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Aristotle · Parts of Animals §3.12.1-3.12.4

Differences in Liver and Spleen Across Animal Types

Passage 57 of 84 · Greek

Summary

Aristotle discusses the variations in visceral organs among different animals, focusing on the differences in the color and division of the liver among viviparous animals, birds, fish, and oviparous quadrupeds, as well as the correlation between the shape of the spleen and the structure of the feet (horned, split-toed, or solid-hoof).

§3.12.1ἕχουσι δʼ ἔνια μὲν τῶν ζῴων πάντα τὸν 12 ἀριθμὸν αὐτῶν, ἔνια δʼ οὐ πάντα·
12 Some animals have the full number of them, while others do not have them all; what these are and for what cause has been stated before.
ποῖα δὲ ταῦτα καὶ διὰ τίνʼ αἰτίαν, εἴρηται πρότερον καὶ τῶν ἐχόντων δὲ ταῦτα διαφέρουσιν· οὐ γὰρ ὁμοίας οὔτε τὰς καρδίας ἔχουσι πάντα τὰ ἔχοντα καρδίαν, οὔτε τῶν ἄλλων ὡς εἰπεῖν οὐδέν.
And even among those that have them, they differ; for not all those that have a heart have similar hearts, nor, so to speak, is any of the other viscera similar.
τό τε γὰρ ἧπαρ τοῖ μὲν πολυσχιδές ἐστι τοῖς δὲ μονοφυέστερον, πρῶτον αὐτῶν τῶν ἐναίμων καὶ ζῳοτόκων· ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ πρὸς ταύτα καὶ πρὸς ἄλληλα διαφέρει τά τε τῶν ἐχθύων καὶ τετραπόδων καὶ ᾠοτόκων.
For the liver is in some many-lobed, and in others more undivided, first of all among the red-blooded and viviparous animals themselves; and still more, both in comparison with these and with one another, do the livers of fish, and of quadrupeds that are oviparous, differ.
§3.12.2τὸ δὲ τῶν 2 ὀρνίθων μάλιστα προσεμφερὲς τῷ τῶν ζῳοτόκων ἐστὶν ἥπατι· καθαρὸν γὰρ καὶ ἔναιμον τὸ χρῶμα αὐτῶν ἐστὶ καθάπερ κἀκείνων.
2 And that of birds is most similar to the liver of the viviparous animals; for their color is clean and bloody, just like theirs.
αἴτιον δὲ τὸ τὰ σώματα τούτων εὐπνούστατα εἶναι καὶ μὴ πολλὴν ἔχειν φαύλην περίττωσιν.
And the cause is that their bodies are very well-ventilated and do not have much bad residue.
διόπερ ἔνια καὶ οὐκ ἔχεῖ χολήν τῶν ζῳοτόκων· τὸ γὰρ ἧπαρ συμβάλλεται πολὺ μέρος πρὸς εὐκρασίαν τοῦ σώματος καὶ ὑγίειαν· ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ αἵματι μάλιστα τὸ τούτων τέλος, τὸ δʼ ἧπαρ αἱματικώτατον μετὰ τὴν καρδίαν τῶν σπλάγχνων.
Therefore, even some of the viviparous animals do not have gall; for the liver contributes a great part to the good temperament and health of the body; for their end is especially in the blood, and the liver is the bloodiest of the viscera after the heart.
§3.12.3τὰ δὲ τῶν τετραπόδων καὶ ᾠοτόκων καὶ τῶν ἰχθύων 3 ἔνωχρα τῶν πλείστων, ἐνίων δὲ καὶ φαῦλα παντελῶς, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ σήματα φαύλης τετύχηκε κράσεως, οἷον φρύνης καὶ χελώνης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν τοιούτων.
3 And those of most of the quadrupeds that are oviparous, and of fishes, are 3 pale, and in some even utterly bad, just as their bodies too have happened to obtain a bad temperament, such as those of the toad, the tortoise, and other such animals.
§3.12.4σπλῆνα δʼ ἔχει τὰ μὲν κερατοφόρα καὶ 4 διχαλὰ στρογγύλον, καθάπερ αἴξ καὶ πρόβατον καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστον, εἰ μή τι διὰ μέγεθος εὐαυξέστερον ἔχει κατὰ μῆκος, οἷον ὁ τοῦ βοὸς πέπονθεν· τὰ δὲ πολυσχιδῆ πάντα μακρὸν, οἷον ὗς καὶ ἅνθρωπος καὶ κύων, τὰ δὲ μώνυχα μεταξὺ τούτων καὶ μικτόν· τῇ μὲν γὰρ πλατὺν ἔχει τῇ δὲ στενόν, οἷον ἵππος καὶ ὀρεὺς καὶ ὄνος.
4 And the horned and 4 cloven-hoofed animals have a round spleen, such as the goat, the sheep, and each of the others, unless indeed because of size it has it more grown in length, as has happened to that of the ox; but those with split feet all have it long, such as the pig, man, and dog; while the solid-hoofed animals have it intermediate and mixed between these; for in one part it is wide, and in another narrow, as in the horse, the mule, and the ass.

Notes

  1. 3.12.1τῶν ἐχόντων δὲ ταῦτα διαφέρουσιν — "And even among those that have them, they differ." The genitive participle `τῶν ἐχόντων` functions as a genitive of comparison with the verb `διαφέρουσιν`, referring to the animals that possess these viscera.
  2. 3.12.1ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα καὶ πρὸς ἄλληλα διαφέρει — "And still more, both in comparison with these and with one another, do they differ." The demonstrative pronoun `ταῦτα` in `πρὸς ταῦτα` refers back to the previously mentioned red-blooded and viviparous animals (or their livers).
  3. 3.12.3τὰ σήματα — The word `σήματα` (signs, marks) in the source text is likely a scribal error or variant for `σώματα` (bodies). Given the context of "obtaining a bad temperament (krasis)," and in light of other critical editions, it is best understood as `σώματα` and translated as "their bodies."

Cite this passage

Aristotle, Parts of Animals §3.12.1-3.12.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg030.humanitext-grc1:3.12.1-3.12.4

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