§4.8#2εἰσὶ δέ τινες οἵ φασι καὶ μάλιστα ὀξυηκόους εἶναι τῶν ζῴων τοὺς ἰχθῦς, ἐκ τοῦ διατρίβοντας περὶ τὴν θάλατταν ἐντυγχάνειν τοιούτοις πολλοῖς.
And there are some who say that fishes are even the sharpest of hearing among all animals, because from spending time about the sea they meet with many such cases.
Μάλιστα δ’ εἰσὶ τῶν ἰχθύων ὀξυήκοοι κεστρεύς, χρέμψ, λάβραξ, σάλπη, χρομίς, καὶ ὅσοι ἄλλοι τοιοῦτοι τῶν ἰχθύων· οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι τούτων ἧττον, διὸ μᾶλλον πρὸς τῷ ἐδάφει τῆς θαλάττης ποιοῦνται τὰς διαγωγάς.
Especially sharp of hearing among fishes are the mullet, the chremps, the sea-bass, the salpe, the chromis, and all other such fishes; the others are less so than these, which is why they pass their lives more near the bottom of the sea.
Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ ὀσφρήσεως ἔχει.
It is the same too with respect to smell.
Τοῦ τε γὰρ μὴ προσφάτου δελέατος οὐκ ἐθέλουσιν ἅπτεσθαι οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἰχθύων, τοῖς τε δελέασιν οὐ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἁλίσκονται πάντες ἀλλὰ ἰδίοις, διαγινώσκοντες τῷ ὀσφραίνεσθαι·
For most fishes do not wish to touch bait that is not fresh, and they are not all caught with the same baits but each with their own, distinguishing them by smelling.
ἔνια γὰρ δελεάζεται τοῖς δυσώδεσιν, ὥσπερ ἡ σάλπη τῇ κόπρῳ.
For some are baited with smelly things, as the salpe with dung.
Ἔτι δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν ἰχθύων διατρίβουσιν ἐν σπηλαίοις, οὓς ἐπειδὰν βούλωνται προκαλέσασθαι πρὸς τὴν θήραν οἱ ἁλιεῖς, τὸ στόμα τοῦ σπηλαίου περιαλείφουσι ταριχηραῖς ὀσμαῖς, πρὸς ἃς ἐξέρχονται ταχέως.
Furthermore, many fishes live in caves, and when fishermen wish to entice them out for capture, they smear the mouth of the cave with salty smells, towards which they quickly come out.
Ἁλίσκεται δὲ καὶ ἡ ἔγχελυς τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον· τιθέασι γὰρ τῶν ταριχηρῶν τι κεραμίων, ἐνθέντες εἰς τὸ στόμα τοῦ κεραμίου τὸν καλούμενον ἠθμόν.
The eel also is caught in this way; for they set a jar containing salty meat, having placed in the mouth of the jar the so-called funnel.
Καὶ ὅλως δὲ πρὸς τὰ κνισώδη πάντες φέρονται μᾶλλον.
And in general, they are all more drawn towards the smell of burnt fat.
Καὶ τῶν σηπιῶν δὲ τὰ σαρκία σταθεύσαντες ἕνεκα τῆς ὀσμῆς δελεάζουσι τούτοις· προσέρχονται γὰρ μᾶλλον.
They also roast the flesh of cuttlefishes for the sake of the smell and use it as bait; for they approach more.
Τοὺς δὲ πολύπους φασὶν ὀπτήσαντες εἰς τοὺς κύρτους ἐντιθέναι οὐδενὸς ἄλλου χάριν ἢ τῆς κνίσης.
And they say that they roast octopuses and place them in the weels for no other reason than the smell of burnt fat.
Ἔτι δ’ οἱ ῥυάδες ἰχθύες, ὅταν ἐκχυθῇ τὸ πλύμα τῶν ἰχθύων, ἢ τῆς ἀντλίας ἐκχυθείσης, φεύγουσιν ὡς ὀσφραινόμενοι τῆς ὀσμῆς αὐτῶν.
Furthermore, shoaling fishes, when the washings of fish are poured out, or when the bilge-water is discharged, flee as though they smelled their odour.
Καὶ τοῦ αὑτῶν δὲ αἵματος ταχὺ ὀσφραίνεσθαί φασιν αὐτούς· δῆλον δὲ ποιοῦσι φεύγοντες καὶ ἐκτοπίζοντες μακράν, ὅταν γένηται αἷμα ἰχθύων.
And they say that they quickly smell their own blood; and they make this clear by fleeing and moving far away whenever there is fish blood.
