§4.11.111 Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἐναίμων ζῴων καὶ ζῳοτόκων καὶ πεζῶν εἴρηται σχεδὸν περὶ πάντων· τῶν δʼ ἐναίμων ζῴων ᾠοτόκων δὲ τὰ μέν ἐστι τετράποδα τὰ δʼ ἄποδα.
11 So, almost all has been said about blooded, viviparous, and land animals; but of blooded and oviparous animals, some are quadrupeds and others are footless.
τοιοῦτον δʼ ἓν μόνον γένος ἐστὶν ἅπουν, τὸ τῶν ὄφεων· ἡ δʼ αἰτία τῆς ἀποδίας αὐτῶν εἴρηται ἐν τοῖς περὶ τῆς πορείας τῶν ζῴων διωρισμένοις.
There is only one such footless genus, that of snakes; and the cause of their footlessness has been stated in the determinations in 'On the Progression of Animals'.
τὰ δʼ ἄλλα παραπγησίαν ἔχει τὴν μορφὴν τοῖς τετράποσι καὶ ζῳοτόκοις.
The others have a form very similar to that of quadrupeds and viviparous animals.
§4.11.2ἔχει δὲ τὰ ζῷα ταῦτα κεφαλὴν μὲν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ μόρια διὰ τὰς αὐτὰς αἰτίας τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς ἐναίμοις ζῴοις, καὶ γλῶτταν ἐν τῷ στόματι πλὴν τοῦ ποταμίου κροκοδείλου· οὗτος δʼ οὐκ ἂν δόξειεν ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ τὴν χώραν μόνον.
These animals have a head and the parts in it for the same causes as the other blooded animals, and they have a tongue in their mouth, except for the river crocodile; this animal would not seem to have one, but only its place.
§4.11.33 αἴτίον δʼ ὅτι τρόπον μέν τινα ἅμα χερσαῖος καὶ ἔνυδρός ἐστιν· διὰ μὲν οὖν τὸ χερσαῖος εἶναι ἔχει χώραν γλώττης, διὰ δὲ τὸ ἕνυδρος ἄγλωττος.
3 And the cause is that in a certain way he is at once terrestrial and aquatic; thus, by being terrestrial he has a place for a tongue, but by being aquatic he is tongueless.
οἱ γὰρ ἐχθύες, καθάπερ εἴρηται πρότερον, οἱ μὲν οὐ δοκοῦσιν ἔχειν, ἂν μὴ σφόδρα ἀνακλίνῃ τις, οἱ δʼ ἀδιάρθρωτον ἔχουσιν.
For fish, as has been said before, some do not seem to have one unless one bends them back very far, while others have an indistinctly articulated one.
§4.11.44 αἴττιον δʼ ὅτι ὀλίγη ἦν χρεία τούτοις τῆς γλώττης διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐνδέχεσθαι μασᾶσθαι μηδὲ προγεύεσθαι, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν τῇ καταπόσει γίνεσθαι τὴν αἴσθησιν καὶ τὴν ἡδονὴν πάσι τούτοις τῆς τροφῆς.
4 And the cause is that there was little need of a tongue for them because they cannot chew or taste beforehand, but the sensation and pleasure of food for all these arises in deglutition.
ἡ μὲν γὰρ γλῶττα τῶν χυμῶν ποιεῖ τὴν αἴσθησιν, τῶν δὲ ἐδεστῶν ἐν τῇ καθόδῳ ἡ ἡδονή· καταπινομένων γὰρ αἰσθάνονται τῶν λιπαρῶν καὶ θερμῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν τοιούτων.
For while the tongue produces the sensation of flavors, the pleasure of solid foods is in their passage down; for they perceive fatty and hot things and others of this kind as they are swallowed.
§4.11.5ἔχει 5 μὲν οὖν καὶ τὰ ζῳοτόκα ταύτην τὴν αἴσθησιν, καὶ σχεδὸν τῶν πλείστων ὄψων καὶ ἐδεστῶν ἐν τῇ καταπόσει τῇ τάσει τοῦ οἰσοφάγου γίνεται ἡ χάρις.
