Various Works

  heart. But the head has also been chosen by nature as the part in

  which to set some of the senses; because its blood is mixed in such

  suitable proportions as to ensure their tranquillity and precision,

  while at the same time it can supply the brain with such warmth as

  it requires. There is yet a third constituent superadded to the

  head, namely the part which ministers to the ingestion of food. This

  has been placed here by nature, because such a situation accords

  best with the general configuration of the body. For the stomach could

  not possibly be placed above the heart, seeing that this is the

  sovereign organ; and if placed below, as in fact it is, then the mouth

  could not possibly be placed there also. For this would have

  necessitated a great increase in the length of the body; and the

  stomach, moreover, would have been removed too far from the source

  of motion and of concoction.

  The head, then, exists for the sake of these three parts; while

  the neck, again, exists for the sake of the windpipe. For it acts as a

  defence to this and to the oesophagus, encircling them and keeping

  them from injury. In all other animals this neck is flexible and

  contains several vertebrae; but in wolves and lions it contains only a

  single bone. For the object of nature was to give these animals an

  organ which should be serviceable in the way of strength, rather

  than one that should be useful for any of the other purposes to

  which necks are subservient.

  Continuous with the head and neck is the trunk with the anterior

  limbs. In man the forelegs and forefeet are replaced by arms and by

  what we call hands. For of all animals man alone stands erect, in

  accordance with his godlike nature and essence. For it is the function

  of the god-like to think and to be wise; and no easy task were this

  under the burden of a heavy body, pressing down from above and

  obstructing by its weight the motions of the intellect and of the

  general sense. When, moreover, the weight and corporeal substance

  become excessive, the body must of necessity incline towards the

  ground. In such cases therefore nature, in order to give support to

  the body, has replaced the arms and hands by forefeet, and has thus

  converted the animal into a quadruped. For, as every animal that walks

  must of necessity have the two hinder feet, such an animal becomes a

  quadruped, its body inclining downwards in front from the weight which

  its soul cannot sustain. For all animals, man alone excepted, are

  dwarf-like in form. For the dwarf-like is that in which the upper part

  is large, while that which bears the weight and is used in progression

  is small. This upper part is what we call the trunk, which reaches

  from the mouth to the vent. In man it is duly proportionate to the

  part below, and diminishes much in its comparative size as the man

  attains to full growth. But in his infancy the contrary obtains, and

  the upper parts are large, while the lower part is small; so that

  the infant can only crawl, and is unable to walk; nay, at first cannot

  even crawl, but remains without motion. For all children are dwarfs in

  shape, but cease to be so as they become men, from the growth of their

  lower part; whereas in quadrupeds the reverse occurs, their lower

  parts being largest in youth, and advance of years bringing

  increased growth above, that is in the trunk, which extends from the

  rump to the head. Thus it is that colts are scarcely, if at all, below

  full-grown horses in height; and that while still young they can touch

  their heads with the hind legs, though this is no longer possible when

  they are older. Such, then, is the form of animals that have either

  a solid or a cloven hoof. But such as are polydactylous and without

  horns, though they too are of dwarf-like shape, are so in a less

  degree; and therefore the greater growth of the lower parts as

  compared with the upper is also small, being proportionate to this

  smaller deficiency.

  Dwarf-like again is the race of birds and fishes; and so in fact, as

  already has been said, is every animal that has blood. This is the

  reason why no other animal is so intelligent as man. For even among

  men themselves if we compare children with adults, or such adults as

  are of dwarf-like shape with such as are not, we find that, whatever

  other superiority the former may possess, they are at any rate

  deficient as compared with the latter in intelligence. The

  explanation, as already stated, is that their psychical principle is

  corporeal, and much impeded in its motions. Let now a further decrease

  occur in the elevating heat, and a further increase in the earthy

  matter, and the animals become smaller in bulk, and their feet more

  numerous, until at a later stage they become apodous, and extended

  full length on the ground. Then, by further small successions of

  change, they come to have their principal organ below; and at last

  their cephalic part becomes motionless and destitute of sensation.

  Thus the animal becomes a plant, that has its upper parts downwards

  and its lower parts above. For in plants the roots are the equivalents

  of mouth and head, while the seed has an opposite significance, for it

  is produced above it the extremities of the twigs.

