τὸ γῆρας, ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀρξάμενον
μέχρι τῆς κέρκου. Γίνεται δ' ἐκδυομένου τὰ ἐντὸς ἐκτός· ἐκδύεται
1The bear hides for at least forty days; during fourteen of these days it is said not to move at all, but during most of the subsequent days it moves, and from time to time wakes up. A she-bear in pregnancy has either never been caught at all or has been caught very seldom. There can be no doubt 5but that during this period they eat nothing; for in the first place they never emerge from their hiding-place, and further, when they are caught, their belly and intestines are found to be quite empty. It is also said that from no food being taken the gut almost closes up, and that in consequence the animal on first emerging takes to eating arum with the view of opening 10up and distending the gut.
The dormouse actually hides in a tree, and gets very fat at that period; as does also the white mouse of Pontus.
(Of animals that hide or go torpid some slough off what is called their 'old-age'. This name is applied to the outermost skin, and to the casing that envelops the developing organism.)
In discussing the case of terrestrial vivipara 15we stated that the reason for the bear's seeking concealment is an open question. We now proceed to treat of the tessellates. The tessellates for the most part go into hiding, and if their skin is soft they slough off their 'old-age', but not if the skin is shell-like, as is the shell of the tortoise-for, by the way, the tortoise and the fresh water tortoise belong 20to the tessellates. Thus, the old-age is sloughed off by the gecko, the lizard, and above all, by serpents; and they slough off the skin in springtime when emerging from their torpor, and again in the autumn. Vipers also slough off their skin both in spring and in autumn, and it is not the case, as some aver, that this species of the serpent family is exceptional in 25not sloughing. When the serpent begins to slough, the skin peels off at first from the eyes, so that any one ignorant of the phenomenon would suppose the animal were going blind; after that it peels off the head, and so on, until the creature presents to view only a white surface all over. The sloughing goes on for a day and a night, beginning with the head and ending 30with the tail. During the sloughing of the skin an inner layer comes to the surface, for the creature emerges just as the embryo from its afterbirth.
The dormouse actually hides in a tree, and gets very fat at that period; as does also the white mouse of Pontus.
(Of animals that hide or go torpid some slough off what is called their 'old-age'. This name is applied to the outermost skin, and to the casing that envelops the developing organism.)
In discussing the case of terrestrial vivipara 15we stated that the reason for the bear's seeking concealment is an open question. We now proceed to treat of the tessellates. The tessellates for the most part go into hiding, and if their skin is soft they slough off their 'old-age', but not if the skin is shell-like, as is the shell of the tortoise-for, by the way, the tortoise and the fresh water tortoise belong 20to the tessellates. Thus, the old-age is sloughed off by the gecko, the lizard, and above all, by serpents; and they slough off the skin in springtime when emerging from their torpor, and again in the autumn. Vipers also slough off their skin both in spring and in autumn, and it is not the case, as some aver, that this species of the serpent family is exceptional in 25not sloughing. When the serpent begins to slough, the skin peels off at first from the eyes, so that any one ignorant of the phenomenon would suppose the animal were going blind; after that it peels off the head, and so on, until the creature presents to view only a white surface all over. The sloughing goes on for a day and a night, beginning with the head and ending 30with the tail. During the sloughing of the skin an inner layer comes to the surface, for the creature emerges just as the embryo from its afterbirth.
601a
1 γὰρ ὥσπερ τὰ ἔμβρυα ἐκ τῶν χορίων. Τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ
τρόπον καὶ τῶν ἐντόμων ἐκδύνει τὸ γῆρας ὅσα ἐκδύνει, οἷον
σίλφη καὶ ἐμπὶς καὶ τὰ κολεόπτερα, οἷον κάνθαρος. Πάντα
δὲ μετὰ τὴν γένεσιν ἐκδύεται· ὥσπερ γὰρ τοῖς ζῳοτοκουμένοις
5 τὸ χόριον καὶ τοῖς σκωληκοτοκουμένοις περιρρήγνυται τὸ
κέλυφος, ὁμοίως καὶ μελίτταις καὶ ἀκρίσιν. Οἱ δὲ τέττιγες
ὅταν ἐξέλθωσι, καθιζάνουσιν ἐπί τε τὰς ἐλαίας καὶ καλάμους.
Περιρραγέντος δὲ τοῦ κελύφους ἐξέρχονται ἐγκαταλιπόντες
ὑγρότητα μικράν, καὶ μετ' οὐ πολὺν χρόνον ἀναπέτονται
10 καὶ ᾄδουσιν. Τῶν δὲ θαλαττίων οἱ κάραβοι καὶ ἀστακοὶ
ἐκδύνουσιν ὁτὲ μὲν τοῦ ἔαρος ὁτὲ δὲ τοῦ μετοπώρου μετὰ
τοὺς τόκους. Ἤδη δ' εἰλημμένοι εἰσὶν ἔνιοι τῶν καράβων τὰ
μὲν περὶ τὸν θώρακα μαλακὰ ἔχοντες διὰ τὸ περιερρωγέναι τὸ
ὄστρακον, τὰ δὲ κάτω σκληρὰ διὰ τὸ μήπω περιερρωγέναι·
15 τὴν γὰρ ἔκδυσιν ποιοῦνται οὐχ ὁμοίαν τοῖς ὄφεσιν. Φωλοῦσι
δ' οἱ κάραβοι περὶ πέντε μῆνας. Ἐκδύνουσι δὲ καὶ οἱ καρκίνοι
τὸ γῆρας, οἱ μὲν μαλακόστρακοι ὁμολογουμένως, φασὶ
δὲ καὶ τοὺς ὀστρακοδέρμους, οἷον τὰς μαίας. Ὅταν δ' ἐκδύνωσι,
μαλακὰ γίνεται πάμπαν τὰ ὄστρακα, καὶ οἵ γε
20 καρκίνοι βαδίζειν οὐ σφόδρα δύνανται. Ἐκδύνει δὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα
οὐχ ἅπαξ ἀλλὰ πολλάκις.
Ὅσα μὲν οὖν φωλεῖ καὶ πότε καὶ πῶς, ἔτι δὲ ποῖα καὶ
πότε ἐκδύνει τὸ γῆρας, εἴρηται.
1All insects that slough at all slough in the same way; as the silphe, and the empis or midge, and all the coleoptera, as for instance the cantharus-beetle. They all slough after the period of development; for just as the afterbirth breaks from off the young of the vivipara so the outer husk breaks 5off from around the young of the vermipara, in the same way both with the bee and the grasshopper. The cicada the moment after issuing from the husk goes and sits upon an olive tree or a reed; after the breaking up of the husk the creature issues out, leaving a little moisture behind, and after a short interval flies up into the air and sets a. chirping.
Of marine 10animals the crawfish and the lobster slough sometimes in the spring, and sometimes in autumn after parturition. Lobsters have been caught occasionally with the parts about the thorax soft, from the shell having there peeled off, and the lower parts hard, from the shell having not yet peeled off there; for, by the way, they do not slough in the same manner as the serpent. The 15crawfish hides for about five months. Crabs also slough off their old-age; this is generally allowed with regard to the soft-shelled crabs, and it is said to be the case with the testaceous kind, as for instance with the large 'granny' crab. When these animals slough their shell becomes soft all over, and as for the crab, it can scarcely crawl. These animals also do 20not cast their skins once and for all, but over and over again.
So much for the animals that go into hiding or torpidity, for the times at which, and the ways in which, they go; and so much also for the animals that slough off their old-age, and for the times at which they undergo the process.
Of marine 10animals the crawfish and the lobster slough sometimes in the spring, and sometimes in autumn after parturition. Lobsters have been caught occasionally with the parts about the thorax soft, from the shell having there peeled off, and the lower parts hard, from the shell having not yet peeled off there; for, by the way, they do not slough in the same manner as the serpent. The 15crawfish hides for about five months. Crabs also slough off their old-age; this is generally allowed with regard to the soft-shelled crabs, and it is said to be the case with the testaceous kind, as for instance with the large 'granny' crab. When these animals slough their shell becomes soft all over, and as for the crab, it can scarcely crawl. These animals also do 20not cast their skins once and for all, but over and over again.
So much for the animals that go into hiding or torpidity, for the times at which, and the ways in which, they go; and so much also for the animals that slough off their old-age, and for the times at which they undergo the process.
Book 8,Chapter 18 (601a23–601b8)
Εὐημεροῦσι δὲ τὰ ζῷα κατὰ
τὰς ὥρας οὐ τὰς αὐτάς, οὐδ' ἐν ταῖς ὑπερβολαῖς ὁμοίως ἁπάσαις·
25 ἔτι δ' ὑγίειαι καὶ νόσοι κατά τε τὰς ὥρας τοῖς ἑτερογενέσιν
ἕτεραι καὶ τὸ σύνολον οὐχ αἱ αὐταὶ πᾶσιν. Τοῖς μὲν οὖν ὄρνισιν
οἱ αὐχμοὶ συμφέρουσι καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄλλην ὑγίειαν καὶ
πρὸς τοὺς τόκους, καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ταῖς φάτταις, τοῖς δ' ἰχθύσιν
ἔξω τινῶν ὀλίγων αἱ ἐπομβρίαι. Ἀσύμφορα δὲ τοὐναντίον
30 ἑκατέροις, τοῖς μὲν ὄρνισι τὰ ἔπομβρα ἔτη (οὐδὲ γὰρ ὅλως
συμφέρει τὸ πολὺ πίνειν), τοῖς δ' ἰχθύσιν οἱ αὐχμοί. Τὰ
μὲν οὖν γαμψώνυχα, καθάπερ εἴρηται πρότερον, ὡς ἁπλῶς
Animals do not all thrive at the same seasons, nor do they thrive alike during 25all extremes of weather. Further animals of diverse species are in a diverse way healthy or sickly at certain seasons; and, in point of fact, some animals have ailments that are unknown to others. Birds thrive in times of drought, both in their general health and in regard to parturition, and this is especially the case with the cushat; fishes, however, with a few 30exceptions, thrive best in rainy weather; on the contrary rainy seasons are bad for birds-and so by the way is much drinking-and drought is bad for fishes.
601b
1 εἰπεῖν ἄποτα πάμπαν ἐστίν (ἀλλ' Ἡσίοδος ἠγνόει τοῦτο·
πεποίηκε γὰρ τὸν τῆς μαντείας πρόεδρον ἀετὸν ἐν τῇ διηγήσει
τῇ περὶ τὴν πολιορκίαν τὴν Νίνου πίνοντα). Τὰ δ' ἄλλα
πίνει μέν, οὐ πολύποτα δ' ἐστίν· ὁμοίως δ' οὐδ' ἄλλ' οὐδὲν
5 τῶν πλεύμονα ἐχόντων σομφὸν καὶ ᾠοτόκων. Τῶν δ' ὀρνίθων
ἐν ταῖς ἀρρωστίαις ἐπίδηλος ἡ πτέρωσις γίνεται· ταράττεται
γάρ, καὶ οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει κατάστασιν ἥνπερ ὑγιαινόντων.
1Birds of prey, as has been already stated, may in a general way be said never to drink at all, though Hesiod appears to have been ignorant of the fact, for in his story about the siege of Ninus he represents the eagle that presided over the auguries as in the act of drinking; all other 5birds drink, but drink sparingly, as is the case also with all other spongy-lunged oviparous animals. Sickness in birds may be diagnosed from their plumage, which is ruffled when they are sickly instead of lying smooth as when they are well.
