§14Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δ’ οὐ καλῶς τοῦτ’ εἴρηκε, φάσκων τὰ θερμότατα καὶ πῦρ ἔχοντα πλεῖστον τῶν ζῴων ἔνυδρα εἶναι, φεύγοντα τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ἐν τῇ φύσει θερμότητος, ὅπως ἐπειδὴ τοῦ ψυχροῦ καὶ τοῦ ὑγροῦ ἐλλείπει, κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἀνασώζηται ἐναντία ὄντα· θερμὸν γὰρ εἶναι τὸ ὑγρὸν ἧττον τοῦ ἀέρος.
But Empedocles has not said this well, claiming that those of the animals that are warmest and have the most fire are aquatic, fleeing the excess of heat in their nature, so that, since they lack cold and wet, they may be preserved by the place which is opposite to them; for the liquid is less hot than the air.
Ὅλως μὲν οὖν ἄτοπον πῶς ἐνδέχεται γενόμενον ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ ξηρῷ μεταβάλλειν τὸν τόπον εἰς τὸ ὑγρόν· σχεδὸν γὰρ καὶ ἄποδα τὰ πλεῖστα αὐτῶν ἐστίν.
Now, on the whole, it is absurd how it is possible for each of them, having come to be on the dry land, to change its place to the liquid; for almost most of them are footless.
Ὁ δὲ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτῶν σύστασιν λέγων γενέσθαι μὲν ἐν τῷ ξηρῷ φησί, φεύγοντα δ’ ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὸ ὑγρόν.
But he, speaking of their original constitution, says that they came to be on the dry land, but fled and came into the liquid.
Ἔτι δ’ οὔτε φαίνεται θερμότερα ὄντα τῶν πεζῶν· τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄναιμα πάμπαν, τὰ δ’ ὀλίγαιμα αὐτῶν ἐστίν.
Furthermore, they do not even appear to be hotter than land animals; for some of them are entirely bloodless, and others have little blood.
Ἀλλὰ ποῖα μὲν δεῖ λέγειν θερμὰ καὶ ψυχρά, καθ’ αὑτὰ τὴν ἐπίσκεψιν εἴληφεν·
But as to what kinds of things should be called hot and cold, this has received investigation by itself.
περὶ δ’ ἧς αἰτίας εἴρηκεν Ἐμπεδοκλῆς, τῇ μὲν ἔχει τὸ ζητούμενον λόγον, οὐ μὴν ὅ γε φησὶν ἐκεῖνος ἀληθές.
But concerning the cause of which Empedocles spoke, in one way the question has a reasonable point, yet what he says is certainly not true.
Τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἕξεων τὰς ὑπερβολὰς ἔχοντας οἱ ἐναντίοι τόποι καὶ ὧραι σώζουσιν, ἡ δὲ φύσις ἐν τοῖς οἰκείοις σώζεται μάλιστα τόποις.
For while opposite places and seasons preserve those that have excesses of states, nature is preserved most of all in its own proper places.
Οὐ γὰρ ταὐτὸν ἥ θ’ ὕλη τῶν ζῴων ἐξ ἧς ἐστὶν ἕκαστον, καὶ αἱ ἕξεις καὶ διαθέσεις αὐτῆς.
For the matter of the animals from which each is constituted is not the same as its states and dispositions.
Λέγω δ’ οἷον εἴ τι ἐκ κηροῦ συστήσειεν ἡ φύσις, οὐκ ἂν ἐν θερμῷ θεῖσα διέσωσεν, οὐδ’ εἴ τι ἐκ κρυστάλλου· ἐφθάρη γὰρ ἂν ταχὺ διὰ τοὐναντίον· τήκει γὰρ τὸ θερμὸν τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐναντίου συστάν.
I mean, for example, if nature had constituted something from wax, it would not have preserved it by putting it in a hot place, nor if it had constituted something from ice; for it would have been destroyed quickly because of the opposite; for heat melts what has been constituted by its opposite.
