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though imperfectly. For it is impossible for a fish to linger or spend time in
the act of mastication, and therefore they have no teeth that are flat or suitable
for grinding; for such teeth would be to no purpose. The oesophagus again in
some fishes is entirely wanting, and in the rest is but short. In order, however,
to facilitate the concoction of the food, some of them, as the Cestreus
(mullet), have a fleshy stomach resembling that of a bird; while most of them
have numerous processes close against the stomach, to serve as a sort of
antechamber in which the food may be stored up and undergo putrefaction
and concoction. There is contrast between fishes and birds in the position of
these processes. For in fishes they are placed close to the stomach; while in
birds, if present at all, they are lower down, near the end of the gut. Some of
the Vivipara also have processes connected with the lower part of the gut
which serve the same purpose as that stated above.
The whole tribe of fishes is of gluttonous appetite, owing to the
arrangements for the reduction of their food being very imperfect, and much
of it consequently passing through them without undergoing concoction; and,
of all, those are the most gluttonous that have a straight intestine. For as the
passage of food in such cases is rapid, and the enjoyment derived from it in
consequence but brief, it follows of necessity that the return of appetite is also
speedy.
It has already been mentioned that in animals with front teeth in both jaws
the stomach is of small size. It may be classed pretty nearly always under one
or other of two headings, namely as resembling the stomach of the dog, or as
resembling the stomach of the pig. In the pig the stomach is larger than in the
dog, and presents certain folds of moderate size, the purpose of which is to
lengthen out the period of concoction; while the stomach of the dog is of
small size, not much larger in calibre than the gut, and smooth on the internal
surface.
Not much larger, I say, than the gut; for in all animals after the stomach
comes the gut. This, like the stomach, presents numerous modifications. For
in some animals it is uniform, when uncoiled, and alike throughout, while in
others it differs in different portions. Thus in some cases it is wider in the
neighbourhood of the stomach, and narrower towards the other end; and this
explains by the way why dogs have to strain so much in discharging their
excrement. But in most animals it is the upper portion that is the narrower and
the lower that is of greater width.
Of greater length than in other animals, and much convoluted, are the
intestines of those that have horns. These intestines, moreover, as also the
stomach, are of ampler volume, in accordance with the larger size of the body.
For animals with horns are, as a rule, animals of no small bulk, because of the
1308
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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