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 ings, and 2 Maps. 
 
 Lodge's Portraits of Illustrious Per- 
 sonages of Great Britain, with Memoirs. 
 
 . Two ff'wndred and Forty Portraits, beau- 
 tifully engraved on Steel. 8 vols. 
 
THE HAND; 
 
 ITS MECHANISM AND VITAL ENDOWMENTS, AS EVINCING 
 DESIGN. 
 
 POEMING THE POTJETH BEIDGEWATEE TEEATISE, 
 
edinburgh : 
 
 peikted by ballantyne and compant, 
 
 Paul's work. 
 
THE HAND; 
 
 ITSMEOFIANISM AND VITAL ENDOWMENTS. 
 AS EVINCING DESIGN. 
 
 BY SIR CHARLES BELL, 
 
 K.G.H., F.E.S. L &: K. 
 
 Sf6enti3 ^^biiioiT, Jlcbisch. 
 
 'RECEDED BY AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S DISCOVERIES 
 ON THE NERVOUS SYSTJ'.M, 
 
 BY ALEXAISDER SHAW, 
 
 SURGEON TO TUT. JITPDLFSEX HOSPrTAL. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 liKI.L & DALDY, G, YORK STREET, COViCNT GARDEN, 
 
 AND ISG, Fl.EET STREET. 
 
 posTG» dm^m^ UBR-VaY 
 
 ^ ^BSTOUX HILL, MASS, 
 
57 
 
 
PEEEACE. 
 
 When one has to maintain an argument, he will be listened to 
 more willingly if lie is known to be unbiassed, and to express 
 Ms natural sentiments. The reflections contained in these 
 pages have not been suggested by the occasion of the Bridge- 
 water Treatises, but arose, long ago, in a course of study 
 directed to other objects. An anatomical teacher, himself 
 aware of the higher bearings of his science, can hardly neglect 
 the opportunity which the demonstrations before him afford, 
 of making an impression upon the minds of those young men 
 who, for the most part, receive the elements of their profes- 
 sional education from him ; and he is naturally led to indulge 
 in such trains of reflection as will be found in this essay. 
 
 So far back as the year 1813, the late excellent vicar of 
 Kensington, Mr Rennell, lattended the author's lectures, and 
 found him engaged in maintaining the principles of the 
 English school of Physiology, and in exposing the futility of 
 the opinions of those French philosophers and physiologists, 
 who represented life as the mere physical result of certain 
 combinations and actions of parts, by them termed Organisa- 
 tion. 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 That gentleman thought the subject admitted of an argu- 
 ment which it became him to use, in his office of " Christian 
 Advocate."* This will show the reader that the sentiments 
 and the views, which a sense of duty to the young men about 
 him induced the author to deliver, and which Mr Rennell 
 heard only by accident, arose naturally out of those studies. 
 
 It was at the desire of the Lord Chancellor Brougham that 
 the author wrote the essay on "Animal Mechanics;" and it 
 was probably from a belief that the author felt the importance 
 of the subjects touched upon in that essay, that his Lordship 
 was led to do him the further honour of asking him to join 
 with him in illustrating the " Natural Theology " of Dr Paley. 
 
 That request was especially important, as showing that the 
 conclusions to which the author had arrived were not the 
 peculiar or accidental suggestions of professional feeling, nor 
 of solitary study, which is so apt to lead to enthusiasm ; but 
 that the powerful and masculine mind of Lord Brougham was 
 directed to the same objects ; that he, who in early life was 
 distinguished for his successful prosecution of science, and 
 who has never forgotten her interests amidst the most arduous 
 and active duties of his high station, encouraged and partook 
 of these sentiments. 
 
 Thus, from at first maintaining that design and benevolence 
 were everjrwhere visible in the natural world, circumstances 
 have gradually drawn the author to support these opinions 
 more ostentatiously and elaborately than was his original wish. 
 
 The subject which he has to illustrate in this volume, belongs 
 to no definite department , and is intermediate between those 
 
 * An office in the University of Cambridge. 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 sciences which have been assigned to others. The conception 
 which he has formed of its execution is, that setting out as 
 from a single point, he should enlarge his survey, and show the 
 extent of the circle, and the variety of subjects, upon which it 
 bears ; thence deducing the conclusion, that as there is a rela- 
 tion of one part to the whole, there must be a system, and 
 universal design. 
 
 The author cannot conceal from himself the disadvantages 
 to which he is exposed in coming before the public, not only 
 with a work in some measure extra-professional, but with 
 associates distinguished by classical elegance of style, as well 
 as by science. He must entreat the reader to remember that 
 he was, early and long, devoted to the study of anatomy ; and 
 with a feeling (right or wrong) that it surpassed all others in 
 interest and usefulness. This made him negligent of acquire- 
 ments which would have better fitted him for the honourable 
 association in which he has been placed : and no one can feel 
 more deeply that the suggestions which occur in the intervals 
 of an active professional life must always be unfavourably con- 
 trasted with what comes of the learned leisure of a College. 
 
 The author has to acknowledge his obligations to His Grace 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, and the 
 late President of the Koyal Society, for having assigned to 
 him a task of so much interest. When he undertook it, he 
 thought only of the pleasure of pursuing these investigations, 
 and perhaps too little of what the public were entitled to ex- 
 pect from an Essay composed in circumstances so peculiar, and 
 formiug a part in this "great argument." 
 
 BsooK Street, 1832. 
 
Note. — The fourth edition of this Treatise was the last 
 revised by the Author himself. In that which followed, upon 
 permission having been kindly granted, some extracts were 
 introduced from the two works noticed in the Preface. These 
 are marked by being contained within brackets. To the 
 present edition there has been prefixed a general Account of 
 the Author's Discoveries in the Nervous System. 
 
 ALEXANDER SHAW. 
 
 Cavendish Square, 1860. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 An Account of the Author's Discoveries in the Nervous 
 
 System . ^ xi 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Object of the Volume 1 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 Definition OF the Hand . . . . . , . .12 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Comparative Anatomy of the Hand . . .' . . .30 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Of the Muscles of the Arm and Hand ..... 81 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Substitution of other Organs for the Hand ... 94 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Argument Pursued 105 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Op Sensibility and Touch 120 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Of the Senses generally . . . . . , . 135 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 Of the Muscular Sense 147 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Hand not the Source op Ingenuity, but adapted to 
 
 Man's Superiority 160 
 
 APPENDIX.— ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Mechanical Properties of the Animal Body Considered 175 
 
 Of the Solid Structure of Animal Bodies — Substitutes 
 
 FOR THE True Skeleton 182 
 
 On the Position of the Head of Animals, and its Relation 
 TO the Spine; to illustrate the Proposition, that all 
 
 PARTS OF THE SKELETON ARE CORRELATED, IN ADAPTATION 
 
 TO THEIR Functions 203 
 
 Imaginary Animals 227 
 
 Appropriate Sensibilities induce Combined Muscular Ac- 
 tions, FOR THE Protection of the Vital Organs . . 230 
 
 Comparison of the Eye with the Hand 243 
 
AN 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE AUTEOE'S DISCOTEEIES 
 
 IN 
 
 THE NEEVOUS SYSTEM. 
 
 By ALEXANDER SHAW, 
 
 In the following Treatise, especially in the fifth and seventh 
 Chapters, and the Appendix, there is frequent reference to 
 the distinct qualities of the Nerves, in illustration of the pro- 
 perties of the Hand. But the Author has only alluded dis- 
 tantly to the original inquiries which he himself pursued in the 
 Nervous System. The Discoveries for which Physiology is in- 
 debted to him, in that branch, are among the most valuable that 
 have at any time been made. In the fundamental changes they 
 have wrought on the theories held upon the subject, they are on 
 a par with the Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood by 
 Harvey. It may, therefore, be an appropriate introduction to 
 this Volume, to give a brief account of the principal results of 
 his researches. 
 
 When the author commenced his investigations, the subject 
 of the functions of the Brain and Nerves was involved in great 
 darkness. The extent of ignorance may be judged of, when it 
 is stated that the distinction between the nerve which gives 
 Motor power to the muscles, and the nerve which conveys Sen- 
 sation from the skin, had not at that time been ascertained. 
 
xii AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S 
 
 The opinion universally held was, that the nerves generally, to 
 whatever part of the body they were distributed, possessed not 
 only those two properties, but various other less clearly-defined 
 ones ; all of which, it was supposed, were obtained promiscu- 
 ously from the brain, which was regarded as a common central 
 source of every imaginable nervous endowment. And we may 
 perceive that those who held that view, of motor power and 
 sensation belonging conjointly to the same nerve, did not con- 
 sider it impossible for two kinds of nervous influence, essen- 
 tially distinct from each other, to be conveyed along its fibrils, 
 one taking one direction, and the other a direction exactly 
 opposite, at the same instant ; for it cannot be doubted that 
 the nervous agency which excites the muscles proceeds out- 
 wardly from the brain, or centrif ugally ; while that which com- 
 municates sensation proceeds inwardly, or centripetally. 
 
 We may be surprised that a view which appears now so in- 
 congruous should have held its ground so long. Yet there is a 
 fact which will assist in accounting for the error. The body 
 generally, from head to foot, is supplied, with scarcely an ex- 
 ception, by the extensive series of " Spinal nerves." Now, it 
 happens that every one of that numerous class possesses the 
 power of bestowing both motion and sensation. For example, 
 if any nerve whatever that goes to the arm or leg be cut across, 
 the immediate effect will be total loss of both functions in the 
 part corresponding to the distribution of the nerve. Accord- 
 ingly, when physiologists observed the same effects constantly 
 produced by such experiments, they naturally concluded that 
 the two properties were inseparably united in every nerve. 
 
 As an additional source of deception, it may be mentioned, 
 that if a nerve be removed from the body, and its internal 
 structure carefully examined, the thread-like fibrils of which it 
 is composed will all appear exactly alike ; nothing will be found 
 in their size, colour, or texture, to indicate that there should be 
 any difference in their functions. 
 
 It is to the author that physiology is indebted for the over- 
 throw of those erroneous opinions, and for the discovery of the 
 true principle on which the functions of the nervous system are 
 to be investigated. To him the honour is exclusively due of 
 having demonstrated, for the first time, that the nerve of Motion 
 is distinct from the nerve of Sensation ; and that when a nerve, 
 
DISCOYEKIES m THE NEEYOUS SYSTEM. xm 
 
 apparently simple, possesses both properties, it is a sign that it 
 is really compound, and consists of fibrils derived from distinct 
 divisions of the brain or spinal cord. 
 
 The process of investigation by which he made that pre-emi- 
 nently great discovery may be briefly explained. It commenced 
 in his adopting certain original views concerning the functions 
 of the principal centres of the nervous system. He opposed 
 the prevalent opinion, that the same common properties be- 
 longed indiscriminately to all parts of the Brain and Spinal 
 cord. He conceived that, however undefined and irregular 
 were the various subdivisions of these important organs, and 
 however assimilated in structure, so as apparently to forbid 
 the notion of their having any essential difierences between 
 them, they were, in fact, centres of distinct kinds of nervous 
 agency; but that all were subject to a connecting and presiding 
 influence exercised by the Brain as a whole. 
 
 Now, from this theory, of inferior organs, each endowed with 
 a distinct power, being contained within the brain and spinal 
 cord, the author was led to take a corresponding new view of 
 the functions of the nerves. He conceived that each of those 
 nerves which arose from a distinct organ, would possess the 
 power of conveying to or from the body the particular influence 
 with which the organ itself was endowed. 
 
 Accordingly, a method of ascertaining the functions of the 
 nerves, never before thought of by physiologists, was suggested 
 to his mind. Heretofore, the only attempts made to distinguish 
 their uses had been by performing experiments on the trunks 
 of the nerves at a distance from their origins, and where they 
 had formed frequent connexions, in their course, with numerous 
 others coming from totally different parts of the brain. But 
 the mode he adopted, and which was the key to all his disco- 
 veries, was that of examining the nerves at their roots — close, that 
 is to say, to the divisions of the brain, or of the spinal cord, 
 from which they took their rise."^ 
 
 The first nerves to which he applied that original method of 
 research were those just adverted to as conferring motion and 
 sensation conjointly, viz., the Spinal nerves. After a time, he 
 carried his inquiries into the nerves of the Brain ; and prose- 
 cuted them in a similar manner, by taking their origins as his 
 * Idea of a New Anatomy of the Brain. 1811. 
 
xiv AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S 
 
 guides. By thus extending his observations to both these 
 organs, he gained the important advantage of comparing with 
 each other various nerves which differed essentially in the 
 number and structure of their roots, and of elucidating the 
 functions of the one kind by contrast with the others. 
 
 If a Spinal nerve be taken anywhere in its course through the 
 body, and traced backwards to its source in the Spinal cord, 
 it will be found that, when it gets near the organ, it splits into 
 two sets of fibrils, of equal size, called its " roots." On further 
 examination, each root will be seen to dip into a division of the 
 cord, circumscribed by distinct boundaries, termed a " column." 
 One of these columns being situated at the back of the organ, 
 the root connected with it obtains the name "posterior;" and 
 a rounded body, of a reddish hue, called a " ganglion," is formed 
 upon this posterior root. The fibrils of the other root are 
 directed forwards and lost in the substance of a column situ- 
 ated in front, whence it is called "anterior;" and is distin- 
 guished from its fellow in not having a ganglion. 
 
 Encouraged by the observation of these marked differences in 
 the roots to suppose that his theory was well founded, and that 
 the one would be found to have a distinct function from the 
 other, he felt justified in putting his views to the test of experi- 
 ment, by exposing the spinal cord with its roots in a living 
 animal, and dividing, or irritating them, in succession. Accord- 
 ingly he proceeded to perform that operation ; and the results 
 realised his anticipations. They proved decidedly that the 
 "anterior" root was distinct in its functions from the "pos- 
 terior." 
 
 But here it must be stated that the author was not satisfied 
 to rest his conclusions upon the particular functions of these 
 roots on experiments confined to them alone. His final views 
 were formed by associating the results obtained through them 
 with others derived from experiments, presently to be described, 
 on the nerves of the Brain. 
 
 The principal fact in regard to the spinal nerves, which he 
 was sure of having fully estabHshed, was that the power of giv- 
 ing motion is exclusively the property of the " anterior " roots. 
 Each time these were pinched, a convulsive action of those 
 muscles which correspond to the distribution of the nerves ex- 
 perimented upon took place, leaving no doubt of the cause of 
 
DISCOVERIES IN THE NEEYOUS SYSTEM. xv 
 
 the movement : but a similar effect could not be produced by 
 any amount of irritation applied to tlie "posterior" roots. 
 
 It might have been thought that when the author had thus 
 decidedly shown that the "anterior" roots bestowed motor 
 power, he would have concluded at once that the remaining 
 function of the nerves, sensation, belonged to the "posterior" 
 roots. But such was not his course of proceeding. He was 
 convinced, that for determining the seat of a power of the nature 
 of sensation, direct experiments on the roots themselves could 
 not alone be depended upon. To comprehend the grounds of 
 his want of confidence, we have merely to reflect on the peculiar 
 character of the experiments. Necessarily, they are of a violent 
 and painful description. They involve, first, the making of 
 long and deep incisions through the skin and muscles of the 
 back ; the next proceeding is that of forcibly breaking into the 
 narrow bony canal situated in the centre of the vertebral 
 column ; lastly, to expose the spinal cord and roots, the mem- 
 branous sheath which immediately invests them has to be 
 extensively opened. Now, the unavoidable consequence of all 
 that severe operation is, that the animal, the subject of it, is 
 stunned, stupefied, and terrified. It is, therefore, in a condition 
 altogether unfit for drawing distinctions as to its capacity of 
 feeling, or not feeling, in connexion with manipulations made 
 by the experimenter on the particular roots at the depth of the 
 wound. Accordingly, before the author drew his final conclu- 
 sion concerning the function of the "posterior" root — which 
 was decidedly that it conferred sensation — he had sought for 
 and obtained evidence of a perfectly reliable kind to confirm its 
 truth; his judgment was principally based on corroborative 
 proofs derived from experiments on nerves of the Brain, next 
 to be described. 
 
 When he proceeded to investigate the nerves of the Brain, his 
 attention was directed chiefly to the two nerves which have the 
 most extensive distribution of any in the head, viz., the " Portio- 
 dura" and the "Fifth." 
 
 Before describing the experiments made on these two nerves, 
 a brief account of the structure of the roots of each must be 
 given ; when it will be perceived that it would not have been 
 possible to have selected from the whole body any other nerves 
 better calculated to prove the soundness of his theory, and to 
 
XVI AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S 
 
 demonstrate the distinction between the nerves of motion and 
 sensation. 
 
 The Portio-dura is distinguished for its arising from the brain, 
 in remarkable contrast with the spinal nerves, by a single root 
 alone. In common with a series of other nerves, (to which I 
 shall presently refer,) it comes off from a circumscribed portion 
 of the base of the brain, by a root upon which there is no gang- 
 lion. Having pierced the skull, it emerges on the face, in front 
 of the external ear, and lies there almost directly under the skin. 
 During its course it forms no important connexion with any 
 other nerve, so that it is as simple in its anatomical structure 
 at that part as when it had just arisen from the brain. The 
 nerve now subdivides into numerous branches : these take a 
 leap, as it were, across a particular class of muscles, those of 
 the jaws, to avoid them; and they are eventually distributed, in 
 the fore-part of the face, to the muscles which move the features. 
 
 The Fifth is characterised by being the only nerve among 
 those of the brain which arises, like the spinal nerves, by two 
 distinct roots, each from an appropriate part of the organ ; and 
 not only are its roots double, but upon one of them is formed 
 a " ganglion " exactly like the body of the same name on the 
 posterior roots of the nerves of the spine. Yet, although the 
 analogy here indicated cannot be doubted, a difference is to 
 be observed in the roots of the Fifth, which adds much to 
 the interest of examining its functions. In the spinal nerves, 
 without exception, the two roots are of equal dimensions; 
 consequently, all the branches consist of the same number of 
 fibrils of each, and no distinction can be drawn between them. 
 But in the Fifth, the root upon which the ganglion is formed 
 is fully five times greater in size than the one which has no 
 ganglion. Hence it foUows that, in the distribution of the 
 branches of the whole nerve, a large proportion belong exclu- 
 sively to the " ganglionic " root, and a few only are composed 
 of the two roots joined together. It is also observed that the 
 branches prolonged directly and simply from the large root, 
 course to all the surfaces of the head, — the skin and sensi- 
 tive membranes, where no muscles exist, — while those which 
 contain the fibrils of the lesser root can be traced to the group 
 of muscles which the Portio-dura had passed by, viz., the 
 muscles of the jaws. 
 
DISCOVERIES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. xvii 
 
 The experiments performed by tlie author on the Portio- 
 clura, which goes to the features, were in their results most 
 decisive. To expose the nerve, he had to make only a small 
 incision, scarcely larger than that for venesection; and when 
 he cut it across, the effect was instantly visible. All the 
 muscles corresponding to the distribution of the nerve were 
 at once arrested in their motion — paralysed ; but the sensi- 
 bility of the skin was not in the smallest degree impaired. 
 Among other animals on which he performed the experiment 
 was the monkey; selected on account of the mobility and 
 activity of his features. Before the operation, the creature 
 was, of course, full of grinnings and grimaces at the liberties 
 taken with him : the moment that the Portio-dura was severed, 
 although his anger and jabberings did not cease, his face became 
 passive and expressionless, like a mask. It was thus incon- 
 testibly proved that the only function with which this nerve 
 is endowed, is the power of giving motion to the muscles. 
 
 The experiments which he next undertook were upon the 
 Fifth. And he chose, first, those branches that emerge upon the 
 face, at three distinct points, to supply the same parts to which 
 the Portio-dura is sent. Although he doubtlessly perceived 
 that, as motor power simply was conferred by that nerve, the 
 remaining function, sensation, would, almost certainly, be be- 
 stowed by the only other distributed to the part, the Fifth, yet 
 he subjected the branches to the necessary experiments. 
 
 These branches have a particular interest attached to them, 
 from the mode of their origin. Each comes off directly from 
 the large, ganglionic root; and each pursues its course to its 
 appropriate part of the face, without forming a connexion 
 with any other nerve. The individual branches are, therefore, 
 true representatives of the root from which they arise. Again, 
 when they arrive at their destinations, they are situated quite 
 superficially, being covered alone by skin ; and they can be ex- 
 posed for experiment with the utmost facility. Accordingly, 
 experiments performed on these branches are essentially the 
 same in value for determining the function of the ganglionic 
 root, as if they had been made directly upon the root itself 
 within the cranium. 
 
 When these branches were cut across in a living animal, the 
 result expected was obtained. It was shown that their property 
 
 b 
 
xvm AN ACCOUIITT OF THE AUTHOE'S 
 
 was to bestow sensation; and that, in correspondence with 
 their arising simply from the single root, the " ganglionic," they 
 had no other function, and could not give motor power. When 
 divided, the skin of the animal could be freely pinched and 
 pricked without drawing forth any signs of feeling or pain. Yet, 
 although the part appeared thus dead, the movements were not 
 in the smallest degree directly affected : they were preserved 
 through the influence of the Portio-dura, which was entire. 
 
 The experiments now remaining to be performed were upon 
 those branches of the Fifth which are composed of the lesser, 
 " non-ganglionie " root, combined with some fibrils of the larger 
 root, and which are distributed wholly to the muscles of the 
 jaws. When these compound branches were cut across in a liv- 
 ing animal, two effects were instantly produced : first, sensation 
 was destroyed in the surfaces to which the fibrils of the larger 
 root were distributed; secondly, all power of motion was im- 
 mediately lost in the muscles of mastication. The jaw-bone 
 dropped, and could not be raised to bring the teeth together. 
 When the cut ends of the nerve were pinched by forceps, the 
 paralysed muscles acted with spasmodic suddenness; the jaw 
 closed Avith a snap ; and the fingers of the incautious assistant 
 being between the teeth, received a sharp bite. 
 
 The name which the author chose for expressing the double 
 nature of the functions of the Fifth, and the peculiar appropria- 
 tion of its motor root, was the " Nerve of Sensation and Masti- 
 cation." 
 
 By these joint experiments on the two nerves of the brain, 
 the Portio-dura and Fifth, every proof that could be required 
 was furnished to demonstrate, in the most satisfactory manner, 
 that the nerves of motion are distinct from those of sensa- 
 tion ; that the distinction bears direct relation to the roots by 
 which they arise respectively from the brain ; and that when 
 a nerve is found to possess both functions conjointly, it is a 
 sign that it is really double in structure — composed of fibrils, one 
 set of which come from an appropriate part of the brain that 
 bestows motion, and the other from a different part that confers 
 sensation. 
 
 It now rests with me only to point the reader's attention to 
 the value of the observations on the two nerves of the brain just 
 described^ in elucidating what was obscure regarding the func- 
 
DISCOYEEIES IN THE NEEYOUS SYSTEM. xix 
 
 tions of the roots of the Spinal nerves. By tlie experiments on 
 the latter, it was indisputably shown that the " anterior " roots 
 were those which bestowed motor power. It was also observed 
 that they were destitute of ganglions : and as both the Portio- 
 dura, proved experimentally to be a nerve of motion, and the 
 lesser root of the Fifth, likewise proved to give motor power, 
 were unprovided with ganglions, it was seen to be character- 
 istic of nerves of motion that they should be without these 
 appendages. Again, as to the "posterior" roots, on which the 
 ganglions are formed, it has been said that, owing to the vio- 
 lence unavoidably inflicted in experimenting on the Spinal 
 nerves, evidence to be relied on could not be obtained to prove 
 that these were the roots of Sensation. But when the experi - 
 ments on the roots of the Fifth showed, in an unerring manner, 
 that the smaller, non-ganglionic root, analogous to the anterior 
 roots of the Spinal nerves, gave motor power alone, and that 
 the larger, ganglionic root, analogous to the posterior roots, 
 bestowed sensation, all doubt on the matter was removed; it 
 was concluded, most decidedly, that the function of the poste- 
 rior roots of the Spinal nerves was to confer Sensation. 
 
 GENEKAL CIASSIFICATION OF THE NEllVES. 
 
 Having succeeded in establishing on a firm foundation the 
 important physiological truth — That the nerves of Motion are 
 distinct from those of Sensation — the author had made a most 
 ■valuable advance in our knowledge of the nervous system. But 
 he did not cease his labours at that point. By surveying the 
 nerves of the body generally, and observing the different modes 
 in which they arose from the subdivisions of the brain and spi- 
 nal cord, on the one hand, and the appropriation of particular 
 kinds of nerves to distinct organs, on the other, he was led to 
 believe that such pecuHarities of origin and distribution had an 
 important significance, — that they indicated distinctions in the 
 functions of the nerves additional to those which he had already 
 ascertained. 
 
 In taking that extended view, two principal objects attracted 
 his notice, — First, he was. particularly struck by the remarkable 
 manner in which the large series of Spinal nerves, with their 
 
XX AN ACCOUI^T OF THE AUTHOR'S 
 
 analogous nerve of the brain, the Fifth, arose from the central 
 organs, and passed to their destinations ; secondly, by the mode 
 in which another series, comparatively small, and formerly ad- 
 verted to as represented by the Portio-dura, came off from a 
 limited portion of the brain, and was distributed to its appro- 
 priate parts. 
 
 Attending to the series of Spinal nerves and Fifth. The 
 chief distinguishing characters of these nerves were, first, that 
 they all arose from the spinal cord and brain by two distinct 
 roots, — one of motion, the other of sensation. Secondly, that, 
 .with an exception to be noticed presently, they were dis- 
 tributed generally and promiscuously over the whole body. 
 Thus, with the reservation alluded to, these combined nerves 
 furnished to all members and regions of the frame the two 
 properties most essential for a nervous system to give. They 
 bestowed Sensation on the integuments and every other sensi- 
 tive surface from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, 
 together with Taste : they gave also motor power to the trunk, 
 the neck, and the upper and lower extremities. But here the ex- 
 ception must be specified. It relates to the power of the Fifth 
 in giving motion. That nerve distributes its branches which 
 bestow sensation freely and without bounds to every part, in- 
 ternal and external, of all the head ; but as a motor nerve, it 
 is confined exclusively to particular muscles — to those which 
 move the jaw in the act of Mastication. The author, as already 
 stated, had applied to it the name, Nerve of Sensation ,and 
 Mastication. Accordingly, the general character to be assigned 
 to the series of Spinal nerves and Fifth was, first, that they be- 
 stowed Sensation or Touch over the whole extent of the body, 
 without limit, and the sense of Taste in addition ; secondly, that 
 they bestowed Motor power, also without limit, upon every 
 region and member of the frame apart from the head, and upon 
 the muscles of mastication exclusively, in the head. 
 
 Next, attending to the smaller series of nerves, observed to 
 be opposed in various respects to those just mentioned. The 
 characters which chiefly distinguished them were, first, that 
 they arose, by single roots, from a defined and limited portion 
 of the brain, near its junction with the spinal cord, and were 
 capable of bestowing motor power alone ; secondly, that they 
 were distributed solely to a particular region of the body, in- 
 
DISCOVERIES m THE NERYOUS SYSTEM. xxi 
 
 eluding the face, throat, neck, and chest. Again, it was re- 
 marked that, instead of coursing to their respective destina- 
 tions, like the Spinal nerves and Fifth, in a symmetrical 
 manner, by the shortest and straightest route, those nerves 
 proceeded in a devious and divergent way, crossing the paths 
 of the others, and terminating in organs already supplied with 
 nerves. In reference to the Portio-dura, the most conspicuous 
 of them, some peculiarities of a special kind were noticed. 
 The principal was the exclusiveness of its distribution to those 
 muscles of the face which move the Features. To reach these, 
 the nerve takes a long, winding route from behind : after 
 ■emerging in front of the ear, it is in close proximity to the 
 muscles of the jaws, and actually lies for a considerable part of 
 its course upon two of the largest; but it declines sending a 
 single branch to these muscles : it pursues its way across them, 
 undiminished in size, to the muscles of the features beyond. 
 Again, it is remarkable that these muscles, to which the Portio- 
 dura thus goes circuitously, have large branches of the Fifth, 
 not less than three on each side, distributed freely in the midst 
 of them; but they come off from the ganglionic root alone, 
 have no fibrils of the motor root joined to them, and bestow 
 sensation exclusively. Accordingly, the pecuharities of the 
 Portio-dura may be summed up by saying, that it avoids con- 
 tributing branches, which it could easily have done, to the 
 muscles of the jaws, and exhausts itself altogether on the 
 muscles of the features. 
 
 These were the observations which led the author to believe 
 that some important distinctions would be found to exist be- 
 tween the two series of nerves whose peculiarities have been 
 thus shortly set forth. The theory which he advanced to solve 
 the problems it will be my endeavour to lay before the reader, 
 in as brief a space as can be done. And I may premise by stat- 
 ing that it involved an examination of the development of the 
 Nervous System through the whole members of the animal 
 kingdom. 
 
 First, the author conceived that a class, formed of the Spinal 
 nerves and Fifth, and to which he applied the term " Original 
 System," ministered to organs, and bestowed nervous endow- 
 ments, essential for the existence and well-being of creatures of 
 
xxu AK ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHORS 
 
 every grade, high and low, in the animal kingdom. Secondly, 
 that an additional class, of which the Portio-dura was a type, 
 and to which he gave the name "Respiratory System," was 
 needed only by those animals, near or at the summit of the 
 scale, in which the organ of Respiration had become adapted, 
 by successive changes of structure, to be the instrument of 
 Voice, and, in Man, also of Speech and Expression. 
 
 Original System of Nerves. 
 
 I. It has just been said that the author conceived that the 
 Spinal nerves and Fifth were the representatives, in the higher 
 animals and man, of a class common to them and to all below 
 them— a class which ministered to functions and endowments 
 required equally by animals in general. The mode in which he 
 endeavoured to establish that view was the following. He 
 sought, in the first place, to ascertain the primary objects for 
 which, in the construction of an animal, a nervous system was 
 originally demanded; and in the next place, having satisfied 
 himself concerning that point, to learn whether these objects 
 could be secured, or the necessary functions of an animal be 
 provided for, by a class of nerves furnished with the powers 
 that belong to the Spinal nerves and Fifth. 
 
 In order to learn what may be the requirements, in animals 
 generally, which make the introduction of a nervous system 
 into their bodies necessary, he directed his observations to the 
 contrast between members of the Vegetable kingdom, which'" 
 are destitute of a nervous system, and those of the Animal 
 kingdom, in which it first appears. It is a well-known fact 
 in zoology, that the transition between beings of the two 
 kingdoms is so gradual, that it has always been a source 
 of dispute, in treating of those which reside on the confines, 
 whether particular individuals were the subjects of the one 
 or of the other realm. But looking on the subject differently, 
 the question may be properly asked — What are the generaUy- 
 pervading characters of a Vegetable, viewed in the abstract, as 
 contrasted with those of an Animal, viewed similarly in the 
 abstract % 
 
 Now, the cardinal difference between the Vegetable, on the 
 
DISCOVERIES IN THE FEEVOUS SYSTEM. xxm 
 
 one hand, and the Animal on the other, is, that the former 
 is a stationary organism, the latter locomotive. In other 
 words, the vegetable obtains its nourishment and lives by 
 means of roots which bind it prisoner to one place; the ani- 
 mal has to shift its locality, seize its food, and, after due pre- 
 (paration in the mouth, convey it into the interior of its body. 
 When the aliment has been swallowed, it is true that the pro- 
 cesses of assimilation, and of otherwise dealing with it, are 
 analogous. But the characteristic distinction between them 
 remains — that the one is fixed, the other moveable. 
 
 Accordingly, a new question arises : — An organised body, de- 
 pendent for its subsistence on nourishment which it must pro- 
 cure by voluntarily going in quest of it, being given, what 
 organs and properties must it possess to qualify it for that 
 mode of existence 1 
 
 The following series of parts appears indispensable : — 
 
 First : — Organs of Locomotion — including all varieties of in- 
 struments by which animals can change their localities — as Legs, 
 or inferior substitutes for them. 
 
 Seccmdly : — Organs of Prehension — including all varieties of 
 instruments by which animals can seize and secure their prey, 
 or other food — as Arms and Hands, or inferior substitutes for 
 them. 
 
 Thirdly : — Organs of Mastication — including all varieties of 
 instruments by which animals can triturate, and reduce the food 
 to a fit condition for being swallowed and conveyed into the 
 stomach — as Jaws armed with Teeth, or their inferior substitutes. 
 
 All the above instruments are specially characteristic of 
 Animal, as contrasted with vegetable organisation. Each also 
 may be conceived to exist as an independent structure. 
 But owing to the variety of positions, habits, and instincts 
 of animals, and their obtaining nourishment from infinitely 
 diversified sources, the different organs present themselves in 
 the most multifarious forms. In animals lowest in the scale, 
 slightly removed from vegetables, the instruments are so fused, 
 by mutual interchange of offices, into one another, that it is dif- 
 ficult to recognise the identity of each : the prehensile organ 
 will be found acting in aid of the locomotive, and the manduca- 
 tory, it may be, in combination with both. But as animals 
 progressively rise in the scale, a gradual departure from that 
 
XXIV AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S 
 
 community of office is observed : each organ becomes disembar- 
 rassed of the duties of the others, and performs its own particu- 
 lar function alone. At length, when the animal organisation 
 has reached its highest point of development in Man, we find 
 Locomotion executed exclusively by its appropriate members ^- 
 the Lower Extremities : Prehension executed exclusively by its 
 appropriate members — the Upper Extremities : and Mastication 
 by its appropriate instruments —Jaws and Teeth. 
 
 And here it may be observed, that, when the Lower Extremi- 
 ties, by their perfect construction as implements of locomotion, 
 have emancipated the Upper Extremities from sharing in pro- 
 gression, so that the Hand and Arm are independent, and 
 available for all acts of prehension, the Jaws and Teeth cease to 
 be employed for seizing and holding. The mouth is exempt 
 from performing any other duty but that of Mastication. Con- 
 sequently, the bones of the face, jaws, and teeth admit of being 
 reduced in dimensions : and the cavity of the mouth adapted, 
 in size and form, to be an important part of the organ of 
 Voice and Speech, in relation to man's highest endowment — 
 his Mind. 
 
 Such being the association of organs necessary for the con- 
 struction of an Animal, viewed in the abstract, the question 
 next arises — How is the mechanism to be animated ; or, what 
 must be the combined properties of a Nervous System, de- 
 signed to meet the wants of the organism 1 By following that 
 inquiry, we may be led to ascertain what is the most element- 
 ary form of a System of Nerves. 
 
 In the simplest view that can be taken of a nervous system, 
 we must suppose the existence, in some part of it, of a central 
 organ, corresponding to the Brain in the highest animals ; an 
 organ from which motor power may be transmitted to the 
 muscles, and to which one or more senses may be conveyed 
 from the surface. It is also reasonable to assume, however 
 difficult it may be to prove the fact anatomically, that in the 
 elementary brain the particular structure which initiates motor 
 influence will be different from that which receives impres- 
 sions from the senses. 
 
 With the doubly-constituted organ thus introduced, it must 
 be supposed that nerves will be provided as media of commu- 
 nication—one set for giving Motion, and the other for giving 
 
DISCOVERIES m THE FERVOUS SYSTEM. xxv 
 
 Sense. Two questions therefore present themselves, bearing 
 directly on the immediate subject of the inquiry — What will be 
 the particular nerves of motion ; and What those of sense 1 
 
 The answer in regard to the nerves of Motion is simple. 
 Nerves of that kind will require to be allotted to the various 
 organs enumerated as composing the frame of the animal. First, 
 they will be sent to the Locomotive organs, represented in man 
 by the Lower Extremities ; next they will be sent to the Pre- 
 hensile organs, represented by the Upper Extremities; and 
 lastly, to the Manducatory organ, represented by the Jaws and 
 Teeth. 
 
 As to the nerves of Sense. It is reasonable to suppose that, 
 of all the senses known to belong to animals generally, that of 
 Touch, or common Sensation, extending over the whole body, 
 will be the most essential for a creature placed lowest in the 
 ranks of the animal kingdom. And the next sense in importance 
 will be that of Taste, the guardian of the opening by which 
 food is passed into the stomach. 
 
 It will now be perceived, that, by following this course of 
 observation, and imagining an Animal, of the simplest form, 
 having the fewest attributes consistent with its ranking above 
 Vegetables, we arrive at the conception of a system of nerves, 
 which, for the properties supposed to belong to it, agrees pre- 
 cisely with the class of Spinal nerves and Fifth, in the higher 
 animals and Man. By the former extensive series — the nerves 
 of the spine — power of motion is given to the upper and to 
 the lower extremities, the representatives of the organs of Pre- 
 hension and of Locomotion ; and by the small root of the Fifth, 
 distributed exclusively to the muscles of the jaws, motor power 
 is bestowed on the part which represents the organ of Mastica- 
 tion. Again, by the Spinal nerves, common Sensation or the 
 sense of Touch is supplied to all the surfaces of the body 
 (except the head) ; and by the large root of the Fifth, the same 
 property. Touch, is given to the whole head, together with the 
 special sense of Taste. 
 
 The conclusion, therefore, to which the author came was, that 
 the series of Spinal nerves and Fifth constituted a class which 
 belonged to animals in all grades of the animal kingdom ; that 
 it ministered to functions and endowments equally necessary to 
 those high and low in the scale ; that in animals of earliest and 
 
XXVI AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S 
 
 simplest construction, it existed in the rudimentary form of a 
 nervous system ; but that, by a gradual process of development, 
 it attained the perfect condition exhibited in the Vertebrata, and 
 in Man. Wherefore, in arranging the series together in his 
 classification, he applied to them the name " Original " system 
 of nerves. 
 
 Respiratory System of Nerves. 
 
 II. The nerves next claiming attention are those which, we 
 have seen, are distinguished by arising, in limited number, 
 from a small circumscribed portion of the base of the brain, by 
 single roots, and which diverge, in an apparently irregular and 
 scattered manner, across the other nerves, to be distributed to 
 the face, throat, neck, and chest — that is, to the region where 
 the organ of Kespiration, with its concomitant parts, is situated. 
 
 The fact that these nerves seek the organ of breathing for 
 their destination, naturally induced the author to study closely 
 all relating to that part of the body, in the hope of obtaining 
 facts which might assist in his inquiry. In that manner he was 
 eventually led to examine vdth peculiar interest a series of ex- 
 tensive changes which gradually takes pla,ce in the scheme and 
 uses of the apparatus, during its development from the lowest 
 to the highest animals. 
 
 The organ of respiration, in the language of physiologists, is 
 commonly understood to refer only to that structure in animals 
 which is designed to expose the blood to the influence of the 
 air, so that the vital fluid may be purified and rendered fit to 
 circulate over the body. But essential as that office is to all 
 Hving beings, and a similar process of aerating and renovating 
 the fluids is carried on in vegetables as well as animals, it is not 
 to be regarded as the most elevated application of the organ. 
 Without diminution of its efficiency in that capacity, the me- 
 chanism is adapted, in Man, to an object altogether foreign to 
 its original use : the structure is so ordered and arranged that 
 the air, which has been employed in oxygenating the blood, is 
 utilised, in the act of being expelled from the body, to produce 
 audible sounds — the elements of Human Voice and Speech. 
 
 The addition to the organ of respiration of that high office, 
 
DISCOVERIES m THE NERYOUS SYSTEM. xxvii 
 
 connected with Man's noblest endowment, the Mind, is effected, 
 in the course of its gradual development through the animal 
 kingdom, by a series of changes successively made in its con- 
 struction. As it belongs directly to our subject to examine 
 these, I propose to give a general view of them, by tracing the 
 mechanism, with its various modifications, through the different 
 grades of animals, from the lowest to the highest. 
 
 First, it is important to notice that the process of respiration 
 is conducted in animals on two widely distinct plans. One of 
 these is termed the " Diffuse ;" the other, the " Concentrated " 
 system. 
 
 By the Diffuse system, is meant that mode of breathing by 
 which the air, or the water charged with air, is brought in 
 proximity to the blood by playing on surfaces upon which the 
 vital fluid circulates more or less abundantly, but which surfaces 
 are open and unenclosed. Here, then, is the distinctive pecu- 
 liarity of the method — ^that the air made use of is not confined 
 within a cavity. When it has performed its office, it is dispersed 
 and lost. 
 
 In the Concentrated plan, the chief characteristic is the in- 
 troduction into the mechanism of a membranous sac, capable 
 of holding air; and of a tube, which communicates with the 
 external atmosphere. The blood to be aerated circulates on the 
 surface of the air-sac : and the air can be constantly changed, 
 by the alternate expansion and compression of the walls sur- 
 rounding the sac. From that general description it will be per- 
 ceived that the sac containing air is the representative of lungs ; 
 the tube, of windpipe; and the enveloping walls, of thorax. It 
 will also be seen that in an apparatus consisting of such parts, 
 elements are supplied for the formation of an organ of Voice. 
 It only requires that the air confined in the bag shall be expelled 
 along the pipe, with a force sufficiently great to cause the special 
 vibrations of sound, that it may be applied to that office. 
 
 Next, of the animals to which each of these distinct modes 
 of respiration belongs. In arranging the animal kingdom, the 
 most comprehensive division is into the two great sub-king- 
 doms — the Vertebrata, and the Invertebrata. Now, it is an in- 
 teresting fact, in connexion with our subject, that in the whole 
 extent of the lower of these divisions, there is not a single 
 example of an animal which breathes according to the toncen- 
 
xxviu AN ACCOUI^T OF THE AUTHOR'S 
 
 trated system : tlie only method is the Diffuse. That is equi- 
 valent to saying that in no animal of the Invertebrate sub-king- 
 dom, is the mechanism formed on a plan consistent with its 
 producing sounds adequate for Voice. 
 
 It is not till we mount up to that high stage in the animal 
 kingdom, where animals begin to be formed on the Vertebral 
 type, that breathing by the Concentrated method is met with. 
 We then, for the first time, perceive introduced into the ani- 
 mal framework, an apparatus analogous to thorax, lungs, and 
 windpipe. In the inferior classes of the sub-kingdom, we see, 
 and that obscurely, only the elementary rudiments of the con- 
 struction. But by degrees, and in proportion as animals ap- 
 proximate in their general structure to Man, the mechanism 
 becomes better calculated for performing its double oflSce, — first, 
 of purifying the blood ; secondly, of ministering to Voice. 
 
 I may now point out, in a general manner, the more pro- 
 minent changes wrought upon the organ, during its course of 
 development through the five different classes of Vertebrata. 
 
 1. In Fishes, which form the lowest class of Vertebrata, the 
 organ of respiration exhibits a transition state between the 
 Diffuse and the Concentrated systems. The gills are constructed 
 according to the former plan ; yet the process of taking in the 
 water by the Mouth, that it may be swept over the gills, is ac- 
 cording to the latter. Indeed, the employment of the mouth 
 in connexion with the operation of breathing, which is general 
 in all the Vertebrata, is altogether unknown in the Invertebrata. 
 In the latter, the oral orifice has relation exclusively to the diges- 
 tive functions. The first time, in the animal kingdom, that the 
 mouth is found to serve the double purpose of being a cavity 
 for receiving food for the stomach, and an opening for the 
 passage of the air in the vital operation of breathing, is in 
 Fishes. 
 
 But it is not the gills which, in this class, claim principal 
 interest in reference to the development of the organ of respira- 
 tion. In certain fishes, there are lodged, within that part which 
 corresponds most nearly to their chest, a membranous sac, and 
 a tube ; and these are the true first representatives, in animals, 
 of Lungs and a Trachea. Disguised by performing an ofiice not 
 directly connected with breathing, they are not easily recog- 
 nised as having any relation to that organ. The sac is filled 
 
DISCOVEIilES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. xxix 
 
 witli air, and it forms what is called the " Swimming Bladder," 
 by the expansion or compression of which the fish can either 
 diminish or increase its specific gravity in the water : the tube, 
 when appended, opens at the back of the throat; in that respect 
 it resembles a windpipe ; and it obtains the name ductus pneu- 
 maticus. 
 
 2. The earliest example of the air-sac and tube, thus existing 
 in a dormant state, as regards respiration, in the fish, being ap- 
 plied to breathing, is found in the class intermediate between 
 them and reptiles, viz., Amphibia. These ichthyosaurians in- 
 habit the margins of rivers and lakes, overflowed at one time, 
 and dried up at others : they are, accordingly, bounteously 
 supplied with both aquatic and terrestrial organs of breathing. 
 Outside their bodies, they possess gills resembling those of 
 fishes ; and so long as their territory is submerged they make 
 use of them. When the waters subside and they are stranded 
 on dry ground, they take to the swimming bladder, or Lungs, 
 within. Blood-vessels, conveying the impure blood, are freely 
 distributed on that sac : and the animals have the power, by 
 the expansion and contraction of the surrounding wails, or 
 Thorax, of alternately filling it with air and emptying it again, 
 through the pneumatic duct, or Trachea. 
 
 , 3. Except in the young of certain orders of the next class, 
 Keptiles, the gills are entirely discarded; and respiration is 
 perform_ed exclusively according to the Concentrated system. 
 But even in the most perfect, the mechanism of the organ is 
 rude, corresponding to the animals of the class being cold- 
 blooded. In the majority, the Lungs present the appearance of 
 membranous sacs, or swimming bladders, rather than that of 
 true pulmonic structure. Again, the Ribs forming the boundaries 
 of the thorax are either too flexible, in accommodation to their 
 characteristic mode of progression by creeping ; or are too in- 
 flexible, from being embarrassed with remains of the external 
 skeleton. But the most notable imperfection consists in the 
 absence of a diaphragm, or the muscular partition which divides 
 the thorax from the abdomen. The lungs and the bowels occupy 
 a common cavity. It deserves, however, to be remarked that 
 Nostrils are seen first in this class. These tubes being rigid, 
 and permanently open, furnish a supplementary inlet for the 
 air, when its entrance into the lungs might be interrupted by 
 
sxx AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOE'S 
 
 obstructions in the moutli, during the act of eating. The nostrils 
 provide also a suitable locality for the organ of Smelling. 
 
 4 In the class which comes next, that of Birds, the improve- 
 ments observed in the organ relate principally to its use in 
 decarbonising the blood. As these feathered animals are de- 
 signed for flight, they are constructed to be extremely buoyant. 
 That lightness is attained by the air which they respire being 
 conducted by tubes and cells over their whole bodies ; conse- 
 quently, they have a disproportionately large quantity of air 
 constantly passing through their lungs : the blood is, therefore, 
 more perfectly aerated than in the animals below them; and 
 they are warm-blooded. However, there is the same great want 
 in them as in reptiles, that of a diaphragm. Nevertheless, 
 Birds contribute to the sum of the improvements effected in 
 the organ generally, by furnishing a true vocal organ; it is 
 in them that we perceive the earliest appearance of a proper 
 Larynx. 
 
 5. Ascending to the next class. Mammalia, we find carried out 
 to its greatest perfection the principle of the system of Concen- 
 trated respiration. And that advancement is mainly due to the 
 introduction into the formation of the chest of the Diaphragm ; 
 which is at once the means of confining the lungs, together 
 with the heart, in a separate compartment, and of giving great 
 additional force to the acts of breathing. 
 
 It is with this important stride in the process of development 
 of the organ that we perceive, most distinctly, the fulfihnent of 
 the grand design of converting the apparatus of respiration into 
 the instrument of Voice. By the thorax being now adapted 
 to expand its cavity to a large extent in inspiration, and to con- 
 tract it forcibly in expiration, it is capacitated to fill the lungs 
 with air, on the one hand, and to expel it, on the other, in ample 
 volumes, with a powerful impulse. Accordingly, the air, being 
 thus forcibly expelled, can be thrown, in its passage through 
 the larynx and mouth, into the special vibrations which produce 
 varieties of Sounds. 
 
 It is interesting here to observe how new structures, which 
 would have been useless had they been added to the organ at 
 a previous stage of its development, are introduced in corre- 
 spondence with its increased powers. I refer now to the Lips. 
 These appendages of the mouth are first met with in Mammalia. 
 
DISCOVERIES m THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. xxxi 
 
 And the original use to which they are applied relates to the 
 mode of rearing their young, which gives to animals of this 
 class their particular designation. Lips are indispensable for 
 suckling ; and that act could not have been performed unless 
 nostrils had been previously furnished, and unless the chest had 
 been constructed so as to allow the young mammal to draw deep 
 inspirations. 
 
 But a higher office awaits the Lips in Man. These fleshy 
 fringes are essentially required to adapt the mouth for Voice 
 and Articulate language. Lips are also important parts of the 
 features of the Countenance ; and they are, therefore, constitu- 
 ents of the principal organ by which feelings and emotions, too 
 refined for speech, are made known — that of Expression. 
 
 And here an observation presses itself upon our notice, in re- 
 ference to the influence which powerful emotions, as witnessed in 
 Man, exercise upon the organ of respiration, including the coun- 
 tenance. No structures of the body performing different duties 
 are more closely allied to each other than the Heart, the centre of 
 the circulating system, and the organ of Breathing. Throughout 
 the whole animal kingdom, the development of each proceeds 
 with equal steps. But it belongs to our present subject to attend 
 only to the relation between them in the highest animal, Man. 
 When the organ of respiration assumes the Concentrated form, 
 .the heart becomes also a Concentrated organ. By that expres- 
 sion is meant that the chamber of the heart previously appropri- 
 ated, in the inferior animals, as a distinct muscular cavity, to 
 circulating the impure blood through the lungs, is incorporated 
 in Man with the chamber which sends the blood, when purified, 
 over the whole body; so that the two cavities compose together 
 an united organ, divided only by a partition. Accordingly, a 
 material sympathy is established between the "pulmonic" and 
 "systemic" cavities: they relax and contract simultaneously. 
 From that arrangement, it follows that blood is propelled from 
 one side into the lungs, and from the other side into the system, 
 at each beat of the heart. Hence, if a disturbance sufficient to 
 interrupt the currents should occur, its effects will be manifested 
 both in the organ of respiration and in the body generally. Now 
 it is a fact, of which every man's feelings make him conscious, 
 that when strong emotions affect the mind, the heart, the 
 " bosom's lord," is correspondingly agitated. The consequence 
 
xxxu A-N ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S 
 
 is, tliat a momentary interruption, or a temporary acceleration, 
 in the action of the heart is produced, accompanied with a sense 
 of palpitation at the breast. In proportion as the blood is either 
 hastened or retarded in its course to the body, particularly to 
 the brain and skin, tremors, or paleness, or blushing will be 
 observed : and according as it is driven to the lungs with undue 
 impetuosity, or its flow is arrested, the breathing will be hurried, 
 or slow, or alternate between the two states. Man is so con- 
 stituted that he can interpret the changes to which these dis- 
 turbances give rise. Prompted by a sympathetic sense, he reads 
 instinctively, as a natural language, the signs of the troubled 
 bosom in a fellow-man. And this mode of communication is 
 intelligible to the inhabitants of every nation and clime, how- 
 ever diversified their articulate words. It is the language of 
 Expression — a common link of all mankind. 
 
 Thus we perceive how, by a combination of extensive changes 
 gradually wrought in the structure of animals, from the lowest 
 to the highest, a fit instrument is at length constructed to 
 minister to Man's highest endowment, the Mind. Following 
 the development of one class of organs, we saw that, by the 
 perfection attained in the structure of the instruments of Loco- 
 motion and Prehension in Man, the Mouth became freed from 
 employing the jaws and teeth like the brutes ; and that its 
 cavity could, therefore, be reduced in size, the teeth set erect 
 in close and uniform rows, and the whole form arranged and 
 proportioned, for the articulation of words, in Speech. By fol- 
 lowing a parallel course of development in the organ of Respira- 
 tion, we observed it constructed, in all the Invertebrata, on a 
 plan inconsistent with its being applied at all to Voice. But in 
 the Vertebrata, we saw the same organ gradually shaped and 
 built up, by successive introductions of new structures, until it 
 was converted into an instrument capable of propelling currents 
 of vocalised air to the Mouth ; thence to issue forth by the Lips, 
 as articulate Words. If to Speech, thus wondrously provided, 
 powerful emotion of the mind be conjoined, the organ will pre- 
 sent itself in a new phase ; words will be associated with the 
 manifestations which that emotion creates in the body — Expres- 
 sion. When the Voice suffers interruption and falters, and the 
 face, neck, and chest are animated by strong passion working 
 from within the breast, human language exerts its most com- 
 
DISCOVERIES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. xxxiii 
 
 manding influence. Then the organ is beheld in its highest 
 condition of development. 
 
