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. At the same time too
great an excess of water makes animals timorous. For fear chills the
body; so that in animals whose heart contains so watery a mixture
the way is prepared for the operation of this emotion. For water is
congealed by cold. This also explains why bloodless animals are, as
a general rule, more timorous than such as have blood, so that they
remain motionless, when frightened, and discharge their excretions,
and in some instances change colour. Such animals, on the other
hand, as have thick and abundant fibres in their blood are of a more
earthy nature, and of a choleric temperament, and liable to bursts
of passion. For anger is productive of heat; and solids, when they
have been made hot, give off more heat than fluids. The fibres
therefore, being earthy and solid, are turned into so many hot
embers in the blood, like the embers in a vapour-bath, and cause
ebullition in the fits of passion.
This explains why bulls and boars are so choleric and so passionate.
For their blood is exceedingly rich in fibres, and the bull's at any
rate coagulates more rapidly than that of any other animal. If these
fibres, that is to say if the earthy constituents of which we are
speaking, are taken out of the blood, the fluid that remains behind
will no longer coagulate; just as the watery residue of mud will not
coagulate after removal of the earth. But if the fibres are left the
fluid coagulates, as also does mud, under the influence of cold
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