§4.9#2ἔστι δὲ πιεστὰ ὅσα ὠθούμενα εἰς αὐτὰ συνιέναι δύναται, εἰς βάθος τοῦ ἐπιπέδου παραλλάττοντος, οὐ διαιρουμένου, καὶ μὴ μεθισταμένου ἄλλου ἄλλῳ μορίου, οἶον τὸ ὕδωρ ποιεῖ·
And squeezable are those which, when pushed, can contract into themselves, with the surface displacing into depth, without being divided, and without one part exchanging place with another, which is what water does; for water mutually exchanges places.
τοῦτο γὰρ ἀντιμεθίσταται. ἔστι δὲ ὦσις ἡ κίνησις ὑπὸ τοῦ κινοῦντος, ἣ γίγνεται ἀπὸ τῆς ἅψεως· πληγὴ δέ, ὅταν ἀπὸ τῆς φορᾶς.
And pushing is the movement by the mover, which arises from contact; and striking is when it arises from impulse.
πιέζεται δὲ ὅσα πόρους ἔχει κενοὺς συγγενοῦς σώματος· καὶ πιεστὰ ταῦτα ὅσα δύναται εἰς τὰ ἑαυτῶν κενὰ συνιέναι ἢ εἰς τοὺς ἑαυτῶν πόρους· οἷον ὁ βεβρεγμένος σπόγγος (πλήρεις γὰρ αὐτοῦ οἱ πόροι), ἀλλʼ ἂν ἂν οἱ πόροι πλήρεις ὦσι μαλακωτέρων ἢ αὐτὸ τὸ πεφυκὸς συνιέναι εἰς αὐτά.
And those things are squeezed which have pores empty of akin body; and those are squeezable which can contract into their own empty spaces or into their own pores; for example, the wet sponge (for its pores are full), but if the pores are full of things softer than that which is naturally disposed to contract into them.
πιεστὰ μὲν οὖν ἐστιν οἷον σπόγγος, κηρός, σάρξ· ἀπίεστα δὲ τὰ μὴ πεφυκότα συνιέναι ὤσει εἰς τοὺς ἑαυτῶν πόρους διὰ τὸ ἢ μὴ ἔχειν ἢ σκληροτέρων ἔχειν πλήρεις· ὁ γὰρ σίδηρος ἀπίεστος καὶ λίθος καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ πᾶν ὑγρόν.
Squeezable, then, are such things as sponge, wax, and flesh; whereas unsqueezable are those which are not naturally disposed to contract by pushing into their own pores, either because they do not have pores or because they have them full of harder things; for iron is unsqueezable, as well as stone, water, and every liquid.
ἑλκτὰ δʼ ἐστὶν ὅσων δυνατὸν εἰς τὸ πλάγιον μεθίστασθαι τὸ ἐπίπεδον· τὸ γὰρ ἕλκεσθαί ἐστι τὸ ἐπὶ τὸ κινοῦν μεθίστασθαι τὸ ἐπίπεδον συνεχὲς ὄν.
And tractile are those whose surface is capable of being displaced sideways; for being stretched is for the surface, while remaining continuous, to be displaced towards that which moves it.
ἔστιν δὲ τὰ μὲν ἑλκτά, οἷον θρίξ, ἱμάς, νεῦρον, σταίς, ἰξός, τὰ δʼ ἄνελκτα, οἷον ὕδωρ καὶ λίθος.
And some are tractile, like hair, a strap, a sinew, dough, and birdlime, while others are untractile, like water and stone.
τὰ μὲν οὖν ταὐτά ἐστιν ἑλκτὰ καὶ πιεστά, οἷον ἔριον, τὰ δʼ οὐ ταὐτά, οἷον φλέγμα πιεστὸν μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν, ἑλκτὸν δέ, καὶ ὁ σπόγγος πιεστὸν μέν, οὐχ ἑλκτὸν δέ.
Therefore, some things are both tractile and squeezable, like wool, while others are not both, like phlegm, which is not squeezable but is tractile, and sponge, which is squeezable but not tractile.
ἔστιν δὲ καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐλατά, οἶον χαλκός, τὰ δʼ ἀνήλατα, οἷον λίθος καὶ ξύλον.
And also some things are malleable, like bronze, while others are unmalleable, like stone and wood.
ἔστιν δʼ ἐλατὰ μὲν ὅσα τῇ αὐτῇ πληγῇ δύναται ἄμα καὶ εἰς πλάτος καὶ εἰς βάθος τὸ ἐπίπεδον μεθίστασθαι κατὰ μέρος, ἀνήλατα δὲ ὅσα ἀδύνατα.
And malleable are those whose surface is capable, by one and the same blow, of being displaced in part both in breadth and in depth at the same time, while unmalleable are those which are incapable of this.
ἔστιν δὲ τὰ μὲν ἐλατὰ ἅπαντα καὶ θλαστά, τὰ δὲ θλαστὰ οὐ πάντα ἐλατά, οἷον ξύλον· ὡς μέντοι ἐπίπαν εἰπεῖν, ἀντιστρέφει.
