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Aristotle · Parts of Animals §4.1.1-4.1.6

Viscera of Oviparous Animals and Fish and Common Organs

Passage 62 of 84 · Greek

Summary

The author discusses the similarities and differences in the internal organs of oviparous quadrupeds, snakes, and fish, explaining the presence of lungs and bladders. He also explains how the elongated body shape of snakes affects the shape of their internal organs, and lists the organs common to all red-blooded animals.

§4.1.1Τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον ἔχει τὰ περὶ τὰ σπλάγχνα 1 καὶ τὴν κοιλίαν καὶ τῶν εἰρημένων μορίων ἕκαστον τοῖς τετραπόσι μὲν ᾠοτόκοις δὲ τῶν ζῴων καὶ τοῖς ἄποσιν, οἷον τοῖς ὄφεσιν.
And it is in the same way with respect to the internal organs 1 and the stomach, and each of the mentioned parts, in the egg-laying quadrupeds among animals, and in the footless ones, such as snakes.
καὶ γὰρ ἡ τῶν ὄφεων φύσις ἐστὶ συγγενὴς τούτοις· ὁμοία γάρ ἐστι σαύρῳ μακρῷ καὶ ἄποδι.
For indeed, the nature of snakes is akin to these; for a snake is like a long and footless lizard.
§4.1.2τούτοις δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἰχθύσι πάντα 2 παραπλήσια, πλὴν τὰ μὲν ἔχει πλεύμονα διὰ τὸ πεζεύειν, οἱ δʼ οὐκ ἔχουσιν, ἀλλὰ βράγχια ἀντὶ τοῦ πλεύμονος.
And in these and in fish, everything is 2 very similar, except that the former have a lung because they live on land, while the latter do not have one, but gills instead of a lung.
κύστιν δʼ οὐθʼ οἱ ἰχθύες ἔχουσιν οὔτε τούτων οὐδὲν πλὴν χελώνης· τρέπεται γὰρ εἰς τὰς φολίδας τὸ ὑγρὸν ὀλιγοπότων ὄντων διὰ τὴν ἀναιμότητα τοῦ πλεύμονος, καθάπερ τοῖς ὄρνισιν εἰς τὰ πτερά.
And as for a bladder, neither fish have it, nor any of these other animals except the tortoise; for, as they drink little, the fluid is diverted to the scales because of the bloodlessness of their lung, just as in birds it is diverted to the feathers.
§4.1.33 καὶ ἐπιλευκαίνει δὲ τὸ περίττωμα πᾶσι καὶ τούτοις, ὥσπερ καὶ τοῖς ὄρνισιν· διόπερ ἐν τοῖς ἔχουσι κύστιν ἐξελθόντος τοὺ περιττώματος ὑφίσταται ἁλμυρὶς γεώδης ἐν τοῖς ἀγγείοις· τὸ γὰρ γλυκὺ καὶ πότιμον ἀναλίσκεται διὰ κουφότητα εἰς τὰς σάρκας.
3 And the residue is whitish in all of these too, just as in birds; therefore, in those that have a bladder, after the residue has been discharged, an earthy, salty sediment remains in the vessels; for the sweet and potable portion is consumed, because of its lightness, into the flesh.
§4.1.44 τῶν δʼ ὄφεων οἱ ἔχεις πρὸς τοὺς ἅλλους ἔχουσι τὴν αὐτὴν διαφορὰν ἣν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσι τὰ σελάχη πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους· ζῳοτοκοῦσι γὰρ ἔξω καὶ τὰ σελάχη καὶ οἱ ἔχεις, ἐν αὐτοῖς ᾠοτοκήσαντα πρῶτον.
4 And among snakes, vipers have the same difference in relation to the others as among fish the selachians have in relation to the others; for both the selachians and the vipers produce live young externally, having first produced eggs internally.
μονοκοίλια δὲ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτά ἐστι, καθάπερ τἆλλα τὰ ἀμφώδοντα· καὶ σπλάγχνα δὲ πάμπαν μικρὰ ἔχει, ὥσπερ τἆλλα τὰ μὴ ἔχοντα κύστιν.
And all such animals are single-stomached, just like the other animals with teeth in both jaws; and they have very small internal organs, just like the others that do not have a bladder.
§4.1.55 οἱ δʼ ὄφεις διὰ τὴν τού σήματος μορφὴν, οὖσαν μακρὰν καὶ στενήν, καὶ τὰ σχήματα τῶν σπλάγχνων ἔχουσι διὰ ταῦτα μακρὰ καὶ τοῖς τῶν ἅλλων ζῴων ἀνόμοια, διὰ τὸ καθάπερ ἐν τύπῳ τὰ σχήματʼ αὐτῶν πλασθῆναι διὰ τὸν τόπον.
5 And snakes, because of the shape of their body, which is long and narrow, also have on this account the shapes of their internal organs long and unlike those of other animals, because their shapes are molded, as if in a mold, owing to the space.
§4.1.66 ἐπίπλοον δὲ καὶ μεσεντέριον καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν τῶν ἐντέρων φύσιν, ἔτι δὲ τὸ διάζωμα καὶ τὴν καρδίαν πάντʼ ἔχει τὰ ἔναιμα τῶν ζῴων, πλεύμονα δὲ καὶ ἀρτηρίαν πάντα πλὴν τῶν ἰχθύων.
6 And all red-blooded animals have an omentum, a mesentery, and the parts associated with the nature of the intestines, as well as the diaphragm and the heart; and all except fish have a lung and a windpipe.
καὶ τὴν θέσιν δὲ τῆς ἀρτηρίας καὶ τοῦ οἰσοφάγου πάντα τὰ ἔχοντα ὁμοίως ἔχει διὰ τὰς εἰρημένας αἰτίας πρότερον.
And all those that have them have the position of the windpipe and the esophagus in a similar way, for the reasons mentioned before.

Notes

  1. 4.1.1Τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον ἔχει — Used intransitively with the adverbial accusative τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ('in the same way'). The subject is τὰ περὶ τὰ σπλάγχνα..., while the dative τοῖς τετραπόσι... functions as a dative of relation or possession.
  2. 4.1.4ᾠοτοκήσαντα — An aorist participle in the neuter plural. It modifies two coordinated subjects of different genders: the masculine plural οἱ ἔχεις (vipers) and the neuter plural τὰ σελάχη (selachians). The neuter plural is used either to agree with the nearer subject or as a general default gender for mixed groups.
  3. 4.1.6ἀρτηρίαν — The term ἀρτηρία in ancient Greek anatomical contexts refers to the windpipe (trachea), rather than what is modernly called an 'artery.' It was named so because it was believed to carry air (pneuma).

Cite this passage

Aristotle, Parts of Animals §4.1.1-4.1.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg030.humanitext-grc1:4.1.1-4.1.6

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