Such differences in its form present
themselves even among those sanguineous animals that are viviparous,
but are more marked in fishes and in the oviparous quadrupeds, and
this whether we compare them with each other or with the Vivipara.
As for birds, their liver very nearly resembles that of the
Vivipara; for in them, as in these, it is of a pure and blood-like
colour. The reason of this is that the body in both these classes of
animals admits of the freest exhalation, so that the amount of foul
residual matter within is but small. Hence it is that some of the
Vivipara are without any gall-bladder at all. For the liver takes a
large share in maintaining the purity of composition and the
healthiness of the body. For these are conditions that depend
finally and in the main upon the blood, and there is more blood in the
liver than in any of the other viscera, the heart only excepted. On
the other hand, the liver of oviparous quadrupeds and fishes inclines,
as a rule, to a yellow hue, and there are even some of them in which
it is entirely of this bad colour, in accordance with the bad
composition of their bodies generally. Such, for instance, is the case
in the toad, the tortoise, and other similar animals.
The spleen, again, varies in different animals. For in those that
have horns and cloven hoofs, such as the goat, the sheep, and the
like, it is of a rounded form; excepting when increased size has
caused some part of it to extend its growth longitudinally, as has
happened in the case of the ox.
Pages:
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160