 Such was the extensive course of observation pursued by the 
 author, in endeavouring to solve the problem, why, in the higher 
 animals and Man, there should be provided to the organ of respira- 
 tion, in addition to the largely distributed class of double nerves, 
 the Spinal nerves and Fifth — another series, consisting of nerves 
 with single roots, derived from a distinct division of the brain. 
 These nerves he conceived to be a superadded class, introduced 
 to preside over the organ of breathing when it had assumed, in 
 the Vertebrata, the extraneous offlce of acting as an instrument 
 of Voice. Having observed that, in the transition from a simple 
 apparatus in which the air of respiration is applied exclusively 
 to oxygenating the blood, to a comphcated mechanism in which 
 the same air is employed also for the production of vocal sounds, 
 material changes, including the annexation of new supplemen- 
 tary parts, were made in the organ, he inferred that these changes 
 would be accompanied with corresponding modifications in the 
 nervous system. As the superadded structures were moved by 
 muscles, and regulated by sympathies, he argued that they would 
 require to be provided with appropriate nerves. But he further 
 thought that a supply of new nerves alone would not suffice, — 
 that it would be necessary that these nerves should have a 
 centre of power seated in the brain and spinal cord. Hence he 
 believed that, in conformity with the introduction of new por- 
 tions of mechanism into the organ of breathing, there would 
 be, not only an addition of appropriate nerves, but the develop- 
 ment within the brain of a new division of its substance, en- 
 dowed with influence over the nerves. Upon these grounds he 
 concluded that the particular series of nerves which are charac- 
 terised by being distributed to the organ of respiration, together 
 with the portion of brain from which they arise, had been added, 
 in the course of development of animals generally, to the pre- 
 existing " Original " system of nerves. And on account of the 
 relation they bear to the organ of breathing, he applied to them 
 the name " Eespiratory " system. 
 
 When the nerves included in the two foregoing classes — the 
 " Original" and the "Respiratory" — had their respective places 
 assigned in the arrangement, nearly every nerve throughout 
 
xxxiv AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S 
 
 the body whicli arises from the Brain and Spinal cord had been 
 accounted for. The nerves not comprehended were merely those 
 of the three organs of Sense — Smelling, Seeing, and Hearing — 
 together with the few nerves of the orbit subservient to the ap- 
 pendages of the Eye. 
 
 In regard to the nerves of the, Senses, the author conceived 
 that the particular sense possessed by each was a special and 
 distinct endowment, and that it was obtained through the 
 connexion of the nerve, at its root, with a part in the interior of 
 the brain introduced to give that sense exclusively. Hence, he 
 considered that no one nerve of sense could take upon itself 
 the office of any of the others. For example, he did not think 
 it possible that the nerve of Vision could feel by Touch ; any 
 more than that a nerve of Sensation could perceive variations of 
 light or colour. The Optic nerve, he thought, was limited to 
 discriminating diversities of colours or shades of light ; the 
 Auditory to distinguishing varieties in sound ; and so with the 
 others. Several interesting illustrations of these views are given 
 in the pages of this volume. Again, he was of opinion that each 
 of the various senses was implanted in the nervous system, at a 
 distinct stage in the development of animals generally. The 
 senses of Touch and of Taste, as already said, he believed to 
 be the first conferred. The others, he thought, were add3d 
 successively, in proportion as animals rose in the ' scale, and 
 stood in need of more varied sources of perception in regard to 
 the properties of external objects. Entertaining these views, he 
 represented the nerves of Smelling, Seeing, and Hearing as 
 supplementary to those of Touch and Taste, constituting a 
 sub-class of the " Original " system. 
 
 All the nerves embraced in the great Cerebro-Spinal axis — ^by 
 which term is meant all that arise collectively from Brain and 
 Spinal cord — having been thus disposed of in the author's 
 classification, there remained to have an appropriate place 
 allotted to them but one set of nerves, and the general charac- 
 ters of these differed so greatly from the others, that there could 
 be no difficulty in classing them quite apart from the rest. The 
 nerves referred to are those denominated by anatomists vari- 
 ously, the Sympathetic or Ganglionic system. The view which 
 the author took of that series was determined principally by his 
 
DISCOVEEIES m THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. xxxv 
 
 assuming that it fulfilled offices which had been left unprovided 
 for by the classes of nerves whose functions had been ascertained. 
 He supposed that it presided over those organic processes, in 
 the economy, which are common to Vegetables and Animals, 
 and which are carried on secretly and independently of the 
 direct control of the brain — such as secretion, absorption, as- 
 similation, growth, reproduction, decay. 
 
THE HAND; 
 
 ITS MECHANISM AND VITAL ENDOWMENTS, 
 AS EVINCING DESIGN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 If we select any object from the whole extent of animated 
 nature, and contemplate it fully and in all its bearings, we 
 shall certainly come to this conclusion : that there is Design 
 in the mechanical construction, Benevolence in the endow- 
 ments of the living properties, and that Good on the whole is 
 the result. We shall perceive that the Sensibilities of the 
 body have a relation to the qualities of things external, and 
 that delicacy of texture is, therefore, a necessary part of its 
 constitution: that wonderful, and exquisitely constructed as 
 the mechanical appliances are for the protection of these deli- 
 cate structures, they are altogether insufficient ; that a protec- 
 tion of a very different kind, which shall animate the body to 
 the utmost exertion, is requisite for safety: and that Pain, 
 whilst it is a necessary contrast to its opposite pleasure, is the 
 great safeguard of the frame. Finally, as to Man, we shall be 
 led to infer that the pains and pleasures of mere bodily sense 
 (with yet more benevolent design) carry him onward, through 
 the development and improvement of the Mind, to higher 
 aspirations. 
 
 To comprehend the perfection of the structure of any single 
 organ of an animal body, and to see how the same system of 
 parts is adapted to an infinite variety of conditions, we must 
 view the same organ comparatively : this carries us into a new 
 
 A 
 
2 INTKODUCTORY CHAPTER. Chap. I. 
 
 science, no less than that which regards the changes in the 
 surface of the Globe. And although, in this comparison, we 
 shall find that stupendous revolutions have occurred indicative 
 of power, it is in contemplating the adaptation of the newly- 
 introduced forms of living and organised matter to these suc- 
 cessive changes in the surface of the earth, that we shall have 
 the best proofs of the continuance of that Power which first 
 created. 
 
 Such is the course of reasoning which I propose to follow in 
 giving an account of the Hand and Arm. I shall contrast 
 them, in the first place, with the corresponding parts of living 
 creatures through all the divisions of the chain of vertebrated 
 animals ; and then I shall take the hand, not merely as com- 
 bining the perfections of mechanical structure, but as possess- 
 ing the property of Touch, by which it ministers to and im- 
 proves every other sense, constituting it the organ in the body 
 the most remarkable for correspondence with Man's capacities. 
 
 Some may conceive that, as I have for my title the Human 
 Hand and its relation to the other solid structures of the 
 animal frame, it will lead me to consider the body as a Machine 
 only. I neither see the necessity for this, nor do I acknow- 
 ledge the danger of considering it in that light. I embark 
 fearlessly in the investigation, convinced that, yielding to the 
 current of thought, and giving the fullest scope to inquiry, 
 there can be no hidden danger if the mind be free from vicious 
 bias. I cannot see how scepticism should arise out of the 
 contemplation of the structure and mechanism of the Animal 
 Body. 
 
 Let us for a moment reflect what is the natural result of 
 examining the human body as a piece of machinery ; and see 
 whether that makes the creation of man more or less important 
 in relation to the Whole Scheme of nature. 
 
 Suppose there is placed before us a machine for raising great 
 weights; be it the simplest of all, the wheel and axle. We 
 are given to understand that this piece of mechanism has the 
 property of multiplying the power of the hand. But a youth 
 of subtile mind may say, I do not believe it possible so to 
 multiply the power of the hand ; and if the mechanician be a 
 philosopher, he will rather applaud the spirit of doubt. If he 
 condescend to explain, he will say, that the piles driven into 
 
Chap. L INTRODUCTOEY CHAPTER. 3 
 
 the ground, or tlie screws uniting the machinery to the beams, 
 are the fixed points which resist in the working of the machine; 
 that their resistance is a necessary condition, since it is thrown, 
 together with the power of the hand, on the weight to be 
 raised ; and he will add that the multiplication of wheels does 
 not alter the principle of action, which every one may see in 
 the simple lever, to result from the resistance of the fulcrum or 
 point, on which it rests. 
 
 Now grant that man's body is a machine, where are the 
 points of resistance? are they not in the gTOund we stand 
 upon 1 This leads us to inquire by what property we stand. 
 Is it not by the weight of the body, or, in other words, by the 
 Attraction of the earth ? The terms attraction or gravitation 
 lead at once to the philosophy of the question. We stand 
 because the body has weight, and a resistance in proportion to 
 the matter of the animal frame and the magnitude of the globe 
 itself. We need not stop at present to observe the adjustment 
 of the strength of the frame, the solidity of the bones, the 
 elasticity of the joints, and the power of the muscles, to the 
 weight of the whole. Our attention is directed to the relations 
 which the frame has to the Earth we are placed upon. 
 
 Some Philosophers who have considered the matter curi- 
 ously, have said, that if man were translated bodily to another 
 Planet, and that planet were smaller than the earth, he would 
 be too light, and he would walk like one wading in deep water : 
 that on the contrary, if the planet were larger, the attraction of 
 his body would make him feel as if his limbs were loaded with 
 lead ; nay, that the attraction might be so great as to destroy 
 the fabric of the body, crushing bones and all."^ 
 
 However idle these fancies may be, there is no doubt that the 
 animal frame is formed with a due relation to the earth we in- 
 habit j and that the strength of the materials of the animal body 
 have as certainly a correspondence with the weiglit, as the 
 wheels and levers of a machine, or the scaffolding which sustains 
 them, have relation to the force and velocity of the machinery, 
 or the load they are employed to raise. 
 
 The mechanism and organisation of animals have been often 
 brought forward for a different purpose from that for which I 
 
 * The matter of Jupiter is as [ diameter of Pallas is 80 miles: that 
 330,600 to 1000 of our Eai^th. The of the Earth is 7911 mUes. 
 
4 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. Chap. I. 
 
 use them. We find it said, that it is incomprehensible how an 
 all-powerful Being should manifest his will by these means — 
 that mechanical contrivance implies difficulties overcome ; and 
 how strange it is, they add, that the perceptions of the mind, 
 which might have been produced by some direct means, or have 
 arisen spontaneously, should be received through an instrument 
 so fine and complex as the eye ; — and which requires the creation 
 of the element of light, to enter the organ and to cause vision. 
 
 For my own part, I think it most natural to contemplate the 
 subject quite diJfferently. We perhaps presume too much when 
 "we say that Light has been created for the purpose of Vision. 
 We are hardly entitled to pass over its properties as a chemical 
 agent, its influence on the gases, and, in all probabiHty, on the 
 atmosphere, its importance to vegetation, to the formation of 
 the aromatic and volatile principles, and to fructification, its in- 
 fluence on the animal surface by invigorating the circulation, 
 and imparting health. In relation to our present subject, it 
 seems more rational to consider light second only to attraction 
 for its importance in nature, and as a link connecting systems 
 of infinite remoteness. 
 
 To have a conception of this, we m_ust tutor our minds and 
 acquire some measure of the velocity of light, and of the space 
 which it fills. It is not suflicient to say that it moves 200,000 
 miles in a second ; for we can comprehend no such degree of 
 velocity. If we are fm-ther informed that the earth is distant 
 from the sun 95,000,000 of miles, and that light traverses the space 
 in 8 minutes and l-8th, it is but another way of affirming the 
 inconceivable rapidity of its transmission. Astronomers, whose 
 powers of mind afford us the very highest estimate of human 
 faculties, whose accuracy of calculation is hourly visible, have 
 affirmed that light emanates from celestial bodies at such vast 
 distance that thousands of years shall elapse during its progress 
 to our earth — yet that, impelled by a force equal to its trans- 
 mission through that space, it enters the eye and strikes upon 
 the delicate nerve, with no other effect than to produce vision.* 
 
 Instead of supposing light created for the eye, and to give us 
 the sense of vision, would it not be a more just manner of con- 
 sidering the subject to dwell with admiration on the fact, that 
 
 * The argument is not weakened 1 light results from the movement of 
 on assuming the hypothesis that | an elastic ether. 
 
Chap. I. mTRODUCVOEY CHAPTER. 5 
 
 this small organ, tlie eye, should be formed with relation to a 
 system of such vast extent and grandeur ; and, more especially, 
 that the ideas arising in the mind through the influence of that 
 light and this organ, should be constituted a part of one vast 
 whole ! 
 
 By such considerations we are led to contemplate the human 
 body in its different relations. The magnitude of the earth 
 determines the strength of our bones, and the power of our 
 muscles ; so must the depth of the atmosphere determine the 
 condition of our fluids, and the resistance of our blood vessels ; 
 the common act of breathing, the transpiration from the sur- 
 faces, must bear relation to the weight, moisture, and tempera- 
 ture of the medium which surrounds us. A moment's reflection 
 on these facts proves that our body is formed with a just cor- 
 respondence to all these external influences : and not the frame 
 of the body only, but also the vital endowments and the pro- 
 perties of the organ of sense. It were a perverseness to say 
 that the outward senses, the organisation, and the vital pro- 
 perties, could arise from the influence of the surrounding ele- 
 ments, or out of matter spontaneously ; they are created in ac- 
 cordance with the condition of the globe, and are systematic 
 parts of a great whole. 
 
 These views lead to another consideration, that it is to ex- 
 ternal nature, and not of necessity to the mind, that the com- 
 plexity of our structure belongs. Whilst man is an agent in a 
 material world, and sensible to the influence of things external, 
 complexity of structure is a necessary part of his constitution. 
 But we do not perceive a relation between this complexity and 
 the mind. From aught that we learn by this mode of study, 
 the mind may be as distinct from the bodily organs as the ex- 
 terior influences are which give them exercise. 
 
 Something, then, we observe to be common to our planet and 
 to others, to our system and to other systems ; matter, attrac- 
 tion, light; which nearly implies that the mechanical and 
 chemical laws must be the same throughout. It is perhaps too 
 much with an anonymous author to affirm, that an inhabitant 
 of our world would find himself at home in any other ; that he 
 would be like a traveller, for a moment only perplexed by diver- 
 sity of climate and strangeness of manners, but ready to con- 
 fess, at last, that nature was everywhere and essentially the 
 
6 
 
 INTEODUCTOEY CHAPTEE. 
 
 Chap. I. 
 
 same. However this may be, all I contend for is the necessity 
 of certain relations being established between the planet and 
 the frames of all which inhabit it ; between the great mass and 
 the physical properties of every part ; that in the mechanical 
 construction of animals, as in their endowments of life, they are 
 created in relation to the whole, planned together and fashioned 
 by one Mind. 
 
 A comparison made between the system of an animal body, 
 and the condition of the earth's surface, is highly illustrative 
 of design in both. In the animal, we see matter withdrawn 
 from the influences which arrange things dead and inorganic ; 
 but this matter, thus appropriated to the animal, and newly 
 endowed through the influence of life, continues to possess such 
 qualities of inanimate matter as are necessary to constitute the 
 living being a part of the system — an inhabitant of the earth. 
 To what, then, does this argument lead 1 Is it not, that as the 
 beautiful structure of the animal, and the perfection in the 
 arrangement of its parts, demonstrate design — so design extends 
 to the condition of the earth also ; and over both there is a 
 ruling Intelligence ? 
 
 Men who have studied deeply, and who have become autho- 
 rities in natural science, acquire a happy spirit of contentment 
 and true philosophy, of which we have examples in Grew,* in 
 Eay, and in Linnseus. The last, resting from his great labours 
 in universal nature, and struck with the perfection and order 
 evinced in the whole, breaks out, very naturally and eloquently, 
 in admiration of the just relation of all things, as proving them 
 to be the work of one Almighty Being. Then considering the 
 great globe as a Museum, t furnished forth with the works of 
 the Supreme Being, man, he adds, is placed in the midst of it, 
 as alone capable of comprehending and valuing it. And if 
 this be true, as certainly it is, what then becomes his duty? 
 Moralists and divines, with Nature herself, testify that the pur- 
 pose of so much beauty and perfection being made manifest to 
 man, is that he may study and celebrate the works of God : 
 and that if he fail in this, he will be wanting in those contem- 
 
 * A naturalist, who wrote on the f These sentiments are best ex- 
 anatomy of Plants ; also, " Cosmo- pressed in his Preface to the Cata- 
 logia Sacra : a Discourse on the logue of the Museum of Adolphus 
 Universe, as the creature and king- Frederick of Sweden, 
 dom of God." 
 
Chap. L mTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 7 
 
 plations and exercises by which the mind is to be raised to the 
 knowledge of God. Those who say that the Scriptures ought 
 to be the sole guides, forget that these are addressed to intelli- 
 gent beings ; and what can be more fitting to bestow that 
 intelligence and capacity which is to receive eternal truths, 
 than those studies which the great naturalist is enforcing, when 
 he says, " If we have no faith in the things which are seen, how 
 should we believe those which are not seen 1 The brute crea- 
 tures, although furnished with external senses, resemble those 
 animals which, wandering in the woods, are fattened with 
 acorns, but never look upwards to the tree which affords them 
 food ; much less have they any idea of the Beneficent Author 
 of the tree and its fruit." By such reflections was Linnaeus led 
 to conclude, that "whoever shall regard with contempt the 
 economy of the Creator here, is as truly impious as the man 
 who takes no thought of the future." 
 
 The passiveness which is natural in infancy, and the want of 
 reflection as to the sources of enjoyment which is excusable in 
 youth, become insensibility and ingratitude in riper years. In 
 the early stages of life, before our minds have the full power of 
 comprehension, the objects around us serve but to excite and 
 exercise the outward senses. But in the maturity of reason, 
 philosophy should present these things to us anew, with this 
 difference, that the mind may contemplate them : that mind 
 which is now strengthened by experience to comprehend them, 
 and to entertain a grateful sense of them. 
 
 It is this sense of gratitude which distinguishes man. In 
 brutes, the attachment to offspring for a limited period is as 
 strong as in him, but it ceases with the necessity for it. In 
 man, on the contrary, the affections continue, become the 
 sources of all the endearing relations of life, and the very bonds 
 by which society is connected. 
 
 If the child upon the parent's knee is unconsciously incur- 
 ring a debt, and strong affections grow up so naturally that 
 nothing is more universally condemned than filial ingratitude, 
 we have but to change the object of affection, to find the natural 
 source of religion itself. We must show that the care of the 
 most tender parent is in nothing to be compared with those 
 provisions for our enjoyment and safety, which it is not 
 only beyond the ingenuity of man to supply to himself, 
 
8 mTRODTJCTOEY CHAPTER. Chap. I. 
 
 but which he can hardly comprehend, while he profits by 
 them. 
 
 If man, of all living creatures, be alone capable of gratitude, 
 and through this sense be capable also of religion, the transition 
 is natural; since the gratitude due to parents is abundantly 
 more owing to Him "who saw him in his blood, and said, 
 Live." 
 
 For the continuance of life a thousand provisions are made. 
 If the vital actions of a man's frame were directed by his will, 
 they are necessarily so minute and complicated, that they would 
 immediately fall into confusion. He cannot draw a breath, 
 without the exercise of sensibilities as well ordered as those of 
 the eye or ear. A tracery of nervous cords unites many organs 
 in sympathy; and if any one filament of these were broken, 
 pain and spasm and suffocation would ensue. The action of 
 his heart, and the circulation of his blood, and all the vital 
 functions, are governed through means and by laws which are 
 not dependent on his will ; and to which the powers of his 
 mind are altogether inadequate. For had they been under the 
 influence of his will, a doubt, a moment's pause of irresolution, 
 a forgetfulness of a single action at its appointed time, would 
 have terminated his existence. 
 
 Now, when man sees that his vital operations could not be 
 directed by reason — that they are constant, and far too impor- 
 tant to be exposed to all the changes incident to his mind, and 
 that they are given up to the direction of other sources of mo- 
 tion than the will, he acquires a full sense of his dependence. 
 If he be fretful and wayward, and subject to inordinate passion, 
 we perceive the benevolent design in withdrawing the vital 
 motions from the influence of such capricious sources of action, 
 so that they may neither be disturbed like his moral actions, 
 nor lost in a moment of despair. 
 
 Ray, in speaking of the first drawing of breath, delivers him- 
 self very naturally : " Here, methinks, appears a necessity of 
 bringing in the agency of some superintendent intelligent Being, 
 for what else should put the diaphragm and the muscles serving 
 respiration in motion all of a sudden so soon as ever the foetus 
 is brought forth ? Why could they not have rested as well as 
 they did in the womb 1 What aileth them that they must 
 needs bestir themselves to get in air to maintain the creature's 
 
Chap. I. mTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 9 
 
 life ? Why could they not patiently suffer it to die ? You will 
 say the spirits do at this time flow to the organs of respiration, 
 the diaphragm, and other muscles which concur to that action 
 and move them. But what raises the spirits which were qui- 
 escent, &c., I am not subtile enough to discover," 
 
 We cannot call this agency a new intelligence different from 
 the mind, because, independently of consciousness, we can hardly 
 so define it. But a sensibility is bestowed, which being roused 
 (and it is excited by the state of the circulation,) governs these 
 muscles of respiration, and ministers to life and safety, inde- 
 pendently of the will. 
 
 When man thus perceives, that in respect to all these vital 
 operations he is more helpless than the infant, and that his 
 boasted reason can neither give them order nor protection, is 
 not his insensibility to the Giver of these secret endowments 
 worse than ingratitude ? In a rational creature, ignorance of his 
 condition becomes a species of ingratitude ; it dulls his sense of 
 benefits, and hardens him into a temper of mind with which it 
 is impossible to reason, and from which no improvement can be 
 expected. 
 
 Debased in some measure by a habit of inattention, and lost 
 to all sense of the benevolence of the Creator, he is roused to 
 reflection only by overwhelming calamities, which appear to 
 him magnified and disproportioned ; and hence arises a concep- 
 tion of the Author of his being more in terror than in love. 
 
 There is inconsistency and something of the child's propen- 
 sities still in mankind. A piece of mechanism, as a watch, a 
 barometer, or a dial, will fix attention — a man will make jour- 
 neys to see an engine stamp a coin, or turn a block ; yet the 
 organs through which he has a thousand sources of enjoyment, 
 and which are in themselves the most exquisite in design, and 
 the most curious both in contrivance and mechanism, do not 
 enter his thoughts ; and if he admire a living action, that ad- 
 miration will probably be more excited by what is uncommon 
 and monstrous, than by what is natural and perfectly adjusted 
 to its oflace— by the elephant's trunk, than by the human hand. 
 This does not arise from unwillingness to contemplate the 
 superiority or dignity of our own nature, or from incapacity of 
 admiring the adaptation of parts. It is the effect of habit. The 
 human hand is so beautifully formed, it has so fine a sensibility, 
 
10 INTEODUCTOEY CHAPTEE. Chap. L 
 
 that sensibility governs its motions so correctly, every effort of 
 the will is answered so instantly, as if the hand itself were the 
 seat of that will ; its actions are so powerful, so free, and yet so 
 delicate, as if it possessed a quality of instinct in itself, that 
 there is no thought of its complexity as an instrument, or of 
 the relations which make it subservient to the mind ; we use it 
 as we draw our breath, unconsciously, and have lost all recol- 
 lection of the feeble and ill-directed efforts of its first exercise, 
 by which it has been perfected. Is it not the very perfection 
 of the instrument which makes us insensible to its use] A 
 vulgar admiration is excited by seeing the spider-monkey pick 
 up a straw, or a piece of wood, with its tail; or the elephant 
 searching the keepers pocket with his trunk. Xow, if we 
 examined the peculiarity of the elephant's structure fully, that 
 is to say, from its huge mass deduced the necessity for its form, 
 and from the form the necessity for its trunk, it would lead us, 
 through a train of very curious observations, to a more correct 
 notion of that appendage, and therefore to a truer admiration of 
 it j but I contrast this part with the human hand, merely to 
 show how insensible we are to the perfections of our own frame, 
 and to the advantages attained through such a form. We use 
 the limbs without being conscious, or, at least, without any con- 
 ception of the thousand parts which must conform to a single 
 act. To excite attention, the motions of the human frame must 
 either be performed in a strange and unexpected mode, that will 
 raise the wonder of the ignorant and vulgar ; or we must rouse 
 ourselves, by an effort of the cultivated mind, to observe things 
 and actions, of which the sense has been lost by long familiarity. 
 In the following pages, I shall treat the subject comparatively; 
 and exhibit a view of the bones of the arm, descending from the 
 human Hand to the Fin of the fish. I shall in the next place 
 review the actions of the Muscles of the arm and hand. Then 
 proceeding to the vital properties, I shaU advance to the subject 
 of Sensibility, leading to that of Touch; afterwards, I shall 
 show the necessity of combining the Muscular Action with the 
 exercise of the senses, and especially with that of touch, to con- 
 stitute the hand, what it has been called, the geometrical sense. 
 I shall describe the organ of touch, the cuticle and skin, and 
 arrange the nerves of the hand according to their functions. I 
 shall then inquire into the correspondence between the capa- 
 
Chap. I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 11 
 
 cities or endowments of the mind, and tlie external organs, and 
 more especially the properties of the hand. And I shall conclude 
 by showing that animals have been created with a reference to 
 the globe they inhabit ; that all their endowments and various 
 organisation bear a relation to their state of existence, and to 
 the elements around them ; that there is a plan universal, ex- 
 tending through all animated nature, and which has prevailed 
 in the earliest condition of the world ; and finally, that on the; 
 most minute, or the most comprehensive, study of those sub- 
 jects, we everywhere behold Prospective Design. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 DEFIlSriTION OF THE HAND. 
 
 THE AEMS AND HAND, VARIOUSLY MODIFIED, ADAPTED TO AN EXTENSIVE 
 'system OF ANIMALS. 
 
 We ought to define tlie Hand as belonging exclusively to Man 
 — corresponding in its sensibility and motion to the endow- 
 ments of his Mind, and especially to that ingenuity which, 
 through means of it, converts the being who is the weakest in 
 natural defence, to be the ruler over animate and inanimate 
 nature. 
 
 If we describe the hand, including the arm, as an extremity 
 in which the thumb and fingers are opposed to each other, so 
 as to form an instrument of prehension, we embrace in the defi- 
 nition the extremities of the quadrumana or monkeys. Now, 
 as these animals possess four such hands, it implies that we in- 
 clude the posterior as well as the anterior extremities. But the 
 anterior extremity of the monkey is as much a foot as the pos- 
 terior extremity is a hand : both are calculated for their mode 
 of progression, climbing, and leaping from the branches of 
 trees; just as the tail in some species is converted to the same 
 purpose, and is as useful an instrument of suspension as any of 
 the four extremities.* 
 
 * The following is a sketch of the 
 Coaita, or Spider Monkey, so called 
 from the extraordinary length of its 
 extremities, and from its motions. 
 The tail answers all the purposes of 
 a hand, and the animal throws itself 
 about from branch to branch, some- 
 times swinging by the foot, some- 
 times by the fore extremity, but 
 oftener, and with a greater reach. 
 
 by the tail. The prehensile part of 
 the tan is covered with skin only, 
 forming an organ of touch as dis- 
 criminating as the proper extremi- 
 ties. The Caraya, or Black Howl- 
 ing Monkey of Cumana, when shot, 
 is found suspended by its tail round 
 a branch. Naturalists have been so 
 struck with the property of the tail 
 of the Ateles, that they have com- 
 
Chap. IL THE HAN^D, ITS MECHANISM, ETC. 13 
 
 The armed extremities of a variety of animals give them great 
 advantages. But if man possessed similar provisions, he would 
 
 forfeit his sovereignty over all. As Galen, long since, observed, 
 " did man possess the natural armour of the brutes, he would 
 no longer work as an artificer, nor protect himself with a breast- 
 plate, nor fashion a sword or spear, nor invent a bridle to mount 
 the horse and hunt the lion. Neither could he follow the arts 
 of peace, construct the pipe and lyre, erect houses, place altars, 
 inscribe laws, and through letters and the ingenuity of the 
 hand, hold communion with the wisdom of antiquity, at one 
 time to converse with Plato, at another with Aristotle, or Hip- 
 pocrates." 
 
 But the hand is not a distinct instrument ; nor is it properly 
 
 pared it to the proboscis of the Ele- 
 phant. They have assured us that 
 they fish with their tail. 
 
 The most interesting use of the 
 tail is seen in the Opossum. The 
 
 young of that animal mount upon 
 her back, and entwine their tails 
 around their mother's tail, by which 
 they sit secure, while she escapes 
 from her enemies. 
 
14 THE WHOLE SKELETON Chap. IL 
 
 a. superadded part. The whole frame must conform to the 
 hand, and act with reference to it. Our purpose will not be 
 answered by examining it alone ; we must extend our views to 
 all those parts of the body which are in strict connexion with 
 the hand. For example, from the shoulder to the finger ends, 
 such a relation is established amongst the whole chain of bones, 
 that it is essential to embrace the whole extremity in the in- 
 quiry. And in order to comprehend fully the fine arrangement 
 of the parts necessary to the motions of the fingers, we must 
 compare the structure of the human body with that of other 
 animals. 
 
 Were we to limit our examination to the bones of the arm 
 and hand in man alone, no doubt we should soon discover the 
 provisions in them for easy, varied, and powerful action ; and 
 conclude that nothing could be more perfectly suited to their 
 purposes. But we must extend our views to comprehend a 
 great deal more — a larger design. 
 
 By a Skeleton, is understood the system of bones, constructed 
 within, which gives firmness and characteristic form to the 
 animal, and receives the action of the exterior muscles. This 
 osseous system belongs, however, to one part only of the animal 
 kingdom; that higher division — the Animalia Vertebrata* 
 — which includes the chain of beings from man down to 
 fishes. 
 
 To life, the most essential function is Respiration ; and on 
 the mode in which that is performed, or in which the decar- 
 bonisation of the blood is effected by its exposure to the atmo- 
 sphere, depends a remarkable change, in the animal kingdom, 
 of the whole framework of the body. As man, the mammalia, 
 birds, reptiles, and fishes have the mechanism of respiration 
 much in common, so, through them all, a resemblance can be 
 traced in the structure of their bones, in the action of their 
 muscles, and in the arrangement of their nerves. They all 
 possess the Vertebral Column or Spine ; and the existence of 
 that column not only implies an internal skeleton, but that par- 
 ticular framework of ribs which is suited to move the lungs 
 in breathing. 
 
 But the ribs do not move of themselves; they must have 
 
 * See tlie first of the Additional [ name given to one of the bones of 
 Illustkations. Vertebra is the 1 the spine, or backbone. 
 
Chap. IT. ' CONFOEMS TO THE EXTEEMITY. 15 
 
 appropriate muscles. These muscles must have their appro- 
 priate nerves : and for supplying these nerves, there must 
 be a Spinal Marrow. The spinal canal formed within the 
 vertebral column, is to the spinal marrow as necessary as the 
 skull to the Brain. So that we come round to understand the 
 necessity of a vertebra to the formation of a spinal marrow; and 
 the reader may comprehend how much enters into the concep- 
 tion of the anatomist or naturalist, when the term, a vertebrated 
 animal, is used, viz., — an internal skeleton, a particular arrange- 
 ment of respiratory organs, and a conformity in the Nervous 
 System. 
 
 In making a review of the bones of the upper extremity, I 
 shall limit myself to this superior division of Vertebrated 
 animals. 
 
 If in commencing this subject, and indulging in the admira- 
 tion which naturally arises out of it, I were to point, in the 
 upper extremity, to the strength and freedom of motion at the 
 ball and socket joint of the shoulder, — to the firmness of the 
 articulation at the elbow, with its admirable combination of 
 mobility suited to the co-operation of the hands, — to the lati- 
 tude of motion at the wrist, 'v\ith its strength, — and to the fine- 
 ness of the movements of the hand itself, divided among the 
 joints of twenty-nine distinct bones — some, objecting with a 
 show of reason, might say — The bones and forms of joints you 
 are thus admiring, so far from being peculiarly suited to the 
 hand of man, may be found in any other vertebrated animal ! 
 But that remark would not abate our admiration; it would only 
 remind us that we erred in looking at a part only, instead of 
 embracing a comprehensive system; where by slight, hardly- 
 perceptible changes and gradations in the forms, the analogous 
 bones were adjusted to every condition of animal existence. 
 
 Nothing can be adapted more correctly and appropriately for 
 their object, than the bones by which the motions of the upper 
 extremity are performed. We enjoy the power of bending and 
 coiling the arm, extensively and freely — and of reaching the 
 fingers to every part. Yet these bones, so truly admirable in 
 man, are recognised in the fin of the whale, in the paddle of the 
 turtle, and in the wing of the bird ; we see the corresponding 
 bones, perfectly suited to their purpose, in the paw of the lion, 
 or the bear ; and equally fitted for motion in the hoof of the 
 
16 FOSSILISED BONES SHOW Chap. II. 
 
 horse, or in the foot of the camel ; or adjusted for climbing or 
 'digging, in the long-clawed feet of the sloth or bear. 
 
 It is obvious, then, that we should be unduly limiting our 
 subject, if we did not consider the human hand in its relation 
 to the corresponding organs of other animals : as exhibiting 
 the bones and muscles, which in different animals are suited to 
 particular purposes, so combined in the Hand as to perform, 
 consistently with powerful exertion, actions the most minute 
 and complicated. The wonder still is, that whether we examine 
 the system in man, or in any of the inferior species of animals, 
 nothing can be more curiously adjusted or appropriated ; and 
 whatever instance occupied our thoughts for the time, we should 
 be inclined to say, that to that particular object it had been 
 framed. 
 
 The view which the subject opens, is unbounded. It is upon 
 a knowledge of the system of which we are speaking, that the 
 curious synthesis, by which we ascertain the nature, condition, 
 and habits of an extinct animal, from the examination of its 
 fossil remains, is grounded. To make the proper use of that 
 department, we must understand what a fossil bone is. 
 
 A bone consists of many parts ; but for our present purpose 
 it is necessary to observe only that the hard substance, which 
 we familiarly recognise as bone, is formed of an earthy material, 
 the phosphate of lime, everywhere penetrated by membranes 
 and vessels, as delicate as those in any other structures of the 
 body. Fossil bones are those found imbedded in the earth, and 
 they may be in different conditions. They may either retain 
 their natural structure, or may have become petrified ; that is 
 to say, the animal matter may have been decomposed and dis- 
 sipated, with the phosphoric acid of the phosphate of lime ; and 
 then, silicious earth, or lime in composition with iron, or iron 
 pyrites, may by solution and infiltration fill the interstices of 
 the original matter of the bone. Thus bone will be converted 
 into stone, and be as permanent as the rock which contains it ; 
 it will retain the form though not the internal structure of its 
 original. 
 
 Now that form, in consequence of the perfect system which 
 we have hinted at, becomes the proof of revolutions in the face 
 of the earth the most extraordinary. By reasoning on such 
 fossil bones, the mind of the inquirer is conducted back, not 
 
Chap. IL THE EXTEITT OF THE SYSTEM. 17 
 
 merely to the contemplation of tlie structure of the animal of 
 which they are the remains, but by inference from the animal 
 organisation, to that of the changes in the globe itself. 
 
 In the highest mountains of the old and new world, remains 
 of marine animals are found ; and on turning up the surface of 
 our fields, or in the beds of rivers, huge bones are discovered ; 
 not in the loose soil only, but under the solid limestone rock : 
 now the bones thus exposed become naturally a subject of 
 intense interest, and bear unexpectedly on the inquiry in which 
 we are engaged. Among other important conclusions, they 
 enforce this — that not only does a scheme or system of animal 
 structure pervade all classes of animals which now inhabit the 
 earth, but that the principle of the same great plan of creation 
 was in operation, and governed the formation of those animals 
 which existed previous to the revolutions that the earth has 
 undergone : that the excellence of form now visible in the 
 human skeleton, was in the scheme of animal existence, long 
 previous to the formation of man, before the surface of the 
 earth was prepared for him, or suited to his constitution, struc- 
 ture, or capacities. 
 
 A skeleton is dug up, which has lain under many fathoms of 
 rock, being the bones of an animal which lived antecedent to 
 that formation of rock, and at a time when the earth's surface 
 must have been very different from what it now is. These re- 
 mains prove that the animal must have been formed of the same 
 constituent elements as those of the present day ; that it had 
 analogous .organs — received new matter by digestion, and was 
 nourished by means of a circulating fluid — possessed feeling 
 through a nervous system, and was moved by the action of 
 muscles. With regard also to other animals of the same period, 
 we may infer that, as in those now alive, the organs of digestion, 
 circulation, and respiration, would be modified by cu'cumstances, 
 in accordance with their habits and modes of living ; and that 
 such changes, being but variations in the system by which new 
 matter is assimilated to the animal body, would always, how- 
 ever remarkable they were, bear a relation to the original type, 
 as parts of one great design. 
 
 In examining these bones of the ancient world, so regularly 
 are they constituted on the same principle evinced in animals 
 which now inhabit the earth, that by observing their shape, and 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 ANIMALS THE MOST UNCOUTH 
 
 Chap. II. 
 
 the processes* by wliich their muscles were attached, the 
 anatomist can reduce the animals to which they belonged, to 
 their orders, genera, and species, with as much precision as if 
 the recent bodies had been submitted to his eye. Not only can 
 we distinguish whether their feet were adapted to the solid 
 ground, or to the oozy bed of rivers, — to speed, or to grasping 
 and tearing; but judging, by these indications, of the habits of 
 the animals, we acquire a knowledge of the condition of the 
 earth during their period of existence : ascertain that at one 
 time it was suited to the scaly tribe of the lacertae, with languid 
 motion ; at another, to animals of higher organisation, with 
 more varied and hvely habits ; and finally we learn, that at any 
 period previous to man's creation, the surface of the earth 
 would have been unsuitable to him. 
 
 We ought not to touch on this subject without one observa- 
 tion more. When the peasant, on turning up the great bones 
 of some unknown animal, suspends his work and thinks he has 
 discovered the limbs of a giant, he is more to be excused than 
 the learned and ingenious, who seek from these natural appear- 
 ances to illustrate the Scriptures. True religion is adapted to 
 the sound capacities of all men — to that condition of mind 
 which the individual experience of the good and evil of the 
 world, sooner or later, brings with it : it is suited to man in 
 every stage of the progress of society — to his weakness and to 
 his strength ; from which it becomes the real dispenser of equal 
 rights. Had our religion been framed with a relation to science, 
 it could not have been adapted to every man ; least of all had 
 it been related to that branch of natural knowledge which is 
 called Geology — a science so obviously in its infancy, that but 
 for its alliance with anatomy, it would have continued to pre- 
 sent a scene only of confusion for ignorant wonderment. 
 
 It may then be asked, why do we cultivate those scientific 
 subjects to which we apply the term Natural Religion 1 Be- 
 cause they agreeably enlarge our comprehension, and, while 
 they repress a too selfish enthusiasm, exalt the imagination. 
 We all of ourselves proceed a certain length in the examination 
 of natural phenomena; and the convictions arising from the 
 
 * Processes are the projecting 
 points of bone by which the ten- 
 dons of the muscles are attached. 
 
 To the anatomist, therefore, pro- 
 cesses are indications of the condi- 
 tion of the muscles. 
 
Chap.il 
 
 SUITED TO THEIR CONDITIOK 
 
 19 
 
 survey are wrought into the opinions of every one. Yet when 
 benevolent design is disclosed by new facts, or by things that 
 are familiar being presented in a new light, we experience a 
 fresh and cheerful influence. We are sensible of a renewed 
 impulse ; a gratification which interferes with no duty. 
 
 This opportunity may be taken to correct a notion which we 
 have seen expressed, that certain imperfections are discoverable 
 in the structure of some animals. Such an idea must have 
 sprung from comparing these animals with ourselves, our struc- 
 ture, and sensibilities— instead of looking on them with refer- 
 ence to their peculiar conditions. 
 
 For example, the eloquent Buffon, when comparing the pre- 
 sent races of animals with the fossil remains of individuals of 
 the same family now extinct, expresses some singular opinions ; 
 which, although with reserve, have been adopted even by Cuvier. 
 Buffon speaks confidently of the unsuitableness of particular 
 organs of animals, and of the derangement of their instincts. 
 But it is from comparing them and their mode of life with 
 human society, a state where individuals are subject to misery 
 and want. He surely sympathises too closely with the bird of 
 prey, when he characterises its watchfulness as a true picture 
 of wretchedness, anxiety, and indigence. If a bird refuse to be 
 domesticated and crammed with meat, it is hardly fair to accuse 
 it of gloom and apathy, the simple fact being that such treat- 
 ment is contrary to its natural habits and instincts. The ani- 
 mals which principally excite his commiseration, are of the 
 tardigrade family, the sloths: in the Ai,* for example, the 
 defect of organisation is, he supposes, the greatest ; and the 
 Unau,t he thinks, is only a little less miserably provided for 
 existence. 
 
 In like manner, modern travellers express pity for these slow- 
 paced animals. Whilst other quadrupeds, they say, range in 
 boundless wilds, the sloth hangs suspended by his strong arms, 
 — a poor, ill-formed creature, deficient as well as deformed, his 
 hind-legs too short, and his hair like withered grass ; his looks, 
 motions, and cries, conspire to excite pity ; and, as if this were 
 not enough, they say that his moaning causes the tiger to relent 
 
 * Bradypus tridactylus :— brady- toed), of the order Edentata {toant- 
 pus {slow-footed), tridactylus [three- ing incisor teeth). 
 
 t Bradypus didactylus {two-toed.) 
 
20 
 
 MISTAKEN COMPASSION FOR 
 
 Chap. IT. 
 
 and turn away. But that is not a true picture : the sloth can- 
 not walk like many other quadrupeds, but he stretches out his 
 
 Skeleton of the Sloth. 
 
 arms, and if he can hook on his claws to the inequalities of the 
 ground, he drags himself along. This condition it is which 
 gives occasion to such an expression as " the bungled and faulty- 
 composition of the sloth." But if with his claws he can reach 
 the branch or the rough bark of a tree, then will his progress be 
 rapid ; he will climb hand over head along the branches till 
 they touch, thus getting from bough to bough, and tree to tree ; 
 in the storm he is most alive ; it is when the wind blows, and 
 the trees stoop, and the branches wave and meet, that he is 
 upon the march. "^ 
 
 Accordingly, the compassion expressed by these philosoiDhers 
 for animals which they consider imperfectly organised, is un- 
 called for.t As well might they pity the larva of the summer 
 fly, which creeps at the bottom of a pool, because it cannot yet 
 rise upon the wing. As the insect, until its metamorphosis is 
 perfect and its wings developed, has no impulse to fly, so there 
 is no reason to suppose that a disposition or instinct is given to 
 animals without a corresponding provision for motion. On the 
 ground, the sloth may move tardily ; his long arms and prepos- 
 terous claws may then be an incumbrance ; but in his natural 
 place, among the branches of trees, they are of advantage in 
 
 * Waterton. 
 
 + The subject is pursued at the 
 end of the following chapter. 
 
Chap. II. 
 
 AITIMALS OF PECULIAR FOEM. 
 
 21 
 
 obtaining his food, and in giving him shelter and safety from 
 his enemies. 
 
 It is not by our own sensations that we must estimate the 
 movements of animals. In catching a fly the motion of the bill 
 of the swallow or of the fly-catcher is so rapid that we do not 
 see it, but only hear the snap. On the contrary, how very dif- 
 ferent are the means employed by the chameleon for obtaining 
 his food; he lies more still than the dead leaf, his skin like the 
 bark of the tree, and taking the hue of the surrounding objects : 
 whilst other animals evince excitement conforming to their' 
 rapid motions, his shrivelled face hardly indicates life : his eye- 
 lids are scarcely parted ; he protrudes his tongue towards the 
 insect, with a motion so imperceptible, that it is touched and 
 caught more certainly than by the most lively action. Thus, 
 various creatures, living upon insects, reach their prey by differ-' 
 ent means and instincts; some by rapidity of motion, which 
 gives no time for escape, others by a languid and slow move- 
 ment that excites no alarm. 
 
 The loris, a tardigrade animal, might be pitied too for the 
 slowness of its movements, if these were not necessary to its 
 very existence. It steals on its prey by night, and extends its 
 
 arm towards the bird on the branch, or the great moth, with a 
 motion so imperceptibly slow as to make sure of its object.* 
 
 * It may be well to notice some 
 other characters that belong to ani- 
 mals, inhabitants of the tropical 
 
 regions, wliich prowl by night. The 
 various creatvires that enliven the 
 woods in the day-time, in these 
 
22 
 
 FOSSIL Al^IMALS SUITED TO 
 
 Chap. IL 
 
 Just so the Indian, perfectly naked, his hair cut short, and his 
 skin oiled, creeps under the canvas of the tent, and moving like 
 a ghost, stretches out his hand with a motion so gentle as to 
 displace nothing, not even disturbing those who are awake and 
 watching. Against such thieves, we are told, it is hardly pos- 
 sible to guard. And thus, the necessities or vicious desires of 
 man subjugate him, and make him acquire by practice the wili- 
 ness implanted in brutes as instinct. Or we may say that, en- 
 dowed with reason, man is brought to imitate the irrational 
 creatures, and so to vindicate the necessity for their particular 
 instincts ; of which every class affords examples. 
 
 In insects, the illustrations of such actions are as striking 
 as in the loris, or the chameleon. Evelyn describes a spider 
 {Aranea scenica) as exhibiting remarkable cunning in catching 
 a fly. " Did the fly," he says, " happen not to be within a leap, 
 the spider would move towards it so softly, that its motion 
 seemed not more perceptible than that of the shadow of the 
 gnomon of a dial," ^ and then it would suddenly pounce upon 
 its prey. 
 
 I would only remark further, that we are not to account this 
 slowness a defect, but rather an appropriation of muscular 
 power : since in some animals, the same muscles which at one 
 time produce a motion so slow as to be hardly perceptible, can 
 at another act with the velocity of a spring. 
 
 Now Bufi'on, speaking of the extinct species of the tardigrade 
 family, has represented them as monsters, by defect of organisa- 
 tion : as attempts of nature, wherein she has failed to perfect 
 
 warm, climates, have fine skins, and 
 smooth, hair; but those that seek 
 their prey at night have a thick coat 
 like animals of the arctic regions. 
 What is this but to be clothed as 
 the sentinel whose watch is in the 
 night? They have eyes, too, which, 
 from their peculiar structure, are 
 called nocturnal, being formed to 
 admit a large pencil of rays of light, 
 and having the globe full and pro- 
 minent, and the iris contractile, to 
 open the pupil to the greatest ex- 
 tent. "We have seen how their mo- 
 tions and instincts correspond with 
 their nocturnal habits. 
 * The passage continues—" If the 
 
 intended prey moved, the spider 
 would keep pace with it exactly as 
 if they were actuated by one spirit, 
 moving backwards, forwards, or on 
 each side without turning. When 
 the fly took wing and pitched itself 
 behind the huntress, she turned 
 round with the swiftness of thought, 
 and always kept her head towards 
 it, though to all appearance as im- 
 moveable as one of the nails driven 
 into the wood on which was her sta- 
 tion ; till at last, being arrived with- 
 in due distance, swift as lightning 
 she made the fatal leap, and secured 
 her prey." — Evelyn, as quoted by 
 Kirby and Spence. 
 
Chap. II. THE TIME OF THEIR EXISTENCE. 23 
 
 her plan : implying tliat she has produced animals which must 
 have lived miserably, and which she has effaced from the hst of 
 living beings as failures. The Baron Cuvier does not express 
 himself more favourably, when he says of the existing species, 
 that they present so httle resemblance to the organisation of 
 animals generally, and their structure is so much in contrast 
 with other creatures, that he could believe they were the rem- 
 nants of an order unsuited to the present system of natiu-e ; and 
 we must seek for their congeners in the interior of the earth, in 
 the ruins of the ancient world. 
 
 But the animals of the Antediluvian world were not monsters ; 
 there was no lusus or extravagance. Hideous as they appear, 
 and like the phantoms of a dream, they were adapted to the 
 condition of the earth when they existed. I could have wished 
 that our naturalists had applied to the inhabitants of that early 
 condition of the globe, names less scholastic; we have the plesi- 
 osaurus, and plesiosaurus dolichodeiros, and ichthyosaurus, 
 megalosaurus, and hylseosaurus, and iguanodon, pterodactyles, 
 with long and short beaks, tortoises, and crocodiles; these are 
 found among reeds and grasses of gigantic proportions, algse 
 
 and f uci ; and a great variety of moUusca, of inordinate bulk 
 compared with those of the present day, as ammonites and 
 nautili, are discovered in the same spots. Everything declares 
 that these animals inhabited shallow seas, and estuaries, or 
 great inland lakes : that the surface of the earth, at these parts, 
 did not rise up in peaks and mountains, or perpendicular rocks 
 bound in the seas ; but that it was flat, slimy, and covered with 
 a loaded and foggy atmosphere. Looking to the class of ani- 
 
24 
 
 MAN" SUITED TO THE PEESEKT 
 
 Chap. II. 
 
 mals, as we have enumerated them, such a condition of the 
 earth would correspond with them : they were scaly; they swam 
 in water, or crept upon the margins ; they were not exposed to 
 animals possessing greater rapidity of motion, nor were there 
 birds of prey to stoop upon them ; there was, in short, a balance 
 of the power of destruction and of self-preservation, the same as 
 we see now obtaining in higher animals since created, with in- 
 finitely-varied instincts and means for defence or attack. There 
 is, indeed, every reason to believe that at that period, the classes 
 mammalia and birds* were not created. And it seems obvious 
 that if man had been placed upon the earth, when it was in 
 that condition, he must have had around him a state of things 
 neither suited to his constitution nor calculated to call forth his 
 capacities. 
 
 It is hardly possible to v/atch the night and view the break 
 of day in a fine country, without being sensible that our pleas- 
 antest perceptions refer to the scenery of nature ; and that we 
 have feelings in sympathy with every successive change, from 
 the first streak of light until the whole landscape is displayed 
 in valleys, woods, and sparkling waters. The changes on the 
 scene are not more rapid than the transitions of the feelings 
 which attend them. Now, all these sources of enjoyment, the 
 clear atmosphere and the refreshing breezes, are as certainly the 
 result of the several changes which the Earth's surface has 
 undergone in the different epochs of its formation, as the dis- 
 placed strata within its crust are demonstrative of those changes. 
 We have every reason to conclude that these revolutions, whether 
 they have been slowly and progressively accomplished, or by 
 sudden, vast, and successive convulsions, were necessary to pre- 
 pare the earth for that condition which should correspond with 
 the faculties to be given to Man, and be suited to the full exer- 
 cise of his reason, as well as to his enjoyment. 
 
 If a man contemplate the common objects around him — if he 
 observe the connexion between the qualities of things external 
 and the exercise of Ms senses, between the senses so excited 
 and the condition of his mind, he will perceive that he is in the 
 
 * In the secondary strata, of the 
 period sometimes called " the age 
 of Reptiles," fossil foot-prints, sup- 
 posed to be the impressions on 
 
 mud of the feet of Birds of gigantic 
 stature, have been recently found. 
 -(S.) 
 
Chap. II. COI^DITIOK OF THE EAETH. 25 
 
 centre of a magnificent system, prepared for his reception by a 
 succession of revolutions which have afifected the whole globe ; 
 and that the strictest relation is established between his intel- 
 lectual capacities and the material world. 
 
 In the succeeding chapter, we shall take a comparative view 
 of the anatomy of the arm ; and as we trace the same parts 
 through difi"erent genera and species of animals, some extra- 
 ordinary changes in their forms will be presented. But before 
 proceeding to make that survey, we are naturally called upon 
 to notice certain opinions which prevail on the subject. 
 
 However interesting the recent inquiries of geologists may be, 
 they encourage a certain licence of fancy. During the remote 
 periods, dark in every sense, when mounds of stratified rock 
 were forming under interminable seas, what were the animated 
 beings suited to live in the then condition of the elements, must 
 be matter of conjecture. Materialists have long entertained the 
 question, did the first egg proceed from a bird, or the bird from 
 the eggi — But the hundred and ninety-nine theories on the 
 sources of life and organisation, and on the origin of animals, 
 whether by ancient or modern philosophers, are all fanciful, wild, 
 and unphilosophical, having no ground to rest upon ! — Nothing 
 is satisfactory until it is declared and believed, that it has been 
 the will of an Omnipotent Being to create — to form the earth 
 and to give life ; and that it was He who appointed the changes 
 to be wrought on the material, and gave the animating principle 
 to produce organisation in correspondence with these changes. 
 
