Aristotle's History of Animals / In Ten Books

by Aristotle

1. The chameleon has the whole of its body like that of a lizard, and the ribs, descending downwards, are joined together on the hypogastric region, like those of fish, and the back-bone stands up, like that of a fish; its face is like that of the chœropithecus.[36] It has a very long tail; the extremity is very smooth, and rolled together like a thong. It is raised, upon longer legs than a lizard; the joints of the legs are bent in the same direction as the lizard's.

2. Each of its feet is divided into two parts, having the same relation to each other as our thumbs have to the rest of the hand: and, for a short distance, each of these is divided into toes; in the fore-feet the internal part has three, the external two toes; in the hind feet the internal part has two, and the external three toes; there is a claw upon each of its toes like that of birds of prey; its whole body is rough, like the crocodile.

3. Its eyes are placed in a hollow, and are very large and round; surrounded with skin like the rest of its body, and in the middle is left a small aperture through which it sees; this is never covered with skin. The eye is turned round in a circle, and it can direct its vision to any side, so that it can see where it will. The change in the colour of its skin takes place when it is filled with air. It can acquire either a black colour, like that of the crocodile, or ochreous, like that of the lizard, or spotted with black, like the panther; and this change takes place over the whole body, for the eyes also change like the rest of the body, and so does the tail.

4. Its movements are slow, like those of the tortoise; when dying, it becomes ochreous, and retains this colour after death. The œsophagus and trachea of the chameleon are similar to the same parts in lizards; it has no flesh, except a little on the head and cheeks, and upon the appendage at the end of its tail. It has no blood, except about the heart, and eyes, and the parts above the heart, and the veins that extend from these: and even in these there is very little blood.

5. The brain lies a little above the eyes, and is continuous with them; and when the outside skin of the eye is taken away, a bright object shines through it, like a bright ring of brass. Through the whole of its body many strong membranes are extended, which are much stronger than in other animals. It breathes strongly for some time after it has been dissected, and there are some slight movements of the heart; it also continues to contract its sides, but not the other parts of the body. It has no distinct spleen; and it hides itself in rocks like the lizard.

Chapter VIII.

1. Birds also have many parts like the animals described above. For all these have a head, neck, back, and under parts of the body, and something resembling a breast. They have two legs, and thus resemble men more than other animals, except that the joints bend backwards like those of quadrupeds, as I said before. They have neither hands, nor fore-feet, but wings; herein they differ from all other animals. Again, the hip is like a thigh, large and united as far as the middle of the abdomen, so as to look like a thigh, when it is separated from the rest of the body; and the thigh where it is joined to the leg is another part. The class of birds with crooked claws have the largest thigh, and stronger breasts than others.

2. All birds have claws and many divisions of the foot; in most of them the toes are quite separate; but the swimmers have their feet covered with a web, but even these have distinct and jointed toes. All birds that fly high in the air have four toes; and, generally, these are placed three forwards, and one backward, like a heel; a few birds have two toes turned forwards and two backwards, as the bird called jynx.[37] This bird is somewhat larger than the spize,[38] and is variegated in appearance. The formation of its toes is peculiar, and so is that of its tongue, which is like a serpent's. This it can project from its mouth, as much as the width of four fingers, and draw it in again. Like a snake it can turn its neck quite round, whilst the rest of its body is perfectly still. It has large claws, like those of the colius,[39] and it hisses with its voice.

3. Birds have a mouth, but its construction is peculiar, for they have neither lips nor teeth, but a beak, and neither ears nor nostrils, but only passages for these organs, for the nostrils in the beak, and for the ears in the head. They have two eyes like other animals, without eyelashes; when heavy with sleep, they close their eyes with the lower eyelid; and all possess a nictitating membrane, which closes the eye. The owl-like birds also use the upper eyelid. The same is the nature of the scaly animals, as the saurians, and others of this class; all of them close their eyes with the lower eyelid, but they do not all wink like birds. Again, birds have neither scales nor hair, but feathers; all the feathers have a stem.

4. Birds have no tail, but a rump; in birds with long legs, or palmated feet, this is short, in others it is large. These last, when they fly, keep their legs close to the body, but the others stretch them out behind them. All birds have a tongue, but this differs in various kinds: some have it large, others small. Next after man, some birds articulate words better than any other animals; this is particularly the case with those with broad tongues. No oviparous animal has an epiglottis on its trachea: but it can close and open the passage, so as to prevent any heavy thing finding its way into the lungs.