Humanitext Reader

Aristotle · History of Animals §2.17#1

Visceral Arrangement and Stomachs in Fish and Ruminants

Passage 28 of 189 · Greek

Summary

Explains the arrangement of internal organs like the heart, liver, spleen, and stomach in animals, detailing their unique structures in fishes and ruminants.

§2.17#1Τῇ δὲ θέσει, ὅσα ἔχει ταῦτα τὰ μόρια, ὁμοίως κείμενα ἔχει, τήν τε καρδίαν περὶ τὸ μέσον, πλὴν ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ· οὗτος δ’ ἐν τῷ ἀριστερῷ μᾶλλον μέρει, καθάπερ ἐλέχθη πρότερον.
As to their position, all those that have these parts have them situated in a similar way: the heart is around the middle, except in man; in him, it is rather on the left side, as was said before.
Ἔχει δὲ καὶ τὸ ὀξὺ ἡ καρδία πάντων εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν· πλὴν ἐπὶ τῶν ἰχθύων οὐκ ἂν δόξειεν· οὐ γὰρ πρὸς τὸ στῆθος ἔχει τὸ ὀξύ, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸ στόμα.
Moreover, the heart of all has its pointed end directed toward the front; except in the case of fishes, it would not seem so; for it has its pointed end not toward the chest, but toward the head and the mouth.
Ἀνήρτηται δ’ αὐτῶν τὸ ἄκρον ᾗ συνάπτει τὰ βράγχια ἀλλήλοις τὰ δεξιὰ καὶ τὰ ἀριστερά.
The tip of their heart is suspended where the right and left gills join each other.
Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι πόροι τεταμένοι ἐξ αὐτῆς εἰς ἕκαστον τῶν βραγχίων, μείζους μὲν τοῖς μείζοσιν, ἐλάττους δὲ τοῖς ἐλάττοσιν· ὁ δ’ ἐπ’ ἄκρας τῆς καρδίας τοῖς μεγάλοις αὐτῶν σφόδρα παχὺς αὐλός ἐστι καὶ λευκός.
There are also other conduits extending from it to each of the gills, larger in the larger ones and smaller in the smaller ones; and the tube at the tip of the heart is, in the large ones among them, an extremely thick and white pipe.
Στόμαχον δ’ ὀλίγοι ἔχουσι τῶν ἰχθύων, οἷον γόγγρος καὶ ἐγχέλυς, καὶ οὗτοι μικρόν.
Few of the fishes have an esophagus, such as the conger and the eel, and even these have a small one.
Καὶ τὸ ἧπαρ τοῖς ἔχουσι τοῖς μὲν ἀσχιδὲς ἔχουσιν ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς ἐστὶν ὅλον, τοῖς δὲ ἐσχισμένον ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς τὸ μεῖζον ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς.
And as for the liver, in those that have it, for those that have it undivided, it is entirely on the right side, while for those that have it divided from the base, the larger part is on the right side.
Ἐνίοις γὰρ ἑκάτερον τὸ μόριον ἀπήρτηται καὶ οὐ συμπέφυκεν ἡ ἀρχή, οἷον τῶν τε ἰχθύων τοῖς γαλεώδεσι, καὶ δασυπόδων τι γένος ἐστὶ καὶ ἄλλοθι καὶ περὶ τὴν λίμνην τὴν Βόλβην ἐν τῇ καλουμένῃ Συκίνῃ, οὓς ἄν τις δόξειε δύο ἥπατα ἔχειν διὰ τὸ πόρρω τοὺς πόρους συνάπτειν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ τῶν ὀρνίθων πλεύμονος.
For in some, each of the parts is suspended separately and the base is not grown together, as is the case among fishes with the selachians, and there is a certain kind of hare found in other places and also around the lake Bolbe in the place called Sicyne, which one might think has two livers because the vessels join far apart, just as is the case with the lung of birds.
Καὶ ὁ σπλὴν δ’ ἐστὶ πᾶσιν ἐν τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς κατὰ φύσιν, καὶ οἱ νεφροὶ τοῖς ἔχουσι κείμενοι τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον·
The spleen also is on the left side in all according to nature, and the kidneys in those that have them are situated in the same way.
ἤδη δὲ διανοιχθέν τι τῶν τετραπόδων ὤφθη ἔχον τὸν σπλῆνα μὲν ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς, τὸ δ’ ἧπαρ ἐν τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς· ἀλλὰ τὰ τοιαῦτα ὡς τέρατα κρίνεται.
However, on some occasion a dissected quadruped was seen to have its spleen on the right side and its liver on the left; but such cases are judged as monstrosities.