 We have already hinted that, in the stratified rocks composing 
 the crust of the earth, geologists have discovered proofs of a 
 regular succession of formations ; and that animals of very dif- 
 ferent structure have been imbedded, and are preserved in these 
 successive layers. In the earlier-formed strata, animals are 
 found which are low, as we choose to express it, in the chain of 
 existence; in higher strata, oviparous reptiles of great bulk, 
 and more complex structure, are discovered ; above the strata 
 containing these oviparous reptiles, there are found mammalia ; 
 and in the more superficial and recent strata, are the bones of 
 the mastodon, megatherium, rhinoceros, and elephant, &c. We 
 must add, that geologists agree that Man has been created last 
 of all. 
 
 Upon these facts, a theory is raised, that there has been a 
 
26 OF THE SUCCESSION AND Chap. II. 
 
 succession of animals gradually increasing in the perfection of 
 their structure : that the first impulse of nature was not sufii- 
 cient to the production of the highest and most perfect, and 
 that it was only in her mature efi'orts that mammalia were pro- 
 duced. 
 
 But we are led to this reflection : that the very formation 
 of a living animal, the bestowing Life on a corporeal frame, 
 however simple the structure, is of itself an act of Creative 
 Power so inconceivably great, that we cannot regard any change 
 in the organisation, such as providing bones and muscles, or 
 producing new organs of sense, as evincing a higher effort of 
 that Power. In exploring, therefore, the varieties of animated 
 nature, at those distinct epochs, we have a better guide, when 
 we acknowledge the manifest Design with which all has been 
 accomplished ; and the adaptation of the animals, their size, 
 their economy, their organs, and instruments, to their condition. 
 
 Whether we make the most superficial or most profound ex- 
 amination of animals in their natural state, we shall find that 
 the varieties are so balanced as to insure the existence of all. 
 This, we think, goes far to explain why the remains of certain 
 animals are found in strata which indicate a peculiar condition 
 of the earth's surface ; and why particular animals only are 
 found grouped together. For, as we may express it, if there had 
 been an error in the grouping, there must have been a destruc- 
 tion of the whole ; because the balance necessary to their exist- 
 ence must have been destroyed. 
 
 We know very well that so minute a thing as a fly will pro- 
 duce millions of the same kind, which, if not checked, will ere 
 long darken the air and render whole regions desolate ; so that 
 if the breeze does not carry them in due time into the desert or 
 into the ocean, the ravages committed by them will be most 
 fearful. As in the present day every creature has its natural 
 enemy, or is checked in production, sometimes by a limited 
 supply of food, sometimes by disease, or by the influence of sea- 
 sons, and as in the whole a balance is preserved, so we may 
 reasonably apply the same principle to explain the condition of 
 things existing in the earlier stages of the world's progress. 
 Certainly, by what we have as yet discovered in the grouping of 
 animals, in the different stratifications or deposits of the earth, 
 this view is borne out. 
 
Chap. II. GEOUPmG OF ANIMALS. 27 
 
 If the naturalist or geologist, exploring tlie rocks of secondary 
 formation, should find inclosed within them animals of the class 
 moUusca, it would agree with his preconceived notions, that 
 animals of their simple structure alone existed during the sub- 
 sidence of the material of which the rock consists. But if the 
 spine of a fish, or a jawbone, or a tooth, were discovered, he 
 would be much disturbed ; because here was the indication of 
 an animal having been at that time formed on a different type, 
 — on that plan which belongs to animals of a superior class. 
 Had he, on the contrary, supposed that animals were created 
 with a relation to those circumstances to which we have just 
 alluded, the discovery of such remains would only imply that 
 certain animals, which had hitherto increased undisturbed, had 
 arrived at a period when their numbers were to be limited ; or 
 that the condition of the elements, and the abundance of food, 
 were now suited to the existence of a species of the vertebrata. 
 
 The principle, then, in the application of which we shall be 
 borne out, is, that there is an adaptation, an established and 
 universal relation between the instincts, organisation, and in- 
 struments of animals, on the one hand, and the elements in 
 which they are to live, the position which they are to hold, and 
 their means of obtaining food, on the other ; — and this holds 
 good with respect to the animals which have existed, as well as 
 those which now exist.* 
 
 In discussing the subject of the progressive improvement of 
 organised beings, it is affirmed that man, the last created of all, 
 is not superior in organisation to the others ; and that if de- 
 prived of intellectual power, he is inferior to the brutes. I am 
 not arguing to support the theory of the gradual development 
 and improvement of animals ; but, however indifferent to the 
 tendency of the argument, I must not admit the statement. 
 Man is superior in organisation to the brutes — superior in 
 strength — in that constitutional property which enables him to 
 fulfil his destinies, by extending his race in every climate, and 
 living on every variety of nutriment. On the other hand, gather 
 together the most powerful brutes, from the arctic circle or torrid 
 zone, to some central point — so ill suited is their constitution 
 to the change, that diseases will be generated, and they will be 
 
 * These questions have given rise j legists. See Sir Charles Lyell's An- 
 te controversy among eminent geo- | niversary Address, 1851. — (S.) 
 
28 OF THE SUCCESSION AND Chap. IL 
 
 destroyed. With respect to tlie superiority of man being in his 
 mind, and not merely in the provisions of his body, it is no 
 doubt true ; — but as we proceed, we shall find how the Hand 
 supplies all instruments, and by its correspondence with the in- 
 tellect, gives him universal dominion. It presents the last and 
 best proof in the order of creation, of that principle of adapta- 
 tion which evinces design. 
 
 Another opinion requires to be noticed. It is alleged that 
 the variety of animals existing in the world is not a proof of 
 design, or of there being a relation between the formation of 
 their organs and the necessity for their exercise ; but it is sup- 
 posed that the circumstances in which the animals have been 
 placed are the cause of the variety. It is pretended, that, in 
 the long progress of time, the influence of these circumstances 
 has produced a complication of structure out of an animal which 
 was at first simple. We shall reserve the discussion of this 
 theory until we have the data before us ; which alone, without 
 much argument, will suffice, we think, to overthrow it. 
 
 I may notice shortly another idea entertained by some natur- 
 alists, who are pleased to reduce these differences in the struc- 
 ture of animals, to general laws. It is affirmed that in the 
 centre of the animal body, no disposition to change is mani- 
 fested; whilst in the extremities, on the contrary, surprising 
 variations of form are exhibited. If this be a law, there is no 
 more to be said about it; the inquiry is terminated. But I 
 contend that the term is quite inapplicable, and worse than 
 useless, as tending to check inquiry. Why is the variation in 
 the form most common in the extremities, whilst towards the 
 centre of the skeleton there is comparative permanence? I 
 conceive the rationale to be this : that the central parts, by 
 which in fact we mean the skull, spine, and ribs, are in their 
 offices permanent ; whilst the extremities are adapted to every 
 exterior circumstance. In all animals, the office of the cranial 
 part of the skull is to protect the brain, that of the spine to 
 contain the spinal marrow, and that of the ribs to perform 
 respiration ; why should we expect these parts to vary in shape, 
 while their offices remain the same ? But the shoulder, on the 
 contrary, must vary in form, as it does in motion, in difi'erent 
 animals; so must the shape of the bones and of the joints more 
 distant from the centre be adapted to their various actions; 
 
Chap. II. 
 
 GROUPmG OF ANIMALS. 
 
 29 
 
 and the carpus, tarsus, and phalanges,* must change more than 
 all the rest, to accommodate the extremities to their diversified 
 office^. Is it not more pleasing to see the reason of this most 
 surprising adjustment, than merely to say it is a law 1 f 
 
 There is yet another opinion, which after perusing the fol- 
 lowing chapter, will suggest itself to those who have read the 
 more modern works on Natural History. It is supposed that 
 the same elementary parts belong to all animals ; and that it is 
 to the transposition of these elementary parts that the varieties 
 in their structure are attributable. I find it utterly impossible 
 to follow up that theory to the extent which its abettors would 
 persuade us to be practicable. I object to it as a means of en- 
 gaging us in very trifling pursuits — and of diverting the mind 
 from the truth ; from that conclusion, indeed, to which I may 
 avow it to be my intention to carry the reader. But this dis- 
 cussion also must follow the examples ; and we shall resume it 
 in a latter part of the volume. 
 
 * Carpus, the wi-ist ; tarsus, the 
 ankle or instep ; phalanges, the rows 
 of bones forming the fingers or toes. 
 
 + See the Additional Illustrations 
 in the Appendix. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE COMPAHATIVE ANATOMY OF THE HAND. 
 
 In this inquiry, we have before us what in the strictest sense of 
 the word is a System. Of the extensive division of the animal 
 kingdom which we are about to review, viz., the vertebrated 
 animals, all the individuals possess a cranium for the protection 
 of the brain, — a heart, implying a peculiar circulation, — and 
 five distinguishable organs of sense ; but the grand peculiarity, 
 whence the term vertebrated is derived, is to be found in the 
 Spine — that chain of bones which connects the head and body, 
 and, hke a keel, serves as the foundation of the ribs, or as the 
 basis of the fabric through which respiration is performed. 
 
 We are to confine ourselves, as we have said, to a portion only 
 of this combined structure ; to examine separately the Anterior 
 Extremity, and to observe the adaptation of its parts, through 
 the whole range of the vertebrated animals. We shall view it 
 as it exists in Man, and in the higher division of animals which 
 give suck, the mammalia ; and in those which propagate by 
 eggs, the oviparous animals, birds, reptiles, and fishes. In so 
 doing, we shall find the bones composing it identified by certain 
 common features, and yet in all the series, from the arm to the 
 fin, adjusted to various purposes. We shall recognise the same 
 bones formed, in the mole, into a powerful apparatus for digging, 
 by which the animal soon covers itself, and burrows its way 
 under ground ; in the wing of the eagle we shall count every 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 ANATOMY OF THE RAl^B. 
 
 31 
 
 bone, and find that altliough adapted to a new element, they 
 are as powerful to rise in the air, as the fin of the salmon is to 
 strike through the water ; the solid hoof of the horse, the cleft 
 foot of the ruminant, the paw with retractile claws of the feline 
 tribe, and that with long folding nails of the sloth, are among 
 the many changes in the adjustment of the same chain of bones, 
 which ministers in man to the compound motions of the Hand. 
 
 Were it my purpose to teach the elements of this subject, I 
 should commence by examining, in the lowest vertebrated ani- 
 mals, the earliest traces of the bones of the anterior extremity, 
 with the gradually-increasing resemblance to the human arm, 
 as we ascended in the scale ; and I should then point out the 
 greater variety of uses served by them in the higher animals. 
 But since my present object is illustration only, I shall begin 
 with the human arm ; and dividing it into the Shoulder, Arm, 
 and Hand, treat each subdivision with a reference to its struc- 
 ture in inferior animals. 
 
 In viewing the human figure, or human skeleton, in connexion 
 with our present subject, we cannot fail to remark the strength and 
 solidity which belong to the lower extremities, in contrast with 
 those of the superior. Not only are the lower limbs proportion- 
 ably longer and larger in man than in any other animal, but the 
 haunch-bones (pelvis) are wider. The distances of the large pro- 
 cesses on the upper ends of the thigh-bones (the trochanters), from 
 the sockets of the hips, are also greater than in any of the verte- 
 brata. Altogether, the strength of the bones of the lower extremi- 
 ties, the size and prominence of their processes, the great mass of 
 the muscles of the loins and hips, distinguish man from every other 
 animal ; they secure to him the upright posture, and give him the 
 perfect freedom of the arms, for purposes of ingenuity and art. 
 
 At the head of this chapter is a sketch of the Chimpanzee,* 
 
 * Simia troglodytes, from the 
 coast of Gtiinea, more human in its 
 form, and more easily domesticated, 
 than the onran-outang. "We would 
 do well to consider the abode of 
 these creatures in a state of nature 
 — that they reside in vast forests, 
 extending in impenetrable shade be- 
 low, whilst above and exposed to 
 the light, there is a scene of verdure 
 and beauty. Such is the home of 
 the monkeys and lemurs, that pos- 
 sess extremities like hands. In 
 
 many of them the hinder extremity 
 has a more perfect resemblance to a 
 hand than the anterior ; in the Co- 
 aita (p. 13), we see the great toe as- 
 suming the characters of a thumb, 
 whilst in the fore-paw the thumb is 
 not distinguishable, but is hid in the 
 skin. In short, these paws are not 
 approximations to the hand, corre- 
 sponding with a higher ingenuity, 
 but are adaptations of the feet to 
 the branches on which the animals 
 climb and walk. 
 
32 
 
 COMPAEATIYE AI^ATOMY 
 
 Char III. 
 
 an ape whicli stands high in the order of quadmmana. Yet we 
 cannot mistake his capacities ; that the lower extremities and 
 pelvis, or hips, were never intended to give him the erect pos- 
 ture, or only for a moment ; but for swinging, or for a vigorous 
 pull, who can deny the power in these long and sinewy arms ? 
 
 The full, prominent shoulders, and consequent squareness of 
 the trunk, are equally distinctive of man with the strength of 
 his loins ; they indicate free motion of the arm and hand. 
 
 The bones of the shoulder, which form the centre of motion 
 of the upper extremity, and afford origins of attachment to the 
 .muscles of the arm, are simple in structure as they appear in 
 man, or in any single animal ; but if viewed in reference to their 
 analogies in the different classes of the Vertebrata, they present 
 remarkable varieties in shape, and assume an extraordinary 
 degree of intricacy. In all their modifications of form, how- 
 ever, and notwithstanding the strange variations in the neigh- 
 bouring parts, they retain their proper offices. In man, these 
 bones lie supported on the ribs, and are directly connected with 
 the great apparatus of respiration ; but in certain animals, as 
 in the frog, we shall see the ribs, as it were, withdrawn, and 
 the bones of the shoulder curiously and mechanically adapted 
 to perform their office, of giving a firm foundation to the ex- 
 tremity, without the support of the thorax. We shall not, 
 however, anticipate the difficulties of the subject ; but look first 
 upon what is more familiar and easy, the shoulder in man, as 
 compared with some of its varieties in the mammalia. 
 
 OF TKE CLAVICLE.* 
 
 The clavicle, or 
 collar - bone (b), 
 runs across from 
 the breast-bone (a) 
 to the tip of the 
 shoulder (e). The 
 square form of the 
 chest, and the free 
 exercise of the 
 hand, are very 
 
 Scapular Arch of Man. ^^^^ ^^^-^^ ^^ ^^-^ 
 
 * A, Triangular portion of the cess of the Scapula. E, Acromion 
 
 Sternum, or breast-bone. B, B, Cla- process of the Scapula, forming the 
 
 vicle, or collar-bone, c, C, Scapula, tip of the shoulder, 
 or shoulder-blade. D, Coracoid pro- 
 
 ^B 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 OF THE SHOULDER. 
 
 33 
 
 bone. It keeps the shoulders apart from the chest, and throws 
 the action of the muscles proceeding from the ribs, upon the 
 arm-bone ; which would otherwise be drawn inwards, and con- 
 tract the upper part of the trunk. 
 
 If we examine the motions of the anterior extremity in differ- 
 ent animals, it will guide us to see why in some this bone is 
 perfect, and in others, entirely wanting. Animals which fly, or 
 dig, or climb, as bats, moles, porcupines, squirrels, ant-eaters, 
 armadilloes, and sloths, possess the collar-bone ; for having a 
 lateral or outward motion of the extremity, that bone is required 
 to keep the shoulders apart. There is also a degree of freedom 
 of motion in the anterior extremity of the lion, cat, dog, martin, 
 and bear ; they strike with the paw, and rotate the wrist more 
 or less extensively ; and they have therefore a clavicle, though 
 an imperfect one. In some of these, as the lion, the bone occu- 
 pying the place of the collar-bone is very imperfect indeed; 
 although attached to the shoulder, it does not extend to the 
 breast-bone (a), but lies concealed in the flesh, and is like a 
 mere rudiment of the bone. Yet, however imperfect, it marks 
 a correspondence in the bones- of the shoulder to those of the 
 arm and paw, and the extent of motion enjoyed. 
 
 When the bear stands up, we perceive by his ungainly atti- 
 tude and the move- ■■ ■■,_^.s ==-i^^-^ — .- 
 ments of his paws, 
 that there must be a 
 wide difference in the 
 bones of his upper 
 extremity from those 
 of the hoofed or cleft- 
 footed animal. He 
 can take the keeper's 
 hat from his head, 
 and hold it ; or can 
 hug an animal to 
 death. The ant-bear 
 especially, as he is 
 deficient in teeth, 
 possesses extraordi- 
 nary powers of hug- 
 ging with his great paws ; and, although harmless in disposi- 
 tion, he can on occasion squeeze his enemy, the jaguar, to death. 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 COMPARATIVE ANATOMY 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 These actions, and the power of climbing, result from the 
 structure of the shoulder, from there being a collar-bone, how- 
 ever imperfect. 
 
 Although in man the clavicle is perfect, thereby correspond- 
 ing with the extent and freedom of motion of his hand, yet in 
 some animals which dig or fly, as the mole and bat, the bone is 
 comparatively stronger and longer. 
 
 Preposterous as appears the form of the kangaroo, yet, even 
 in this animal, a relation is preserved between the extremities. 
 He sits upon his strong hind-legs and tail, tripod-like, with 
 perfect security; and has his fore-paws free. He has a clavicle, 
 and it is from possessing that bone and the corresponding 
 motions, that he can employ his paws as a means of defence ; 
 for with the anterior extremities he will seize the most power- 
 ful dog, and then drawing up his hinder feet, dig his sharp- 
 pointed hoofs into his enemy, striking out, and tearing him 
 to pieces. Though possessed, therefore, of no great speed, and 
 unprovided with horns, teeth, or claws, but, as we should sup- 
 pose, totally defenceless, nature has not been negligent of his 
 protection.* 
 
 It cannot be better shown, how the function or use of a part 
 determines its structure, than by looking to the clavicle and 
 scapula of the bird. 
 
 The chief peculiarity of birds is, that in flying they do not 
 strike out their wings with an alternate motion, but their ex- 
 tremities, as we may continue to call them, move together. 
 Now, three bones converge to constitute the shoulder-joint of 
 the bird : the scapula, clavicle, and coracoid bone.f But neither 
 the scapula nor clavicle has the resemblance which their names 
 would imply. The scapula is the long thin bone, like the blade 
 
 * In the form of the kangaroo, and 
 especially in its skeleton, there is 
 something incongruous, and in con- 
 trast with the usual shape of quad- 
 rupeds. The head, trunk, and fore- 
 paws appear to be a portion of a 
 smaller animal unnaturally joined 
 to the legs of another of greater 
 dimensions and strength. It is not 
 easy to say what are, or what were, 
 the exterior relations corresponding 
 with the very peculiar form of this 
 animal ; hut the interior anatomy is 
 accommodated, in a most remark- 
 
 able manner, to the enormous hinder 
 extremities. The subject is taken up 
 in the "Additional Illustrations " at 
 the latter part of the volume, on the 
 "General Form of the Skeleton." 
 
 + In man, the coracoid bone is a 
 process of the scapula ; but late com- 
 parative researches into the "t3rpe" 
 of the vertebral skeleton, make it 
 appear that, although joined in man 
 to the shoulder-blade, the coracoid 
 is a distinct elementary bone of the 
 " scapular arch," or basis of the 
 upper extremity. — (S.) 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 OF THE SCAPULA. 
 
 35 
 
 of a knife ; and tlie clavicles are united at the centre, near the 
 breast-bone, to form the furculum, or fork-bone, which, in carv- 
 ing, we detach, after removing the wings of a fowl. This leaves 
 that stronger portion of bone which is articulated with the 
 breast-bone, as a new 
 part; and although it 
 corresponds with the 
 place of the clavicle, 
 yet, from its bearing an 
 analogy to a process of 
 the irregularly-formed 
 scapula in mammalia, 
 it is called coracoid 
 bone. However this 
 may be, what we have 
 to admire, is the mode 
 in which the bones are 
 fashioned to strength- 
 en the articulation of 
 
 the shoulder, and to "^ ^^^^^-f^^ 
 
 give extent of surface ^' 
 
 for the attachment of Skeletons of Eagle and Lizard. 
 
 the muscles which move the wings, as long levers, in flight. 
 
 OF THE SCAEULA. 
 
 By attending to the scapula, or shoulder-blade, we shall better 
 understand the influence of the bones of the shoulder on the 
 motions and speed of animals. The scapula is that flat trian- 
 gular bone which lies on the ribs, and is cushioned with 
 muscles. On its anterior angle there is a depressed surface, the 
 glenoid cavity or socket for the arm-bone. The scapula shifts 
 and revolves on the ribs with each movement of the arm. To 
 produce these movements, the muscles converge towards it from 
 all sides, from the head, spine, ribs, and breast-bone, and, by 
 acting in succession, they roll the scapula and toss the arm in 
 every direction. When the muscles combine in action, they fix 
 the bone, and either raise the ribs in drawing breath, or give 
 firmness to the whole frame of the trunk. 
 
 Before remarking further on the influence of the scapulae on 
 the motions of the arms, I shall give an instance to prove their 
 importance to the function just referred to, that of assisting in 
 
36 
 
 COMPAEATIYE ANATOMY 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 drawing in tlie breath. Hearing that there was a poor lad of 
 fourteen years of age born without arms, and whose unhappy 
 condition had excited the benevolence of some ladies, I sent for 
 him. I found that indeed he had no arms, but he had clavicles 
 and scapulae. When I made this boy draw his breath, the 
 shoulders were elevated; that is to say, the scapulae, being 
 drawn up, became the fixed points from which the broad 
 muscles diverging from it towards the ribs, acted in raising 
 and expanding the chest in respiration. We would do well to 
 remember this double office of the scapula and its muscles; that 
 whilst it is the foundation of the bones of the upper extremity, 
 and never wanting in an animal that has the most remote re- 
 semblance to an arm, yet it is the centre also and point dwppui 
 of the muscles of respiration, and acts in that capacity even 
 when there are no extremities at all.* 
 
 We have seen that it is only in certain classes of animals, 
 that the scapula is articulated to the trunk by bone through the 
 medium of a clavicle. A slight depression, therefore, on that 
 process of the scapula (acromion process, E. fig. p. 32) to which 
 the clavicle is attached, when discovered in a fossil bone, will 
 declare to the geologist the class to which the animal belonged. 
 Tor example, there are brought over to this country the bones 
 of the Megatherium, an animal which must have been larger 
 than the elephant ; of the anterior extremity, the scapula only 
 has been found ; but on the end of the process, called acromion, 
 of this bone, the mark of the attachment of a clavicle is dis- 
 covered. Now that alone points out the whole constitution of 
 the extremity ; that it enjoyed perfect freedom of motion. Other 
 circumstances will declare whether that extensive motion was be- 
 stowed to enable the animal to dig with its huge claws, like some 
 of the edentata, or to strike out in defence, like the feline tribe. 
 
 Some interest is attached to the position of the scapula, in 
 the horse. In him, as well as in other quadrupeds, with the 
 exceptions already pointed out, the clavicle is absent ; the con- 
 nexion between the anterior extremity and the trunk exists 
 solely through muscles : and the muscle called serratus magnus, 
 which is large in man, is particularly powerful in the horse; for 
 
 * Some curious facts, illustrative 
 of this office of the muscles of the arm 
 situated on the chest, are stated in 
 
 the author's paper on the "Voice," 
 in the Philosophical Transactions. 
 1832.-(S.) 
 
Ghap. III. 
 
 OF THE SCAPULA. 
 
 37 
 
 tlie weight of the trunk hangs almost exclusively upon this 
 muscle. ^ But the speed of the horse, as in most quadrupeds, 
 results from the strength of his loins and hinder extremities ; it 
 is the action of the muscles situated there, which propels him 
 forwards, in the gallop or at the leap. We accordingly perceive 
 that if the anterior extremities had been joined to the trunk 
 firmly, as by a clavicle, that bone could not have withstood the 
 shock from the descent of the whole weight of the animal when 
 thrown forwards. Even though the fore-legs had been formed 
 as powerful as the posterior extremities, they would have suf- 
 fered fracture or dislocation. We cannot but admire, therefore, 
 this provision, in all quadrupeds whose speed is great and spring 
 extensive, for diminishing the shock of descending, and giving 
 an elasticity to the anterior extremities. 
 
 In observing the relative position of the bones of the anterior 
 extremity in the horse, we shall perceive that the scapula is 
 
 oblique to the chest; the humerus oblique to the scapula; and 
 the bones of the fore-arm at an angle with the humerus. Were 
 these bones arranged in a straight line, end to end, the shock of 
 alighting would be conveyed as through a solid column; and 
 the bones of the foot, or the joints, would suffer from the con- 
 cussion. When the rider is thrown forwards on his hands, and 
 
 * The serratus magmis, attached 
 extensively to the ribs near the 
 breast-bone, ascends convergingly to 
 
 the upper border of the scapula, near 
 the withers. 
 
38 COMPARATIVE A:NrATOMY Chap. III. 
 
 more certainly when he is pitched on his shoulder, the collar- 
 bone is broken; because in man, this bone forms the link of 
 connexion between the shoulder and the trunk, and it accord- 
 ingly receives the whole shock. Now the same would happen 
 in the horse, the stag, and all quadrupeds of great strength and 
 swiftness, were not the scapulae sustained by muscles, in place 
 of bone, and did not the bones recoil and fold up. 
 
 The horse-jockey runs his hand down the horse's neck, in a 
 knowing way, and says, " This horse has got a heavy shoulder ; 
 he is a slow horse ! " He may be right, and yet not understand 
 the matter. It is not possible that the shoulder can be too much 
 loaded with muscle, for muscle is the source of motion, and be- 
 stows power. What the jockey feels, and forms his judgment 
 on, is the abrupt transition from the neck to the shoulder ; while, 
 in a horse for the turf, there ought to be a smooth undulating 
 surface. This abruptness, or prominence of the shoulder, is a 
 consequence of the upright position of the scapula; the slop- 
 ing and light shoulder results from its obliquity. An upright 
 shoulder is therefore the mark of a stumbling horse : the scapula 
 does not revolve easily, to throw forward the foot. 
 
 Much of the strength, if not the freedom and rapidity of 
 motion of a limb, will depend on the angle at which the bones 
 lie to each other ; for that mainly affects the insertion, and, con- 
 sequently, the power of the muscles. We know, and may every 
 moment feel, that when the arm is extended, we possess little 
 power in bending it ; but in proportion as we bend it, the power 
 is increased. This is owing to the change in the direction of the 
 muscular force acting upon the bone ; or, in other words, to the 
 tendon of the muscle becoming more perpendicular to the lever. 
 A scapula which inclines obliquely backwards, increases the 
 angle at which the humerus, or arm-bone, lies with reference to 
 it : and, consequently, the muscles which pass from it to the arm- 
 bone, will act with greater effect, from being inserted into that 
 bone more nearly at a right angle. We have only to turn to the 
 skeleton of the elephant, the ox, the elk, or the stag, to see the 
 confirmation of tliis principle. When the scapula lies obliquely 
 on the chest, the serratus muscle, which passes from the ribs to 
 its uppermost part, has more power in rolling it. This direction 
 of the scapula causes it to lie at right angles with the humerus ; 
 and, accordingly, the muscles which are attached to the latter 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 OF THE CLAVICLE. 
 
 39 
 
 (at b) act with more effect. And on the same principle, by the 
 oblique position of the humerus, and, consequently, its obliquity 
 in reference to the 
 
 radius and ulna, the 
 two bones of the 
 fore-arm, the power 
 of the muscle in- 
 serted (at c) into 
 the olecranon, is 
 increased. On the 
 whole, both power 
 and elasticity are 
 gained by this posi- 
 tion of the superior 
 bones of the fore- 
 leg. It gives to the 
 animal that springs 
 a larger stretch in 
 throwing himself 
 forwards, and a 
 greater security, by 
 a soft descent of 
 his weight. A man, 
 standing upright, 
 cannot leap or start 
 off at once; he must 
 first sink down, and 
 bring the bones of 
 his extremities to an angle. But the antelope, or other timid 
 animals of the class, can leap at once, or start off in their course 
 without preparation — another advantage of the oblique position 
 of their bones when at rest. 
 
 These sketches with the pen are from the skeletons of the 
 elephant and the camel : and it is obvious that the leg of the 
 former is built for the purpose of sustaining the huge bulk of 
 the animal, whilst in the camel there is a perfect contrast. 
 Were we to compare the bones of the larger animal with any 
 style of architecture, it would be with the Egyptian ; or rather, 
 
 * A, Scapula. E, Humerus, or 1 Humerus. C, Olecranon, or pro- 
 arm-bone. B, Tuberosity of the | jection of the Ulna. D, Kadius. 
 
40 COMPAEATIYE ANATOMY Chap. TIL 
 
 from their huge and shapeless form, and being piled over each 
 other, as if destined more to sustain weight than to permit mo- 
 
 tion, they might be likened to the unwrought masonry in the 
 Cyclopian walls of some ancient city. 
 We further perceive, from the comparison of these sketches, 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 OF THE CLAYICLE. 
 
 41 
 
 that if the humerus be placed obliquely, it must necessarily be 
 short ; otherwise the leg would be thrown too far back, making 
 the head and neck project inordinately. It is one of the " points" 
 of a horse to have the humerus short. And not only all animals 
 of speed, but birds of long flight, as the swallow, have the hu- 
 merus short. This is owing, I think, to another circumstance, 
 that the shorter the humerus, the quicker will be the extension 
 of the wing : for as the further extremity of the bone, when short, 
 will move in a lesser circle, the gyration will be more rapid. 
 
 If we continue this comparative view of the bones of the 
 shoulder, we shall be led to notice other curious modifications. 
 In man and mammalia, two objects, we have seen, are attained 
 in the construction of these bones ; besides forming the basis 
 for the other bones of the upper extremity, the shoulder-bones 
 constitute an important part of the organ of respiration, and 
 conform to the structure of the chest. But we shall find that 
 in some animals, the latter function is in a manner withdrawn 
 from them ; the scapula and clavicles are left without the sup- 
 port of the ribs. In order therefore to give due firmness to the 
 shoulder, these bones 
 require additional 
 carpentry ; or they 
 must be laid together 
 on a different prin- 
 ciple. In the batra- 
 chian order,* for ex- 
 ample the frog, the 
 mechanism of respi- 
 ration is altogether 
 distinct from what it 
 is in the mammalia : 
 the thorax, as consti- 
 tuted of ribs, is ab- 
 sent. Accordingly, we 
 find the bones of the shoulder constructed on a new model; they 
 form a broad and flat collar, sufficient to give secure attachment 
 
 Scapular Arch of Frog. 
 
 * In this figure of the "scapular 
 arch" of the frog, the breast-bone 
 has its lower face upwards. The 
 clavicles and coracoid bones meet in 
 
 the centre : the broad flat scapulae 
 join the two latter to form the 
 sockets of the shoulder- joints. 
 
42 
 
 COMPAEATIYE ANATOMY 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 to the extremity, and affording ample space for the lodgment of 
 the muscles which move the arm. Perhaps the best example of 
 that structure is visible in the siren and proteus ; where the ribs 
 are reduced to a very few imperfect processes attached to the 
 vertebrae ; and where the bones of the shoulder, being deprived, 
 accordingly, of all support from the thorax, depend upon them- 
 selves for security.* Here the bones corresponding to the 
 
 sternum, clavicles, cora- 
 coids, and scapulae, are 
 found clinging to the 
 spine, and, like the pel- 
 vis,t forming a circle, 
 to the lateral parts of 
 which the arm -bones 
 are articulated. 
 
 In the chelonian or- 
 der, the tortoises, we 
 see a similar design ac- 
 complished by another 
 adjustment, or mode of 
 union of these bones; 
 and the change is owing 
 to a very curious cir- 
 cumstance. The spine and ribs are placed like rafters under 
 the strong shell which forms the covering or carapace of these 
 animals ; and being united to this shell, they are consequently 
 external to the bones of the shoulder. Hence the scapulae and 
 clavicles being within the thorax, instead of outside and sup- 
 ported by it, it is necessary, in order to convert them into fixed 
 points for the motions of the extremities, that they fall together, 
 and form a circle. Indeed, considering the new circumstances in 
 which they are required to act as a basis for the extremity, it 
 would be strange if they preserved any resemblance to the forms 
 which we have been contemplating in the higher animals. In the 
 following figure, the bones of the shoulder of the turtle are repre- 
 sented ; and it is readily perceived how much they are changed 
 both in shape and office. The part most like a scapula, lies on 
 
 * The Scapula, Clavicle, Sternum, f The pelvis is the circle of bones 
 
 and Coracoid bone, may be recog- on which the spine or back-bone 
 
 nised in this figure of the bones of the rests, and in which are the sockets 
 
 anterior extremity of the Siren. for the heads of the thigh-bones. 
 
 Anterior Extremity of Siren. 
 
Chat. III. 
 
 m THE CHELONIAN OEDEE. 
 
 43 
 
 the fore instead of the back part ; and the bones which hold the 
 shoulders apart, abut upon the spine, instead of upon the ster- 
 num. Hence it appears idle to describe these bones under the 
 old denominations, or 
 by names applicable to ^ 
 
 their condition in the 
 higher animals. 
 
 In fishes, although 
 the apparatus of re- 
 spiration is entirely dif- 
 ferent from what it is ^ 
 in mammalia, and there 
 are no proper ribs, the 
 bones which give at- 
 tachment to the pecto- 
 ral fin are still called the 
 bones of the shoulder. 
 The system of bones 
 named " scapular arch," 
 is, in fact, attached to 
 the skull, instead of to 
 the ribs or spine; so 
 that the structure corresponding to the shoulder, consists of a 
 circle of bones, which, we may say, seeks security of attach- 
 ment by approaching the more solid part, the head, in defect 
 of a firm foundation in the thorax.f 
 
 Thus it has been shown that the bones which form the 
 shoulder-joint, and give a foundation to the anterior extremity, 
 are submitted to a new modelling in correspondence with every 
 variety in the apparatus of respiration ; and still they maintain 
 their pristine office. 
 
 Shoulder-bones of Turtle.^ 
 
 * a, Scapula, h, Acromion process. 
 c, Coracoid bone, d, Glenoid cavity. 
 
 + Mr Owen has ' applied his ex- 
 tensive knowledge of osteology, and 
 philosophical views of the relations 
 of the structure of animals to a gene- 
 ral type, to establish some interest- 
 ing points which bear on questions 
 treated of in these pages. By tak- 
 ing into view the elementary parts 
 which constitute a typical vertebra, 
 and subdividing the cranial bones 
 
 into four vertebral segments, he 
 has been led, by an able course of 
 induction, embracing the skeletons 
 of animals from the fish to man, to 
 the conclusion — "that the human 
 hands and arms, in relation to the 
 vertebral archetype, are parts of 
 the head; diverging appendages of 
 the costal and hoemal arch of the 
 occipital segment of the skull." See 
 his " Discourse on the Nature of 
 Limbs," 1849.— (S.) 
 
44 COMPAEATIYE ANATOMY Cm^. III. 
 
 Tlie naturalist will not be surprised on finding in tlie shoulder 
 apparatus of the ornithorhynchus paradoxus, an extraordinary 
 intricacy; since the whole frame and organs of this animal 
 imply that it is intermediate between mammalia and birds ; for 
 which reason it has been placed in the list of edentata. This 
 animal affords another instance of the changes which the bones 
 of the shoulder undergo with every new office, that they may 
 correspond with the motions of the extremity ; whether it be to 
 support the weight in running, or to give freedom to the arm, 
 or to provide for flying, or to enable the animal either to creep 
 or to swim. 
 
 Unprofitable as the inquiry may seem, there is no other way 
 for the geologist to distinguish the genera of the extinct and 
 strangely-formed oviparous reptiles embedded in the secondary 
 strata, than by studying in the recent species, the minute pro- 
 cesses and varying characters of these bones. In the ichthyo- 
 saurus, and plesiosaurus, the inhabitants of a former world, there 
 is a considerable deviation from the general type of the bones of 
 the arm and hand, as compared with the same parts in the frog 
 and tortoise ; but, if strength were the object, we should say 
 that the bones of the shoulder were formed in these extinct 
 reptiles, with a greater degree of perfection. The explanation 
 is, that the ribs and sterno-costal arches, constituting the thorax, 
 were more perfect in them than in the chelonian and batrachian 
 orders; whence the bones of the shoulder were situated ex- 
 ternally, and resembled those of the crocodile. Yet, notwith- 
 standing this superiority, the ribs were obviously not strong 
 enough to sustain the powerful action of the muscles of the an- 
 terior extremities, or paddles; accordingly, the bones, which 
 by a kind of licence we continue to call clavicle, omoplate or 
 scapula, and coracoid, though strangely deviating from their 
 original forms and connexions, constitute a structure of con- 
 siderable strength, which perfects the anterior part of the 
 trunk, and gives attachment and lodgment to the powerful 
 muscles of the paddle. 
 
 But it does not appear that naturalists have hit upon the 
 right explanation of the peculiar structure and curious varie- 
 ties of these bones in the class of reptiles. "Why is the appara- 
 tus of respiration so totally changed in these animals'? They 
 are cold-blooded animals; they require to respire less fre- 
 
Chap. III. OF THE HUMERUS. 45 
 
 quently tlian other creatures, and they remain long under the 
 water. I conceive that the peculiarity in their mode of respir- 
 ation corresponds with this property. Hence their vesicular 
 lungs ; their mode of swallowing the air, instead of inhaling it ; 
 and hence, especially, their power of compressing the body and 
 expelling the air. It is this provision for emptying the lungs, 
 I imagine, which enables reptiles to go under the water and 
 crawl upon the bottom. Had they possessed the lungs of 
 warm-blooded animals, which are compressible only in a slight 
 degree, their capacity of remaining under water would have 
 been of no use; when they dived, they would have had to 
 struggle against their own buoyancy, like a man, or any of the 
 mammalia, when submerged. The girdle of bones of the shoul- 
 der is constituted, therefore, with a certain relation to the pecu- 
 liar action of respiration ; inasmuch as the pliancy of the thorax 
 is provided in order that the vesicular lungs may be easily com- 
 pressed, and the specific weight diminished. The facility which 
 the absence of ribs in the batrachian order affords, for compress- 
 ing the lungs extended through the abdomen, and the extreme 
 weakness and pliancy of the ribs in the saurians, must be, as I 
 apprehend, peculiarities adapted to the same end. 
 
 OF THE HUMEEUS, OE AEM-BONE. 
 
 The demonstration of this bone need not be so dry a matter 
 of detail as the anatomist makes it. From its form may be 
 deduced that curious relation of parts which has been so suc- 
 cessfully employed by Paley to prove design, and from which 
 the genius of Baron Cuvier has brought out some of the finest 
 examples of inductive reasoning. 
 
 In looking to the head of this bone in the human skeleton, 
 (see the fig. in p. 32,) we observe its great hemispherical surface 
 for articulating with the glenoid cavity or socket of the scapula; 
 and we see that the two tubercles for the insertion of muscles 
 near the joint are depressed, and do not interfere with the re- 
 volving of the humerus by striking against the edges of the 
 socket. Such appearances alone are sufficient to show that all 
 the motions of the arm are free. 
 
 To give assurance of this, and to illustrate how the form of 
 the shoulder points to the structure of the whole arm, suppose 
 that the geologist has picked up this bone in interesting circum- 
 
46 
 
 COMPARATIVE ANATOMY 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 stances. To what animal does it belong 1 The globular form 
 of the articulating surface, and the very slight projection of the 
 
 tubercles, evince a latitude of mo- 
 tion. Now, freedom of motion in 
 the shoulder implies a similar free- 
 dom in the extremity or paw, and 
 a power of rotation of the wrist. 
 Accordingly, we direct the eye to 
 that part of the bone which gives 
 origin to the muscles for turning 
 the wrist (the Supinator muscles) ; 
 and the prominence and the length 
 of the ridge or crest, situated on 
 the lower and outer side, from 
 which these muscles arise, at once 
 prove their strength, and that the 
 paw had free motion. 
 Arm-bone of Bear. Therefore, on finding the hume- 
 
 rus thus characterised, we conclude that it belonged to an 
 animal with sharp moveable claws — that, in all probability, it 
 
 is the remains of a bear. 
 
 But, suppose that the upper 
 head of the bone has a diffe- 
 rent character: that the tu- 
 bercles project, so as to limit 
 the motion in every direction 
 but one, and that the articu- 
 lating surface is less regularly 
 convex. On inspecting the 
 lower extremity of such a 
 bone, we shall perceive that 
 the grooves into which the 
 bones of the fore-arm are 
 socketed, are hollowed out so 
 deeply that the joint could 
 only have the motion of a 
 simple hinge ; and neither the 
 form of the articulating sur- 
 face, (which is here called tro- 
 Arm-bone of Horse. chlea,) nor the crest or spine 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 OF THE HUMERUS. 
 
 47 
 
 above noticed on the outside, will present any signs of one bone 
 of tbe fore-arm having rotated on the other. We have, there- 
 fore, got the bone of an herbivorous quadruped, either with 
 a solid or with a cloven foot. 
 
 In the bat and mole, perhaps, the best examples are seen of 
 the bones of the extremity being moulded to correspond with 
 the condition of the animal. The mole is fitted, by means of 
 
 From the Mole. 
 
 its anterior extremities, to plough its way under-ground. The 
 bat has the same system of bones; but they are adapted to form 
 a wing for raising the animal in the atmosphere, and with a 
 provision for its clinging to the wall, although not to bear upon 
 it. In both these animals we recognise every bone of the upper 
 extremity ; but how very difi'erently formed and j oined ! In the 
 mole, the sternum, or breast-bone, and the clavicle, are remark- 
 ably large : the scapula, or shoulder-blade, assumes the form of 
 a high lever : the humerus is thick and short, and has such pro- 
 minent spines for the attachment of muscles as to indicate great 
 power. The spines which give origin to the muscles of rotation, 
 project in an extraordinary manner; and the hand is large, flat, 
 and so turned that it may shove the earth aside like a plough- 
 share.* 
 
 * The snont may vary in its in- 
 ternal structure with new offices. 
 Naturahsts say that there is a new 
 "element" in the pig's nose: and it 
 has, in fact, two bones which admit 
 
 of motion, whilst they give more 
 strength in digging up the ground. 
 As moles plough the earth with their 
 snouts, they likewise have these 
 bones, and their head is shaped like 
 
48 
 
 COMPAEATIYE Al^ATOMY 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 There can be no greater contrast to these bones of the mole 
 than is presented in the skeleton of the bat. In this animal the 
 
 bones are light 
 and delicate j 
 and whilst they 
 are all marvel- 
 lously extended, 
 the phalanges, 
 or the rows of 
 bones of the fin- 
 gers, are elon- 
 gated so as hard- 
 ly to be recog- 
 nised, obviously 
 for the purpose 
 of sustaining 
 the membran- 
 eous web, and 
 to form a wing. 
 Contemplat- 
 ing this extra- 
 ordinary appli- 
 SkeietonofBat. cation of the 
 
 bones of the upper extremity in the bat, we might be led to say, 
 on comparing it with the wing of a bird, that it was an awkward 
 attempt — " a failure." But before giving expression to such an 
 opinion, we must understand the objects required in this con- 
 struction. The wing of the bat is not intended merely for flight : 
 it is so formed that while it can sustain the animal in flying, it 
 shall be capable also of receiving a new sensation on its surface, 
 or sensations of such an exquisite degree of fineness as almost 
 to constitute a new sense. On the thin web of the bat's wing 
 numerous nerves are distributed; and the use of these is to 
 enable the animal, during the obscurity of night, when both 
 eyes and ears fail, to avoid objects in its flight. Could the wing 
 
 C^ 
 
 a wedge, to assist in burrowing and 
 throwing aside the earth. The con- 
 formation of the head, and the 
 strength of its bones, and the new 
 adjvistment of the muscle (the pla- 
 tysma myoides), which is cutaneous 
 
 in other animals, to assist in moving 
 the head, are among the curious 
 changes of common parts for enabling 
 them to perform new offices. See 
 again the "Additional Illustrations" 
 in the Appendix. 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 OF THE ANT-EATER 
 
 49 
 
 of a bird, covered with feathers, do this ? Here then we have 
 another example of the necessity of taking every circumstance 
 into consideration before presum- 
 ing to criticise the ways of nature. 
 It is a lesson of humility.* 
 
 We have here a sketch of the 
 arm-bone of the Ant-eater, f to 
 show once more the correspond- 
 ence maintained throughout all the 
 parts of an extremity. We ob- 
 serve these extraordinary spines 
 standing off from the humerus. 
 Now, these indicate the power of 
 the muscles attached to the bone; 
 for, as I have said before, whether 
 we examine the human body, or 
 the forms of the bones in the lower 
 animals, the distinctness with 
 which the spines and processes are 
 marked, declares the strength of 
 the muscles. It is particularly 
 pleasing to notice here the corre- 
 spondence between the humerus 
 and all the . other bones, ■ — how 
 large, in the first place, the scapula 
 is, and how it has a double spine, 
 with great processes : how remark- 
 
 * Besides the adaptation of the bat 
 for flight, by the adjustment of the 
 bones of its arm, this animal has a series 
 of cells situated under its skin. I know 
 not whether I am correct or not in say- 
 ing that these are analogous to the air- 
 cells of birds, and serve to make the bat 
 specifically lighter. In some species 
 they extend over the breast, and into 
 the arm-pits, and are filled by an orifice 
 which communicates with the throat. 
 
 I have adverted to the provisions in 
 the bones of the shoulder of the bird to 
 give firmness to the joint, seeing that 
 it is the centre of motion for the wing. 
 Now, although the bat has not the 
 same arrangement of bones as the 
 
 D 
 
 bird, yet the clavicles are re- 
 markably strengi-hened : and the 
 articulation of the arm-bone up- 
 on the shoulder-blade is guarded 
 by processes in such a manner 
 that the motion of the joint is 
 extremely limited. 
 
 t Tamandua, from South 
 America. 
 
50 STRUCTURE OF BIRDS. Chap. III. 
 
 ably the ulna projects at the olecranon or elbow, while the radius 
 is still free for rotating : but above all, we cannot fail to observe 
 in the development of one grand metacarpal bone and its corre- 
 sponding phalanges, to the last of which a strong claw is attached, 
 a most efficient instrument for scratching and turning aside an 
 ant-hill. The whole, therefore, is an example of the relation of the 
 particular parts of the extremity to one another ; and were it our 
 business, it would be easy to show that as there is a correspond- 
 ence among the bones of the arm, so is there a more universal 
 relation between those of the whole skeleton. As the structure 
 of the bones of the arm declares the extremity to be adapted for 
 digging into ant-hills, so we shall not be disappointed in our 
 expectation of finding that the animal has a projecting muzzle 
 unarmed with teeth, and a long tongue provided with a glutin- 
 ous secretion, to Hck up the emmets disturbed by its scratch- 
 ing. 
 
 In the skeleton of the Cape-mole, we may see, in the projec- 
 tion of the acromion scapulae, and a remarkable process in the 
 middle of the humerus, a provision for the rotation of the arm ; 
 which implies burrowing. But the apparatus is by no means 
 so perfect as in the common mole ; so that we may infer that 
 the Cape-mole digs in a softer soil, whilst the possession of 
 gnawing teeth indicates that it subsists on roots. 
 
 In BiKDS, there is altogether a new condition of the osseous 
 system, as there is a new element to contend with. The very 
 peculiar form and structure of their skeleton may be thus 
 accounted for. First, it is necessary that birds, as they are 
 buoyed in the air, should be specifically light ; secondly, the 
 capacity of their chest must be extended, and the motions of 
 their ribs limited, so that the muscles of the wings may have 
 sufficient space and firmness for their attachment. Both these 
 objects are attained by a modification of the apparatus for 
 breathing. The lungs are highly vascular and spongy, but they 
 are not capable of being distended with air ; the air is drawn 
 through their substance, passing, by means of numerous orifices, 
 into cells under their skin, and even filling the interior of their 
 bones ; so that whilst the great office of decarbonisation of the 
 blood is securely performed, advantage is taken to let the air, 
 warmed and rarefied by the high temperature of their bodies, 
 into all their cavities. 
 
Chap. III. STRUCTURE OF BIRDS. 51 
 
 From what was said, in the introductory chapter, of the 
 weight of the body being a necessary concomitant of muscular 
 strength, we see why the lightness of the bird, as well as the 
 conformation of its skeleton, may be a reason for its walking 
 badly. On the other hand, in observing how that lightness is 
 adapted for flight, it is remarkable what a small addition to the 
 weight will prevent the bird from rising on the wing. If the 
 griffon-vulture be scared after his repast, he must disgorge be- 
 fore he can fly ; and so with the condor, — if found in the same 
 circumstances, he can be taken by the Indians, like a quadruped, 
 by throwing the lasso over his neck.* 
 
 As every one must have observed, the breast-bone of the bird 
 extends the whole length of the body, covering the great cavity, 
 common to the chest and abdomen, into which the air is ad- 
 mitted. Now, it follows from this extension of the breast-bone, 
 that a lesser degree of motion suffices for respiration ; accord- 
 ingly, a greater surface is obtained for the lodgment and attach- 
 ment of the muscles of the wings, whilst that surface being less 
 disturbed by the action of breathing, is more steady. Another 
 peculiarity of the skeleton of the bird is, that the vertebrae, 
 instead of being moveable on each other, are consolidated : an 
 additional proof, if any were now required, of the whole system 
 of bones conforming to that of the extremities ; because, to give 
 effect to the action of the muscles of the wings, it is necessary 
 that all the bones of the trunk to which they are attached 
 should be united firmly together.t 
 
 From the vertebrae of the bird being thus fixed, and the pelvis 
 reaching high, no motion can take place in the body ; indeed, if 
 there were any mobility in the back, it would be interrupted by 
 the sternum or breast-bone. We cannot but admire, therefore, 
 the structure of the neck and head ; how the length and plia- 
 bility of the vertebrae of the neck not only give to the bill the 
 extent of motion and office of a hand, but, by enabling the bird 
 to preserve its balance in standing, running, or flying, become a 
 substitute for the loss of flexibility in the body. Is it not 
 curious to observe how the whole skeleton is adapted to this 
 one object, the power of the wings ! 
 
 Whilst the ostrich and other " runners " have not got a keel 
 
 * The subject is continued in the I f The ostrich and cassowary, which 
 "Additional Illustrations." 1 are runners, have the spine loose. 
 
52 
 
 STEUCTURE OF BIEDS. 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 in their breast-bone, birds of passage are recognisable by the 
 depth of the ridge of the sternum. The reason is, 
 
 The reason is, that the 
 
 angular space formed by that process and the body of the bone 
 affords lodgment for the pectoral muscle, the powerful muscle 
 of the wing. In this sketch of the dissection of the swallow 
 there is a curious resemblance to the human arm ; and we can- 
 not fail to observe that the pectoral muscle constitutes the 
 greater part of the bulk of the body.* And here we perceive 
 the correspondence between the strength of this muscle and the 
 rate of flying of the swallow, which is a mile in a minute, for 
 ten hours every day, or six hundred miles a day.f If it be 
 true that birds, in migrating, require a wind that blows against 
 them,J it implies an extraordinary power, as well as continu- 
 ance, of muscular exertion. 
 
 * Borelli makes the pectoral mus- 
 cles of a bird exceed in weight all 
 the other muscles taken together ; 
 whilst he calculates that in man the 
 pectoral muscles are hut a seven- 
 tieth part of the mass of muscles. 
 
 t Mr Wliite says truly that the 
 swift lives on the wing ; it eats, 
 drinks, and collects materials for its 
 nest while flying, and never rests 
 hut during darkness. No bird equals 
 the hiimming-bird in its powers of 
 
 flight, and, accordingly, it has a 
 broader sternum, and a greater pro- 
 minence of keel, in proportion to its 
 size, than any other bird. It may 
 be mentioned, that in the sternum 
 of the bat a very distinct ridge is de- 
 veloped, corresponding with the keel 
 of the bird. 
 
