PARTS OF ANIMALS, IV. x. 



to say that man is the most intelHgent animal because 

 he possesses hands, but he has hands because he is the 

 most intelligent animal. We should expect the most 

 intelligent to be able to employ the greatest number 

 of organs or instruments to good purpose ; now the 

 hand would appear to be not one single instrument 

 but many, as it were an instrument that represents 

 many instruments. Thus it is to that animal (viz. 

 man) which has the capability for acquiring the 

 greatest number of crafts that Nature has given that 

 instrument (viz. the hand) whose range of uses is the 

 most extensive. 



Now it must be wrong to say, as some do, that 

 the structure of man is not good, in fact, that it is 

 worse than that of any other animal. Their grounds 

 are : that man is barefoot, unclothed, and void of 

 any weapon of force. Against this we may say 

 that all the other animals have just one method of 

 defence and cannot change it for another : they are 

 forced to sleep and perform all their actions with 

 their shoes on the whole time, as one might say ; 

 they can never take off this defensive equipment of 

 theirs, nor can they change their weapon, whatever 

 it may be. For man, on the other hand, many 

 means of defence are available, and he can change 

 them at any time, and above all he can choose what 

 weapon he will have and where. Take the hand : 

 this is as good as a talon, or a claw, or a horn, or again, 

 a spear or a sword, or any other weapon or tool : 

 it can be all of these, because it can seize and hold 

 them all. And Nature has admirably contrived the 

 actual shape of the hand so as to fit in with this 

 arrangement. It is not all of one piece, but it 

 branches into several pieces ; which gives the possi- 



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