The Complete Works of Aristotle

by Barnes, Jonathan, Aristotle

  In the case of the sheat-fish the growth from the egg is exceptionally slow, and, [15] in consequence, the male has to keep watch for forty or fifty days to prevent the spawn being devoured by such little fishes as chance to come by. Next in point of slowness is the generation of the carp. Nevertheless,14 the spawn in this case too escapes if it is guarded.

  In the case of some of the smaller fishes when they are only three days old [20] young fishes are generated. Eggs touched by the milt take on increase both the same day and also later. The egg of the sheat-fish is as big as a vetch-seed; the egg of the carp and of the carp-species as big as a millet-seed.

  These fishes then spawn and generate in the way here described. The chalcis, [25] however, spawns in deep water in dense shoals of fish; and the so-called tilon spawns near to beaches in sheltered spots in shoals likewise. The carp, the baleros, and fishes in general push eagerly into the shallows for the purpose of spawning, and very often thirteen or fourteen males are seen following a single female. When the [30] female deposits her spawn and departs, the males follow on and shed the milt. The greater portion of the spawn gets wasted; because, owing to the fact that the female [569a1] moves about while spawning, the spawn scatters, or so much of it as is caught in the stream and does not get entangled with some rubbish. For, with the exception of the sheat-fish, no fish keeps on guard; unless it be the carp, which is said to remain on guard, if it so happen that its spawn lies in a solid mass. [5]

  All male fishes are supplied with milt, excepting the eel: with the eel, the male is devoid of milt, and the female of eggs. The mullet goes up from the sea to marshes and rivers; the eels, on the contrary, make their way down from the marshes and rivers to the sea.

  [10] 15 · The great majority of fish, then, as has been stated, proceed from eggs. [However, there are some fish that proceed from mud and sand, even of those kinds that proceed also from pairing and the egg. This occurs in ponds—especially in a pond in the neighbourhood of Cnidos. This pond, it is said, at one time ran dry about [15] the rising of the dog-star, and the mud was all taken out; at the first fall of the rains there was a show of water in the pond, and on the first appearance of the water shoals of tiny fish were found in the pond. The fish in question was a kind of mullet, one which does not proceed from normal pairing, about the size of a small sprat, and not one of these fishes was provided with either egg or milt. There are found also in [20] Asia Minor, in rivers not communicating with the sea, little fishes like whitebait, different but found under similar circumstances. Some writers actually aver that mullet all grow spontaneously. In this assertion they are mistaken, for the female of the fish is found provided with eggs, and the male with milt. However, there is a [25] species of mullet that grows out of mud and sand.

  From the facts above enumerated it is clear that certain fishes come spontaneously into existence, not being derived from eggs or from copulation. Such fish as are neither oviparous nor viviparous arise all either from mud or from sand and from decayed matter that rises thence as a scum; for instance, the so-called froth of the small fry comes out of sandy ground. This fry is incapable of growth and [569b1] of propagating its kind; after living for a while it dies away and another creature takes its place, and so, with short intervals excepted, it may be said to last the whole year through. At all events, it lasts from the autumn rising of Arcturus up to the spring-time. As a proof that these fish occasionally come out of the ground we have [5] the fact that in cold weather they are not caught, and that they are caught in warm weather, obviously coming up out of the ground to catch the heat; also, when the fishermen use dredges and the ground is scraped up, the fishes often appear in larger numbers and of superior quality. All other small fry are inferior in quality owing to rapidity of growth.

  [10] The fry are found in sheltered and marshy districts, when after a spell of fine weather the ground is getting warmer, as, for instance, in the neighbourhood of Athens, at Salamis and near the tomb of Themistocles and at Marathon; for in these districts the froth is found. It appears, then, in such districts and during such [15] weather, and occasionally appears after a heavy fall of rain in the froth that is thrown up by the falling rain—which is why it is called froth. Foam is occasionally brought in on the surface of the sea in fair weather. And in this, where it has formed on the surface, the froth collects, as grubs swarm in manure; for which reason this [20] fry is often brought in from the open sea. The fish is at its best in quality and quantity in moist warm weather.

  The ordinary fry is the normal issue of fishes: the so-called gudgeon-fry of small insignificant gudgeon-like fish that burrow under the ground. From the Phaleric fry comes the membras, from the membras the trichis, from the trichis the [25] trichias, and from one particular sort of fry, to wit from that found in the harbour of Athens, comes what is called the anchovy. There is another fry, derived from the sprat and the mullet.

  The unfertile fry is watery and keeps only a short time, as has been stated; for at last only head and eyes are left. However, the fishermen of late have hit upon a [570a1] method of transporting it to a distance, as when salted it keeps for a considerable time.]15

  16 · Eels are not the issue of pairing, neither are they oviparous; nor was an eel ever found supplied with either milt or eggs, nor are they when cut open found to [5] have within them passages for milt or for eggs. In point of fact, this entire species of blooded animals proceeds neither from pairing nor from the egg.

