§4.4#2αἴτιον δ᾽ ὅτι μεταξὺ λευκῆς ἐστὶ τὴν φύσιν καὶ μελαίνης, ὥστ᾽ οὐ πόρρωθεν ἡ μετάβασις οὐδ᾽ ὡσπερανεὶ παρὰ φύσιν· οὐ γὰρ εἰς ἄλλην φύσιν.
The cause is that it is in its nature between white and black, so that the transition is not from far off, nor is it, as it were, contrary to nature; for it is not a transition into another nature.
ἐν δὲ τοῖς πολυτόκοις ταὐτά τε συμβαίνει, καὶ διὰ τὴν πολυτοκίαν ἐμποδίζειν τὰς τελειώσεις ἀλλήλων καὶ τὰς κινήσεις τὰς γεννητικάς.
But in those that produce many offspring, these same things happen, and because of their being prolific they obstruct each other's development and generative movements.
Περὶ δὲ τῆς πολυτοκίας καὶ τοῦ πλεονασμοῦ τοῦ τῶν μερῶν, καὶ τῆς ὀλιγοτοκίας καὶ μονοτοκίας καὶ τῆς ἐνδείας τῶν μερῶν, ἀπορήσειεν ἄν τις.
But concerning prolificacy and the excess of parts, and also the small number of offspring, single births, and the deficiency of parts, one might raise a question.
γίνεται γὰρ ἐνίοτε τὰ μὲν πλείους ἔχοντα δακτύλους, τὰ δ᾽ ἕνα μόνον, καὶ περὶ τὰ ἄλλα μέρη τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον· καὶ γὰρ πλεονάζει καὶ κολοβὰ γίνεται, τὰ δὲ καὶ δύο ἔχοντα αἰδοῖα, τὸ μὲν ἄρρενος τὸ δὲ θήλεος, καὶ ἐν ἀνθρώποις καὶ μάλιστα περὶ τὰς αἶγας.
For sometimes offspring are born having more fingers, and others having only one, and in the same way with respect to the other parts; for they are both excessive and mutilated, and some even have two privy parts, one of a male and the other of a female, both in humans and especially in goats.
γίνονται γὰρ ἃς καλοῦσι τραγαίνας διὰ τὸ θήλεος καὶ ἄρρενος ἔχειν αἰδοῖον· ἤδη δὲ καὶ κέρας αἲξ ἔχουσα ἐγένετο πρὸς τῷ σκέλει.
For those which they call tragainai are born because of having both female and male privy parts; and already even a goat having a horn near its leg has been born.
γίνονται δὲ μεταβολαὶ καὶ πηρώσεις καὶ περὶ τὰ ἐντὸς μόρια, τῷ ἢ μὴ ἔχειν ἔνια ἢ κεκολοβωμένα ἔχειν καὶ πλείω καὶ μεθεστῶτα τοὺς τόπους.
And changes and mutilations occur also in the internal parts, by some not having certain parts or having them mutilated, or having more, or having their positions transposed.
καρδίαν μὲν οὖν οὐθὲν πώποτε ἐγένετο ζῷον οὐκ ἔχον, σπλῆνα δ᾽ οὐκ ἔχον, καὶ δύο ἔχον, καὶ νεφρὸν ἕνα· ἧπαρ δ᾽ οὐκ ἔχον μὲν οὐθέν, οὐχ ὅλον δὲ ἔχον.
Now, no animal has ever been born without a heart, but they have been born without a spleen, or having two, or having one kidney; and while none is without a liver, some have it incomplete.
ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἐν τοῖς τελειωθεῖσι καὶ ζῶσιν.
All these things occur in those that are fully developed and living.
εὑρίσκεται καὶ χολὴν οὐκ ἔχοντα, πεφυκότα ἔχειν· τὰ δὲ πλείους ἔχοντα μιᾶς.
Some are also found not having a gall-bladder, though naturally they should have one; and others having more than one.
ἤδη δ᾽ ἐγένετο καὶ μεθεστηκότα κατὰ τόπον, τὸ μὲν ἧπαρ ἐν τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς, ὁ δὲ σπλὴν ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς.
And already some have also been born with their positions transposed, the liver on the left, and the spleen on the right.
καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἔν γε τετελεσμένοις ὦπται τοῖς ζῴοις, ὥσπερ εἴρηται· ἐν δὲ τοῖς τικτομένοις ἔχοντα πολλὴν καὶ παντοδαπὴν ταραχήν.
And these things indeed have been seen in fully developed animals, as has been said; but in those being born they have much and manifold confusion.
τὰ μὲν οὖν μικρὸν παρεκβαίνοντα τὴν φύσιν ζῆν εἴωθεν, τὰ δὲ πλεῖον οὐ ζῆν, ὅταν ἐν τοῖς κυρίοις τοῦ ζῆν γένηται τὸ παρὰ φύσιν.
Therefore, those that depart but little from nature are accustomed to live, but those that depart more do not live, when the unnatural state occurs in the parts that are vital.
ἡ δὲ σκέψις ἐστὶν ἡ περὶ τούτων, πότερον τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν δεῖ νομίζειν τῆς μονοτοκίας καὶ τῆς ἐνδείας τῶν μερῶν καὶ τοῦ πλεονασμοῦ καὶ τῆς πολυτοκίας ἢ μὴ τὴν αὐτήν.
The inquiry concerning these matters is whether we must believe that the cause of single births, of the deficiency of parts, of excess, and of prolificacy is the same or not the same.
