This is indeed what might
reasonably be expected, seeing that the blood is the material of which
the whole body is made. For nutriment supplies the material, and the
blood is the ultimate nutriment. It makes then a considerable
difference whether the blood be hot or cold, thin or thick, turbid
or clear.
The watery part of the blood is serum; and it is watery, either
owing to its not being yet concocted, or owing to its having become
corrupted; so that one part of the serum is the resultant of a
necessary process, while another part is material intended to serve
for the formation of the blood.
5
The differences between lard and suet correspond to differences of
blood. For both are blood concocted into these forms as a result of
abundant nutrition, being that surplus blood that is not expended on
the fleshy part of the body, and is of an easily concocted and fatty
character. This is shown by the unctuous aspect of these substances;
for such unctuous aspect in fluids is due to a combination of air
and fire. It follows from what has been said that no non-sanguineous
animals have either lard or suet; for they have no blood. Among
sanguineous animals those whose blood is dense have suet rather than
lard. For suet is of an earthy nature, that is to say, it contains but
a small proportion of water and is chiefly composed of earth; and this
it is that makes it coagulate, just as the fibrous matter of blood
coagulates, or broths which contain such fibrous matter.
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