5 Indeed, viviparous animals also have this sensation, and for almost most dainties and foods, the pleasure arises in deglutition through the stretching of the esophagus.
διὸ οὐχ οἱ αὐτοὶ περὶ τὰ πόματα καὶ τοὺς χυμοὺς ἀκρατεῖς εἰσὶ καὶ τὰ ὄ ψα καὶ τὴν ἐδωδήν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ζῴοις καὶ ἡ κατὰ τὴν γεῦσιν ὑπάρχει αἴσθησις, ἐκείνοις δʼ ὡσπερανεὶ ἡ ἑτέρα.
Wherefore the same people are not incontinent with respect to drinks and flavors and with respect to dainties and food; but while other animals have also the sensation according to taste, those others have as it were only the other one.
§4.11.6τῶν δὲ τετραπόδων 6 καὶ ᾠοτόκων οἱ σαῦροι, ὥσπερ οἱ ὄφεις, δικρόαν ἔχουσι τὴν γλῶτταν καὶ ἐπʼ ἄκρου τριχώδη πάμπαν, καθάπερ εἴρηται πρότερον.
6 Among quadrupeds that are oviparous, lizards, like snakes, have a forked tongue which is entirely hair-like at the tip, as has been said before.
ἔχουσι δὲ καὶ αί φῶκαιδικρόαν τὴν γλῶτταν· διὸ καὶ λίχνα πάντα τὰ ζῷά ἐστι ταῦτα.
And seals also have a forked tongue; wherefore all these animals are greedy.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ καρχαρόδοντα τὰ τετράποδα τῶν ᾠοτόκων, ὥσπερ οἱ ίχθύες.
And the oviparous quadrupeds are also sharp-toothed, like fish.
τὰ δʼ αἰσθητήρια πάντα ὁμοίως ἔχουσι τοῖς ἄλίοις ζῴοις, οἷον τῆς ὀσφρήσεως μυκτῆρας καὶ ὄψεως ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ ἀκοῆς ὦτα, πλὴν οὐκ ἐπανεστηκότα, καθάπερ οὐδʼ οἱ ὄρνιθες, ἀλλὰ τὸν πόρον μόνον.
And they have all their sense organs in the same way as other animals: for instance, nostrils for smell, eyes for sight, and ears for hearing—except they are not prominent, just as with birds, but they have only the passage.
§4.11.7αἴτιον 7 δʼ ἀμφοτέροις ἡ τοῦ δέρματος σκληρότης· τὰ μὲν γὰρ πτερωτὰ αὐτῶν ἐστί, ταῦτα δὲ πάντα φολιδωτά, ἔστι δʼ ἡ φολὶς ὅμοιον χώρᾳ λεπίδος, φύσει δὲ σκληρότερον.
7 And the cause for both is the hardness of the skin; for the ones are feathered, while these are all horny-scaled, and the horny scale is similar in position to a fish-scale, but harder by nature.
δηλοῖ δʼ ἐπὶ τῶν χελωνῶν τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μεγάλων ὄφεων καὶ τάν ποταμίων κροκοδείλων· ἰσχυρότεραι γὰρ γίνονται τῶν ὀστῶν ὡς οὖσαι τοιαῦται τὴν φύσιν.
This is clear in the case of tortoises, large snakes, and river crocodiles; for they become stronger than bones, being of such a nature.
οὐκ ἔχουσι δὲ τὰ ζῷα ταῦτα τὴν ἄνω βλεφαρίδα, ὥσπερ οὐδʼ οἱ ὄρυιθες, ἀλλὰ τῇ κάτω μύουσι διὰ τὴν αἰτίαν τὴν εἰρημένην ἐπ᾿ ἐκείνων.
And these animals do not have the upper eyelid, just like birds, but they close with the lower one for the cause mentioned in the case of those.