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Aristotle · Parts of Animals §3.15.1-3.15.3

Presence of Rennet and Its Formation in the Omasum

Passage 61 of 84 · Greek

Summary

The passage explains the presence of rennet in all multi-stomached animals and specifically in the hare among single-stomached animals, detailing its location in the omasum and how milk density and dietary juices affect coagulation.

§3.15.1Ἔχουσι δὲ τὴν καλουμένην πυετίαν τὰ μὲν πολυκοίλια 15 πάντα, τῶν δὲ μονοκοιλίων δασύπους.
15 All multi-stomached animals have what is called rennet, and of the single-stomached animals, the hare has it.
ἔχει δὲ τὰ ἔχοντα τῶν πολυκοιλίων τὴν πυετίαν οὔτʼ ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ κοιλία οὔτʼ ἐν τῷ κεκρυφάλῳ οὔτʼ ἐν τῷ τελευταίῳ τῷ ἠνύστρῳ, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ μεταξύ τοῦ τελευταίου καὶ δύο τῶν πρώτων, ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ ἐχίνῳ.
And those of the multi-stomached animals that have it, have the rennet neither in the large stomach nor in the reticulum nor in the last stomach, the abomasum, but in the intermediate part between the last and the first two, in what is called the omasum.
§3.15.2ἔχει δὲ ταῦτα πάντα πυετίαν διὰ τὴν παχύτητα 2 τοῦ γάλακτος· τὰ δὲ μονοκοίλια οὐκ ἔχει, λεπτὸν γὰρ τὸ γάλα τῶν μονοκοιλίων.
2 And all these have rennet because of the thickness of their milk; but the single-stomached animals do not have it, for the milk of single-stomached animals is thin.
διὸ τῶν μὲν κερατοφόρων πήγνυται, τῶν δʼ ἀκεράτων οὐ πήγνυται τὸ γάλα.
Therefore, the milk of horned animals coagulates, but that of hornless animals does not.
§3.15.3τῷ δὲ δασύποδι γίνεται πυετία διὰ τὸ νέμεσθαι 3 ὀπώδη πόαν· ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος χυμὸς συνίστησιν ἐν τῇ κοιλία τὸ γάλα τοῖς ἐμβρύοις.
3 But in the hare, rennet arises because of its feeding on sap-rich grass; for such juice coagulates the milk in the stomach for the embryos.
διότι δὲ τῶν πολυκοιλίων ἐν τῷ ἐχίνῳ γίνεται ἡ πυετία, εἴρηται ἐν τοῖς προβλήμασιν.
Why the rennet in multi-stomached animals arises in the omasum has been stated in the Problems.

Notes

  1. 3.15.1τὰ ἔχοντα τῶν πολυκοιλίων — The participle with article τὰ ἔχοντα ('those that have') is modified by the partitive genitive τῶν πολυκοιλίων ('of the multi-stomached animals'). Although the previous sentence states that all multi-stomached animals have it, this phrase specifies the subject within that class.
  2. 3.15.3διὰ τὸ νέμεσθαι — The preposition διά governs the articular infinitive in the accusative (tò némesthai) to express cause ('because of [its] feeding on'). The verb némomai is deponent, taking an active meaning ('to feed, graze'). The subject of the infinitive is omitted because it is identical to the dative subject of the main clause, tōi dasypodi.
  3. 3.15.3τοῖς ἐμβρύοις — Dative of interest (dativus commodi), meaning 'for the embryos' or 'in the case of the embryos'. It indicates that the juice from the grass coagulates the milk within the embryos (or for their benefit).

Cite this passage

Aristotle, Parts of Animals §3.15.1-3.15.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg030.humanitext-grc1:3.15.1-3.15.3

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