And all malleable things are also impressible, but not all impressible things are malleable, like wood; however, generally speaking, the relation is reciprocal.
τῶν δὲ πιεστῶν τὰ μὲν ἐλατὰ τὰ δʼ οὔ, κηρὸς μὲν καὶ πηλὸς ἐλατά, ἔριον δʼ οὔ οὐδʼ ὕδωρ].
And of squeezable things, some are malleable and others are not: wax and clay are malleable, but wool is not [nor is water].
ἔστιν δὲ καὶ τὰ μὲν σχιστά, οἶον ξύλον, τὰ δὲ ἄσχιστα, οἷον κέραμος.
And some things are fissile, like wood, while others are non-fissile, like pottery.
ἔστιν δὲ σχιστὸν τὸ δυνάμενον διαιρεῖσθαι ἐπὶ πλέον ἢ τὸ διαιροῦν διαιρεῖ· σχίζεται γάρ, ὅταν ἐπὶ πλέον διαιρῆται ἢ τὸ διαιροῦν διαιρεῖ, καὶ προηγεῖται ἡ διαίρεσις· ἐν δὲ τῇ τμήσει οὐκ ἔστιν τοῦτο.
And splittable is that which is capable of being divided further than the dividing tool divides it; for a thing is split when it is divided further than the dividing tool divides it, and the division runs ahead; whereas in cutting, this does not happen.
ἄσχιστα δὲ ὅσα μὴ δύνανται τοῦτο πάσχειν.
And non-splittable are all those which cannot undergo this.
ἔστιν δὲ οὔτε μαλακὸν οὐδὲν σχιστὸν (λέγω δὲ τῶν ἀπλῶς μαλακῶν καὶ μὴ πρὸς ἄλληλα· οὕτω μὲν γὰρ καὶ σίδηρος ἔσται μαλακός) οὔτε τὰ σκληρὰ πάντα, ἀλλʼ ὅσα μήτε ὑγρά ἐστιν μήτε θλαστὰ μήτε θραυστά· τοιαῦτα δʼ ἐστὶν ὅσα κατὰ μῆκος ἔχει τοὺς πόρους, καθʼ οὓς προσφύεται ἀλλήλοις, ἀλλὰ μὴ κατὰ πλάτος.
And no soft thing is splittable (I mean of those which are absolutely soft, and not relatively to one another; for in that way even iron will be soft), nor are all hard things splittable, but only those which are neither liquid nor impressible nor shatterable; and such are those which have their pores in length, along which they adhere to one another, but not in breadth.
τμητὰ δ᾿ ἐστὶν τῶν συνεστώτων σκληρῶν ἢ μαλακῶν ὅσα δύναται μήτʼ ἐξ ἀνάγκης προηγεῖσθαι τῆς διαιρέσεως μήτε θραύεσθαι διαιρούμενα· ὅσα δὲ μὴ ὑγρὰ ᾖ, τὰ τοιαῦτα ἄτμητα.
And cuttable are those of the consolidated hard or soft bodies which, when being divided, can do so without the division necessarily running ahead, and without being shattered when they are divided; and those which are not liquid, and are not of this kind, are uncuttable.
ἔνια δʼ ἐστὶν ταὐτὰ καὶ τμητὰ καὶ σχιστά, οἷον ξύλον· ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ σχιστὸν μὲν κατὰ τὸ μῆκος, τμητὸν δὲ κατὰ τὸ πλάτος·
And some things are both cuttable and splittable, like wood; but for the most part, a thing is splittable along its length, and cuttable along its breadth.
ἐπεὶ γὰρ διαιρεῖται ἕκαστον εἰς πολλά, ἧ μὲν μήκη πολλὰ τὸ ἕν, σχιστὸν ταύτῃ, ᾗ δὲ πλάτη πολλὰ τὸ ἕν, τμητὸν ταύτῃ.
For since each is divided into many parts, in so far as the one becomes many lengths, it is splittable in this direction, and in so far as the one becomes many breadths, it is cuttable in this direction.
γλίσχρον δʼ ἐστὶν ὅταν ἑλκτὸν ᾖ ὑγρὸν ὂν ἢ μαλακόν.
And viscous is when a thing is tractile, being liquid or soft.
τοιοῦτον δὲ γίγνεται τῇ ἐπαλλάξει ὅσα ὥσπερ αἱ ἀλύσεις σύγκεινται τῶν σωμάτων· ταῦτα γὰρ ἐπὶ πολὺ δύναται ἐκτείνεσθαι καὶ συνιέναι.
And such a character arises from the interlocking of those bodies which are composed like chains; for these can stretch out and contract to a great extent.
ὅσα δὲ μὴ τοιαῦτα, ψαθυρὰ.
But those which are not such are brittle.
πιλητὰ δʼ ὅσα τῶν πιεστῶν μόνιμον ἔχει τὴν πίεσιν, ἀπίλητα δὲ ὅσα ἢ ὅλως ἀπίεστα μὴ μόνιμον ἔχει τὴν πίεσιν.
And condensable are those of the squeezable things which retain their compression permanently; and uncondensable are those which are either entirely unsqueezable or do not retain their compression permanently.