§171.6Ἡ δὲ τῆς θαλάττης θερμότης ἐξ ἐκείνου φανερὰ τῷ μὴ διαμένειν δύνασθαι ἐν ταύτῃ τὰ ἐκ τῶν ποταμῶν ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τὰ ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς καὶ ταῖς λίμναις.
The warmth of the sea is manifest from this: that river fish cannot survive in it, but rather sea fish survive in rivers and lakes.
Ἴσως δʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο πρότερον σκεπτέον πότερον θερμότερον ὁ ἀὴρ ἢ τὸ ὑγρόν·
But perhaps this itself must first be considered: whether the air or the moisture is warmer.
εἰ γὰρ ὁ ἀὴρ ὥσπερ ἂν δόξειεν, ἐγγυτέρω γ' ὢν τοῦ πυρὸς, ἧττον ἀεὶ θερμὰ τὰ τούτῳ κατεχόμενα.
For if the air, as it might seem, since it is closer to the fire, is warmer, those things surrounded by it are always less warm.
Τοῦτο δὲ εἰ μὴ καὶ πρὸς τὰ νῦν ὑπεναντίον ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἐκείνην τὴν δόξαν τὴν λεγομένην ὅτι θερμότατα πάντων τὰ ἔναιμα καὶ ζωοτόκα.
And this, if indeed it is not contrary to our present arguments, is contrary to that stated opinion, namely that the blooded and viviparous animals are the warmest of all.
Περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων ἐπισκεπτέον.
So we must examine these matters.
§171.7Οἱ δʼ ὀρυκτοὶ τῶν ἰχθύων - εἰσὶ γὰρ ἐνιαχοῦ καὶ τοιοῦτοι καθάπερ καὶ περὶ Ἡράκλειαν καὶ ἄλλοθι τῶν ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ - γίνονται μὲν καὶ παρὰ τοὺς ποταμοὺς καὶ τὰ ἔνυδρα χωράφια.
On the other hand, the dug-up fish—for there are such also in some places, as around Heracleia and elsewhere in the Pontus region—arise near rivers and wet fields.
Συμβαίνει δʼ ἀναξηραινομένων τούτων ἐγκαταλειπομένους κατὰ μικρὸν συστέλλεσθαι καὶ διώκοντας τὴν ὑγρότητα δύεσθαι κατὰ τῆς γῆς, εἶτα καταξηραινομένης διαμένειν, ἐν τῇ ἰκμάδι καθαπερανεὶ ταριχευομένους, ἐν τῇ γῇ, ὥσπερ τοὺς ἐν ταῖς φωλείαις διαρκοῦντας· ὅταν δʼ ἀνασκάπτωνται τότε κινεῖσθαι.
And it happens that when these dry up, being left behind, they gradually contract themselves and, pursuing the moisture, dive down into the earth, and then, when it dries up, they remain in the earth, in the moisture, as if they were preserved, just like those that endure by hibernating in holes; and when they are dug up, then they move.
§171.8Παραπλήσιον δ' ἐστὶ τούτῳ καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐκπηγνυμένων ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ ὅταν περιλαμβάνωνται τῷ κρυστάλλῳ· οἱ οὐ πρότερον αἰσθάνονται καὶ κινοῦνται πρὶν εἰς τὰς λοπάδας ἐμβληθῆναι καὶ ἕψεσθαι· πάντων δὲ μάλιστα δοκεῖ πάσχειν τοῦθʼ ὁ κωβιός.
Similar to this is also what happens to those frozen in the Pontus when they are enclosed in ice; they do not perceive or move before they are cast into pots and boiled; and of all, the goby seems to suffer this most.
Ὅλως δʼ οἱ ὀρυκτοὶ γίνονται ἰχθύες διὰ τὸ ὑπερβάλλοντας τοὺς ποταμοὺς ὅταν πάλιν εἰς τὸ ἀρχαῖον καθιστῶνται ῥεῖθρον ἐγκαταλείπειν ἐν τοῖς ἀναξηραινομένοις ἔνθα μὲν ὠὰ ἔνθα δὲ τοιαύτας ἀρχὰς ἐξ ὧν ἡ γένεσις.