 X It is possible that the wind blow- 
 ing near the ground in one direction, 
 may be attended with a current of a 
 higher stratum of the atmosphere in 
 
Chap. III. STEUCTUEE ADAPTED FOE FLYING. 53 
 
 We tliiis see how Nature completes her work when the ani- 
 mal is destined to rise buoyant and powerful in the air : — the 
 whole texture of the frame is altered, and made light in a man- 
 ner consistent with strength; the mechanism of the anterior 
 extremity is changed, and the muscles of the trunk are differ- 
 ently directed. But we are tempted to examine other instances, 
 where the means, we would almost say, are more awkwardly 
 suited for their purpose ; that is, where the system of bones 
 and muscles peculiar to the quadruped being preserved, the ani- 
 mal has still the power of launching into the air. We have 
 already noticed how the structure of the bat is adapted to 
 flight; but there are other animals, differing from birds more 
 widely than it, which enjoy the function, though in a lesser 
 degree. For example, the flying squirrel {Pieromys volucella), 
 being chased to the end of a bough, spreads out the mantle 
 which reaches along both its sides from the anterior to the 
 posterior extremity, and drops in the air; and during its 
 descent, it is met by such a resistance of the air from its 
 extended skin and bushy tail, that it can direct its flight 
 obliquely, and even turn, without any adaptation of the anterior 
 extremity. Among reptiles, a provision of the same kind exists 
 in the Draco fimbriatus ; which, after creeping to a height, can 
 drop safely to the ground, under the protection of a sort of para- 
 chute, formed by its extended skin. This is no inapt illustra- 
 tion : it is not the bones of the fingers that are here used to 
 extend the web ; but the ribs, which are unnecessary, in this 
 animal, for breathing, are prolonged in a remarkable manner, 
 like the whalebones of an umbrella, and upon them the skin 
 is expanded. 
 
 This brings us to a very curious subject, — the condition of 
 some of those Saurian reptiles, the remains of which are found 
 only in a fossil state, most abundantly in the lias and oolite, 
 termed the ancient strata of the Jura. The Pterodactyle of 
 Cuvier is an animal which seems to confound all our notions of 
 system. A lizard, yet its mouth was like the long bill of a bird, 
 and its flexible neck corresponded ; but it had teeth in its jaws 
 like those of a crocodile. The bones of the anterior extremity 
 were elongated, and fashioned somewhat like those in the wing 
 
 a contrary direction, and that the 1 the wind may have arisen from that 
 idea of migrating birds flying against \ mistake. 
 
54 AE'ATOMY OF Chap. III. 
 
 of a bird; but it could not have bad featbers, as it bad not a 
 proper bill ; we see no creature with featbers that has not a bill 
 with which to dress and preen them. Nor did the extremity- 
 resemble that of a bat in structure : instead of the rows of 
 bones being equally prolonged in all the fingers, as in the bat, 
 the second finger only was extended to an extraordinary length ; 
 whilst the third, fourth, and fifth had the size and articulations 
 of those of a quadruped, and were terminated with sharp nails 
 corresponding to the pointed teeth. The extended bones 
 reached to double the whole length of the animal, and the con- 
 jecture is, that a membrane, resembling that of the Draco fim- 
 briatus, was expanded upon them. In the imperfect specimens 
 upon which we have to found our reasoning, we cannot dis- 
 cover, either in the height of the hip-bones, the strength of the 
 vertebrae of the back, or the expansion of the breast-bone, a pro- 
 vision for the attachment of muscles commensurate with the 
 extent of the supposed wing. The arm-bone and the bones 
 which we presume to be the scapula and coracoid, bear some 
 correspondence to the extent of the wing: but the extraordi- 
 nary circumstance of all is the size and strength of the bones of 
 the jaw and vertebrse of the neck, compared with the smallness 
 of the body and the extreme delicacy of the ribs ; which makes 
 this altogether a being the most incomprehensible in nature. 
 
 OF THE RADIUS AND I7LNA. 
 
 The easy motion of the hand, we might imagine to result 
 from the structure of the hand itself ; but, on the contrary, the 
 movements which appear to belong to it, are divided among all 
 the bones of the extremity."^ 
 
 The head of the arm-bone is rotatory on the shoulder-blade, 
 as when making the guards in fencing ; but the easier and finer 
 rolling of the wrist is accomplished by the motion of one bone 
 of the fore-arm upon the other. The ulna has a hooked pro- 
 cess, the olecranon, or projecting bone of the elbow, which 
 catches round the lower end of the arm-bone (this articulating 
 portion being called trochlea), and forms with it a hinge joint, 
 for bending and extending the fore-arm. The radius, again, at 
 the elbow, has a small, neat, round head, which is bound to the 
 
 * In the sketch (p. 55) the bone I dins ; in revolving on the lower bone, 
 with the hand joined to it is the ra- | the ulna, it carries the hand with it. 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 THE RADIUS AND ULNA. 
 
 55 
 
 ulna by ligaments, as a spindle is held in the bush ; and it has 
 a depression with a polished surface for revolving on the con- 
 dyle of the humerus ; at the wrist it 
 has also a surface adapted for rota- 
 tion : accordingly the radius turns on 
 its long axis, rolling upon the ulna 
 both at the elbow and wrist-joint ; 
 and, as it turns, it carries the hand 
 with it, because the hand is strictly 
 attached to its lower head alone. This 
 rolling is what are termed pronation 
 and supination. 
 
 Such freedom of motion, in an ani- 
 mal with a solid hoof, would be use- 
 less, and a source of weakness ; hence, 
 in the horse, the radius and ulna are 
 united, and consolidated in the posi- 
 tion of pronation. 
 
 But before taking any particular 
 instance, let us extend our views. 
 There is, indeed, something so highly 
 interesting in the conformation of the 
 whole skeleton of an animal, and the 
 adaptation of each part to all the 
 others, that we must not let our reader 
 remain ignorant of the facts, and the 
 more important conclusions drawn 
 from them. What we have to state 
 has been the result of the studies of 
 many comparative anatomists; but 
 none has seized upon it, with the pri- 
 vilege of genius, in the masterly man- 
 ner of Cuvier. 
 
 Suppose a man, ignorant of anatomy, to pick up a fragment 
 of bone in an unexplored country; he learns nothing, except 
 that some animal has lived and died there ; but the anatomist, 
 judging from that portion of bone, can not merely estimate the 
 size of the extremity of the animal as well as if he saw the print 
 of its foot, but he can predicate the form of the joints of the 
 skeleton, the structure of its jaws and teeth, the nature of its 
 
56 
 
 ANATOMY OF 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 food, and its internal economy. This, to one unacquainted with 
 the subject, must appear wonderful ; but it is after the follow- 
 ing manner that the anatomist proceeds. Let us suppose that 
 he has taken up that portion of bone, in the limb of a quadru- 
 ped, which corresponds to the upper part of the human radius ; 
 and that he finds that the form of the end of the bone, where 
 it enters into the joint, does not admit of the free motion, in 
 various directions, possessed by the paw of the carnivorous 
 creature. It is obvious, on that view of the structure alone, 
 that the office of the limb must have been for supporting the 
 animal, and for progression, not for seizing prey. That leads 
 him to the fact, that the bones corresponding to those of the 
 hand and fingers, must have difiered from the bones of the paw 
 of the tiger; for the motions which that conformation permits, 
 would be useless without rotation of the wrist : and he con- 
 cludes, therefore, that the hand and finger-bones were each 
 formed in one mass, like the cannon, pastern, and coffin bones 
 of the horse's foot."^ Now, the motion of the foot of a hoofed 
 animal being limited to flexion and extension, it implies re- 
 strained motion at the shoulder-joint, and absence of a collar- 
 bone. And thus, from the broken specimen in his hand, the 
 naturalist acquires a perfect notion of the bones of both extre- 
 mities. But the motion of the extremities implies a particular 
 construction of the vertebral column which unites them ; each 
 bone of the spine will be of that form which corresponds to the 
 bounding of the stag, or galloping of the horse ; but will not 
 have the kind of articulation which admits of the turning or 
 writhing of the body, as in the leopard or tiger. 
 
 Next he comes to the head : — and he argues that the pointed, 
 cutting teeth, with which a carnivorous animal is provided to 
 rend its prey, would be useless, unless there were mobility of 
 the extremities, like that of the hand, for grasping it, and claws 
 for securing it. He considers, therefore, that the front teeth 
 must have been for browsing, and the back teeth for grinding. 
 But the socketing of the teeth requires a peculiar shape of the 
 jaw-bones, and the muscles which move these bones must also 
 be peculiar. In short, from the shape and functions of the 
 
 ■^ These are solid bones, in which 
 it is difficult to recognise any resem- 
 hlanoe to the bones of the hand and 
 
 fingers ; yet comparative anatomy 
 proves that they are analogous. 
 
Chap. III. THE EADIUS A1!^D ULNA. 57 
 
 month, he forms a conception of the figure of the skull. From 
 that point he may set out anew ; for from the form of the teeth, 
 he may deduce the nature of the stomach, the length of the in- 
 testines, and all the peculiarities which mark a vegetable feeder, 
 as contrasted with one of the carnivora. 
 
 Thus the whole parts of the animal system are so connected 
 with one another, that from one single bone or fragment of 
 bone, be it of the jaw, or of the spine, or of the extremity, a 
 really accurate conception of the shape, motions, and habits of 
 the animal may be formed. 
 
 It will readily be understood that by the same process of rea- 
 soning, we may ascertain, from a small portion of a skeleton, the 
 existence of a carnivorous animal, or of a fowl, or of a bat, or of 
 a lizard, or of a fish. And what a conviction is here brought 
 home to us of the extent of that plan, which, pervading the 
 whole range of animated beings whose motions are conducted 
 by the operation of muscles and bones, yet adapts the members 
 of every creature to their proper ofiice ! 
 
 After all, this is but a part of the wonders disclosed through 
 the knowledge of an object so despised as a fragment of bone. 
 It carries us into another science. The knowledge of the skele- 
 ton not only teaches us the classification of animals now alive, 
 but affords proofs of the former existence of animated beings 
 which are no longer found on the surface of the earth. We 
 are thus led from such premises to an unexpected conclusion. 
 'Not merely do we learn that individual animals, or races of 
 animals, now extinct, existed at those distant periods : but 
 even the changes which the globe has undergone, in time before 
 all existing records, and before the creation of human beings 
 to inhabit the earth, are opened to our contemplation. 
 
 To return to our particular subject, — we readily comprehend 
 how, if the geologist 
 should find the head 
 of a radius, resembling 
 this sketch, and see a 
 smooth depression (a), 
 on its extremity, where 
 
 it bears against the hu- Upper End of a Radius. 
 
 merus, and a polished circle (b), where it turns on the cavity of 
 the ulna, he would say, — this animal had a paw— it had a motion 
 
58 COMPARATIYE AITATOMT Chap. III. 
 
 at the wrist, which implies claws. But claws may belong to 
 two species of animals : to the feline, which possess sharp car- 
 nivorous teeth ; or to animals without either canine or cutting 
 teeth, the edentata. If he should also find the lower extremity 
 of the same bone, and observe on its surface spines and grooves, 
 the marks of tendons, which, instead of running straight to be 
 inserted into a single bone, radiated to distinct phalanges, — he 
 would conclude that there must have been moveable claws, that 
 the bone must have belonged to a carnivorous animal j and he 
 would seek for canine teeth of corresponding size. 
 
 THE LAST DIVISION OP THE BONES OF THE AHM. 
 
 In the human hand, the bones of the wrist (carpus) are eight 
 in number ; and they are so closely connected that they form a 
 sort of ball, which moves on the end of the radius. Beyond 
 these, and towards the fingers, forming the palm of the hand, 
 are the five metacarpal bones, which diverge at their further ex- 
 tremities, and give support to the bones of the thumb and fingers. 
 In the thumb, the first phalangeal bone is absent. There are 
 thus in the hand twenty-seven bones ; from the mechanism of 
 which result strength, mobility, and elasticity. 
 
 Lovers of system (I do not use the term disparagingly) de- 
 light to trace the gradual subtraction of the bones of the hand. 
 Thus, looking to the hand of man, they see the thumb fully 
 formed. In the monkeys (simise) they find it exceedingly small ; 
 in one of them, the spider-monkey (see page 13), it has almost 
 disappeared, and the four fingers are sufficient, with hardly the 
 rudiments of a thumb. In some of the tardigrade animals, as 
 we have seen (in page 20), there are only three metacarpal bones, 
 with three fingers. In the ox, the cannon-bone consists of two 
 coalesced metacarpal bones, and the double hoofs are supported 
 by the corresponding phalangeal bones. In the horse, the can- 
 non-bone is a single metacarpal bone, and the great pastern, 
 little pastern, and coffin or hoof bone, represent a single finger."^ 
 Indeed, we might go further and instance the wing of the bird. 
 To me, this appears to be losing the sense, in the love of system ; 
 there is no regular gradation, but, as I have often to repeat, a 
 variety, which most curiously adapts the same system of parts 
 to every necessary purpose. 
 
 * See Owen on the Nature of Limbs, p. 32, — (S.) 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 OF THE WRIST AND HAND. 
 
 59 
 
 In a comparative view of these bones, we are led more par- 
 ticularly to take notice of the foot of the horse. It is univer- 
 sally admitted to be of beautiful design, and calculated for 
 strength and elasticity, and especially provided against con- 
 cussion. 
 
 The bones of the fore-leg of the horse become firmer as we 
 trace them downwards. The two bones corresponding to those 
 " of the fore-arm, are braced together and consolidated ; and the 
 motion at the elbow-joint is limited to flexion and extension. 
 The carpus, forming what by a sort of licence is called the knee, 
 is also newly modelled ; but the metacarpal bones and phalanges 
 of the fingers are totally changed, and can hardly be recognised. 
 When we look in front, instead of the four metacarpal bones, 
 we see one strong bone, the cannon-bone ; and posterior to this, 
 we find two lesser bones, called splint-bones. 
 
 The heads of these lesser or splint-bones enter into the knee- 
 joint (or properly the wrist-joint); at their lower ends they 
 diminish gradually, and they are held by an elastic ligamentous 
 attachment to the sides of the cannon-bone. I have some hesi- 
 tation in admitting the correctness of the opinion held by vete- 
 rinary surgeons, on this curi- 
 ous piece of mechanism ; they 
 imagine that these moveable 
 splint-bones, by playing up 
 and down as the foot is alter- 
 nately raised and pressed to 
 the ground, bestow elasticity 
 and prevent concussion. The 
 fact certainly is that by over 
 action, the parts become in- 
 flamed, and these bones are 
 eventually united to the 
 greater metacarpal or cannon- 
 bone ; and that this, which 
 is called a splint, is a cause 
 of lameness. I suspect, 
 rather, that in the perfect 
 state of the joint, these 
 lesser metacarpal or splint-bones act as a spring, to assist in 
 throwing out the foot, when the knee-joint is bent, and the 
 
 Bones of Horse's Fore-leg. 
 
60 
 
 ACTIO!!?' OF THE SPLmT-BOITES. 
 
 Chap. IIL 
 
 extensor muscles begin to act. If we admit that it is on the 
 quickness of extension of the joint that the rate of motion must 
 principally depend, it will not escape observation, that in the 
 bent position of the knee, the extensor tendons, from running 
 near the centre of motion, have very little power; and that, in 
 fact, they require some additional means to aid the extension of 
 the leg. Suppose the head of the splint-bone (a) enters into 
 the composition of the joint, it does not appear that when the 
 leg is straight and the foot on the ground, the bones of the 
 carpus, sustained as they are by the cannon-bone, can descend 
 and press upon it, so as to bring its elasticity into action. But, 
 in the bent position of the knee, the head of the splint-bone 
 will come in contact with the carpal bones, behind the centre of 
 motion of the joint; and it is obvious, therefore, that, when the 
 foot is elevated and the knee bent, the splint bone will be de- 
 pressed, in opposition to its elastic connecting ligament ; so that, 
 as soon as the action of the flexor muscles ceases, it will recoil, 
 and thereby assist the extensor muscles in throwing out the leg 
 into the straight position. Further, we can readily believe that 
 when the elasticity of these splint-bones is lost, by ossification 
 
 uniting them firmly to 
 the cannon-bone, the 
 want of such a piece 
 of mechanism, essential 
 to the quick extension 
 of the foot, will cause 
 lameness, and make 
 the horse apt to come 
 down. 
 
 The mechanism of 
 the bones and tendons 
 of the extremities is 
 infinitely varied; and 
 we hardly ever discern 
 anything uncommon in 
 the outward configura- 
 tion of an animal, but 
 we find something new 
 The gait, or rather strut, of 
 
 Hock-joint of the Ostrich. 
 
 and appropriate in the anatomy. 
 
 the ostrich is peculiar; and it results from a very singular 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 OF THE HORSE'S FOOT. 
 
 61 
 
 mechanism, a spring joint, at the part corresponding with the 
 hock.* 
 
 Of the Horse's Foot.— On looking to the sketch (page 59), 
 and comparing it wdth that of the bones of the hand (page 55), 
 we see that in the horse's fore-leg, five bones of the first digital 
 row are represented by the large pastern-bone; those of the 
 second by the lesser pastern, or coronet ; and those of the last by 
 the coffin-bone. 
 
 For illustrating the general subject of our treatise, nothing is 
 better suited than the horse's foot : it is a most perfect piece of 
 mechanism. And whilst examining it, we are impressed with 
 the peculiarity of living mechanism, — that it can be preserved 
 perfect only by the natural exercise of its parts. The horse, 
 originally a native of extensive plains and steppes, has a struc- 
 ture admirably conformed to these his natural pasture-grounds. 
 But when brought into subjection, to run on hard roads, the 
 foot sufters from concussion. His value, so often impaired by 
 lameness, has made the structure of the horse's foot an object 
 of great interest ; and I have it froni the excellent professor of 
 veterinary surgery to say, that he has never demonstrated the 
 anatomy of this part without perceiving something new to 
 admire. 
 
 The weight and power of the animal require that both 
 strength and elasticity should be combined in his foot. Hence 
 the first thing that attracts attention is the position of the 
 bones. Had they been placed one directly over the other, 
 
 * The figures (p. 60) illustrate the 
 structure referred to. There is a 
 gentle rising of -the bone at A, hav- 
 ing a smooth lubricated surface, and 
 a groove in front and behind. In 
 the straight position, the lateral 
 ligament B is lodged in the deep 
 groove at the back of the tubercle ; 
 but as the leg is bent, the ligament 
 glides upon the tubercle, it becomes 
 more and more stretched till it 
 reaches the highest point of the 
 convexity, and then it slips, with a 
 jerk, into the shallower groove in 
 front : as the leg is extended, the 
 ligament is again stretclied on pass- 
 ing over the tubercle, and falls back, 
 with another jerk, into the groove 
 
 behind. This play of the ligament 
 over the tubercle, as over a double- 
 inclined plane, is accompanied, at 
 each sliding movement, Avith a sud- 
 den start of the joint, both in flexion 
 and extension ; and it is that which 
 gives rise to the peculiar strut of the 
 animal. The object of the structure 
 seems to be to knit or support the 
 joint, when the bird is resting on 
 the limb ; and also, in flexion of the 
 joint, to facilitate that great projec- 
 tion of the superior bone backwards, 
 as seen in fig. 2, by which additional 
 power is given to the muscle C, that 
 propels the bu-d in its course. See 
 Chapter IV. 
 
62 
 
 OF THE HORSE'S FOOT. 
 
 Chap. HI. 
 
 there could not have been elasticity; accordingly, they are 
 disposed obliquely, and a strong elastic ligament runs behind, 
 terminating by an attachment to the lowest or coffin-bone. So 
 essential is the obliquity of the bones to the elasticity of the 
 limb, that without mounting a horse, it is possible, by observ- 
 ing the direction of the pastern and coffin-bones, to say whether 
 he goes easily or not.* 
 
 The bones of the foot of the camel rest on a soft elastic 
 cushion. In the horse's foot, there is a structure of a similar 
 kind, but it acts very diflFerently, and never comes to the 
 ground ; nor, indeed, does the sole of the horse's foot directly 
 bear the weight. The horny frog, the triangular projection in 
 the hollow of the hoof, has placed above it an elastic frog or 
 cushion ; and inasmuch as these parts receive the weight of the 
 animal, and by their descent, when the foot is on the ground, 
 press out the crust or horny hoof, they are essential to the 
 structure of the foot. The anterior tip of this crust, or the part 
 of the hoof wliich last touches the ground as the foot rises, is 
 very dense and firm, to withstand the pressure and impulse 
 forward : the lateral parts, however, are elastic, and on their 
 play depends that resiliency of the foot wliich prevents con- 
 cussion. The crust is not consolidated with the bone called 
 coffin-bone; certain elastic laminae, growing from the bone 
 and dovetailed into the crust, are interposed between them. 
 When the animal puts his foot to the ground, the weight bears 
 on the coffin-bone, and from its being attached to the circle of 
 the crust by these elastic laminae, the lateral parts yield, and 
 the weight is directed on the margins of the crust; the sole 
 never touching the ground, unless it has become diseased. 
 
 Xenophon, speaking of the Persian horses, says that their 
 grooms were careful to curry them on a pavement of round 
 stones, that by beating their feet against a firm and irregular 
 surface, the texture of the foot might be put into exercise. It 
 corresponds curiously with this, that our high-bred horses are 
 
 * The arched form of the bones, 
 at the fetlock, with their convexity 
 backwards, and the distinctness of 
 the elastic ligament and tendons be- 
 hind the cannon-bone, can be per- 
 ceived by the eye and the hand, and 
 constitute one of the "points" of a 
 
 horse. Such is the correspondence 
 between the strength of an animal's 
 bones, tendons, and muscles, that 
 from these sinews the jockey can 
 infer the perfection or defect of the 
 whole. 
 
Chap. III. OF THE HORSE'S FOOT. 63 
 
 subject to a disease of the foot, from which the powerful 
 draught and Flanders horses are exempt. The heavy horse, 
 with less blood than the race horse, lifts its foot in a circle, 
 and comes forcibly on the ground : whilst the horse for the 
 turf, being light, moves with the foot close to the ground ; no 
 time is lost in lifting it high in the semicircle; the consequence 
 of which is, that from the foot coming thus gently down, it 
 wants the full play of the apparatus. Hence it may be under- 
 stood how the lighter horse is subject to contractions of the 
 foot ; the bones, ligaments, and crust being out of use, the sole 
 becomes firm as a board, the sides of the crust are permanently 
 contracted, the parts have no longer their elastic play, and the 
 foot striking on hard pavement suffers a shock or concussion ; 
 then comes " a fever of the foot," which is inflammation, and 
 that may go on to the total destruction of the fine apparatus. 
 The proof of all this is, that unless the inflammation has 
 advanced too far, by paring and softening the exterior of the 
 hoof, so as to restore its elasticity, the veterinary surgeon may 
 cure this contracte'd foot. 
 
 That a relation should exist between the internal structure of 
 the foot and its covering, whether it be nail, or cloven hoof, or 
 crust, we can hardly doubt : and an unexpected proof offers 
 itself in the horse. Some rare instances are recorded of the 
 foot of the horse having digital extremities. According to 
 Suetonius, there was such an animal in the stables of Caesar ; 
 another was in the possession of Leo X.; and Geoffroy St 
 Hilaire states that he saw a horse with three toes on each of 
 the fore-feet, and four on the hind.* In all these, the toes had 
 nails, not hoofs. By such examples of deviation from the 
 natural structure, it is made to appear stUl more distinctly, 
 that a relation is established between the internal configuration 
 of the fingers or toes and their coverings, — that when there are 
 five complete, as in man, they are provided with perfect nails, — 
 when the number is two, as in the cleft foot of the ruminant, 
 there are appropriate horny coverings, — and when the bones are 
 reduced to form one, as in the horse, couagga, zebra, and ass, 
 there is a hoof or crust. 
 
 In ruminants, there is the cannon-bone ; but they have the 
 
 * Such a horse was not long since exhibited in Town, and at New- 
 market. 
 
64 
 
 THE FOOT OF RUMINANTS. 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 foot split into two parts, and that must add to the spring or 
 elasticity. I am inclined to think that still another intention 
 is manifest in this form of the foot : it first prevents it from 
 sinking into soft ground, and then permits it to be more easily 
 withdrawn. We may observe how much more easily the cow 
 liberates her foot from the yielding margin of a river, than the 
 horse; the solid, round, and concave foot of the horse is re- 
 sisted, as it is withdrawn, by a vacuum or suction ; while the 
 split and conically-shaped hoof of the cow expands in sinking, 
 and is easily extricated. 
 
 In the foot of the chamois, and other species of the deer 
 tribe, there are two additional toes. These sketches show that 
 
 Foot of Antelope. 
 
 Foot of Reindeer. 
 
 the metacarpal bones, (which in the horse are connected as 
 splint-bones with the joint called the " knee,") are here brought 
 down near to the foot, and that each has its two pasterns, and 
 coffin or ungual bone. The toes are braced by ligaments, 
 which give great elasticity, as well as power of expansion, to 
 
Chap. III. CONTRAST OF ELEPHANT AIJ^D CAMEL. 65 
 
 the foot ; and as a division of tlie flexor tendon runs to each, 
 the spring must be increased as the animal starts from its 
 crouching posture. 
 
 The two lateral toes of the hog are short, and do not touch 
 the ground, yet they must serve to sustain the animal when 
 the foot sinks. In the rein-deer, (fig. p. 64,) these toes are 
 strong and thick, and by projecting backwards, expand the 
 foot horizontally — thus giving the animal a broader base on 
 which to stand, and, on the principle of the snow-shoe, adapting 
 it to the snows of Lapland. These changes in the size, number, 
 and place of the metacarpal and phalangeal bones, the sys- 
 tematic naturalist will call " gradations ; " I see only new proofs 
 of adaptation, — of the same system of bones being applicable 
 to every circumstance or condition of animals. 
 
 I have explained why the bones of the elephant's leg should 
 stand so perpendicularly over each other; but there is also a 
 peculiarity of structure in the bones of its foot. In the living 
 animal, we see only a round pliant mass as a foot, resembling 
 the base of a pillar, or that of the trunk of a stately tree. But 
 when we examine the bones, we find the carpus, metacarpus, 
 and phalanges applied to a very different use from what we 
 have hitherto noticed ; they are not connected with a moveable 
 radius, and have no individual motion, as in the carnivorous 
 animal — they serve merely to expand the foot, and give to the 
 broad base of the column a certain elasticity. 
 
 In the sketch (page 40) I have placed the bones of the anterior 
 extremity of the camel in contrast with those of the elephant. The 
 camel's foot having no such disproportionate weight to bear as 
 that of the elephant, lightness of motion is secured by the oblique 
 direction of its bones, as well as by the position of the bones of 
 the shoulder, which we have already noticed. But there is 
 much to admire besides in the foot of the camel ; although the 
 bottom be flat and hard, like the sole of a shoe, yet, between the 
 tendons and the horny sole, a cushion is interposed, so soft and 
 elastic that the animal treads with the greatest lightness and 
 security. 
 
 The resemblance of the foot of the ostrich to that of the 
 camel has not escaped naturalists. In the bird, the same soft- 
 ness and pliancy of the sole are provided for by means resem- 
 bling those in the quadruped, but by another adaptation of the 
 
66 
 
 CLAWS OF CANINE AND FELINE TETBES. Chap. Ill, 
 
 frog or elastic pad.* We also have our pads; the best, though 
 not the only, example of which is in the heel. The elastic struo- 
 
 Sole of the Ostrich's Foot. 
 
 ture interposed between the bone of the heel and the integu- 
 ment, is neither ligamentous, nor cartilaginous, nor fatty, but a 
 happy union of all ; elastic fibres are so interwoven with the 
 softer matter, that the cushion gradually yields to our weight, 
 and rises as we step. 
 
 Attending still to the last bones of the fingers, let me point 
 out once more how much may be accomplished, in bodying 
 forth the whole animal, by the study of one of these bones. I 
 aUude to the dissertations of the President Jefi'erson and of 
 Baron Cuvier, on the Megalonix. I must previously make some 
 remarks on the mechanism of the claws in the lion. 
 
 Animals of the canine tribe, like those of the feline, are carni- 
 vorous, and both have the last bones of their toes armed with 
 nails or claws. But their habits and means of obtaining food 
 differ. The canine combine a keen sense of smelHng with the 
 power of continued speed ; they run down their prey : the feline 
 owe their superiority to the fineness of their sight, accompanied 
 by patience, watchfulness, and stealthy movement ; they spring 
 upon their prey, and never long pursue it ; they attain their 
 object in a few bounds, and, failing, sulkily resume their watch. 
 When we look to the claws, we see a correspondence with those 
 habits. The claws of the dog and wolf are coarse and strong, 
 and bear the pressure and friction incident to a long chase ; they 
 are calculated to sustain and protect the foot. But the tiger 
 
 * A, the frog or elastic pad in the I of a brush, and forming an adhesive 
 ostrich's foot. B, processes from the | and elastic sole, 
 horn or cuticle, disposed like the hair [ 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 THE LION'S CLAW. 
 
 67 
 
 leaps on his prey, and fastens his sharp and crooked claws in 
 the flesh. Now, we must admire the mechanism by which they 
 are preserved thus curved and sharp at their points. The last 
 bone, that which supports the claw, is placed laterally to the 
 next bone, and 
 is so articulated 
 with it that an 
 elastic ligament 
 (a) draws it back 
 and to one side, 
 and thus raises 
 the sharp extre- 
 mity of the claw 
 upwards, and 
 preserves it in 
 that position. 
 Whilst, there- 
 fore, the claw is 
 retracted as into 
 
 a sheath between the toes, the nearer extremity of the furthest 
 bone presses the ground, in the ordinary running of the animal. 
 But when he makes his spring and strikes, the claws are uncased 
 by the action of the flexor tendons ; and in the Bengal tiger, 
 they are so sharp and strong, and the stroke of his paw is so 
 powerful, that they have been known to fracture a man's skull 
 by a touch, in the act of leaping over him.* 
 
 Apparatus of Lion's Claw. 
 
 * The pads in the bottom of the 
 lion's foot are soft cushions, which 
 add to its elasticity, and must, in 
 some degree, defend the animal in 
 ahghting from his bound. I could 
 not comprehend how the powerful 
 flexor muscles did not unsheath the 
 claws whenever the lion made his 
 spring, and only did so when he was 
 excited to seize and hold the prey ; 
 to detect the cause, 1 made the dis- 
 section from which the sketch has 
 been taken. The last bone of the 
 toe, from being drawn back by the 
 elastic ligainent (a) beyond the cen- 
 tre of motion of the last joint, is 
 placed in so peculiar a relation to the 
 penultimate bone, that when the 
 
 animal uses his foot in mere progres- 
 sion, the flexor tendon (b), although 
 inserted into it, only acts in forcing 
 the nearer end, and the cushion of 
 the toe, to the ground. But when 
 the lion strikes his prey to seize it, 
 a more general excitement takes 
 place in the muscles called interossei 
 and extensors (d, e) ; the relative 
 position of the two last bones is 
 altered; the nearer end of the last 
 bone is withdrawn from beyond the 
 centre of motion of the joint, so that 
 the action of the flexor tendon can 
 now draw it forward or in a line 
 with the penultimate bone, — and 
 then the claw can be unsheathed, 
 and prepared to hold or to tear. 
 
68 PEESIDEISTT JEFFERSON AND CUYIER, Chap. TIL 
 
 To proceed to the observation of President Jefferson on the 
 Megalonix. Having found a bone whicli, by its articulating 
 surface and general form, he recognised to be one of the finger 
 bones of an animal of great size, he thought he had discovered 
 that it must have carried a claw; and from that circumstance, 
 again, he naturally enough concluded (on the principle — ex 
 ungue leonem) that it belonged to a carnivorous animal. He 
 next set about calculating the length of the supposed carnivo- 
 rous claw, and from that to estimating the dimensions of the 
 animal ; and he satisfied himself that in this bone, a relic of the 
 ancient world, he had obtained proof of the existence, during 
 these olden times, of a lion of the height of the largest ox, and 
 an opponent fit to cope with the mastodon. 
 
 But when the same bone came under the scrutiny of Baron 
 Cuvier, his perfect knowledge of anatomy enabled him to draw 
 a different conclusion. He first observed that in the middle of 
 
 Toe-Bones of Megalonix. 
 
 the articulating surface there was a spine; in that respect it 
 differed from the analogous bone in the feline tribe. He found 
 no provision for the lateral attachment to the next bone ; which 
 we have just shown is necessary for the retraction of the claw. 
 Then observing the segment of the circle which the bone de- 
 scribed, he prolonged the line, and showed that the supposed 
 claw must have been of such great length, that it could never 
 have been retracted for the protection of its acute and curved 
 point ; and it would not have permitted the animal to put its 
 foot to the ground. Pursuing the comparison, he rejected the 
 idea of the bone belonging to an animal of the feline tribe at 
 alL His attention was directed to another order of animals, 
 the sloths, which are characterised by having long nails affixed 
 to their toes. But in the sloth (p. 20) the nails are folded up 
 in a different fashion from the claws of the lion; they just allow 
 
Chap. III. THE MEGATHEEIUM. 69 
 
 the animal to walk, slowly and awkwardly, as if we were to fold 
 our fingers on the palm of the hand, and bear upon our knuckles. 
 On instituting a more just comparison, therefore, between this 
 bone of the ancient animal and the corresponding bones of the 
 sloth, Cuvier has satisfied us that the supposed enormous lion 
 of the American President was an animal which scratched the 
 ground, and fed on roots. 
 
 One experiences something like relief to find that there never 
 existed such a huge carnivorous animal as that denominated 
 megalonix. 
 
 These ungual bones, or bones of the claws, exhibit a remark- 
 able correspondence with the habits and general forms of ani- 
 mals. Besides what we have seen in the lion or tiger, in the 
 dog or wolf, in the bear and ant-eater, there is a variety, where 
 we should least expect it, in those animals that live in woods, 
 and climb the branches of trees. The squirrel, having his claws 
 set both ways, runs with equal facility up and down the bole, 
 and nestles in the angles of the branches of trees. The monkey 
 leaps, and swings himself from branch to branch, and in spring- 
 ing, parts from his hold by the hinder extremities, before he 
 reaches another branch with the anterior extremities ; he leaps 
 the intervening space, and catches with singular precision. But 
 the sloths do not grasp ; their fingers are like hooks, and their 
 strength is in their arms ; they do not hold, but hang suspended 
 to the branch ; they never let go with one set of hooks, until 
 they have caught with the other; and thus they move along 
 the branch, using both hind and fore feet over head, whilst their 
 bodies are pendant. Here we see, once more, how the form of 
 the extremities, the concentration of strength, and the habits 
 of these animals, correspond not merely to their haunts in the 
 forest, but to their mode of moving and living among the 
 branches ; all active, but in different manners. 
 
 Of late there have been deposited in our Museum in the 
 College of Surgeons, the bones of an animal of great size; the 
 examination of which affords an opportunity of applying the 
 principles and mode of investigation followed by our great 
 authority in this part of science. These remains consist of part 
 of the head, spine, tail, pelvis; and the bones of one hinder ex- 
 tremity, and the scapula. Estimating the height of the anima] 
 to which they belonged at seven feet, it scarcely conveys an 
 
70 THE MEGATHERIUM. Chap. HI. 
 
 adequate idea of its dimensions; for the thigh-bone is three 
 times the diameter of that of the large elephant, in the same 
 collection, and the pelvis or haunch-bone twice the breadth. 
 If we form our opinion of its configuration on those principles 
 to which we have had repeated occasion to refer, and judge of 
 its strength by the size and prominence of the processes of 
 these bones, we must conclude that the animal possessed extra- 
 ordinary muscular power; and, directed by the same circum- 
 stances, we may obtain an idea of the manner in which that 
 muscular power was employed. 
 
 On comparing these bones with drawings of the skeleton of 
 the enormous animal preserved in the Royal Museum of Madrid, 
 w^e see at once that they are parts of the remains of the great 
 fossil quadruped of Paragua}^, the Megatherium of Cuvier. 
 And every observation of the form of the bones of the foot, the 
 scapula, and the teeth, confirms the opinion which he enter- 
 tained, that it was a vegetable feeder, and that its great 
 strength was employed in flinging up the soil and digging for 
 roots. Corresponding to the provisions in the bones of its feet 
 for sustaining enormous nails or claws, its immense muscular 
 power seems to have been concentrated in its paws. I have 
 heard it surmised that the animal may have sat upon its hinder 
 extremities, and pulled down the branches of trees to itself, to 
 feed upon them. It is only the great weight of its hind quarters 
 that can countenance such an idea. We have not the humerus 
 to declare, by the prominence and situation of its processes, 
 which class of muscles of the arm were the most powerful; but 
 as the scapula has the impression of a clavicle upon its acro- 
 mion process, that enables us to form some conception of the 
 extent of motion enjoyed by the anterior extremity; and from 
 possessing the greater part of the pelvis, and the enormous 
 bones of the posterior extremity, we can estimate the height, 
 breadth, and strength of the whole animal. In short, judging 
 from the bones that have been procured, we perceive that the 
 muscular power of the Megatherium did not reside so much in 
 the body (certainly not in the jaws) as in the extremities, and 
 especially in the posterior extremities; and that its strength 
 was given neither for rapidity of motion, nor for offence, but 
 for digging. 
 
 How little was it to be expected that an alliance between a 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 BONES IN THE CETACEA. 
 
 71 
 
 or 
 
 part of anatomy so little valued as that of the bones, and 
 mineralogy, should give rise to a new science !— that a depart- 
 ment of natural history formerly pursued idly, vaguely, and 
 somewhat fancifully, should henceforth, when thus associated 
 with anatomy, be studied philosophically and inductively ! It 
 is both interesting and instructive to find relations thus estab- 
 lished between branches of knowledge apparently so remotely 
 connected. 
 
 In the true Amphibia, as the phoca (seal) and morse 
 walrus (sea-horse), 
 the feet are con- 
 tracted, and almost 
 enveloped in skin, 
 the toes being web- 
 bed and converted 
 into fins. We have 
 sketched here the 
 bones of the paddle 
 of the walrus; and 
 they are remark- 
 ably complete, con- 
 sidering the pecu- 
 liar appearance of 
 the feet in the liv- 
 ing animal. The 
 bones are accom- 
 modated to form 
 an instrument for swimming; for these animals live in the 
 water; they come to land only to suckle their young, or to bask 
 in the sun ; out of the water, they are the most unwieldy and 
 helpless of all animals which breathe. 
 
 In the Cetacea — for example, the whales and dolphins— we 
 see mammalia unprovided with hind feet. The scapula is large, 
 the humerus very short, and the bones of the fore-arm and 
 hand flattened and confined in membranes, which convert the 
 anterior extremity into a fin. These animals, residing in the 
 water, must rise to the surface to breathe. I need not say that 
 in the dolphin (small bottle-nose whale) we recognise the bones 
 of the anterior extremity, only a little further removed from 
 the forms which we have been hitherto contemplating. The 
 
 Part of Skeleton of Walrus. 
 
72 
 
 THE ICHTHYOSAURUS 
 
 Chap. HI. 
 
 seal and morse raise themselves out of the sea, 
 and bask on the rocks : but the different species 
 of dolphin continue always in the water ; the 
 extremity is now a fin or an oar ; and those 
 who have seen the porpoise, or pelloch, (Scotice,) 
 in a stormy sea, must acknowledge how complete 
 is the apparatus through which they enjoy their 
 element. 
 
 The last examples I select shall be from relics of 
 the ancient world."'^ These figures are taken from 
 specimens, in the Museum of the College of Sur- 
 geons, of fossil animals of singular structure, be- 
 tween the crocodile and fish, — the ichthyosaurus 
 Bones of Paddle and plesiosaurus. The skeletons are imbedded 
 o p 111- ^^ ^ calcareous rock ; and are entire, but crushed, 
 and a good deal disfigured. Here are only the extremities, or 
 
 paddles, consisting of a 
 
 , ^^-«^=s^-s. multitude of bones arti- 
 
 '^'"""■' ^ fff \ culated together : but 
 
 among these we still 
 ' ' \ 'J / • recognise the humerus, 
 
 radius, and ulna, and 
 
 * The figaire to the left is 
 the anterior extremity of the 
 Plesiosauriis ; to the right, 
 that of the Ichthyosaurus. 
 In these paddles, we see the 
 intermediate changes from 
 the foot of animals to the 
 fin of the fish — modifica- 
 tions of the fins of the wal- 
 rus, dolphin, or turtle. "We 
 no longer discern the pha- 
 langes, or attempt to count 
 the bones ; they become ir- 
 regular polygons or trape- 
 zoids — less like phalangeal 
 bones than the radii of the 
 fins of a fish. In fishes, the 
 anterior extremity is recog- 
 nised in the thoracic fin ; 
 and we may even discover 
 the prototypes of the sca- 
 pula and the bones of the 
 arm connected with that 
 fin. 
 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 AND PLESTOSAURUS. 
 
 73 
 
 bones of the carpus and fingers. No fault is to be found with 
 the construction of these instruments ; the ichthyosaurus and 
 plesiosaurus inhabited seas or estuaries, and the structure of tlieir 
 paddles is suited to their ofi&ces ; no bone is superfluous, mis- 
 placed, or imperfect. It is in the lias deposit that their remains 
 are found most abundantly. Since they existed, great changes 
 have been wrought on the land and in the deep, and in the 
 inhabitants of both ; and the races of animals, the structure 
 of whose extremities we have hitherto been engaged in ex- 
 amining, were not then in being. Wlien we discover, therefore, 
 in animals of the old world, that their skeletons'^ were formed 
 
 Plesiosaurus. 
 
 Ichthyosaurus. 
 
 of the same series of bones which compose those of animals 
 now alive, we must admit the existence and the progressive 
 development of a uniform system of bones, extending through 
 a period of time incalculably remote, even if, instead of days 
 and years referable to history, each day were as a thousand 
 years. 
 
 I have now given, I hope, a sufficient number of examples of 
 the changes in the bones of the anterior extremity, which suit 
 them to every possible variety of use. After attending a little 
 
 * The woodcuts on this page give [ sanrus, as restored by the Eev. Mr 
 some idea of the forais of the skele- Conybeare. 
 tons of the ichthyosaurus and plesio- | 
 
74 
 
 PECULIARITIES 11^ THE HAND. 
 
 Chap. III. 
 
 more to tlie form of the bones of tlie human hand, I shall take 
 
 up another division of my subject. 
 
 In this sketch, we have the bones of the paw of the adult 
 
 Cliimpanzee, from Borneo ; and the remarkable peculiarity that 
 distinguishes it from the human hand, is the 
 smallness of the thumb ; it extends no fur- 
 ther than to the root of the fingers. Now, 
 it is upon the length, strength, free lateral 
 motion, and perfect mobility of the thumb, 
 that the superiority of the human hand de- 
 pends. The thumb is called loollex^ because 
 of its strength; and that strength, being 
 equal to that of all the fingers, is necessary 
 to the perfection of the hand. Without the 
 fleshy ball of the thumb, the power of the 
 fingers would avail nothing; and accord- 
 ingly the large ball formed by the muscles 
 of the thumb is the distinguishing character 
 of the human hand, and especially of that 
 of an expert workman."^ 
 
 The loss of the thumb amounts almost to 
 the loss of the hand ; and were it to happen 
 in both hands, it would reduce a man to a 
 miserable dependence : or as Adoni-bezek 
 said of the threescore and ten kings, the 
 thumbs of whose hands and of whose feet 
 Bones of j^e had cut oflf, " they gather their meat under 
 
 Chimpanzee s Paw. t i , , . 
 
 my table, f 
 In a French book, intended to teach young people philo- 
 sophy, the pupil asks why the fingers are not of equal length % 
 The form of the question reminds us of the difficulty of putting 
 
 * Albimis characterises the thumb 
 as the lesser hand, the assistant of 
 the greater — " manus parva, majori 
 adjutrix" ' ' L'animal superieur est 
 dans la main ; I'homme dans la 
 pouce. " — VApertigny. 
 
 "The 'great toe' is more pecu- 
 liarly characteristic of the genus 
 Homo than even its homotype, the 
 thumb ; for the Monkey has a kind 
 of pollex on the hand, but no brute 
 
 mammal presents that development 
 of the hallux, (gi-eat toe,) on which 
 the erect posture and gait of man 
 mainly depend." — Owen on LimbSj 
 p. 37.— (S.) 
 
 + "Poltroon — poUice truncato, 
 from the thumb cut off; it being 
 once a practice of cowards to cut off 
 their thumbs, that they might not 
 be compelled to serve in war." — 
 Johnson's Dictionary, 
 
Chap. III. GEOLOGY— COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 75 
 
 them naturally — the fault of books of dialogue. However, the 
 master makes the scholar grasp a ball of ivory, to show him 
 that the points of the fingers are then equal : it would have 
 been better had he closed the fingers upon the palm, and then 
 asked whether or not they corresponded. This difference in the 
 length of the fingers serves a thousand ends, adapting the form 
 of the hand and fingers for different purposes, as for holding a 
 rod, a switch, a sword, a hammer, a pen or pencil, engraving tool, 
 &c., in all which a secure hold and freedom of motion are ad- 
 mirably combined. But we must defer this subject until we 
 have shown the application of the muscles to the bones, and 
 the structure of the ends of the fingers appropriated to bestow 
 feeling. 
 
 What says Eay ? — " Some animals have horns, some have 
 hoofs, some teeth, some talons, some claws, some spurs and 
 beaks : man hath none of all these, but is weak and feeble, and 
 sent unarmed into the world — Why, a hand, with reason to use 
 it, supplies the use of all these." 
 
 Before leaving this part of our subject, let us mark the im- 
 portance to the science of Geology of these comparative views 
 of anatomy. It has been ingeniously and quaintly said, that 
 the organised remains imbedded in the rocks, are as medals 
 struck in commemoration of those great revolutions which the 
 earth's surface has undergone. Every one must have seen that 
 the crust of the earth is formed in strata or layers : and a very 
 slight consideration leads also to the belief, that this surface, 
 besides having successive deposits or formations laid upon it, 
 has been subject to great convulsions. Each of these layers is, 
 to a certain degree, distinct in the chemical or physical cha- 
 racter of its inorganic constituents ; but it is chiefly identified 
 by the nature of the animal remains which are buried in it. 
 
 Of these strata, some are distinguished by containing the 
 bones of large animals. Now, it is by attending to the forms 
 and processes of such bones, that by far the most interesting 
 conclusions, in the whole range of this new science, are drawn. 
 A very short account of the successive deposits, forming the 
 different strata, will serve to illustrate the importance to the 
 geologist of the anatomy of animals which possess the true 
 bony skeleton. The last grand revolutions have resulted in 
 
76 GEOLOGY mDEBTED TO Chap. III. 
 
 forming a surface to the earth, in which strata of every variety 
 of condition have been exposed. And, indeed, we might say 
 that such exposure, by laying open the riches of the earth to 
 our reach, as well as furnishing mixed soils for vegetation, has 
 been the end of these convulsions. At all events, the variety 
 of objects disclosed on the surface excites the interest of the 
 inquirer. We will, therefore, recapitulate briefly what has been 
 discovered by the investigations of scientific and ingenious men 
 in our time. 
 
 Without hazarding conjectures on the elevation or produc- 
 tion of the "primitive rocks," we have at present only to notice 
 the stratifications superimposed. Of these, the most striking, 
 and the most difficult to reconcile to theory, are the strata of 
 coal : but we pass over them as containing no animal remains 
 in which the knowledge of the anatomy of the vertebrata can 
 be of use. Knowing that these beds of coal are vegetable pro- 
 ductions, we might expect to find the remains of terrestrial 
 animals v/ithin them : but it is conjectured that the land, 
 where the trees of that period grew, did not form a suitable 
 habitation for animals corresponding to those of the present 
 epoch. Above the beds of coal are the strata, regular and well 
 ascertained, which are chiefly interesting as indicating the 
 presence of the coal beneath. The next remarkable stratifica- 
 tions come to be connected with our subject; because they 
 contain the remains of gigantic animals, with a regular skele- 
 ton, on the system of the vertebrata.* 
 
 Some of the great reptiles here alluded to are estimated to 
 have been eighty feet in length, f But although their skeletons 
 were formed on the plan, if we may so express it, of quadru- 
 
 tile, first discovered by Mr Mantell 
 in the "Wealden beds, in Sussex, is 
 computed to have been seventy or 
 eighty feet in its entire length, its 
 tail being fifty feet, its height nine 
 feet, its hind foot six feet and a half, 
 and its body about the same thick- 
 ness as the elephant's. The Hylaeo- 
 sa.urus, the last discovered of these 
 huge animals in the same beds, and 
 supposed by Mr Mantell to have 
 been a reptile intermediate between 
 the crocodiles and the lizards, is esti- 
 mated to have been about thirty feet 
 in length. See the Appendix. 
 
 * Since the above was written, re- 
 mains of fishes, the lowest order of 
 vertebrata, have been found in the 
 Silurian beds, below the coal: and 
 both fishes and reptiles, although 
 but a few of the latter, in the coal 
 itself. It remains true that reptiles, 
 the next above fishes, are most abun- 
 dant in the secondary strata, refer- 
 red to in the text. — (S.) 
 
 f The Megalosaurus, discovered 
 by Professor Buckland in Oxford- 
 Bhire, is supposed to have been about 
 seventy feet in length. The Iguano- 
 pon, an herbivorous masticating rep- 
 
Chap. III. COMPAKATIVE ANATOMY. 77 
 
 peds, the extremities' in many -were more Kke paddles than 
 feet : and we conclude that they were capable of dragging their 
 huge bulk on the land, only because their structure proves them 
 to have been oviparous, and to have breathed the atmosphere. 
 Some had a conformation of extremities resembling that of 
 recent oviparous quadrupeds, for enabling them to walk or 
 crawl on slimy ground; and judging by the habits of these, as 
 of the crocodile, gavial, alligator, and cayman, certain species 
 of which existed among them, it is probable that they lived in 
 still water, with muddy bottom, retreating under the mud, and 
 projecting their snouts between the aquatic plants to breathe. 
 And they must have been prolific to an extraordinary degree, 
 as they had not for enemies the vulture and the ichneumon, 
 which destroy multitudes of the eggs of these creatures of the 
 present day. Others had the skin extended on their anterior 
 extremities,"^ if not to provide a power of flight, at least to 
 allow them to drop in safety from elevations to which they 
 might have crept. 
 
 The stratified rocks which contain remains of these reptiles 
 are composed of lime, clay, or sandstone, and are known under 
 the denominations of lias, oolite, Wealden or Sussex beds. 
 Stones-field slate, &c. They are visible in the south of Eng- 
 land, and extend to many parts of Europe. There is every ap- 
 pearance of these deposits having been submerged and deeply 
 buried in the ocean, from which thick beds of chalk have been 
 deposited over them. Above the chalk, again, is to be found a 
 series of stratified rocks, implying a new condition. 
 
 The lowest layer of this " tertiary formation " situated above 
 the chalk, is sometimes called the deposit of the Paleeotherian 
 period. In this division, animals of a distinct creation, the 
 species of which cannot be identified with those imbedded in 
 the strata under the chalk, are found. Then, for the first time, 
 was there a condition of the earth suited for terrestrial animals, 
 which retire under the shade of woods and give suck, — ^the 
 mammalia. Yet it is remarkable, that the animals of the class 
 mammalia in this lowest stratification of the tertiary formation, 
 only approached in resemblance to those which are now alive : 
 we find the remains of such only as are now extinct. 
 
 When the layers forming the tertiary beds are examined in 
 
 * The Pterodactyles, see page 53. 
 
78 
 
 GEOLOGY INDEBTED TO 
 
 Chap. 111. 
 
 succession upwards, they are still distinguishable by their 
 organic products : and as we approach the most recent beds, 
 there are fewer remains of extinct quadrupeds, and more nu- 
 merous specimens of such as now inhabit the earth. We find, 
 in the different strata, the bones of the mammoth, the megathe- 
 rium, the elephant, the tapir, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, 
 the stag, the ox, the horse, and with them the skeletons of their 
 natural enemies of the feline tribe, and the bear and the hyaena, 
 the bones of some of which prove them to have been of greater 
 strength and size than those now alive.* 
 
 Over the earth's surface, there are evidences that deluges have 
 swept with inconceivable power, brushing off the superficial 
 strata, rolling immense rocks, and depositing the debris, so as 
 to fill chasms, form new accumulations, and with successive 
 elevations and subsidences, to change the whole character of 
 the earth's surface. It was then that the globe assumed its 
 present confines of land and sea, and that the valleys and the 
 courses of rivers were determined. Out of these convulsions 
 and revolutions has come that condition of the world which we 
 now enjoy; and, as I shall have occasion to repeat, no previous 
 state of the earth would have been suitable to our constitution.t 
 
 My admiration of the labours of our geologists partakes of a 
 feeling of gratitude. But yet there is something in the subject 
 which leads the devoted student to be over ambitious, and to 
 frame theories almost too comprehensive. It is not enough to say 
 that, after all, the changes on the earth's surface are not greater, 
 in comparison with the size of the earth, than the cracks in the 
 varnish are to the globe that stands on the table. It has been 
 
 * See Sir C. Ly ell's works, for his 
 Classification of the Tertiary For- 
 mations. 
 