Book 8,Chapter 19 (601b9–602b19)
Τῶν δ' ἰχθύων τὸ πλεῖστον γένος εὐθηνεῖ μᾶλλον, ὥςπερ
10 εἴρηται πρότερον, ἐν τοῖς ἐπομβρίοις ἔτεσιν· οὐ γὰρ μόνον
τότε πλείω τροφὴν ἔχουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅλως τὸ ὄμβριον
συμφέρει, καθάπερ καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τῆς γῆς φυομένοις· καὶ
γὰρ τὰ λάχανα καίπερ ἀρδευόμενα ὅμως ἐπιδίδωσιν ὑόμενα
πλέον. Τὸ δ' αὐτὸ καὶ οἱ κάλαμοι πάσχουσιν οἱ πεφυκότες
15 ἐν ταῖς λίμναις· οὐδὲν γὰρ ὡς εἰπεῖν αὐξάνονται
μὴ γινομένων ὑδάτων. Σημεῖον δὲ καὶ τὸ τοὺς πλείστους τῶν
ἰχθύων εἰς τὸν Πόντον ἐκτοπίζειν θεριοῦντας· διὰ γὰρ τὸ
πλῆθος τῶν ποταμῶν γλυκύτερον τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τροφὴν οἱ
ποταμοὶ καταφέρουσι πολλήν. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ εἰς τοὺς ποταμοὺς
20 ἀναπλέουσι πολλοὶ τῶν ἰχθύων, καὶ εὐθηνοῦσιν ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς
καὶ ἐν ταῖς λίμναις, οἷον ἀμία καὶ κεστρεύς. Γίνονται
δὲ καὶ οἱ κωβιοὶ πίονες ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς· καὶ ὅλως τὰ εὔλιμνα
τῶν χωρίων ἀρίστους ἔχει ἰχθῦς. Αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν ὑδάτων
οἱ θερινοὶ ὄμβροι μᾶλλον συμφέρουσι τοῖς πλείστοις
25 ἰχθύσι, καὶ ὅταν τὸ ἔαρ καὶ τὸ θέρος καὶ τὸ φθινόπωρον
γένηται ἐπόμβριον, ὁ δὲ χειμὼν εὐδιεινός. Ὡς δ' εἰπεῖν ὅλως
ὅταν καὶ κατὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εὐετηρία ᾖ, καὶ τοῖς πλείστοις
ἰχθύσι συμβαίνει εὐημερεῖν. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς ψυχροῖς τόποις οὐκ
εὐθηνοῦσιν. Μάλιστα δὲ πονοῦσιν ἐν τοῖς χειμῶσιν οἱ ἔχοντες
30 λίθον ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ, οἷον χρομίς, λάβραξ, σκίαινα, φάγρος·
διὰ γὰρ τὸν λίθον ὑπὸ τοῦ ψύχους καταπήγνυνται
καὶ ἐκπίπτουσιν. Τοῖς μὲν οὖν πλείστοις ἰχθύσι συμφέρει
The majority of fishes, as has been stated, thrive best in rainy seasons. Not only have they food in greater abundance at 10this time, but in a general way rain is wholesome for them just as it is for vegetation-for, by the way, kitchen vegetables, though artificially watered, derive benefit from rain; and the same remark applies even to reeds that grow in marshes, as they hardly grow at all without a rainfall. That rain is good for fishes may be inferred from the fact that most 15fishes migrate to the Euxine for the summer; for owing to the number of the rivers that discharge into this sea its water is exceptionally fresh, and the rivers bring down a large supply of food. Besides, a great number of fishes, such as the bonito and the mullet, swim up the rivers and thrive in the rivers and marshes. The sea-gudgeon also fattens in the 20rivers, and, as a rule, countries abounding in lagoons furnish unusually excellent fish. While most fishes, then, are benefited by rain, they are chiefly benefited by summer rain; or we may state the case thus, that rain is good for fishes in spring, summer, and autumn, and fine dry weather in winter. As a general rule what is good for men is good for fishes 25also.
Fishes do not thrive in cold places, and those fishes suffer most in severe winters that have a stone in their head, as the chromis, the basse, the sciaena, and the braize; for owing to the stone they get frozen with the cold, and are thrown up on shore.
Whilst rain is wholesome for most fishes, it is, on the contrary, unwholesome for the mullet, the cephalus, 30and the so-called marinus, for rain superinduces blindness in most of these fishes, and all the more rapidly if the rainfall be superabundant.
Fishes do not thrive in cold places, and those fishes suffer most in severe winters that have a stone in their head, as the chromis, the basse, the sciaena, and the braize; for owing to the stone they get frozen with the cold, and are thrown up on shore.
Whilst rain is wholesome for most fishes, it is, on the contrary, unwholesome for the mullet, the cephalus, 30and the so-called marinus, for rain superinduces blindness in most of these fishes, and all the more rapidly if the rainfall be superabundant.
602a
1 μᾶλλον, κεστρεῖ δὲ καὶ κεφάλῳ καὶ ὃν καλοῦσί τινες
μαρῖνον τοὐναντίον· ὑπὸ γὰρ τῶν ὀμβρίων ὑδάτων ἀποτυφλοῦνται
οἱ πολλοὶ αὐτῶν θᾶττον, ἂν λίαν ὑπερβάλλωσιν. Εἰώθασι
γὰρ πάσχειν αὐτὸ οἱ κέφαλοι ἐν τοῖς χειμῶσι μᾶλλον·
5 γίνεται γὰρ αὐτῶν τὰ ὄμματα λευκά, καὶ ἁλίσκονται τότε
λεπτοί, καὶ τέλος ἀπόλλυνται πάμπαν. Ἔοικε δ' οὐ διὰ
τὴν ὑπερομβρίαν τοῦτο πάσχειν μᾶλλον, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ ψῦχος·
ἤδη γοῦν καὶ ἄλλοθι καὶ περὶ Ναυπλίαν τῆς Ἀργείας
περὶ τὸ τέναγος πολλοὶ τυφλοὶ ἐλήφθησαν ἰσχυροῦ γενομένου
10 ψύχους· ἐλήφθησαν δὲ πολλοὶ καὶ λευκὴν ἔχοντες τὴν
ὄψιν. Πονεῖ δὲ τοῦ χειμῶνος καὶ ὁ χρύσοφρυς, τοῦ δὲ θέρους
ὁ ἀχάρνας, καὶ γίνεται λεπτός. Συμφέρει δὲ τοῖς κορακίνοις
ὡς εἰπεῖν παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ἰχθῦς τὰ αὐχμώδη μᾶλλον
τῶν ἐτῶν· καὶ τούτοις δὲ διὰ τὸ συμβαίνειν ἀλέαν μᾶλλον
15 ἐν τοῖς αὐχμοῖς. Τόποι δ' ἑκάστοις συμφέρουσι πρὸς εὐθηνίαν,
ὅσα μέν ἐστι φύσει παράγεια ἢ πελάγια, ἐν ἑκατέρῳ
τούτων, ὅσα δ' ἐπαμφοτερίζει, ἐν ἀμφοτέροις· εἰσὶ δέ τινες
καὶ ἴδιοι τόποι ἑκάστοις ἐν οἷς εὐθηνοῦσιν. Ὡς δ' ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν
οἱ φυκώδεις συμφέρουσιν· πιότεροι γοῦν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἁλίσκονται,
20 ὅσοι παντοδαποὺς νέμονται τόπους· οἱ μὲν γὰρ φυκιοφάγοι
τροφῆς εὐποροῦσιν, οἱ δὲ σαρκοφάγοι πλείοσιν ἐντυγχάνουσιν
ἰχθύσιν. Διαφέρουσι δὲ καὶ τὰ βόρεια καὶ τὰ
νότια. Τὰ γὰρ μακρὰ μᾶλλον εὐθηνεῖ ἐν τοῖς βορείοις,
καὶ τοῦ θέρους ἁλίσκονται ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ χωρίου πλείους
25 ἐν τοῖς βορείοις τῶν μακρῶν καὶ τῶν πλατέων. Οἱ δὲ θύννοι καὶ
οἱ ξιφίαι οἰστρῶσι περὶ κυνὸς ἐπιτολήν· ἔχουσι γὰρ ἀμφότεροι
τηνικαῦτα παρὰ τὰ πτερύγια οἷον σκωλήκιον τὸ καλούμενον
οἶστρον, ὅμοιον μὲν σκορπίῳ, μέγεθος δ' ἡλίκον ἀράχνης·
ποιοῦσι δὲ ταῦτα πόνον τοιοῦτον ὥστ' ἐξάλλεσθαι οὐκ
30 ἔλαττον ἐνίοτε τὸν ξιφίαν τοῦ δελφῖνος, διὸ καὶ τοῖς πλοίοις
πολλάκις ἐμπίπτουσιν. Χαίρουσι δ' οἱ θύννοι μάλιστα τῶν
ἰχθύων τῇ ἀλέᾳ, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄμμον τὴν πρὸς τῇ γῇ
1The cephalus is peculiarly subject to this malady in severe winters; their eyes grow white, and when caught they are in poor condition, and eventually the disease kills them. It would appear that this disease is due to extreme cold even more than to an excessive rainfall; for 5instance, in many places and more especially in shallows off the coast of Nauplia, in the Argolid, a number of fishes have been known to be caught out at sea in seasons of severe cold. The gilthead also suffers in winter; the acharnas suffers in summer, and loses condition. The coracine is exceptional among fishes in deriving benefit from 10drought, and this is due to the fact that heat and drought are apt to come together.
Particular places suit particular fishes; some are naturally fishes of the shore, and some of the deep sea, and some are at home in one or the other of these regions, and others are common to the two and are at home in both. Some fishes will thrive in one particular 15spot, and in that spot only. As a general rule it may be said that places abounding in weeds are wholesome; at all events, fishes caught in such places are exceptionally fat: that is, such fishes a a habit all sorts of localities as well. The fact is that weed-eating fishes find abundance of their special food in such localities, and 20carnivorous fish find an unusually large number of smaller fish. It matters also whether the wind be from the north or south: the longer fish thrive better when a north wind prevails, and in summer at one and the same spot more long fish will be caught than flat fish with a north wind blowing.
The tunny and the sword-fish are infested with a parasite 25about the rising of the Dog-star; that is to say, about this time both these fishes have a grub beside their fins that is nicknamed the 'gadfly'. It resembles the scorpion in shape, and is about the size of the spider. So acute is the pain it inflicts that the sword-fish will often leap as high out of the water as a dolphin; in fact, it 30sometimes leaps over the bulwarks of a vessel and falls back on the deck. The tunny delights more than any other fish in the heat of the sun.
Particular places suit particular fishes; some are naturally fishes of the shore, and some of the deep sea, and some are at home in one or the other of these regions, and others are common to the two and are at home in both. Some fishes will thrive in one particular 15spot, and in that spot only. As a general rule it may be said that places abounding in weeds are wholesome; at all events, fishes caught in such places are exceptionally fat: that is, such fishes a a habit all sorts of localities as well. The fact is that weed-eating fishes find abundance of their special food in such localities, and 20carnivorous fish find an unusually large number of smaller fish. It matters also whether the wind be from the north or south: the longer fish thrive better when a north wind prevails, and in summer at one and the same spot more long fish will be caught than flat fish with a north wind blowing.
The tunny and the sword-fish are infested with a parasite 25about the rising of the Dog-star; that is to say, about this time both these fishes have a grub beside their fins that is nicknamed the 'gadfly'. It resembles the scorpion in shape, and is about the size of the spider. So acute is the pain it inflicts that the sword-fish will often leap as high out of the water as a dolphin; in fact, it 30sometimes leaps over the bulwarks of a vessel and falls back on the deck. The tunny delights more than any other fish in the heat of the sun.
602b
1 προσχωροῦσι τῆς ἀλέας ἕνεκεν, καὶ ἄνω ἐπιπολάζουσιν
ὅτι θερμαίνονται. Τὰ δὲ μικρὰ τῶν ἰχθυδίων σώζεται διὰ τὸ
παρορᾶσθαι· διώκουσι γὰρ τὰ μείζω οἱ μεγάλοι. Τῶν δ'
ᾠῶν καὶ τοῦ γόνου διαφθείρεται τὸ πολὺ διὰ τὰς ἀλέας· οὗ
5 γὰρ ἂν ἐφάψωνται, πᾶν τοῦτο λυμαίνονται. Ἁλίσκονται δὲ
μάλιστα οἱ ἰχθύες πρὸ ἡλίου ἀνατολῆς καὶ μετὰ τὴν δύσιν,
ὅλως δὲ περὶ δυσμὰς ἡλίου καὶ ἀνατολάς· οὗτοι γὰρ λέγονται
εἶναι ὡραῖοι βόλοι, διὸ καὶ τὰ δίκτυα ταύτην τὴν
ὥραν ἀναιροῦνται οἱ ἁλιεῖς. Μάλιστα γὰρ ἀπατῶνται οἱ
10 ἰχθύες τῇ ὄψει κατὰ τούτους τοὺς καιρούς· τῆς μὲν γὰρ νυκτὸς
ἡσυχάζουσι, πλείονος δὲ γενομένου τοῦ φωτὸς μᾶλλον ὁρῶσιν.
