XXIII. Shall I reckon up for you the
differences of the other animals, both from us and from each
other,—differences of nature, and of production, and of
nourishment, and of region, and of temper, and as it were of social
life? How is it that some are gregarious and others solitary,
some herbivorous and others carnivorous, some fierce and others tame,
some fond of man and domesticated, others untamable and free? And
some we might call bordering on reason and power of learning, while
others are altogether destitute of reason, and incapable of being
taught. Some with fuller senses, others with less; some
immovable, and some with the power of walking, and some very swift, and
some very slow; some surpassing in size or beauty, or in one or other
of these respects; others very small or very ugly, or both; some
strong, others weak, some apt at self-defence, others timid and
crafty The Benedictines here
insert Some well protected; but it is their own conjecture, and is not
found in the Manuscripts. and others again
are unguarded. Some are laborious and thrifty, others altogether
idle and improvident. And before we come to such points as these,
how is it that some are crawling things, and others upright; some
attached to one spot, some amphibious; some delight in beauty and
others are unadorned; some are married and some single; some temperate
and others intemperate; some have numerous offspring and others not;
some are long-lived and others have but short lives? It would be
a weary discourse to go through all the details.