8oo THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



for from bad sight they ascend it as if it were a moving leaf." " Per- 

 sons who have parasites in the head are less subject to headache. 

 Moths are produced in the greatest abundance if a spider is shut up 

 with them in the wool, for this creature being thirsty dries up any 

 moisture which may be present. Small birds during the day fly round 

 the owl — which is called admiring it — and as they fly round it they 

 pluck out its feathers." " The anthus " (some bright-colored bird) 

 " is an enemy to the horse, for it drives the horse from its pasture and 

 eats the grass ; it imitates the voice of the horse and, frightens it by 

 flying at it, but when the horse catches it he kills it." " If any one 

 takes hold of a she-goat by the long hairs of the beard, all the others 

 stand still as if bewildered and gaze at her." *' The hawk, though 

 carnivorous, does not eat the hearts of the birds it has killed." " The 

 jay has many varieties of voice ; it utters a different one, so to speak, 

 every day." " The goat-sucker flies against the she-goats and sucks 

 them, whence its name. They say that, after the udder has been 

 sucked, it becomes dry and goes blind." " Mares become less ardent 

 and more gentle if their manes are cut. At certain times they never 

 run to the east or west, always north or south." " The sow gives the 

 first teat to the first little pig that is born." " When a serpent has 

 taken its food, it draws itself up till it stands erect upon its tail." 



Aristotle's reasons are frequently amusing. Man has no tail be- 

 cause the available formative material has been used up for the pos- 

 terior parts. Apes have neither tail nor buttocks because they are 

 intermediate between man and quadrupeds. Bees and wasps have 

 stings inside their bodies because they have wings. All crabs and 

 lobsters (generally) have the large claw on the right, because all 

 animals are by nature strong on the right side. Bees and ants are 

 more intelligent than other animals of the kind, because their blood 

 is thin and cold. The seal has no external ears, only ear-pores, because 

 its feet are incapacitated for walking. Serpents have a forked tongue 

 because they are gluttonous, and a bifid tongue has a double tasting 

 power. Man is the only animal that is tickled, because his skin is fine ; 

 and he is the only animal that laughs, and tickling is "laughter 

 from a motion of this kind about the arm-pit," which, as Mr. Lewes 

 says, is " a physiological exi^lanation rather diflScult to understand." 

 Insects eat little because their bodies are cold. It is curious to notice 

 that Aristotle had no idea that insects produced eggs ; he said they 

 bring forth worms, evidently taking the larva stage for the normal 

 birth-form. 



These instances are taken from the treatise on " Parts of Animals." 

 It would be easy to supply many more of the same character, but 

 surely these may incline us to deny that " in his accumulation of facts 

 Aristotle has not written one useless word." It is certain from Aris- 

 totle's remarks, here and there, that he occasionally dissected animals, 

 but he also mentions anatomical drawings as existing in his time, r.nd 



