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the date-palm. Next in order we find them among the sanguineous animals
rather than among the bloodless, and among those with feet rather than among
the denizens of the water. Hence, taking these two characters together, the
longest-lived animals fall among sanguineous animals which have feet, e.g.
man and elephant. As a matter of fact also it is a general rule that the larger
live longer than the smaller, for the other long-lived animals too happen to be
of a large size, as are also those I have mentioned.
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5
The following considerations may enable us to understand the reasons for
all these facts. We must remember that an animal is by nature humid and
warm, and to live is to be of such a constitution, while old age is dry and cold,
and so is a corpse. This is plain to observation. But the material constituting
the bodies of all things consists of the following-the hot and the cold, the dry
and the moist. Hence when they age they must become dry, and therefore the
fluid in them requires to be not easily dried up. Thus we explain why fat
things are not liable to decay. The reason is that they contain air; now air
relatively to the other elements is fire, and fire never becomes corrupted.
Again the humid element in animals must not be small in quantity, for a
small quantity is easily dried up. This is why both plants and animals that are
large are, as a general rule, longer-lived than the rest, as was said before; it is
to be expected that the larger should contain more moisture. But it is not
merely this that makes them longer lived; for the cause is twofold, to wit, the
quality as well as the quantity of the fluid. Hence the moisture must be not
only great in amount but also warm, in order to be neither easily congealed
nor easily dried up.
It is for this reason also that man lives longer than some animals which are
larger; for animals live longer though there is a deficiency in the amount of
their moisture, if the ratio of its qualitative superiority exceeds that of its
quantitative deficiency.
In some creatures the warm element is their fatty substance, which prevents
at once desiccation and congelation; but in others it assumes a different
flavour. Further, that which is designed to be not easily destroyed should not
yield waste products. Anything of such a nature causes death either by disease
or naturally, for the potency of the waste product works adversely and
destroys now the entire constitution, now a particular member.
926
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book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156