 + When doctrines or principles are 
 laid down dogmatically, there is an 
 end of reasoning ; "they are as fet- 
 ters on the feet, and like manacles 
 on the right hand." In this way, 
 the most famous scliools have sunk ; 
 for if it become a crime to doubt or 
 investigate, the mind decays. When 
 God informed us of our duties to 
 Himself and to each other, the exer- 
 cise of our affections was enjoined 
 and left free. To have taught man- 
 kind the nature of physical things, 
 
 would have made it the duty of the 
 pious to seek no further knowledge, 
 and researclies into them would have 
 implied presumption. But by the 
 constitution of the mind, we learn 
 that had we been left in a state of 
 passive obedience, without object or 
 impulse, the loss of the affections as 
 well as of reason would have fol- 
 lowed ; our sense of goodness and 
 benevolence Avould have become ob- 
 tuse, and the cliarities of life and the 
 love and duty we owe to God must 
 have decayed in lis. 
 
 Why, then, do geologists quote 
 Scripture, and form their opinions 
 
Chap. III. 
 
 COMPAEATIVE ANATOMY. 
 
 79 
 
 part of our object to show that the features of our earth, and 
 the phenomena around us, are suited and intended to excite 
 the faculties and imagination. Accordingly, when the geologist, 
 extending his survey from the mountains, over extensive plains, 
 and into ravines and valleys, persuades himself that he can ex- 
 plain when and how they have been formed, he is tempted to 
 indulge in an enthusiasm which can only be permitted to the 
 poet. 
 
 Wonderful improvements have, indeed, been made in this 
 science by our countrymen who have associated themselves for 
 that purpose. Buckland, Conybeare, and Mantell, are especially 
 distinguished for the discovery of those large Saurian reptiles ; 
 whilst other geologists have exerted their genius and industry 
 with equal effect in different departments. But it is in con- 
 templating the labours of Cuvier, that we have the earliest and 
 best proofs of the importance of comparative anatomy, in giving 
 extraordinary interest to geology. In him was combined an 
 attention to minute objects, with a power of generalising, highly 
 characteristic of genius. Years had been passed in accumulat- 
 ing fossil specimens from the tertiary beds round Paris ; and 
 out of these heaps of animal remains, which lay confused as if 
 the fragments of bone had been washed to his feet by a torrent, 
 he was enabled, by following the principle which the early part 
 of this chapter has shown to prevail — the co-relation of the 
 parts of the skeleton — to put together the separate members, to 
 build up the bodies of extinct animals anew, and to present 
 them to us with a precision which we could only have expected 
 from the dissection of the recent animals. 
 
 of the structure of the earth on the 
 Mosaic account of the Creation ? It 
 does not require deep theological 
 knowledge to comprehend what was 
 intended by that sublime announce- 
 ment. It was addressed to a people 
 ever prone to fall into the idolatries 
 of surrounding nations. In teaching 
 the Creation of the world, it affirmed 
 the existence of One God pre-exist- 
 ing and eternal. It denied the ex- 
 istence of gods and demons sprung 
 from the earth : it denied that the 
 Deluge was one of a necessary suc- 
 cession of events : or that the earth 
 was subject to be successively de- 
 
 stroyed or restored : or that those 
 who flourished to the advantage of 
 mankind in one period, should be re- 
 stored to a similar existence in an- 
 other. It taught the just relations 
 of the heavenly bodies to the earth, 
 and that they were not the abodes 
 of deified mortals — for these were 
 opinions maintained by the surround- 
 ing nations. Surely, then, men are 
 inconsistent, when they expect to 
 find in the Scriptures, which teach 
 the unalterable religious and moral 
 duties, the principles of an uncer- 
 tain science. 
 
80 GEOLOGY— COMPAEATIVE ANATOMY. Chap. III. 
 
 The plienomena visible in the heavens, on the earth, and 
 within it, are of a nature, taken by themselves, to overwhelm 
 the inquirer's mind. To learn his own value, man must con- 
 sider himself, his physical endowments and capacities, and com- 
 pare them with the elements around. Without a true conception 
 of his position and relations, the whole range of natural science 
 is barren of consolation ; the periods of the revolution are too 
 vast, the objects too distant, to seem to have as their prospec- 
 tive design the condition of the human race. 
 
 "God made the country;" and it is perhaps in surveying 
 plains, and meads, and mountains, remote from man, that the 
 mind is most elevated to pure and high contemplations. But 
 cities, temples, and the memorials of past ages, bridges, aque- 
 ducts, statues, pictures, and all the elegancies and comforts of 
 the town, are equally the work of God, through the propensities 
 of His creatures, and, we must presume, for the fulfilment of 
 His design. The condition of the earth has by successive 
 revolutions been made to conform to these works of man, and 
 afford the means for them. The metallic veins of the primitive 
 rocks have been exposed; the carboniferous strata, the lime 
 and freestone, have been disjointed and elevated : the riches of 
 the interior of the earth as well as of its prolific surface, the 
 circulation of water and the formation of springs — all give proof 
 that it was designed that the earth should be subdued to man's 
 use ; that he should not live a selfish, solitary, nomad life, but 
 in society, where his higher faculties should be called into 
 acti^'ity and his social virtues exercised. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 or THE MUSCLES OF THE AEM AKD HAND— THEIR VITAL 
 ACTION — THEIE, MECHANICAL ADAPTATION TO THE 
 MOTIONS OF THE HAND AND FINGEES — FOEM OF THE 
 HUMAN HAND. 
 
 The Muscle of the body is tliat fleshy part with which every 
 one is familiar. It consists of fibres which lie parallel to each 
 other. This fibrous structure has a living endowment, a power 
 of contraction and relaxation, termed irritability. A single 
 muscle is formed of some millions of these fibres combined 
 together, having the same point of attachment or origin, and 
 concentrating in a rope or tendon, which is fixed to a moveable 
 part, called its insertion. Upwards of fifty muscles of the arm 
 and hand may be demonstrated, which must all consent to the 
 simplest action. Yet that gives but an imperfect view of the 
 extent of the relation of parts necessary to every act of volition. 
 We are the most sensible of this combination in the muscles 
 when inflammation has seized any great joint of the body; for 
 then, even in bed, every motion of an extremity gives pain, 
 owing to a corresponding simultaneous movement in the trunk. 
 When we stand, we cannot raise or extend the arm without a new 
 poising of the body, through the action of a hundred muscles. 
 
 ON" THE ACTION OP THE MUSCLES OF THE AKM. 
 
 We shall consider this subject under two heads ; first, we 
 shall give examples of the living property of muscles ; then, of 
 the mechanical contrivances, in their form and appHcation. 
 
 First, In all that regards the living endowment of the muscles, 
 we see the most bountiful supply of power commensurate to 
 the object, but never anything in the least degree superabundant. 
 If the limb is to be moved by bringing a muscle or a set of 
 muscles into action, the power is not bestowed in that excess 
 which would enable them to overcome their opponents; but 
 the property of action is for the time withdrawn from the 
 
82 OP THE MUSCLES OF Chap. IT, 
 
 opponents ; they become relaxed, and the muscles, which are in 
 a state of contraction, perform their office with comparative 
 ease. A stationary condition of the limb results from a bal- 
 anced but regulated action of all the muscles; which con- 
 dition may be called their tone. If, in an experiment, a weight 
 be attached to the tendon of an extensor muscle, it will draw 
 out that muscle to a certain degree, until its tone or permanent 
 state resists the weight : but if the flexor muscle be now ex- 
 cited, this being the natural antagonist of the extensor, the 
 weight will fall, by the relaxation of the extensor. So that the 
 motion of a limb implies a change in both classes of muscles, 
 the one set contracting, the other relaxing; and the will in- 
 fluences both classes. Were it not so regulated, instead of the 
 natural, easy, and elegant motions of the frame, the attempt at 
 action would exhibit the body convulsed, or, as the physicians 
 term it, in clonic spasms. The similitude of the two sawyers, 
 adopted by Paley, gives but an imperfect idea of the adjustment 
 of the two classes of muscles. When two men are sawing a log 
 of wood, they pull alternately; when the one is pulling, the 
 other resigns all exertion. But this is not the condition of the 
 muscles — the relaxing muscle does not give up all effort, so as 
 to be like a loose rope, but it is controlled in its yielding, with 
 as fine a sense of adjustment as is the action of the contracting 
 muscle. Nothing appears more simple than raising the arm, or 
 pointing with the finger ; yet in that single motion, not only are 
 innumerable muscles put into activity, and as many thrown out 
 of action, but both the relaxing and the contracting muscles are 
 controlled or adjusted with the utmost precision, though in 
 opposite states, and under one act of volition. 
 
 By such considerations, we are prepared to admire the faculty 
 which shall combine a hundred muscles so as to produce a 
 change of posture or action of the body. We now perceive that 
 the power taken from one class of muscles, may be considered as 
 bestowed on the other ; so that the property of life, which we 
 call the irritability, or action of a muscle, is upon the whole less 
 exhausted than would be the case on any other supposition. 
 
 As to the second head ; — Our demonstration is of an easier 
 kind. We have said that nature bestows abundantly, but not 
 superfluously ; a truth evinced in the arrangement of the muscles. 
 In all the muscles of the limbs, the fibres run in an oblique 
 
Chap. IV. THE ARM AND HAJTD, 83 
 
 direction, — tlius, A being the tendinous origin of a muscle, and 
 B the tendinous insertion, the fleshy fibres c run obhquely 
 between these two 
 
 tendons. The fibre a. <=^!^^^s=i 
 
 acting thus obliquely ^^ 
 loses power, but gains 
 the property of pull- 
 ing what is attached to its further extremity through a greater 
 space, while it contracts ; and consequently the velocity is in- 
 creased. This mechanical arrangement is intelligible on the law, 
 that velocity of motion through space is equal to power and 
 weight. Here, there is a resignation of power in the muscle to 
 gain velocity of motion. The same effect is produced by the 
 manner in which the tendons run over the joints. If they went 
 in a straight line to the toes or tips of the fingers, the muscles 
 would act more powerfully ; but the tendons being braced down 
 in sheaths, they move the toes and fingers with a velocity in- 
 creased in proportion to their loss of power. 
 
 Let us see how far this corresponds with other mechanical 
 contrivances. A certain power of wind, water, or steam being 
 obtained, the machinery is put in motion ; but it is desired to 
 give a blow, with a velocity far greater than the motion of the 
 water or the turning of the wheels. For that purpose a fly- 
 wheel is put on, the spokes of which may be considered as long 
 levers. The wheel moves very slowly at first ; but being once 
 in motion, each impulse accelerates it with more and more 
 facility; at length, it acquires a rapidity, and a centrifugal 
 force, which nothing but the explosion of gunpowder can equal 
 in its effects. The engineer, not having calculated the power of 
 accelerated motion in a heavy wheel, has seen his machinery 
 split and burst up, and the walls of the house blown out, as by 
 the bursting of a bombshell. Or, a body at rest receives an 
 impulse from another, which puts it into motion — it receives a 
 second blow ; now, this second blow has much greater effect than 
 the first — for the power of the first was exhausted in changing 
 the body from a state of rest to that of motion— but being in 
 motion when it receives the second blow, the whole power is 
 bestowed on the acceleration of its motion ; and so on, by the 
 third and fourth blows, until the body moves with a velocity 
 equal to that of the body from which the impulse is originally 
 
84 
 
 OF THE MUSCLES OP 
 
 Chap. IY. 
 
 given. The slight blow given to a boy's hoop is sufficient to 
 keep it running ; and just so the fly-wheel of a machine is kept 
 in rapid action by a succession of impulses, each of which would 
 hardly put it in motion. If we attempt to stop the wheel, it 
 will inflict a blow in which a hundred lesser impulses are com- 
 bined and multiplied. 
 
 In the machinery of the animal body, there is, in a lesser de- 
 gree, the same interchange of weight with velocity and force. 
 
 When a man strikes with a hammer,"^ the muscle c, near the 
 shoulder, acts upon the humerus, b, in raising the extended 
 lever of the arm and hammer, with every possible disadvantage, 
 seeing that it is inserted near the centre of motion in the shoulder- 
 joint ; and the same remark applies to the muscle D. But the 
 loss of power is restored in another form. What the muscle d 
 loses by the mode of its insertion, is made up in the velocity com- 
 municated to the hammer ; for in descending through a large 
 space, it accumulates velocity, and velocity and weight are equal 
 to force. The advantage of the rapid descent of a heavy body is> 
 that a smart blow is given, and an effect produced which the com- 
 bined power of all the muscles, without this mechanical distribu- 
 tion of force, could not accomplish. It is, in truth, similar to 
 the operation of the fly-wheel, by which the gradual motion of 
 
 * A, the scapula, or shoulder- 
 blade ; B, the humerus, or arm- 
 bone ; C, the deltoid muscle of the 
 shoulder, arising from the shoulder- 
 
 blade and clavicle, and inserted into 
 the arm-bone; D, a muscle which 
 draws the arm down, as in striking 
 with a sword or hammer. 
 
Chap. IV. THE AEM AND HAND. 85 
 
 an engine is accumulated in a point of time, and a blow struck 
 capable of stamping a piece of gold or silver. In wbat respect 
 does the mechanism of the arm differ from the engine with 
 which the printer throws off his sheet ? Here is a lever with a 
 heavy ball at the end ; in proportion to its weight it is difficult 
 to be put in motion ; the printer, therefore, takes hold of the 
 lever near the ball, at a; were he to continue pulling at that 
 part of the lever, he 
 would give to the ball 
 no more velocity than 
 that of his hand; but 
 having put the ball into 
 motion, he slips his 
 hand down the lever to 
 B. Had he applied his 
 hand near b at first, he 
 could not have moved 
 the weight; but the ball 
 being now in motion, if 
 
 he direct the whole strength of his arm to the lever near the 
 centre of motion, the velocity of the weight at the further end 
 will be greatly accelerated. Thus the weight and velocity being 
 combined, the impulse given to the screw is much more power- 
 ful than if he had continued to pull upon the further end of 
 the lever at A. 
 
 If we now turn back to the diagram (page 84), we shall 
 understand how much is gained by the muscle c being inserted 
 near the centre of motion, although, in one sense, at a mechanical 
 disadvantage. First, that mode of insertion is in correspondence 
 with the principle already adverted to, that the living endow- 
 ment of muscle is never spared, but is bestowed liberally in 
 proportion to the necessities of the part. But it will also be 
 perceived, that the arm being put in motion by the force 
 operating near the centre of motion, the velocity will be rapidly 
 increased by each successive impulse from the muscle ; and, of 
 course, the motion at the further extremity will be more rapid 
 than at the insertion of the muscle. Again, in the action of 
 pulling down the arm, as in giving a back stroke with the 
 sword, we perceive that when the hammer descends, the rapidity 
 is increased by the mere effect of gravity; but when the action 
 
86 OF THE MUSCLES OF Chap. IY. 
 
 of the muscle is conjoined, tlie two forces, progressively increas- 
 ing, greatly augment the velocity of the descent. 
 
 The same interchange of power for velocity, which takes 
 place in the arm, adapts a man's hand and fingers to a thousand 
 arts, requiiing quick or lively motions. The fingers of a lady 
 playing on the pianoforte, or of the compositor with his types, 
 are instances of the advantage gained by this sacrifice of force 
 for velocity of movement. The spring of the foot and toe is 
 bestowed in the same manner, and gives elasticity and rapidity 
 .in running, dancing, and leaping. 
 
 The motions of the fingers do not result merely from the 
 action of the large muscles which lie on the fore-arm : these are 
 for the more powerful efibrts; in the palm of the hand, and 
 between the metacarpal bones, are numerous small muscles, 
 {lumhriccdes and interossei,) which perform the finer movements, 
 — expanding the fingers, and moving them in every direction 
 with quickness and delicacy. These small muscles, attached to 
 the extremities of the bones of the fingers where they form the 
 first joint, being inserted near the centre of motion, move the 
 ends of the fingers with great velocity. They are the organs 
 which give the hand the power of spinning, weaving, engraving, 
 &c. ; and as they produce the quick motions of the musician's 
 fingers, they are called by anatomists ^(i^a'TiaZes. 
 
 But there is another use which the small muscles in the hand 
 serve. In grasping with the hand, the strength with which it 
 closes, when all the muscles are combined in action, must be 
 very great ; the amount of power is exhibited when we see a 
 sailor hanging by a rope, and raising his whole body with one 
 arm. What must be the pressure upon the hand % If the palms, 
 and inside of the fingers, and their tips, were not guarded by 
 cushions beneath the skin, it would be too much for the texture 
 even of bones and tendons, and certainly for the blood-vessels 
 and nerves, to sustain. The elastic pad in the foot of the horse, 
 camel, or ostrich, is not a whit more appropriate than the fine 
 elastic texture beneath the skin of the hand. To add to the 
 efiicacy of this yielding but strong padding, a muscle is provided, 
 which, arising in the centre, runs across half the palm to the 
 cushion, on the inner edge, opposed to the ball of the thumb : it 
 acts powerfully as we grasp; and it is this muscle which, by 
 
Chap. IV. 
 
 THE AEM AKD HA:t^D. 
 
 87 
 
 raising tlie edge of the palm, hollows it, and adapts it to lave 
 water, forming the cup of Diogenes. 
 
 Whilst the cushions on the ends of the fingers protect them 
 in the powerful actions of the hand, we shall presently see 
 that they are useful also in subservience to the organ of touch: 
 that they provide a power of receiving impressions, without 
 which the utmost delicacy of the nerves would be unavailing. 
 
 The projection of the heel in the human foot, and the pro- 
 minence of the knee-pan, are provisions for increasing, by 
 mechanical adjustment, the power of the muscles. By such 
 means the point of insertion of the muscle is removed to a 
 distance from the centre of motion in the joint, and the lever 
 power thus obtained is added to the force of the muscle. The 
 principle is maintained, and the demonstration more easy, in 
 the jouits of some animals, as in the hock of the horse; and we 
 have a beautiful instance of it in the foot of the ostrich. Where 
 the flexor tendons pass behind the several joints of the foot, the 
 heads of the bones are 
 enlarged ; which throws 
 the tendons off from the 
 centre of motion. But 
 there is an additional 
 provision still. A loose 
 pendulous body, a, 
 hangs between the ten- 
 dons and bone, at each 
 of these joints; and it 
 plays upon the bones in 
 such a manner, that at 
 the utmost degree of 
 extension of the foot, 
 when the bird requires 
 to use all its power of 
 muscular exertion to 
 bend it again, this body 
 is introduced to throw 
 the tendons further 
 backwards, and to add remarkably to the lever power. This 
 body, A, is shaped like a wedge, with grooved surfaces to cor- 
 
 Ostrich 
 
88 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES Chap. IY. 
 
 respond with the bone before, and the tendon behind : and it 
 is suspended by an appropriate muscle, which raises it like a 
 bolt, after it has served the office of throwing off the tendons 
 from the centre of motion. In addition, the sketch shows, that 
 where these tendons pass behind the joints, they are thickened 
 and hardened into cartilages, so that the bolt operates more 
 effectually in directing them backwards, and producing the pro- 
 jection, equivalent to that of the heel or the hock * These are 
 the means by which "she lifteth up herself on high, and 
 scorneth the horse and his rider." 
 
 After the many illustrations which we have adduced from 
 mechanics, the muscular power itself must be a subject of sur- 
 prise and admiration. Gravity, the expansion and condensation 
 of steam, the evolution of gases, the spring or elasticity of mate- 
 rial, or all these combined, could not have answered the various 
 offices performed by this one property of life— muscular con- 
 tractility. The irritable and contractile fibre, of which muscle 
 is composed, when chemically considered, does not differ from 
 the fibrine of the blood ; but from being endowed with this 
 property of contraction, and adapted with "mechanical in- 
 genuity," it fulfils a thousand distinct purposes, in volition, 
 breathing, speaking, digestion, circulation ; and it is modified in 
 all these functions according to the wants and condition of 
 every class of animals. 
 
 From what the reader already understands of the conformity 
 subsisting among all parts of an animal body, he will readUy 
 comprehend that a perfect relation must be established between 
 the bones and the muscles : that as the bones of different 
 animals exhibit a variety in their size, relative position, and 
 articulations, so must there be an adaptation of the muscles. 
 Accordingly, we sometimes find the muscles separated into 
 smaller, and sometimes consolidated into more powerful masses. 
 To the anatomical student, the mode of demonstrating the 
 muscles of the human hand and arm becomes the test of his 
 master's perfection as a teacher. When they are taken succes- 
 sively, just as they present themselves in the arm, nothing can 
 be more uninteresting, tedious, and difficult to attend to, than 
 such a demonstration; but when they are taught with lucid 
 
 * I am indebted to Mr Shaw for these interesting demonstrations of the 
 ostrich's foot. 
 
Chap. IY. OF THE MUSCLES. 89 
 
 arrangement, according to the motions performed by the distinct 
 groups of muscles, it is positively agreeable to find how much 
 interest may be communicated to the subject. 
 
 It would be foreign to the object of this work to introduce 
 such demonstrations here. Yet it is remarkable how closely 
 the muscles of the arm and hand resemble the muscles of the 
 fore extremity of certain animals — the lion, for example. The 
 flexors, extensors, pronators, and supinators, in the brute, are 
 exactly in the same relative place which the student of ana- 
 tomy is taught to observe with so much interest in the human 
 arm. This example shows how accurately the arrangement of 
 the muscles conforms to the structure of the bones ; and that 
 in proportion as the bones of the extremity of any animal re- 
 semble, in shape and power of motion, those of the human 
 arm, so will the muscles— another proof of the extent of the 
 system of analogies established in the animal frame. 
 
 There is one circumstance more which should not be omitted 
 in the comparative anatomy of these muscles, as it exhibits 
 another instance of conformity in the structure of parts, to the 
 offices they have to perform. We have just stated that the 
 power of contraction is a vital property. The continued action 
 of a muscle, therefore, exhausts its vitality. Now, to support 
 that action, when inordinate, there must be a more than usual 
 provision for the supply of the living power to the muscle — 
 there must be a means of increasing or maintaining the circula- 
 tion of the blood within it, that being the source of all vital 
 power. 
 
 In the loris tardigradus * it has been observed that the axil- 
 lary and femoral arteries, the great arteries of the anterior and 
 posterior extremities, present this peculiarity — the main vessel 
 is subdivided into a number of equal-sized and tortuous cylin- 
 ders, which, previous to the distribution of the proper branches 
 to the muscles, again unite to form a single trunk. f As this 
 subdivision of the trunk of the vessel produces a retardation of 
 the blood, it has been argued that it is adapted to the slow 
 motion of the animal. On the contrary, I believe it to be a 
 provision for long-continued action. The animals which pos- 
 sess this peculiarity in their circulation are not more remark- 
 
 * See p. 21. 
 
 + There is some doubt as to the reunion of the vessels. 
 
90 CmCULATION OF THE BLOOD Chap. IT. 
 
 able for the slowness of their progression than for the tenacity 
 of their hold; their extremities are long and their muscles 
 powerful, either for sustaining the animal by grasping the 
 branches of trees, or for digging. But surely the strength of 
 the muscles cannot be maintained by retarding the circulation 
 of the blood : it is a principle universally admitted, that the 
 expenditure of arterial blood always bears a proportion to the' 
 vital force employed. 
 
 Buffon tried to make a dog amphibious, by immersing the 
 puppy, before it had breathed, in tepid water. One of our own 
 physiologists thought it possible, by putting ligatures upon the 
 arteries which go to the limbs, and forcing the blood to take a 
 circuitous course, and by numerous channels, to the muscles, to 
 make a tardigrade animal, like the loris, out of a vivacious 
 spaniel. We need hardly say that these experiments failed. 
 They were undertaken in a misconception of the nature of the 
 living properties of muscles, which are more finely adjusted 
 than anything in the mere mechanism of the body. Every 
 muscle has its prescribed mode of action, from the unwearied 
 irritability causing the incessant motion of the heart, to the 
 simple effort of the muscle which guides the pen. Some 
 muscles are ever in action, with but short intervals of rest ; 
 others act in regular succession : some are under the will, 
 others withdrawn from it : some act quickly, as the heart ; 
 others slowly, as the stomach : but these are original endow- 
 ments, and do not result from the force or languor of the cir- 
 culation of the part. 
 
 To return to the subdivided and tortuous artery— were the 
 blood-vessels of the living body like rigid tubes, and the laws 
 of the circulation the same as those of hydraulics, such a form of 
 the artery would certainly be the means of retarding the course 
 of the blood. But it is impossible to believe that the circula- 
 tion of the blood can be performed according to the same laws 
 which govern the flow of water in dead tubes. The artery is 
 dilatable ; it contracts with a vital force ; and both the dilata- 
 bility and the contractility of arteries are subject to the in- 
 fluence of the living principle. When, therefore, the artery of 
 a limb is divided into four or five vessels, which are tortuous, 
 as in the sloth, the result will be a greater capacity of dilata^ 
 tion, and a greater power of contraction ; and these, being vital 
 
Chap. IY. THROUGH THE MUSCLES. 91 
 
 operations, will be subject to be influenced and adjusted accord- 
 ing to tlie necessity for the increase or diminution of the cir- 
 culation. If such a peculiarity in the form of the vessels in the 
 extremities of these animals retard the blood, it can only be 
 during repose; for, on excitement, so far from retarding, it 
 must bestow a remarkable power of acceleration. I conclude, 
 therefore, that this variety of distribution in the arteries is a 
 provision for an occasional increase of activity in the muscles 
 of the limb, and for forcing the blood into contact with the 
 fibres, notwithstanding their long-6ontinued action and rigidity. 
 We have seen, in the preceding chapter, that the same animal 
 which at one time moves out its paw as slowly as the hand of a 
 watch, at another, when seizing its prey, acts with extreme 
 rapidity : consequently, we cannot admit the inference that the 
 tortuous and subdivided artery is a provision for languid move- 
 ments. 
 
 OF THE EIGHT AST) LEFT HAND. 
 
 In speaking of the arteries which go to the hand, it may be 
 expected that we should touch on a subject, formerly a good deal 
 discussed, whether the properties of the right hand, compared 
 with the left, depend on the course of the arteries : for it has 
 been affirmed that the superiority of the right arm is owing to 
 the trunk of the artery which supplies it, passing off from the 
 heart more directly, so as to admit of the blood being propelled 
 more forcibly into the small vessels of that arm, than the left. 
 This, however, is assigning a cause altogether unequal to the 
 effect, and presenting too confined a view of the subject : it par- 
 takes of the common error of seeking in the mechanism, the 
 explanation of phenomena which have a deeper origin. 
 
 Among all nations, there is a universal consent to give the 
 preference to the right hand over the left. It cannot, therefore, 
 be a conventional agreement : it must have a natural source. 
 For the conveniences of life, and to make us prompt and dex- 
 terous, it is pretty evident that there ought to be no hesitation 
 which hand should be used, or which foot should be put for- 
 ward ; nor is there, in fact, any such indecision. Is this readi- 
 ness taught, or is it given to us by nature? 
 
 Sir Thomas Browne says, that if the right side were originally 
 
92 SUPEEIORITY OF THE Chap. IT. 
 
 the most powerful in man, we might expect to find it the same 
 in other animals. He affirms that squirrels, monkeys, and par- 
 rots feed themselves with the left leg rather than with the 
 right. But the parrot may be said to use the strongest foot 
 where most strength is required ; that is in grasping the perch 
 and standing, not in feeding itself. 
 
 That the preference for the right hand is not the result of 
 education, we may learn from those who by constitution have a 
 superiority in the left. They find a difficulty in accommodating 
 themselves to the modes of society : and although not only the 
 precepts of parents, but every thing they see and handle, con- 
 duce to make them choose the right hand, yet will they rather 
 use the left. 
 
 It must be observed, at the same time, that there is a distinc- 
 tion in the whole right side of the body, as well as in the arm : 
 and that the left side is not only the weaker, in regard to mus- 
 cular strength, but in its vital or constitutional properties. The 
 development of the organs of motion is greatest upon the right 
 side j as may at any time be ascertained by measurement, or 
 the testimony of the tailor or shoemaker. Certainly, the supe- 
 riority may be said to result from the more frequent exertion of 
 this side ; but the peculiarity extends to the constitution also ; 
 and disease attacks the left extremities more frequently than 
 the right. We see that opera dancers execute their more diffi- 
 cult feats on the right foot : but their preparatory exercises 
 better evince the natural weakness of the left limb ; in order to 
 avoid awkwardness in the public exhibitions, they are obliged 
 to give double practice to the left leg ; and if they neglect to do 
 so, an ungraceful preference to the right side will be remarked. 
 In walking behind a person, we seldom see an equalised motion 
 of the body ; the tread is not so firm upon the left foot, the toe 
 is not so much turned out, and a greater push is made with the 
 right. From the peculiar form of woman, and from the elasticity 
 of her step, resulting from the motion of the ankle rather than 
 of the haunches, the defect of the left foot, when it exists, is 
 more apparent in her gait. No boy hops upon his left foot, 
 unless he be left-handed. The horseman puts the left foot in 
 the stirrup and springs from the right. We think, therefore, 
 we may conclude, that the adaptation of the form of everything 
 in the conveniences of life, to the right hand — as for example, 
 
Chap. IY. 
 
 EIGHT HAND OYEE THE LEFT. 
 
 93 
 
 the direction of the "worm of the screw, or of the cutting end of 
 the auger, or the shape of other tools or instruments — is not 
 arbitrary, but has relation to a natural endowment of the body. 
 He who is left-handed is most sensible to the advantages of this 
 arrangements, whether in opening the parlour-door, or a pen- 
 knife. On the whole, the preference of the right hand is not 
 the effect of habit, but is a natural provision, and is bestowed 
 for a very obvious purpose : and the property does not depend 
 on the peculiar distribution of the arteries of the arm — the pre- 
 ference is given to the right foot, as well as to the right hand."^ 
 
 * There is a pleasant and ingeni- 
 ous epistle by Dr Franklin, m which 
 the left hand is personated, and made 
 to contend for equar rights. She 
 complains of being suffered to grow 
 up without instruction — that she has 
 had no master to teach her writing, 
 drawing, and suitable accomplish- 
 
 ments : that, on the contrary, she is 
 left totally without exercise, but for 
 the sympathy of her sister. To the 
 countrymen of Dr Franklin the les- 
 son of the subordination of the organs 
 of the animal frame is not altogether 
 unsuited. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SUBSTITUTION OF OTHEE ORGANS FOE, THE HAND. 
 
 Aftee having examined how one instrument, the hand, is modi- 
 fied and adapted to a variety of uses in different animals, it 
 only remains, for elucidating the subject further, to contrast the 
 hand with its imperfect substitutes in other creatures. From 
 the insect tribe, I might have derived some of the most curious 
 examples of instruments suited for purposes similar to those of 
 the hand and fingers of man ; but I have intentionally confined 
 the inquiry to the higher classes of animals. 
 
 The habits of certain fishes require that they should cling 
 firmly to the rocks, or to whatever is presented to them as a 
 means of support. Their locomotive powers are perfect ; but 
 how do they become stationary in the tide or stream 1 For 
 example, I have often thought it wonderful that the salmon or 
 trout should keep its place, night and day, in the rapid current. 
 
 [The poising and motion of fishes in the water has interested 
 some of our greatest philosophers, as Galileo and Borelli. It is 
 estimated that fishes make their way through a medium which 
 resists nine hundred times more than the atmosphere : but then, 
 as it offers a certain resistance to their progress, it resists also 
 the motion of their tail and fins by which they have their power 
 of progression. The breadth of the tail of fishes, compared 
 with that of their fins, and its muscularity and power, declare 
 what is affirmed to us upon authority — that the tail is the great 
 instrument of their progression ; and we can see that when the 
 trout darts away, the force of his motion lays down the fins 
 close upon his body. But the fins direct him, as out-riggers, 
 and the pectoral fins especially, by raising or depressing the 
 head, give direction to the whole body under the force of the 
 tail. The lateral fins, and particularly the pectoral fins, also 
 Bustain him in the right position in the water : without the co- 
 
Chap. V. SUBSTITUTES I'OK THl HAND. 95 
 
 operation of tliese with the tail, the fish would move like a boat 
 sculled by one oar at the stern. As the digestion of fishes, as 
 well as that of other animals, is attended with the extrication 
 of air, and as the intestines are below the centre, the belly would 
 be turned up but for the action of these lateral fins ; as we see 
 takes place in a dead fish. The tail and fins are the instruments 
 of motion; but the incessant acLion of the muscles which move 
 these is a just matter of admiration. If a fish move with his 
 head down the stream, he must move more rapidly than the 
 water, or the water gets under the operculum of the gills, and 
 chokes him. He lies, therefore, continually with his head to 
 the stream. We may see a trout lying for hours stationary, 
 whilst the stream is running past him ; and they seem to remain 
 so for days and nights. In salmon-fishing, the fly is played 
 upon the broken water, in the midst of the torrent ; and there 
 the fish shows himself rising from a part of the river where men 
 could not preserve their footing, though assisted by poles, or by 
 locking their arms together. When the salmon leaps, he makes 
 extraordinary exertions. Just under the cataract, and against 
 the stream, he will rush for some yards, and rise out of the 
 spray six or eight feet ; and amidst the noise of the water, they 
 may be heard striking against the rock with a sound like the 
 clapping of the hands. If they find a temporary lodgment on 
 the shelving rock, they lie quivering and preparing for another 
 somerset, until they reach the top of the cataract. This exhibits 
 not only the power of their muscles, assisted by the elasticity 
 of their bones, but the force of instinct by which they are led 
 to seek the shallow streams for depositing their eggs. The por- 
 poise will sail round and round a ship which is sailing at four- 
 teen miles an hour : a thing almost as surprising as the fly 
 circling round the horse's ear for a whole stage. To all this 
 may be added, that the solid which mathematicians have disco- 
 vered, by refined application of the calculus, and have termed 
 " the solid of least resistance," because it is the conformation 
 which is less than any other affected by the resistance of any 
 medium, resembles a fish in its form.* The sea varies in tem- 
 perature and pressure at different depths, and no doubt the tex- 
 ture of the fish, and especially of its integument, must conform 
 
 * According to Lacepede, the speed of a salmon is about twenty-six 
 feet in a second. 
 
96 SUBSTITUTES FOR THE HAND. Chap. Y. 
 
 to this variety. The swimming-bladder is the means of adjust- 
 ment by which the fish lives at its native depths without waste 
 of animal exertion : such is the power of expansion of the air- 
 bladder when relieved from the pressure, that, when a fish is 
 brought up from the greatest depth, it inverts and thrusts out 
 the viscera from the mouth. We do not see, however, that 
 naturalists have adverted to the place of this swimming-bladder. 
 It lies close to the spine, and appears to counterbalance, in some 
 measure at least, the air in the intestines by being thus placed 
 above them. In the Cetacea, as the whale, their buoyancy pro- 
 ceeds from the quantity of oil under the skin, especially of their 
 head, and which it has been observed is bestowed in order to 
 insure their readily coming to the surface to breathe when their 
 natural powers are weakened. For the same reason, that they 
 may raise their heads to the surface, their tails are horizontal. 
 In the jelly-fish, those soft animals which float in sheltered 
 estuaries (the physsophora), there is an air-vessel which they can 
 fill and empty, by which means they rise or sink at pleasure. 
 Others (the villela) raise a sail. Some of this class propel them- 
 selves by taking in water, and suddenly rejecting it.]* 
 
 In the sea, some fishes are provided with special means of 
 clinging to the rocks. The lump-fish {cyclopterus lumpus) fas- 
 tens itself by an apparatus on the lower part of its body; 
 while the sucldng-fish {remora) has a similar provision on its 
 back, by which it attaches itself to the shark, or to whatever is 
 afloat, as the bottoms of ships : and it was from the ancients 
 believing that this fish was able to stop a ship under sail, that 
 Pliny called it remora. We must admire the means by which 
 these fishes can retain their proper position in the water, with- 
 out having to cling either by their fins or their teeth, or being 
 prevented from catching their food. The apparatus resembles 
 a boy's sucker : the organ is pressed against the surface to 
 which the creature is about to fix itself, the centre is then 
 drawn upon by muscles, in the same manner as the sucker is 
 drawn by the cord, and thus a vacuum is made. Dr Shaw tells 
 us, that on throwing a lump-fish into a pail of water, it fixed 
 itself so firmly to the bottom, that when he took hold of it by 
 
 * Author's note, in edition of j illustrative notes by Lord Brougham 
 " Paley's ISTatural Theology, with | and Sir Charles Bell." 
 
Chap. V. 
 
 SUBSTITUTES FOR THE HAND. 
 
 97 
 
 tlie tail, lie could lift the pail off the ground, although it con- 
 tained some gallons of water.* 
 
 In the cuttle-fish we see a modification of the same kind of 
 apparatus : the suckers are ranged in rows along the lower part 
 of their feelers or arms, so as to become instruments of prehen- 
 sion and of locomotion. They can be turned by the animal in 
 any direction, either to fix itself, or to drag itself from place to 
 place. In the Indian seas these creatures become truly formi- 
 dable, both from the length of their arms, which extend to eight 
 or nine feet, and from the tenacity with which they cling.f 
 
 There is another fish, which, from its name, we should expect 
 to be able to perform strange antics ; it is called the " harlequin 
 angler." J The appearance of the fish is grotesque and singular; 
 
 Lophius Histrio. 
 
 * For a description, by Macgilli- 
 vray, of a mode of captui-ing turtles, 
 by attaching a cord to sucking-fishes 
 trained for the sport, see "Account 
 of the Surveying Voyage of the 
 Rattlesnake.'^ 
 
 f In the Mollusca and Zoophytes, 
 we find many instances of animals 
 holding on against the force of tide 
 or current. The Actiniae fix tliem- 
 selves to rocks and shells ; and some, 
 as the sea-camation, hang suspended 
 from the lower surface of projecting 
 rocks, resembling the calyx of a 
 flower. By the elongation of their 
 tentacula, they expand and blow 
 themselves out ; the parts like petals 
 
 being prehensile instruments, by 
 which the animal draws whatever 
 food floats near it, into its stomach. 
 The byssus of the mussel is a set of 
 filaments secreted from a gland near 
 the joint ; being fixed to the rock at 
 one end, it retains the shell at an- 
 chor, preventing it from drifting or 
 rolling with the tide. In the oyster, 
 the shell is directly cemented to the 
 rock. 
 
 X Lophius Histrio, — the first word, 
 from the Greek, denotes the feeler 
 which flies at the head like a pen- 
 nant ; the second, from the Latin, 
 signifies an actor. 
 
98 
 
 SUBSTITUTES FOR THE HAND. 
 
 Chap. Y. 
 
 the pectoral fins resemble short arms, and are palmated at their 
 tips.* M. Eenau, in his History of Fishes, affirms that he knew 
 an individual of this species ; and the expression is not so in- 
 correct ; as he saw it for three days living out of water, walking 
 about the house in the manner of a dog. The circumstance of 
 the lophius walking out of water has some interest, from show- 
 ing that relations may subsist between organs apparently the 
 least connected with each other. In this genus, the operculum, 
 which covers the gills, does not open widely, as in most fishes, 
 to let the respired water pass off freely behind ; the water is 
 discharged by a small aperture, capable, in Mr Owen's opinion, 
 of being closed by a sphincter muscle ; when, the cavities where 
 the branchiae lie being large, a <x)nsiderable quantity of water 
 may be confined within them. Thus, not only are the fins of 
 the fish converted into feet, but the gill-covers into pouches, 
 capable of containing water sufficient for respiration when the 
 sea has retired. Then the lophius, lying in the mud or shallow 
 pools, and watching its prey, angles for it in a very curious 
 manner. Pliny relates that it will bury its body, and leaving 
 the glittering filaments which float from its head exposed to 
 view, like worms, v^ill entice the smaller fishes. 
 
 But, besides the "harlequin angler," other fishes perambulate 
 the dry land; and even ascend trees (without being carried 
 there by floods). Thus a particular fish {jperca scandens) can 
 clamber a tree by means of the spines of its gill-covers, and 
 spinous rays of its fins ; whence Dr Shaw called it the cKmb- 
 ing-fish.t 
 
 All animals protected by feathers, or shells, or scales, are 
 endowed with an exquisite sense of touch in the mouth, or in 
 appendages belonging to it. Fishes have hanging from their 
 lips processes called cirri, which are equivalent to the feelers or 
 tentacula of insects and Crustacea. The fishing lines of the 
 lophius are examples of these processes. 
 
 It is surprising how varied are the means by which fishes 
 obtain their food. The bandouliere ^ bee {chelmon rostratus, of 
 
 * These fins have two "bones lite 
 the radius and ulna; but Cuvier 
 says that they are more strictly 
 hones of the carpus. 
 
 + The spines of the Echinus, or Sea 
 Urchin, are moveable j they assist 
 
 in progression. They are directed 
 against an advancing enemy! Al- 
 though these spines may be effectual 
 for their purposes, they are to be 
 regarded as the lowest, or least per- 
 fect substitutes for extremities. 
 
Chap. Y. SUBSTITUTES FOE THE HAl^D. 99 
 
 tlie genus Chcetodon rostratics), squirts water at flies as tliey pass, 
 brings them down, and then feeds upon them. The scicena 
 jaculatrix, according to Pallas, possesses a similar skill ; and the 
 spams insidiator surprises aquatic insects by the sudden pro- 
 jection of its snout. As to the elongated rays of the dorsal 
 and anal fins in the cordonnier of Martinique {zeus ciliaris, le 
 blepharis, Cuv.), some naturalists affirm that they are employed 
 to coil round the stems of plants, in order to sustain the fish. 
 The several offices attributed to these processes in fishes, almost 
 implies that they must possess sensibility, if not muscular 
 power. 
 
 Some years ago I discovered, by anatomical investigation 
 and experiment, that, in man, the sensibility of the head and 
 its various appendages, as well as the power of closing the jaws 
 and masticating, depended upon one nerve alone of the ten 
 which arise from the brain, and are distributed within and 
 around the head, viz., the Fifth. "^ By the aid of comparative 
 anatomy, I found also that a corresponding nerve served similar 
 purposes in the lower animals. In those covered with feathers 
 or scales, or protected by shell, this nerve becom^es almost the 
 sole organ of sensation. It gives sensibility to the cirri of 
 fishes, and to the palpi of the Crustacea and the antennae of 
 insects. It is the same nerve which supplies the tongue, and is 
 the organ of its exquisite sensibility to touch, as well as of 
 taste. In some animals, especially reptiles, the tongue, by its 
 length and mobility, becomes a substitute for these external 
 appendages ; and in others, besides serving for touch and for 
 taste, it is an organ of prehension. With it the ox gathers in 
 the herbage ; and in the giraffe it is curious to observe that, as 
 the whole frame of the animal is calculated to elevate the head 
 to a great height, so the tongue is capable of projecting beyond 
 the mouth to an extraordinary extent, and of wrapping round 
 and pulling down the extreme branches of trees. 
 
 [What could have tempted Buffon to express his pity for the 
 woodpecker, as abject and degraded'? and why should this bird 
 be described as leading an insipid life, because continually em- 
 ployed in boring and hammering the old stump of a tree ? A 
 late naturalist describes the woodpecker as enjoying the sweet 
 
 * See the Account of the Author's Discoveries in the Nervous System, 
 at the commencement of the volume. — (S.) 
 
100 
 
 SUBSTITUTES FOR THE HAND. 
 
 Chap. T. 
 
 hours of the morning, on the highest branch of the tallest tree, 
 fluttering and playing with his mate and companions. No 
 doubt his diligence, perseverance, and energy in plying his beak 
 are very extraordinary. But, besides the wedge-like strength 
 of the beak, and the power of the neck to strike with it, there is 
 something remarkable in its sensibility. That nerve, the Fifth 
 pair, on which we have shown that all the sensibility of the 
 head depends, transmits along the inside of the mandibles a 
 large branch, which, as it approaches the extremity, perforates 
 the bone by innumerable small 
 canals, so as to reach the horny 
 covering. The beak, thus pos- 
 sessed of sensibility, can be used 
 to grope in the crevices of the 
 wood, and under the bark. The 
 woodpecker is enabled by this 
 means, to direct the tongue, which 
 moves with extraordinary celerity, 
 and with a point like a barbed 
 arrow. We have represented the 
 dissection of the head of this bird 
 more accurately in its anatomy 
 than is to be found in books. We 
 offer it because it exhibits a very 
 curious piece of mechanism, ad- 
 justed to the tongue, to enable the 
 animal to thrust it out far, and with 
 unusual rapidity. c«, is the barbed 
 tongue j 6, two slender elastic liga- 
 mentous cartilages, of very peculiar 
 structure and use ; on one extre- 
 mity they are attached to the bone 
 ^'^'/^\ ^^^'-W/ which supports the upper mand- 
 
 i'?%\ ^^^jy ihle ; from this we trace them over 
 
 v::::::;:^^ the skull down upon the sides of 
 
 Woodpecker's Tongue. the ncck j and, with a large sweep, 
 
 turning under the lower mand- 
 ible, and so continued into the tongue, and not terminating 
 until they reach the horny point, c c c, a long muscle which 
 follows these ligamentous cartilages upon their concave side, 
 
Chap. Y. SUBSTITUTES FOR THE HAND. 101 
 
 arising from the bone of the lower mandible, and so sweeping 
 round with the cartilages and over the skull, to have another 
 fixed point at the upper mandible : these protrude the tongue. 
 Two muscles are seen to arise from the sides of the larynx, 
 which are the opponents of the last, and retract the tongue. 
 Leaving the other parts of the anatomy, we beg the reader's 
 attention to the action of the muscle c c c, which presents one 
 of those curious instances observed in comparative anatomy, of 
 a mechanism adapted to a particular purpose; the tongue is 
 not only thrust out far by this apparatus, but it is shot with 
 great rapidity, in correspondence with its barbed point; this 
 effect is produced by the two extremities of the muscle being 
 fixed points, and the fibres of the muscle itself running on the 
 concave side of the cartilaginous bow, so as to form a smaller 
 circle. We require no mathematical demonstration to prove, 
 that the tongue must be thrust out to a greater distance than 
 the measure of contraction of the muscle. Let us tie the line 
 of the fishing-rod to the last ring of its slender top, and pull 
 upon it at the last ring of the butt : the motion of the top will 
 be very extensive, even when only an inch of the line is drawn 
 through the rings. This is a pretty accurate representation of 
 what takes place by the contraction of this protruding muscle. 
 We have noticed that the upper end of this arch is fixed, the 
 whole motion must therefore be given to the loose extremity 
 in the tongue; and we cannot but observe, that whilst this 
 peculiar arch and muscular ring are adapted for the rapid pro- 
 trusion of the tongue, its retraction is produced by a common 
 muscle, that is, a muscle running in a straight course. Another 
 curious part of this apparatus is, that a very large gland, which 
 pours out a glutinous matter, is embraced and compressed by 
 the action of the circular muscle. This viscid secretion bedew- 
 ing the tongue furnishes an additional means for the bird to 
 pick up insects, such as ants, without the necessity of sticking 
 each with its arrow. Nothing can be more mechanical, or more 
 happily adapted to its purpose, than the whole of this structure, 
 and consequently nothing better suited to strengthen our argu- 
 ment. Indeed, it is not inferior to the means employed for 
 giving rapidity of motion to the memhrana nictiians of the eye 
 of the bird. 
 With the instrument, as we have before hinted, we should ex- 
 
102 
 
 SUBSTITUTES FOE THE HAND. 
 
 Chap. Y. 
 
 pect a particular instinctive action, and a corresponding mnscn- 
 lar power. As an animal with horns has a powerful neck, so 
 
 has the neck of the heron, 
 introduced here, an extra- 
 ordinary muscular power, 
 without which, indeed, the 
 long and sharp bill would 
 be of little use. When the 
 dog approaches the wound- 
 ed heron, the bird throws 
 itself upon its back, and, 
 retracting its long neck, 
 suddenly darts it out with 
 a force which strikes the bill 
 deep into the dog. If you 
 hold your hat towards the bird, the bill will be struck quite 
 through it. In contending with the hawk, when the latter 
 is spitted, it is not by the rapid descent of the hawk, but by 
 the force with which the heron drives its bill. The strength 
 of the bill of the parrot, and that of all birds which break the 
 stones of fruit or nuts, or hard seeds, is in another direction : 
 the bill is hooked, yet is differently formed from that of the 
 carnivorous bird. The intention is, in the first place, that 
 the point shall play vertically, which, with the strengthen- 
 ing by successive layers of the horny material of the bill 
 
 Heron's BilL 
 
 near the point, enables it to break hard objects ; and secondly, 
 that by this form the nut or seed may be brought nearer the 
 
Chap. V. SUBSTITUTES FOR THE HAND. 103 
 
 joining or articulation of the jaw; whicli gives the same advan- 
 tage that we have, when we put a nut nearer the joint of the 
 nut-cracker, that is, nearer the fulcrum. One disadvantage of this 
 form and shortness of the bill would be, that the mandibles 
 could not open wide enough to take in a large seed ; but it is 
 provided that the upper mandible shall move upon the skull, as 
 well as the lower one. The form of the bill of the cross-bill 
 looks like an imperfection, but it is attended with real advan- 
 tages ] it is not for crushing, but rather for splitting up a seed 
 into halves, and tearing the cones of the fir-tree. One of the 
 most curious provisions is in the bill of the sea-crow; the man- 
 dibles are compressed into the form of simple laminae, and the 
 lower mandible projects beyond the upper one ; so that, as he 
 skims along the water, he dips his biU, and lifts his food, by 
 the most appropriate instrument,] 
 
 The whiskers of feline quadrupeds, through branches of the 
 fifth nerve, which enters their roots, possess a fine sensibility. 
 Birds possess it also in a high degree, in their mouths. Ducks, 
 and all that quaffer with their bills under water, have the sense 
 very fine ; and in the mandibles there are distributed branches 
 of the fifth nerve, remarkably developed. Animals feel in the 
 whole of their external surface j and of serpents we may say, 
 that when they coil themselves round a body they exercise the 
 organ of touch over their whole length. Still it is the fifth 
 nerve of the brain, or nerves analogous to it, which, in the 
 greater number of animals deficient in extremities, or in proper 
 prehensile organs, ministers to the appropriation of food ; the 
 organs may vary in conformation, being sometimes only deli- 
 cate palpi, sometimes horny processes; but in all, the senses 
 of touch and of taste are bestowed through this— which is the 
 nerve of sensation of the face, tongue, and lips, and the motor 
 nerve of the muscles of the jaws, in man. 
 
 But we may repeat, that, necessary as these appendages, and 
 this sensibility, are to the existence of the animals possessing 
 them, the imperfections which they exhibit serve to show, by 
 contrast, how happily the Hand is constructed. Our admira- 
 tion is increased as we consider the sensibility to various im- 
 pressions of touch, to varieties in the activity of the muscles, 
 and to changes of posture, possessed by the human hand ; and 
 
104 SUBSTITUTES FOE THE HAND. Chap. Y. 
 
 all united to a facility of motion in the joints, for unfolding and 
 turning the fingers in every possible degree and direction, with- 
 out abruptness or angularity, and in a manner inimitable by 
 any artifice of springs, puUeys, and levers. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE AEGUMENT PUESUED. 
 
 So far as we have hitherto proceeded, examining our subject by 
 comparative anatomy, we have been led to conclude that, inde- 
 pendently of a system of parts marvellously combined to form 
 the individual animal, another more comprehensive one exists, 
 embracing all animals. However different animals may be in 
 form and bulk, or to whatever condition of the globe they 
 may have been adapted, a uniformity pervades the whole. We 
 have seen no accidental deviation or deformity; but every 
 change has been for a purpose, and every part has had its just 
 relation. In all the varieties, we have witnessed the forms 
 of the organs moulded with such a perfect accommodation to 
 their uses, and the alterations produced in such minute degrees, 
 that all notion of accidental external agency must be rejected. 
 
