§4.5.3030 καὶ παρασκευάζει κινητικωτέρους ἡ τῆς φύσεως θερμότης, ὥστε νέμεσθαι καὶ μὴ μένειν ἑδραίους.
30 And the heat of nature makes them more mobile, so that they feed and do not remain stationary.
σημεῖον δὲ τούτου τὸ ἔχειν τοὺς τοιούτους ἀεί τι ἐπὶ τῶν ἀκανθῶν ὡς κινουμένους πυκνά· χρῶνται γὰρ ποσὶ ταῖς ἀκάνθαις.
A sign of this is that such urchins always have something on their spines, as they move frequently; for they use their spines as feet.
§4.5.3131 τὰ δὲ τήθυα μικρὸν τῶν φυτῶν διαφέρει τὴν φύσιν, ὅμως δὲ ζωτικώτερα τῶν σπόγγων· οὗτοι γὰρ πάμπαν ἔχουσι φυτοῦ δύναμιν.
31 The ascidians differ little from plants in their nature, yet they have more life than sponges; for the latter have entirely the power of a plant.
ἡ γὰρ φύσις μεταβαίνει συνεχῶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀψύχων εἰς τὰ ζῷα διὰ τῶν ζώντων μὲν οὐκ ὄντων δὲ ζῴων, σὕτως ὥστε δοκεῖν πάμπαν μικρὸν διαφέρειν θατέρου θάτερον τῷ σύνεγγυς ἀλλήλοις.
For Nature passes continuously from inanimate objects to animals through things that live but are not animals, so that one seems to differ extremely little from another on account of their being close to each other.
§4.5.3232 ὁ μὲν οὖν σπόγγος, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, καὶ τῷ ζῆν προσπεφυκὼς μόνον, ἀπολυθεὶς δὲ μὴ ζῆν, ὁμοίως ἔχει τοῖς φυτοῖς παντελῶς· τὰ δὲ καλούμενα ὁλσθούρια καὶ οἱ πνεύμονες, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἕτερα τοιαῦτʼ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ μικρὸν διαφέρει τούτων τῷ ἀπολελύσθαι· αἴσθησιν μὲν γὰρ οὐδεμίαν ἔχει, ζῇ δʼ ὥσπερ ὄντα φυτὰ ἀπολελυμένα.
32 Now the sponge, as has been said, is entirely similar to plants, both in living only by being attached, and in not living when detached; whereas the so-called holothurians and sea-lungs, and other such things in the sea, differ little from these in being detached; for they have no sensation, but live just like detached plants.
§4.5.3333 ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐπιγείοις φυτοῖς ἔνια τοιαῦτα, ἃ καὶ ζῇ καὶ γίνεται τὰ μὲν ἐν ἑτέροις φυτοῖς, τὰ δὲ καὶ ἀπολελυμένας, οἷον καὶ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Παρνασσοῦ καλούμενον ὑπό τινων ἐπίπετρον· τοῦτο γὰρ ζῇ πολὺν χρόνον κρεμάμενον ἄνω ἐπὶ τῶν παττάλων.
33 And even among land plants there are some such things, which both live and arise, some in other plants, and others even when detached, such as the plant from Parnassus called by some 'epipetron'; for this lives for a long time hung up on pegs.
§4.5.3434 ἔστι δ᾿ ὅτε καὶ τὰ τήθυα, καὶ εἴ τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον γένος τῷ μὲν προσπεφυκὸς ζῆν μόνον φυτῷ παραπλήσιον, τῷ δʼ ἔχειν τι σαρκῶδες δόξειεν ἂν ἔχειν τιν αἴσθησιν· ἄδηλον δὲ τοῦτο ποτέρως θετέον.
34 And sometimes the ascidians, and any other such genus, might seem to have some sensation, on the one hand in being similar to a plant by living only when attached, and on the other hand in having something fleshy; but it is unclear in which way this should be placed.
ἔχει δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ζῷον δύο πόρους καὶ μίαν διαίρεσιν, ᾗ τε δέχεται τὴν ὑγρότητα τὴν εἰς τροφήν, καὶ ᾗ πάλιν διαπέμπει τὴν ὑπολειπομένην ἰκμάδα· περίττωμα γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστι δῆλον ἔχον, ὥσπερ τἆλλα τὰ ὀστρακόδερμα.
