§3.7Περὶ δὲ τῆς τῶν ἰχθύων γενέσεως ἀπορήσειεν ἄν τίς διὰ τίνα ποτὲ αἰτίαν τῶν μὲν σελαχωδῶν οὔθ’ αἱ θήλειαι τὰ κυήματα οὔθ᾽ οἱ ἄρρενες ἀπορραίνοντες ὁρῶνται τὸν θορόν, τῶν δὲ μὴ ζῳοτόκων καὶ αἱ θήλειαι τὰ ᾠὰ καὶ οἱ ἄρρενες τὸν θορόν.
Concerning the generation of fish, one might raise the question as to what on earth is the cause why, among the cartilaginous fish, neither the females are seen discharging their embryos nor the males their milt, whereas among the non-viviparous fish both the females are seen discharging their eggs and the males their milt.
αἴτιον δ᾽ ὅτι τὸ γένος οὐ πολύσπερμον ὅλως τὸ τῶν σελαχωδῶν.
The cause is that the class of cartilaginous fish is not at all abundant in seed.
καὶ ἔτι αἵ γε θήλειαι πρὸς τῷ διαζώματι τὰς ὑστέρας ἔχουσιν.
And furthermore, the females at least have their uterus near the diaphragm.
τὰ γὰρ ἄρρενα τῶν ἀρρένων καὶ τὰ θήλεα τῶν θηλειῶν ὁμοίως διαφέρουσιν ὀλιγοχούστεροι γὰρ πρὸς τὴν γονὴν οἱ σελαχώδεις εἰσίν.
For the males differ from other males, and the females from other females, in a similar way; for the cartilaginous fish are less copious with respect to semen.
τὸ δ᾽ ἄρρεν γένος ἐν τοῖς ᾠοτόκοις καθάπερ αἱ θήλειαι τὰ ᾠὰ διὰ πλῆθος ἀποτίκτουσιν, οὕτως ἐκεῖνοι ἀπορραίνουσιν.
But the male class among the oviparous fish, just as the females produce their eggs in abundance, so they discharge their milt.
πλείω γὰρ ἔχουσι θορὸν ἢ ὅσον πρὸς τὴν ὀχείαν ἱκανόν· μᾶλλον γὰρ βούλεται ἡ φύσις δαπανᾶν τὸν θορὸν πρὸς τὸ συναύξειν τὰ ᾠά, ὅταν ἀποτέκῃ ἡ θήλεια, ἢ πρὸς τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς σύστασιν.
For they have more milt than is sufficient for copulation; for nature prefers to expend the milt on helping to grow the eggs together, when the female has produced them, rather than on their initial constitution.
καθάπερ γὰρ ἔν τε τοῖς ἄνω καὶ τοῖς ὑπογύοις εἴρηται λόγοις, τὰ μὲν τῶν ὀρνέων ᾠὰ τελεοῦται ἐντός, τὰ δὲ τῶν ἰχθύων ἐκτός.
For just as has been said both in the former and in the recent treatises, the eggs of birds are perfected within, but those of fish outside.
τρόπον γάρ τινα ἔοικε τοῖς σκωληκοτοκοῦσιν· ἔτι γὰρ ἀτελέστερον προϊεται τὸ κύημα τὰ σκωληκοτόκα τῶν ζῴων.
For in a certain way they resemble those that produce larvae; for those animals that produce larvae discharge the embryo in an even more imperfect state.
ἀμφοτέροις δὲ τὴν τελείωσιν καὶ τοῖς τῶν ὀρνίθων ᾠοῖς καὶ τοῖς τῶν ἰχθύων ποιεῖ τὸ ἄρρεν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν τῶν ὀρνίθων ἐντός (τελεοῦται γὰρ ἐντός), τοῖς δὲ τῶν ἰχθύων ἐκτὸς διὰ τὸ ἔξω προΐεσθαι ἀτελές, ἐπεὶ συμβαίνει γε ἐπ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων ταὐτόν.
But the male produces the perfection for both, both for the eggs of birds and for those of fish, but for those of birds within (for they are perfected within), and for those of fish outside because they are discharged outside imperfect, since indeed the very same thing happens in both cases.
τῶν μὲν οὖν ὀρνίθων τά τε ὑπηνέμια γίνεται γόνιμα, καὶ τὰ προωχευμένα ὑφ᾽ ἑτέρου γένους τῶν ἀρρένων μεταβάλλει τὴν φύσιν εἰς τὸν ὕστερον ὀχεύοντα.
Now, among birds, wind-eggs become fertile, and those previously copulated with by another kind of male change their nature to that of the later copulating male.
καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα δὲ ἀναύξητα ὄντα, ἂν διαλείπῃ τὴν ὀχείαν, ὅταν ὀχευθῇ πάλιν, ποιεῖ ταχεῖαν λαμβάνειν τὴν αὔξησιν, οὐ μέντοι κατὰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐάνπερ πρότερον γένηται ἡ ὀχεία πρὶν μεταβάλλειν εἰς τὴν τοῦ λευκοῦ ἀπόκρισιν.
And even their own eggs, when they are undeveloped, if there is an interval in copulation, when they are copulated with again, it causes them to take on growth quickly; not, however, at all times, but only if the copulation takes place before they change into the separation of the white.
τοῖς δὲ τῶν ἰχθύων οὐθὲν ὥρισται τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ σώζεσθαι ταχέως ἀπορραίνουσιν οἱ ἄρρενες.
But for those of fish, no such thing is limited, but the males quickly discharge their milt for the sake of preservation.
αἴτιον δ᾽ ὅτι, οὐ δί χροα ταῦτα· διόπερ οὐχ ὥρισται τοιοῦτος καιρὸς τούτοις οἷος ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρνίθων. τοῦτο δὲ συμβέβηκεν εὐλόγως·
The cause is that these eggs are not two-colored; therefore, no such season is limited for them as is the case with birds.
ὅταν γὰρ τὸ λευκὸν ἀφωρισμένον ᾖ καὶ τὸ ὠχρὸν ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων, ἔχει ἤδη τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρρενος ἀρχήν· εἰς ταύτην γὰρ συμβάλλεται τὸ ἄρρεν.
And this has happened reasonably; for when the white and the yolk are separated from each other, the egg already has the principle from the male; for the male contributes to this.
τὰ μὲν οὗν ὑπηνέμια λαμβάνει τὴν γένεσιν μέχρι τοῦ ἐνδεχομένου αὐτοῖς.
Therefore, wind-eggs indeed receive generation up to what is possible for them.
τελεωθῆναι μὲν γὰρ εἰς ζῴον ἀδύνατον (δεῖ γὰρ αἰσθήσεως), τὴν δὲ θρεπτικὴν δύναμιν τῆς ψυχῆς ἔχει καὶ τὰ θήλεα καὶ τὰ ἄρρενα καὶ πάντα τὰ ζῶντα, καθάπερ εἴρηται πολλάκις· διόπερ αὐτοῦ τὸ ᾠὸν ὡς μὲν φυτοῦ κύημα τέλειόν ἐςτιν, ὡς δὲ ζῴου ἀτελές.
For to be perfected into an animal is impossible (for sensation is required), but both the females and the males and all living things have the nutritive power of the soul, as has been said many times; wherefore the egg itself is perfect as the embryo of a plant, but imperfect as that of an animal.
εἰ μὲν οὖν μὴ ἐνῆν ἄρρεν ἐν τῷ γένει αὐτῶν, ἐγίγνετ’ ἂν ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἰχθύων, εἴπερ ἔστι τι τοιοῦτον γένος οἷον ἄνευ ἄρρενος γεννᾶν· εἴρηται δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν καὶ πρότερον, ὅτι οὔ πω ὦπται ἱκανῶς.
If, therefore, there were no male in their class, it would happen just as it does in the case of fish, if indeed there is any such class as to generate without a male; but concerning them it has been said also before, that they have not yet been sufficiently observed.
νῦν δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἐν πᾶτι ταῖς ὄρνισι τὸ μὲν θῆλυ τὸ δ᾽ ἄρρεν, ὥσθ᾽ ᾗ μὲν φυτόν, τετελέωκεν (διόπερ οὐ μεταβάλλει πάλιν μετὰ τὴν ὀχείαν), ᾗ δ᾽ οὐ φυτόν, οὐ τετελέωκεν, οὐδ᾽ ἀποβαίνει ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἕτερον οὐθέν· οὔτε γὰρ ὡς φυτοῦ ἁπλῶς οὔθ᾽ ὡς ζῴου ἐκ συνδυασμοῦ γέγονεν.
But as it is, since there is the female and the male in all birds, so far as it is a plant, it has perfected (wherefore it does not change again after copulation), but so far as it is not a plant, it has not perfected, nor does anything else come of it; for it has become neither simply as that of a plant nor as that of an animal from copulation.
τὰ δ᾽ ἐξ ὀχείας μὲν γενόμενα ᾠά, διακεκριμένα δ᾽ εἰς τὸ λευκόν, γίνεται κατὰ τὸ πρῶτον ὀχεῦσαν· ἔχει γὰρ ἀμφοτέρας ἤδη τὰς ἀρχάς.
On the other hand, eggs that are produced from copulation, and are distinguished into the white, follow the first copulating male; for they already have both principles.