Νόσημα δὲ λοιμῶδες μὲν οὐδὲν εἰς τοὺς ἰχθῦς φαίνεται ἐμπῖπτον,
οἷον ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων συμβαίνει πολλάκις καὶ τῶν
ζῳοτόκων καὶ τετραπόδων εἰς ἵππους καὶ βοῦς, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων
15 εἰς ἔνια καὶ ἥμερα καὶ ἄγρια· νοσεῖν μέντοι γε δοκοῦσιν·
τεκμαίρονται δ' οἱ ἁλιεῖς τῷ ἐνίους ἁλίσκεσθαι λεπτοὺς
καὶ ἠσθενηκόσιν ὁμοίους καὶ τὸ χρῶμα μεταβεβληκότας
ἐν πολλοῖς καὶ πίοσιν ἑαλωκότας καὶ τῷ γένει τῷ
αὐτῷ. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν θαλαττίων τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον.
1It will burrow for warmth in the sand in shallow waters near to shore, or will, because it is warm, disport itself on the surface of the sea.
The fry of little fishes escape by being overlooked, for it is only the larger ones of the small species that fishes of the large species will pursue. 5The greater part of the spawn and the fry of fishes is destroyed by the heat of the sun, for whatever of them the sun reaches it spoils.
Fishes are caught in greatest abundance before sunrise and after sunset, or, speaking generally, just about sunset and sunrise. Fishermen haul up their nets at these times, and speak of the hauls then made as the 'nick-of-time' hauls. 10The fact is, that at these times fishes are particularly weak-sighted; at night they are at rest, and as the light grows stronger they see comparatively well.
We know of no pestilential malady attacking fishes, such as those which attack man, and horses and oxen among the quadrupedal vivipara, and certain species of other genera, domesticated and wild; but fishes 15do seem to suffer from sickness; and fishermen infer this from the fact that at times fishes in poor condition, and looking as though they were sick, and of altered colour, are caught in a large haul of well-conditioned fish of their own species. So much for sea-fishes.
The fry of little fishes escape by being overlooked, for it is only the larger ones of the small species that fishes of the large species will pursue. 5The greater part of the spawn and the fry of fishes is destroyed by the heat of the sun, for whatever of them the sun reaches it spoils.
Fishes are caught in greatest abundance before sunrise and after sunset, or, speaking generally, just about sunset and sunrise. Fishermen haul up their nets at these times, and speak of the hauls then made as the 'nick-of-time' hauls. 10The fact is, that at these times fishes are particularly weak-sighted; at night they are at rest, and as the light grows stronger they see comparatively well.
We know of no pestilential malady attacking fishes, such as those which attack man, and horses and oxen among the quadrupedal vivipara, and certain species of other genera, domesticated and wild; but fishes 15do seem to suffer from sickness; and fishermen infer this from the fact that at times fishes in poor condition, and looking as though they were sick, and of altered colour, are caught in a large haul of well-conditioned fish of their own species. So much for sea-fishes.
Book 8,Chapter 20 (602b20–603a29)
20 Τοῖς δὲ ποταμίοις καὶ λιμναίοις λοιμῶδες μὲν οὐδὲ τούτοις
οὐδὲν γίνεται, ἐνίοις δ' αὐτῶν ἴδια νοσήματα ἐμπίπτει, οἷον
ὁ γλάνις ὑπὸ κύνα μάλιστα διὰ τὸ μετέωρος νεῖν ἀστροβλής
τε γίνεται καὶ ὑπὸ βροντῆς νεανικῆς καροῦται. Πάσχει δέ
ποτε τοῦτο καὶ ὁ κυπρῖνος, ἧττον δέ. Οἱ δὲ γλάνεις ἐν τοῖς
25 βραχέσι καὶ ὑπὸ δράκοντος τοῦ ὄφεως τυπτόμενοι ἀπόλλυνται
πολλοί. Ἐν δὲ τῷ βαλέρῳ καὶ τίλωνι ἑλμὶς ἐγγινομένη
ὑπὸ κύνα μετεωρίζει τε καὶ ἀσθενῆ ποιεῖ· μετέωρος
δὲ γινόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ καύματος ἀπόλλυται. Τῇ δὲ χαλκίδι
νόσημα ἐμπίπτει νεανικόν· φθεῖρες ὑπὸ τὰ βράγχια γινόμενοι
30 πολλοὶ ἀναιροῦσιν. Τῶν δ' ἄλλων ἰχθύων οὐδενὶ οὐδὲν
τοιοῦτόν ἐστι νόσημα. Ἀποθνήσκουσι δ' οἱ ἰχθύες τῷ πλόμῳ·
διὸ καὶ θηρεύουσιν οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς καὶ
River-fish and lake-fish also are exempt from diseases of a pestilential character, but certain 20species are subject to special and peculiar maladies. For instance, the sheat-fish just before the rising of the Dog-star, owing to its swimming near the surface of the water, is liable to sunstroke, and is paralysed by a loud peal of thunder. The carp is subject to the same eventualities but in a lesser degree. The sheatfish is destroyed in great quantities in 25shallow waters by the serpent called the dragon. In the balerus and tilon a worm is engendered about the rising of the Dog-star, that sickens these fish and causes them to rise towards the surface, where they are killed by the excessive heat. The chalcis is subject to a very violent malady; lice are engendered underneath their gills in great numbers, and cause destruction 30among them; but no other species of fish is subject to any such malady.
If mullein be introduced into water it will kill fish in its vicinity.
If mullein be introduced into water it will kill fish in its vicinity.
603a
1 λίμναις πλομίζοντες, οἱ δὲ Φοίνικες καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ.
Ποιοῦνται δέ τινες καὶ δύ' ἄλλας θήρας τῶν ἰχθύων. Διὰ
γὰρ τὸ φεύγειν ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι τὰ βαθέα ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς (καὶ
γὰρ ἄλλως τὸ πότιμον ὕδωρ ψυχρόν) ὀρύττουσι τάφρον εἰς
5 τὸν ποταμὸν διὰ ξηροῦ· εἶτα ταύτην καταστεγάσαντες χόρτῳ
καὶ λίθοις οἷον γωλεὸν ποιοῦσιν, ἔκδυσιν ἔχοντα ἐκ τοῦ ποταμοῦ·
καὶ ὅταν πάγος ᾖ, ἐκ τούτου κύρτῳ θηρεύουσι τοὺς
ἰχθῦς. Καὶ ἄλλην δὲ θήραν ποιοῦνται ὁμοίως θέρους καὶ χειμῶνος·
ἐν μέσῳ τῷ ποταμῷ φρυγάνοις καὶ λίθοις περιφράξαντες
10 ὅσον στόμα καταλείπουσιν· καὶ ἐν τούτῳ κύρτον
ἐνθέντες θηρεύουσιν, περιελόντες τοὺς λίθους.
Τῶν δ' ὀστρακοδέρμων συμφέρει τοῖς ἄλλοις τὰ ἔπομβρα
ἔτη, πλὴν ταῖς πορφύραις. Σημεῖον δέ· ὅταν γὰρ τεθῇ
οὗ ποταμὸς ἐξερεύγεται, καὶ γεύσωνται τοῦ ὕδατος, ἀποθνήσκουσιν
15 αὐθημερόν. Καὶ ζῇ δ' ἡ πορφύρα, ὅταν θηρευθῇ,
περὶ ἡμέρας πεντήκοντα. Τρέφονται δ' ὑπ' ἀλλήλων· ἐπιγίνεται
γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς ὀστράκοις ὥσπερ φῦκός τι καὶ βρύον.
Ἃ δ' ἐμβάλλουσιν εἰς τροφὴν αὐταῖς, τοῦ σταθμοῦ φασι χάριν
εἶναι πρὸς τὸ πλέον ἕλκειν. Τοῖς δ' ἄλλοις οἱ αὐχμοὶ
20 ἀσύμφοροι· ἐλάττω γὰρ καὶ χείρω γίνεται, καὶ οἱ πυρροὶ
τότε γίνονται μᾶλλον κτένες. Ἐν δὲ τῷ Πυρραίῳ ποτ' εὐρίπῳ
ἐξέλιπον οἱ κτένες οὐ μόνον διὰ τὸ ὄργανον ᾧ θηρεύοντες
ἀνέξυον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τοὺς αὐχμούς. Καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις δ'
ὀστρακοδέρμοις τὰ ἔπομβρα ἔτη συμφέρει διὰ τὸ γλυκυτέραν
25 γίνεσθαι τὴν θάλατταν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ Πόντῳ διὰ τὸ ψῦχος
οὐ γίνονται, οὐδ' ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς ἀλλ' ἢ ὀλίγα τῶν
διθύρων· τὰ δὲ μονόθυρα μάλιστα ἐν τοῖς πάγοις ἐκπήγνυται.
Περὶ μὲν οὖν τὰ ἔνυδρα τῶν ζῴων τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον·
1It is used extensively for catching fish in rivers and ponds; by the Phoenicians it is made use of also in the sea.
There are two other methods employed for catch-fish. It is a known fact that in winter fishes emerge from the deep parts of rivers and, by the way, at all seasons fresh water 5is tolerably cold. A trench accordingly is dug leading into a river, and wattled at the river end with reeds and stones, an aperture being left in the wattling through which the river water flows into the trench; when the frost comes on the fish can be taken out of the trench in weels. Another method is adopted in summer and winter alike. They run across a stream 10a dam composed of brushwood and stones leaving a small open space, and in this space they insert a weel; they then coop the fish in towards this place, and draw them up in the weel as they swim through the open space.
Shell-fish, as a rule, are benefited by rainy weather. The purple murex is an exception; if it be placed on a shore near to where a river discharges, 15it will die within a day after tasting the fresh water. The murex lives for about fifty days after capture; during this period they feed off one another, as there grows on the shell a kind of sea-weed or sea-moss; if any food is thrown to them during this period, it is said to be done not to keep them alive, but to make them weigh more.
To shell-fish in general 20drought is unwholesome. During dry weather they decrease in size and degenerate in quality; and it is during such weather that the red scallop is found in more than usual abundance. In the Pyrrhaean Strait the clam was exterminated, partly by the dredging-machine used in their capture, and partly by long-continued droughts. Rainy weather is wholesome to the 25generality of shellfish owing to the fact that the sea-water then becomes exceptionally sweet. In the Euxine, owing to the coldness of the climate, shellfish are not found: nor yet in rivers, excepting a few bivalves here and there. Univalves, by the way, are very apt to freeze to death in extremely cold weather. So much for animals that live in water.
There are two other methods employed for catch-fish. It is a known fact that in winter fishes emerge from the deep parts of rivers and, by the way, at all seasons fresh water 5is tolerably cold. A trench accordingly is dug leading into a river, and wattled at the river end with reeds and stones, an aperture being left in the wattling through which the river water flows into the trench; when the frost comes on the fish can be taken out of the trench in weels. Another method is adopted in summer and winter alike. They run across a stream 10a dam composed of brushwood and stones leaving a small open space, and in this space they insert a weel; they then coop the fish in towards this place, and draw them up in the weel as they swim through the open space.
Shell-fish, as a rule, are benefited by rainy weather. The purple murex is an exception; if it be placed on a shore near to where a river discharges, 15it will die within a day after tasting the fresh water. The murex lives for about fifty days after capture; during this period they feed off one another, as there grows on the shell a kind of sea-weed or sea-moss; if any food is thrown to them during this period, it is said to be done not to keep them alive, but to make them weigh more.
To shell-fish in general 20drought is unwholesome. During dry weather they decrease in size and degenerate in quality; and it is during such weather that the red scallop is found in more than usual abundance. In the Pyrrhaean Strait the clam was exterminated, partly by the dredging-machine used in their capture, and partly by long-continued droughts. Rainy weather is wholesome to the 25generality of shellfish owing to the fact that the sea-water then becomes exceptionally sweet. In the Euxine, owing to the coldness of the climate, shellfish are not found: nor yet in rivers, excepting a few bivalves here and there. Univalves, by the way, are very apt to freeze to death in extremely cold weather. So much for animals that live in water.
