PARTS OF ANIMALS, IV. x. 



the female, Nature employs them for an additional 

 function (a regular practice of hers, as I maintain), 

 by storing away in them nourishment for the off- 

 spring. There are two mammae because the body 

 has two parts, the right and the left. The fact that 

 they are somewhat hard and at the same time two in 

 number is accounted for by the ribs being joined to- 

 gether at this place and by the nature of the mammae 

 not being at all burdensome. In other animals it is 

 either impossible or difficult for the mammae to be 

 situated upon the breast, i.e. in between the legs, 

 since they would be a hindrance to walking ; but, ex- 

 cluding that particular position, there are numerous 

 ways in which they are placed. Animals which have 

 small litters, both those that have solid hoofs and those 

 that carry horns, have their mammae by the thighs ; 

 and there are two of them. Animals that have large 

 litters or are polydactylous, either have numerous 

 mammae placed at the sides upon the abdomen — 

 e.g. s\\ine and dogs ; or have only two, set in the middle 

 of the abdomen — e.g. the lion.« The reason for this is 

 not that the lion has few cubs at a birth, because 

 sometimes the number exceeds two, but that it is 

 deficient in milk. It uses up all the food it gets upon 

 the upkeep of the body, and as it is a flesh-eater it 

 gets food but rarely. 



The elephant has only two mammae (this is because 

 it has its young one at a time), and they are under the 

 axillae of the forelegs and not by the thighs because 

 the elephant is polydactylous and no polydactylous 

 animal has them there. They are high up, near the 

 axillae, because that is the place of the foremost 



** This, like many of Aristotle's statements about the lion, 

 is incorrect. 



N 379 