 We might carry our demonstration downward through the 
 lower classes of animals. For example, in insects, we might 
 trace the different modifications of the feet, from their most 
 perfect or complex state, till they disappeared; or, following 
 the changes in another direction, we might pursue them from 
 their smallest beginning to the most perfect condition of the 
 member, where thigh, leg, and tarsus are represented, as in the 
 fly. We should, at first, discern the feet on the bodies of 
 worms as fine cirri, like minute bristles, taking slight hold 
 of the surfaces over which they creep. In the sea -mouse 
 {aphrodita), we should perceive these bristles standing out 
 from distinct wart -like processes, which are furnished with 
 appropriate muscles. Then, in the myriapodes, the first order 
 of insects, we should see each foot of the " many feet " possess- 
 ing a distinct articulation. From that, we might pass to insects 
 which have a thigh, leg, and foot, with the most perfect system 
 of flexor, extensor, and adductor muscles; possessing, in flne, 
 all that we most admire in human anatomy. Nay, it is more 
 
106 THEORY OF Chap. VI. 
 
 curious to observe how the feet of true insects are again 
 changed or modified to assume new offices — the anterior feet 
 becoming feelers, organs of prehension, or hands. We thus 
 perceive, that were it our object to examine the delicate and 
 finely-adapted instruments of insects, it would be easy to trace, 
 in almost every one of them, a succession of modifications. 
 Among the vertebrata, we have seen the hand represented by 
 a wing or a fin ; so might we discover an opposite change in 
 the wing of an insect. If we began with the fly which has two 
 delicate and perfect wings protected beneath a case, we should 
 find that the covers were capable of being raised, so as to admit 
 of the ready expansion of the wings : in another, the case itself 
 would be converted into a wing, and the fly be characterised 
 by having four wings : proceeding to a third example, we 
 should discover that this anterior wing was larger and more 
 perfect than the posterior : in the fourth specimen, we should 
 find that the posterior wings had disappeared, and that it was 
 furnished with only two perfect ones : if we continued the 
 examination, the next specimen would present an insect de- 
 prived of wings altogether. These are not freaks of nature, 
 but new forms of the body ; different appendages required for 
 a different kind of poising of the fly in its flight. They are 
 adaptations which succeed each other in the same regular series 
 that has been observed to obtain in the larger animals; in 
 which the intention cannot be mistaken. 
 
 A natural question forces itself upon us : — How are those 
 varieties to be explained ? The curious adaptation of a single 
 member to different offices, and fo different conditions of ani- 
 mals, has led to an extraordinary theory having been propounded 
 in the present day, — that all animals consist of the same " ele- 
 ments." To say that, in every species of animal, however 
 differing in form and structure, the chemical elements entering 
 into the material of which they are formed, is the same, or 
 that the material is attracted and assimilated by the perform- 
 ance of the same vital functions, would be just. But by ele- 
 ments, the authors adverted to mean certain constant pieces, 
 which enter into the structure of the body; and which, they 
 suppose, by being transposed and differently arranged, will 
 explain all the diversities in the forms of animals. They 
 illustrate their views by the analogy of building a mansion. 
 
Chap. VI. ELEMEIi[TARY PARTS. 107 
 
 If there be, they say, a given quantity of materials, and these 
 be disproportionately expended in ornamenting the portico 
 and vestibule, the apartments for the family will be curtailed 
 of their proper dimensions. So, according to the theory, if an 
 elementary piece in an animal occupy a certain place, and be 
 missed in the corresponding place of another animal, it must 
 be sought for in some of the neighbouring organs. 
 
 But what foundation is there for saying that the aggrandise- 
 ment of one member of an animal is attended with a proportional 
 deficiency of another ? The advocates of the theory rely much 
 upon examples derived from the study of the bones ; but the 
 system fails even in them, as will presently be shown. Mean- 
 time, let us ask, is the addition of new parts to the stomach, 
 by which its complexity is greatly increased, as in ruminating 
 animals, attended with a diminution in the length of the intes- 
 tinal canal, or more simplicity in its structure ? On the con- 
 trary, is not a complex stomach necessarily connected with a 
 long and irregular intestine 1 Does a complex intestinal canal 
 render the solid viscera in juxtaposition less perfect 1 Does 
 the compound heart imply a more simple condition of the 
 lungs ? 
 
 We have already stated that, in the higher orders of verte- 
 brata, the bones of the shoidder perform a double office ; that 
 while they afford a perfect foundation for the motions of the 
 upper extremity, they have an important share in the mechanism 
 of respiration. Let us take an instance where the mode of 
 breathing by the animal is inconsistent with what may be 
 deemed the original design of the bones of the shoulder. In 
 the batrachian order (p. 4^), the ribs are absent. Where then, 
 under the guidance of the theory, are we to look for them 1 If 
 a bone be absent in the cavity of the ear of the bird, it directs 
 us to seek for the bone in the jaw. But when a whole class of 
 animals is deficient in thirty-two ribs, it fails to inform us where 
 these are to be found; or how the supposed "elements" are 
 built up in adjacent structures. If, on the contrary, we adopt 
 the principle, that parts are added or withdrawn, with a never- 
 failing relation to the function to be performed, we can compre- 
 hend that if the compages of the chest, to suit the peculiarities 
 of the animal, be removed, and the shoulder be consequently 
 deprived of support, the bones to which the extremity is fixed, 
 
108 MECHANISM OF Chap. YI. 
 
 will be expanded and varied both in form and articulation, so 
 as to fulfil the main object of a shoulder, — ^that of giving secu- 
 rity and a centre of motion to the arm. 
 
 With respect to the instance incidentally noticed, and brought 
 forward as a proof of the excellence of the theory, — the mecha- 
 nism of the jaw in birds, — it proves the reverse, indeed, of what 
 is assumed. The matter to be explained is simply this. The 
 chain of bones in the ear, which is so curiously adapted, in the 
 mammalia, to convey the vibrations of the membrane of the 
 tympanum to the auditory nerve, is not found in the organ of 
 hearing in birds ; there is substituted a mechanism entirely dif- 
 ferent. The supporters of the theory choose to say that the 
 incus is the one of the four bones of the chain which is absent 
 in the bird : and where, they ask, is it to be found 1 Here, 
 they reply, in the apparatus of the jaw or mandible ; the bone 
 called OS quadratum is the incus. I believe that the slight and 
 accidental resemblance which the bone b (see figure p. 109) in 
 the bird, has to the incus in man, is the real origin of the fancy. 
 
 Let us follow a juster mode of reasoning, and see how the 
 hypothesis in question obscures the beauty of the subject. The 
 first step ought to be, to inquire whether there be any imperfec- 
 tion in the hearing of birds, from want of the incus. That 
 question is easily answered — the hearing of birds is most acute ; 
 the slightest noise alarms them ; the nightingale, or other bird 
 of song, in a summer evening will answer to the note of his 
 rival, when out of our hearing. We have next to observe an- 
 other peculiarity in the organ — the absence of an external ear ; 
 the presence of which would be at variance with all that we 
 most admire in the shape of the bird, and direction of the 
 feathers, as conducing to its rapid passage through the air. 
 With this obvious defect of the external ear, can we admit that 
 the internal ear is also imperfect — notwithstanding the remark- 
 able acuteness of hearing, which, we know, can result only from 
 the internal structure ? 
 
 Now, although the structure of the ear of the bird does, in 
 fact, differ from that of the mammalia, yet nothing is wanting. 
 The columella^ a shaft of bone of exquisite delicacy, extending 
 from the outward membrane of the ear to the labyrinth, or 
 proper seat of the nerve of hearing, occupies the same place, and 
 performs the same office, as the chain of four bones in the ear 
 
Chap. VI. BIRD'S BILL. 109 
 
 of the mammalia : and we have no authority for affirming that 
 the incus, more than any other bone of the chain, is wanting. 
 The sense of hearing is enjoyed by birds in as exquisite a degree 
 as by quadrupeds : the organ is not imperfect ; it is a varied 
 apparatus, adapted to a new construction ; it is suited to the 
 condition of the bird : and there is no accidental dislocation or 
 substitution. 
 
 Let us but look to the mandibles of the bird, and see the use 
 to which this os quadratum, supposed by the upholders of the 
 theory to be transposed from the ear, is applied in the apparatus 
 for opening them ; and we shall have a most curious example of 
 mechanical adaptation. Indeed, the bill of the bird, in some 
 degree, pertains to our subject, as it is an organ of prehension 
 and of touch. It is withal a fly-trap — hence, its motions must 
 be rapid. Now, the velocity is increased by the most obvious 
 means imaginable, — that is, by giving motion to both mandibles, 
 instead of to one. When a dog snaps, he throws back his head, 
 and thereby raises the upper jaw at the same time that the lower 
 one is dropped ; but these are slow and clumsy motions, per- 
 formed by the muscles of the neck as well as by those of the 
 jaws ; and the poor hound makes many attempts before he can 
 catch the fly that teases him. But a swallow or a fly-catcher 
 makes no second effort; the apparatus of prehension which 
 they possess corresponds so admirably to the liveliness of their 
 eye and to their instinct. The mechanism by which such rapi- 
 dity of motion is attained is this : the muscles which depress 
 
 the lower mandible, by the same effort elevate the upper one. 
 A is a process of the lower mandible, projecting behind the 
 centre of motion ; accordingly, when the muscle attached to this 
 process contracts, it causes the point of the bill to descend : but 
 
no 
 
 THEORY OF 
 
 Chap. YL 
 
 the OS quadratum (b), situated between the lower mandible and 
 the skull, is at the same time compressed : therefore, a shaft or 
 process (c) from this bone, and which has its anterior extremity- 
 fixed against the upper mandible, projects forwards ; hence, when 
 the muscle acts, and the os quadratum receives the pressure of 
 the lower mandible, and the process (c) is thrust forward, like 
 a bolt, against the upper mandible, the latter moves upon the 
 skull at (d), and is elevated at the same time that the lower is 
 depressed.* Here, then, is a piece of mechanism as distinct as 
 the lock of a gun, and manifestly intended, as we have said, to 
 give rapidity to the motions of the bill. Now, whether is it 
 nearer the truth to consider this as a new apparatus, suited to 
 the necessities of the creature, or to look upon it as an acci- 
 dental result of the introduction of a bone, which in its proper 
 office has nothing to do with the jaw ? 
 
 But we have wandered somewhat from our subject. Let us 
 test the correctness of the theory by attending to the bones 
 which correspond to those of the hand. We have seen that, in 
 animals generally, the same system of bones is preserved, vari- 
 ously modified so as to be adapted to every possible change in 
 office. Now as it is insisted that the number of elements of an 
 organ continues the same, what can be said with regard to the 
 number of bones entering into the paddle, in the saurian and 
 chelonian reptiles ? Whilst in man the bones of the wrist and 
 fingers are twenty-seven, and those of the horse only fifteen, the 
 corresponding polygonous bones of the ichthyosaurus (p. 72) are 
 sixty or seventy. Yet, notwithstanding there are in the paddle 
 so many bones, in the part corresponding to the arm and fore- 
 arm, there is only the proper complement. If the system fail 
 us in such an obvious instance, with what confidence can we 
 prosecute the inquiry, under its guidance, into the analogy of 
 the intricate bones of the spine and head.t 
 
 In seeking assistance from the works of distinguished natu- 
 ralists, we do not always find indications of that disposition of 
 mind which we should expect to prevail as a necessary result of 
 
 * Another process of tlie os quad- ten, the theory has been essentially 
 
 ratum, directed more internally, as- modified. See "On the Archetype, 
 
 sists in raising the upper mandible. and Homologies of the Vertebral 
 
 f Since the above criticism, justi- Skeleton;" and "Discourse on the 
 
 fied by the extravagance of the views Nature of Limbs," by Professor 
 
 propounded at the time, was writ- Owen. — (S.) 
 
Chap. VI. SUEROUI^DmG INFLUENCE. m 
 
 their peculiar studies ; we miss that combination of genius with 
 sound sense which distinguished Cuvier, and has been ever the 
 characteristic of all great men of science. It is, above all, sur- 
 prising with what perverse ingenuity some will seek to obscure 
 the conception of a Divine Author, an intelligent, designing, and 
 benevolent Being; how, clinging to the greatest absurdities, 
 they will rather interpose the cold and inanimate influence of 
 some theory of " elements," so as to extinguish in our minds all 
 feeling of dependence, all emotions of gratitude. 
 
 Some comparative anatomists there are who will maintain 
 that all varieties in animated beings are the mere result of 
 changes of circumstance, influencing an original animal ! They 
 hold that new organs have been produced by a desire, and con- 
 sequent effort, of an animal, to stretch and mould itself into a 
 shape suitable to the condition in whi<ch it is placed ; — that, as 
 the leaves of a plant expand to light, or turn to the sun, or as 
 the roots shoot to the appropriate soil, so do the exterior organs 
 of animals grow and adapt themselves ! An opinion, as we 
 shall presently find, has prevailed that the organisation of an 
 animal determines its propensities; but the philosophers of 
 whom we now speak, imagine the contrary; — they pretend 
 that, influenced by new circumstances, organs can accommodate 
 themselves, and assume particular forms. 
 
 It must be here remarked that there are no instances in the 
 animal kingdom, of new organs being produced by the union of 
 individuals belonging to different species. Nor is there any 
 foundation for the opinion, that new species may be formed by 
 the union of individuals of different families. But it is con- 
 tended, that, although in the last 5000 years the species of ani- 
 mals have not changed, we cannot tell what may have been the 
 effect of revolutions occurring in the globe before that time; 
 that is, previous to the present condition of the world. On sub- 
 jects of such a nature, however, we can argue only from what 
 we know, and what we see. 
 
 We do, however, perceive, in the conformation of the same 
 animal, surprising changes ; some of which are familiar to us. 
 But they all evince foreknowledge and a prospective plan, — an 
 alteration gradually taking place in preparation for, never con- 
 sequent upon, a new condition. It will suffice for our purpose 
 to take the highest and lowest examples. Man, in the body. 
 
112 THEOEY OF Chap. VL 
 
 has two conditions of existence ; hardly two beings can be less 
 alike than an infant and an adult. Now, the whole foetal state 
 is a preparation for birth. My readers would not thank me, 
 were I to explain how necessary to his being born alive are the 
 proportions and forms of the infant, as contrasted with those of 
 the full-grown man : yet nothing would be so easy to demon- 
 strate. From the moment of birth, the growth of the body 
 takes a new direction, so that the proportions are changed, and 
 the conformation is accommodated to the erect posture. Few, 
 however, are aware that the life of the child unborn has rela- 
 tion to its condition ; and that if the period of birth be pro- 
 tracted beyond the appointed time, it will die, not from a defect 
 of nourishment, but because the period has arrived for a change 
 in its whole economy ! 
 
 Now, previous to birth, all the organs of the body are being 
 prospectively developed ; the lungs becoming perfected, before 
 the admission of air — new tubes constructed, before the flood- 
 gates, which are to admit the blood, are opened. But there are 
 other provisions finer, and more curious, than these. Take anjf 
 of the grand organs, as the heart or brain ; examine it through 
 all its gradations of change in the embryo state, and we shall 
 recognise it, first, as simple in form ; then gradually expanding ; 
 and finally, assuming the condition peculiar to adolescence. So 
 that it is affirmed, not without the support of a most curious 
 series of observations, that in its earlier stage of growth the 
 human brain resembles that of a fish ; next, it bears a resem- 
 blance to the cerebral mass of the reptile ; in its increase, it is like 
 that of a bird ; and slowly, and only after birth, does it assume 
 the proper form and consistence of the human brain. But in 
 none of all these stages of development do we see the influence 
 of any supposed law of elementary constituents ; or of any other 
 law, than that the order of his development has been so pre- 
 destined. 
 
 If, passing over the thousand instances which might be ga- 
 thered from intermediate parts of the chain of animal life, we 
 were to proceed to examine the structure of insects, more par- 
 ticularly the metamorphoses they undergo, similar conclusions 
 would be arrived at. For example, if we took the larva of a 
 winged insect, we should perceive in the arrangement of its 
 muscles, and distribution of its nervous system, all the requisite 
 
Chap. VI. SURROUNDING INFLUENCE. 113 
 
 provisions for its moving over ground. But if, anticipating the 
 metamorpliosis, we dissected the same larva immediately before 
 the change, we should find a new apparatus in progress towards 
 perfection ; we should see the muscles of its many feet decay- 
 ing ; the nerves to each muscle wasting ; a new arrangement of 
 muscles, with new points of attachment, directed to the wings, 
 instead of to the feet ; and finally, a new distribution of nerves, 
 accommodated to the members about to be put in motion. 
 Here is no budding or stretching forth of organs, under the in- 
 fluence of surrounding elements ; it is a change operated on all 
 the economy, and prospective, that is, in anticipation of a con- 
 dition which the creature has not yet attained. 
 
 These facts countenance the conclusion drawn from the com- 
 parative anatomy of the hand and arm — that with each new in- 
 strument, visible externally, there are a thousand internal rela- 
 tions established. The introduction of a new mechanical con- 
 trivance in the bones or joints, infers an alteration in every part 
 of the skeleton; a corresponding arrangement of all the muscles; 
 an appropriate distribution of the nervous filaments laid inter- 
 mediate between the instrument and the centre of life and mo- 
 tion ; and finally, in relation to the new organ, new sources of 
 activity must be created, otherwise the part will hang an useless 
 appendage. 
 
 It must now be apparent, that nothing less than the Power 
 which originally created, is equal to efi'ect those changes on 
 animals, which adapt them to their conditions : and that their 
 organisation is predetermined ; not consequent on the condition 
 of the earth or of the surrounding elements. Neither can a 
 property in the animal itself account for the changes which take 
 place in the individual, any more than it can for the varieties in 
 the species. Every thing declares the diversity of species to 
 have its origin in distinct creations ; and not to be owing to a 
 process of gradual transition from some original type. Any 
 other hypothesis than that of new creations of animals, suited to 
 the successive changes in the inorganic matter of the globe — the 
 condition of the water, atmosphere, and temperature — brings 
 with it only an accumulation of difficulties. 
 
 To fortify what we have said, we ought not to omit bringing 
 into the argument a series of changes of structure altogether 
 
 H 
 
114 CHAJ5"GES IX THE BODY Chap. TL 
 
 differing from those whicli we have been hitherto considering — 
 revolutions in the material of the frame, -which take place, 
 without a pause, and during the whole life, in every animaL 
 From no study of the mechanical adaptations of the body, 
 not even from examining the structure and endowments of the 
 organs of the senses, can we obtain a higher idea of the Power 
 which continually superintends the processes of the economy, 
 than from viewing the influence of life, in collecting, arranging, 
 and incessantly changing the material of the ani m al frame. 
 Astounded by the magnitude of natural objects, bewildered by 
 seeing neither beginning nor end, beholding processes of decay 
 alone, persuaded, almost, that everything must be yielded up 
 to a power of destruction, — how useful is it to possess proofs, 
 in the microcosm of the living body, that even when the sub- 
 stance of which that body is composed, is undergoing a cease- 
 less change, to its minutest elements, the whole animal system 
 may continue in freshness and vigour 1 
 
 [Is it not surprising that an individual, who retains every 
 peculiarity of body and of mind, whose features, whose gait 
 and mode of action, whose voice, gestures, and complexion we 
 are ready to attest as the very proof of personality, — should, 
 in the course of a few days, change every particle of his solid 
 fabric; that he, whom we suppose we saw, is, so far as his 
 body is concerned, a perfectly different person from him we 
 now see ! That the fluids may change, we are ready to allow ; 
 but that the solids should be thus ever shifting, seems at first 
 improbable. And yet, if there be anything firmly established 
 in physiology, if there be truth in the science at all, that fact is 
 incontrovertible. 
 
 There is nothing like this in inanimate nature. It is beauti- 
 ful to see the shooting of a crystal ; to note the formation of 
 the integrant i)articles from their elements m solution, and 
 these, under the influence of attraction or crystalline polarity, 
 assuming a determinate shape ; but the form here is permanent. 
 In the diff'erent processes of elective attraction, and in fer- 
 mentation, we perceive a commotion ; but in a httle time the 
 products are formed, and the particles are at rest. In these 
 instances there is nothing like the revolutions of the living 
 animal substance, where the material is alternately arranged, 
 decomposed, and re-arranged. 
 
Ch.^. YI. DUEING LIFE. 115 
 
 The end of this is, that the machinery of the body is 
 ever new ; that it possesses a property within itself i)i mend- 
 ing that which was broken, of throwing off that which was 
 useless, of building up that which was insecure and weak, 
 of repelling disease, or of controlling it, and of substitut- 
 ing what is healthful for that which is morbid. The whole 
 animal machinery we have seen to be fragile and liable to 
 injury; now, without this continual change of material, and 
 this new modelling of that material, our lives would be pre- 
 carious ; the texture of our bodies would be spoiled ; like some 
 fine piece of mechanism which had stopped, and which no 
 workman had knowledge sufficient to reconstruct. By these 
 living actions the minute particles of the body die successively; 
 not as in the final death of the whole body ; but part by part 
 is deprived of vitality, and taken into the general circulation, 
 in order to be cast out of the system ; whilst new parts received 
 from the food are endowed with life, and built up in their 
 place. Thus we see that nature, instead of having to establish 
 a, new mode of action for every casualty, heals all wounds, 
 unites all broken bones, throws off all morbid parts, by the 
 continuance of its usual operations ; and the surgeon, who is 
 modest in his calhng, has nothing to do but to watch, lest 
 ignorance or prejudice interfere with the process of nature. 
 This property of the living body to restore itself when de- 
 ranged, or to heal itself when broken or torn, is an action 
 which so frequently assumes the appearance of reason, as if 
 it were adapting itself to the particular occasion, that Mr John 
 Hunter speaks of parts of the body as "conscious of their 
 imperfection," and "acting from the stimulus of necessity;" 
 thus giving the properties of mind to the body, as the only 
 explanation of phenomena so wonderful. 
 
 The bones of the leg and thigh, which suffer the fatigue of 
 motion, and support the weight of the body, are nevertheless 
 continually undergoing an operation of repair; in which the 
 old particles are withdrawn, whilst new ones replace them, 
 without in the slightest measurable degree diminishing their 
 length, or altering their proper form. We see with what care 
 the walls of a house are shored up, to admit of repair — how 
 correctly the workman must estimate the strength of his pillars 
 and beams— how nicely he must hammer in his wedges, that 
 
116 CHANGES m THE BODY Chap. VI. 
 
 every interstice may be iilled, and no strain be permitted ; and 
 if this operation fail in the slightest degree, it is attended with 
 a rent in the wall from top to bottom. We say, then, that 
 from the very awkwardness of this proceeding, (in which, after 
 all, there is danger of the whole fabric tumbling about the 
 workmen,) we are called upon to admire how the solid pillars 
 in our own frames are a thousand times renewed, whilst the 
 plan of the original fabric is followed, to the utmost nicety, in 
 their restoration. And if it deviate at all, it is only in a man- 
 ner to surprise us the more : since it will be discovered that 
 the change has been effected with a view to adapt the strength 
 of material to some new circumstance ; as the increasing weight 
 which the bone has to support, or the jar it is subject to, from 
 some alteration in the activity or exercise of the body. 
 
 There is a living principle, which, while the material changes, 
 is itself permanent; attracting and arranging, dissolving and 
 throwing off successive portions of the solids. And, influencing 
 this living principle, there is a law which shapes, and limits 
 the growth of, every part; and carries it through a regular 
 series of changes, in which its form and aptness for its office 
 are preserved, whilst the material alone is altered. The influ- 
 ence of disease will, for a time, disorder this modelling process, 
 and produce tumours and distortions ; but when at length the 
 healthy action — that is, the natural action — prevails, these 
 incumbrances are carried away, and the fair proportions of 
 the fabric are restored.] 
 
 Life preserves the materials of the body free from the influ- 
 ence of those affinities which hold the inorganic world together ; 
 and it not only does that, but it substitutes other laws. Of the 
 wonders of the microscope, none exceed those presented on 
 looking at the early rudiments of an animal — it may be of 
 the largest creature that inhabits the earth. This rudimentary 
 structure will but appear an homogeneous, transparent, soft 
 jelly ; there will be visible in it only a single pulsating point ; 
 yet this mass possesses within it a principle of life; and it is 
 not only ordered what this influence shall perform in attracting 
 matter, and building up the complex structure of the body, but 
 even the duration of the animal's existence is from the begin- 
 ning defined. The term may be limited to a day, and the life 
 be truly ephemeral ; or it may be prolonged to a hundred years ; 
 
Chap. VT. DUEmG LIFE. 117 
 
 but the period is adjusted according to the condition and enjoy- 
 ment of the individual, and to the continuance of its species, as 
 perfectly as are the mechanism and structure themselves. 
 
 [In a seed, or a nut, or an egg, we know that there is life : 
 from the length of time that these bodies will remain without 
 development, we are forced to acknowledge that this life is 
 stationary or dormant; and that it is limited to the counter- 
 action of putrefaction or chemical decomposition. But no 
 sooner does this living principle become active, than a series 
 of intestinal or internal changes are commenced ; which are 
 regularly progressive, without a moment's interruption, while 
 life continues. That principle, which may continue an indefi- 
 nite number of days, months, or years, without producing any 
 change, begins at once to exhibit its influence, builds up the 
 individual body, regulates the actions of secretion and absorp- 
 tion; and, by its operation upon the material of the frame, 
 stamps it with external marks of infancy, maturity, and age. 
 
 Those who say that life results from structure, and that the 
 material is the ruling part, bid us look to the contrast of youth 
 and age. The activity of limb and buoyancy of spirit in youth 
 they consider as necessary consequences of the newness and 
 perfection of the organisation. On the other hand, a ruined 
 tower, unroofed,- its walls exposed to be broken up by alterna- 
 tion of frost and heat, dryness and moisture, wedged by the 
 roots of ivy, and toppling to its fall, they compare to old age — 
 with the shrunk limbs, tottering gait, shrivelled face, and scat- 
 tered grey hair of the old. 
 
 But in all this there is no truth. Whilst there are life and 
 circulation, there is change of the material of the frame ; and 
 there is a sign of that if a broken bone unite, or a wound heal. 
 Ascribe the distinction to the velocity of circulation, or to the 
 more or less energy of action, or to the rapidity of change ; but 
 with the antiquity of the material, it can have nothing to do. 
 The roundness and fulness of flesh, the smoothness, transpa- 
 rency, and colour of the cheek, belong to youth as characteristic 
 of the time of life, not as a necessary quality of the material. 
 Is there a physiognomy in all nature — among birds and beasts, 
 insects and flowers — and shall man alone have no indication of 
 his condition, in the outward form and character? The dis- 
 tinctions in the body apparent in the stages of life, have a 
 
118 CHANGES IN THE BODY Chap. YI. 
 
 deeper source than the accidental effect of the deterioration of 
 the material of the frame. The same changes which are wrought 
 on the structure of the body in youth and in the spring of life, 
 are going on in the last term of life ; but the fabric is rebuilt 
 on a different plan ; each stage, from the embryo to the foetus, 
 the foetus to the child, from that to adolescence, to maturity, 
 and to old age, has its outward form, as indicative of the season 
 of life, but not of the perfection or imperfection of the gross 
 material. We might as well consider the difference in the term 
 of life of the annual or biennial plant as compared with the 
 oak, or of the ephemeris fly as compared with the bird that 
 hawks at it, to result from the qualities of the matter which 
 form them, as that the outward characters of the different 
 stages of human life, arise from the perfection or imperfection 
 of the material of the body. Not only has every creature its 
 appointed term of life, but parts of the body, in that respect, 
 are independent of the whole ; some organs, at their regulated 
 period, shoot to perfection ; and at their allotted time, decay, 
 before the failure of the body. What can more distinctly show 
 that so long as the processes of digestion and assimilation go 
 on, the material of the frame is ever decaying, ever renewing, 
 and never older, and never younger 1 We must conclude that 
 the differences in outward appearances, at the distinct epochs 
 of our life, have been designed as signs which the Creator in- 
 tended should be interpreted ; and that the tenure by which we 
 hold life may be continually before us. 
 
 The grand phenomena of nature make powerful impressions 
 on our imagination, and we acknowledge them to be under the 
 guidance of Providence ; but it is more pleasing, more agreeable 
 to our self-importance, it gives us more confidence in that Pro- 
 vidence, to discover that the minutest changes in nature are 
 equally His care, and that "all things do homage." This exalt- 
 ation of ourselves is not like the influence of pride or common 
 ambition. We may use the words of Socrates to his scholar, 
 who saw, in the contemplation of nature, only a proof of his 
 own insignificance, and concluded " that the gods had no need 
 of him j" which drew this answer from the sage : "The greater 
 the munificence they have shown in the care of thee, so much 
 the more honour and service thou owest them !"] 
 
 When the many beautiful fabrics built up within the animal 
 
Chap. YI. 
 
 DUEING LIFE. 
 
 119 
 
 body are passed under review, and it is proved that they are not 
 permanent, but are the product of an energy of life, which con- 
 tinues uniform in its operation, whilst all the materials upon 
 which it works are changing — who can hesitate to believe, that 
 the revolutions occurring in the inorganic world around us, are 
 superintended by a presiding Power 1 The difficulty of compre- 
 hension here must be attributed to the partial view of these 
 changes which we can alone obtain. Their fulfilment extends 
 into periods far beyond our measure of time. Nevertheless, we 
 cannot doubt that such a Power does overlook them ; and we 
 must acknowledge that a balance is preserved, and that order 
 and harmony prevail. 
 
 C£- 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 OP SENSIBILITY AND TOUCH. 
 
 We find every organ of sense, with the exception of that of 
 touch, more perfect in brutes than in man. In the eagle, hawk, 
 gazelle, and feline tribe, the perfection of the eye is admirable ; 
 in the dog, wolf, hysena, as well as birds of prey, the sense of 
 smell is inconceivably acute ; and if we hesitate to assign a more 
 exquisite sense of taste to the inferior animals, we cannot doubt 
 their superiority in that of hearing. But in the sense of touch, 
 seated in the hand, man claims the superiority ; and it is of 
 consequence to our conclusion that we should observe why it 
 is so. 
 
 Some author has said that, accompanying the exercise of 
 touch, there is a desire of obtaining knowledge ; in other words, 
 a determination of the will towards the organ of the sense. 
 Bichat avers that touch is active, whilst the other senses are 
 passive. This opinion implies something to be understood — 
 something deeper than what is expressed. We shall arrive at 
 the truth by considering that, in the use of the hand, a double 
 sense is exercised. In touch, we must not only feel the contact 
 of the object ; but we must be sensible of the muscular effort 
 made to reach or grasp it in the fingers. It is in the exercise of 
 the latter power, that there is really any eff'ort made. There can 
 be no more direction of the will towards the proper nerve of 
 touch, than there can be towards any sensible nerve. But, before 
 entering on the consideration of the sensibility, and the actions, 
 which belong to the fingers, we must attend to the common sense 
 of feeling in the surface generally."^ 
 
 Besides that common sensibility is bestowed upon the hand 
 as upon other parts, and some inquiry into it is necessary for 
 our subject, I enter upon its examination the more willingly, 
 
 * See the Account of the Author's I- at the commencemeiit of the volume. 
 Discoveries in the Nervous System, [ — (S.) 
 
Chap. YII. SEN"SIBILITY AND TOUCH. 121 
 
 because nothing can afford more surprising proofs of design 
 and benevolence in tbe Author of our being, than this property. 
 However obviously the illustrations which we have already given, 
 from the mechanism of the body, point to the same conclusion, 
 they are not comparable, in point of interest, to the examples 
 which we are about to present, from the living endowments of 
 the frame. 
 
 I have used the term common sensibility, in conformity with 
 the language of authors and customary parlance ; but the ex- 
 pressions, " common nerves," and " common sensibility," in a 
 philosophical inquiry, are inadmissible. Indeed, the use of 
 these terms has been the cause of much of the obscurity which 
 has hung over the subject of the nervous system ; and of our 
 blindness to the benevolent adaptation of the endowments of 
 that system to the condition of animal existence. Thus it has 
 been supposed that some nerves are but coarsely provided for 
 sensation, while others, of a finer quality, are adapted to more 
 delicate impressions. It has been assumed that the nerve of 
 the eye is finer than the nerve of the finger — without consider- 
 ing that the retina* is insensible to qualities, of which the 
 nerve of touch is cognisant. Nerves are, indeed, appropriated 
 to peculiar senses, and to bestowing distinct functions; but 
 delicacy of texture has nothing to do with that. It is not 
 because the nerve of touch has a coarser or more common 
 texture than the optic or auditory nerve, that it is insensible to 
 light or to sound. The beauty and perfection of the system is, 
 that each nerve is susceptible to its peculiar impression only. 
 The nerve of the skin is alone capable of giving the sense of 
 contact, as the nerve of the eye is alone capable of giving 
 vision. If this appropriation resulted merely from delicacy of 
 texture, if the retina were sensible to light only from possess- 
 ing a finer sensibility than the nerve of touch, the acuteness of 
 the sense would be a source of torment; whereas it is most 
 beneficently provided that the retina shall not be sensible to 
 pain, or be capable of conveying any impressions but those 
 which operate according to its proper function, producing light 
 and colour. 
 
 The pain experienced in the eye from irritation of dust, 
 depends on a distinct nerve from that which bestows vision ; 
 * The retina is the expansion of the optic nerve within the eye. 
 
122 
 
 SENSIBILITY OF THE SURFACE 
 
 Chap. VII. 
 
 and again, the sensitive nerve of the eye is susceptible to a 
 different kind of impression from the sensation of the body 
 generally; of which more presently. When the surgeon per- 
 forms the operation of couching for cataract, and the point of 
 the needle passes through the outer coat of the eye, it gives the 
 sensation of pricking, which is an exercise of the nerve of 
 touch ; but when the needle passes through the retina, which 
 is the expanded nerve of vision, and forms the internal coat of 
 the eye, it gives the idea of a spark of fire in the eye. The 
 nerve of vision is as insensible to touch, as the nerve of touch 
 is insensible to light.* 
 
 We form our notions of sensibility from that of the skin; 
 it is in constant communication with things around us, and 
 affected by their qualities; it affords us information which 
 corrects the ideas received from the other organs of sense, and 
 it excites our attention to preserve our bodies from injury. So 
 familiar are we with the painful effects of injuries upon the 
 surface, that all are apt to imagine that the deeper the injury, 
 the more dreadful the pain. But that is not the fact; nor 
 would it accord with the beneficent design which shines out 
 everywhere. To such irritants as would give the skin pain, the 
 internal parts are totally insensible. The sensibility of the skin 
 not only serves to give the sense of touch to the surface, but it 
 guards the parts beneath ; and as the deeper structures cannot 
 be reached except through the skin, and we must suffer pain in 
 it before they can be injured, it would be superfluous to bestow 
 sensibility upon the deeper parts themselves. If the internal 
 organs possessed sensibility similar in kind and degree to that 
 of the integument, so far from answering a useful purpose, it 
 would have been, in the common exercise of the frame, a con- 
 tinual source of pain. 
 
 Surgeons, from becoming practically acquainted with a 
 greater number of the phenomena on which physiology is 
 founded than physicians, have perhaps superior opportunities 
 of advancing that science. In performing an operation, the 
 surgeon informs his patient, after he has cut through the skin, 
 that the greatest pain is over ; but if, in the advanced stage, he 
 
 ■* These views of the distinct func- 
 tions of the nerves of sense, were pub- 
 lished (1811) in the earliest state- 
 
 ment of my observations on the Ner- 
 vovis System. 
 
Chap. YII. COMPAEED WITH THE DEEPER PAETS. 123 
 
 is obliged to extend the incision, it is properly considered an 
 awkwardness; not only because it proves that he has mis- 
 calculated what was necessary to the correct performance of 
 his operation, but because the patient, bearing courageously the 
 deeper incisions, cannot sustain the renewed cutting of the 
 skin, without giving token of severe pain. The fact of the 
 exquisite sensibility of the surface, as compared with the deeper 
 parts, being thus ascertained by daily experience, we cannot 
 mistake the intention : that it is to make the skin the safe- 
 guard to the delicate textures within, by forcing us to avoid 
 what will injure the surface. And it does afford a more 
 effectual defence, than if our bodies were clad with the hide of 
 the rhinoceros. 
 
 The greater the consideration we give to this subject, the 
 more convincing will be the proofs that the painful sensibility 
 of the skin is a benevolent provision ; that it makes us alive to 
 injuries, which would otherwise bruise and destroy the internal 
 vital organs. 
 
 In pursuing the inquiry, we learn with much interest, that 
 when bones, cartilages of the joints, or the membranes and liga- 
 ments which cover them, are exposed — they may be cut, pricked, 
 or even burned, without the patient, or the animal, suffering the 
 slightest pain. We have arrived at the full comprehension of 
 this subject slowly; disagreeable experiments have been made : 
 but the following is as interesting as it was innocently per- 
 formed. A man, who had his finger torn off, so as to be con- 
 nected by the tendon only, came to a pupil of Dr Hunter : " I 
 shaU now see," he said, " whether this man has any sensibility 
 in the tendon." He laid a cord along the finger, and blindfold- 
 ing the patient, cut across the tendon. "Tell me," he asked, 
 " what I have cut ? " " Why you have cut across the cord, to be 
 sure," was the answer. At first, these facts would appear to 
 prove, beyond all question, that the structures enumerated are 
 devoid of sensation. After witnessing such remarkable in- 
 stances of absence of pain, who could come to any other conclu- 
 sion 1 But if we adopt the true, philosophical, and, I may say, 
 religious view of the subject, and consider that pain is not con- 
 ferred as an evil, but, on the contrary, for benevolent and im- 
 portant purposes, we perceive that the subject requires further 
 elucidation. 
 
124 PAIN THE SAFEGTJAED Chap. VII. 
 
 In the first place, it is obvious, that if a sensibility like that 
 of the skin had been bestowed upon these internal parts, it 
 must have remained unexercised. Had the bones, cartilages, 
 ligaments, or tendons been rendered sensible to pricking or 
 burning, they would have possessed a quality never to be use- 
 ful ; since, without previous warning received through the skin, 
 no such injuries as these could reach them. 
 
 But further, allowing pain to be a benevolent provision which 
 admonishes us to avoid such violence as would affect the func- 
 tions of parts, we may yet inquire whether certain other injuries 
 may not reach these internal structures, without warning from 
 the skin. Now, of this there can be no doubt; the textures 
 around the joints are subject to sprain, rupture, and shocks, 
 while the skin may not be at all implicated in the accident. 
 
 Accordingly, notwithstanding the apparent demonstration by 
 experiment that these internal parts are devoid of sensibility, 
 it is evident that they must possess an appropriate kind of feel- 
 ing, or it would imply an imperfection. Every day's observa- 
 tion shows that such is the case : for we find that the cartilages, 
 ligaments, and tendons, which may be pricked, cut, or burned, 
 without exhibition of pain, are acutely sensible to concussion^ 
 stretching, or laceration. Is it not remarkable that men, the 
 luminaries of their profession, should have held that these parts 
 were insensible ; and yet that they should have been in daily 
 attendance upon persons suffering from sprained ankle ; where 
 the structures injured are the very ones enumerated, and where 
 the pain, felt at the instant of the sprain, is excessive 1 
 
 How consistent, then, and beautiful is the distribution of this 
 property of life ! The sensibihty to pain varies with the func- 
 tion of the part. The skin is alive to every possible injurious 
 impression likely to be made upon it ; but had the same kind 
 and degree of sensibility been universal, — had the membranes 
 between the bones of our great joints, or the ligaments which 
 knit the bones, or the tendons of the muscles, been sensible in 
 the same manner and degree as the skin, or surface of the eye, 
 we should have been racked with pain in the common move- 
 ments of the body — the mere weight of one bone on another, or 
 motion of a limb, would have been attended with suffering as 
 acute as that of a man who should attempt to walk in a violent 
 attack of rheumatism. On the other hand, had the deeper struc- 
 
Chap. YII. OF THE BODY. 125 
 
 tures possessed no sensibility, we should have been without a 
 guide to our exertions. The internal parts do possess sensibi- 
 lity; but it is limited to warning us of those kinds of injury 
 alone which may possibly reach so deeply. It teaches us what 
 we can do with imiDunity ; if we leap from too great a height, 
 or carry too heavy a burden, or attempt to interrupt a body 
 whose impetus is too powerful, we are admonished of the dan- 
 ger as effectually by this internal sensibility, as of the approach 
 of a sharp point, or a hot iron, to the skin. Accordingly, pain 
 is not given here superfluously : the safe exercise and enjoy- 
 ment of every part is permitted without alloy : the excess only 
 is restrained. 
 
 In continuation of this view of the benevolent object for 
 which pain is awarded, I may be excused for stating the argu- 
 ment as I have delivered it in my lectures : — 
 
 " Without meaning to impute inattention or restlessness, I 
 may request you to observe how every one occasionally changes 
 his position, and shifts the pressure of the weight of his body. 
 Were you constrained to keep in one position during the whole 
 hour, you would rise stiff and lame. The sensibility of the skin 
 here guides you to do that which, if neglected, might be followed 
 even by death of the part. When a patient is affected with par- 
 alysis of the lower half of the body, we give especial directions 
 to the nurse and attendants to change the position of his limbs 
 at short intervals, to place pillows under his loins and hams, 
 and to shift them often. If these precautions be omitted, you 
 know the consequence to be inflammation of the integument 
 where the pressure is directed ; and from that come fever, local 
 irritation, and death. 
 
 "Thus you perceive that, without disturbing your train of 
 thought, the natural sensibility of the skin induces you to shift 
 the body, so as to permit the free circulation of the blood in 
 the minute vessels : and when this sensibiHty is lost, the utmost 
 attention of friends, and the watchfulness of the nurse, are but 
 poor substitutes for the protection which nature is continually 
 affording. If you thus suffer, lying on a soft bed, how could 
 you encounter the rubs and shocks incident to an active Hfe, if 
 deprived of the sense of pain in the skin '? You must acknow- 
 ledge that the sensibility of the integuments is as much a pro- 
 tection to the frame generally, as that of the eyelids is to the 
 
126 
 
 SENSIBILITY TO HEAT. 
 
 Chap. VII. 
 
 eyes ; and the reflection suggests a motive for gratitude which 
 probably you never thought of before." 
 
 Sensibility of the hand to the varieties of temperature is a dif- 
 ferent endowment from that of touch. This property is seated 
 in the skin, and is, consequently, limited to the exterior surface 
 of the body. The internal parts being of uniform temperature, 
 it would have been superfluous to bestow it upon them. As we 
 are surrounded by an atmxOsphere the temperature of which is 
 continually varying, its extremes might cause the destruction of 
 our frame ; and as we must suit our exertions or contrivances to 
 sustain life against such vicissitudes, the possession of this 
 peculiar sensibility aff'ords another proof of a foreknowledge of 
 our condition. To illustrate the evils which might befall us were 
 it not for this sensibility, we might recur to our former example. 
 The paralytic, having no sense of the extremes . of temperature 
 is frequently severely burned ; or his extremities may be morti- 
 fied through cold. A man, who had lost this sense in his right 
 hand, but retained muscular power, lifted the cover of a pan, 
 which from falling into the fire was burning hot, and dehberately 
 replaced it, without being conscious of the heat; the eflect, 
 however, was that the skin of the palm and fingers was de- 
 stroyed. The same man had a continual sensation of coldness 
 in the affected arm, which actual cold did not aggravate, npr 
 heat in any degree assuage.* 
 
 Sensibility to heat, inasmuch as it is capable of becoming a 
 painful sensation, is not only a safeguard, but a never-faihng 
 excitement to activity, and a continual source of enjoyment. 
 Cold braces and animates to exertion, whilst the warmth which 
 is pleasant to us, is genial to all the operations of the animal 
 economy. And here we may remark an adaptation of the living 
 property, very different from a physical influence. Heat is uni- 
 form in its effect on dead matter ; science informs us that warmth 
 
 * .There are certain morlDid. condi- 
 tions of sensation when cold bodies 
 feel intensely hot. — Dr Abercrom- 
 hi^s Inquiry into the Intellectual 
 Powers. 
 
 It is a ctirious illustration of the 
 powers of the cutaneous nerves to 
 receive impressions of the varieties 
 of temperature, that when one is 
 affected by disease anywhere in its 
 
 course, the sensation of burning may 
 accompany the pain ; and the patient 
 will refer the sense of heat to that 
 part of the skin to which the extreme 
 branches of the nerve are distributed. 
 By a burning sensation in the sole of 
 the foot, the surgeon may be directed 
 to disease seated in the centre of the 
 thigh. 
 
Chap. YIl. mSEITSIBILITY OF THE BEAIK 127 
 
 and cold are only relative degrees of caloric. But the sensation 
 varies, as heat is given to, or abstracted from, the living body. 
 To the skin, cold and heat are distinct sensations ; and without 
 such contrast, we should not continue to enjoy the sense. For 
 in the nervous system it holds universally, that variety, or con- 
 trast, is necessary to sensation ; the finest organ of sense losing 
 its property by the continuance of the same impression. It is 
 by a comparison of cold and heat that we enjoy either con- 
 dition. 
 
 To contrast still more strongly the sensibility of the exter- 
 nal surface with the endowments of the internal parts; and to 
 show how very different from what is suggested by first experi- 
 ence the property sensibility generally is, and how admirably 
 varied and accommodated it is to the functions, we shall add 
 one other fact. The brain is insensible — that part of the brain 
 which, if disturbed or diseased, takes away consciousness, is as 
 insensible as the leather of our shoe ! That the brain may be 
 touched, or a portion of it cut off, without interrupting the 
 patient in the sentence that he is uttering, is a surprising cir- 
 cumstance! Physiologists formerly inferred, from this fact, 
 that the more important organ of the brain had not been 
 reached. But that opinion arose from the notion that a nerve 
 must necessarily be sensible ; whereas, when we consider that 
 different parts of the nervous system possess totally distinct 
 endowments, and that some nerves, as I have elsewhere shown, 
 though exquisitely aUve to their proper office, are insensible to 
 touch and incapable of giving pain, we have no just reason to 
 conclude that the brain should be sensible, or exhibit the pro- 
 perty of a nerve of the skin. Eeason on it as we may, the fact 
 is so ; — the brain, through which every impression must be con- 
 veyed before it is perceived, is itself insensible. This informs 
 us that sensibility is not a necessary attendant on the delicate 
 texture of a living part, but that it must have an appropriate 
 organ, and that it is an especial provision.* 
 
 To satisfy my reader on this interesting subject, I shall con- 
 trast two organs, one external and exposed, and the other inter- 
 nal and carefully excluded from injury. 
 
 The eye, consisting of its proper nerve of vision, and its trans- 
 
 * See the Sensibility of the Eetina, "Additional Illustrations." 
 
128 SEI^SIBILITY OF THE EYE. Chap. VII. 
 
 parent humours and coats, is an organ of exquisite delicacy; 
 and not only is it exposed to all the injuries to which the general 
 surface of the body is liable, but it is subject to be inflamed and 
 rendered opaque by there getting into it particles so light that 
 they float in the atmosphere, and to the contact of which the 
 common skin is quite insensible. Now the mechanical, and 
 more obvious contrivance for the protection of this organ, is a 
 ready motion of the eyelids, and the shedding of tears ; which 
 tears, coming, as it were, from a small fountain, play over the 
 surface of the eye, and wash away whatever is ofi"ensive. But 
 to regulate the action of this little mechanical and hydraulic 
 apparatus, an exquisite sensibility is required— not that kind 
 which enables the eye to receive the impressions of light, and 
 may at times warn it of approaching danger, but a property 
 which more resembles the tenderness of the skin, yet is happily 
 adapted by its fineness to the condition of the organ. 
 
 If the excitement which puts in motion the mechanism for 
 guarding the eye, depended on our will — if it were not an influ- 
 ence quicker than thought — the apparatus would be unavaihng. 
 It is not by feeling the pain of the offensive body, estimating its 
 dangers, and acting on the conviction, that we close the eyes 
 to avoid injury. That would be all too slow for the purpose. 
 When a light, foreign body touches the eyelashes, seated on the 
 tender extremities of sensitive nerves, they give alarm; and 
 more swiftly than an act of volition, they cause a motion both 
 of the eyelids and eyeballs, even before the offending body can 
 touch the eye's surface. 
 
 It sometimes happens that the nerve which bestows this ap- 
 propriate sensibility on the external surface of the eye, and 
 sends its branches into the roots of the eyelashes, is injured, 
 and deprived of its functions ; and the consequences are dis- 
 tressing. Smoke and offensive particles afloat in the atmosphere 
 enter and rest upon the eye, or flies and dust lodge under the 
 eyelids ; but without producing sensation, and without exciting 
 either the hydraulic or mechanical apparatus to act in expelling 
 them. Yet, although these objects do not give pain, they irri- 
 tate the surfaces and produce inflammation ; that causes opa- 
 city of the fine transparent membranes of the eye, and the 
 organ is lost, even when the proper nerve of vision remains en- 
 tire. I have seen many instances of the eye being thus deprived 
 
Ca^p. YIL SENSIBILITY OF THE EYE. 129 
 
 of sensibility to touch;"* and on these occasions, before the 
 transparency of the organ was lost, it has been singular to re- 
 mark, that when the hand was waved before the eye, or a 
 feather brought near it, the person shut the eye ; yet when the 
 finger was put into the eye, and rubbed the surface, or when 
 blood was drawn from the inflamed vessels by the lancet, he did 
 not even wink. That is, when the sense of vision, through the 
 optic nerve, gave notice of danger to the organ, the patient 
 winked to avoid it ; but the sense of touch being lost, there was 
 no pain felt, nor alarm given by the sensitive nerve, and the 
 action of winking was not excited to defend the organ. 
 
 I shall present another instance of the peculiar nature of the 
 sensibility which protects the eye. Every one knows that if 
 the eye be touched by a thing of the lightness of a feather, the 
 muscles will be thrown into uncontrollable action and spasm. 
 But the oculist has observed that if he pass the point of his 
 finger somewhat rudely between the eyelids, and press directly 
 against the eye, he will produce hardly any sensation — certainly 
 no pain — and he can hold the ball steady for his intended opera- 
 tion ! This is one of the little secrets of the art. The oculist 
 can turn out the eyelids, and finger the eye in a manner which 
 appears at once rude and masterly : and still the wonder grows 
 that he can do such things dexterously, and without inflicting 
 pain, when daily experience makes us feel that even a grain of 
 sand will produce exquisite torture. The explanation is, that 
 the eye and eyeUds possess a sensibility adjusted to excite the 
 action of its protecting parts against the intrusion of such small 
 particles as might lodge, and inflame its finer membranes : but 
 the apparatus is not calculated to defend the surface against the 
 injury of a stick or stone. From such accidents the eye could 
 not be saved by a delicate sensibility and an involuntary action; 
 they call for an exertion of the will. 
 
 These details afford new proofs of the exact relation established 
 between the kind of sensibility belonging to an organ, and the 
 end to be attained through it. Were it not for the pain to which 
 the eye is exposed, we should soon lose the enjoyment of the 
 sense of vision altogether. But we are about to institute a 
 comparison between the eye and the heart. 
 
 * They are stated at length, in the Author's work on the Nervous Sys- 
 tem.— (S.) 
 
 I 
 
130 SENSIBILITY OF THE HEART. Chap. VII. 
 
 The observation of the admirable Harvey, the discoverer of 
 the circulation of the blood, is to this effect. A noble youth of 
 the family of Montgomery, from a fall, and consequent abscess 
 on the side of the chest, had the interior marvellously exposed ; 
 so that after his cure, on his return from his travels, the heart 
 and lungs were visible, and could be handled : which when it 
 was communicated to Charles I., he expressed a desire that 
 Harvey should be permitted to see the youth, and examine his 
 heart. " When," says Harvey, " I had paid my respects to this 
 young nobleman, and conveyed to him the King's request, he 
 made no concealment, but exposed the left side of his breast, 
 when I saw a cavity into which I could introduce my fingers 
 and thumb; astonished with the novelty, again and again I 
 explored the wound, and first marvelling at the extraordinary 
 nature of the cure, I set about the examination of the heart. 
 Taking it in one hand, and placing the finger of the other on 
 the pulse of the wrist, I satisfied myself that it was indeed the 
 heart which I grasped. I then brought him to the King, that 
 he might behold and touch so extraordinary a thing, and that 
 he might perceive, as I did, that unless when we touched the 
 outer skin, or when he saw our fingers in the cavity, this young 
 nobleman knew not that we touched the heart." 
 
 Other observations confirm this great authority, and the 
 heart is declared insensible. And yet the opinions of mankind 
 must not be lightly called in question. Not only does every 
 emotion of the mind affect the heart, but every change in the 
 condition of the body — motion during health — the influence 
 of disease— is attended with a response in the action of the 
 heart. 
 
 Here is the distinction manifested, to which we desire the 
 reader's attention. The sensibility of the surface of the eye is, 
 for a purpose ; so is that of the heart. Whilst the sensibility of 
 the eye guards it against injury from without, the heart, insen- 
 sible to touch, is yet alive to every variation in the circulation, 
 to every alteration of posture, or of exertion, and is in sympathy, 
 of the strictest kind, with the constitutional powers. 
 
