§2.1#3τὰ δ’ ἔτι τούτων ψυχροτέραν ἔχοντα τὴν φύσιν ᾠὸν μὲν γεννᾳ οὐ τέλειον δὲ ᾠόν, ἀλλ’ ἔξω τελειοῦται, καθάπερ τὸ τῶν λεπιδωτῶν ἰχθύων γένος καὶ τὰ μαλακόστρακα καὶ τὰ μαλάκια.
those having a nature still colder than these generate an egg, but an imperfect egg, and it is brought to completion outside, just as the class of scaled fishes, the crustacea, and the molluscs.
τὸ δὲ πέμπτον γένος καὶ ψυχρότατον οὐδ’ ᾠοτοκεῖ ἐξ αὑτοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἔξω συμβαίνει πάθος αὐτῷ, ὥσπερ εἴρηται.
And the fifth and coldest class does not even lay eggs from itself, but such an occurrence happens to it outside, just as has been said.
τὰ γὰρ ἔντομα σκωληκοτοκεῖ τὸ πρῶτον· προελθὼν δ’ ᾠώδης γίνεται ὁ σκώληξ (ἡ γὰρ χρυσαλλὶς καλουμένη δύναμιν ᾠοῦ ἔχει)· εἶτ’ ἐκ τούτου γίνεται ζῷον, ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ μεταβολῇ λαβὸν τὸ τῆς γενέσεως τέλος.
For the insects produce larvae at first; but as it proceeds, the larva becomes egg-like (for the so-called chrysalis has the power of an egg); and then from this the animal comes to be, having received the end of its generation in the third change.
τὰ μὲν οὖν οὐ γίνεται τῶν ζῴων ἀπὸ σπέρματος, ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη καὶ πρότερον· τὰ δ’ ἔναιμα πάντα γίνεται ἀπὸ σπέρματος, ὅσα ἐκ συνδυασμοῦ γίνεται, προϊεμένου τοῦ ἄρρενος εἰς τὸ θῆλυ γονήν, ἧς εἰσελθούσης τὰ ζῷα συνίσταται καὶ λαμβάνει τὴν οἰκείαν μορφήν, τὰ μὲν ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς ζῴοις ὅσα ζῳοτοκεῖ, τὰ δ’ ἐν ᾠοῖς καὶ σπέρμασι καὶ τοιαύταις ἄλλαις ἀποκρίσεσιν.
Some of the animals indeed, then, do not come to be from seed, just as was said also before; but all blooded animals come to be from seed, as many as come to be from copulation, the male emitting semen into the female, upon the entrance of which the animals are constituted and receive their proper form, some indeed within the animals themselves as many as bring forth alive, and others in eggs and seeds and other such secretions.
περὶ ὧν ἐστὶν ἀπορία πλείων, πῶς ποτὲ γίνεται ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος τὸ φυτὸν ἢ τῶν ζῴων ὁτιοῦν.
Concerning which there is a greater difficulty, how ever the plant or any of the animals comes to be from the seed.
ἀνάγκη γὰρ τὸ γιγνόμενον καὶ ἔκ τινος γίνεσθαι καὶ ὑπό τινος καὶ τί.
For it is necessary that that which comes to be comes to be both from something, and by something, and as something.
ἐξ οὗ μὲν οὖν ἐστὶν ὕλη, ἣν ἔνια μὲν ζῷα ἔχει πρώτην ἐν αὑτοῖς, λαμβάνοντα ἐκ τοῦ θήλεος, οἷον ὅσα μὴ ζῳοτοκεῖται ἀλλὰ σκωληκοτοκεῖται ἢ ᾠοτοκεῖται, τὰ δὲ μέ χρι πόρρω ἐκ τοῦ θήλεος λαμβάνει διὰ τὸ θηλάζειν, ὥσπερ ὅσα ζῳοτοκεῖται μὴ μόνον ἐκτὸς ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐντός.
That indeed from which it is is the matter, which some animals have first within themselves, receiving it from the female, such as as many as are not brought forth alive but are produced as larvae or laid as eggs, while others receive it from the female for a long time by suckling, just as as many as are brought forth alive not only outwardly but also inwardly.
ἐξ ποιεῖ, ἢ ἐνυπάρχει τι ἐν τῇ γονῇ καὶ σπέρματι· καὶ τοῦτ’ ἐστὶν ἢ μέρος τι ψυχῆς ἢ ψυχὴ ἢ ἔχον ἂν εἴη ψυχήν.
By what it makes, or there is something pre-existing in the semen and seed; and this would be either some part of soul, or soul, or having soul.
τῶν μὲν οὖν ἔξωθέν τι ποιεῖν ἕκαστον ἢ τῶν σπλάγχνων ἢ τῶν ἄλλων μερῶν ἄλογον ἂν δόξειεν· κινεῖν τε γὰρ μὴ ἁπτόμενον ἀδύνατον καὶ μὴ κινοῦντος πάσχειν τι ὑπὸ τούτου.
That indeed any of the external things should make each of the viscera or of the other parts would seem unreasonable; for it is impossible to move without touching, and impossible for something to be affected by this when it does not move it.
ἐν αὐτῷ ἄρα τῷ κυήματι ἐνυπάρχει τι, ἢ δὴ αὐτοῦ μόριον ἢ κεχωρισμένον.
Therefore, there is something pre-existing in the embryo itself, either indeed a part of it or separate.
τὸ μὲν οὖν ἄλλο τι εἶναι κεχωρισμένον ἄλογον.
That indeed it should be some other thing separate is unreasonable.
γεννηθέντος γὰρ τοῦ ζῴου πότερον φθείρεται ἢ ἐμμένει;
For when the animal is born, does it perish or remain?