And in general, dug-up fish arise because the overflowing rivers, when they settle back into their ancient stream, leave behind in the drying-up places, here eggs, and there such principles from which generation comes.
§171.9Ἔνια γὰρ οὐκ ἐκ ζώων ὥσπερ ἡ ἔγχελυς· δοκεῖ δʼ αὕτη γίνεσθαι καὶ ὁ καλούμενος κεντρίσκος ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν Ἡρακλείᾳ περὶ τὸν Λύκον ποταμόν· ἐγκαταλειφθέντα δʼ ἀπομορφοῦται καὶ διαμένει.
For some do not come from animals, like the eel; and this seems to arise, as does the so-called kentriskos, just as in Heracleia near the River Lycus; and having been left behind, it takes form and remains.
Τὴν διαμονὴν δὲ οὐκ ἄτοπον εἶναι· τροφῆς γὰρ ὀλίγης δεῖται πολλὰ τῶν τοιούτων ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ ὄφεις καὶ τὰ φωλεύοντα.
And that they remain is not strange; for many such things require little food, just like snakes and hibernating animals.
Συμβαίνει δὲ καὶ ταύτην ἱκανὴν ἔχειν ὠῶν τὴν πρώτην καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τὴν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἰκμάδα διαδιδομένην· οὐ μὴν μέγεθός γε τοιαῦτα λαμβάνειν οὔτʼ εἰκὸς οὔτε φασὶ διὰ τὸ μήτε χώραν ἔχειν μήτε τροφὴν δαψιλῆ· δεῖ δὲ ἄμφω ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν αὔξησιν·
And it happens that this has an adequate initial supply from eggs, and after this, the moisture distributed from the earth; however, they do not attain such size, which is neither likely nor what people say, because they have neither space nor abundant food; and both of these are necessary for growth.
§171.10τὸ δʼ ἐν τῷ ἀέρι δύνασθαι διαμένειν τούτοις μὲν οὐ παντελῶς ὑπάρχει, τοῖς δʼ ἐξιοῦσιν ἐκ τῶν τόπων καὶ νεμομένοις· αὐτοὶ δὲ μικρᾶς εἰώθασι δέεσθαι καταψύξεως ὥστε σύμμετρον αὐτοῖς εἶναι τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀέρος.
The ability to remain in the air does not belong completely to these, but to those that go out from their places and feed; and they themselves are accustomed to need little cooling, so that the cooling from the air is appropriate for them.
Δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ ἡ τῶν βραγχίων στενότης ὡς οὐ πολλῆς δεομένων· διὸ καὶ ἡ ἔγχελυς ἔν τε τῷ ἀέρι πολὺν χρόνον ζῇ καὶ ἐν τοῖς θολεροῖς ὕδασι τάχιστα ἀποπνίγεται.
This is also shown by the narrowness of their gills, as they do not need much; wherefore the eel also lives for a long time in the air, but in turbid waters is very quickly suffocated.
Καὶ ἅμα ἐν τοῖς γε ὀρυκτοῖς καὶ ἡ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀπόψυξις ἐκ τῆς περιοχῆς ἱκανὴν ποιεῖ τὴν βοήθειαν.
And at the same time, in the case of the dug-up fish, the cooling from the earth from its surroundings provides sufficient help.
§171.11Ἴδιον δέ τι παρὰ ταῦτα καὶ λόγου δεόμενον τὸ περὶ τοὺς ἐν Παφλαγονίᾳ ὀρυκτοὺς ἰχθῦς· ὀρύττεσθαι γάρ φασιν ἐκεῖ κατὰ βάθους πλείονος ἀγαθοὺς καὶ πολλούς· τὸν δὲ τόπον οὔτʼ ἐπίκλυσιν ποταμοῦ λαμβάνειν οὔθʼ ὕδατος σύστασιν, ἀφʼ ὧν δήφαμεν ἐγκαταλείπεσθαι τὰ ὠὰ καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς τῆς γεωνέσεως.
