§4.8#2ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τοῖς κάτω τοὺς μαστοὺς ἔχουσιν.
And it is similar in those animals that have their breasts below.
γίνεται μὲν οὖν ἐπίδηλος καὶ ἡ φανὴ καὶ τὰ περὶ τοὺς μαστοὺς καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ζῴοις τοῖς ἐμπείροις περὶ ἕκαστον γένος, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων διαφέρει πλεῖστον.
Now, both the voice and the parts around the breasts become visible in other animals too to those who are experienced in each genus, but in humans it differs the most.
αἴτιον δὲ τὸ πλείστην εἶναι τὴν περίττωσιν τοῖς θήλεσι τούτοις τῶν θηλέων καὶ τοῖς ἄρρεσι τῶν ἀρρένων ὡς κατὰ μέγεθος, ταῖς μὲν τὴν τῶν καταμηνίων, τοῖς δὲ τὴν τοῦ σπέρματος πρόεσιν.
And the cause is that the residue is greatest in these females compared to other females, and in these males compared to other males, in proportion to their size—in the females the discharge of the menses, and in the males the emission of semen.
ὅταν οὖν μὴ λαμβάνῃ μὲν τὸ ἔμβρυον τὴν τοιαύτην ἀπόκρισιν, κωλύῃ δὲ θύραζε βαδίζειν, ἀναγκαῖον εἰς τοὺς κενοὺς τόπους ἀθροίζεσθαι τὸ περίττωμα πᾶν, ὅσοιπερ ἂν ὦσιν ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν πόρων.
Therefore, when the embryo no longer receives such a secretion, and when [something] prevents it from passing outwards, it is necessary for all the residue to collect in the empty spaces, as many as are on the same passages.
ἔστι δ᾽ ἑκάστοις τοιοῦτος ὁ τῶν μαστῶν τόπος δι᾽ ἀμφοτέρας τὰς αἰτίας ἕνεκά τε τοῦ βελτίστου γεγονὼς τοιοῦτος καὶ ἐξ ἀνάγκης.
And for each, the region of the breasts is of such a kind because of both causes, having become so both for the sake of the best and of necessity.
ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἤδη συνίσταται καὶ γίνεται πεπεμμένη τροφὴ τοῖς ζῴοις.
And there, already, the concocted nourishment for the animals is constituted and produced.
τῆς δὲ πέψεως ἔστι μὲν λαβεῖν τὴν εἰρημένην αἰτίαν, ἔστι δὲ τὴν ἐναντίαν.
And concerning its concoction, one can take the aforementioned cause, or one can take the opposite.
εὔλογον γὰρ καὶ μεῖζον ὂν τὸ ἔμβρυον πλείω λαμβάνειν τροφήν, ὥστε ἔλαττον περιγίνεσθαι περὶ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον· πέττεται δὲ θᾶττον τὸ ἔλαττον.
For it is reasonable also that, since the embryo is larger, it takes more nourishment, so that less remains around this time; and the smaller amount is concocted more quickly.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἐστὶ τὸ γάλα τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχον φύσιν τῇ ἀποκρίσει ἐξ ἧς γίνεται ἕκαστον, δῆλον, εἴρηται δὲ καὶ πρότερον.
That milk, then, has the same nature as the secretion from which each thing is generated is clear, and has been said before.
ἡ γὰρ αὐτὴ ὕλη ἡ τρέφουσα καὶ ἐξ ἧς συνιστᾷ τὴν γένεσιν ἡ φύσις.
For the material that nourishes is the same as that from which nature constitutes generation.
ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο ἡ αἱματικὴ ὑγρότης τοῖς ἐναίμοις.
And this, for red-blooded animals, is the bloody moisture.
τὸ γὰρ γάλα πεπεμμένον αἷμά ἐστιν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ διεφθαρμένον.
For milk is concocted blood, but not putrefied.
Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δ᾽ ἢ οὐκ ὀρθῶς ὑπελάμβανεν ἢ οὐκ εὖ μετήνεγκε ποιήσας ὡς τὸ γάλα "μηνὸς ἐν ὀγδοάτου δεκάτῃ πύον ἔπλετο λευκόν. "σαπρότης γὰρ καὶ πέψις ἐναντίον, τὸ δὲ πύον σαπρότης τις ἐστίν, τὸ δὲ γάλα τῶν πεπεμμένων.
Empedocles either conceived of this incorrectly or did not use his metaphor well when he wrote that milk "on the tenth day of the eighth month became white pus." For putrefaction and concoction are opposite, and pus is a kind of putrefaction, while milk is among the things that are concocted.
οὐ γίνονται δὲ οὔτε θηλαζομέναις αἱ καθάρσεις κατὰ φύσιν, οὔτε συλλαμβάνουσι θηλαζόμεναι· κἂν συλλάβωσιν, ἀποσβέννυται τὸ γάλα διὰ τὸ τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι φύσιν τοῦ γάλακτος καὶ τῶν καταμηνίων.
Nor do the purifications (menses) occur naturally in those who are lactating, nor do they conceive while lactating; and even if they do conceive, the milk is extinguished because the nature of the milk and of the menses is the same.
ἡ δὲ φύσις οὐ δύναται πολυχοεῖν οὕτως ὥστ’ ἐπαμφοτερίζειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἂν ἐπὶ θάτερα γένηται ἡ ἀπόκρισις, ἀναγκαῖον ἐπὶ θάτερα ἐκλείπειν, ἐὰν μὴ γίνηται βίαιον καὶ παρὰ τὸ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ.
For nature cannot flow so abundantly as to serve both, but if the secretion goes to one side, it must of necessity fail on the other, unless something violent occurs contrary to what happens for the most part.
τοῦτο δ᾽ ἤδη παρὰ φύσιν· ἐν γὰρ τοῖς μὴ ἀδυνάτοις ἄλλως ἔχειν ἀλλ᾽ ἐνδεχομένοις τὸ κατὰ φύσιν ἐστὶ τὸ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ.
But this is already contrary to nature; for in things that are not unable to be otherwise but are contingent, that which is for the most part is what is natural.
καλῶς δὲ διώρισται τοῖς χρόνοις καὶ ἡ γένεσις ἡ τῶν ζῴων.
And the generation of animals is also beautifully defined by times.
ὅταν γὰρ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος μηκέτι ἱκανὴ ᾖ τῷ κυουμένῳ ἡ διὰ τοῦ ὀμφαλοῦ τροφή, ἀλλὰ τὸ γάλα γίνεται χρήσιμον πρὸς τὴν γινομένην τροφὴν καὶ οὐκ εἰσιούσης διὰ τοῦ ὀμφαλοῦ τροφῆς, συμπίπτουσιν αἱ φλέβες περὶ ἃς ὁ καλούμενος ὀμφαλός ἐστι χιτών, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα καὶ τότε συμβαίνει θύραζε ἡ ἔξοδος.
For when, because of its size, the nourishment through the umbilical cord is no longer sufficient for the fetus, but milk becomes useful for the nourishment that is coming to be, and nourishment no longer enters through the umbilical cord, the veins around which the so-called umbilical tunic is situated collapse, and because of these things and at that time, the exit outwards happens.