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν διὰ τί τὰ μέν ἐστι πολυτόκα τὰ δὲ μονοτόκα, τοῦτ᾽ ἄν τις δόξειεν εὐλόγως θαυμάζειν.
Now first, why some are prolific and others produce only one offspring, one might reasonably seem to wonder at this.
τὰ γὰρ μέγιστα μονοτόκα τῶν ζῴων ἐστίν, οἷον ἐλέφας κάμηλος ἵππος καὶ τὰ μώνυχα· τούτων δὲ τὰ μὲν μείζω τῶν ἄλλων, τὰ δὲ πολὺ διαφέρει κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος.
For the largest of animals produce only one, as the elephant, camel, horse, and solid-hoofed animals; and of these, some are larger than the others, and others differ greatly in size.
κύων δὲ καὶ λύκος καὶ τὰ πολυσχιδῆ πάντα πολυτόκα σχεδόν, καὶ τὰ μικρὰ τῶν τοιούτων, οἷον τὸ τῶν μυῶν γένος.
But the dog, the wolf, and almost all those with fissiped feet are prolific, and also the small ones of such animals, as the class of mice.
τὰ δὲ διχηλὰ ὀλιγοτόκα πλὴν ὑός· αὕτη δὲ τῶν πολυτόκων ἐστίν.
But those with cloven hooves produce few offspring, except the pig; for this is one of the prolific animals.
εὔλογον γὰρ τὰ μὲν μεγάλα πλείω δύνασθαι γεννᾶν καὶ σπέρμα φέρειν πλεῖον.
For it is reasonable that the large ones should be able to produce more and bear more semen.
αἴτιον δ᾽ αὐτὸ τὸ θαυμαζόμενον τοῦ μὴ θαυμάζειν· διὰ γὰρ τὸ μέγεθος οὐ πολυτοκοῦσιν· ἡ γὰρ τροφὴ καταναλίσκεται τοῖς τοιούτοις εἰς τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ σώματος.
But the very thing wondered at is the cause of not wondering; for because of their size they are not prolific; for the nourishment is consumed in such animals for the growth of the body.
τοῖς δ᾽ ἐλάττοσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ μεγέθους ἡ φύσις ἀφαιροῦσα πρὸς τὸ περίττωμα προστίθησι τὸ σπερματικὸν τὴν ὑπεροχήν.
But in the smaller ones, nature, taking away from their size, adds the excess to the seminal residue.
ἔτι δὲ τὸ γεννῆσαν σπέρμα πλεῖον μὲν τὸ τοῦ μείζονος ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι, μικρὸν δὲ τὸ τῶν ἐλαττόνων.
Furthermore, the semen that generates must be more in the larger animal, and small in the smaller ones.
πολλὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ μικρὰ γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ἐν ταὐτῷ, μεγάλα δὲ πολλὰ χαλεπόν· τοῖς δὲ μέσοις μεγέθεσι τὸ μέσον ἀπέδωκεν ἡ φύσις.
Therefore, many small ones can be produced together, but many large ones is difficult; and to the intermediate sizes nature has assigned the intermediate portion.
τοῦ μὲν οὖν τὰ μὲν εἶναι μεγάλα τῶν ζῴων τὰ δ᾽ ἐλάττω τὰ δὲ μέσα πρότερον εἰρήκαμεν τὴν αἰτίαν· μονοτόκα δέ, τὰ δ᾽ ὀλιγοτόκα, τὰ δὲ πολυτόκα τῶν ζῴων ἐστὶν ὡς μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ τὰ μὲν μώνυχα μονοτόκα, τὰ δὲ διχηλὰ ὀλιγοτόκα, τὰ δὲ πολυσχιδῆ πολυτόκα.
Now, of the cause why some animals are large, some smaller, and some intermediate, we have spoken before; but that some animals are single-bearing, some few-bearing, and some many-bearing is as a rule that the solid-hoofed are single-bearing, the cloven-hoofed few-bearing, and the fissiped many-bearing.
τούτου δ᾽ αἴτιον ὅτι ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ τὰ μεγέθη διώρισται κατὰ τὰς διαφορὰς ταύτας.
And the cause of this is that as a rule the sizes are distinguished according to these differences.
οὐ μὴν ἔχει γ᾽ οὕτως ἐπὶ πάντων· αἴτιον γὰρ μέγεθος καὶ μικρότης τῶν σωμάτων τῆς ὀλιγοτοκίας καὶ πολυτοκίας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τὸ μώνυχον ἢ πολυσχιδὲς ἢ διχηλὸν εἶναι τὸ γένος.
Yet this does not hold in all cases; for the cause of few-bearing and many-bearing is the largeness and smallness of the bodies, but not the genus being solid-hoofed, fissiped, or cloven-hoofed.
τούτου δὲ μαρτύριον· ὁ γὰρ ἐλέφας μέγιστον τῶν ζῴων, ἔστι δὲ πολυσχιδές, ἥ τε κάμηλος διχηλὸν τῶν λοιπῶν μέγιστον ὄν.
And a proof of this: for the elephant is the largest of animals and is fissiped, and the camel is cloven-hoofed, being the largest of the remaining ones.
οὐ μόνον δ᾽ ἐν τοῖς πεζοῖς ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς πτηνοῖς καὶ ἐν τοῖς πλωτοῖς τὰ μὲν μεγάλα ὀλιγοτόκα ἐστὶ τὰ δὲ μικρὰ πολυτόκα, διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν.
And not only among terrestrial animals but also among birds and aquatic animals, the large ones produce few offspring and the small ones many, for the same cause.