But something peculiar besides these and needing explanation is the case of the dug-up fish in Paphlagonia; for they say that there, at a greater depth, good and many fish are dug up; and the place receives neither the flooding of a river nor a accumulation of water, from which we said that the eggs and the principles of earth-generation are left behind.
Λοιπὸν γὰρ δὴ αὐτομάτους φύεσθαι, καὶ τοῦτο συνεχῶς - ἀδύνατος γὰρ ἡ πρὸς ἀλλήλους μίξις -, εἴτε δὴ τοῦτο θετέον ὥσπερ ἐνύγρου τινὸς χώρας οὔσης καὶ τὸ ὅλον γονίμου τῶν τοιούτων διὰ τὸ συμμετρίαν τινὰ ἔχειν τοῦ θερμοῦ καὶ τοῦ ὑγροῦ - συμβαίνει γὰρ δὴ γίγνεσθαι καὶ ἑτέρους τινὰς αὐτομάτους ἰχθῦς -, εἴτε διανάειν ἔκ τινων τόπων ὑγρότητας αἱ συνεπιφέρουσι τὰς γεννώσας ἀρχάς· ὁ δὲ τόπος εὐφυὴς διὸ καὶ δέχεται καὶ ἐκτρέφει· σχεδὸν γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ἔτι πορρωτέρω τούτων.
For the remaining possibility is indeed that they are generated spontaneously, and this continuously—for their intermixture with one another is impossible—whether indeed this must be assumed because the place is a kind of moist region and in general fertile for such things due to having a certain proportion of the warm and the moist—for indeed other spontaneous fish also happen to arise—or whether moisture trickles from some places, bringing along the generating principles; and the place is of a suitable nature, wherefore it receives and nurtures them; for indeed there would be hardly anything beyond these.
§171.12Ἐκεῖνο δʼ ἄν τις σκέψαιτο περὶ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν γενῶν τῶν τε ἐν τῷ ξηρῷ καὶ τῶν ὀρυκτῶν ἆρά γε εἰς ὕδωρ ἀφιέμενα ζῴη ἂν, ἢ τὴν οἰκείαν ζητοίη χώραν καὶ τοῦτο αὐτοῖς ὥσπερ φύσις, καθάπερ καὶ τοῖς ἐν θαλάττῃ καὶ τοῖς ἐν ποταμοῖς· οὐδὲ γὰρ ταῦτα δέχεται τὰς μεταβολὰς πλὴν ὀλίγων.
And one might consider concerning both kinds, both those on dry land and the dug-up ones, whether if they were released into water they would live, or would seek their proper place, and this were like nature to them, just as to those in the sea and those in rivers; for indeed these do not receive changes, except for a few.
Ἐπεὶ ὅσοι γέν διὰ τὴν ἀναξηρασίαν καταδύονται καὶ ὅσοι περιλαμβάνονται τοῖς πάγοις, φανερὸν ὡς τούτοις γε οἰκεῖον τὸ ὑγρόν.
For as many as dive down because of dryness and as many as are enclosed in ice, it is clear that moisture is proper to them.
Εἰκὸς δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ τοῖς ὀρυκτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἑτέροις, τοῖς μὲν ἁπλῶς, τοῖς δʼ ὡς ἀμφιβίοις κατὰ ὁ Δημόκριτον.
And it is more likely also for the dug-up ones and the others, for the former simply, and for the latter as amphibians according to Democritus.
Ὃ καὶ ἐπʼ ἄλλων συμβαίνει· χρῆται γὰρ ἔνια τῷ ἀέρι καθάπερ ἐρρέθη πρότερον.
Which indeed happens in other cases; for some make use of the air, as was said before.