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CHAP. 98. (43.)
DIFFERENCES OF THE MEMBERS OF MAN FROM THOSE OF OTHER ANIMALS.
Of all the terrestrial animals, man is the only biped: he is also the only one that has a throat, and shoulders, or “humeri,” parts in other animals known by the name of “armi.” Man, too, is the only animal that has the “ulna,” or elbow. Those animals which are provided with hands, have flesh only on the interior of them, the outer part consisting of sinews and skin.
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CHAP. 99.
THE FINGERS, THE ARMS.
Some persons have six fingers on the hands. We read that C. Horatius, a man of patrician rank, had two daughters, who for this reason had the name of “Sedigitæ;” and we find mention made of Volcatius Sedigitus, as a famous poet. The fingers of man have three joints, the thumb only two, it bending in an opposite direction to all the other fingers. Viewed by itself, the movement of the thumb has a sidelong direction, and it is much thicker than the rest of the fingers. The little finger is equal in length to the thumb, and two others are also equal in length, the middle finger being the longest of all. Those quadrupeds which live by rapine have five toes on the fore feet, and four on the hinder ones. The lion, the wolf, and the dog, with some few others, have five claws on the hind feet, one of which hangs down near the joint of the leg. The other animals, also, which are of smaller size, have five toes. The two arms are not always equal in length: it is a well-known fact, that, in the school of gladiators belonging to Caius Cæsar, the Thracian Studiosus had the right arm longer than the left. Some animals also use their forepaws to perform the duties of hands, and employ them in conveying food to the mouth as they sit, the squirrel, for instance.
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CHAP. 100. (44.)
RESEMBLANCE OF THE APE TO MAN.
As to the various kinds of apes, they offer a perfect resem- blance to man in the face, the nostrils, the ears, and the eyelids; being the only quadrupeds, in fact, that have eyelashes on the lower eyelid. They have mammæ also on the breast, arms and legs, which bend in opposite directions, and nails upon the hands and fingers, the middle finger being the longest. They differ somewhat from man in the feet; which, like the hands, are of remarkable length, and have a print similar to that of the palm of our hand. They have a thumb also, and articulations similar to those in man. The males differ from man in the sexual parts only, while all the internal viscera exactly resemble those of man.
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CHAP. 101. (45.)
THE NAILS.
It is generally supposed that the nails are the terminations of the sinews. All animals which have fingers have nails as well. In the ape they are long and overlapping, like a tile, while in man they are broad: they will grow even after death. In the beasts of prey they are hooked, while in others, such as the dog, for instance, they are straight, with the exception, indeed, of the one which is attached to the leg in most of them. All the animals which have feet [and not hoofs], have toes as well, except the elephant; he, also, would appear to have toes, five in number, but rudely developed, undivided, and hardly distinct from one another, bearing a nearer resem- blance, in fact, to hoofs than to claws. In the elephant the fore-feet are the largest, and in the hind-feet there are short joints. This animal is able, also, to bend the hams inward like a man, while in all the others the joints of the hinder legs bend in a contrary direction to those of the fore ones. Those animals which are viviparous bend the fore-leg forward, while the joint of the hind-leg is directed backward.
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CHAP. 102.
THE KNEES AND THE HAMS.
In man the knee and the elbow bend contrary ways; the same is the case, too, with the bear and the ape, and it is for this reason that they are not so swift of foot as other animals. Those quadrupeds which are oviparous, such as the crocodile and the lizard, bend the knee of the fore-leg back- wards, and that of the hind-leg forwards; their thighs are placed on them obliquely, in a similar manner to a man’s thumb; which is the case also with the multipede insects, the hind-legs only excepted of such as leap. Birds, like quadru- peds, have the joints of the wings bending forwards, but those of the legs backwards.
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CHAP. 103.
PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY TO WHICH CERTAIN RELIGIOUS IDEAS ARE ATTACHED.
In accordance with the usages of various nations, certain religious ideas have been attached to the knees. It is the knees that suppliants clasp, and it is to these that they extend their hands; it is the knees that they worship like so many altars, as it were; perhaps, because in them is centred the vital strength. For in the joint of either knee, the right as well as the left, there is on the fore-side of each a certain empty space, which bears a strong resemblance to a mouth, and through which, like the throat, if it is once pierced, the vital powers escape. There are also certain religious ideas attached to other parts of the body, as is testified in raising the back of the right hand to the lips, and extending it as a token of good faith. It was the custom of the ancient Greeks, when in the act of supplication, to touch the chin. The seat of the memory lies in the lower part of the ear, which we touch when we summon a witness to depose upon memory to an arrest. The seat, too, of Nemesis lies behind the right ear, a goddess which has never yet found a Latin name, no, not in the Capitol even. It is to this part that we apply the finger next the little finger, after touching the mouth with it, when we silently ask pardon of the gods for having let slip an indiscreet word.
