animals

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Of the limbs,

one set, forming a pair, is 'arms'. To the arm
belong the 'shoulder', 'upper-arm', 'elbow', 'fore-arm', and 'hand'.
To the hand belong the 'palm', and the five 'fingers'. The part of the
finger that bends is termed 'knuckle', the part that is inflexible
is termed the 'phalanx'. The big finger or thumb is single-jointed,
the other fingers are double jointed. The bending both of the arm
and of the finger takes place from without inwards in all cases; and
the arm bends at the elbow. The inner part of the hand is termed the
palm', and is fleshy and divided by joints or lines: in the case of
long-lived people by one or two extending right across, in the case of
the short-lived by two, not so extending. The joint between hand and
arm is termed the 'wrist'. The outside or back of the hand is
sinewy, and has no specific designation.

Monday, February 27, 2006

but

the back parts do not resemble the front ones, neither do the lower ones the upper: only that these upper and lower parts may be said to resemble one another
thus far, that, if the face be plump or meagre, the abdomen is plump or meagre to correspond; and that the legs correspond to the arms, and where the upper arm is short the thigh is usually short also, and where the feet are small the hands are small correspondingly.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Parts of

the back are a pair of 'shoulderblades', the 'back-bone', and, underneath on a level with the belly in the trunk, the 'loins'. Common to the upper and lower part of the trunk are the 'ribs', eight on either side, for as to the so-called seven-ribbed
Ligyans we have not received any trustworthy evidence. Man, then, has an upper and a lower part, a front and a back part, a right and a left side. Now the right and the left side are pretty well alike in their parts and identical throughout, except that
the left side is the weaker of the two;

Saturday, February 25, 2006

14

The privy part of the female is in character opposite to that of
the male. In other words, the part under the pubes is hollow or
receding, and not, like the male organ, protruding. Further, there
is an 'urethra' outside the womb; which organ serves as a passage
for the sperm of the male, and as an outlet for liquid excretion to
both sexes).

The part common to the neck and chest is the 'throat'; the
'armpit' is common to side, arm, and shoulder; and the 'groin' is
common to thigh and abdomen. The part inside the thigh and buttocks is
the 'perineum', and the part outside the thigh and buttocks is the
'hypoglutis'.

The front parts of the trunk have now been enumerated.

The part behind the chest is termed the 'back'.

Friday, February 24, 2006

And the

connexion between the latter and the glans is called the frenum. The
remaining part of the penis is composed of gristle; it is easily
susceptible of enlargement; and it protrudes and recedes in the
reverse directions to what is observable in the identical organ in
cats. Underneath the penis are two 'testicles', and the integument
of these is a skin that is termed the 'scrotum'.

Testicles are not identical with flesh, and are not altogether
diverse from it. But by and by we shall treat in an exhaustive way
regarding all such parts.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

The 'womb' is a part peculiar to the female; and the 'penis' is peculiar to the male. This latter organ is external and situated at the extremity of the trunk; it is composed of two separate parts: of which the extreme part is fleshy, does not alter in size, and is called the glans; and round about it is a skin devoid of any specific title, which integument if it be cut asunder never grows together again, any more than does the jaw or the eyelid.

Monday, February 20, 2006

13

Next after the thorax and in front comes the 'belly', and its root
the 'navel'. Underneath this root the bilateral part is the 'flank':
the undivided part below the navel, the 'abdomen', the extremity of
which is the region of the 'pubes'; above the navel the
'hypochondrium'; the cavity common to the hypochondrium and the
flank is the gut-cavity.

Serving as a brace girdle to the hinder parts is the pelvis,
and hence it gets its name (osphus), for it is symmetrical
(isophues) in appearance; of the fundament the part for resting on
is termed the 'rump', and the part whereon the thigh pivots is
termed the 'socket' (or acetabulum).

Sunday, February 19, 2006

12

The neck is the part between the face and the trunk. Of this the
front part is the larynx land the back part the ur The front part,
composed of gristle, through which respiration and speech is effected,
is termed the 'windpipe'; the part that is fleshy is the oesophagus,
inside just in front of the chine. The part to the back of the neck is
the epomis, or 'shoulder-point'.

