32 FATHERS OF BIOLOGY. 



of roes, and for this reason the blood of such animals 

 as these never coagulates. . . . Too great an excess of 

 water makes animals timorous. . . . Such animals, on 

 the other hand, as have thick and abundant fibres in their 

 blood are of a more choleric temperament, and liable to 

 bursts of passion. . . . Bulls and boars are choleric, 

 for their blood is exceedingly rich in fibres, and the bull's, 

 at any rate, coagulates more rapidly than that of any 

 other animal. ... If these fibres are taken out of the 

 blood, the fluid that remains will no longer coagulate." 



From these quotations it will be noted that Aristotle 

 attributed the coagnlum to the presence of fibres, and in 

 this he anticipated Malpighi's discovery made in the 

 seventeenth century. His remarks on the proportion of 

 coagulum and serum in different animals, which is en- 

 larged upon in the " History of Animals," l harmonize 

 with modern observations. In another of his works 2 he 

 remarks that the blood in certain diseased conditions will 

 not coagulate. This is known to be the case in cholera, 

 certain fevers, asphyxia, etc. ; and the fact was probably 

 obtained from Hippocrates. Although Aristotle speaks 

 here of entire absence of coagulation in the blood of the 

 deer and the roe, in the " History of Animals " he admits 

 an imperfect coagulation, for he says, " so that their 

 blood does not coagulate like that of other animals." 

 The animals named are commonly hunted, and it was 

 1 Bk. iii. 19. 2 " Meteorology," iv. 7-11. 



