in some places bark, in other places branches, and
in other places fruit, perhaps a fig or a pomegranate,
or something else; just as the breath of the musician,
one and the same 54 when blown into the flute,
becomes sometimes a high tone and sometimes a low
one, and the same pressure of the hand upon the lyre
sometimes causes a deep tone and sometimes a high tone,
so it is natural to suppose that external objects
are regarded differently according to the different
constitution of the animals which perceive them.
We may see this more clearly in 55 the things
that are sought for and avoided by animals. For
example, myrrh appears very agreeable to men and intolerable
to beetles and bees. Oil also, which is useful
to men, destroys wasps and bees if sprinkled on them;
and sea-water, while it is unpleasant and poisonous
to men if they drink it, is most agreeable and sweet
to fishes. Swine also prefer to wash in vile
filth rather than in pure clean water. Furthermore,
some 56 animals eat grass and some eat
herbs; some live in the woods, others eat seeds; some
are carnivorous, and others lactivorous; some enjoy
putrified food, and others fresh food; some raw food
and others that which is prepared by cooking; and in
general that which is agreeable to some is disagreeable
and fatal to others, and should be avoided by them.
Thus hemlock makes the 57 quail fat, and henbane
the hogs, and these, as it is known, enjoy eating
lizards; deer also eat poisonous animals, and swallows,
the cantharidae. Moreover, ants and flying ants,
when swallowed by men, cause discomfort and colic;
but the bear, on the contrary, whatever sickness he
may have, becomes stronger by devouring them.
The viper is benumbed if one twig of the oak
58 touches it, as is also the bat by a leaf of the
plane-tree. The elephant flees before the ram,
and the lion before the cock, and seals from the rattling
of beans that are being pounded, and the tiger from
the sound of the drum. Many other examples could
be given, but that we may not seem to dwell longer
than is necessary on this subject, we conclude by
saying that since the same things are pleasant to
some and unpleasant to others, and the pleasure and
displeasure depend on the ideas, it must be that different
animals have different ideas of objects. And
since the same things appear different according to
the 59 difference in the animals, it will
be possible for us to say how the external object
appears to us, but as to how it is in reality we shall
suspend our judgment. For we cannot ourselves
judge between our own ideas and those of other animals,
being ourselves involved in the difference, and therefore
much more in need of being judged than being ourselves
able to judge. And furthermore, we cannot give
the preference to our own mental 60 representations
over those of other animals, either without evidence
or with evidence, for besides the fact that perhaps
there is no evidence, as we shall show, the evidence