by Aristotle
4 · Why is it that, when we are chilled, the same heat causes more burning [35] and pain? Is it because owing to its density the flesh holds the heat which comes into contact with it? This is the reason why lead becomes hotter than wool. Or is the passage of the heat violent because the body is congealed by cold?
5 · Why does dry friction render the flesh solid? Is it because heat is [966b1] engendered by the friction and the moisture is used up? Furthermore, the flesh when rubbed becomes dense, and everything becomes denser and solider the more it is rubbed. This can be seen in many examples; dough, for instance, and clay and [5] similar substances, if you pour water into them and spread them out, remain moist and fluid, but, if you apply more friction, they quickly become dense, solid and viscous.
6 · Why does friction produce more flesh than running? Is it because [10] running cools the flesh and makes it less absorbent of nutriment, but part of the nutriment is shaken downwards, while the part on the surface,3 owing to the exhaustion of the natural heat, becomes quite thin and is expelled in the form of breath? But the hand by friction makes the flesh rare and able to take up nutriment. [15] Moreover, the external contact, opposing by its pressure the natural impetus of the flesh, makes it compact and drives it back upon itself.
BOOK XXXVIII
PROBLEMS CONCERNING THE COLORATION OF THE FLESH
1 · Why is it that the sun bleaches wax and olive oil, but darkens the flesh? Is [20] it because it bleaches the former by extracting the water from them (for that which is moist is naturally black owing to the admixture of the earthy element), whereas it scorches the flesh?
[25] 2 · Why have fishermen reddish hair, and divers for murex, and in short all who work on the sea? Is it because the sea is hot and full of dryness because it is salty? Now that which is of this nature, like lye and orpiment, makes the hair reddish. Or is it because they are warmer in their outer parts, but their inner parts [30] are chilled, because, owing to their getting wet, the surrounding parts are always being dried by the sun? And as they undergo this process, the hair being dried becomes fine and reddish. Furthermore all those who live towards the north have fine, reddish hair.
3 · Why is it that running in clothing and anointing the body under the [35] clothing with oil makes men pale skinned, whereas running naked makes them ruddy? Is it because ventilation produces a ruddy colour, while suffocation has the opposite effect and causes pallor, because the moisture on the surface is heated up and does not cool? Now perspiring in clothes and anointing the body under the [967a1] clothing both have the same effect, namely, that the heat is enclosed. But running naked makes the flesh ruddy for the opposite reason, because the air cools the excrements which form and ventilates the body. Further, the oil, which is moist and thin, being smeared over the body under the clothing and blocking up the pores, [5] does not allow either the moisture and breath from the body to escape or the external air to penetrate inwards. Therefore the moist excrements being choked in the body decay and produce pallor.
4 · Why is it that the ventilation of the flesh makes it ruddy? Is it because pallor is as it were a corruption of the flesh? When, therefore, the surface is moist [10] and hot, it becomes yellow unless it is cooled and gives off the heat in the form of breath.
5 · Why is it that those who perspire are ruddy as a result of their exercises, whereas athletes are pale? Is it because as the result of moderate exertion the heat is [15] burnt up and comes to the surface, whereas by constant exertion it is drained off with the perspiration and breath, the body being rarefied by exertion? When, therefore, the heat comes to the surface, a man becomes ruddy, just as he does when he is hot or ashamed; but when the heat fails, he is pallid. Now ordinary persons indulge in moderate exercise, whereas athletes are constantly training.
[20] 6 · Why are men more sunburnt who sit still in the sun than those who take exercise? Is it because those who are in motion are as it were fanned by the breath owing to the movement of the air which they set up, whereas those who are sitting still do not undergo this process?
7 · Why does the sun scorch, while fire does not? Is it because the heat of the [25] sun is finer and can penetrate farther into the flesh? Fire, on the other hand, if it does scorch, only raises the surface of the flesh by creating what we call blisters, and does not penetrate within.
8 · Why is it that fire does not make men black, whereas the sun does so, and [967b1] why does fire blacken earthenware, while the sun does not? Or do they produce their effects by dissimilar means, the sun blackening the flesh by scorching it and the fire permeating the earthenware with the soot which it sends up? (Now soot consists of fine coal-dust, formed by the simultaneous breaking-up and burning of [5] the charcoal.) The sun, then, makes men black, while the fire does not do so, because the heat of the sun is gentle and owing to the smallness of its parts it can scorch the flesh itself; and so, because it does not set the flesh on fire, it does not cause pain, but it blackens it because it scorches it. Fire, on the other hand, either does not kindle at all or else penetrates within; for what is burnt by fire also becomes [10] black, but it does not burn merely that part of the body in which the colour is situated.
9 · Why do men become darker complexioned as they become older? Is it because anything which decays becomes blacker, except mildew? And old age and decay are the same thing. Further, since the blood when it dries up becomes blacker, [15] it is only likely that older men are darker; for it is the blood which naturally gives colour to our bodies.