ἀλλ’ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον φαίνεται ἐνὸν ὃ οὐ μόριον τοῦ ὅλου ἢ φυτοῦ ἢ ζῴου ἐστίν.
But no such thing appears to be in it which is not a part of the whole, either of plant or of animal.
ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὸ φθείρεσθαί γε ποιῆσαν εἴτε πάντα τὰ μέρη εἴτε τινὰ ἄτοπον· τὰ λοιπὰ γὰρ τί ποιήσει;
But indeed, that that which made them should perish, whether after making all the parts or some, is strange; for what will make the rest?
εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο μὲν τὴν καρδίαν, εἶτ’ ἐφθάρη, αὕτη δ’ ἕτερον, τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου ἢ πάντα φθείρεσθαι ἢ πάντα μένειν.
For if that made the heart indeed, and then perished, and this made another, by the same argument either all perish or all remain.
σώζεται ἄρα.
Therefore it is preserved.
αὐτοῦ ἄρα μόριόν ἐστιν, ὃ εὐθὺς ἐνυπάρχει ἐν τῷ σπέρματι.
Therefore it is a part of it, which pre-exists immediately in the seed.
εἰ δὲ δὴ μή ἐστι τῆς ψυχῆς μηθὲν ὃ μὴ τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν ἔν τινι μορίῳ, καὶ ἔμψυχον ἄν τι εἴη μόριον εὐθύς.
And if indeed there is nothing of the soul which is not in some part of the body, there would also be some part having soul immediately.
τὰ οὗν ἄλλα πῶς;
How then the other parts?
ἢ γάρ τοι ἅμα πάντα γίγνεται τὰ μόρια, οἷον καρδία πλεύμων ἧπαρ ὀφθαλμὸς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστον, ἢ ἐφεξῆς, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς καλουμένοις Ὀρφέως ἔπεσιν· ἐκεῖ γὰρ ὁμοίως φησὶ γίγνεσθαι τὸ ζῷον τῇ τοῦ δικτύου πλοκῇ.
For either indeed all the parts come to be at the same time, such as heart, lung, liver, eye, and each of the others, or in succession, just as in the so-called verses of Orpheus; for there he says that the animal comes to be in a manner similar to the weaving of a net.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐχ ἅμα, καὶ τῇ αἰσθήσει ἐστὶ φανερόν· τὰ μὲν γὰρ φαίνεται ἐνόντα ἤδη τῶν μορίων, τὰ δ’ οὔ.
That indeed they do not come to be at the same time is clear also to perception; for some of the parts appear already existing, and others do not.
ὅτι δ’ οὐ διὰ μικρότητα οὐ φαίνεται, δῆλον· μείζων γὰρ τὸ μέγεθος ὢν ὁ πνεύμων τῆς καρδίας ὕστερον φαίνεται τῆς καρδίας ἐν τῇ ἐξ ἀρχῆς γενέσει.
And that they do not fail to appear because of smallness is clear; for the lung, being larger in size than the heart, appears later than the heart in the generation from the beginning.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ μὲν πρότερον τὸ δ’ ὕστερον, πότερον θάτερον ποιεῖ θάτερον, καὶ ἔστι διὰ τὸ ἐχόμενον, ἢ μᾶλλον μετὰ τόδε γίνεται τόδε;
And since one is prior and another posterior, does one make another, and does it exist because of the one next to it, or rather does this come to be after this?
λέγω δ’ οἷον οὐχ ἡ καρδία γενομένη ποιεῖ τὸ ἧπαρ, τοῦτο δ’ ἑτερόν τι, ἀλλὰ τόδε μετὰ τόδε, ὥσπερ μετὰ τὸ παῖς ἀνὴρ γίνεται, ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὑπ’ ἐκείνου.
I mean, for instance, not that the heart having come to be makes the liver, and this another thing, but this after this, just as a man comes to be after a boy, but not by him.
λόγος δὲ τούτου, ὅτι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐντελεχείᾳ ὄντος τὸ δυνάμει ὂν γίνεται ἐν τοῖς φύσει ἢ τέχνῃ γινομένοις, ὥστε δέοι ἂν τὸ εἶδος καὶ τὴν μορφὴν ἐν ἐκείνῳ εἶναι, οἷον ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τὸ τοῦ ἥπατος.
And the reason for this is that by that which is in actuality that which is in potentiality comes to be in things coming to be by nature or by art, so that it would be necessary for the form and the shape to be in that, such as the form of the liver in the heart.
καὶ ἄλλως δ’ ἄτοπος καὶ πλασματίας ὁ λόγος.
And in other ways too, the argument is unreasonable and fictitious.
ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ σπέρματι εὐθὺς ἐνυπάρχειν τι μόριον τοῦ ζῴου ἢ φυτοῦ γεγενημένον, εἴτε δυνάμενον ποιεῖν τἆλλα εἴτε μή, ἀδύνατον, εἰ πᾶν ἐκ σπέρματος καὶ γονῆς γίγνεται.
But indeed, that some part of the animal or plant should pre-exist immediately in the seed as already generated, whether being able to make the other parts or not, is impossible, if everything comes to be from seed and semen.
δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι ὑπὸ τοῦ τὸ σπέρμα ποιήσαντος ἐγένετο, εἴπερ εὐθὺς ἐνυπάρχει.
For it is clear that it came to be by that which made the seed, if indeed it pre-exists immediately.
ἀλλὰ σπέρμα δεῖ γενέσθαι πρότερον, καὶ τοῦτ’ ἔργον τοῦ γεννῶντος.
But seed must come to be first, and this is the work of the generator.