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These viscera, then, contribute in this manner to the compactness of
the animal body. The liver and spleen assist, moreover, in the
concoction of the food; for both are of a hot character, owing to
the blood which they contain. The kidneys, on the other hand, take
part in the separation of the excretion which flows into the bladder.
The heart then and the liver are essential constituents of every
animal; the liver that it may effect concoction, the heart that it may
lodge the central source of heat. For some part or other there must be
which, like a hearth, shall hold the kindling fire; and this part must
be well protected, seeing that it is, as it were, the citadel of the
body.
All sanguineous animals, then, need these two parts; and this
explains why these two viscera, and these two alone, are invariably
found in them all. In such of them, however, as breathe, there is also
as invariably a third, namely the lung. The spleen, on the other hand,
is not invariably present; and, in those animals that have it, is only
present of necessity in the same sense as the excretions of the
belly and of the bladder are necessary, in the sense, that is, of
being an inevitable concomitant. Therefore it is that in some
animals the spleen is but scantily developed as regards size. This,
for instance, is the case in such feathered animals as have a hot
stomach. Such are the pigeon, the hawk, and the kite
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