GENERATION OF ANIMALS, I. x\in. 



palette resembles that which he has actually used ; 

 whereas everything that undergoes colhquescence 

 gets destroyed and departs from its proper nature." 

 Here is a piece of evidence to show that semen is 

 not a colhquescence but a residue : the large 

 animals produce but few young, while the small 

 ones are prohfic. Now in the large animals there 

 must of necessity be more colhquescence and less 

 residue, because most of the nourishment is used 

 up to maintain the large bulk of their body, so that 

 but little residue is produced. Further, no place 

 has been assigned by Nature for colhquescence, but 

 it runs about in the body wherever it can find a clear 

 way for itself ; whereas there is a proper place for all 

 the natural residues — e.g., the lowef intestine ^ is set 

 apart for the residue from title sohd nourishment, the 

 bladder for that from the fluid, the upper intestine " 

 for that from the useful nourishment, the uterus, 

 pudenda, and breasts for the seminal residues — they 

 run into these places and collect there. As evidence 

 of the truth of our statement about what semen is 

 we can quote the actual facts, facts which directly re- 

 sult from this residue's being of the nature described 

 by us. Thus (1) though only a very small quantity of 

 semien be emitted, the exhaustion which follows is 

 quite conspicuous,** which suggests that the body is 

 being deprived of the final product formed out of the 

 nourishment. (There are, I know, a few who for a 

 short period during the heat of youth derive rehef 

 from the emission of the semen when it is super- 

 abundant. The same is true also of nourishment in 

 its first stage, if there is an excessive quantity of it ; 



'' Cf. Hippocrates, ti. yovijs 1 (vii. 470 Littre), quoted in 

 note on 725 a 1. 



83 



