Such animals, on the other
hand, as have thick and abundant fibres in their blood are of a more
earthy nature, and of a choleric temperament, and liable to bursts
of passion. For anger is productive of heat; and solids, when they
have been made hot, give off more heat than fluids. The fibres
therefore, being earthy and solid, are turned into so many hot
embers in the blood, like the embers in a vapour-bath, and cause
ebullition in the fits of passion.
This explains why bulls and boars are so choleric and so passionate.
For their blood is exceedingly rich in fibres, and the bull's at any
rate coagulates more rapidly than that of any other animal. If these
fibres, that is to say if the earthy constituents of which we are
speaking, are taken out of the blood, the fluid that remains behind
will no longer coagulate; just as the watery residue of mud will not
coagulate after removal of the earth. But if the fibres are left the
fluid coagulates, as also does mud, under the influence of cold. For
when the heat is expelled by the cold, the fluid, as has been
already stated, passes off with it by evaporation, and the residue
is dried up and solidified, not by heat but by cold. So long, however,
as the blood is in the body, it is kept fluid by animal heat.
The character of the blood affects both the temperament and the
sensory faculties of animals in many ways.
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