Τείνει δ’ ἡ μὲν ἀρτηρία πᾶσιν εἰς τὸν πλεύμονα (ὃν δὲ τρόπον, ὕστερον ἐροῦμεν), ὁ δὲ στόμαχος εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν διὰ τοῦ διαζώματος, ὅσα ἔχει στόμαχον·
The windpipe extends in all to the lung (in what manner we shall say later), and the esophagus to the stomach through the diaphragm, in all that have an esophagus.
οἱ γὰρ ἰχθύες, ὥσπερ εἴρηται πρότερον, οἱ πλεῖστοι οὐκ ἔχουσιν, ἀλλ’ εὐθὺς πρὸς τὸ στόμα συνάπτει ἡ κοιλία, διὸ πολλάκις ἐνίοις τῶν μεγάλων διώκουσι τοὺς ἐλάττους προπίπτει ἡ κοιλία εἰς τὸ στόμα.
For most of the fishes, as was said before, do not have one, but the stomach connects directly to the mouth; wherefore often, in some of the large ones when they are pursuing smaller ones, the stomach slips forward into the mouth.
Ἔχει δὲ κοιλίαν πάντα τὰ εἰρημένα, καὶ κειμένην ὁμοίως (κεῖται γὰρ ὑπὸ τὸ διάζωμα εὐθύς), καὶ τὸ ἔντερον ἐχόμενον καὶ τελευτῶν πρὸς τὴν ἔξοδον τῆς τροφῆς καὶ τὸν καλούμενον ἀρχόν.
All the aforesaid animals have a stomach, and situated in a similar way (for it lies immediately below the diaphragm), and the intestine following next and ending at the outlet of the food and the so-called rectum.
Ἀνομοίας δ’ ἔχουσι τὰς κοιλίας.
But they have dissimilar stomachs.
Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ τῶν τετραπόδων καὶ ζῳοτόκων ὅσα μή ἐστιν ἀμφώδοντα τῶν κερατοφόρων, τέτταρας ἔχει τοὺς τοιούτους πόρους· ἃ δὴ καὶ λέγεται μηρυκάζειν.
For first, of the viviparous quadrupeds, those that are horned and not double-toothed have four such cavities; which indeed are also said to ruminate.
Διήκει γὰρ ὁ μὲν στόμαχος ἀπὸ τοῦ στόματος ἀρξάμενος ἐπὶ τὰ κάτω παρὰ τὸν πλεύμονα, ἀπὸ τοῦ διαζώματος ἐπὶ τὴν κοιλίαν τὴν μεγάλην· αὕτη δ’ ἐστὶ τὰ ἔσω τραχεῖα καὶ διειλημμένη.
For the esophagus extends from the mouth downward past the lung, and from the diaphragm to the large stomach; this is rough inside and divided into compartments.
Συνήρτηται δ’ αὐτῇ πλησίον τῆς τοῦ στομάχου προσβολῆς ὁ καλούμενος κεκρύφαλος ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψεως· ἔστι γὰρ τὰ μὲν ἔξωθεν ὅμοιος τῇ κοιλίᾳ, τὰ δ’ ἐντὸς ὅμοιος τοῖς πλεκτοῖς κεκρυφάλοις· μεγέθει δὲ πολὺ ἐλάττων ἐστὶν ὁ κεκρύφαλος τῆς κοιλίας.
Connected with this, close to the insertion of the esophagus, is the so-called reticulum, named from its appearance; for from the outside it is similar to the stomach, but on the inside similar to woven hairnets; in size the reticulum is much smaller than the stomach.
Τούτου δ’ ἔχεται ὁ ἐχῖνος, τὰ ἐντὸς ὢν τραχὺς καὶ πλακώδης, τὸ δὲ μέγεθος παραπλήσιος τῷ κεκρυφάλῳ.
Next to this comes the omasum, which is rough inside and laminated, and in size is nearly equal to the reticulum.
Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον τὸ καλούμενον ἤνυστρόν ἐστι, τῷ μεγέθει τοῦ ἐχίνου μεῖζον, τὸ δὲ σχῆμα προμηκέστερον· ἔχει δ’ ἐντὸς πλάκας πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας καὶ λείας.
After this is the so-called abomasum, larger in size than the omasum and more elongated in shape; it has many large and smooth ridges inside.
Ἀπὸ δὲ τούτου τὸ ἔντερον ἤδη.
And after this comes the intestine directly.
Τὰ μὲν οὖν κερατοφόρα καὶ μὴ ἀμφώδοντα τοιαύτην ἔχει τὴν κοιλίαν, διαφέρει δὲ πρὸς ἄλληλα τοῖς σχήμασι καὶ τοῖς μεγέθεσι τούτων καὶ τῷ τὸν στόμαχον εἰς μέσην ἢ πλαγίαν τείνειν τὴν κοιλίαν.
The horned and non-double-toothed animals, then, have a stomach of this kind, but they differ from one another in the shapes and sizes of these parts, and in the fact that the esophagus extends to the middle or to the side of the stomach.
Τὰ δ’ ἀμφώδοντα μίαν ἔχει κοιλίαν, οἷον ἄνθρωπος, ὗς, κύων, ἄρκτος, λέων, λύκος.
On the other hand, those with teeth in both jaws have a single stomach, such as man, pig, dog, bear, lion, wolf.
Ἔχει δὲ καὶ ὁ θὼς πάντα τὰ ἐντὸς ὅμοια λύκῳ.
The jackal also has all its internal parts similar to those of the wolf.

