GENERATION OF ANIMALS, IV. iii. 



and the mother's. Some of the movements (those 

 of the male parent and those of general kinds, e.g., of 

 human being and animal) are present in (the semen) 

 in actuality, others (those of the female and those of 

 ancestors) are present potentially. * Now when (a) it ^ 

 departs from type,*^ it changes over into its opposites; 

 but when (6) the movements which are fashioning 

 the embryo relapse, they relapse into those which 

 stand quite near them ; for example, if the move- 

 ment of the male parent relapses, it shifts over 

 to that of his father — a very small difference— and 

 in the second instance to that of his grandfather. 

 And in this way too [not only on the male side but 

 also on the female] the movement of the female 

 parent shifts over to that of her mother, and if not 

 to that, then to that of her grandmother ; and so on 

 with the more remote ancestors. 



(1) Usually the natural course of events is that 

 when (the movement of the male parent) ** gains 

 the mastery — and when it is mastered — it will do so 

 both qua male and qua individual father,* since the 

 difference between the two (faculties) is a small one, 

 and so there is no difficulty in their both coinciding 

 (for Socrates is a man who, while (a) he has the 

 characteristics of a class,^ (6) is also an individual). 

 Hence for the most part males take after their 

 father — and females after their mother, since a de- 

 parture from type takes place in both directions " 



•* See above, 766 b 15. 



' Care must be taken to distinguish the use of " father " 

 applied (a) to the male parent qua a particular individual, 

 and (6) to the fatfier of the male parent. 



^ i.e., Ls " male." For roioahe, roioahi, cf. Met. 1077 b 20 fF. 



■ i.e., from " male " into " female," and from " father " 

 into " mother." 



407 



