224 • ' . Notes, ■•iv. 5. 



distinct stomachs, but still more from his language in Hist. An. (iv. 5, 6,), where 

 he says that all the loops (kSKitoi) of the stomach run together to the anus ; and where also 

 he makes no mention of an intestiile as distinct from the stomach. 



39. The "so-called ova" which A. thought to be masses of fat, or of something 

 analogous to the fat of sanguineous animals, are the ovaries, which are five in number, 

 and arranged symmetrically' round the upper interior of the shell. These vary in size in 

 proportion to the maturity of the ova within thenr, ind thus are much larger at some 

 seasons of the year than others. It is when the ova are mature that "die roe of the 

 sea-egg" is used for food along the coasts of the Mediterranean, divers being employed 

 to collect these animals. They may be seen in. abundance in the market at Marseilles. 

 According to Pennant they are also eaten by the poor in many parts of England. 



40. These black bodies are also mentioned at //. A. iv. .5, 7, and are there said to 

 be bitter, uneatable, and connected with the origin of the teeth.' They are also said to 

 converge towards the aperture of the test, though separate from each other, and to divide 

 this into segments. The best conjecture I can offer is that A. alludes to the rows of 

 ambulacral vesides,' though I do not know of any species in which, these are black. 

 The wor^ "profusely" would accord with this conjecture; for the vesicles are present 

 in hundreds. But less consistent is the Statement that similar bodies, though of different 

 colour, are found in Batrachia, Chelonia, and Turbinata. ' 



41. Frantzius and also Meyer {Thierkunde, p. 175) translate l-KmoXa^ovTo. "floating on 

 the surface." But no Echini float; and seeing that the large esculent species were 

 common articles of diet, A . could scarcely have been so ignorant of their habits as to 

 suppose them to do so. I have little doubt that A. means " that live in shallow water " ; 

 and this view is confirmed by a passage {De Gen. v. 3, 21) in which he says that those 

 Echini that live in deep water have big spines but small- bodiesi so that they would not 

 be suitable for eating. 



42. Cf. Note 13. . • • ■• ■ 



43. Cf. H. A. iv. 4. What A. meant by the right and left of a bivalve.I cannot say ; 

 certainly, however, not what we mean. The bivalve which he seems to have chosen 

 for examination was the scallop, because of its large size (^H. A. iv. 4, 24) ; and he is 

 correct in saying that the " ovum " is on one side, and the vent on the opposite side 

 of the circumference of the dislc-shaped body. The "ovum " is on the anterior convexity, 

 the vent on the posterior convexity; and for some reason or other the anterior is 

 considered by A. to be the right side. Can it be that he had made out the foot,' 

 which is also anterior? If so his notion that motion specially attaches to the right 

 side (cf. iii. 9, Note 12) would make him identify the anterior aspect with the right side. 

 ■ 44. That the ovary of Testacea was miscalled, A. seems to have thought was shown 

 by its having no orifice. "The so-called ovum. (^'^a'^') never has a duct, and is merely 

 a swollen part of the flesh" {H. .,4. iv. 4, 25). He believed that Bivalves were 

 developed spontaneously or by gemmation. 



45. Cicero (^De Divin. 2, 14) mentions, among other instances of some natural 

 .connection existing between things apparently remote and incongruous, " that oysters 



and other sl\ell-fish increase and decrease with the growth and waning of the moon." 

 So also Lucilius says, " Luna alit ostrea et implet echinos ; " and again Manilius, " Si 

 submersa fretis, concharum et carcere clausa. Ad lunse motum variant animalia corpus. " 

 The two la,st quotations I borrow from Mead {Influence of Sun and Moon, etc. 1 748, . 

 . P- 65), who accepts the statement as true. ' 



46. So that the Echini have no competitors for the food. 



47. The ovary of Bivalves is really bilateral. But it is not bilateral in A. 's sense 



