But in man, owing to his upright attitude, the anterior and
posterior surfaces of the body are on an equality as regards need of
protection. Nature therefore has assigned the protective covering to
the nobler of the two surfaces; for invariably she brings about the
best arrangement of such as are possible. This then is the reason that
there is no lower eyelash in any quadruped; though in some a few
scattered hairs sprout out under the lower lid. This also is the
reason that they never have hair in the axillae, nor on the pubes,
as man has. Their hair, then, instead of being collected in these
parts, is either thickly set over the whole dorsal surface, as is
the case for instance in dogs, or, sometimes, forms a mane, as in
horses and the like, or as in the male lion where the mane is still
more flowing and ample. So, again, whenever there is a tail of any
length, nature decks it with hair, with long hair if the stem of the
tail be short, as in horses, with short hair if the stem be long,
regard also being had to the condition of the rest of the body. For
nature invariably gives to one part what she subtracts from another.
Thus when she has covered the general surface of an animal's body with
an excess of hair, she leaves a deficiency in the region of the
tail. This, for instance, in the case with bears.
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