  The reasons have now been stated why some animals have many feet,

  some only two, and others none; why, also, some living things are

  plants and others animals; and, lastly, why man alone of all animals

  stands erect. Standing thus erect, man has no need of legs in front,

  and in their stead has been endowed by nature with arms and hands. Now

  it is the opinion of Anaxagoras that the possession of these hands

  is the cause of man being of all animals the most intelligent. But

  it is more rational to suppose that his endowment with hands is the

  consequence rather than the cause of his superior intelligence. For

  the hands are instruments or organs, and the invariable plan of nature

  in distributing the organs is to give each to such animal as can

  make use of it; nature acting in this matter as any prudent man

  would do. For it is a better plan to take a person who is already a

  flute-player and give him a flute, than to take one who possesses a

  flute and teach him the art of flute-playing. For nature adds that

  which is less to that which is greater and more important, and not

  that which is more valuable and greater to that which is less.

  Seeing then that such is the better course, and seeing also that of

  what is possible nature invariably brings about the best, we must

  conclude that man does not owe his superior intelligence to his hands,

  but his hands to his superior intelligence. For the most intelligent

  of animals is the one who would put the most organs to use; and the

  hand is not to be looked on as one organ but as many; for it is, as it

  were, an instrument for further instruments. This instrument,

  therefore,-the hand-of all instruments the most variously serviceable,

  has been given by nature to man, the animal of all animals the most

  capable of acquiring the most varied handic
rafts.

  Much in error, then, are they who say that the construction of man

  is not only faulty, but inferior to that of all other animals;

  seeing that he is, as they point out, bare-footed, naked, and

  without weapon of which to avail himself. For other animals have

  each but one mode of defence, and this they can never change; so

  that they must perform all the offices of life and even, so to

  speak, sleep with sandals on, never laying aside whatever serves as

  a protection to their bodies, nor changing such single weapon as

  they may chance to possess. But to man numerous modes of defence are

  open, and these, moreover, he may change at will; as also he may adopt

  such weapon as he pleases, and at such times as suit him. For the hand

  is talon, hoof, and horn, at will. So too it is spear, and sword,

  and whatsoever other weapon or instrument you please; for all these

  can it be from its power of grasping and holding them all. In

  harmony with this varied office is the form which nature has contrived

  for it. For it is split into several divisions, and these are

  capable of divergence. Such capacity of divergence does not prevent

  their again converging so as to form a single compact body, whereas

  had the hand been an undivided mass, divergence would have been

  impossible. The divisions also may be used singly or two together

  and in various combinations. The joints, moreover, of the fingers

  are well constructed for prehension and for pressure. One of these

  also, and this not long like the rest but short and thick, is placed

  laterally. For were it not so placed all prehension would be as

  impossible, as were there no hand at all. For the pressure of this

  digit is applied from below upwards, while the rest act from above

  downwards; an arrangement which is essential, if the grasp is to be

  firm and hold like a tight clamp. As for the shortness of this

  digit, the object is to increase its strength, so that it may be able,

  though but one, to counterbalance its more numerous opponents.

  Moreover, were it long it would be of no use. This is the

  explanation of its being sometimes called the great digit, in spite of

  its small size; for without it all the rest would be practically

  useless. The finger which stands at the other end of the row is small,

  while the central one of all is long, like a centre oar in a ship.

  This is rightly so; for it is mainly by the central part of the

  encircling grasp that a tool must be held when put to use.

  No less skilfully contrived are the nails. For, while in man these

  serve simply as coverings to protect the tips of the fingers, in other

  animals they are also used for active purposes; and their form in each

  case is suited to their office.

  The arms in man and the fore limbs in quadrupeds bend in contrary

  directions, this difference having reference to the ingestion of

  food and to the other offices which belong to these parts. For

  quadrupeds must of necessity bend their anterior limbs inwards that

  they may serve in locomotion, for they use them as feet. Not but

  what even among quadrupeds there is at any rate a tendency for such as

  are polydactylous to use their forefeet not only for locomotion but as

  hands. And they are in fact so used, as any one may see. For these

  animals seize hold of objects, and also repel assailants with their

  anterior limbs; whereas quadrupeds with solid hoofs use their hind

  legs for this latter purpose. For their fore limbs are not analogous

  to the arms and hands of man.