Book 8,Chapter 21 (603a30–604a3)
30 τῶν δὲ τετραπόδων αἱ μὲν ὕες νοσήμασι μὲν κάμνουσι
τρισίν, ὧν ἓν μὲν καλεῖται βράγχος, ἐν ᾧ μάλιστα τὰ περὶ
τὰ βράγχια καὶ τὰς σιαγόνας φλεγμαίνει. Γίνεται δὲ καὶ
To turn to 30quadrupeds, the pig suffers from three diseases, one of which is called branchos, a disease attended with swellings about the windpipe and the jaws.
603b
1 ὅπου ἂν τύχῃ τοῦ σώματος· πολλάκις γὰρ τοῦ ποδὸς
λαμβάνεται, ὁτὲ δ' ἐν τῷ ὠτί. Γίνεται δὲ σαπρὸν εὐθὺς καὶ τὸ
ἐχόμενον, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ πρὸς τὸν πλεύμονα· τότε δ' ἀποθνήσκει.
Ταχὺ δ' αὐξάνεται· καὶ οὐδὲν ἐσθίει, ὅταν ἄρξηται
5 τὸ πάθος κἂν ὁσονοῦν. Ἰῶνται δ' οἱ ὑοβοσκοί, ὅταν αἴσθωνται
μικρὸν ὄν, ἄλλον μὲν οὐδένα τρόπον, ἀποτέμνουσι δ' ὅλον.
Δύο δ' ἄλλ' ἐστί, λέγεται δὲ κραυρᾶν ἄμφω· ὧν τὸ μὲν
ἕτερόν ἐστι κεφαλῆς πόνος καὶ βάρος, ᾧ αἱ πλεῖσται ἁλίσκονται,
τὸ δ' ἕτερον, ἡ κοιλία ῥεῖ. Καὶ τοῦτο μὲν δοκεῖ
10 εἶναι ἀνίατον, θατέρῳ δὲ βοηθοῦσιν οἶνον προσφέροντες πρὸς
τοὺς μυκτῆρας καὶ κλύζοντες τοὺς μυκτῆρας οἴνῳ. Διαφεύγειν
δὲ καὶ τοῦτο χαλεπόν· ἀναιρεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἐν ἡμέραις τρισὶν ἢ
τέτταρσιν. Βραγχῶσι δὲ μάλιστα, ὅταν τὸ θέρος ἐνέγκῃ σῦκα
καὶ πιόταται ὦσιν· βοηθεῖ δὲ τά τε συκάμινα διδόμενα
15 καὶ τὸ λουτρὸν ἐὰν πολὺ ᾖ καὶ θερμόν, καὶ ἐάν τις σχάσῃ
ὑπὸ τὴν γλῶτταν. Χαλαζώδεις δ' εἰσὶ τῶν ὑῶν αἱ ὑγρόσαρκοι
τά τε περὶ τὰ σκέλη καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν τράχηλον
καὶ τοὺς ὤμους, ἐν οἷς μέρεσι καὶ πλεῖσται γίνονται χάλαζαι·
κἂν μὲν ὀλίγας ἔχῃ, γλυκυτέρα ἡ σάρξ, ἂν δὲ πολλάς,
20 ὑγρὰ λίαν καὶ διάχυλος γίνεται. Δῆλαι δ' εἰσὶν αἱ
χαλαζῶσαι· ἔν τε γὰρ τῇ γλώττῃ τῇ κάτω ἔχουσι μάλιστα
τὰς χαλάζας, καὶ ἐάν τις τρίχας ἐκτίλλῃ ἐκ τῆς
λοφιᾶς, ὕφαιμοι φαίνονται· ἔτι δὲ τὰ χαλαζῶντα τοὺς
ὀπισθίους πόδας οὐ δύνανται ἡσυχάζειν. Οὐκ ἔχουσι δὲ χαλάζας,
25 ἕως ἂν ὦσι γαλαθηναὶ μόνον. Ἐκβάλλουσι δὲ τὰς χαλάζας
ταῖς τίφαις· ὃ καὶ πρὸς τὴν τροφήν ἐστι χρήσιμον.
Ἄριστον δὲ πρὸς τὸ πιαίνειν καὶ τρέφειν οἱ ἐρέβινθοι καὶ
τὰ σῦκα, τὸ δ' ὅλον μὴ ποιεῖν ἁπλῆν τὴν τροφὴν ἀλλὰ
ποικίλην· χαίρει γὰρ μεταβάλλουσα καθάπερ καὶ τἆλλα
30 ζῷα, καὶ ἅμα φασὶ τὸ μὲν ἐμφυσᾶν τὸ δὲ σαρκοῦν τὸ
δὲ πιαίνειν τῶν προσφερομένων, τὰς δὲ βαλάνους ἡδέως μὲν
ἐσθίειν, ποιεῖν δ' ὑγρὰν τὴν σάρκα· καὶ ἐὰν κύουσαι πλείους
1It may break out in any part of the body; very often it attacks the foot, and occasionally the ear; the neighbouring parts also soon rot, and the decay goes on until it reaches the lungs, when the animal succumbs. The disease develops with great rapidity, and the moment it sets in 5the animal gives up eating. The swineherds know but one way to cure it, namely, by complete excision, when they detect the first signs of the disease. There are two other diseases, which are both alike termed craurus. The one is attended with pain and heaviness in the head, and this is the commoner of the two, the other with diarrhoea. The latter is 10incurable, the former is treated by applying wine fomentations to the snout and rinsing the nostrils with wine. Even this disease is very hard to cure; it has been known to kill within three or four days. The animal is chiefly subject to branchos when it gets extremely fat, and when the heat has brought a good supply of figs. The treatment is to feed 15on mashed mulberries, to give repeated warm baths, and to lance the under part of the tongue.
Pigs with flabby flesh are subject to measles about the legs, neck, and shoulders, for the pimples develop chiefly in these parts. If the pimples are few in number the flesh is comparatively sweet, but if they be numerous it gets watery and flaccid. The 20symptoms of measles are obvious, for the pimples show chiefly on the under side of the tongue, and if you pluck the bristles off the chine the skin will appear suffused with blood, and further the animal will be unable to keep its hind-feet at rest. Pigs never take this disease while they are mere sucklings. The pimples may be got rid of by feeding on 25this kind of spelt called tiphe; and this spelt, by the way, is very good for ordinary food. The best food for rearing and fattening pigs is chickpeas and figs, but the one thing essential is to vary the food as much as possible, for this animal, like animals in general lights in a change of diet; and it is said that one kind of food blows the animal 30out, that another superinduces flesh, and that another puts on fat, and that acorns, though liked by the animal, render the flesh flaccid.
Pigs with flabby flesh are subject to measles about the legs, neck, and shoulders, for the pimples develop chiefly in these parts. If the pimples are few in number the flesh is comparatively sweet, but if they be numerous it gets watery and flaccid. The 20symptoms of measles are obvious, for the pimples show chiefly on the under side of the tongue, and if you pluck the bristles off the chine the skin will appear suffused with blood, and further the animal will be unable to keep its hind-feet at rest. Pigs never take this disease while they are mere sucklings. The pimples may be got rid of by feeding on 25this kind of spelt called tiphe; and this spelt, by the way, is very good for ordinary food. The best food for rearing and fattening pigs is chickpeas and figs, but the one thing essential is to vary the food as much as possible, for this animal, like animals in general lights in a change of diet; and it is said that one kind of food blows the animal 30out, that another superinduces flesh, and that another puts on fat, and that acorns, though liked by the animal, render the flesh flaccid.
604a
1 ἐσθίωσιν, ἐκβάλλουσιν ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ πρόβατα· ταῦτα
γὰρ ἐπιδηλοτέρως τοῦτο πάσχει διὰ τὰς βαλάνους. Χαλαζᾷ
δὲ μόνον τῶν ζῴων ὧν ἴσμεν ὗς.
1Besides, if a sow eats acorns in great quantities, it will miscarry, as is also the case with the ewe; and, indeed, the miscarriage is more certain in the case of the ewe than in the case of the sow. The pig is the only animal known to be subject to measles.
Book 8,Chapter 22 (604a4–12)
Οἱ δὲ κύνες κάμνουσι νοσήμασι τρισίν· ὀνομάζεται δὲ
5 ταῦτα λύττα, κυνάγχη, ποδάγρα. Τούτων ἡ λύττα ἐμποιεῖ
μανίαν, καὶ ὅταν δάκῃ, λυττῶσιν ἅπαντα τὰ δηχθέντα
πλὴν ἀνθρώπου· καὶ ἀναιρεῖ δὲ τὸ νόσημα τοῦτο τάς τε κύνας
καὶ ἄν τι δηχθῇ ὑπὸ λυττώσης πλὴν ἀνθρώπου. Ἀναιρεῖ
δὲ καὶ ἡ κυνάγχη τὰς κύνας· ὀλίγαι δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῆς
10 ποδάγρας περιφεύγουσιν. Λαμβάνει δ' ἡ λύττα καὶ τὰς
καμήλους. Τοὺς δ' ἐλέφαντας πρὸς μὲν τὰ ἄλλα ἀρρωστήματα
ἀνόσους εἶναί φασιν, ἐνοχλεῖσθαι δ' ὑπὸ φυσῶν.
Dogs suffer from three 5diseases; rabies, quinsy, and sore feet. Rabies drives the animal mad, and ary animal whatever, excepting man, will take the disease if bitten by a dog so afflicted; the disease is fatal to the dog itself, and to any animal it may bite, man excepted. Quinsy also is fatal to dogs; and only a few recover from disease of the feet. The camel, like the dog, is 10subject to rabies. The elephant, which is reputed to enjoy immunity from all other illnesses, is occasionally subject to flatulency.
Book 8,Chapter 23 (604a13–21)
Οἱ δὲ βόες οἱ ἀγελαῖοι νοσοῦσι δύο νόσους, ὧν τὸ μὲν
ποδάγρα τὸ δὲ κραῦρος καλεῖται. Ἐν μὲν οὖν τῇ ποδάγρᾳ
15 τοὺς πόδας οἰδοῦσιν, οὐκ ἀποθνήσκουσι δ' οὐδὲ τὰς ὁπλὰς
ἀποβάλλουσιν· βέλτιον δ' ἴσχουσι τῶν κεράτων ἀλειφομένων
πίσσῃ θερμῇ. Ὅταν δὲ κραυρᾷ, τὸ πνεῦμα γίνεται θερμὸν
καὶ πυκνόν· καὶ ὅ ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πυρετός, τοῦτό
ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς βουσὶ τὸ κραυρᾶν. Σημεῖον δὲ τῆς ἀρρωστίας
20 τὰ ὦτα καταβάλλουσι καὶ οὐ δύνανται ἐσθίειν. Ἀποθνήσκουσι
δὲ ταχέως, καὶ ἀνοιχθέντων ὁ πλεύμων φαίνεται σαπρός.
Cattle in herds are liable to two diseases, foot, sickness and craurus. In the former their feet suffer from eruptions, but the animal recovers from the disease without even the loss of the hoof. It is found of service to smear 15the horny parts with warm pitch. In craurus, the breath comes warm at short intervals; in fact, craurus in cattle answers to fever in man. The symptoms of the disease are drooping of the ears and disinclination for food. The animal soon succumbs, and when the carcase is opened the lungs are found to be rotten.
Book 8,Chapter 24 (604a22–605a15)
Τῶν δ' ἵππων αἱ μὲν φορβάδες ἄνοσοι τῶν ἄλλων
ἀρρωστημάτων εἰσὶ πλὴν ποδάγρας, ταύτῃ δὲ κάμνουσι,
καὶ ἐνίοτε ἀποβάλλουσι τὰς ὁπλάς· ὅταν δ' ἀποβάλωσι,
25 πάλιν φύουσιν εὐθύς· γίνεται γὰρ ἅμα τῆς ἑτέρας ὑποφυομένης
ἡ τῆς ἑτέρας ὁπλῆς ἀποβολή. Σημεῖον δὲ τῆς
ἀρρωστίας· ὁ γὰρ ὄρχις ἅλλεται ὁ δεξιός, ἢ κατὰ μέσον
ὀλίγον κάτωθεν τῶν μυκτήρων ἔγκοιλόν τι γίνεται καὶ ῥυτιδῶδες.
