GENERATION OF ANIMALS, IV. iv. 



the other animals, some are really outstanding in 

 respect of size. The dog, on the other hand, and the 

 wolf, and practically all the fissipede animals produce 

 many offspring ; even small animals of this class do 

 so, such as the mouse family. The cloven-hoofed 

 animals produce few offspring, except the pig, which 

 is among those that produce many. As I said, this is 

 surprising, because we might have expected the large 

 animals to be able to generate more offspring and to 

 produce more semen. But the very thing that sur- 

 prises us is the reason why we should not be surprised. 

 Their size is the very reason why they do not produce 

 many offspring, because in animals of this sort the 

 nourishment gets used up to supply the growth of the 

 body, whereas in the case of the smaller animals. 

 Nature takes away from their size and adds the sur- 

 plus on to the seminal residue. Further, the genera- 

 tive semen of a larger animal must of necessity be 

 greater in bulk," and that of the lesser ones small. 

 Also, though many small ones may very well be 

 formed in one place, it is difficult for many large 

 ones to be. [To the intermediate sizes Nature has 

 allotted the intermediate number. As for the fact 

 that some animals are large, some smaller, and 

 some intermediate, we have stated the cause of 

 this earlier.] * For the most part it is the solid- 

 hoofed animals which produce a single offspring, the 

 cloven-hoofed animals which produce few, and the 

 fissipede animals which produce many. The reason 

 for this is that for the most part the distinction of 



" But this pro rata merely ; so that a large animal has no 

 net advantage over a small one in tfiis respect. 



* The preceding words seem to be irrelevant ; those which 

 follow immediately in the Greek cannot be construed, and I 

 have omitted them from the translation. 



431 



