CHAPTEK XVII. 



ARISTOTLE S ENAIMA, OE ANIMALS 

 WITH BLOOD. 



WHEN expressing astonishment at the variety and 

 extent of Aristotle s knowledge, one of the characters of 

 Athenseus asks from what Proteus or Nereus he could have 

 found out all that he says about fishes and other animals.* 

 It is well known that Aristotle, living for many years close 

 to the sea, obtained a great deal of information about fishes 

 and other aquatic animals from fishermen, but the curiosity 

 shown by the questioner in Athenaeus is quite natural. 

 Aristotle s knowledge of the fishes of the Mediterranean 

 was, in fact, not only greater than that of any other ancient 

 writer, but, if such ichthyologists as Belon, Eondelet, and 

 Salviani are excepted, was greater than that of any other 

 writer before the time of Eisso and Cuvier. The number 

 of kinds of fishes described or mentioned by him is not less 

 than one hundred and ten, and about many of these he not 

 only discusses some anatomical characteristics, but also their 

 food, breeding habits, migrations, and modes of capture. 



Most of his fishes are described separately, without any 

 attempt being made to classify them. The cartilaginous 

 fishes, however, are grouped together in a genos or class, 

 called Selache, a name very familiar in various forms to 

 modern ichthyologists. 



The chief features of Aristotle s Selache are that they are 

 cartilaginous,! that their gills are uncovered,! that they are 

 carnivorous, live in deep waters, and throw themselves on 

 their backs to take their prey, their mouths being placed, not 

 directly in the front parts of their heads, but on their under 

 sides^ and that, excepting Batrachos, they are viviparous, || 



* Deipn. viii. c. 47. 



f H. A. iii. c. 7, s. 6, iii. c. 8 ; P. A. ii. c. 9, Q55a. 



I H. A. ii. c. 9, s. 3 ; P. A. iv. c. 13, 6966. 



R. A. viii. c. 4, ss. 1, 3, and 4, viii. c. 15, s. 1 ; P. A. iv. c. 13, 6966. 



&quot;j H. A. ii. c. 9, s. 6. 



