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Aristotle · History of Animals §2.16

Kidneys, Bladders, and Viscera in Diverse Animals

Passage 27 of 189 · Greek

Summary

This section discusses the presence or absence of kidneys and bladders in quadrupeds, birds, fishes, and sea-turtles, and describes the internal organs of the sea-turtle, ox, and bonasus.

§2.16Νεφροὺς δὲ καὶ κύστιν τὰ μὲν ζῳοτόκα τῶν τετραπόδων πάντ’ ἔχει· ὅσα δὲ ᾠοτοκεῖ, τῶν μὲν ἄλλων οὐθὲν ἔχει, οἷον οὔτ’ ὄρνις οὔτ’ ἰχθύς, τῶν δὲ τετραπόδων μόνη χελώνη ἡ θαλαττία μέγεθος κατὰ λόγον τῶν ἄλλων μορίων.
As for kidneys and bladder, all the viviparous quadrupeds have them; but of the oviparous ones, none of the others has them, such as neither the bird nor the fish, while among the quadrupeds, only the sea-turtle has them, of a size proportionate to the other parts.
Ὁμοίους δ’ ἔχει τοὺς νεφροὺς ἡ θαλαττία χελώνη τοῖς βοείοις· ἔστι δ’ ὁ τοῦ βοὸς οἷον ἐκ πολλῶν μικρῶν εἷς συγκείμενος.
The sea-turtle has kidneys similar to those of cattle; and the kidney of the ox is as it were composed of many small ones into one.
Ἔχει δὲ καὶ ὁ βόνασος τὰ ἐντὸς ἅπαντα ὅμοια βοΐ.
The bonasus also has all its internal parts similar to those of the ox.

Notes

  1. §2.16τῶν μὲν ἄλλων — Refers to 'oviparous animals other than quadrupeds.' It stands in contrast with τῶν δὲ τετραπόδων (among the quadrupeds) which follows, meaning oviparous animals that do not belong to quadrupeds, such as birds and fishes.
  2. §2.16μέγεθος — Accusative of respect ('in size'), or an adverbial accusative. It specifies that the size of the kidneys and bladder in the sea-turtle is in proportion (κατὰ λόγον) to its other bodily parts.
  3. §2.16ὁ τοῦ βοὸς — The article ὁ represents the ellipsis of the singular noun νεφρός (kidney), corresponding to the preceding plural τοὺς νεφροὺς.

Cite this passage

Aristotle, History of Animals §2.16. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg014.humanitext-grc1:2.16

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