  There can be no doubt that the case is so. For in some standing pools, after the water has been drained off and the mud has been dredged away, the eels appear again after a fall of rain. In time of drought they do not appear even in stagnant [10] ponds, for the simple reason that their existence and sustenance is derived from rain-water.

  There is no doubt, then, that they proceed neither from pairing nor from an egg. Some writers, however, are of opinion that they generate their kind, because in some eels little worms are found, from which they suppose that eels are derived. But [15] this opinion is not founded on fact. Eels are derived from the so-called ‘earth’s guts’ that grow spontaneously in mud and in humid ground; in fact, eels have at times been seen to emerge out of such earthworms, and on other occasions have been rendered visible when the earthworms were laid open by either scraping or cutting. Such earthworms are found both in the sea and in rivers where there is a lot of [20] decayed matter: in the sea in places where sea-weed abounds, and in rivers and marshes near to the edge; for it is near to the water’s edge that sun-heat has its chief power and produces putrefaction. So much for the generation of the eel. [25]

  17 · Fish do not all bring forth their young at the same season nor all in like manner, neither is the period of gestation for all of the same duration.

  Before pairing the males and females gather together in shoals; at the time for copulation and parturition they pair off. With some fishes the time of gestation is [30] not longer than thirty days, with others it is a lesser period; but with all it extends over a number of days divisible by seven. The longest period of gestation is that of the species which some call a marinus.

  The sargue conceives during the month of Poseideon and carries its spawn for [570b1] thirty days; and the species of mullet named by some the chelon, and the myxon, go with spawn at the same period and over the same length of time.

  All fish suffer greatly during the period of gestation, and are in consequence [5] very apt to be thrown up on shore at this time. In some cases they are driven frantic with pain and throw themselves on land. At all events they are throughout this time continually in motion until parturition is over (this being especially true of the mullet), and after parturition they are in repose. With many fish the time for [10] parturition terminates on the appearance of grubs within the belly; for small living grubs get generated there and drive out the spawn.

  With shoal fishes parturition takes place in the spring, and indeed, with most fishes, about the time of the spring equinox; with others it is at different time
s, in [15] summer with some, and with others about the autumn equinox.

  The first of shoal fishes to spawn is the atherine, and it spawns close to land; the last is the cephalus: and this is inferred from the fact that the brood of the atherine appears first of all and the brood of the cephalus last. The mullet also spawns early. The saupe spawns usually at the beginning of summer, but [20] occasionally in the autumn. The aulopias, which some call the anthias, spawns in the summer. Next in order of spawning comes the gilthead, the basse, the mormyrus, and in general such fish as are nicknamed ‘runners’. Latest in order of the shoal fish come the red mullet and the coracine; these spawn in autumn. The red [25] mullet spawns on mud, and consequently, as the mud continues cold for a long while, spawns late in the year. The coracine carries its spawn for a long time; but, as it lives on rocky ground, it goes to a distance and spawns in places abounding in sea-weed, at a period later than the red mullet. The sprat spawns about the winter solstice. Of the others, such as are seagoing spawn for the most part in summer; [30] which fact is proved by their not being caught during this period.

  Of fishes the most prolific is the sprat; of selachia, the fishing-frog. Specimens, however, of the fishing-frog are rare from the facility with which the young are destroyed, as the female lays her spawn all in a lump close in to shore. As a rule, [571a1] selachia are less prolific than other fish owing to their being viviparous; and their young by reason of their size have a better chance of escaping destruction.

  The so-called pipe-fish is late in spawning, and the greater portion of them are burst asunder by the eggs before spawning; and the eggs are not so many in number [5] as large in size. The young fish cluster round the parent like so many young spiders, for the fish spawns on to herself; and, if any one touch the young, they swim away. The atherine spawns by rubbing its belly against the sand.

  [Tunny fish also burst asunder by reason of their fat. They live for two years; and the fishermen infer this age from the circumstance that once when there was a [10] failure of the young tunny fish for a year there was a failure of the full-grown tunny the next summer. They are of opinion that the tunny is a fish a year older than the pelamyd.]16 The tunny and the mackerel pair about the close of the month of Elaphebolion, and spawn about the commencement of the month of Hecatombaeon; [15] they deposit their spawn in a sort of bag. The growth of the young tunny is rapid. After the females have spawned in the Euxine, there comes from the egg what some call scordylae, but what the Byzantines nickname ‘growers’, from their growing to a considerable size in a few days; these fish go out of the Pontus in autumn along with the young tunnies, and enter Pontus in the spring as pelamyds. Fishes as a rule take [20] on growth with rapidity, but this is peculiarly the case with all species of fish found in the Pontus; the growth, for instance, of the bonito is quite visible from day to day.

  In general, we must bear in mind that the same fish, if they are not in the same localities, have not the same season for pairing, for conception, for parturition, or [25] for flourishing. The coracine, for instance, in some places spawns about wheat-harvest. The statements here given aim only to give what happens for the most part.