10 · Why is it that, of persons engaged in the preparation of cereals, those who handle barley become pale and are subject to catarrh, while those who handle [20] wheat are healthy? Is it because wheat is more easily concocted than barley, and therefore its emanations are also more easily concocted?
11 · Why is it that sun bleaches olive oil but darkens the flesh? Is it because it extracts the earthy element from the olive oil, and this, like the earthy element in wine, is the black part of it? Now it darkens the flesh because it burns it; for that [25] which is earthy always becomes black when burnt.
**TEXT C. A. Ruelle, Teubner, Leipzig, 1922
1Reading αἰτίαι oὖσαι for ὥσπερ.
2Reading τò μὲν ζεῖ, ὁ δὲ κάει.
3Reading συμπήξεις.
4Reading χoλώδεις.
5Reading oἷoν.
6Reading ὅπως.
7Reading μανoῖς.
8Reading oὗ.
9Reading διὰ τί.
10Reading ἐκλoύoντα.
1Omitting ὃ κωλὑει τἠκεσθαι.
2Reading θέρoυς for χειμῶνoς.
3Reading τῷ ἐπιλαβεῖν.
4Reading διὰ τò μάλλον ἐκθερμαίνεσθαι.
5Reading ἤ ὅτι.
6Reading στέγει.
7Reading συστελλομένοι.
8Reading ἱδρῶτες μᾶλλον.
1Reading ὑπερτείνῃ τῇ δυνάμει.
2Reading ἐκλείπειν.
3Reading πίονι.
4Reading σνμβαίνει τò ξωτικóν.
5Reading ἐπ’ εὐθείας φορά.
6Reading ἀπολεῖπον.
7Reading ταὐτό.
8Reading ταὐτοῦ for ταῦτα.
9Reading χρóνον for τρόπον.
10Reading ἀπoχυλίζοντες.
11Omitting καὶ οὐκ ἀηδές.
12Reading ἐνδεῶς.
13Reading μή for μέν.
14Reading ἢ ὀλίγη.
15Reading τοῖς μεγάλως πυριῶσιν.
16Reading ἑκάτερoν.
17Reading ἐγκρατῶς.
1Reading γίνεται ποτέ, διά.
2Hesiod, Works and Days 582.
3Ruelle marks a lacuna.
4Reading θέρους ταῖς μέν ἐστι.
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br /> 5Reading περιττωματικῶν.
1Reading σπῶνται.
2Omitting καί.
3Reading ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ σχήματι ποιεῖσθαι τὴν κίνησιν, ὃ συμβαίνει έν τῇ ἀνωμάλῳ κτλ.
4Reading γινόμενον μικρόν.
5Reading τò κατὰ φύσιν θερμòν ἒχειν.
6Reading τὰ ὀπτὰ τῶν έφθῶν.
7Omitting ὑπò τοῦ θερμοῦ and reading φερομένους.
1Reading πρòς τò ὲναντίον τò ἐναντίον σχῆμα.
1Reading συνθλασθῇ.
1Reading ἐκτός for ἐντóς.
2Reading κατακέκλινται.
3Reading βάρος.
1Reading λευκαί.
2Homer, Iliad V 75.
3Reading δὲ ἐξιέναι.
4Reading φαίνεται. εἶτα τά.
1Reading τò ταντῇ εἶναι τò δέρμα ἀφεστóς.
2Reading προσεστός.
3Reading ἠ δὲ ὓς ἢ διά.
4Reading σκληρότεραι.
5Reading δύο ἒτι for διότι.
6The text is uncertain at this point.
7Reading εἴπερ.
8Reading ὡς εἰκóς.
9Reading τὴν ἐπιτέλεσιν τοῦ σώματος for τó γνωρἰζειν.
10Omitting 态στε.
11Reading κατὰ τò ὄνομα οὺδὲν ἤ oὺ.
12Reading ἅρτι.
13Reading ὁτιoῦν for ὅτι πἅν.
14Omitting τò καλòν καί τò ἠδύ.
15Reading οὐ πρός.
16Omitting τò σῶμα.
17Putting a comma after ἀπέπτων, and placing διó … γίνεται in parentheses.
18Putting a comma after instead of before ἔξωθεν.
19Omitting πρό.
20Reading πάχος ἔχοντα.
21Reading τò μηδὲν ἐκτòς δἰ αὐτῶν.
22Reading ἣ μὴ γἰνεσθαι.
1Reading (φωνὴ γάρ τις) καὶ τῆς ἀκοῆς, ὥσπερ καἰ ἐκ.
2Reading μιμοῦνται καὶ λεπτῇ.
3Reading προσπίπτων.
4Reading ἢ ὅτι.
5Reading ἢ ὅτι.
6Retaining γινομένων.
7Reading ἢ ᾧ.
8Reading εὐκρινής.
9Reading αὐτή.
10Reading βραδύτερα.
11Reading πόρρω ἰóν.
12Reading φερόμενος, διαλὐεται.
13Reading γεγώνασιν.
14Reading διoρᾶται, ὅτι.
1Excised by Forster.
2Reading εὔπεπτα for λεπτά.
3Reading ἦττον for θᾶττον.