Notes

  1. §2.17#1τοῖς ἔχουσι τοῖς μὲν ἀσχιδὲς ἔχουσιν — This is a partitive dative construction, where the dative plural τοῖς ἔχουσι indicating the whole class ('in those that have it') is further specified and restricted by the appositive dative τοῖς μὲν ἀσχιδὲς ἔχουσιν ('in those that have it undivided').
  2. §2.17#1οὓς ἄν τις δόξειε — The particle ἄν combined with the optative δόξειε in a relative clause functions as a potential optative ('one might think'). The relative pronoun οὕς serves as the subject accusative of the infinitive phrase δύο ἥπατα ἔχειν.
  3. §2.17#1διὰ τὸ πόρρω τοὺς πόρους συνάπτειν — The preposition διὰ takes the accusative of the articular infinitive (τὸ συνάπτειν) to express cause ('because of the joining'). The noun phrase τοὺς πόρους acts as the subject accusative of the infinitive.
  4. §2.17#1διώκουσι — The dative plural present participle agrees with and modifies the preceding ἐνίοις τῶν μεγάλων ('in some of the large ones'). It functions circumstantially, indicating time or attendant circumstances ('when they are pursuing...').
  5. §2.17#1ἃ δὴ καὶ λέγεται μηρυκάζειν — This is a personal passive construction where the passive verb λέγεται takes the relative pronoun ἅ as its subject, completed by the infinitive μηρυκάζειν ('which are indeed said to ruminate').

Cite this passage

Aristotle, History of Animals §2.17#1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg014.humanitext-grc1:2.17%231

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.