These then are the parts to be met with before you come to the
thorax.

To the trunk there is a front part and a back part. Next after
the neck in the front part is the chest, with a pair of breasts. To
each of the breasts is attached a teat or nipple, through which in the
case of females the milk percolates; and the breast is of a spongy
texture. Milk, by the way, is found at times in the male; but with the
male the flesh of the breast is tough, with the female it is soft
and porous.

Friday, February 17, 2006

The tongue

consists of flesh, soft and spongy, and the so-called
'epiglottis' is a part of this organ.

That part of the mouth that splits into two bits is called the
'tonsils'; that part that splits into many bits, the 'gums'. Both
the tonsils and the gums are composed of flesh. In the gums are teeth,
composed of bone.

Inside the mouth is another part, shaped like a bunch of
grapes, a pillar streaked with veins. If this pillar gets relaxed
and inflamed it is called 'uvula' or 'bunch of grapes', and it then
has a tendency to bring about suffocation.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Next

after the nose come two lips, composed of flesh, and
facile of motion. The mouth lies inside the jaws and lips. Parts of
the mouth are the roof or palate and the pharynx.

The part that is sensible of taste is the tongue. The sensation
has its seat at the tip of the tongue; if the object to be tasted be
placed on the flat surface of the organ, the taste is less sensibly
experienced. The tongue is sensitive in all other ways wherein flesh
in general is so: that is, it can appreciate hardness, or warmth and
cold, in any part of it, just as it can appreciate taste. The tongue
is sometimes broad, sometimes narrow, and sometimes of medium width;
the last kind is the best and the clearest in its discrimination of
taste. Moreover, the tongue is sometimes loosely hung, and sometimes
fastened: as in the case of those who mumble and who lisp.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Again,

smelling takes place by means of the nose,-smelling, or the
sensible discrimination of odour. And the nostril admits of easy
motion, and is not, like the ear, intrinsically immovable. A part of
it, composed of gristle, constitutes, a septum or partition, and
part is an open passage; for the nostril consists of two separate
channels. The nostril (or nose) of the elephant is long and strong,
and the animal uses it like a hand; for by means of this organ it
draws objects towards it, and takes hold of them, and introduces its
food into its mouth, whether liquid or dry food, and it is the only
living creature that does so.

Furthermore, there are two jaws; the front part of them
constitutes the chin, and the hinder part the cheek. All animals
move the lower jaw, with the exception of the river crocodile; this
creature moves the upper jaw only.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Again,

there is a part of the countenance that serves as a
passage for the breath, the 'nose'. For a man inhales and exhales by
this organ, and sneezing is effected by its means: which last is an
outward rush of collected breath, and is the only mode of breath
used as an omen and regarded as supernatural. Both inhalation and
exhalation go right on from the nose towards the chest; and with the
nostrils alone and separately it is impossible to inhale or exhale,
owing to the fact that the inspiration and respiration take place from
the chest along the windpipe, and not by any portion connected with
the head; and indeed it is possible for a creature to live without
using this process of nasal respiration.

Again,

there is a part of the countenance that serves as a
passage for the breath, the 'nose'. For a man inhales and exhales by
this organ, and sneezing is effected by its means: which last is an
outward rush of collected breath, and is the only mode of breath
used as an omen and regarded as supernatural. Both inhalation and
exhalation go right on from the nose towards the chest; and with the
nostrils alone and separately it is impossible to inhale or exhale,
owing to the fact that the inspiration and respiration take place from
the chest along the windpipe, and not by any portion connected with
the head; and indeed it is possible for a creature to live without
using this process of nasal respiration.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

and some

are of medium texture; the last kind are best for
hearing, but they serve in no way to indicate character. Some ears are
large, some small, some medium-sized; again, some stand out far,
some lie in close and tight, and some take up a medium position; of
these such as are of medium size and of medium position are
indications of the best disposition, while the large and outstanding
ones indicate a tendency to irrelevant talk or chattering. The part
intercepted between the eye, the ear, and the crown is termed the
'temple'.