4Reading εὐπετεστέρον.
5Reading ὐπεῖξαι.
1Reading τούτῳ for κάτω.
1Reading πυρετòς ἐν ᾧ τῶν.
2Reading ὀ ἀὴρ ὀ ὐγρότερος.
3Reading ξηροῦ for θερμοῦ.
4Reading θερμότερος for ξηρότερος.
1διχάμετρος as from δίχα(‘into two parts’).
2Reading διὰ τί for διότι.
3A literal translation of the Greek for ‘eleven’ is ‘one-ten’.
4Reading οὐ δοκεῖ.
5The text of this sentence is quite uncertain.
6Reading καὶ ἃς ἐκβαλλóμεναι πoιoῦσιν αἱ ἀκτῖνες.
7Reading (here and below) Λ for A.
8Reading ἐν τῇ ΛΘ.
9Reading δύνανται.
10Reading πλείονος δ’ αὐτοῦ.
11Omitting ώς ἄνισον.
12Reading Δ for Γ.
13Reading ὅταν for ὅσῳ.
14Reading τοῦ ἄνωθεν κὐκλου.
15Reading μικραὶ δέ.
16Reading ἀσθενῆ.
17Reading μεταβάλλοντα.
18Reading ἐκεῖνα.
1Reading ταύτῃ.
2Reading βάρος.
3Reading προσενεχθεῖσαν.
4Omitting ἰσάζειν αὐτὰ.
5Reading βάθει.
6Omitting διχοτομεῖσθαι . . . σνμβήσεται.
7Reading ἐφ’ ἧς.
8Reading ᾗπρώτῃ.
9Reading σάττεσθαι γὰρ εἰς αὑτόν.
10Reading κίνησιν.
11Reading αὐτòν καί for αὐτοῦ.
12The text of this sentence is quite uncertain.
13Reading ὡς ἐκίνησεν.
14Reading βάρος.
1Reading βάθει.
2Reading ἠ φορά.
1Reading ἵσταται.
2Reading οὐ ποιεῖ.
3Reading τῇ ἐτέρᾳ κινήσει.
4Reading μάλιστα ζῇ for ἒ χει.
1Reading ὰναχαλᾶν for ἄνω βάλλειν.
2Reading βίαν for μίαν.
3The text of the last two sentences is uncertain.
4Reading ἦττον ἠδύ.
5Reading ἴσχει.
6Reading ἴσχει.
7Following Monro’s text.
8Reading εἳς ῥυθμός.
9Retaining βαρυτέρω.
10Reading αὶσθητός, ὅτι.
11Retaining ταχύ.
12Ruelle excises this sentence.
13Reading μόνον, οὐχί.
14Reading μιμητικά.
15Omitting καί after ἠγεμών.
16Ruelle marks a lacuna here.
17Reading διὰ πέντε ήμιόλιον, τó δ’ ἠμιόλιον.
18Reading τ’ ἐκεῖνο for τεμεῖν ὅ.
19There is a lacuna in the text here.
20Reading φθειρομέναι.
21Reading ἠ κινηθεῖσα μόνη φθείρεται.
22Omitting δέ before ἔχειν and ἁπάσαις after μέσην.
23Reading ἐκλείπει μόνον.
24Reading εὐεκτικοί.
25Reading ῤᾶoν for κάτω.
26Omitting οὐ.
27Reading δύναμιν ἔχῃ · τοῦτο δ’ ἔχει.
28Reading ἀντίφωνον for σὐμφωνον.
29Omitting τό before ἐκ διαφόρων.
30Retaining τριῶν.
31Reading λóγoν for εὒλoγoν.
32Reading οὒσης ἀντῳδῆς τῆς νεάτης.
33Reading ἠχὼ ἀντῳδἠ τὶς ἐστι φωνῆς, καὶ τῆς.
34Reading κινεῖται.
35Reading ὅτι οὐ for οὗ.
36Reading ἄλλως τε καὶ βραχείας κινήσεως αὐταῖς γεγενημένης.
37Reading ἀκούομεν for ἐστίν.
38Reading ἢ ἐὰν πρòς λύραν.
39Reading πᾶν τῷ ἠδίονι μιχθὲν ἤδιον ἒτι ἐστίν.
40Reading ἒτι for ἐπεί.
41Omitting ὂντες αὐτoῖς.
42Omitting τῶν μὲν ὀκτώ.
43The text of this sentence is quite uncertain.
44Reading μέν for μέσον.
45Reading αὐτό.
1Reading εἰλώδεσι.
2Omitting μή.
3Reading αὐτῷ.
4Reading ἒ τι δὲ ἠ περίσαξις.
5There is a lacuna at this point in the MSS.
6Reading ἥ for ἤ
.
7There is a lacuna in the MSS here.
8Omitting δέ.
9Omitting oὐθὲν φυτóν.
10This sentence is excised by Ruelle.
1Reading ἀλλ’ ἠ κριθὴ ψαθνρώτερον.
2Reading προσέχεσθαι ποιεῖ ὲαυτοὶς.