Καὶ ὅλως δὲ ἐὰν μὲν σαπρῷ τις δελέατι δελεάσῃ τὸν κύρτον, οὐκ ἐθέλουσιν εἰσδύνειν οὐδὲ πλησιάζειν, ἐὰν δὲ νεαρῷ δελέατι καὶ κεκνισωμένῳ, εὐθὺς φερόμενοι πόρρωθεν εἰσδύνουσιν.
And in general, if anyone baits the weel with rotten bait, they do not wish to enter or even approach, but if with fresh and burnt-smelling bait, they enter immediately, being drawn from afar.
Μάλιστα δὲ φανερόν ἐστι περὶ τῶν εἰρημένων ἐπὶ τῶν δελφίνων· οὗτοι γὰρ τῆς ἀκοῆς αἰσθητήριον μὲν οὐδὲν ἔχουσι φανερόν, ἁλίσκονται δὲ διὰ τὸ καρηβαρεῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ ψόφου, καθάπερ εἴρηται πρότερον.
And what has been said is most clear in the case of dolphins; for these have no obvious organ of hearing, yet they are caught because they are made dizzy by the noise, as was said before.
Οὐδὲ δὴ τῆς ὀσφρήσεως αἰσθητήριον οὐδὲν ἔχει φανερόν, ὀσφραίνεται δ’ ὀξέως.
Nor indeed do they have any obvious organ of smell, yet they smell sharply.
Ὅτι μὲν οὖν πάσας τὰς αἰσθήσεις ταῦτα ἔχει τὰ ζῷα, φανερόν·
That these animals, then, possess all the senses is clear.
τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ γένη τῶν ζῴων ἔστι μὲν τέτταρα διῃρημένα εἰς γένη, ἃ περιέχει τὸ πλῆθος τῶν λοιπῶν ζῴων, τά τε μαλάκια καὶ τὰ μαλακόστρακα καὶ τὰ ὀστρακόδερμα καὶ ἔτι τὰ ἔντομα, τούτων δὲ τὰ μὲν μαλάκια καὶ τὰ μαλακόστρακα καὶ τὰ ἔντομα ἔχει πάσας τὰς αἰσθήσεις·
But the remaining classes of animals are divided into four classes, which contain the multitude of the remaining animals: the molluscs, the malacostraca, the testaceans, and furthermore the insects.
καὶ γὰρ ὄψιν ἔχει καὶ ὄσφρησιν καὶ γεῦσιν.
Of these, the molluscs, the malacostraca, and the insects possess all the senses; for they have sight, smell, and taste.
Τά τε γὰρ ἔντομα ὄντα πόρρω συναισθάνεται, καὶ τὰ πτερωτὰ καὶ τὰ ἄπτερα, οἷον αἱ μέλιτται καὶ οἱ κνῖπες τοῦ μέλιτος· ἐκ πολλοῦ γὰρ αἰσθάνονται ὡς τῇ ὀσμῇ γινώσκοντα.
For insects, being far off, perceive things, both the winged and the wingless, as bees and cnipes perceive honey; for they perceive it from a long way off, as though knowing it by smell.
Καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ θείου ὀσμῆς πολλὰ ἀπόλλυται.
And many are destroyed by the smell of sulphur.
Ἔτι δ’ οἱ μύρμηκες ὑπ’ ὀριγάνου καὶ θείου περιπαττομένων λείων ἐκλείπουσι τὰς μυρμηκίας, καὶ ἐλαφείου κέρατος θυμιωμένου τὰ πλεῖστα φεύγει τῶν τοιούτων· μάλιστα δὲ φεύγουσι θυμιωμένου τοῦ στύρακος.
Furthermore, ants, when oregano and sulphur are ground smooth and sprinkled, leave their anthills; and when stag’s horn is fumigated, most of such creatures flee; and they flee especially when storax is fumigated.
Αἵ τε σηπίαι καὶ οἱ πολύποδες καὶ οἱ κάραβοι τοῖς δελέασιν ἁλίσκονται· καὶ οἵ γε πολύποδες οὕτω μὲν προσέχονται ὥστε μὴ ἀποσπᾶσθαι ἀλλ’ ὑπομένειν τεμνόμενοι, ἐὰν δέ τις κόνυζαν προσενέγκῃ, ἀφιᾶσιν εὐθέως ὀσμώμενοι.
Cuttlefishes, octopuses, and lobsters are caught by baits; and octopuses cling so fast that they are not torn away but endure being cut, but if anyone brings conyza near them, they let go immediately upon smelling it.
Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ γεύσεως· τήν τε γὰρ τροφὴν ἑτέραν διώκουσι, καὶ οὐ τοῖς αὐτοῖς πάντα χαίρει χυμοῖς, οἷον ἡ μέλιττα πρὸς οὐδὲν προσιζάνει σαπρὸν ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰ γλυκέα, ὁ δὲ κώνωψ πρὸς οὐδὲν γλυκὺ ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰ ὀξέα.
It is the same too with respect to taste; for they pursue different foods, and they do not all delight in the same tastes. For instance, the bee settles on nothing rotten but on sweet things, whereas the gnat settles on nothing sweet but on acid things.
Τὸ δὲ τῇ ἁφῇ αἰσθάνεσθαι, ὅπερ καὶ πρότερον εἴρηται, πᾶσιν ὑπάρχει τοῖς ζῴοις.
And perception by touch, as has been said before, belongs to all animals.
Τὰ δ’ ὀστρακόδερμα ὄσφρησιν μὲν καὶ γεῦσιν ἔχει, φανερὸν δ’ ἐκ τῶν δελεασμῶν, οἷον ἐπὶ τῆς πορφύρας· αὕτη γὰρ δελεάζεται τοῖς σαπροῖς, καὶ προσέρχεται πρὸς τὸ τοιοῦτον δέλεαρ ὡς αἴσθησιν ἔχουσα πόρρωθεν.
Testaceans have both smell and taste, as is clear from the baits, as for instance in the case of the purple-murex; for this is baited with rotten things, and approaches such bait as if having perception from afar.
Καὶ τῶν χυμῶν δὲ ὅτι αἴσθησιν ἔχει, φανερὸν ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν· πρὸς ἃ γὰρ διὰ τὰς ὀσμὰς προσέρχεται κρίνοντα, τούτων χαίρει καὶ τοῖς χυμοῖς ἕκαστα.
And that they have perception of tastes is clear from the same facts; for those things which they approach, distinguishing them by their smells, they each also delight in their tastes.
Ἔτι δὲ ὅσα ἔχει στόμα, χαίρει καὶ λυπεῖται τῇ τῶν χυμῶν ἅψει.
Furthermore, all those that have a mouth delight and are pained by the contact of tastes.
Περὶ δ’ ὄψεως καὶ ἀκοῆς βέβαιον μὲν οὐθέν ἐστιν οὐδὲ λίαν φανερόν, δοκοῦσι δ’ οἵ τε σωλῆνες, ἄν τις ψοφήσῃ, καταδύεσθαι, καὶ φεύγειν κατωτέρω, ὅταν αἴσθωνται τὸ σιδήριον προσιόν (ὑπερέχει γὰρ αὐτῶν μικρόν, τὸ δ’ ἄλλο ὥσπερ ἐν θαλάμῃ ἐστίν), καὶ οἱ κτένες, ἐάν τις προσφέρῃ τὸν δάκτυλον, χάσκουσι καὶ συμμύουσιν ὡς ὁρῶντες.
But concerning sight and hearing nothing is certain or very obvious, though the razor-fish seem, if anyone makes a noise, to sink down, and to flee lower down when they perceive the iron tool approaching (for a small part of them projects, while the rest is as it were in a hole), and the scallops, if anyone brings a finger near, open and shut as if seeing.
Καὶ τοὺς νηρείτας δ’ οἱ θηρεύοντες οὐ κατὰ πνεῦμα προσιόντες θηρεύουσιν, ὅταν θηρεύσωσιν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ δέλεαρ, οὐδὲ φθεγγόμενοι ἀλλὰ σιωπῶντες ὡς ὀσφραινομένων καὶ ἀκουόντων· ἐὰν δὲ φθέγγωνται, φασὶν ὑποφεύγειν αὐτούς.
And those who hunt the nerites do not approach them from the windward side when they hunt them into the bait, nor do they speak but keep silence, as though they smell and hear; and if they speak, they say that they escape.
Ἥκιστα δὲ τὴν ὄσφρησιν τῶν ὀστρακοδέρμων φαίνεται ἔχειν τῶν μὲν πορευτικῶν ἐχῖνος, τῶν δ’ ἀκινήτων τήθυα καὶ βάλανοι.
Of the testaceans, the sea-urchin seems to have the least sense of smell among the locomotive ones, and among the motionless ones, the ascidians and barnacles.
Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν αἰσθητηρίων τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον τοῖς ζῴοις πᾶσιν, περὶ δὲ φωνῆς τῶν ζῴων ὧδ’ ἔχει.
Concerning the sense organs, then, it is in this way for all animals, and concerning the voice of animals it is as follows.