And this animal has two passages and one division, by one of which it receives the moisture for food, and by the other it sends out again the remaining fluid; for it has no apparent residue, unlike the other testaceans.
διὸ μάλιστα καὶ τοῦτο, κἂν εἴ τι ἄλλο τοιοῦτον τῶν ζῴων, φυτικὸν δίκαιον καλεῖν· οὐδὲ γὰρ τῶν φυτῶν οὐδὲν ἔχει περίττωμα.
Therefore, it is most just to call this, and any other such animal, plant-like; for none of the plants has any residue either.
διὰ μέσου δὲ λεπτὸν διάζωμα, ἐν ᾧ τὸ κύριον ὑπάρχειν εὔλογον τῆς ζωῆς.
And in the middle there is a thin partition, in which it is reasonable that the governing principle of life resides.
§4.5.35ἃς δὲ καλοῦσιν οἱ μὲν κνίδας οἱ δʼ ἀκαλήφας, 35 ἔστι μὲν οὐκ ὀστρακόδερμα, ἀλλʼ ἔξω πίπτει τῶν διῃρημένων γενῶν, ἐπαμφοτερίζει δὲ τοῦτο καὶ φυτῷ καὶ ζῴῳ τὴν φύσιν.
35 What some call cnidae and others acalephae are not testaceans, but fall outside of the defined genera; yet this shares in the nature of both plant and animal.
τῷ μὲν γὰρ ἀπολύεσθαι καὶ προσπίπτειν πρὸς τὴν τροφὴν ἐνίας αὐτῶν ζῳικόν ἐστι, καὶ τῷ αἰσθάνεσθαι τάν προσπιπτόντων· ἔτι δὲ τῇ τοῦ σήματος τραχύτητι χρῆται πρὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν·
For, on the one hand, that some of them detach themselves and leap upon their food, and that they perceive things that fall upon them, is animal-like; and further, that they use the roughness of their body for their safety.
τῷ δʼ ἀτελὲς εἶναι καὶ προσφύεσθαι ταχέως ταῖς πέτραις τῷ γένει τῶν φυτῶν παραπλήσιον, καὶ τῷ περίττωμα μηδὲν ἔχειν φανερόν, στόμα δʼ ἔχειν.
On the other hand, in being undeveloped and in attaching themselves quickly to rocks, they are close to the genus of plants, and also in having no apparent residue, though they do have a mouth.
§4.5.36ὅμοιον δὲ τούτῳ καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀστέρων ἐστὶ γένος· καὶ 36 γὰρ τοῦτο προσπῖπτον ἐκχυμίζει πολλὰ τῶν ὀστρέων, τοῖς τ᾿ ἀπολελυμένοις τῶν εἰρημένων ζῴων, οἷον τοῖς τε μαλακίοις καὶ τοῖς μαλακοστράκοις.
36 And the genus of starfish is similar to this; for this also, falling upon them, sucks out many of the oysters, and is similar to those of the aforementioned animals that are detached, such as the molluscs and the malacostracans.
ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς λόγος καὶ περὶ τῶν ὀστρακοδέρμων.
And the same account holds also concerning the testaceans.
§4.5.37τὰ μὲν οὖν μόρια 37 τὰ περὶ τὴν τροφὴν, ἅπερ ἀναγκαῖον πᾶσιν ὑπάρχειν, ἔχει τὸν προειρημένον τρόπον, δεῖ δὲ δη`λονότι καὶ τῶν τοῖς ἐναίμοις ὑπαρχόντων κατὰ τὸ κύριον τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἔχειν ἀνάλογόν τι μόριον· τοῦτο γὰρ δεῖ πᾶσιν ὑπάρχειν τοῖς ζῴοις.
37 Now the parts concerning food, which must necessarily belong to all, are in the aforementioned state; but clearly they must also have some part analogous to what belongs to blooded animals in respect of the governing principle of the senses; for this must belong to all animals.
ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο τοῖς μὲν μαλακίοις ἐν ὑμένι κείμενον ὑγρόν, διʼ οὗπερ ὁ στόμαχος τέταται πρὸς τὴν κοιλίαν, προσπέφυκε δὲ πρὸς τὰ πρανῆ μᾶλλον, καὶ καλεῖται μύτις ὑπό τινων.
And in the molluscs, this is a fluid situated in a membrane, through which the esophagus extends to the stomach, and it is attached more to the dorsal parts, and is called 'mytis' by some.