 When we consider these facts, we can no longer doubt that 
 the sensibilities of the living frame are appropriate endowments; 
 jiot qualities necessarily arising from life ; still less the conse- 
 quences of delicacy of texture. Nor can we, I should hope, 
 
Chap. YII. PAIN NECESSAEY TO EXISTENCE. 131 
 
 longer doubt tliat tliey are suited to the condition, and especially 
 to the degree of exposure, of each part, and destined for the 
 protection of the different organs. We perceive that they vary 
 in an extraordinary manner, according as they are given to 
 external or to internal parts ; as they belong to one apparatus 
 of action, or to another ; and they are ever adapted to excite 
 some salutary or necessary action. We find no instance of pain 
 being bestowed as , a source of suffering or punishment purely, 
 or without finding it overbalanced by great and essential advan- 
 tages — ^without, in short, being forced to admit that there could 
 be no protection more perfect for the part. We perceive that 
 the more an organ is exposed, or the greater the delicacy of its 
 organisation — the more exquisitely contrived is the apparatus 
 for its defence, the more peremptory the call for the activity of 
 that mechanism : and as in such instances, the motive to action 
 admits of no thought or hesitation, the action itself is more 
 instantaneous than the quickest suggestion or impulse of the 
 wiU. 
 
 We are speaking of the natural functions of the body. It 
 requires a deeper consideration — indeed it is foreign to my sub- 
 ject-^to advert to the pains which result from disease ; or to 
 reconcile those who suffer in an extraordinary degree to the 
 dispensations of Providence. But as a witness I may speak. It 
 is my daily duty to. visit certain wards of the hospital, where 
 no patient is admitted but with a complaint that more than any 
 other fills the imagination with the idea of insufferable pain and 
 certain death. Yet these wards are not the least remarkable for 
 the composure and cheerfulness of their inmates. The individual 
 who suffers has a mysterious counter-balance to that condition, 
 which, to us who look on, appears attended with no alleviating 
 circumstance. 
 
 It affords an instance of the boldness with which philosophers 
 have questioned the ways of Providence, that they have asked 
 — why might not all our actions be performed at the sugges- 
 tion of pleasure 1 why should we be subject to pain at all ? In 
 answer, I would say, that consistently with our condition, our 
 sensations and pleasures, there must be variety in the impres- 
 sions. Such contrast is common to every organ of sense. The 
 continuance of an impression occasions it to fade. If the eye 
 look steadfastly upon one object, the image is soon lost — if we 
 
132 PAIN I^ECESSARY Chap. VIL 
 
 continue to look on one colour, we become insensible to it ; and 
 for a perfect perception, colours opposed to each other are 
 necessary.* So have we seen that in the sensibilities of the 
 skin, variety is required to render the sensations perfect. 
 
 It is difficult to say what these philosophers would define as 
 pleasure. But whatever exercise of the senses it may be, unless 
 we are to suppose an entire change of our nature, its opposite 
 must also be implied. Nay, further, in this fanciful condition 
 of existence did anything of our present constitution prevail, we 
 must suppose, that emotions purely of pleasure would lead to 
 indolence, relaxation, and indifierence. In the lower creatures, 
 governed by instinct, there may be, for aught we know, some 
 such condition of existence. But the complexity and delicacy 
 of the human frame are necessary for sustaining those powers 
 or attributes which are in correspondence with superior intelli- 
 gence; since they are not in relation to the mind alone, but 
 intermediate between it and the external material world. Grant 
 that vision is necessary to the development of thought, the organ 
 of it must be formed with relation to light. Speech, so necessary 
 to the development of the reasoning faculties, implies a com- 
 plex and exceedingly delicate organ, to play on the atmosphere 
 around us. It is not to the mind that the various organisations 
 are wanted; but to its condition as related to a material world. 
 
 The necessity for this delicacy of the animal structure being 
 admitted, the textures must be preserved by modifications of 
 sensibility, which shall either excite the parts to instinctive 
 efforts, or rouse us to instantaneous voluntary activity. Could 
 the eye guard itself, unless it possessed sensibility greater than 
 the skin; or unless this sensibility were in consent with an 
 apparatus which acts as quickly as thought? Could we, by 
 the mere influence of pleasure, or by any cessation or variation 
 of pleasurable feelings, be kept alive to those injuries to which 
 the lungs are exposed from substances being carried into them 
 with the air we breathe? Would anything but the painful 
 sense which accompanies the danger of suffocation, produce 
 those instant and sudden efforts which guard the throat from 
 the intrusion of offensive or injurious matters ? Pleasure is, at 
 the best, a poor motive to exertion ; and rather induces languor 
 and indulgence, and at length indifference. To say that animals 
 * See Additional Illustrations in the Appendix. 
 
Chap, VII. TO EXISTENCE. 133 
 
 might be continually in a state of enjoyment, and that when 
 urged by necessities such as thirst, hunger, and weariness, they 
 might merely feel a diminution of pleasure, is to suppose not 
 only their nature, but that of the external world, altered. 
 Whilst earth, rocks, woods, and water are the theatre of our ex- 
 istence, the textures of our bodies must be exposed to injuries : 
 and they can only be protected from them by sensibilities 
 adapted to each part, and capable of rousing us to the most 
 animated exertions. To leave us to the guidance of the solici- 
 tations of pleasure, would be to place us where accident would 
 befall us at every step ; and whether these injuries were felt or 
 not, they would be destructive to life. 
 
 In short, to suppose that we might move and act without ex- 
 perience of resistance or of pain, that there should be nothing 
 to bruise the skin, or hurt the eye, and nothing noxious to be 
 inhaled with the breath, would be to imagine another state of 
 existence altogether from the present ; and the theorist would 
 be mortified were that interpretation put on his meaning. 
 Pain is the necessary contrast to pleasure : it ushers us into 
 existence, and is the first to give us consciousness : it alone is 
 capable of exciting the organs into activity : it is the companion 
 and the guardian of human life. If all were smooth in our 
 path, if there were neither rugged places nor accidental opposi- 
 tion, whence should we derive those affections of our minds 
 which we call enterprise, fortitude, and patience % 
 
 Independently of pain, which protects us more powerfijlly 
 than a shield, there is inherent in us, and for a similar purpose, 
 an innate horror of death. "And what thinkest thou," said 
 Socrates to Aristodemus, "of this continual love of life, this 
 dread of dissolution, which takes possession of us from the 
 moment we are conscious of existence *? " "I think of it," an- 
 swered he, " as the means employed by the same great and wise 
 artist, deliberately determined, to preserve what he has made." 
 
 The reader will, no doubt, observe here the distinction. We 
 have experience of pain from injuries, and we learn to avoid 
 them. But we can have no experience of death. There- 
 fore the Author of our being has implanted in us an innate 
 horror at dissolution ; and we may see the same principle ex- 
 tending through all animated nature. Where it is possible to 
 be taught by experience, we are left to profit by it ; but where 
 
134 PAIN NECESSARY TO EXISTENCE. Chap. YII. 
 
 we can liave none, feelings are engendered without it. And this 
 is all that was necessary to show how the life is guarded ; some- 
 times it is by mechanical strength, as in the skull ; sometimes 
 by acute sensation, as in the skin and in the eye ; sometimes by 
 innate affections of the mind, as in the horror of death : and 
 these will prevail, as the voice of nature, when we can no longer 
 profit by experience. 
 
 The highest proof of benevolence is this : that we possess the 
 chiefest source of happiness in ourselves. Every creature has 
 pleasure in the mere exercise of his body, as well as in the lan- 
 guor and repose that follow exertion. But these conditions are 
 so balanced, that we are impelled to change ; and every change 
 is an additional source of enjoyment. What is apparent in the 
 body is true of the mind also. The great source of happiness is 
 to be found in the exercise of talents ; and perhaps the greatest 
 of all is when the ingenuity of the mind is exercised in the dex- 
 terous employment of the hands. Idle men do not know what 
 is meant here ; but nature has implanted in us this stimulus to 
 exertion ; so that the ingenious artist who invents, or with his 
 hands creates, enjoys a source of delight, perhaps greater, cer- 
 tainly more uninterrupted, than belongs to the possession of 
 higher intellectual powers ; far at least beyond what falls to the 
 lot of the mere minion of fortune. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OF THE SENSES GENEEALLY, INTEODUCTOET TO THE 
 SENSE OE TOUCH. 
 
 Although we are most familiar with the sensibility of the skin, 
 and believe that we perfectly understand the natm^e and mode 
 of conveyance of the impressions received upon it to the senso- 
 rium, yet there is a difficulty in comprehending the operations 
 of the other organs of the senses — a difficulty not removed by 
 the apparent simplicity of that of touch. 
 
 There was a time when the inquirer was satisfied by finding 
 in the ear a little drum, and a bone to play upon it, with an 
 accompanying nerve ; this was deemed a sufficient explanation 
 of the organ of hearing. It was thought equally satisfactory if, 
 in experimenting upon the eye, the image of the object were 
 seen painted at the bottom, on the surface of the nerve. But 
 although the impression can be thus traced to the extremity of 
 the nerve, still nothing is comprehended of the nature of that 
 impression, or of the manner in which it is transmitted to the 
 sensorium. On the most minute examination of the nerves, in 
 all their course, and where they are .expanded in the external 
 organs of the senses, they seem to be the same in substance and 
 in structure, whatever be their function. Whether the disturb- 
 ance of the extremity of the nerve that gives rise to the sensa- 
 tion, be a vibration, or an image painted upon the surface, it 
 cannot, in either case, be transmitted to the brain according to 
 any physical laws that we are acquainted with. All that we can 
 say is, that the different affections of the nerves of the outward 
 senses, are the signals which the Author of nature has willed 
 to be the means by which correspondence is held with the 
 realities. The impression on the nerve can have no more resem- 
 blance to the ideas suggested in the mind, than there is between 
 the sound and the conception, in the mind of that man who, 
 looking out on a dark and stormy sea, hears the report of can- 
 
136 OEIGIN OF IDEAS. Chap. YIIL 
 
 non, wMcL. conveys to Mm ideas of despair and shipwreck — or 
 between the light received into the eye, and the idea excited in 
 one who, apprehending national convulsion, sees a column of 
 flame afar off, which to him is the signal of actual revolt. 
 
 Such illustrations, it may be said, rather tend to show how 
 independent the mind is of the organs of the senses. That a 
 tumult of ideas should arise from an impression on the retina, 
 not more intense than that produced by a burning taper, may 
 be regarded as an instance of excited imagination. But even in 
 a common act of perception, the determined relations between 
 the sensation and the idea in the mind have no more actual 
 resemblance. How this consent, so precise and constant, is 
 established, can neither be explained by physiology nor any 
 mode of physical inquiry whatever. 
 
 From this law of our nature, that certain perceptions originate 
 in the mind in consequence of the impressions on corresponding 
 nerves, it follows, that one organ of sense can never become the 
 substitute for another, so as to excite the same ideas. When an 
 individual is deprived of the organs of sight, no power of atten- 
 tion, or continued effort of the will, or exercise of the other 
 senses, can enable him to enjoy the class of sensations which is 
 lost. The sense of touch may have its delicacy increased in an 
 exquisite degree ; but if it be true, as has been asserted, that in- 
 dividuals can distinguish colours by touch, it can only be by 
 their feeling a change upon the surface of the stuff, and not by 
 any perception of the colour. It has been my painful duty to 
 attend on persons who have feigned blindness, and pretended 
 that they could see with their fingers : but I have ever found 
 that these first deviations from truth entangled them in a tissue 
 of deceit; and they have at last been forced into admissions 
 which showed their folly and weak inventions. When such 
 patients were affected with nervous disorders, producing extra- 
 ordinary sensibility in their organs,— as a power of hearing much 
 beyond our common experience, — they became objects of pity ; 
 this acuteness of sensibility, from its exciting interest and 
 wonder, has gradually led these morbidly-affected persons to 
 pretend to powers greater than they actually possessed ; and it 
 has been difficult to distinguish the symptoms of disease, from 
 the supposed gifts of which they boasted. 
 
 Experiment proves, as we have already stated, that each organ 
 
Chap. VIII. ORIGm OF IDEAS. 137 
 
 of sense is appropriated to receive a particular kind of sensation 
 only ; and that the nerves intermediate between the brain and 
 the outward organs respectively, are capable of receiving no 
 other sensations but such as are proper to their particular 
 organs. Every impression on the nerve of the eye, or of the 
 ear, or of smelling, or of taste, excites only perceptions of vision, 
 of hearing, of smelling, or of taste ; not simply because the ex- 
 tremities of these nerves individually are suited to one kind of 
 external impression ; but because the nerves, through their whole 
 course, and wherever they are affected, are capable of communi- 
 cating the idea to which they are appropriated, and no other. 
 A blow on the head, an impulse quite unlike that for which the 
 organs of the senses are provided, will excite them all in their 
 several ways ; besides the pain, there will be sparks of fire in the 
 eyes, and a loud noise in the ears. An officer received a musket- 
 ball which went through the bones of his face — in describing 
 his sensations, he said that he felt as if there had been a flash of 
 lightning, accompanied with a sound like the shutting of the 
 door of St Paul's. 
 
 It is owing to the circumstance of every nerve being appro- 
 priated to its function, that the false sensations which accom- 
 pany the morbid irritation of the nerves from internal causes, 
 are produced — such as flashes of light, ringing of the ears, bitter 
 tastes, or offensive smells. These sensations are caused by de- 
 rangement of some internal organ, most frequently the stomach, 
 exciting the respective nerves of sense. 
 
 Nothing affords a more perfect proof of power and design, 
 than the confidence all men put in the correspondence between 
 the perceptions or ideas that arise in the mind, through the ex- 
 ercise of the organs of the senses, and the qualities of external 
 matter. Although it must ever be beyond our comprehension, 
 how the object presented to the outward sense and the idea of 
 it are connected, they are, nevertheless, indissolubly united ; so 
 that the knowledge of the object, gained by these unknown 
 means, is attended with an absolute conviction of the real exist- 
 ence of the object — a conviction independent of reason, and to 
 be regarded as a first law of our nature. 
 
 In the percipient or sentient principle residing in the brain 
 and nerves, as well as in the organs of sense, there must be a 
 conformity to the impression, and a correspondence with the 
 
138 SENSE OF TOUCH. Chap. VIII. 
 
 qualities of matter. The organs of sense may be compared to 
 so many instruments, or tests, which, the philosopher succes- 
 sively employs for distinguishing the different properties of a 
 body which he investigates : as all the qualities are not commu- 
 nicable through any one, he has recourse to several : and so in 
 the use of the senses, each organ is provided for receiving a par- 
 ticular impression, and no other. How^ever mortifying it may 
 be to acknowledge that we know nothing of the manner in 
 which sensation is propagated, or the mind ultimately influ- 
 enced, it is nevertheless pleasing to observe the correspondence 
 established, through a series of organic parts, between the mind 
 and the condition or qualities of matter in the external world. 
 Nothing can convey a more sublime idea of Power; and of the 
 unity of the system which embraces the organic and the inor- 
 ganic creations. 
 
 Returning to the consideration of the sensibility of the skin, 
 or the sense of touch : it is as distinct an endowment as the 
 sense of vision ; it is neither inferior nor more common. Touch 
 is not consequent upon the mere exposure of the delicate surface 
 of the animal body. It is a sense the organ of which is seated 
 in the skin; and although the organ is necessarily extended 
 widely over the surface of the body, yet the nerves are as appro- 
 priate as if they were gathered into one trunk, like those belong- 
 ing to the organs of vision and hearing. In fact, we do find 
 that the portion of nervous matter on which the sensation of 
 touch depends, however diffused in its sentient extremities over 
 the whole exterior surface, is concentrated towards the brain, 
 and is there appropriated to raising its own peculiar perceptions 
 in the mind. 
 
 Perhaps this will be better understood from the fact that a 
 certain large portion of the skin may be the seat of excruciating 
 pain, and yet the surface, which to the patient's idea is the seat 
 of pain, will be altogether insensible to cutting, burning, or any 
 mode of destruction ! " I have no feeling in all the side of my 
 face, and it is dead ; yet surely it cannot be dead, since there is 
 a constant pricking paia in it." Such were the words of a 
 young woman whose disease was at the root of the nerve of sen- 
 sibility near the brain. "^ The disease had destroyed the power 
 of the nerve to convey sensation from the exterior ; but by pro- 
 * See the Author's work on the Nervous System. — (S.) 
 
Chap. YIII. OEGAN OP TOUCH. 139 
 
 ducing irritation near its root, it had substituted tliat morbid 
 impression, which was referred to the tactile extremities of the 
 nerve. 
 
 If we use the term " common sensibility," we can do so only in 
 reference to touch : since, from being the most necessary of the 
 senses, it is enjoyed by all animals, from the lowest to the 
 highest in the chain of existence. Whilst this sense is distinct 
 from the others, it is the most important of any; for it is 
 through it alone that some animals possess the consciousness of 
 existence ; and to those which enjoy many organs of sense, that 
 of touch, as we shall presently show, is essential to the full de- 
 velopment of the powers with which they are endowed. 
 
 OF THE OEGAN OF TOUCH. 
 
 Touch is that peculiar sensibility which gives the conscious- 
 ness of the resistance of external matter, and makes us acquaint- 
 ed with the hardness, smoothness, roughness, size, and form, of 
 bodies. While it enables us to distinguish what is external 
 from what belongs to us, and informs us of the geometrical 
 qualities of bodies, we must refer to this sense also our judg- 
 ment of distance, of motion, of number, and of time. 
 
 Premising that the sense of touch is exercised by means of a 
 complex apparatus — by a combination of the consciousness of 
 the action of the muscles, with the sensibility of the proper 
 nerves of touch, we shall, in the first place, examine in what 
 respect the organisation resembles that of the other senses. 
 
 We have said before, that, on the most minute examination 
 of the extremities of the nerves expanded on the different 
 organs of sense, no appropriate structure can be detected ; that 
 they appear everywhere the same, — soft, pulpy, prepared for 
 impression, and so distributed that the impression shall reach 
 them. What is termed the structure of the organ of sense, is 
 that apparatus by which the external impression is conveyed 
 inwards, and by which its force is concentrated on the extremity 
 of the nerve. The mechanism by which the external organs are 
 suited to their offices is highly interesting ; from their resem- 
 bling things of human contrivance, they serve to show, in a way 
 level to our comprehension, the design with which the fabric is 
 constructed. Thus we can understand how the eye is so seated 
 and so formed as to embrace the greatest possible field of vision; 
 
140 ORGAN OF TOUCH. Chap. VIII. 
 
 we can estimate the happy effects of the convexity of the trans- 
 parent cornea, and the influence of the three humours, of vari- 
 ous densities, acting like an achromatic telescope; we can 
 admire the precision with which the rays of light are concen- 
 trated on the retina, and the beautiful provision for enlarging 
 or diminishing the pencil of light, in proportion to its intensity. 
 But all this explains nothing, in respect to the perception raised 
 in the mind by the impulse on the extremity of the nerve. 
 
 In like manner, in the complex apparatus of the ear, we see 
 how the organ is formed with reference to a double course of 
 vibrations, — as they come through the atmosphere, and through 
 the solids of the body itself : we comprehend how the undula- 
 tions and vibrations of the air are collected and concentrated ; 
 how they are directed, through the intricate passages of the 
 bone, to a fluid in which the nerve of hearing is suspended ; and 
 we see how, at last, that nerve is moved. But nothing more 
 can we comprehend from the study of the external organ of 
 hearing. 
 
 The illustration is equally clear as regards the organ of smell- 
 ing or that of taste. There is nothing in the nerve itself, either 
 of the nose or the tongue, which can explain why it is susceptible 
 of the particular impression that it receives. For these reasons, 
 we are prepared to expect very little complexity in the organ of 
 touch; and to believe that the peculiarity of the sense con- 
 sists more in the property bestowed on the nerve, than in the 
 mechanical adaptation of the exterior organ. 
 
 OF THE CUTICLE. 
 
 The cuticle or epidermis covers the true skin, excludes the 
 air, limits the perspiration, and in some degree regulates the 
 heat of the body. It is a dead or insensible covering; it 
 guards from contact the true vascular surface of the skin ; and 
 in this manner, it often prevents the communication of infec- 
 tion. We are most familiar with it as the scarf skin, which 
 scales off after fevers, or by the use of the flesh-brush, or by 
 the friction of the clothes ; for it is continually separating in 
 minute thin scales, whilst it is as regularly formed anew by 
 the vascular surface below. 
 
 The structure of this covering is intimately connected with 
 the organ of touch. The habit of considering the function of 
 
Chap. YIII. ORGAN OF TOUCH. 141 
 
 certain textures as produced accidentally, has induced some 
 anatomists to believe that the cuticle is formed by the mere 
 hardening of the true skin. The fact, however, that the cuticle 
 is perfect in the new-born infant, and that even then it is thick- 
 est on the hands and feet, should have shown that, like every 
 thing in the animal structure, it participates in the great 
 design. 
 
 The cuticle is so far a part of the organ of touch, that it is 
 the medium through which the external impression is conveyed 
 to the nerve ; and the manner in which that is accomplished is 
 not without interest. 
 
 The extremities of the fingers best exhibit the provisions for 
 the exercise of the sense. The nails give support to the tips of 
 the fingers ; and in order to sustain the elastic cushion which 
 forms their extremity, they are made broad and shield-like."^ 
 This cushion is an important part of the exterior apparatus ; 
 its fulness and elasticity adapt it admirably for touch. An in- 
 genious gentleman has observed that we cannot feel the pulse 
 at the wrist with the tongue. That is a remarkable fact ; and 
 I apprehend that it is owing, not to the insensibility of the 
 tongue, but to its softness of texture ; the tip of the tongue is 
 not fitted to receive that peculiar impulse, to which the firm 
 and elastic pad of the finger is so perfectly suited. Is it not in- 
 teresting to find that, had the organ of touch been formed as 
 dehcately as the tongue, we should have lost one of our inlets 
 to the knowledge of matter ! 
 
 But to return: on a nearer inspection, we discover in the 
 points of the fingers a more particular provision for adapting 
 them to touch. Wherever the sense of feeling is most exquisite, 
 there we see minute spiral ridges of the cuticle. These ridges 
 have corresponding depressions on the inner surface ; and they, 
 again, give lodgment to soft pulpy processes of the skin, called 
 papillse, in which lie the extremities of the sentient nerves. 
 Thus the nerves are adequately protected, while they are, at the 
 same time, sufiiciently exposed, to have impressions communi- 
 cated to them through the elastic cuticle, and thus to give rise 
 to the sense of touch. The organisation is simple, yet it is in 
 strict analogy with the other organs of sense. 
 Every one must have observed a tendency in the cuticle to 
 * Unguis scuUformis. 
 
142 ORGAN OF TOUCH. Chap. VIII. 
 
 become thickened and stronger by pressure and friction. If the 
 pressure be partial and severe, the action of the true skin is 
 too much excited, fluid is thrown out, and the cuticle is raised 
 in a blister. If it be still partial, but more gradually applied, 
 a corn is formed. If, however, the general surface of the palms 
 or soles be exposed to pressure, the cuticle thickens, until it 
 becomes a defence, like a glove or shoe. JSTow, what is most 
 to be admired in this thickening of the cuticle is, that the sense 
 of touch is not thereby lost, or indeed much diminished, cer- 
 tainly not in proportion to the increased protection afforded by 
 it to the skin beneath. 
 
 The thickened cuticle partakes of the character of the hoof 
 of an animal. We may therefore examine the structure of the 
 hoof of the horse, as the best illustration how the sensibility 
 of the skin is preserved in due degree, whilst the surface is 
 completely guarded against injury. The human nail is a con- 
 tinuation of the cuticle, and the hoof of an animal belongs to 
 the same class of parts as the nail. 
 
 In observing how the nerves are disposed with regard to the 
 hoof, we have, in fact, a magnified view of the structure which 
 exists, only more minutely and delicately, in the cuticular 
 covering of the fingers. The crust or hoof is in itself alto- 
 gether insensible : but on separating it from the part which 
 it covers, we perceive that its inner surface is marked by 
 numerous grooves or fissures. On the other hand, the surface 
 with which the hoof is in contact, possesses, during life, a high 
 degree of vascularity and sensibility; and projecting from it 
 are small villi,* containing blood-vessels and nerves, which 
 enter into the fissures of the hoof, where they are securely 
 lodged. When we detach the hoof from the vascular and 
 nervous surface, we can see these delicate tufts or villi, as 
 they are pulled out from the interspaces which they occupied : 
 and they are not merely extremities of nerves ; they consist 
 of nerves with the necessary accompaniment of membrane and 
 blood-vessels, on a very minute scale : for it must be remem- 
 bered that nerves can perform no function unless supplied 
 with blood, all qualities of life being supported through the 
 circulating blood. The nerves so prolonged within the villi 
 
 * Villi, delicate tufts, like the pile of velvet, projecting from the 
 siu'face of any membrane. 
 
Chap. YIII. OEGAN OF TOUCH. 143 
 
 into the hoof, receive the vibrations of that body : and by that 
 means the horse is sensible to the motion and pressure of its 
 foot, or to its percussion against the ground ; without which 
 provision, there would be a certain imperfection in the limb. 
 
 In a former part of this treatise, I have shown by what a 
 curious mechanism the horse's foot is rendered yielding and 
 elastic, to enable it to bear the shocks to which it is liable. 
 But owing to the hardness of our made roads, and the defects 
 of shoeing, the pressure and concussion are too severe and too 
 incessant not to be attended with injury of the foot : accord- 
 ingly, inflammation follows ; and then the protecting sensibility 
 is converted into a source of pain ; the horse is " foundered." 
 There is a remedy for this condition, by dividing the nerve 
 across before it reaches the foot; the consequence of which 
 operation is, that the horse, instead of moving with timid 
 steps, puts out his feet freely, and the lameness is cured. But 
 were we to leave the statement thus barely, the fact would be 
 opposed to the conclusion, that for the perfection of the instru- 
 ment, the mechanical provision and sensibility are equally neces- 
 sary, and require to be associated. It may relieve us from the 
 difficulty, if we consider that pressure against the sole and 
 crust is essential to the play of the foot, and to its perfection : 
 when the foot is inflamed, and the animal does not put it freely 
 down, it does not bear its weight upon the hoof so as to bring all 
 the parts into action ; hence contraction is produced, the most 
 common defect, as we before said, of the horse's hoof. But 
 when the animal is relieved from its pain by the division of 
 the nerve, it then uses the foot freely, and use restores all the 
 natural actions of this fine piece of mechanism. 
 
 It is obvious, however, that when the nerve is cut across, 
 there must be a certain defect ; the horse will have lost his 
 natural protection, and must now be indebted to the care of 
 his rider. He will not only have lost the sense of pain to 
 guard against over-exertion, but the feeling of the contact of 
 the ground, necessary to his being a safe roadster. 
 
 The teeth are endowed with sensation,, and in the same 
 manner as the hoof of the horse. Although neither the sub- 
 stance nor the enamel of the tooth is itself sensible, yet a 
 branch of the sensitive nerve (the fifth) enters into the cavity 
 of each tooth j a vibration can thus be communicated through 
 
144 OEGAIT OF TOUCH. Char VIIL 
 
 the tooth to the nerve ; and the smallest grain between the 
 teeth is easily felt. 
 
 To return to the human hand. If a man use the fore-hammer, 
 the cuticle of his fingers and palm will become thickened in a 
 remarkable manner ; but the grooves on the inner surface be- 
 come also deeper, and the papillae, projecting into them, longer; 
 the consequence of which is, that owing to the cuticle retaining 
 its aptitude to convey impressions to the included nerves, 
 he continues to possess the sense of touch in a very useful 
 degree. 
 
 In the foot of the ostrich,* we may behold a magnified view 
 of the cuticle, with processes disposed like the thickset hairs of 
 a brush, each process enclosing a papilla, into which the length- 
 ened nerves are prolonged. The outer skin of the foot, in this 
 " runner," almost equals in thickness the hoof of the horse. In 
 separating it from the skin, the papillae, containing within 
 them the nerves, are withdrawn from each of the processes of 
 cuticle, and leave corresponding foramina or pores. If the 
 object had been merely to protect the foot by an insensible 
 covering, it would have sufficed to invest the sole with a suc- 
 cession of dead layers of cuticle ; and that would have been the 
 case had the scarf skin been simply thickened by pressure : but 
 the structure is adapted in all respects to the habits of the bird : 
 besides having adequate callosity, it is endowed with sensation 
 proportioned to its wants. 
 
 Such, then, is the structure of the organ of touch : obvious in 
 the extremities of the fingers; magnified in the foot of the 
 horse, or of the ostrich ; and existing even in the delicate skin 
 of the lips. 
 
 I have casually noticed that increased vascularity, as being 
 necessary to sensibility, always accompanies the distribution of 
 nerves to a part. In the museum of the College of Surgeons, 
 we see that Mr. Hunter had taken pains to demonstrate this, by 
 injecting the blood-vessels of a slug; although the coloured 
 size was injected from the heart, the blush of the vermilion ex- 
 tends principally over its " foot ;" the foot, in these gasteropoda, 
 being the whole lower flat surface or belly on which the animal 
 creeps. This vascular surface is also the organ of touch, by 
 
 * See engravings, pp. QQ, 87. 
 
Chap. YIII. ORGAN OF TOUCH. 145 
 
 which the slug feels and directs its motions. It is the same 
 l^rinciple, if we may compare such things, that explains the 
 rosy-tipped fingers and ruby lips ; the colour implies that 
 high vascularity is combined with the fine sensibility of these 
 parts. 
 
 Having described the relation of the cuticle to the nerves in 
 the organ of touch, we may notice the advantages which accrue 
 from the roughness of its surface. We must be sensible that on 
 touching a finely polished object, the sense is but imperfectly 
 exercised, compared with touching or grasping a rough and 
 irregular body. Had the cuticle been perfectly smooth, it 
 would have been ill suited to touch; but being, on the con- 
 trary, slightly rough, its quality is more adapted to convey 
 sensation. 
 
 A provision for increasing friction is especially necessary, in 
 some parts of the skin. Thus, the roughness of the cuticle in 
 the palm of the hand, and in the sole of the foot, gives us a 
 firmer grasp and a steadier footing : nothing is so little apt to 
 slip, as the thickened scarf-skin, either of the hand or foot. In 
 the hoofs of animals, as might be expected, roughness and tena- 
 city in the structure are further developed. It is owing to this 
 quality that the chamois, ibex, or goat, steps securely at great 
 heights on the narrow ledges of rocks, where it would seem im- 
 possible to cling. So in the pads or cushions of the cat, the 
 cuticle is rough and granular ; and in the foot of the squirrel, 
 indeed of all animals which climb, we find the pads covered 
 with the cuticle, similarly roughened, allowing them to descend 
 the bole of the tree securely, while their claws enable them to 
 grasp and cling to the branches. 
 
 In concluding this section, we perceive that the organ of 
 touch consists of nerves, appropriated to receive impressions of 
 contact from bodies capable of offering resistance. Fine fila- 
 ments of sensitive nerves, wrapped up in delicate membrane, 
 with their accompanying arteries and veins, project from the 
 true skin into papillae on the surface, and these again are lodged 
 in corresponding grooves or foramina of the cuticle. The fila- 
 ments are not absolutely in contact with the cuticle, but are 
 surrounded with a semi-fluid matter ; by which and the cuticle 
 the nerves are protected, at the same time that they are sensible 
 
 K 
 
146 
 
 OEGAN OF TOUCH. 
 
 Chap. YIII. 
 
 to pressure, cutting, pricking, and heat. But this capacity, we 
 repeat, is not owing, strictly speaking, to anything in the struc- 
 ture of the organ ; it is to the appropriation of the nerve to this 
 class of sensations. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OP THE MUSCULAE, SENSE. 
 
 A NOTioisr prevails that althougli the young of the lower animals 
 are directed by instinct, there is an exception in regard to the 
 human offspring. It is believed that in the child we may trace 
 the gradual dawn and progressive improvement of reason, inde- 
 pendently of instinct. That is not true. We doubt whether 
 the actions of the body, if not first instinctive, or directed by 
 sensibilities which are innate, would ever be exercised under 
 the influence of reason alone. 
 
 The sensibilities and motions of the lips and tongue are per- 
 fect in the young infant from the beginning. The dread of fall- 
 ing is shewn by the infant long before it could have experience 
 of violence of any kind. 
 
 The hand, destined to become the instrument for perfecting 
 the other senses, and for developing the endowments of the mind 
 itself, is, in the infant, absolutely powerless. Pain is poeti- 
 cally figured as the power into whose " iron grasp " we are con- 
 signed when introduced to a material world. Now, although the 
 infant is capable of expressing pain in a manner not to be mis- 
 understood, yet it is unconscious of the part of the body which 
 is injured. There occur certain congenital imperfections which 
 require surgical assistance in early childhood ; but the infant 
 will make no direct effort with its hand to repel the instrument, 
 or disturb the dressing, as it wiU do at a period somewhat later. 
 
 The lips and tongue are the parts first exercised by the child; 
 the next motion is to put its hand to the mouth, to suck it : 
 and, as soon as the fingers are capable of grasping, whatever 
 they hold is carried to the mouth. Hence the sensibility to 
 touch and power of action in the lips and tongue, are the first 
 inlets to knowledge. The use of the hand is a later acquirement. 
 
 The knowledge of external objects cannot be acquired, until 
 the organ of touch has become familiar with our own body. 
 We cannot be supposed capable of judging of the form or tan- 
 
148 OF THE MUSCULAE SEFSEL Chap. IX. 
 
 gible qualities of anything in contact with the skin, or of 
 exploring it by the motion of the hand, before having the 
 consciousness of our own body, as distinguished from things 
 external. 
 
 The first office of the hand, then, is to exercise the sensibility 
 of the mouth : and the infant as certainly questions the reality 
 of things by that test, as does the dog by its acute sense of 
 smelling. In the infant, the sense of the lips and tongue is re- 
 signed in favour of that of vision only when the exercise of the 
 eye has improved, and oJffers greater attraction. The hand very 
 slowly acquires the sense of touch ; and many ineffectual efforts 
 may be observed in the arms and fingers of the child, before it 
 can estimate the direction or distance of objects. Gradually 
 the length of the arm, and the extent of its motions, become 
 the measure of distance, of form, of relation, and perhaps of 
 time. 
 
 Next in importance to the sensibility of the mouth, we may 
 consider that sense which is early exhibited in the infant — ^the 
 terror of falling. The nurse will tell us that the infant lies 
 composed in her arms, while she carries it up stairs ; but that 
 it is agitated when she carries it down. If an infant be laid 
 upon the arms and dandled up and down, its body and limbs 
 wWl be at rest as it is raised ; but in descending, it will struggle 
 and make efforts. Here is the indication of a sense, an innate 
 feeling, of danger ; and we may perceive its influence, when the 
 child first attempts to stand or run. When set upon its feet, 
 the nurse's arms forming a hoop around it, without touching it, 
 the child slowly learns to balance itself and stand, but under a 
 considerable apprehension ; it will only try to stand at such a 
 distance from the nurse's knee, that if it should fall, it can throw 
 itself for protection into her lap. In these, its first attempts to 
 use its muscuJar frame, it is directed by a fear which cannot as 
 yet be attributed to experience. By degrees it acquires the 
 knowledge of the measure of its arm, the relative distance to 
 which it can reach, and the power of its muscles. Children are, 
 therefore, cowardly by instinct : they show an apprehension of 
 falling ; and we may trace the gradual efforts which they make, 
 under the guidance of this sense of danger, to perfect the mus- 
 cular sense. We thus perceive how instinct and reason are 
 combined in early infancy ; how necessary the first is to exist- 
 
Chap. IX. OF THE MUSCULAR SEI^SE. 149 
 
 ence : how it soon becomes subservient to reason : and how it 
 eventually yields to the progress of reason, until obscured so 
 much, that we can hardly discern its influence. 
 
 When, treating of the senses generally, and showing how one 
 organ profits by the other, and how each is indebted to that of 
 touch, I observed, that touch itself is dependent on the exercise 
 of a distinct property— that without the accompaniment of 
 muscular action, and a consciousness of effort, this sense could 
 hardly be an inlet to knowledge at all 
 
 In my lectures, I have always delivered the same views. I 
 have endeavoured to prove that for the perfect exercise of the 
 sense of touch, motion of the hand and fingers, and conscious- 
 ness of the action of the muscles in producing such motion, 
 must be combined with the feeling of contact of the object. To 
 that consciousness of exertion, I gave the name "muscular 
 sense;" calling it a sixth sense. Although I questioned the 
 correctness of my opinions, when I perceived that none of the 
 chief authorities in mental philosophy, in treating of the senses, 
 adverted to the knowledge obtained from the action of the 
 muscles, yet I can now refer to authors educated to medicine, 
 who have confirmed my views ; it having occurred to them, as 
 to me, that the combination of two kinds of sense was required 
 in the organ of touch. 
 
 Those distinctions were connected with my inquiries into the 
 functions of the Nervous system. It was the conviction that we 
 are sensible of the action of the muscles which led me to inves- 
 tigate their nerves ; first, by anatomy, and then by experiment. 
 I was finally enabled to show, that the muscles are provided 
 with two classes of nerves ; that on exciting one of these, the 
 muscle contracts ; on exciting the other, no action takes place ; 
 and that the nerve which has no direct power over the muscle, 
 is for giving sensation. Thus it was proved, that muscles are 
 connected with the brain, through a "nervous circle;" that 
 one nerve is not capable of transmitting what may be called 
 nervous influence, in two different directions at once ; in other 
 w^ords, that a nerve cannot carry volition to the muscles, and 
 sensation towards the brain, simultaneously and by itself : but 
 that, for the regulation of muscular action, two distinct nerves 
 are required ; first, a nerve of sensibility to convey a conscious- 
 ness of the condition of the muscles to the sensorium; and 
 
150 OF THE MUSCULAR SENSE. Chap. IX. 
 
 secondly, a nerve of motion for conveying a mandate of the will 
 to the muscles. 
 
 In their distribution through the body, the nervous fibrils 
 which possess these two distinct powers, of conferring sensation, 
 and of exciting the muscles to contraction, are wrapped up, or 
 woven together in the same sheath, and present the appearance 
 of a single nerve : but by examining them where they arise from 
 the brain or spinal marrow, they are found to come off from dif- 
 ferent tracts, by two distinct " roots ; " and the fibrils of these 
 roots soon coalesce, to form what, in reality, are compound 
 nerves, although they appear simple. By anatomical reasoning 
 and experiment I succeeded in demonstrating that one of these 
 roots, with its prolonged fibrils in the nerve, is for bestowing 
 motive power on the muscles ; and that the other root, with 
 its prolonged fibrils, is for conferring sensation.'^ 
 
 The Abbe Nollet, after extolling the sense of touch as supe- 
 rior to all the rest, and deserving to be considered the gemcs, 
 under which the others should be included as subordinate species, 
 makes this remark — " Besides, it has this advantage over them, 
 to be at the same time both active and passive : for it not only 
 puts it in our power to judge of what makes an impression 
 upon us, but likewise of what resists our impulsions." The 
 mistake here is the same as that to which I have already re- 
 ferred ; where it was alleged that the peculiarity of the sense of 
 touch consisted in there being an effort propagated towards it, 
 as well as a sensation received from it. The confusion is obvi- 
 ously from considering the muscular action directed by the will 
 in the exercise of touch, as belonging to the nerve of touch pro- 
 perly. I proceed to show how the sense of motion and that of 
 contact are necessarily combined. 
 
 When a blind man, or a man blindfolded, stands upright, 
 neither leaning upon, nor touching aught ; by what means does 
 he maintain the erect position 1 The symmetry of his body is 
 not the cause. A statue of the finest proportion must be sol- 
 dered to its pedestal, else the wind will cast it down. How is 
 it, then, that a man sustains the perpendicular posture, or in- 
 clines in due degree towards the wind that blows upon him ? 
 It is obvious that he has a sense by which he knows the incHna- 
 
 * See the Account of the Author's 1 at the commerLcement of the volume. 
 Discoveries in the Nervous System, [ — (S.) 
 
Chap. IX. OF THE MUSCULAR SE:tTSE. 151 
 
 tion of his body ; and that he has a ready aptitude to adjust 
 the parts of it, so as to correct any deviation from the perpen- 
 dicular. What sense is this? he touches nothing and sees 
 nothing; there is no organ of sense hitherto observed which 
 can aid him. Is it not that sense which we have seen exhibited 
 so early in the infant, in the fear of falling ; and which caused 
 its struggles, while it yet lay in the nurse's arms 1 It can only 
 be by the adjustment of muscles, that the limbs are stiffened, 
 the body firmly balanced, and kept erect ; and there is no other 
 source of knowledge but a sense of the degree of exertion in his 
 muscular frame, by which a man can become conscious of the 
 position of his body, and action of his limbs, while he has no 
 point of vision, or the contact of any external body to direct his 
 efforts. In truth, we stand by so fine an exercise of this power, 
 and the muscles, from habit, are directed with so much pre- 
 cision, and with an effort so slight, that we do not know how 
 we stand. But if we attempt to walk on a narrow ledge, or 
 rest in a situation where we are in danger of falling, or bal- 
 ance on one foot, we become subject to apprehension : and the 
 actions of the muscles are then, as it were, magnified, and de- 
 monstrative of the degree in which they are excited. 
 
 Although we touch nothing and see nothing, yet we are 
 sensible of the position of our limbs ; that the arms hang by 
 the sides, or that they are raised and held out. And it must 
 be by a property internal to the frame, that we know this. At 
 one time I entertained a doubt whether this knowledge pro- 
 ceeded from a sense of the condition of the muscles, or from a 
 consciousness of the degree of effort which had been directed to 
 them in volition. But I reasoned in this manner, — we awake 
 with the knowledge of the position of our limbs : this cannot 
 be from a recollection of the action which placed them where 
 they are ; it must therefore be a consciousness of their present 
 condition. When a person just after awaking moves his body, 
 it is with a determined object; and before he can desire a 
 change or direct a movement, he must be conscious of a previous 
 condition. 
 
 After a limb has been removed by the surgeon, the person 
 still feels pain, and heat, and cold, as if present in the limb. 
 Urging a patient who had lost his leg, to move it, I have seen 
 him catch at the limb, to guard it, forgetting that it was re- 
 
152 
 
 OF THE MUSCULAR SENSE. 
 
 Chap. TX. 
 
 moved. Long after his loss, he experiences a sensation not 
 only as if the limb remained, but as if it were placed or hanging 
 in a particular position or posture. I have asked a patient — 
 "Where do you feel your arm now?" and he has said, "I feel 
 it as if it lay across my breast," or that it is "lying by my 
 side." It seems also to change with the change of posture of 
 the body. These are additional proofs of a -muscular sense ; 
 that there is an internal sensibility corresponding to the chang- 
 ing condition of the muscles ; and that as the sensations of an 
 organ of sense remain, after the destruction of the outward 
 organ, so a deceptions sensibility to the condition of the muscles, 
 as well as to the condition of the skin, will be felt after the 
 removal of a limb. 
 
 By such arguments, I have been in the habit of showing that 
 we possess a muscular sense ; and that without a perception of 
 the condition of the muscles previous to the exercise of the will, 
 we could not command them in standing, far less in walking, 
 leaping, or running. And as for the hand, it is not more the 
 freedom of its action which constitutes its perfection, than the 
 knowledge which we have of these motions, and our consequent 
 ability to direct it with the utmost precision."^ 
 
 The necessity for the combination of two distinct properties 
 of the nervous system in the sense of touch, becomes more 
 obvious if we examine their operation in other, but analogous 
 organs ; for example, in the palpi or tentacula of the lower 
 animals. These instruments consist of a rigid tube, containing 
 a pulpy matter, in which there is a branch of a nerve that pos- 
 sesses, in an exquisite degree, the sense of touch; and the 
 animals use them for groping their way. When the tentacu- 
 lum touches a body, and the vibration runs along the pulp of 
 the nerve, the animal can be sensible only of an obstruction ; 
 but how is the creature's progress to be directed to avoid it 1 
 
 * "Wlien, on his return tome from 
 Ms wanderings, Ulysses desired to 
 punish the insolence of the beggar 
 Irus, by inflicting on him a severe 
 blow, yet feared lest the well-known 
 power of his arm, if he put forth its 
 whole strength, might betray him to 
 Penelope's suitors, he deliberated on 
 the amount of force he would em- 
 ploy with his fist — 
 
 "Whether to strike him lifeless to the earth 
 At once, or fell him with a measured blow;" 
 
 and decided to deal one which would 
 only fracture the beggar's jaw. It 
 must have been a fine calculation 
 that he made, by his muscular sense, 
 of the exertion of the muscles of the 
 arm called for, as well as of the di- 
 rection of their action, before he deli- 
 vered the measured blow. 
 
Chap. IX. 
 
 OF THE MUSCULAR SENSE. 
 
 153 
 
 WTien we see the instrument moving about and feeling on all 
 sides, we must acknowledge that it is the sense of the action of 
 the muscles communicating that motion, which conveys the 
 knowledge of the place or direction of the obstructing body. 
 It appears, therefore, that even in the very lowest creatures, the 
 sense of touch implies the comparison of two distinct senses. 
 
 That insects possess the most exquisite organs of sense, must 
 be allowed : but we do not reflect on the extraordinary accu- 
 racy with which they measure distances in their movements. 
 This they can only accomplish by an adaptation of the muscu- 
 lar exertion to the sense of vision. The spider, to which I have 
 already alluded — the aranea scenica — when about to leap, ele- 
 vates itself on its fore-legs, and lifting its head, seems to survey 
 the spot before it jumps ; if it spy a small gnat or fly on the 
 wall, it creeps very gently towards it, with short steps, till it 
 comes within a proper distance, and then springs suddenly 
 upon it like a tiger. It will jump two feet to seize upon 
 a bee.^ 
 
 We have a more curious instance of the precision of the eye 
 and of the adaptation of muscular action, in some of the chae- 
 todons, as the chelmon rostratus.i This fish inhabits the Indian 
 rivers, and lives on 
 the smaller aquatic 
 flies. If it observe 
 one of these insects, 
 alighted on a twig, 
 or flying near, (for it 
 can shoot them on 
 the wing,) it darts 
 forth a drop of water 
 fVom its beak, with 
 so steady an aim, as 
 to bring the fly into 
 
 the water, when it falls an easy prey. These fishes are kept in 
 large vases for amusement ; and if a fly be presented on the 
 end of a twig, they will shoot at it with surprising accuracy. 
 In its natural state it will hit a fly at the distance of from three 
 to six inches. 
 
 Kirby. 
 
 t Chaetodon, a genus of the Acantliopterygii. 
 
154 
 
 OP THE MUSCULAR SENSE. 
 
 Chap. IX. 
 
 The zeics insicUator* has also the same power of forming its 
 mouth into a tube, and squirting at flies, so as to encumber 
 their wings and bring them to the surface of the water. Now, 
 whether we regard these habits in the lower creatures, as be- 
 stowed by instinct, or look upon similar powers belonging to 
 ourselves, as acquired properties, we must acknowledge that in 
 both the operation is compound.t 
 
 Some would have us believe that the effect of the impression 
 of odours on the nerve of smelling, is exactly similar to that 
 of light on the nerve of vision ; and yet they suppose that the 
 impression on the retina alone suffices to inform us of the 
 direction and distance of objects. But of the direction and 
 distance from which odours come, we are quite ignorant until, 
 by turning the head, and directing the nostrils this way and 
 that, we make a comparison, and at length discover on which 
 side the smell is strongest on the sense. 
 
 In insects, the motion of the body is rendered subservient 
 to smell, as well as to vision. There is nothing in the mere 
 exercise of the organ of smell that can direct an insect in its 
 flight : yet, if a piece of carrion be thrown out, flies will 
 approach it, — not by flying in a direct line to it, but by coming 
 towards it in circles. So it is with the bees, in a garden, when 
 attracted to a flower : they may be seen, at first, flying wide, 
 describing circles in their flight, each circle diminishing as they 
 come nearer, until at last they alight upon the object. Having 
 no organ like lungs and thorax to enable them to inhale the 
 effluvia, they make currents in the air, by their mode of flight, 
 so as to impress the nerve of smelling : and it is from the sense 
 of the odour being more acute in one part of the circle, that 
 the next wheel is made ; and thus they are directed in a line 
 drawn through these circles, to the flower. ' 
 
 We can judge of the direction from which sounds proceed, 
 without turning the ear towards them. That is because the 
 strength of the vibration is unequal on the two sides of the 
 head ; and we can readily compare the two impressions, so as 
 to decide upon the direction. But when a person is deaf in 
 
 * Belonging to another genus of 
 the same section. 
 
 t A difficulty will occur to the 
 reader : since the rays of light are 
 
 refracted at the surface of the water, 
 how does the fish judge of position ? 
 Does instinct enable it to do so, or is 
 it experience ? 
 
Chap. IX. OF THE MUSCULAE SE:t;rSE. 155 
 
 one ear, tlie comparison is difficult, and lie is often mistaken 
 as to the point from wMch the sound comes; he has more 
 frequent occasion to turn the head, and test the position of the 
 tube of the ear with the strength of the impressions. Accord- 
 ingly, in mixed company, where there are many speakers, a 
 man in this condition appears positively deaf, from the impos- 
 sibility of distinguishing minutely the direction of sounds. 
 
 The last proof of the necessity of the combination of the 
 muscular sense with the sense of contact will be conclusive. 
 It is not a solitary instance : — A mother while nursing her 
 infant was seized with a paralysis, attended with the loss of 
 muscular power on one side of her body, and the loss of sen- 
 sibility on the other. The surprising, and indeed the alarming 
 circumstance here was, that she could hold her child to her 
 bosom with the arm which retained muscular power, only so 
 long as she looked to the infant. If surrounding objects with- 
 drew her attention from the state of her arm, the flexor muscles 
 gradually relaxed, and the child was in danger of falling. The 
 details of the case do not belong to our present inquiry ; but we 
 see, first, that two distinct properties are possessed by the 
 nerves of the arm, as evinced by the loss of the one, and con- 
 tinuance of the other; secondly, that these two properties 
 exist through different endowments of the nervous system; 
 and, thirdly, that muscular power is insufficient for the ex- 
 ercise of the limbs, without a sensibility to accompany and 
 direct it. 
 
 Let me offer another example : — Nothing serves better to 
 make us appreciate the blessings which we enjoy, than examin- 
 ing the organisation of a part which, from its familiarity, and 
 the absolute perfection of its action, we neglect or think meanly 
 of. The lips receive the food, and aid in mastication ; they are 
 a principal part of the organ of speech ; they are expressive of 
 emotion ; they are the most acutely sensible to touch. The 
 vermilion surfaces of the lips possess their exquisite sensibility 
 through minute and delicate villi, into which the extremities of 
 the sensitive nerve are distributed: and these, being covered 
 only with a cuticle the most thin and transparent, afford the 
 ready instrument of touch. Again, a concourse of fine muscles 
 converges to the lips, and surrounds them ; and these muscles 
 receive their motor influence from a distinct nerve, coming from 
 
156 OF THE MUSCULAR SEls^SE. Chap. IX. 
 
 a different quarter of the brain from the sensitive. Now, if this 
 nerve of motion be cut and lose its function, the animal puts 
 its lips to the grains it feeds upon, but cannot gather them. So 
 also, if the nerve of sensation be injured, the animal presses its 
 lips to the food, but wanting the sensibility by which the motion 
 of the lips should be dhected, it does not gather them. These 
 facts show that whilst sensibility and motion depend upon 
 different nerves, they are necessarily combined for so simple an 
 act as taking the food into the mouth. As connected with the 
 subject, it is a strange thing to see a person who has every 
 capacity for motion in the lips and tongue, letting the morsel 
 remain in his mouth for hours, without knowing it. The first 
 instance I found of a defect in the lips exactly similar to that 
 produced by the experiment of cutting the nerve of sensation 
 on one side of the face, was in a gentleman who, being under 
 the hands of his dentist, had the nerve of sensation hurt by the 
 pulling of a tooth: having a glass of water given to him, he 
 remarked that the glass was a broken one ! The fact being, 
 that the portion of the tumbler in contact with one half of his 
 lips was not felt at all, which gave him the same sensation as if 
 a bit of the glass had been broken away. 
 
 The capacity, therefore, of the hand to ascertain the distance, 
 size, weight, form, hardness or softness, roughness or smoothness 
 of objects, results from its having a compound function — from 
 the sensibility of the proper organ of touch, being combined 
 with the consciousness of the motion of the arm, hand, and 
 fingers. 
 
