Such, for
instance, are the faeces and, in animals that have a bladder, the
urine; the former being the dregs of the solid nutriment, the latter
of the fluid.
Even the individual homogeneous parts present variations, which
are intended in each case to render them more serviceable for their
purpose. The variations of the blood may be selected to illustrate
this. For different bloods differ in their degrees of thinness or
thickness, of clearness or turbidity, of coldness or heat; and this
whether we compare the bloods from different parts of the same
individual or the bloods of different animals. For, in the individual,
all the differences just enumerated distinguish the blood of the upper
and of the lower halves of the body; and, dealing with classes, one
section of animals is sanguineous, while the other has no blood, but
only something resembling it in its place. As regards the results of
such differences, the thicker and the hotter blood is, the more
conducive is it to strength, while in proportion to its thinness and
its coldness is its suitability for sensation and intelligence. A like
distinction exists also in the fluid which is analogous to blood. This
explains how it is that bees and other similar creatures are of a more
intelligent nature than many sanguineous animals; and that, of
sanguineous animals, those are the most intelligent whose blood is
thin and cold.
Pages:
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51