62 iii. 2. 



same animals. Again, since the division of the cloven hoof 

 depends on deficiency of material, it is but rationally consistent, 

 that nature when she gave an animal an excess of material for 

 the hoofs, which thus became solid, should have taken away 

 something from the upper parts and so made the animal to have 

 but one horn.^^ 



Rightly too did she act when she chose the head whereon to set 

 the horns. And ^sop's Momus^* is beside the mark, when he finds 

 fault with the bull for not having its horns upon its shoulders. 

 For from this position, says he, they would have delivered their 

 blow with the greatest force, whereas on the head they occupy the 

 weakest part of the whole body. Momus was but dull-sighted in 

 making this hostile criticism. For had the horns been set on the 

 shoulders, or had they been set on any other part than they are,- 

 the encumbrance of their weight would have been increased, not 

 only without any compensating gain whatsoever, but with the 

 disadvantage of impeding many bodily operations. For the point 

 whence the blows could be delivered with the greatest force was 

 not the only matter to be considered, but the point also whence 

 they could be delivered with the widest range. But as the bull 

 has no hands and cannot possibly have its horns on its feet or on 

 its knees, where they would prevent flexion, there remains no other 

 site for them but the head ; and this therefore they necessarily 

 occupy. In this position, moreover, they are much less in the way 

 of the movements of the body than they would be elsewhere. 



Deer are the only animals in which the horns are solid through- 

 out, and are also the only animals that cast them.^^ This casting 

 is not simply advantageous to the deer from the increased lightness 

 which it produces, but, seeing how heavy the horns are, is a matter 

 of actual necessity. 



In all other animals the horns are hollow for a certain distance, 

 and the end alone is solid, this being the part of use in a blow. At 

 the same time, to prevent even the hollow part from being weak, 

 the horn does not grow out of the skin, but has a solid piece from 

 the bones fitted into its cavity. For this arrangement is not only 

 that which makes the horns of the greatest service in fighting, but 

 that which causes them to be as little of an impediment as possible 

 in the other actions of life. 



Such then are the reasons for which horns exist ; and such the 

 reasons why they are present in some animals, absent from others. 

 663b. 