Friday, February 10, 2006

for, by the way, the shark-kind are also viviparous. Now, the seal has the passages visible whereby it hears; but the dolphin can hear, but has no ears, nor yet any assages visible. But man alone is unable to move his ears, and all other animals can move them. And the ears lie, with man, in the same horizontal plane with the eyes, and not in a plane above them as is the case with some quadrupeds. Of ears, some are fine, some are coarse.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

The eyes

also are connected with the brain, and each of them lies at the end of a little vein. Of animals possessed of ears man is the only one that cannot move this organ. Of creatures possessed of hearing, some have ears, whilst others have none, but merely have the passages for ears visible, as, for example, feathered animals or animals coated with horny tessellates. Viviparous animals, with the exception of the seal, the dolphin,
and those others which after a similar fashion to these are cetaceans,
are all provided with ears;

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Furthermore,

there is a portion of the head, whereby an animal
hears, a part incapable of breathing, the 'ear'. I say 'incapable of
breathing', for Alcmaeon is mistaken when he says that goats inspire
through their ears. Of the ear one part is unnamed, the other part
is called the 'lobe'; and it is entirely composed of gristle and
flesh. The ear is constructed internally like the trumpet-shell, and
the innermost bone is like the ear itself, and into it at the end
the sound makes its way, as into the bottom of a jar. This
receptacle does not communicate by any passage with the brain, but
does so with the palate, and a vein extends from the brain towards it.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Of eyes

some are large, some small, some medium-sized; of these,
the medium-sized are the best. Moreover, eyes sometimes protrude,
sometimes recede, sometimes are neither protruding nor receding. Of
these, the receding eye is in all animals the most acute; but the last
kind are the sign of the best disposition. Again, eyes are sometimes
inclined to wink under observation, sometimes to remain open and
staring, and sometimes are disposed neither to wink nor stare. The
last kind are the sign of the best nature, and of the others, the
latter kind indicates impudence, and the former indecision.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Of the

eye the white is pretty much the same in all creatures; but
what is called the black differs in various animals. Some have the rim
black, some distinctly blue, some greyish-blue, some greenish; and
this last colour is the sign of an excellent disposition, and is
particularly well adapted for sharpness of vision. Man is the only, or
nearly the only, creature, that has eyes of diverse colours.
Animals, as a rule, have eyes of one colour only. Some horses have
blue eyes.

Friday, February 03, 2006

All animals

as a general rule, are provided with eyes, excepting
the ostracoderms and other imperfect creatures; at all events, all
viviparous animals have eyes, with the exception of the mole. And
yet one might assert that, though the mole has not eyes in the full
sense, yet it has eyes in a kind of a way. For in point of absolute
fact it cannot see, and has no eyes visible externally; but when the
outer skin is removed, it is found to have the place where eyes are
usually situated, and the black parts of the eyes rightly situated,
and all the place that is usually devoted on the outside to eyes:
showing that the parts are stunted in development, and the skin
allowed to grow over.

All animals

as a general rule, are provided with eyes, excepting
the ostracoderms and other imperfect creatures; at all events, all
viviparous animals have eyes, with the exception of the mole. And
yet one might assert that, though the mole has not eyes in the full
sense, yet it has eyes in a kind of a way. For in point of absolute
fact it cannot see, and has no eyes visible externally; but when the
outer skin is removed, it is found to have the place where eyes are
usually situated, and the black parts of the eyes rightly situated,
and all the place that is usually devoted on the outside to eyes:
showing that the parts are stunted in development, and the skin
allowed to grow over.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Underneath

the forehead are two eyebrows. Straight eyebrows are
a sign of softness of disposition; such as curve in towards the
nose, of harshness; such as curve out towards the temples, of humour
and dissimulation; such as are drawn in towards one another, of
jealousy.

Under the eyebrows come the eyes. These are naturally two in
number. Each of them has an upper and a lower eyelid, and the hairs on
the edges of these are termed 'eyelashes'. The central part of the eye
includes the moist part whereby vision is effected, termed the
'pupil', and the part surrounding it called the 'black'; the part
outside this is the 'white'. A part common to the upper and lower
eyelid is a pair of nicks or corners, one in the direction of the
nose, and the other in the direction of the temples. When these are
long they are a sign of bad disposition; if the side toward the
nostril be fleshy and comb-like, they are a sign of dishonesty.