  It is this hand-like office of the anterior limbs which explains why

  in some of the polydactylous quadrupeds, such as wolves, lions,

  dogs, and leopards, there are actually five digits on each forefoot,

  though there are only four on each hind one. For the fifth digit of

  the foot corresponds to the fifth digit of the hand, and like it is

  called the big one. It is true that in the smaller polydactylous

  quadrupeds the hind feet also have each five toes. But this is because

  these animals are creepers; and the increased number of nails serves

  to give them a tighter grip, and so enables them to creep up steep

  places with greater facility, or even to run head downwards.

  In man between the arms, and in other animals between the

  forelegs, lies what is called the breast. This in man is broad, as one

  might expect; for as the arms are set laterally on the body, they

  offer no impediment to such expansion in this part. But in

  quadrupeds the breast is narrow, owing to the legs having to be

  extended in a forward direction in progression and locomotion.

  Owing to this narrowness the mammae of quadrupeds are never placed

  on the breast. But in the human body there is ample space in this

  part; moreover, the heart and neighbouring organs require

  protection, and for these reasons this part is fleshy and the mammae

  are placed upon it separately, side by side, being themselves of a

  fleshy substance in the male and therefore of use in the way just

  stated; while in the female, nature, in accordance with what we say is

  her frequent practice, makes them minister to an additional

  function, employing them as a store-place of nutriment for the

  offspring. The human mammae are two in number, in accordance with

  the division of the body into two halves, a right and a left. They are

  somewhat firmer than they would otherwise be, because the ribs in this

  region are joined together; while they form two separate masses,

  because their presence is in no wise burdensome. In other animals than

  man, it is impossible for the mammae to be placed on the breast

  between the forelegs, for they would interfere with locomotion; they

  are therefore disposed of otherwise, and in a variety of ways. Thus in

  such animals as produce but few at a birth, whether horned

  quadrupeds or those with solid hoofs, the mammae are placed in the

  region of the thighs, and are two in number, while in such as

  produce litters, or such as are polydactylous, the dugs are either

  numerous and placed laterally on the belly, as in swine and dogs, or

  are only two in number, being set, however, in the centre of the

  abdomen, as is the case in the lion. The explanation of this latter

  condition is not that the lion produces few at a birth, for

  sometimes it has more than two cubs at a time, but is to be found in

  the fact that this animal has no plentiful supply of milk. For,

  being a flesheater, it gets food at but rare intervals, and such

  nourishment as it obtains is all expended on the growth of its body.

  In the elephant also there are but two mammae, which are placed

  under the axillae of the fore limbs. The mammae are not more than two,

  because this animal has only a single young one at a birth; and they

  are not placed in the region of the thighs, because they never

  occupy that position in any polydactylous animal such as this. Lastly,

  they are placed above, close to the axillae, because this is the

  position of the foremost dugs in all animals whose dugs are

  numerous, and the dugs so placed give the most milk. Evidence of

  this i
s furnished by the sow. For she always presents these foremost

  dugs to the first-born of her litter. A single young one is of

  course a first-born, and so such animals as only produce a single

  young one must have these anterior dugs to present to it; that is they

  must have the dugs which are under the axillae. This, then, is the

  reason why the elephant has but two mammae, and why they are so

  placed. But, in such animals as have litters of young, the dugs are

  disposed about the belly; the reason being that more dugs are required

  by those that will have more young to nourish. Now it is impossible

  that these dugs should be set transversely in rows of more than two,

  one, that is, for each side of the body, the right and the left;

  they must therefore be placed lengthways, and the only place where

  there is sufficient length for this is the region between the front

  and hind legs. As to the animals that are not polydactylous but

  produce few at a birth, or have horns, their dugs are placed in the

  region of the thighs. The horse, the ass, the camel are examples;

  all of which bear but a single young one at a time, and of which the

  two former have solid hoofs, while in the last the hoof is cloven.

  As still further examples may be mentioned the deer, the ox, the goat,

  and all other similar animals.

  The explanation is that in these animals growth takes place in an

  upward direction; so that there must be an abundant collection of

  residual matter and of blood in the lower region, that is to say in

  the neighbourhood of the orifices for efflux, and here therefore

  nature has placed the mammae. For the place in which the nutriment

  is set in motion must also be the place whence nutriment can be

  derived by them. In man there are mammae in the male as well as in the

  female; but some of the males of other animals are without them. Such,

  for instance, is the case with horses, some stallions being

  destitute of these parts, while others that resemble their dams have

  them. Thus much then concerning the mammae.

  Next after the breast comes the region of the belly, which is left

  unenclosed by the ribs for a reason which has already been given;