  The conger also spawns, but the fact is not equally obvious in all localities, nor [30] is the spawn plainly visible owing to the fat of the fish; for the spawn is lanky in shape as it is with serpents. However, if it be put on the fire it shows its nature; for the fat evaporates and melts, while the eggs dance about and explode with a crack. Further, if you touch the substances and rub them with your fingers, the fat feels smooth and the egg rough. Some congers are provided with fat but not with any egg, [571b1] others are unprovided with fat but have eggs of the sort described.

  18 · We have, then, treated pretty fully of the animals that fly in the air or swim in the water, and of such of those that walk on dry land as are oviparous, to wit of their pairing, conception, and the like phenomena; it now remains to treat of the [5] same phenomena in connexion with viviparous land animals and with man.

  The statements made in regard to the pairing of the sexes apply partly to the particular kinds of animal and partly to all in general. It is common to all animals to be most excited by the desire for and the pleasure derived from copulation. The [10] female is most fierce just after parturition, the male during the time of pairing; for instance, stallions at this period bite one another, throw their riders, and chase them. Wild boars, though usually enfeebled at this time as the result of copulation, [15] are now unusually fierce, and fight with one another in an extraordinary way, clothing themselves with defensive armour and deliberately thickening their hide by rubbing against trees or by coating themselves repeatedly with mud and then drying themselves. They drive one another away from the swine pastures, and fight with [20] such fury that very often both combatants succumb. The case is similar with bulls, rams, and he-goats; for, though at ordinary times they herd together, at breeding time they hold aloof from and quarrel with one another. The male camel also is fierce at pairing time if either a man or a camel comes near him; as for a horse, a [25] camel is ready to fight him at any time.17 It is the same with wild animals. The bear, the wolf, and the lion are all at this time ferocious towards such as come in their way, but they are less given to fight with one another from the fact that they are at no time gregarious. The she-bear is fierce after cubbing, and the bitch after [30] pupping.

  Male elephants get savage about pairing time, and for this reason it is stated that men who have charge of elephants in India never allow the males to have [572a1] intercourse with the females; on the ground that the males go wild at this time and turn topsy-turvy the dwellings of their keepers, lightly constructed as they are, and commit all kinds of havoc. They also state that abundancy of food has a tendency to tame the males. They further introduce other elephants amongst the wild ones, and [5] punish and break them in by setting on the new-comers to chastise the others.

  Animals that pair frequently and not at a single specific season, as for instance animals domesticated by man, such as swine and dogs, are found to indulge in such behaviour to a lesser degree owing to the frequency of their sexual intercourse.

  [10] Of female animals the mare is the most sexually wanton, and next in order comes the cow. In fact, the mare is said to go a-horsing; and the term derived from the habits of this one animal serves as a term of abuse applicable to those who are unbridled in the way of sexual appetite. The mare is said also about this time to get [15] wind-impregnated, and for this reason in Crete they never remove the stallion from the mares; and when the mare gets into this condition she runs away from all other horses. (This is the condition which in sows is known as going boaring.) The mares under these circumstances fly invariably either northwards or southwards, and never towards either east or west. When this complaint is on them they allow no one [20] to approach, until either they are exhausted with fatigue or have reached the sea. Then they discharge a certain substance called ‘hippomanes’, the title given to a growth on a new-born foal; this resembles the sow-virus, and is in great demand amongst women who deal in drugs. About horsing time the mares huddle closer [25] together, are continually switching their tails, their neigh is abnormal in sound, and from the sexual organ there flows a liquid resembling sperm, but much thinner than the sperm of the male. It is this substance that some call hippomanes, instead of the growth found on the foal; they say it is extremely difficult to get as it oozes out only [30] in small drops at a time. Mares also, when in heat, discharge urine frequently, and frisk with one another. Such are the phenomena connected with the horse.

  Cows go a-bulling; and so completely are they under the influence of the sexual excitement that the herdsmen have no control over them and cannot catch hold of [572b1] them. Mares and cows alike, when in heat, indicate the fact by the upraising of their genital organs, and by continually voiding urine. Further, cows mount the bulls, [5] follow them about, and keep standing beside them. The younger females both with horses and cattle are the first to get in
heat; and their sexual appetites are all the keener if the weather be warm and their bodily condition be healthy. Mares, when clipt of their coat, have the sexual feeling checked, and assume a downcast drooping [10] appearance. The stallion recognizes by the scent the mares that form his company, even though they have been together only a few days before breeding time; and those which have mixed with others, the stallion bites and drives away. He feeds apart, accompanied by his own troop of mares. Each stallion has assigned to him [15] about thirty mares or even somewhat more; when a strange stallion approaches, he huddles his mares into a close ring, runs round them, then advances to the encounter; if one of the mares make a movement, he bites her and drives her back. The bull in breeding time begins to graze with the cows, and fights with other bulls (having hitherto grazed with them), which is termed ‘herd-spurning’. Often in Epirus a bull disappears for three months together. In a general way one may state [20] that of male animals either none or few herd with their respective females before breeding time; but they keep separate after reaching maturity, and the two sexes feed apart. Sows, when they are moved by sexual desire, or are, as it is called, a-boaring, will attack even human beings. [25]