Οὐδ’ εἴ τι ἐξ ἁλὸς ἢ νίτρου συνέστησεν, οὐκ ἂν εἰς ὑγρὸν φέρουσα κατέθηκεν· φθείρει γὰρ τὰ ὑπὸ θερμοῦ καὶ ξηροῦ συστάντα τὸ ὑγρόν.
Nor if it had constituted something from salt or nitre, would it have carried and placed it in the liquid; for the liquid destroys things that have been constituted by heat and dryness.
Εἰ οὖν ὕλη πᾶσι τοῖς σώμασι τὸ ὑγρὸν καὶ τὸ ξηρόν, εὐλόγως τὰ μὲν ἐξ ὑγροῦ καὶ ψυχροῦ συστάντα ἐν ὑγροῖς ἐστί, καὶ εἰ ψυχρά, ἔσται ἐν ψυχρῷ, τὰ δ’ ἐκ ξηροῦ ἐν ξηρῷ.
If, then, the wet and the dry are matter for all bodies, it is reasonable that things constituted from the wet and the cold should be in wet places, and if they are cold, they will be in a cold place, while those from the dry will be on the dry land.
Διὰ τοῦτο τὰ δένδρα οὐκ ἐν ὕδατι φύεται, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῇ γῇ.
For this reason trees do not grow in water, but in the earth.
Καί τοι τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου ἐστὶν εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὰ ὑπέρξηρα, ὥσπερ τὰ ὑπέρπυρά φησιν ἐκεῖνος· οὐ γὰρ διὰ τὸ ψυχρὸν ἦλθεν εἰς αὐτό, ἀλλ’ ὅτι ὑγρόν.
And yet, by the same argument, they should go into the water because of their being extremely dry, just as he says of those that are extremely fiery; for it is not because of the cold that they went into it, but because it is wet.
Αἱ μὲν οὖν φύσεις τῆς ὕλης, ἐν οἵῳπερ τόπῳ εἰσί, τοιαῦται οὖσαι τυγχάνουσιν, αἱ μὲν ἐν ὕδατι ὑγραί, αἱ δ’ ἐν τῇ γῇ ξηραί, αἱ δ’ ἐν τῷ ἀέρι θερμαί.
Now the natures of the matter happen to be of such a kind in whichever place they are, those in water being wet, those in the earth dry, and those in the air hot.
Αἱ μέντοι ἕξεις αἱ μὲν ὑπερβάλλουσαι θερμότητι ἐν ψυχρῷ, αἱ δὲ τῇ ψυχρότητι ἐν θερμῷ τιθέμεναι σώζονται μᾶλλον· ἐπανισοῖ γὰρ εἰς τὸ μέτριον ὁ τόπος τὴν τῆς ἕξεως ὑπερβολήν.
However, states that are excessive in heat are preserved more when placed in the cold, and those in cold when placed in the hot; for the place equalizes the excess of the state to the moderate.
Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν δεῖ ζητεῖν ἐν τοῖς οἰκείοις τόποις ἑκάστης ὕλης, καὶ κατὰ τὰς μεταβολὰς τῆς κοινῆς ὥρας· τὰς μὲν γὰρ ἕξεις ἐνδέχεται τοῖς τόποις ἐναντίας εἶναι, τὴν δ’ ὕλην ἀδύνατον.
Therefore, one must seek this in the proper places of each matter, and according to the changes of the common season; for it is possible for states to be opposite to their places, but for matter it is impossible.
Ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐ διὰ θερμότητα τῆς φύσεως τὰ μὲν ἔνυδρα τὰ δὲ πεζὰ τῶν ζῴων ἐστί, καθάπερ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς φησίν, τοσαῦτ’ εἰρήσθω, καὶ διότι τὰ μὲν οὐκ ἔχει πνεύμονα τὰ δὲ ἔχει.
That, therefore, it is not because of the heat of their nature that some of the animals are aquatic and others terrestrial, as Empedocles says, let so much be said, and also why some do not have a lung and others do.