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CHAP. 104.
VARICOSE VEINS.
Men only, in general, have varicose veins in the legs, women but very rarely. We are informed by Oppius, that C. Marius, who was seven times consul, was the only man ever known to be able to have them extracted in a standing position.
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CHAP. 105.
THE GAIT, THE FEET, THE LEGS.
All animals take a right-hand direction when they first begin to walk, and lie down on the left side. While the other animals walk just as it may happen, the lion only and the camel walk foot by foot, or in such a way that the left foot never passes the right, but always comes behind it. Men have the largest feet; in every kind of animal the female has the smallest. Man only has calves, and flesh upon the legs: we find it stated by authors, however, that there was once an Egyptian who had no calves on his legs. All men, too, with some few exceptions, have a sole to the foot. It is from these exceptional cases that persons have obtained the names of Plancus, Plautus, Pansa, and Scaurus; just as, from the malformation of the legs, we find persons called Varus, Vacia, and Vatinius, all which blemishes are to be seen in quadrupeds also. Animals which have no horns have a solid hoof, from which circumstance it is used by them as a weapon of offence, in place of horns; such animals as these are also destitute of pastern bones, but those which have cloven hoofs have them; while those, again, which have toes have none, nor are they ever found in the fore-feet of animals. The camel has pastern bones like those of the ox, but somewhat smaller, the feet being cloven, with a slight line of division, and having a fleshy sole, like that of the bear: hence it is, that in a long journey, the animal becomes fatigued, and the foot cracks, if it is not shod.
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CHAP. 106. (46.)
HOOFS.
The horn of the hoof grows again in no animals except beasts of burden. The swine in some places in Illyricum have solid hoofs. Nearly all the horned animals are cloven-footed, no animal having solid hoofs and two horns. The Indian ass is only a one-horned animal, and the oryx is both one-horned and cloven-footed. The Indian ass is the only solid-hoofed animal that has pastern-bones. As to swine, they are looked upon as a sort of mongrel race, with a mixture of both kinds, and hence it is that their ankle-bones are so misshapen. Those authors who have imagined that man has similar pastern-bones, are easil
y to be confuted. The lynx is the only one among the animals that have the feet divided into toes, that has anything bearing a resemblance to a pastern-bone; while with the lion it is more crooked still. The great pastern-bone is straight, and situate in the joints of the foot; it projects outwards in a convex protuberance, and is held fast in its vertebration by certain ligaments.
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CHAP. 107. (47.)
THE FEET OF BIRDS.
Among birds, some have the feet divided into toes, while others, again, are broad and flatfooted — in others, which partake of the intermediate nature of both, the toes are divided, with a wide space between them. All birds, however, have four toes — three in front, and one on the heel; this last, however, is wanting in some that have long legs. The iynx is the only bird that has two toes on each side of the leg. This bird also protrudes a long tongue similar to that of the serpent, and it can turn the neck quite round and look backwards; it has great talons, too, like those of the jackdaw. Some of the heavier birds have spurs also upon the legs; but none of those have them which have crooked talons as well. The long-footed birds, as they fly, extend the legs towards the tail, while those that have short legs hold them contracted close to the middle of the body. Those authors who deny that there is any bird without feet, assert that those even which are called apodes, are not without them, as also the oce, and the drepanis, which last is a bird but very rarely seen. Serpents, too, have been seen with feet like those of the goose.
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CHAP. 108. (48.)
THE FEET OF ANIMALS, FROM THOSE HAVING TWO FEET TO THOSE WITH A HUNDRED. — DWARFS.
Among insects, those which have hard eyes have the forefeet long, in order that from time to time they may rub the eyes with their feet, as we frequently see done by flies. The insects which have long hind-feet are able to leap, the locust, for instance. All these insects have six feet: and some of the spiders have two very long feet in addition. They have, all of them, three joints. We have already” stated that marine insects have eight feet, such as the polypus, the sæpia, the cuttle-fish, and the crab, animals which move their arms in a contrary direction to their feet, which last they move around as well as obliquely: they are the only animals the feet of which have a rounded form. Other insects have two feet to regulate their movements; in the crab, and in that only, these duties are performed by four. The land animals which exceed this number of feet, as most of the worms, never have fewer than twelve feet, and some, indeed, as many as a hundred. The number of feet is never uneven in any animal. Among the solid-hoofed animals, the legs are of their proper length from the moment of their birth, after which they may with more propriety be said to extend themselves than to increase in growth: hence it is, that in infancy they are able to scratch their ears with the hind feet, a thing which, when they grow older, they are not able to do, because their increase of growth affects only the superficies of the body. It is for the same reason also, that they are only able to graze at first by bending the knees, until such time as the neck has attained its proper length.
(49.) There are dwarfs to be found among all animals, and among birds even.
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CHAP. 109.
THE SEXUAL PARTS. — HERMAPHRODITES.
