# De partibus animalium 17.9

Aristotle, De partibus animalium, Β., Chapter 17. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/aristotle/de-partibus-animalium/17.9

τὸν δʼ οὐρανὸν σαρκύδη πολλοὶ καὶ τῶν ἰχθύων 9 ἔχουσι, καὶ τῶν ποταμίων ἔνιοι σφὸδρα σαρκωόδη καὶ μαλακὸν, οἷον οἱ καλούμενοι κυπρῖνοε, ὥστε δοκεῖν τοῖς μὴ σκοποῦσιν ἀκριβὡς γλῶτταν ἔχειν ταύτην. οἱ δʼ ἰχθύες διὰ τὴν εἰρημένην αίτίαν ἔχουσι μὲν οὐ σαφῆ δʼ ἔχουσι τὴν διάρθρωσιν τῆς γλώττης. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς τροφῆς χέριν τῆς ἐν τοῖς χυμοῖς ἐστὶν ἡ αἴσθησις, τὸ μὲν γλωττοειδὲς ἔχει μόριον, οὐ πάντῃ δʼ ὁμοίως ἀλλὰ τῷ ἄκρῳ μάλιστα. διὰ τοῦτο τοῖς ἰχθύσι τοῦτʼ ἀφύρισται μόνον.

---

Aristotle, De partibus animalium, ed. Bernhard Langkavel. Text: The Greek Library, from the Perseus Digital Library and other open sources, CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: apostrophes normalised and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://thegreeklibrary.pages.lisn.upsaclay.fr/works/tlg0086.tlg030.local001/.