GENERATION OF ANIMALS, I. xvii.-xmii. 



whole, then the reason for the resemblance of the 

 parts is surely that something is drawn from each of 

 the parts. Fourthly, it would seem reasonable to 

 hold that just as there is some original thing out of 

 which the whole creature is formed, so also it is with 

 each of the parts ; and hence if there is a semen which 

 gives rise to the whole, there must be a special semen 

 which gives rise to each of the parts. And these 

 opinions derive plausibility from such e\"idence as the 

 following : Children are born which resemble their 

 parents in respect not only of congenital character- 

 istics but also of acquired ones " ; for instance, there 

 have been cases of children Avhich have had the out- 

 line of a scar in the same places where their parents 

 had scars, and there was a case at Chalcedon of &. 

 man who was branded on his arm, and the same letter, 

 though somewhat confused and indistinct, appeared 

 marked on his child. These are the main pieces of 

 evidence which give some people ground for beUe\ing 

 that the semen is drawn from the whole of the body. 



Upon examination of the subject, however, the XVIII 

 opposite seems more likely to be true ; indeed, it is 

 not difficult to refute these arguments, and besides 

 that, they involve making further assertions which 

 are impossible. First of all, then, resemblance is no 

 proof that the semen is drawn from the whole of the 

 body, because children resemble their parents in 

 voice, nails, and hair and even in the way they move ; 

 but nothing whatever is drawn from these things ; 

 and there are some characteristics which a parent 

 does not yet possess at the time when the child is 

 , generated, such as grey hair or beard. Further, 

 children resemble their remoter ancestors, from whom 

 nothing has been drawn for the semen. Resemblances 



53 