We have already spoken sufficiently at length of those animals, the males of which have the sexual parts behind. In the wolf, the fox, the weasel, and the ferret, these parts are bony; and it is the genitals of the last-mentioned animal that supply the principal remedies for calculus in the human bladder. It is said also that the genitals of the bear are turned into a horny substance the moment it dies. Among the peoples of the East the very best bow-strings are those which are made of the member of the camel. These parts also, among different nations, are made the object of certain usages and religious observances; and the Galli, the priests of the Mother of the gods, are in the habit of castrating themselves, without any dangerous results. On the other hand, there is in some few women a monstrous resemblance to the male conformation, while hermaphrodites appear to partake of the nature of both. Instances of this last conformation were seen in quadrupeds in Nero’s reign, and for the first time, I imagine; for he ostentatiously paraded hermaphrodite horses yoked to his car, which had been found in the territory of the Treviri, in Gaul; as if, indeed, it was so remarkably fine a sight to behold the ruler of the earth seated in a chariot drawn by monstrosities
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CHAP. 110.
THE TESTES — THE THREE CLASSES OF EUNUCHS.
In sheep and cattle the testes hang down to the legs, while in the boar they are knit up close to the body. In the dolphin they are very long, and are concealed in the lower part of the belly. In the elephant, also, they are quite concealed. In oviparous animals they adhere to the interior of the loins: these animals are the most speedy in the venereal congress. Fishes and serpents have no testes, but in place of them they have two veins, which run from the renal region to the genitals. The bird known as the “buteo,” has three testes. Man is the only creature in which the testes are ever broken, either accidentally or by some natural malady; those who are thus afflicted form a third class of half men, in addition to hermaphrodites and eunuchs. In all species of animals the male is more courageous than the female, with the exception of the panther and the bear.
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CHAP. 111. (50.)
TE TAILS OF ANIMALS.
Nearly all the animals, both viviparous as well as oviparous, with the exception of man and the ape, have tails in proportion to the necessities of the body. In animals with bristles the tail is bare, as in the boar, for instance. In those that are shaggy, it is small, such as the bear; while in those animals that have long hair, the tail is long also, the horse, for instance. The tail of a lizard or serpent, if cut off, will grow again. The tail governs the movements of the fish like a rudder, and turning from side to side, to the right or to the left, impels it onwards, acting in some degree like an oar. A double tail is sometimes found in lizards. In oxen, the stalk of the tail is of remarkable length, and is covered with rough hair at the extremity. In the ass, too, it is longer than in the horse, but in beasts of burden it is covered with bristly hairs. The tail of the lion, at the extremity, is like that of the ox and the field-mouse; but this is not the case with the panther. In the fox and the wolf it is covered with long hair, as in sheep, in which it is longer also. In swine, the tail is curled; among dogs, those that are mongrels carry it close beneath the belly.
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CHAP. 112. (51.)
THE DIFFERENT VOICES OF ANIMALS.
Aristotle is of opinion that no animal has a voice which does not respire, and that hence it is that there is no voice in insects, but only a noise, through the circulation of the air in the interior, and its resounding, by reason of its compression. Some insects, again, he says, emit a sort of humming noise, such as the bee, for instance; others a shrill, long-drawn note, like the grasshopper, the two cavities beneath the thorax receiving the air, which, meeting a moveable membrane within, emits a sound by the attrition. — Also that flies, bees, and other insects of that nature, are only heard while they are flying, and cease to be heard the moment they settle, and that the sound which they emit proceeds from the friction and the air within them, and not from any act of respiration. At all events, it is generally believed that the locust emits a sound by rubbing together the wings and thighs, and that among the aquatic animals the scallop makes a certain noise as it flies. Mollusks, however, and the testaceous animals have no voice and emit no sounds. As for the other fishes, although they are destitute of lungs and the tracheal artery, they are not entirely without the power of emitting certain sounds: it is only a mere joke to say that the noise which they make is produced by grating their teeth together. The fish, too, that is found in the river Acheloüs, and is known as the boar-fish, makes a grunting noise, as do some others which we have
previously mentioned. The oviparous animals hiss: in the serpent this hissing is prolonged, in the tortoise it is short and abrupt. Frogs make a peculiar noise of their own, as already stated; unless, indeed, this, too, is to be looked upon as a matter of doubt; but their noise originates in the mouth, and not in the thorax. Still, however, in reference to this subject, the nature of the various localities exercises a very considerable influence, for in Macedonia, it is said, the frogs are dumb, and the same in reference to the wild boars there. Among birds, the smaller ones chirp and twitter the most, and more especially about the time of pairing. Others, again, exercise their voice while fighting, the quail, for instance; others before they begin to fight, such as the partridge; and others when they have gained the victory, the dunghill cock, for instance. The males in these species have a peculiar note of their own, while in others, the nightingale for example, the male has the same note as the female.
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