Οἱ δὲ τροφίαι ἵπποι πλείστοις ἀρρωστήμασι κάμνουσιν.
30 Λαμβάνει γὰρ καὶ εἰλεός· σημεῖον δὲ τῆς ἀρρωστίας τὰ
Horses out at pasture are free from all 20diseases excepting disease of the feet. From this disease they sometimes lose their hooves: but after losing them they grow them soon again, for as one hoof is decaying it is being replaced by another. Symptoms of the malady are a sinking in and wrinkling of the lip in the middle under the nostrils, and in the case of the male, a twitching of the right 25testicle.
Stall-reared horses are subject to very numerous forms of disease. They are liable to disease called 'eileus'. Under this disease the animal trails its hind-legs under its belly so far forward as almost to fall back on its haunches; if it goes without food for several days and turns rabid, it may be of service to draw blood, or to castrate the male.
Stall-reared horses are subject to very numerous forms of disease. They are liable to disease called 'eileus'. Under this disease the animal trails its hind-legs under its belly so far forward as almost to fall back on its haunches; if it goes without food for several days and turns rabid, it may be of service to draw blood, or to castrate the male.
604b
1 ὀπίσθια σκέλη ἐφέλκουσιν ἐπὶ τὰ ἐμπρόσθια καὶ ὑποφέρουσιν,
ὥστε ὀλίγου συγκρούειν. Ἐὰν δ' ἀσιτήσας τὰς ἔμπροσθεν
ἡμέρας εἶτα μανῇ, αἷμα ἀφαιροῦντες βοηθοῦσι
καὶ ἐκτέμνοντες. Λαμβάνει δὲ καὶ τέτανος· σημεῖον δ' αἱ
5 φλέβες τέτανται πᾶσαι καὶ κεφαλὴ καὶ αὐχήν, καὶ προβαίνει
εὐθέσι τοῖς σκέλεσιν. Γίνονται δὲ καὶ ἔμπυοι οἱ ἵπποι.
Λαμβάνει δὲ καὶ ἄλλος αὐτοὺς πόνος, καλεῖται δὲ
τοῦτο κριθιᾶν· σημεῖον δὲ τοῦ ἀρρωστήματος μαλακὸς γίνεται
ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ θερμὸν πνεῖ. Ἀνίατα δέ, ἂν μὴ αὐτόματα
10 καταστῇ. Τὸ δὲ νυμφιᾶν καλούμενον, ἐν ᾧ συμβαίνει κατέχεσθαι
ὅταν αὐλῇ τις, καὶ κατωπιᾶν· καὶ ὅταν ἀναβῇ τις,
τροχάζει, ἕως ἂν μέλλῃ τις κατασχεῖν· κατηφεῖ δ' ἀεί,
καὶ ὅταν λυττήσῃ. Σημεῖον δὲ καὶ τούτου τὰ ὦτα καταβάλλει
πρὸς τὴν χαίτην καὶ πάλιν προτείνει, καὶ ἐκλείπει, καὶ
15 πνεῖ. Ἀνίατα δὲ καὶ τάδε, ἐὰν καρδίαν ἀλγήσῃ (σημεῖον
δὲ λαπαρὸς ὢν ἀλγεῖ), καὶ ἐὰν ἡ κύστις μεταστῇ (σημεῖον
δὲ καὶ τούτου τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι οὐρεῖν, καὶ τὰς ὁπλὰς
καὶ τὰ ἰσχία ἐφέλκει), καὶ ἐὰν σταφύλινον περιχάνῃ· τοῦτο
δ' ἐστὶν ἡλίκον σφονδύλη. Τὰ δὲ δήγματα τῆς μυγαλῆς
20 καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὑποζυγίοις χαλεπά· γίνονται δὲ φλύκταιναι.
Χαλεπώτερον δὲ τὸ δῆγμα, ἐὰν κύουσα δάκῃ· ἐκρήγνυνται
γὰρ αἱ φλύκταιναι, εἰ δὲ μή, οὔ. Ἀποκτείνει δὲ
δάκνουσα ἢ σφόδρα ποιεῖ ἀλγεῖν καὶ ἡ καλουμένη χαλκὶς
ὑπὸ τινῶν, ὑπὸ δ' ἐνίων ζιγνίς· ἔστι δ' ὅμοιον ταῖς μικραῖς
25 σαύραις, τὸ δὲ χρῶμα τοῖς τυφλίνοις ὄφεσιν. Ὅλως δέ
φασιν οἱ ἔμπειροι, σχεδὸν ὅσαπερ ἀρρωστήματα ἀρρωστεῖ
ἄνθρωπος, καὶ ἵππον ἀρρωστεῖν καὶ πρόβατον. Ὑπὸ φαρμάκου
δὲ διαφορεῖται καὶ ἵππος καὶ πᾶν ὑποζύγιον σανδαράκης·
δίδοται δ' ἐν ὕδατι καὶ διηθεῖται. Καὶ ἐκβάλλει
30 δὲ κύουσα ἵππος ὀσμῇ λύχνου ἀποσβεννυμένου· συμβαίνει
1The animal is subject also to tetanus: the veins get rigid, as also the head and neck, and the animal walks with its legs stretched out straight. The horse suffers also from abscesses. Another painful illness afflicts them called the 'barley-surfeit'. The are a softening of the palate and heat 5of the breath; the animal may recover through the strength of its own constitution, but no formal remedies are of any avail.
There is also a disease called nymphia, in which the animal is said to stand still and droop its head on hearing flute-music; if during this ailment the horse be mounted, it will run off at a gallop until it is pulled. Even with this rabies 10in full force, it preserves a dejected spiritless appearance; some of the symptoms are a throwing back of the ears followed by a projection of them, great languor, and heavy breathing. Heart-ache also is incurable, of which the symptom is a drawing in of the flanks; and so is displacement of the bladder, which is accompanied by a retention of urine and a drawing 15up of the hooves and haunches. Neither is there any cure if the animal swallow the grape-beetle, which is about the size of the sphondyle or knuckle-beetle. The bite of the shrewmouse is dangerous to horses and other draught animals as well; it is followed by boils. The bite is all the more dangerous if the mouse be pregnant when she bites, for the boils then burst, 20but do not burst otherwise. The cicigna-called 'chalcis' by some, and 'zignis' by others-either causes death by its bite or, at all events, intense pain; it is like a small lizard, with the colour of the blind snake. In point of fact, according to experts, the horse and the sheep have pretty well as many ailments as the human species. The drug known under the name 25of 'sandarace' or realgar, is extremely injurious to a horse, and to all draught animals; it is given to the animal as a medicine in a solution of water, the liquid being filtered through a colander. The mare when pregnant apt to miscarry when disturbed by the odour of an extinguished candle; and a similar accident happens occasionally to women in their pregnancy.
There is also a disease called nymphia, in which the animal is said to stand still and droop its head on hearing flute-music; if during this ailment the horse be mounted, it will run off at a gallop until it is pulled. Even with this rabies 10in full force, it preserves a dejected spiritless appearance; some of the symptoms are a throwing back of the ears followed by a projection of them, great languor, and heavy breathing. Heart-ache also is incurable, of which the symptom is a drawing in of the flanks; and so is displacement of the bladder, which is accompanied by a retention of urine and a drawing 15up of the hooves and haunches. Neither is there any cure if the animal swallow the grape-beetle, which is about the size of the sphondyle or knuckle-beetle. The bite of the shrewmouse is dangerous to horses and other draught animals as well; it is followed by boils. The bite is all the more dangerous if the mouse be pregnant when she bites, for the boils then burst, 20but do not burst otherwise. The cicigna-called 'chalcis' by some, and 'zignis' by others-either causes death by its bite or, at all events, intense pain; it is like a small lizard, with the colour of the blind snake. In point of fact, according to experts, the horse and the sheep have pretty well as many ailments as the human species. The drug known under the name 25of 'sandarace' or realgar, is extremely injurious to a horse, and to all draught animals; it is given to the animal as a medicine in a solution of water, the liquid being filtered through a colander. The mare when pregnant apt to miscarry when disturbed by the odour of an extinguished candle; and a similar accident happens occasionally to women in their pregnancy.
605a
1 δὲ τοῦτο καὶ γυναιξὶν ἐνίαις κυούσαις. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τὰς
νόσους τῶν ἵππων τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον. Τὸ δ' ἱππομανὲς καλούμενον
ἐπιφύεται μέν, ὥσπερ λέγεται, τοῖς πώλοις, αἱ δ'
ἵπποι περιλείχουσαι καὶ καθαίρουσαι ἀποτρώγουσιν αὐτό· τὰ
5 δ' ἐπιμυθευόμενα πέπλασται μᾶλλον ὑπὸ γυναικῶν καὶ τῶν
περὶ τὰς ἐπῳδάς. Ὁμολογουμένως δὲ καὶ τὸ καλούμενον πώλιον
αἱ ἵπποι προεκβάλλουσι πρὸ τοῦ πώλου. Γινώσκουσι δ' οἱ
ἵπποι καὶ τὴν φωνὴν ἀκούοντες τῶν ἵππων, οἷς ἂν μαχεσάμενοι
τύχωσιν. Χαίρουσι δ' οἱ ἵπποι τοῖς λειμῶσι καὶ τοῖς
10 ἕλεσιν· καὶ γὰρ τῶν ὑδάτων τὰ θολερὰ πίνουσι, κἂν ᾖ καθαρά,
ἀνατρέπουσιν αὐτὰ οἱ ἵπποι ταῖς ὁπλαῖς, εἶτα πιοῦσαι
λούονται. Καὶ γὰρ ὅλως ἐστὶ φιλόλουτρον τὸ ζῷον καὶ
φίλυδρον· διὸ καὶ ἡ τοῦ ποταμίου ἵππου φύσις οὕτω συνέστηκεν.
Ὁ δὲ βοῦς τοὐναντίον τοῦ ἵππου· ἂν γὰρ μὴ καθαρὸν ᾖ τὸ
15 ὕδωρ καὶ ψυχρὸν καὶ ἀκέραιον, οὐκ ἐθέλει πιεῖν.
1So much for the diseases of the horse.
The so-called hippomanes grows, as has stated, on the foal, and the mare nibbles it off as she licks and cleans the foal. All the curious stories connected with the hippomanes are due to old wives and to the venders of charms. What is called the 'polium' 5or foal's membrane, is, as all the accounts state, delivered by the mother before the foal appears.
A horse will recognize the neighing of any other horse with which it may have fought at any previous period. The horse delights in meadows and marshes, and likes to drink muddy water; in fact, if water be clear, the horse will trample in it to make it turbid, will 10then drink it, and afterwards will wallow in it. The animal is fond of water in every way, whether for drinking or for bathing purposes; and this explains the peculiar constitution of the hippopotamus or river-horse. In regard to water the ox is the opposite of the horse; for if the water be impure or cold, or mixed up with alien matter, it will refuse to drink 15it.
The so-called hippomanes grows, as has stated, on the foal, and the mare nibbles it off as she licks and cleans the foal. All the curious stories connected with the hippomanes are due to old wives and to the venders of charms. What is called the 'polium' 5or foal's membrane, is, as all the accounts state, delivered by the mother before the foal appears.
A horse will recognize the neighing of any other horse with which it may have fought at any previous period. The horse delights in meadows and marshes, and likes to drink muddy water; in fact, if water be clear, the horse will trample in it to make it turbid, will 10then drink it, and afterwards will wallow in it. The animal is fond of water in every way, whether for drinking or for bathing purposes; and this explains the peculiar constitution of the hippopotamus or river-horse. In regard to water the ox is the opposite of the horse; for if the water be impure or cold, or mixed up with alien matter, it will refuse to drink 15it.
Book 8,Chapter 25 (605a16–22)
Οἱ δ' ὄνοι νοσοῦσι μάλιστα νόσον μίαν, ἣν καλοῦσι μηλίδα.
Γίνεται δὲ περὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν πρῶτον, καὶ ῥεῖ φλέγμα
κατὰ τοὺς μυκτῆρας παχὺ καὶ πυρρόν· ἐὰν δὲ πρὸς
τὸν πλεύμονα καταβῇ, ἀποκτείνει· τὰ δὲ περὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν
20 οὐ θανάσιμα. Δυσριγότατον δ' ἐστὶ τῶν τοιούτων
ζῴων· διὸ καὶ περὶ τὸν Πόντον καὶ τὴν Σκυθικὴν οὐ
γίνονται ὄνοι.
