Chapter XX.

How Many Species of Animals There are, and Whether All Animals Have the Endowments of Sense and Reason.

There is a certain treatise¹ of Aristotle, in which animals are distributed into four kinds, terrestrial, aqueous, fowl², and heavenly; and he calls the stars and the world too animals, yea, and God himself he posits³ to be an animal gifted with reason and immortal⁴. Democritus and Epicurus consider all animals rational which have their residence in the heavens. Anaxagoras says that animals have only that reason which is operative, but not that which is passive, which is justly styled the interpreter of the mind, and is like the mind itself. Pythagoras and Plato, that the souls of all those who are styled brutes⁵ are rational; but by the evil constitution of their bodies, and because they have a want of a discoursive faculty⁶, they do not conduct themselves rationally. This is manifested in apes and dogs, which have inarticulate voice but not speech. Diogenes, that this sort of animals are partakers of intelligence and air, but by reason of the density⁷ in some parts of them, and by the superfluity of moisture in others, they neither enjoy understanding nor sense; but they are affected⁸ as madmen are, the commanding rational part being defectuous and injured.

1 treatise   

n.专著；(专题)论文

参考例句：

• The doctor wrote a treatise on alcoholism.那位医生写了一篇关于酗酒问题的论文。
• This is not a treatise on statistical theory.这不是一篇有关统计理论的论文。

2 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

3 posits   

v.假定，设想，假设( posit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• If a book is hard going, it ought to be good. If it posits a complex moral situation, it ought to be even better. 如果一本书很难读，那么它应该是一本好书；如果它提出了一个复杂的道德状况，那么它就更应该是本好书了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ray posits that this miracle is an object lesson for the disciples. 雷把这个奇事当作教训信徒们的事件。 来自互联网

4 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

5 brutes   

兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性

参考例句：

• They're not like dogs; they're hideous brutes. 它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。
• Suddenly the foul musty odour of the brutes struck his nostrils. 突然，他的鼻尖闻到了老鼠的霉臭味。 来自英汉文学

6 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

7 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。