The ass suffers chiefly from one particular disease which they call 'melis'. It arises first in the head, and a clammy humour runs down the nostrils, thick and red; if it stays in the head the animal may recover, but if it descends into the lungs the animal will die. Of all animals on its of its kind it is the least capable of enduring extreme cold, which 20circumstance will account for the fact that the animal is not found on the shores of the Euxine, nor in Scythia.
Book 8,Chapter 26 (605a23–605b5)
Οἱ δ' ἐλέφαντες κάμνουσι τοῖς φυσώδεσι νοσήμασιν·
διὸ οὔτε τὸ ὑγρὸν περίττωμα προΐεσθαι δύνανται οὔτε τὰ τῆς
25 κοιλίας. Καὶ ἐὰν γῆν ἐσθίῃ, μαλακίζεται, ἐὰν μὴ συνεχῶς·
εἰ δὲ συνεχῶς, οὐδὲν βλάπτεται. Καταπίνει δὲ καὶ
λίθους ἐνίοτε. Ἁλίσκεται δὲ καὶ διαρροίᾳ· ὅταν δ' ἁλῷ, ἰατρεύουσιν
ὕδωρ θερμὸν διδόντες πίνειν, καὶ τὸν χόρτον εἰς
μέλι βάπτοντες διδόασιν ἐσθίειν, καὶ ἵστησιν ἑκάτερον τούτων.
30 Ὅταν δὲ κοπιάσωσι διὰ τὸ μὴ κοιμηθῆναι, ἁλὶ τριβόμενοι
καὶ ἐλαίῳ καὶ ὕδατι θερμῷ τοὺς ὤμους ὑγιάζονται. Καὶ
Elephants suffer from flatulence, and when thus afflicted can void neither solid nor liquid residuum. If the elephant swallow earth-mould it suffers from relaxation; but if it go on taking it steadily, it will experience no harm. From time to time it takes 25to swallowing stones. It suffers also from diarrhoea: in this case they administer draughts of lukewarm water or dip its fodder in honey, and either one or the other prescription will prove a costive. When they suffer from insomnia, they will be restored to health if their shoulders be rubbed with salt, olive-oil, and warm water; when they have aches in their 30shoulders they will derive great benefit from the application of roast pork.
605b
1 ὅταν τοὺς ὤμους ἀλγῇ, ὕεια κρέα ὀπτήσαντες προστιθέασι,
καὶ βοηθεῖ αὐτοῖς. Ἔλαιον δ' οἱ μὲν πίνουσιν οἱ δ' οὒ
τῶν ἐλεφάντων· κἂν τύχῃ σιδήριόν τι ἐν τῷ σώματι ἐνόν, τὸ
ἔλαιον ἐκβάλλει, ὅταν πίωσιν, ὡς φασί· τοῖς δὲ μὴ πίνουσι
5 ῥίζαν ἑψήσαντες ἐν ἐλαίῳ διδόασιν.
1Some elephants like olive oil, and others do not. If there is a bit of iron in the inside of an elephant it is said that it will pass out if the animal takes a drink of olive-oil; if the animal refuses olive-oil, they soak a root in the oil and give it 5the root to swallow. So much, then, for quadrupeds.
Book 8,Chapter 27 (605b6–21)
Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν τετραπόδων ζῴων τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν
τρόπον. Τῶν δ' ἐντόμων τὰ πλεῖστα εὐθηνεῖ ἐν ᾗπερ ὥρᾳ καὶ
γίνεται, ὅταν τοιοῦτον ᾖ τὸ ἔτος οἷον τὸ ἔαρ, ὑγρὸν καὶ ἀλεεινόν.
Ταῖς δὲ μελίτταις ἐγγίνεται ἐν τοῖς σμήνεσι θηρία ἃ
10 λυμαίνεται τὰ κηρία, τό τε σκωλήκιον τὸ ἀραχνιοῦν καὶ
λυμαινόμενον τὰ κηρία (καλεῖται δὲ κλῆρος, οἱ δὲ πυραύστην
καλοῦσιν· ὃς ἐντίκτει ἐν τῷ κηρίῳ ὅμοιον ἑαυτῷ οἷον
ἀράχνιον, καὶ νοσεῖν ποιεῖ τὸ σμῆνος), καὶ ἄλλο θηρίον,
οἷον ὁ ἡπίολος ὁ περὶ τὸν λύχνον πετόμενος· οὗτος ἐντίκτει
15 τι χνοῦ ἀνάπλεων, καὶ οὐ κεντεῖται ὑπὸ τῶν μελιττῶν, ἀλλὰ
μόνον φεύγει καπνιζόμενος. Ἐγγίνονται δὲ καὶ κάμπαι ἐν
τοῖς σμήνεσιν [ἃς καλοῦσι τερηδόνας], ἃς οὐκ ἀμύνονται αἱ
μέλιτται. Νοσοῦσι δὲ μάλιστα ὅταν ἐρυσιβώδη τὰ ἄνθη ἡ
ὕλη ἐνέγκῃ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς αὐχμηροῖς ἔτεσιν. Πάντα δὲ τὰ
20 ἔντομα ἀποθνήσκει ἐλαιούμενα· τάχιστα δ', ἄν τις τὴν κεφαλὴν
ἀλείψας ἐν τῷ ἡλίῳ θῇ.
Insects, as a general rule, thrive best in the time of year in which they come into being, especially if the season be moist and warm, as in spring.
In bee-hives are found creatures that do great damage to the combs; for instance, the grub that spins a web and ruins 10the honeycomb: it is called the 'cleros'. It engenders an insect like itself, of a spider-shape, and brings disease into the swarm. There is another insect resembling the moth, called by some the 'pyraustes', that flies about a lighted candle: this creature engenders a brood full of a fine down. It is never stung by a 15bee, and can only be got out of a hive by fumigation. A caterpillar also is engendered in hives, of a species nicknamed the teredo, or 'borer', with which creature the bee never interferes. Bees suffer most when flowers are covered with mildew, or in seasons of drought.
All insects, without exception, die if they be 20smeared over with oil; and they die all the more rapidly if you smear their head with the oil and lay them out in the sun.
In bee-hives are found creatures that do great damage to the combs; for instance, the grub that spins a web and ruins 10the honeycomb: it is called the 'cleros'. It engenders an insect like itself, of a spider-shape, and brings disease into the swarm. There is another insect resembling the moth, called by some the 'pyraustes', that flies about a lighted candle: this creature engenders a brood full of a fine down. It is never stung by a 15bee, and can only be got out of a hive by fumigation. A caterpillar also is engendered in hives, of a species nicknamed the teredo, or 'borer', with which creature the bee never interferes. Bees suffer most when flowers are covered with mildew, or in seasons of drought.
All insects, without exception, die if they be 20smeared over with oil; and they die all the more rapidly if you smear their head with the oil and lay them out in the sun.
Book 8,Chapter 28 (605b22–607a8)
Διαφέρει δὲ τὰ ζῷα καὶ κατὰ τοὺς τόπους· ὥσπερ γὰρ
ἔν τισιν ἔνια οὐ γίνεται παντάπασιν, οὕτως ἐν ἐνίοις τόποις
γίνεται μὲν ἐλάττω δὲ καὶ ὀλιγοβιώτερα, καὶ οὐκ εὐημερεῖ.
25 Καὶ ἐνίοτε ἐν τοῖς πάρεγγυς τόποις ἡ διαφορὰ γίνεται τῶν
τοιούτων, οἷον τῆς Μιλησίας ἐν τόποις γειτνιῶσιν ἀλλήλοις
ἔνθα μὲν γίνονται τέττιγες ἔνθα δ' οὐ γίνονται, καὶ ἐν Κεφαληνίᾳ
ποταμὸς διείργει, οὗ ἐπὶ τάδε μὲν γίνονται τέττιγες,
ἐπ' ἐκεῖνα δ' οὐ γίνονται. Ἐν δὲ Πορδοσελήνῃ ὁδὸς διείργει,
30 ἧς ἐπ' ἐκεῖνα μὲν γαλῆ γίνεται, ἐπὶ θάτερα δ' οὐ γίνεται.
Καὶ ἐν τῇ Βοιωτίᾳ ἀσπάλακες περὶ μὲν τὸν Ὀρχομενὸν
Variety in animal life may be produced by variety of locality: thus in one place an animal will not be found at all, in another it will be small, or short-lived, or will not thrive. Sometimes this 25sort of difference is observed in closely adjacent districts. Thus, in the territory of Miletus, in one district cicadas are found while there are none in the district close adjoining; and in Cephalenia there is a river on one side of which the cicada is found and not on the other. In Pordoselene there is a public 30road one side of which the weasel is found but not on the other.
606a
1 πολλοὶ γίνονται, ἐν δὲ τῇ Λεβαδιακῇ γειτνιώσῃ οὐκ εἰσίν,
οὐδ' ἄν τις κομίσῃ, ἐθέλουσιν ὀρύττειν. Ἐν Ἰθάκῃ δ' οἱ δασύποδες,
ἐάν τις ἀφῇ κομίσας, οὐ δύνανται ζῆν, ἀλλὰ φαίνονται
τεθνεῶτες πρὸς τῇ θαλάττῃ ἐστραμμένοι, ᾗπερ ἂν εἰςαχθῶσιν.
5 Καὶ ἐν μὲν Σικελίᾳ ἱππομύρμηκες οὐκ εἰσίν, ἐν δὲ
Κυρήνῃ οἱ φωνοῦντες βάτραχοι πρότερον οὐκ ἦσαν. Ἐν δὲ Λιβύῃ
πάσῃ οὔτε σῦς ἄγριός ἐστιν οὔτ' ἔλαφος οὔτ' αἲξ ἄγριος·
ἐν δὲ τῇ Ἰνδικῇ, ὡς φησὶ Κτησίας οὐκ ὢν ἀξιόπιστος, οὔτ'
ἄγριος οὔτε ἥμερος ὗς, τὰ δ' ἄναιμα καὶ τὰ φολιδωτὰ
10 πάντα μεγάλα. Καὶ ἐν μὲν τῷ Πόντῳ οὔτε τὰ μαλάκια
γίνεται οὔτε τὰ ὀστρακόδερμα, εἰ μὴ ἔν τισι τόποις ὀλίγα·
ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάττῃ ὑπερμεγέθη τὰ ὀστρακόδερμα πάντα.
Ἐν δὲ Συρίᾳ τὰ πρόβατα τὰς οὐρὰς ἔχει τὸ πλάτος
πήχεως, τὰ δ' ὦτα αἱ αἶγες σπιθαμῆς καὶ παλαιστῆς, καὶ
15 ἔνιαι συμβάλλουσι κάτω τὰ ὦτα πρὸς τὴν γῆν· καὶ οἱ βόες,
ὥσπερ αἱ κάμηλοι, κάλας ἔχουσιν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀκρωμίων. Καὶ
ἐν Λυκίᾳ αἱ αἶγες κείρονται, ὥσπερ τὰ πρόβατα παρὰ τοῖς
ἄλλοις. Καὶ ἐν μὲν Λιβύῃ εὐθὺς γίνεται κέρατα ἔχοντα τὰ
κερατώδη τῶν ζῴων, οὐ μόνον οἱ ἄρνες, ὥσπερ φησὶν Ὅμηρος,
20 ἀλλὰ καὶ τἆλλα· ἐν δὲ τῷ Πόντῳ περὶ τὴν Σκυθικὴν
τοὐναντίον· ἀκέρατα γὰρ γίνονται. Καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τὰ
μὲν ἄλλα μείζω ἢ ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι, καθάπερ οἱ βόες καὶ
τὰ πρόβατα, τὰ δ' ἐλάττω, οἷον οἱ κύνες καὶ λύκοι καὶ
λαγωοὶ καὶ ἀλώπεκες καὶ κόρακες καὶ ἱέρακες, τὰ δὲ παραπλήσια,
25 οἷον κορῶναι καὶ αἶγες. Αἰτιῶνται δὲ τὰς τροφάς,
ὅτι τοῖς μὲν ἄφθονος τοῖς δὲ σπανία, οἷον τοῖς λύκοις
καὶ τοῖς ἱέραξι, τοῖς μὲν γὰρ σαρκοφάγοις ὀλίγη· σπάνια
1In Boeotia the mole is found in great abundance in the neighbourhood of Orchomenus, but there are none in Lebadia though it is in the immediate vicinity, and if a mole be transported from the one district to the other it will refuse to burrow in the soil. The hare cannot live in Ithaca if introduced there; in 5fact it will be found dead, turned towards the point of the beach where it was landed. The horseman-ant is not found in Sicily; the croaking frog has only recently appeared in the neighbourhood of Cyrene. In the whole of Libya there is neither wild boar, nor stag, nor wild goat; and in India, according to Ctesias-no very good authority, by the way-there are no swine, wild or tame, but 10animals that are devoid of blood and such as go into hiding or go torpid are all of immense size there. In the Euxine there are no small molluscs nor testaceans, except a few here and there; but in the Red Sea all the testaceans are exceedingly large. In Syria the sheep have tails a cubit in breadth; the goats have ears a span and a palm long, and some have ears that flap down to the 15ground; and the cattle have humps on their shoulders, like the camel. In Lycia goats are shorn for their fleece, just as sheep are in all other countries. In Libya the long-horned ram is born with horns, and not the ram only, as Homer' words it, but the ewe as well; in Pontus, on the confines of Scythia, the ram is without horns.
In Egypt animals, as a rule, are larger than their congeners 20in Greece, as the cow and the sheep; but some are less, as the dog, the wolf, the hare, the fox, the raven, and the hawk; others are of pretty much the same size, as the crow and the goat. The difference, where it exists, is attributed to the food, as being abundant in one case and insufficient in another, for instance for the wolf and the hawk; for provision is scanty for the carnivorous 25animals, small birds being scarce; food is scanty also for the hare and for all frugivorous animals, because neither the nuts nor the fruit last long.
In Egypt animals, as a rule, are larger than their congeners 20in Greece, as the cow and the sheep; but some are less, as the dog, the wolf, the hare, the fox, the raven, and the hawk; others are of pretty much the same size, as the crow and the goat. The difference, where it exists, is attributed to the food, as being abundant in one case and insufficient in another, for instance for the wolf and the hawk; for provision is scanty for the carnivorous 25animals, small birds being scarce; food is scanty also for the hare and for all frugivorous animals, because neither the nuts nor the fruit last long.
606b
1 γὰρ τὰ μικρὰ ὄρνεα· τοῖς δὲ δασύποσι, καὶ ὅσα μὴ σαρκοφάγα,
ὅτι οὔτ' ἀκρόδρυα οὔτ' ὀπώρα χρόνιος. Πολλαχοῦ δὲ
καὶ ἡ κρᾶσις αἰτία, οἷον ἐν τῇ Ἰλλυρίδι καὶ τῇ Θρᾴκῃ καὶ
τῇ Ἠπείρῳ οἱ ὄνοι μικροί, ἐν δὲ τῇ Σκυθικῇ καὶ Κελτικῇ
5 ὅλως οὐ γίνονται· δυσχείμερα γὰρ ταῦτα. Ἐν δ' Ἀραβίᾳ
σαῦραι μείζους πηχυαίων γίνονται καὶ μύες πολὺ μείζους
τῶν ἀρουραίων, τὰ μὲν ὀπίσθια σκέλη ἔχοντες καὶ σπιθαμῆς,
τὰ δὲ πρόσθια ὅσον ἄχρι τῆς πρώτης καμπῆς τῶν δακτύλων.
Ἐν δὲ τῇ Λιβύῃ τὸ τῶν ὄφεων μέγεθος γίνεται ἄπλετον,
10 ὥσπερ καὶ λέγεται· ἤδη γάρ φασί τινες προςπλεύσαντες
ἰδεῖν ὀστᾶ βοῶν πολλῶν, ἃ δῆλον γενέσθαι αὐτοῖς
ὅτι ὑπ' ὄφεων ἦν κατεδηδεσμένα· ἀναγομένων γὰρ διώκειν
ταχὺ τὰς τριήρεις αὐτούς, καὶ ἐνίους αὐτῶν ἐμβαλεῖν
ἀνατρέψαντας τὴν τριήρη. Ἔτι δὲ λέοντες μὲν ἐν τῇ Λιβύῃ
15 μᾶλλον, καὶ τῆς Ἐυρώπης ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ τόπῳ τοῦ Ἀχελῴου
καὶ Νέσσου ποταμοῦ· παρδάλεις δ' ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ, ἐν δὲ
τῇ Εὐρώπῃ οὐ γίνονται. Ὅλως δὲ τὰ μὲν ἄγρια ἀγριώτερα ἐν τῇ
Ἀσίᾳ, ἀνδρειότερα δ' ἐν τῇ Εὐρώπῃ πάντα, πολυμορφότατα
δ' ἐν τῇ Λιβύῃ· καὶ λέγεται δέ τις παροιμία, ὅτι ἀεὶ
20 Λιβύη φέρει τι καινόν. Διὰ γὰρ τὴν ἀνομβρίαν μίσγεσθαι
δοκεῖ ἀπαντῶντα πρὸς τὰ ὑδάτια καὶ τὰ μὴ ὁμόφυλα,
καὶ ἐκφέρειν ὧν οἱ χρόνοι οἱ τῆς κυήσεως οἱ αὐτοὶ καὶ τὰ
μεγέθη μὴ πολὺ ἀπ' ἀλλήλων· πρὸς ἄλληλα δὲ πραΰνεται
διὰ τὴν τοῦ ποτοῦ χρείαν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ δέονται τοῦ πίνειν
25 τοὐναντίον τῶν ἄλλων τοῦ χειμῶνος μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ θέρους· διὰ
γὰρ τὸ μὴ εἰωθέναι ὕδατα γίνεσθαι τοῦ θέρους ἀσύνηθες αὐτοῖς
τὸ πίνειν ἐστίν. Καὶ οἵ γε μύες ὅταν πίωσιν, ἀποθνήσκουσιν.
1In many places the climate will account for peculiarities; thus in Illyria, Thrace, and Epirus the ass is small, and in Gaul and in Scythia the ass is not found at all owing to the coldness of the climate of these countries. In Arabia the lizard is more than a cubit in length, and 5the mouse is much larger than our field-mouse, with its hind-legs a span long and its front legs the length of the first finger-joint. In Libya, according to all accounts, the length of the serpents is something appalling; sailors spin a yarn to the effect that some crews once put ashore and saw the bones of a number of oxen, and that they were sure that 10the oxen had been devoured by serpents, for, just as they were putting out to sea, serpents came chasing their galleys at full speed and overturned one galley and set upon the crew. Again, lions are more numerous in Libya, and in that district of Europe that lies between the Achelous and the Nessus; the leopard is more abundant in Asia Minor, and is 15not found in Europe at all. As a general rule, wild animals are at their wildest in Asia, at their boldest in Europe, and most diverse in form in Libya; in fact, there is an old saying, 'Always something fresh in Libya.'
It would appear that in that country animals of diverse species meet, on account of the rainless climate, at the watering-places, and 20there pair together; and that such pairs will often breed if they be nearly of the same size and have periods of gestation of the same length. For it is said that they are tamed down in their behaviour towards each other by extremity of thirst. And, by the way, unlike animals elsewhere, they require to drink more in wintertime than in summer: for they 25acquire the habit of not drinking in summer, owing to the circumstance that there is usually no water then; and the mice, if they drink, die.
It would appear that in that country animals of diverse species meet, on account of the rainless climate, at the watering-places, and 20there pair together; and that such pairs will often breed if they be nearly of the same size and have periods of gestation of the same length. For it is said that they are tamed down in their behaviour towards each other by extremity of thirst. And, by the way, unlike animals elsewhere, they require to drink more in wintertime than in summer: for they 25acquire the habit of not drinking in summer, owing to the circumstance that there is usually no water then; and the mice, if they drink, die.
607a
1 Γίνεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα ἐκ μίξεως μὴ ὁμοφύλων,
ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν Κυρήνῃ οἱ λύκοι μίσγονται ταῖς κυσὶ καὶ
γεννῶσι, καὶ ἐξ ἀλώπεκος καὶ κυνὸς οἱ Λακωνικοί. Φασὶ
δὲ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ τίγριος καὶ κυνὸς γίνεσθαι τοὺς Ἰνδικούς, οὐκ εὐθὺς
5 δ' ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῆς τρίτης μίξεως· τὸ γὰρ πρῶτον γεννηθὲν
θηριῶδες γίνεσθαί φασιν. Ἄγοντες δὲ δεσμεύουσιν εἰς τὰς
ἐρημίας τὰς κύνας· καὶ πολλαὶ κατεσθίονται, ἐὰν μὴ τύχῃ
ὀργῶν πρὸς τὴν ὀχείαν τὸ θηρίον.
1Elsewhere also bastard-animals are born to heterogeneous pairs; thus in Cyrene the wolf and the bitch will couple and breed; and the Laconian hound is a cross between the fox and the dog. They say that the Indian dog is a cross between the tiger and the bitch, not the first cross, but a cross 5in the third generation; for they say that the first cross is a savage creature. They take the bitch to a lonely spot and tie her up: if the tiger be in an amorous mood he will pair with her; if not he will eat her up, and this casualty is of frequent occurrence.
Book 8,Chapter 29 (607a9–34)
Ποιοῦσι δ' οἱ τόποι διαφέροντα καὶ τὰ ἤθη, οἷον οἱ
10 ὀρεινοὶ καὶ τραχεῖς τῶν ἐν τοῖς πεδινοῖς καὶ μαλακοῖς· καὶ
γὰρ τὰς ὄψεις ἀγριώτερα καὶ ἀλκιμώτερα, καθάπερ καὶ
οἱ ἐν τῷ Ἄθῳ ὕες· τούτων γὰρ οὐδὲ τὰς θηλείας ὑπομένουσι
τῶν κάτω οἱ ἄρρενες. Καὶ πρὸς τὰ δήγματα δὲ τῶν θηρίων
μεγάλην ἔχουσιν αἱ χῶραι διαφοράν, οἷον περὶ μὲν Φάρον
15 καὶ ἄλλους τόπους οἱ σκορπίοι οὐ χαλεποί, ἐν ἄλλοις δὲ τόποις
καὶ ἐν τῇ Σκυθίᾳ πολλοὶ καὶ μεγάλοι καὶ χαλεποὶ
γίνονται, κἄν τινα πατάξωσιν ἄνθρωπον ἤ τι ἄλλο θηρίον, ἀποκτείνουσι,
καὶ τὰς ὗς, αἳ ἥκιστα αἰσθάνονται τῶν ἄλλων
δηγμάτων, καὶ τούτων τὰς μελαίνας μᾶλλον ἀποκτείνουσιν·
20 τάχιστα δ' ἀπόλλυνται αἱ ὕες πληγεῖσαι, ἐὰν εἰς ὕδωρ ἔλθωσιν.
Τά τε τῶν ὄφεων δήγματα πολὺ διαφέρουσιν. Ἥ τε
γὰρ ἀσπὶς ἐν Λιβύῃ γίνεται, ἐξ οὗ ὄφεως ποιοῦσι τὸ σηπτικόν,
καὶ ἄλλως ἀνίατος. Γίνεται δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ σιλφίῳ τι
ὀφείδιον, οὗ καὶ λέγεται ἄκος εἶναι λίθος τις, ὃν λαμβάνουσιν
25 ἀπὸ τάφου βασιλέως τῶν ἀρχαίων καὶ ἐν οἴνῳ ἀποβάψαντες
πίνουσιν. Τῆς δ' Ἰταλίας ἔν τισι τόποις καὶ τὰ
τῶν ἀσκαλαβωτῶν δήγματα θανάσιμά ἐστιν. Πάντων δὲ
χαλεπώτερά ἐστι τὰ δήγματα τῶν ἰοβόλων, ἐὰν τύχῃ ἀλλήλων
ἐδηδοκότα, οἷον σκορπίον ἔχις, Ἔστι δὲ τοῖς πλείστοις
30 αὐτῶν πολέμιον τὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου πτύελον. Ἔστι δέ τι ὀφείδιον
μικρόν, ὃ καλοῦσί τινες ἱερόν, ὃ οἱ πάνυ μεγάλοι ὄφεις
φεύγουσιν· γίνεται δὲ τὸ μέγιστον πηχυαῖον, καὶ δασὺ ἰδεῖν·
ὅ τι δ' ἂν δάκῃ, εὐθὺς σήπεται τὸ κύκλῳ. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν
τῇ Ἰνδικῇ ὀφείδιόν τι, οὗ μόνου φάρμακον οὐκ ἔχουσιν.
Locality will differentiate habits also: for instance, rugged highlands will not produce the same results 10as the soft lowlands. The animals of the highlands look fiercer and bolder, as is seen in the swine of Mount Athos; for a lowland boar is no match even for a mountain sow.
Again, locality is an important element in regard to the bite of an animal. Thus, in Pharos and other places, the bite of the scorpion is not dangerous; elsewhere-in Caria, for instances-where 15scorpions are venomous as well as plentiful and of large size, the sting is fatal to man or beast, even to the pig, and especially to a black pig, though the pig, by the way, is in general most singularly indifferent to the bite of any other creature. If a pig goes into water after being struck by the scorpion of Caria, it will surely die.
There is great variety in the 20effects produced by the bites of serpents. The asp is found in Libya; the so-called 'septic' drug is made from the body of the animal, and is the only remedy known for the bite of the original. Among the silphium, also, a snake is found, for the bite or which a certain stone is said to be a cure: a stone that is brought from the grave of an ancient king, which stone 25is put into water and drunk off. In certain parts of Italy the bite of the gecko is fatal. But the deadliest of all bites of venomous creatures is when one venomous animal has bitten another; as, for instance, a viper's after it has bitten a scorpion. To the great majority of such creatures man's is fatal. There is a very little snake, by some entitled the 'holy-snake', 30which is dreaded by even the largest serpents. It is about an ell long, and hairy-looking; whenever it bites an animal, the flesh all round the wound will at once mortify. There is in India a small snake which is exceptional in this respect, that for its bite no specific whatever is known.
Again, locality is an important element in regard to the bite of an animal. Thus, in Pharos and other places, the bite of the scorpion is not dangerous; elsewhere-in Caria, for instances-where 15scorpions are venomous as well as plentiful and of large size, the sting is fatal to man or beast, even to the pig, and especially to a black pig, though the pig, by the way, is in general most singularly indifferent to the bite of any other creature. If a pig goes into water after being struck by the scorpion of Caria, it will surely die.
There is great variety in the 20effects produced by the bites of serpents. The asp is found in Libya; the so-called 'septic' drug is made from the body of the animal, and is the only remedy known for the bite of the original. Among the silphium, also, a snake is found, for the bite or which a certain stone is said to be a cure: a stone that is brought from the grave of an ancient king, which stone 25is put into water and drunk off. In certain parts of Italy the bite of the gecko is fatal. But the deadliest of all bites of venomous creatures is when one venomous animal has bitten another; as, for instance, a viper's after it has bitten a scorpion. To the great majority of such creatures man's is fatal. There is a very little snake, by some entitled the 'holy-snake', 30which is dreaded by even the largest serpents. It is about an ell long, and hairy-looking; whenever it bites an animal, the flesh all round the wound will at once mortify. There is in India a small snake which is exceptional in this respect, that for its bite no specific whatever is known.
Book 8,Chapter 30 (607b1–608a7)
607b
1 Διαφέρει δὲ τὰ ζῷα τῷ εὐημερεῖν ἢ τοὐναντίον καὶ
περὶ τὰς κυήσεις. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ὀστρακόδερμα, οἷον κτένες καὶ
ἅπαντα τὰ ὀστρεώδη καὶ τὰ μαλακόστρακα, ἄριστά ἐστιν
ὅταν κύῃ, οἷον τὰ καραβώδη. Λέγεται δὲ κύησις καὶ τῶν
5 ὀστρακοδέρμων· τὰ μὲν γὰρ μαλακόστρακα καὶ ὀχευόμενα
ὁρᾶται καὶ ἀποτίκτοντα, ἐκείνων δ' οὐδέν. Καὶ τὰ μαλάκια
δὲ κύοντα ἄριστα, οἷον τευθίδες τε καὶ σηπίαι καὶ πολύποδες.
Οἱ δ' ἰχθύες ἀρχόμενοι μὲν κυΐσκεσθαι σχεδὸν ἀγαθοὶ
πάντες, προϊούσης δὲ τῆς κυήσεως οἱ μὲν οἱ δ' οὔ. Κύουσα
10 μὲν οὖν ἀγαθὴ μαινίς· μορφὴ δὲ τῆς θηλείας στρογγυλωτέρα,
ὁ δ' ἄρρην μακρότερος καὶ πλατύτερος· συμβαίνει δ' ἀρχομένης
κυΐσκεσθαι τῆς θηλείας τοὺς ἄρρενας μέλαν τὸ χρῶμα
ἴσχειν καὶ ποικιλώτερον, καὶ φαγεῖν χειρίστους εἶναι· καλοῦνται
δ' ὑπ' ἐνίων τράγοι περὶ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον. Μεταβάλλουσι
15 δὲ καὶ οὓς καλοῦσι κοττύφους καὶ κίχλας καὶ ἡ σμαρὶς τὸ
χρῶμα κατὰ τὰς ὥρας, ὥσπερ ἔνια τῶν ὀρνέων· τοῦ μὲν
γὰρ ἔαρος μέλανες γίνονται, εἶτα ἐκ τοῦ ἔαρος λευκοὶ πάλιν.
Μεταβάλλει δὲ καὶ ἡ φυκὶς τὴν χρόαν· τὸν μὲν γὰρ
ἄλλον χρόνον λευκή ἐστι, τοῦ δ' ἔαρος ποικίλη· μόνη δ' αὕτη
20 τῶν θαλαττίων ἰχθύων στιβαδοποιεῖται, ὡς φασί, καὶ τίκτει
ἐν τῇ στιβάδι. Μεταβάλλει δὲ καὶ ἡ μαινίς, ὥσπερ
εἴρηται, καὶ ἡ σμαρίς, καὶ ἐκ λευκοτέρων πάλιν ἐν τῷ θέρει
καθίστανται καὶ γίνονται μέλανες· μάλιστα δ' ἐπίδηλός
ἐστι περὶ τὰ πτερύγια καὶ τὰ βράγχια. Καὶ κορακῖνος δ'
25 ἄριστός ἐστι κύων, ὥσπερ καὶ ἡ μαινίς. Κεστρεὺς δὲ καὶ λάβραξ
καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ πλωτοὶ φαῦλοι κύοντες σχεδὸν πάντες.
Ὅμοιοι δὲ κύοντες καὶ μὴ ὀλίγοι, οἷον γλαῦκος. Φαῦλοι δὲ
καὶ οἱ γέροντες τῶν ἰχθύων, καὶ οἵ γε θύννοι καὶ εἰς τὰς ταριχείας
φαῦλοι οἱ γέροντες· πολὺ γὰρ συντήκεται τῆς σαρκός.
30 Τὸ δ' αὐτὸ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμβαίνει ἰχθύων. Δῆλοι
δ' οἱ γέροντες αὐτῶν τῷ μεγέθει τῶν λεπίδων καὶ τῇ
σκληρότητι. Ἤδη δ' ἐλήφθη γέρων θύννος οὗ σταθμὸς μὲν ἦν
τάλαντα πεντεκαίδεκα, τοῦ δ' οὐραίου τὸ διάστημα δύο πήχεων
ἦν καὶ σπιθαμῆς. Οἱ δὲ ποτάμιοι καὶ οἱ λιμναῖοι ἄριστοι
1Animals also vary as to their condition of health in connexion with their pregnancy.
Testaceans, such as scallops and all the oyster-family, and crustaceans, such as the lobster family, are best when with spawn. Even in the case of the testacean we speak of spawning (or pregnancy); but 5whereas the crustaceans may be seen coupling and laying their spawn, this is never the case with testaceans. Molluscs are best in the breeding time, as the calamary, the sepia, and the octopus.
Fishes, when they begin to breed, are nearly all good for the table; but after the female has gone long with spawn they are good in some cases, and in others are out of 10season. The maenis, for instance, is good at the breeding time. The female of this fish is round, the male longer and flatter; when the female is beginning to breed the male turns black and mottled, and is quite unfit for the table; at this period he is nicknamed the 'goat'.
The wrasses called the owzel and the thrush, and the smaris have different colours at 15different seasons, as is the case with the plumage of certain birds; that is to say, they become black in the spring and after the spring get white again. The phycis also changes its hue: in general it is white, but in spring it is mottled; it is the only sea-fish which is said make a bed for itself, and the female lays her spawn in this bed or nest. The maenis, 20as was observed, changes its colour as does the smaris, and in summer-time changes back from whitish to black, the change being especially marked about the fins and gills. The coracine, like the maenis, is in best condition at breeding time; the mullet, the basse, and scaly fishes in general are in bad condition at this period. A few fish are in much the 25same condition at all times, whether with spawn or not, as the glaucus. Old fishes also are bad eating; the old tunny is unfit even for pickling, as a great part of its flesh wastes away with age, and the same wasting is observed in all old fishes. The age of a scaly fish may be told by the size and the hardness of its scales. An old tunny has been caught weighing 30fifteen talents, with the span of its tail two cubits and a palm broad.
River-fish and lake-fish are best after they have discharged the spawn in the case of the female and the milt in the case of the male: that is, when they have fully recovered from the exhaustion of such discharge.
Testaceans, such as scallops and all the oyster-family, and crustaceans, such as the lobster family, are best when with spawn. Even in the case of the testacean we speak of spawning (or pregnancy); but 5whereas the crustaceans may be seen coupling and laying their spawn, this is never the case with testaceans. Molluscs are best in the breeding time, as the calamary, the sepia, and the octopus.
Fishes, when they begin to breed, are nearly all good for the table; but after the female has gone long with spawn they are good in some cases, and in others are out of 10season. The maenis, for instance, is good at the breeding time. The female of this fish is round, the male longer and flatter; when the female is beginning to breed the male turns black and mottled, and is quite unfit for the table; at this period he is nicknamed the 'goat'.
The wrasses called the owzel and the thrush, and the smaris have different colours at 15different seasons, as is the case with the plumage of certain birds; that is to say, they become black in the spring and after the spring get white again. The phycis also changes its hue: in general it is white, but in spring it is mottled; it is the only sea-fish which is said make a bed for itself, and the female lays her spawn in this bed or nest. The maenis, 20as was observed, changes its colour as does the smaris, and in summer-time changes back from whitish to black, the change being especially marked about the fins and gills. The coracine, like the maenis, is in best condition at breeding time; the mullet, the basse, and scaly fishes in general are in bad condition at this period. A few fish are in much the 25same condition at all times, whether with spawn or not, as the glaucus. Old fishes also are bad eating; the old tunny is unfit even for pickling, as a great part of its flesh wastes away with age, and the same wasting is observed in all old fishes. The age of a scaly fish may be told by the size and the hardness of its scales. An old tunny has been caught weighing 30fifteen talents, with the span of its tail two cubits and a palm broad.
River-fish and lake-fish are best after they have discharged the spawn in the case of the female and the milt in the case of the male: that is, when they have fully recovered from the exhaustion of such discharge.
608a
1 γίνονται μετὰ τὴν ἄφεσιν τοῦ κυήματος καὶ τοῦ
θοροῦ, ὅταν ἀνατραφῶσιν· κύοντες δ' ἔνιοι μὲν ἀγαθοί, οἷον σαπερδίς,
ἔνιοι δὲ φαῦλοι, οἷον γλάνις. Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι πάντες
ἀμείνους οἱ ἄρρενες τῶν θηλειῶν, γλάνις δ' ὁ θῆλυς τοῦ ἄρρενος
5 ἀμείνων. Καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐγχέλυσι δέ, ἃς καλοῦσι θηλείας,
ἀμείνους εἰσίν· οὐκ οὔσας δὲ θηλείας καλοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ὄψει
διαφόρους.
1Some are good in the breeding time, as the saperdis, and some bad, as the sheat-fish. As a general rule, the male fish is better eating than the female; but the reverse holds good of the sheat-fish. The eels that are called females are the best for the table: they 5look as though they were female, but they really are not so.
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