 But it is the motion of the fingers that is especially necessary 
 to the sense of touch. These bend, or extend, or expand, or 
 move in every direction, like palpi, with the advantage of em- 
 bracing the object, feeling it on all its sides, estimating its solidity 
 or its resistance when grasped, moving round it, and gliding over 
 its surfaces, so as to feel every asperity, and be sensible of every 
 slight vibration. 
 
 THE PLEASUEES AEISING FEOM THE MUSCULAR SENSE. 
 
 As much of the knowledge usually supposed to be obtained 
 through the organs of the senses, has its source in the exercise 
 of the muscular frame, so we may trace to it some of our chief 
 enjoyments. It may, indeed, be affirmed that nature benevo- 
 
Chap. TX. OF THE MUSCULAR SENSE. 157 
 
 lently intends tliat the vigorous circulation of the blood, aiid 
 healthful condition both of mind and body, should result from 
 alternations of muscular exertion and repose. The pleasure 
 which proceeds from activity, may be partly due to a gratifica- 
 tion naturally arising from the exercise of any kind of power — 
 as that implied by mere dexterity, or the successful pursuit of 
 some field sport, or the accomplishment of a work of art. But 
 independently of such sources of satisfaction, active exercise is 
 followed by weariness, and a desire for rest ; and although this 
 condition may not be attended with any describable local plea- 
 sure, yet after fatigue, and whilst the active powers are sinking 
 into repose, there is diffused through every part of the frame a 
 feeling almost voluptuous. To this feeling an impatience of rest 
 succeeds. Thus are we urged to follow the alternations of ac- 
 tivity and of repose necessary to health ; and are invited on from 
 stage to stage of our existence. 
 
 We owe other enjoyments to the muscular sense. In modern 
 times comparatively little may be thought of the gratifications 
 arising from motion. Yet we read that the gravest of the 
 Greeks, even of the Romans, studied elegance in their attitudes 
 and movements. Their apparel favoured that display of grace, 
 while their exercises and games contributed to encourage ele- 
 gance of movement. The dances they performed were not ex- 
 hibitions of mere exuberance of spirits and activity. It was 
 their pride to combine harmony in the motion of the body and 
 limbs, with majesty of gait; their movements consisted more 
 of the unfolding of the arms, than of the play of the feet, — 
 "their arms sublime, that floated on the air." The Pyrrhic 
 dances were attitudes of combat, or martial movements, per- 
 formed in correct coincidence with the expression of the music. 
 The spectators, in their theatres, must have had very different 
 associations from ours, to account for the national enthusiasm 
 displayed by the influence of their music, and the rage excited 
 by a mere error in time. 
 
 This may remind us that in music the divisions of time 
 depend in some degree on the muscular sense. A man will 
 put down his staff in regulated time j and ill his common walk, 
 the sound of his steps will fall into a measure. A boy striking 
 the railing in mere wantonness, will do it with a regular suc- 
 cession of blows. This tendency of the muscular frame to 
 
158 
 
 OF THE MUSCULAR SENSE. 
 
 Chap. IX. 
 
 move in accordance with time, is the source of much that is 
 pleasing in music, and assists the effect of melody. 
 
 "The hand 
 Sang with the voice, and this the argument." 
 
 The closest connection is thus established between the enjoy- 
 ments of the sense of hearing, and the exercise of the muscu- 
 lar sense.* 
 
 The effect of disorders of the nervous system upon the mus- 
 cular frame, is sometimes to show how natural certain combina- 
 tions of actions may be, although morbidly excited. The follow- 
 ing is a curious illustration : — A young woman, who could not 
 be taught to go down a country-dance, suffering under a ner- 
 vous illness, began to execute involuntary movements, not unbe- 
 coming an opera-dancer. At one time she would pace slowly 
 round the room, with a measured step, the arms carried with 
 elegance, as in a minuet ; again, she would stand on the toes of 
 one foot, and beat time with the other ; on some occasions she 
 would strike the table, or whatever she could reach, with her 
 hand, many times softly, and then with force ; at length it was 
 found that she did everything in rhythm. A friend thought 
 that in her regular beating he could recognise a tune ; and he 
 began singing it. The moment the sound struck her ears, she 
 turned suddenly to the man, danced directly up to him, and 
 continued to dance, until he was quite out of breath. The cure 
 of this young woman was of a very unusual kind : a drum and 
 fife were procured, and when a tune corresponding to the 
 rhythm of her movements was played, in whatever part of the 
 room she might be, she would dance close up to the drum, and 
 continue dancing imtil she missed the step, — when these invo- 
 
 * It is probable that we must as- 
 cribe to this the power possessed by- 
 music over the passions, and even 
 over disease. It is recorded that 
 the music teacher of Socrates [and 
 many wiU be pleased to know that 
 so sage a man had a music teacher] 
 seeing one inflamed with wine, in- 
 tent, while the flute was played in 
 Phrygian measure, on setting fire to 
 the house, cured him by ordering 
 the player to change the mode to 
 the grave and soothing Spondseus! 
 
 Galen records instances of the resto- 
 rative influence of music over the 
 passions and over disease. And it 
 appears to have been resorted to by 
 Egyi^tians, Hebrews, Greeks, and 
 Romans, both in acute and chronic 
 disorders. Hence the phrase, "Loca 
 dolentia incantare." 
 
 To learn how much of the pleasure 
 of the sense of Vision depends on 
 muscular action, see the "Addi- 
 tional Illustrations" in the Appen- 
 dix. 
 
Chap. IX. OF THE MUSCULAR SENSE. 159 
 
 luntary motions instantly ceased, and tlie paroxysm ended. 
 The physician, profiting by this, and observing a motion in her 
 lips, put his ear close to her mouth ; he thought he could hear 
 her sing ; and questioning her, she said there was a tune con- 
 tinually dwelling upon her ear, which at times irresistibly im- 
 pelled her to begin her involuntary dance. In the end, she 
 was cured by altering the time, in beating the drum ; for, when- 
 ever she missed the time, the influence ceased to have its 
 effect.-^ 
 
 If asked what this extraordinary disease is, we can only 
 answer that, being an excitable state of the nervous and 
 muscular systems, it will be called Chorea; but it is an in- 
 stance of a natural combination of muscular actions, morbidly 
 produced ; just as in hysteria, where the expression of various 
 natural passions, for example, weeping or laughing, is fre- 
 quently exhibited. 
 
 * Med. Cliir. Trans., vol. vii. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE ORGAN" ADAPTED TO THE INSTINCT.— THE HAND NOT 
 THE SOTJECE OF INGENUITY OE CONTEIYANCE, NOE 
 CONSEQUENTLY OE MAN'S SUPEEIOEITY. 
 
 Seeing tlie perfection of the human Hand, both in structur 
 and endowments, we can hardly be surprised at some philoso- 
 phers entertaining the opinion of Anaxagoras, that the superi- 
 ority of man is owing to his hand. Although the system of 
 bones, muscles, and nerves belonging to this extremity, is 
 suited to every form and condition of vertebrated animals, yet 
 it is in the human hand that we perceive the consummation of 
 all perfection, as an instrument. This superiority consists in 
 its combination of strength, with variety, extent, and rapidity 
 of motion ; in the power of the thumb, and the forms, relations, 
 and sensibility of the fingers, which adapt it for holding, pull- 
 ing, spinning, weaving, and constructing ; properties which may 
 be found separately in other animals, but are combined in the 
 human hand. 
 
 In virtue of these provisions, the hand corresponds to the 
 superior mental capacities with which man is endowed. The 
 instrument is capable of executing whatever his ingenuity 
 suggests. Nevertheless, the possession of the ready implement 
 is not the cause of man's superiority : nor is its aptness for 
 execution the measure of his attainments. So we rather say, 
 with Galen, that man has a hand, because he is the wisest of 
 creatures, than ascribe to his possession of a hand, his superi- 
 ority in knowledge.* 
 
 This question has been raised, from observing the perfect 
 
 * Ita quidem sapientissimum ani- 
 malitun est homo : ita autem et 
 manus sunt organa sapienti animali 
 convenientia. Non enim quia manus 
 habiiit proptereaest sapientissimum, 
 ut Anaxagoras dicebat : sed quia 
 sapientissimum erat, propter hoc 
 
 manus habuit, ut rectissime censuit 
 Ai'istoteles. Non enim manus ipsse 
 homines artes docuerunt, sed ratio. 
 Manus autem i-psse sunt artiura 
 organa : sicut lyra, mu^ici ; et for- 
 ceps, fabri. 
 
Crajb. X. ORGAN" ADAPTED TO IXSTmCT. 161 
 
 correspondence between tlie propensities of animals, and tlieir 
 forms and outward organisation. When we see tlie heron, still 
 as a grey stone, and hardly distinguishable from it, standing by 
 the water side, intently watching his prey, we might at .first 
 suppose this was a habit acquired from the use of his stilt- like 
 limbs, constructed for wading, with his long bill, and flexible 
 neck ; for the neck and bill are as much suited to its mode of 
 seizing the fish, as the Hester is to the fisherman, in spearing 
 the salmon. But in the configuration of the black bear, there 
 is nothing peculiarly adapted for his catching fish ; yet will he 
 sit, on his hinder extremities, by the side of a stream, morning, 
 or evening, on the watch, hke a practised fisher ; and so per- 
 fectly motionless is he, that he will deceive the eye of the 
 Indian, who mistakes him for the burnt trunk of a tree ; when 
 the bear sees his opportunity favourable, he will thrust out his 
 fore-paw, and with incredible celerity seize a fish. In this 
 instance, the exterior organ is not the cause of the habit or 
 of the propensity. Hence if we see the instinct bestowed 
 without the appropriate organ, may we not in other examples 
 when the two are conjoined, believe that the habit exists with 
 the instrument, not through it 1 
 
 The canine teeth are not given without a carnivorous appe- 
 tite ; nor is the necessity of living by carnage joined to a timid 
 disposition; but boldness and fierceness, as well as cunning, 
 belong to the animal armed with retractile claws and sharp 
 teeth, and which preys on the living."^ On the other hand, the 
 propensities of the timid vegetable feeder are not to be attri- 
 buted to his having mobile, erect ears, or prominent eyes: 
 though his suspiciousness and timidity correspond to these 
 forms. The boldness of the bison or the buffalo may be as great 
 as that of the lion ; but the impulse that directs them in their 
 mode of attack is different : instinct impels them to gore with 
 their horns. And they will strike with their heads, whether 
 they have horns or not ; " The young calf will butt against you 
 before he has horns," says Galen ; or as the Scotch song has it, 
 " the putting cow is aye a doddy ; " that is, the humble cow 
 (inermis), although wanting horns, is ever the most mischievous. 
 
 * In some of the qiiadrumana, the 
 canine teeth are as long and sharp as 
 those of the tiger — but they are in- 
 
 struments of defence only : they bear 
 no relation to the appetite, mode of 
 digestion, or internal organisation. 
 
 L 
 
162 THE ORGAN ADAPTED Chap. X. 
 
 When that noble animal, the Brahmin bull, of the Zoological 
 Gardens, first put his hoof on the sod, and smelt the fresh grass 
 after his voyage, — placid and easily managed before, he became 
 excited, plunged, and struck his horns into the earth, ploughing 
 up the ground on alternate sides, with a very remarkable preci- 
 sion. This was his dangerous play : just as the dog, in his gam- 
 bols, worries and fights ; or the cat, though pleased, puts out 
 its claws. It would, indeed, be strange, where all else is perfect, 
 if the instinctive character or disposition of the animal were at 
 variance with its arms or instruments. 
 
 But the idea may still be entertained, that the accidental use 
 of the organ may conduce to its more frequent exercise, and 
 thereby to the production of a corresponding disposition. Such 
 an hypothesis would not explain the facts. The late Sir Joseph 
 Banks, in his evening conversations, told us that he had seen, 
 what many perhaps have seen, a chicken catch at a fly, whilst 
 the shell stuck to its tail. Sir Humphry Davy relates that a 
 friend of his, having discovered, under the burning sand of 
 Ceylon, the eggs of an alligator, had the curiosity to break one 
 of them ; when a young alligator came forth, perfect in its mo- 
 tions and in its passions j for although hatched in the sand 
 under the influence of the sunbeams, it made towards the water, 
 its proper element : when hindered, it assumed a threatening 
 aspect, and bit the stick presented to it. We may therefore 
 conclude, that as animals have propensities implanted in them 
 to perform certain motions to which their external organs are 
 subservient, so their passions or dispositions are given as the 
 means of directing them how to defend themselves, or obtain 
 their food. 
 
 But this has been well said seventeen hundred years ago. 
 " Take," says Galen, " three eggs, one of an eagle, another of a 
 goose, and a third of a viper : and place them favourably for 
 hatching. When the shells are broken, the eaglet and the gos- 
 ling will attempt to fly ; while the young of the viper will coil 
 and twist along the ground. If the experiment be protracted 
 to a later period, the eagle will soar to the highest regions of the 
 air, the goose betake itself to the marshy pool, and the viper 
 will bury itself in the ground." 
 
 We have daily before us proofs of ingenuity in the arts not 
 only surviving the loss of the hand, but excited and exercised, 
 
Chap.X. to the IKSTmCT. 163 
 
 where the hands were wanting from birth. What is more sur- 
 prising than to see the feet, in individuals under such circum- 
 stances, becoming substitutes for the hands, and working minute 
 and curious things'? Unfortunately too, the most diabolical 
 passions will be developed in some natures, and crimes com- 
 mitted which we might have supposed impossible from the 
 power of execution being denied. The most remarkable instance 
 of that was in a man, who from birth was deprived of arms ; 
 like the unfortunate youth described in the early part of the 
 volume. As if possessed by a devil, this wretch had committed 
 many murders before being discovered and executed ; he was a 
 beggar, who took his stand in the highway some miles from 
 Moscow, on the skirts of a wood : his manner was to throw his 
 head against the stomach of the person who was in the act of 
 giving him charity, and having stunned him, to seize him with 
 his teeth, and so drag him into the wood ! 
 
 But to turn to a more agreeable topic. The possession of an 
 instrument like the hand, implies that a great part of the organ- 
 isation which strictly belongs to it, must be concealed. The 
 hand is not a thing appended, or put on, to the body, like an 
 additional movement in a watch ; but a thousand intricate rela- 
 tions must be established throughout the whole frame, in con- 
 nection with it : not only must appropriate nerves of motion 
 and of sensation, and a part of the brain having correspondence 
 to these nerves, be supplied, but unless, with all this superadded 
 organisation, a propensity to put it into operation were created, 
 the hand would lie inactive. 
 
 Voltaire has said, that Newton, with all his science, knew not 
 how his arm moved; so true is it that all such studies have 
 their limits ! But, as he acknowledges, a wide difference exists 
 between the ignorance of the child or peasant, and the con- 
 sciousness of the philosopher that he has arrived at a point of 
 knowledge beyond which man's faculties do not carry him. 
 
 Nevertheless, is it nothing to have our minds awakened to 
 the perception of the numerous proofs of design which present 
 themselves in the study of the Hand — to be brought to the con- 
 viction that everything in its structure is orderly and systematic, 
 and that the most perfect mechanism, the most minute and 
 curious apparatus, and sensibilities the most delicate and appro- 
 priate, are all combined in operation that we may move the 
 
164 FOR SPEECH, MOEE EEQUIEED Chap. X. 
 
 hand ? What the first impulse to motion is, or how the mind 
 is related to the body, we know not; yet it is important to 
 learn with what extraordinary contrivance, and perfection of 
 workmanship, the bodily apparatus is placed between that 
 internal faculty which impels us to use it, and the exterior 
 world. 
 
 I have been asked, and that by men of the first education and 
 talents, whether in the organs of voice of the orang-outang any- 
 thing really deficient had been discovered to prevent him from 
 speaking. The reader will give me leave to place the matter 
 correctly before him. In speaking, there is, first, a certain force 
 •of expired air, or an action of the whole muscles of respiration 
 required ; in the second place, the vocal chords at the top of the 
 wind-pipe must be drawn by their muscles into accordance, else 
 no vibration will take place, and no sound issue ; thirdly, the 
 open passages of the throat must be expanded, contracted, or 
 extended, by their numerous muscles, in correspondence with 
 the condition of the vocal chords ; and these must all sympathise, 
 before even a simple sound will be produced. But to articulate 
 that sound, so that it may become part of a conventional lan- 
 guage, there must be added actions of the pharynx, of the 
 palate, of the tongue, and of the lips. The exquisite organisa- 
 tion for all this, is not visible in the organs of the voice, as they 
 are called : it is to be found in the nerves, which combine these 
 various parts in one simultaneous act. The meshes of a spider's 
 web, or cordage of a man-of-war, are few and simple, compared 
 with the concealed filaments of nerves which move these parts ; 
 and if but one of them be wanting, or its tone or action dis- 
 turbed in the slightest degree, everybody knows how a man 
 will stand with his mouth open, twisting his tongue and lips in 
 vain attempts to utter a word. 
 
 It will now appear that there must be distinct lines of 
 association, suited to the organs of voice : different to combine 
 them in the bark of a dog, in the neighing of a horse, or in the 
 shrill whistle of the ape. That wide distinctions exist in the 
 structure of the vocal organs in different classes of animals, is 
 most certain ; but independently of those which are apparent, 
 there are secret and minute varieties in the associating nervous 
 cords. The ape, therefore, does not articulate — first, because 
 the organs are not perfect to that end j secondly, because the 
 
Chap. X. THAN OEGANISATIOK , 165 
 
 nerves do not associate the different parts of the organ in that 
 harmony of action which is necessary to speech ; and, lastly, 
 were all the exterior apparatus perfect, there is no impulse to 
 the act of speaking. 
 
 From this enumeration of parts it will appear that the main 
 difference lies in the internal faculty or propensity. As soon 
 as a child can distinguish and admire, then are its features in 
 action ; its voice begins to be modified into a variety of sounds ; 
 these are taken up and repeated by the nurse, and already a 
 sort of convention is established between them. The perfect 
 correspondence between the vocal instrument, and the laws 
 governing the motions of the air, is a contrivance; but that 
 which prompts to the first efforts at articulation, is in our 
 intellectual nature. We cannot, therefore, doubt that a pro- 
 pensity is created in correspondence with the outward organs, 
 and without which these outward organs would be useless 
 appendages. The aptness of the instrument and its exercise 
 will undoubtedly improve the faculty— just as we find that 
 giving freedom to the expression of passion, adds force to the 
 emotion in the mind. 
 
 One cannot but reflect here on that grand revolution, which 
 took place when language, till then limited to its proper organ, 
 had its representation in the work of the Hand. Now that a 
 man of mean estate may possess a library of more intrinsic 
 value than that of Cicero, when the sentiments of past ages 
 may be as familiar to him as those of the present, and when 
 the knowledge of different empires is transmitted and common 
 to all, we cannot expect our sages to be followed, as of old, by 
 their five thousand scholars. Nations will not now record 
 public acts by building pyramids, consecrating temples, or 
 raising statues, once the only means of perpetuating gTcat 
 deeds or extraordinary virtues. It is in vain that our artists 
 complain of patronage being withheld. The ingenuity of the 
 Hand has at length subdued the arts of design. Printing has 
 made all other records barbarous; and great men build for 
 themselves a "livelong monument." 
 
 On this, as upon many other occasions, it may be urged that 
 a further multiplication of evidences in favour of natural reli- 
 gion is unnecessary; it may be said that we only vary the 
 instances, without making the proofs stronger. For example, 
 
166 EXPRESSION IN THE HAND. Chap. X. 
 
 as to speech, no higher argument can be sought for to prove 
 the perfection of design, than the simple fact that, by means 
 of the voice, two intellectual beings can breathe out their 
 thoughts, and hold communion on the ideas that arise in their 
 minds : the knowledge of the intricate organs by which voice 
 is produced, can add nothing to our wonder, or to the force of 
 our conviction, that all which regards man's state is ordered 
 in perfection. So, philosophically considered, our admiration 
 ought to be as great from observing that by willing it, we can 
 raise the arm, as from knowing all the relations of the nerves, 
 muscles, bones, and joints of the arm, through which that 
 motion is accomplished. But I would ask, who, in speaking 
 or moving his arm, thinks of these proofs of design, or feels 
 this emotion] Do these actions excite either admiration or 
 gratitude 1 Before such feelings arise, do we not require to be 
 brought to consider them anew 1 Is it not agreeable to know 
 how such actions are performed ? Is it not important, there- 
 fore, that the emotions of surprise and gratitude excited by 
 contemplating them, should be repeated and enforced, until 
 they become an enduring devotional feeling 1 In fine, whilst 
 it is pleasing to reflect that the great authorities in natural 
 science, in times past, have entertained the belief of the great 
 Architect, and of the continuance of His government, it cannot 
 be without its use to add strength to the same belief, by having 
 recourse to those improvements which in all departments of 
 knowledge are being daily introduced. 
 
 Of Expeession" in the Hand. — Before we conclude, let us 
 speak of the Hand as an organ of Expression. Formal disser- 
 tations have been composed on this topic. But were we to 
 seek for authorities, we should take in evidence the works of 
 the great Painters. By representing the hands disposed in 
 conformity with the attitude of the figures, the old masters 
 have been able to express every difiierent kind of sentiment in 
 their compositions. Who, for example, has not been sensible 
 to the expression of reverence in the hands of the Magdalens 
 by Guido, to the eloquence of those in the cartoons of Raphael, 
 or the significant force in those of the Last Supper, by Da 
 Vinci 1 In these great works may be seen all that Quintilian 
 says the hand is capable of expressing: — "For other parts of 
 the body assist the speaker, but these, I may say, speak them- 
 
Chap. X. COKCLUDmG EEMAEKS. 167 
 
 selves. By them we ask, we promise, we invoke, we dismiss, 
 we threaten, we entreat, we deprecate, we express fear, joy, 
 grief, our doubts, our assent, our penitence ; we show moderar 
 tion, profusion ; we mark number and time." * 
 
 Buffon has attempted to convey to us, how knowledge may 
 have been originally imparted in the world, by fancifully tracing 
 the impressions on the newly awakened senses of the First 
 created Man. But, for that which in our great Poet is both 
 consistent and splendid — imagining man to raise his wondering 
 eyes to heaven, and spring, by quick instinctive motion, as 
 " thitherward endeavouring," — Buffon substitutes a poor com- 
 bination of philosophy with false eloquence. 
 
 For greater dramatic eJEfect, the first created man is supposed 
 to address us himself ; and he commences thus : — " he remem- 
 bers the moment of his creation — that time, so full of joy and 
 trouble, when first he looked around on the verdant lawns and 
 crystal fountains, and beheld the vault of heaven over his head ! " 
 He then proceeds to declare, — " that he knew not what he was, 
 or whence he came, but believed that all he saw was part of 
 himself." Thus he is represented as conscious of objects, 
 which even to see implies experience, and to enjoy supposes a 
 thousand agreeable associations already formed. But he goes 
 on to say, from that blissful state he is awakened " by striking 
 his head against a palm-tree, which he had not yet learned 
 could hurt him ! " 
 
 Men are often diffident of their first acquired knowledge, and 
 conceive that philosophy must lead to something very different 
 from what they have been early taught. Hence, perhaps, the 
 absurdity of this attempt to unite philosophy and poetry. 
 
 Later writers have argued that we have no grounds for sup- 
 posing that there has been, at any time, an interruption to the 
 uniform course of nature ; meaning by the term, uniformity of 
 nature, the prevalence of the same laws which are now in opera- 
 tion. If it were found, they say, that on the arrival of a colony 
 in a new country, fruits were produced spontaneously around 
 
 * " ISTam ceterae partes loquentem 
 adjuvant, hae, prope est ut dicam, 
 ipsse loquuntur. His poscimur, pol- 
 licemur, vocamus, dimittimus, mi- 
 namur, supplicamus, abomiDamur, 
 
 timem-us; gaudium, tristitiam, du- 
 bitationem, confessionem, peniten- 
 tiam, modum, copiam, numerum, 
 tempus, ostendiraus," &c. 
 
168 COXCLUDmG REMARKS. Chap. X. 
 
 them, and flowers sprung up under their feet, then, we might 
 suppose that our first parents were placed in a scene of pro- 
 fusion and beauty — suited to their helpless condition — and un- 
 like what we see now in the course of nature. It is not very- 
 wise to entertain the subject at all ; but if it is to be discussed, 
 this is starting altogether wide of the question. We do not 
 desire to know how a whole tribe migrating westward, could 
 find sustenance, — but in what state man could be created and 
 live, without a deviation from what is called the uniform 
 course of nature. If the first man had been formed helpless as 
 an infant, he must have perished : and if mature in body, he 
 must have been gifted with faculties suited to his condition. 
 A human being, pure from the Maker's hands, with desires and 
 passions implanted in him adapted to his state, and with a 
 suitable theatre of existence, implies something very near what 
 we have been early taught to believe. 
 
 In every change which the globe has undergone, an established 
 relation is perceived between the animal that has been created, 
 and the elements around it. It is idle to suppose that this has 
 been a matter of chance. Either the structure and functions of 
 the animal must have been formed to correspond to the con- 
 dition of the elements, or the elements must have been controlled 
 to minister to the necessities of the animal ; and if, in contem- 
 plating all the inferior gradations of animal existence, the most 
 careful investigation leads us to this conclusion, what makes us 
 so unwilling to admit such an influence, in the last grand work 
 of creation, the introduction of man I 
 
 We cannot resist these proofs of a beginning, or of a First 
 Cause. When we are bold enough to extend our inquiries into 
 those great revolutions that have taken place, whether in the 
 condition of the earth, or in the structure of the animals which 
 have inhabited it, our notions of the " uniformity " of the course 
 of nature must suffer some modification. At certain epochs, 
 changes in the face of the globe have been wrought, and beings 
 differing from those previously, or now existing, must have been 
 brought into existence. Such interference is not contrary to the 
 great scheme of creation ; it is so only to our present state. For 
 the most wise and benevolent purposes, a conviction is im- 
 planted in our nature that we may rely on the course of events 
 being permanent. We belong to a certain epoch ; and it is when 
 
Chap. X. COXCLUDI^^G EEMAEKS. 169 
 
 our ambitious thoughts carry us beyond our natural condition, 
 that we feel how much our faculties are confined, and our concep- 
 tions, as well as our language, imperfect. We must either 
 abandon these speculations altogether, or cease to argue purely 
 from our present situation. 
 
 It has now been made manifest, that man, and the animals in- 
 habiting the earth, have been created with reference to the mag- 
 nitude of the globe ; — that their living endowments bear a rela- 
 tion to the elements around them. We have also learned that 
 the system of animal bodies, notwithstanding the diversity of 
 forms that meet the eye, is simple and universal : that it not 
 only embraces all living creatures, but has been continued from 
 periods of the greatest antiquity, according to the geological cal- 
 culations of time. The most obvious appearances, and the 
 labours of the geologist, give us reason to believe that the earth 
 has not always been in the state in which it is now presented to us. 
 Every substance that we see is compound ; we nowhere obtain 
 the elements of things : the most solid materials of the globe are 
 formed of decompounded and reunited parts. Changes, there- 
 fore, have been wrought on the general surface, with long periods, 
 or epochs, intervening ; and the proofs of these are as distinct 
 as the furrows on a field are indicative that the plough has 
 passed over it. In short, progressive changes, from the lowest 
 to the highest state of organisation and of enjoyment, point to 
 the great truth, that there was a beginning. 
 
 There is nothing in the inspection of the species of animals, 
 which countenances the idea of a return of the world to any 
 former condition. When we acknowledge that animals have 
 been created in succession and with an increasing complexity 
 of parts, we are not to be understood as admitting that there is 
 here proof of a growing maturity of power, or an increasing 
 effort in the Creator. And for this very plain reason, which we 
 have stated before, that the bestowing of life, or the union of 
 the vital principle with the material body, is a manifestation 
 of power, superior to that displayed in the formation of an organ, 
 or the combination of many organs, or construction of the most 
 complex animal mechanism. It is not, therefore, a greater 
 power that we see in operation ; but a power manifesting itself 
 in the perfect and successive adaptation of one thing to another 
 — of vitality and organisation to inorganic matter. 
 
170 COK"CLUDmG REMAEKS. Chap. X. 
 
 We mark changes in the earth's surface, and observe, at the 
 same time, corresponding changes in the animal creation. We 
 remark varieties, in the outward form, size, and general condi- 
 tion of animals, with corresponding varieties in the internal 
 organisation, — until we find Man created, of undoubted pre-emi- 
 nence over all, and placed suitably in a bounteous condition of 
 the earth. 
 
 There is extreme grandeur in the thought of an anticipating 
 or prospective intelligence : in the reflection that what was 
 finally accomplished in man, was begun in times incalculably 
 remote. Most certainly the original crust of the earth has been 
 fractured and burst up, that its contents might be exposed; 
 that they might be resolved and washed away by the vicissi- 
 tudes of heat, cold, and rain : mountains and valleys have been 
 formed : the changes of temperature in the atmosphere have 
 ensured continual motion and healthful circulation : the plains 
 have been made salubrious, and the damps which hung on the 
 low grounds have gathered on the mountains in clouds, so that 
 refreshing showers have brought down the soil to fertilise the 
 plain. In this manner have been supplied the means necessary 
 for man's existence ; with objects suited to excite his ingenuity, 
 to reward it, and to develop all the various properties both of 
 his body and of his mind. And thus it is, " that the invisible 
 things, from the creation of the world, are perceived by what 
 we do see." 
 
 Nor are these conclusions too vast to be drawn from the ex- 
 amination of a part so small as the Human Hand ; since we 
 have shown that the same system of parts which constitutes 
 the perfection of that instrument adapted to our condition, had 
 its type in the members of those vast animals which inhabited 
 the bays and inland lakes of a former world. If we seek to 
 discover the relations of things, how sublime is that established 
 between the state of the earth's surface, which has resulted from 
 a long succession of revolutions, and the final condition of its 
 inhabitants, as created in accordance with these changes ! 
 
 To our measure of time, nothing is more surprising than the 
 slowness with which the designs of Providence have been ful- 
 filled. But as far as we can penetrate by the light of natural 
 knowledge, the condition of the earth, and with it, Man's des- 
 tinies, have hitherto been accomplished in great epochs. 
 
Chap. X. CONCLUDING EEMARKS. 171 
 
 We have been engaged in comparing the structure, organs, 
 and capacity of man and of animals. We have traced a relation. 
 But we have also observed a broad line of separation between 
 them — Man alone capable of reason, affection, gratitude, and 
 rehgion: sensible to the progress of time, conscious of the 
 decay of his strength and faculties, of the loss of friends, and 
 the approach of death. 
 
 One who was the idol of his day has recorded his feelings on 
 the loss of his son, in nearly these words : — " We are as well as 
 those can be who have nothing further to hope or fear in this 
 world. We go in and out, but without the sentiments that can 
 create attachment to any spot. We are in a state of quiet, but 
 it is the tranquillity of the grave, in which all that could make 
 life interesting to us is laid." If in such a state there were no 
 refuge for the mind, then were there something wanting in the 
 scheme of nature : — an imperfection in man's condition, at vari- 
 ance with the benevolence which is manifested in all other parts 
 of animated nature. 
 
 The extension of knowledge does not always direct the mind 
 to the most consolatory contemplations. We may contrast the 
 ancient philosopher with the modern. The former, viewing 
 everything as suited, or subordinate to man, considered him as 
 a " little god, harboured in a human body," and yielded unresist- 
 ingly to the sentiments which flowed directly from the objects 
 and phenomena around him. 
 
 But as the period advanced when by philosophical inquiry, 
 experiment, and the improvement of optical instruments, vision 
 was extended to objects too remote, or too minute for its natural 
 sphere — when, instead of the wide plane and visible horizon of 
 the stable earth, our globe was thought of as a ball rolling, 
 amidst myriads greater than it, through infinite space ; there 
 was a danger that man would consider his own position with 
 different sentiments ; that he would fall back with the impres- 
 sion of the littleness of all belonging to him ; that his life would 
 seem but a point of time, compared with geological periods ; his 
 body as a mere atom driven about amidst unceasing changes of 
 the material world. To him, " the earth, with Man upon it, 
 does not seem much more than an ant-hill, where some ants 
 carry corn, and some carry their young, and some go empty, 
 and all to and fro a little heap of dust." 
 
172 COXCLUDmG REMAEKS. Chap. X. 
 
 The danger of adopting such disproportioned views of man's 
 estate, is greater to the scholar than to the philosopher. He 
 who has the power and the genius to investigate nature, will 
 not be satisfied with the discovery of secondary causes; his 
 mind will become enlarged, and his thoughts more elevated. It 
 is otherwise with him who learns, at second-hand, the result of 
 those inquiries. If such an one see the fire of heaven brought 
 down into a phial, or materials compounded to produce an 
 explosion louder than the thunder, and ten times more destruc- 
 tive, the storm will no longer speak an impressive language to 
 hun. When, in watching the booming waves of a tempestuous 
 sea along the coast, he marks the line at which the utmost 
 violence of the ocean is stemmed, and by an unseen influence 
 thrown back, he is more disposed to feel the providence extended 
 to man, than when the theory of the moon's action is, as it were, 
 interposed between the scene which he contemplates, and the 
 sentiments naturally arising in his breast. Those influences 
 which are natural and just, and have served to develop the 
 sentiments of millions before him, are dismissed as vulgar and 
 to be despised. With the pride of newly-acquired knowledge, 
 his conceptions embarrass, if they do not mislead him ; in short, 
 he has not had that intellectual discipline which should precede 
 and accompany the acquisition of knowledge. 
 
 But a man, of the highest order of genius, may lose the just 
 estimate of himself from another cause. The sublime nature of 
 his studies may consign him to depressing thoughts. He may 
 forget the very attributes of his mind, which have privileged 
 these high contemplations, and the ingenuity of the hand, which 
 has so extended the sphere of his observation. The remedy, to 
 such a mind, is in the studies which we are enforcing. The 
 heavenly bodies in their motions through space, are held in their 
 orbits by the continuance of a Power not more wonderful or 
 more to be admired, than that by which a globule of blood is 
 suspended in the mass of fluids — or by which, in due season, it 
 is attracted and resolved ; than that by which a molecule en- 
 tering into the composition of the body, is driven through a 
 circle of revolutions and made to undergo different states of 
 aggregation— becoming sometime, a part of a fluid, sometime an 
 ingredient of a solid, and finally cast out again, from the influ- 
 ence of the living forces. 
 
Chap. X. COl^rCLUDmG REMAEKS. 173 
 
 Our argument, in the early part of the volume, has shown 
 Man, by the power of the Hand, (as the ready instrument of the 
 mind,) accommodated to every condition through which his des- 
 tinies are to be accomplished. We first see the hand minister- 
 ing to his necessities, and sustaining the life of the individual. 
 In a second stage of his progress, we see it adapted to the wants 
 of society, when man becomes a labourer and an artificer. In a 
 state still more advanced, science is brought in aid of mechan- 
 ical ingenuity, and the elements which seemed adverse to the 
 progress of society, become the means conducing to it. The 
 seas, which at first set limits to nations, and grouped mankind 
 into families, are now the means by which they are associated. 
 Philosophical chemistry has subjected the elements to man's 
 use ; and all tend to the final accomplishment of the great ob- 
 jects to which everything, from the beginning, has pointed — the 
 multiplication and distribution of mankind, and the enlarge- 
 ment of the sources of man's comfort and enjoyment — the relief 
 from too incessant toil, and the consequent improvement of the 
 higher faculties of his nature. Instinct has directed animals, 
 until they are spread to the utmost verge of their destined places 
 of abode. Man too is borne onwards ; and although, on con- 
 sulting his reason, much is dark and doubtful, yet does his 
 genius operate to fulfil the same design, enlarging the sphere of 
 life and enjoyment. 
 
 Whilst we have before us the course of human progress, as in 
 a map, we are recalled to a nearer and more important consider- 
 ation : for what to us avail all these proofs of Divine power — of 
 harmony in nature — of design — the predestined accommodation 
 of the earth, and the creation of man's frame and faculties, if we 
 are stopped here? if we perceive no more direct relation be- 
 tween the individual and the Creator 1 But we are not so pre- 
 cluded from advancement. On the contrary, reasons accumulate 
 at every step, for a higher estimate of the living soul, and give 
 us assurance that its condition is the final object and end of all 
 this machinery, and of these successive revolutions. 
 
 To this must be referred the weakness of the frame, and its 
 liability to injury, the helplessness of infancy, the infirmities of 
 age, the pains, diseases, distresses, and afiiictions of life — for by 
 such means is man to be disciplined — his faculties and virtues 
 unfolded, and his affections drawn to a spiritual Protector. 
 
174 
 
 CONCLUDmG REMAEKS. 
 
 Chap. X. 
 
 As every instinct, or sense, has an end, or design ; and every 
 emotion in man has its object and direction ; we must conclude 
 that the desire of communing with God is but another test of 
 his being destined for a future existence, and the longing after 
 immortality the promise of it. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ADDITIONAL ILLUSTEATIONS. 
 
 [THE MECHANICAL PEOPEETIES OE THE SOLID STEUCTUEE 
 OF THE ANIMAL BODY CONSIDEEED. 
 
 To prepare us for perceiving design in the various internal 
 structures of an animal body, we must first of all know that 
 perfect security against accidents is not consistent with the 
 scheme of nature. A liability to pain and injury only proves 
 how entirely the human body is formed with reference to the 
 Mind : since, without the continued call to exertion, which 
 danger and the uncertainty of life infer, the development of 
 our faculties would be imperfect, and the mind would remain, 
 as it were, uneducated. 
 
 The contrivances (as we should say of things of art) for pro- 
 tecting the vital organs, are not absolute securities against 
 accidents ; but they afford protection in that exact measure or 
 degree calculated to resist the shocks and pressure to which 
 we are exposed, in the common circumstances of life. A man 
 can walk, run, leap, and swim, because the texture of his frame, 
 the strength and power of his limbs, and the specific gravity of 
 his body, are in relation to all around him. But were the 
 atmosphere lighter, the earth larger, or its attraction greater — 
 were he, in short, an inhabitant of another planet, there would 
 be no correspondence between the strength, gravity, and mus- 
 cular power of his body, and the elements around him ; and the 
 balance in the chances of life would be destroyed. 
 
176 MECHANICAL PROPEETIES 
 
 Without such considerations, the reader would fall into the 
 mistake, that weakness and liability to fracture imply imper- 
 fection in the frame of the body ; whereas a deeper contempla- 
 tion of the subject will convince him of the incomparable 
 perfection both of the plan and of the execution. The body 
 is intended to be subject to derangement and accident, and to 
 become, in the course of life, more and more fragile, until, 
 by some failure in the framework or vital actions, life termi- 
 nates. 
 
 And this leads us to reflect on the best means of informing 
 ourselves of the intention or design shown in this fabric. Can 
 there be any better mode of raising our admiration than by 
 comparing it with things of human invention? It must be 
 allowed that we shall not find a perfect analogy. If we com- 
 pare it with the forms of architecture — the house or the bridge 
 is not built for motion, but for solidity and firmness, on the 
 principle of gravitation. The ship rests in equilibrium, pre- 
 pared for passive motion, and the contrivances of the ship- 
 builder are designed for resisting an external force. Whereas 
 in the animal body, we perceive securities against the gravita- 
 tion of the parts ; provisions to withstand shocks and injuries 
 from without ; at the same time that the framework is calcu- 
 lated to sustain an internal impulse from the muscular force, 
 which moves the bones as levers, or, like an hydraulic engine, 
 propels the fluids through the body. 
 
 As in things artificially contrived, lightness and motion are 
 balanced against solidity and weight, so it is in the animal 
 body. A house is built on a foundation, immoveable ; and the 
 slightest shift of the ground, followed by the ruin of the house, 
 brings no discredit on the builder ; for he proceeds on the cer- 
 tainty of strength from gravitation on a fixed foundation. But 
 a ship is built with reference to motion ; to receive an impulse 
 from the wind, and to move through the water : in comparison 
 with the fabric founded on the fixed and solid ground, it be- 
 comes subjected to new influences, and in proportion as it is 
 fitted to move rapidly in a light breeze, it is exposed to founder 
 in the storm. A log of wood, or a Dutch dogger, almost as 
 solid as a log, is comparatively safe in the trough of the sea 
 during a storm — when a bark, slightly built and fitted for 
 lighter breezes, would be shaken to pieces ; that is to say, the 
 
OF THE ANIMAL FKAME. 177 
 
 masts and rigging of a ship (the provisions for its motion) may 
 become the source of weakness, and, perhaps, of destruction ; 
 and safety is thus voluntarily sacrificed in part, to obtain 
 another property, motion. 
 
 So in the animal body : sometimes we see the safety of parts 
 provided for by strength calculated for inert resistance; but 
 when made for motion, when light and easily influenced, they 
 become proportionally weak and exposed; unless some other 
 principle be admitted, and a different kind of security be sub- 
 stituted for that of weight and solidity : still a certain insecu- 
 rity arises from this delicacy of structure. 
 
 We have already had occasion to show that there is always 
 a balance between the power of exertion, and the capability of 
 resistance, in the living body. A horse or a deer receives a 
 shock in alighting from a leap ; but still the inert power of 
 resisting that shock, bears a relation to the muscular power 
 with which it springs. And so it is in man ; the elasticity 
 and strength of his limbs are always accommodated to his 
 activity. But it is obvious, that in a fall, the shock which the 
 lower extremities are calculated to resist, may come on the 
 upper extremity ; which, from being adapted for extensive and 
 rapid motion, is incapable of sustaining the impulse, and the 
 bones are broken or displaced. 
 
 The analogy between the structure of the human body and 
 the works of human contrivance, is, therefore, not perfect. 
 Sometimes the material is different, sometimes the end to be 
 attained is not precisely the same ; and, above all, in the animal 
 body a double object is often secured by the structure or frame- 
 work, which cannot be accomplished by mere human ingenuity, 
 and of which, therefore, we can offer no illustration strictly 
 correct. However ingenious our contrivances may be, they 
 are not only limited, but they present a sameness which be- 
 comes tiresome. Nature, on the contrary, gives us the same 
 objects of interest, or images of beauty, with such variety, 
 that they lose nothing of their influence and attraction by 
 repetition. 
 
 If, from a too careless survey of external nature, and the con- 
 sequent languor of his reflections, the reader have an imperfect 
 notion of design and providence, we hope that the mere novelty 
 of the instances we have to place before him, may carry con- 
 
 M 
 
178 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES 
 
 viction to his mind ; for we draw from nature in a field which 
 has been left strangely neglected, though the nearest to us of 
 all, and of all the most fruitful. 
 
 Men proceed in a slow course of advancement in architectural, 
 mechanical, or optical sciences ; yet it is found that when an 
 improvement is made, there are all along examples of it in the 
 animal body; which ought to have been marked before, and 
 which might have suggested to us the improvement. It is sur- 
 prising that this view of the subject has seldom, if ever, been 
 taken seriously, and never pursued. Is the human body formed 
 by an all-perfect Architect, or is it noti And, if the question 
 be answered in the affirmative, does it not approach to some- 
 thing like infatuation, that, possessing such perfect models as 
 we do in the anatomy of the body, we are so prone to neglect 
 them'? We undertake to prove that the foundation of the 
 Eddystone lighthouse, the perfection of engineering skill, is not 
 formed on principles so correct as those which have directed 
 the arrangement of the bones of the foot ; that the most perfect 
 pillar or kingpost is not adjusted with the accuracy of the hol- 
 low bones which support our weight ; that the insertion of a 
 ship's mast into the hull is a clumsy contrivance compared with 
 the connexions of the human spine and pelvis ; and that the 
 tendons are composed in a manner superior to the last patent 
 cables of Huddart, or the yet more recently improved chain- 
 cables of Bloxam. 
 
 In two introductory chapters of his "Natural Theology," Arch- 
 deacon Paley has given us the advantage of simple, out forcible 
 language, with extreme ingenuity, in illustrating the mechanism 
 of the frame. But for his example, we should have felt some 
 hesitation in making so close a comparison between design, as 
 exhibited by the Creator in the animal structure, and the mere 
 mechanism, the operose and imperfect contrivances, of human 
 art. 
 
 Certainly there may be a comparison; for a superficial and 
 rapid survey of the animal body may convey the notion of an 
 apparatus of levers, pulleys, and ropes, which may be compared 
 with the spring, barrel, and fusee, the wheels and pinions of a 
 watch. But if we study the texture of animal bodies more 
 curiously, and especially if we compare animals with each other 
 
OF THE ANIMAL FRAME. 179 
 
 — for instance, the simple structure of the lower creatures with 
 the complicated structure of those higher in the scale of exis- 
 tence — we shall see that, in the lowest links of the chain, ani- 
 mals are so simple, that we should almost call them homogene- 
 ous ; and yet there, we find life, sensibility, and motion. It is 
 in the animals higher in the scale that we discover parts having 
 distinct endowments, and exhibiting complex mechanical rela- 
 tions. The mechanical contrivances which are so obvious in 
 man, are the provisions for the agency and dominion of an in- 
 tellectual power over the materials around him. 
 
 We mark this early, because there are authors who, looking 
 upon this complexity of mechanism, confound it with the pre- 
 sence of life itself, and think that it is a necessary adjunct — nay, 
 even that life proceeds from it ; whereas the mechanism which 
 w^e have to examine in the animal body, is formed with refer- 
 ence to the necessity of acting upon, or receiving impressions 
 from, things external to the body ; an inevitable condition of 
 our state of existence in a material world. 
 
 Many have expressed their opinion very boldly on the neces- 
 sary relation between organisation and life, who have never ex- 
 tended their views to the system of nature. To place man, an 
 intelligent and active being, in this world of matter, he must 
 have properties bearing relation to that matter. The existence 
 of matter implies an agency of certain forces ; the particles of 
 bodies must suffer attraction and repulsion, and the bodies 
 formed by the balance of these influences upon their atoms or 
 particles, must have weight or gravity, and possess mechanical 
 properties. So must the living body, independently of its pecu- 
 liar endowments, have similar composition and qualities, and 
 have certain relations to the solids, fluids, gases, heat, light, 
 electricity, or galvanism, which are around it. Without these, 
 the intellectual principle could receive no impulse — could have 
 no agency and no relation to the material world. The whole 
 body must gravitate or have v,^eight; without which it could 
 neither stand securely nor exert its powers on the bodies around 
 it. But for this, muscular power itself, and all the appliances 
 which are related to that power, would be useless. When, 
 therefore, it is affirmed that organisation or construction is ne- 
 cessary to life, we may at least pause in giving assent, under the 
 certainty that we see another and a different reason for the con- 
 
180 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES 
 
 struction of the body. Thus we perceive, that as the body must 
 have weight to have power, so must it have mechanical contri- 
 vance, or arrangement of its parts. As it must have weight, so 
 must it be sustained by a skeleton ; and when we examine the 
 bones, which give the body height and shape, we find each 
 column (for in that sense a bone may be first taken) adjusted 
 with the finest adaptation to the perpendicular weight it has to 
 bear, as well as to the lateral thrusts to which it is subject in the 
 motions of the body. 
 
 The bones also act as levers, on the most accurate mechanical 
 principles. And whilst these bones are necessary to give firm- 
 ness and strength to the frame, it is admirable to observe that 
 one bone never touches another ; but a fine elastic material, the 
 cartilage, intervenes betwixt their ends, the effect of which is to 
 give a very considerable degree of elasticity to the whole frame. 
 Without such elasticity a jar would reach the more delicate 
 organs, even in the very recesses of the body, at every violent 
 motion ; and, but for this provision, every joint would creak by 
 the attrition of the surfaces of the bones. The bones are sur- 
 rounded by the flesh or muscles. The muscle is a particular 
 fibrous texture, which alone, of all the materials constituting 
 the frame, possesses the peculiar inherent power or endowment 
 of contracting ; it is this pOwer which we are to understand 
 when professional men speak of irritability. The contraction 
 of the muscle bears no proportion to the cause which brings it 
 into operation; more than the touch of the spur upon the 
 horse's side does, as a mechanical impetus, to the force with 
 which the animal propels both himself and rider. Each muscle 
 of the body — and by common estimate there are hundreds — is 
 isolated ; and no property of motion is propagated from one to 
 another ; they are distinct instruments of motion. The muscles 
 surround the bones, and are so beautifully classed, that in every 
 familiar motion of the limbs some hundreds of them are ad- 
 justed in their exact degree, to effect the simplest change in the 
 position of the body. Each fibre of a muscle, and a muscle 
 may contain millions of fibres, is so attached to the tendon, that 
 the whole power is concentrated there ; and it is the tendons of 
 the muscles which, like ropes, convey the force of the muscles 
 to the bones. The bones are passive levers ; the muscles are 
 the active parts of the frame. With all the seeming intricacy 
 
OF THE ANIMAL FRAME. 181 
 
 in tlie running and crossing of these tendons, they are adjusted 
 accurately on mechanical principles. Where it is necessary, 
 they run in sheaths, or they receive new directions by lateral 
 ligamentous attachments, or there are placed under them 
 smooth and lubricated pulleys, over which they run; and 
 where there is much friction, there is a provision equal in 
 effect to the friction- wheel of machinery. Thus the bones are 
 levers, with their heads most curiously carved and articulated ; 
 and joined to the intricate relations of the muscles and tendons, 
 they present on the whole a piece of perfect mechanism. 
 
 It is with this texture — ^the coarsest, roughest portion of the 
 animal frame — that a parallel is drawn, when we compare it 
 with the common mechanical contrivances of machinery. But 
 whilst these grosser parts of the living body exhibit a perfection 
 in mechanical adaptation far greater than the utmost ingenuity 
 of man can exhibit in his machinery, let the reader remember 
 that they are surpassed as objects of admiration by the finer 
 organs; such, for example, as the structure of those nerves 
 which carry the mandate of the will to the moving parts ; or of 
 the vessels which convey the blood in the circulation, and 
 where the laws of hydraulics may be finely illustrated ; or of 
 those secreting glands, where some will affirm the galvanic 
 influence is in operation, with something subtler than the 
 apparatus of plates and troughs. And could we compare the 
 contrivances of man, with such fine mechanisms in the animal 
 frame, there are structures to be adduced, much more admirable 
 still. The organs of the senses, which are so many inlets for 
 the qualities of surrounding matter to excite corresponding 
 sensations and perceptions, afford us delightful subjects of 
 contemplation ; and give proofs of design in the human organ- 
 ism the most conclusive, not only in regard to the system of 
 the body itself, but as it forms a part of the great scheme of 
 the universe.] 
 
OP THE SOLID STETJCTIIRES OP ANIMAL BODIES. 
 
 SUBSTITUTES FOR THE TRUE SKELETON. 
 
 It has been shown, in the first chapters, that solidity and gravity- 
 are qualities necessary to every inhabitant of the earth ; the 
 first, to protect it ; the second, that the animal may stand, and 
 possess that resistance which shall make the muscles avail- 
 able for action. In all animal bodies, besides those structures 
 on which their economy and much of their vital functions de- 
 pend, there must be a texture to give firmness. Without this, 
 the vegetable would have no characteristic form ; and animals 
 would want the protection necessary for their delicate organs, 
 and could not move upon their extremities. We have to show 
 with what admirable contrivance, in the different classes of 
 organised beings, this firm fabric is reared ; sometimes to pro- 
 tect the parts, as a shell ; and sometimes to give them form 
 and motion, as in the skeleton. 
 
 In vegetables, as in animals, a certain firm material is essen- 
 tial to support the parts which are the living active organs 
 of their system, and which are so beautiful and interesting. 
 The ligneous or woody fibre is a minute, elastic, semi-opaque 
 filament, which, closing in and adhering to other filaments of 
 the same kind, forms the grain or solid part of the wood. The 
 best demonstration of the office of the woody fibre is in the 
 leaf. When the leaf of a plant is prepared by maceration and 
 putrefaction, and the soft part washed away, there remains an 
 elegant skeleton of wood, which retains the form of the leaf, 
 and is perfectly well suited to support its delicate organisation. 
 It is the same substance which, when accumulated and con- 
 densed, gives form and strength to the roots and branches of the 
 oak. And these, though fantastic and irregular in their growth, 
 preserve a mechanical principle of strength ; as obvious, to the 
 ship-builder, in the knees of timber, as in the delicate skeleton 
 of the leaf : Lord Bacon speaks of " knee-timber that is good 
 for ships that are to be tossed." The woody fibre, though not 
 
SUBSTITUTES FOE SKELETON. 183 
 
 directly engaged in the living functions of the tree, is yet essen- 
 tial for extending the branches and leaves to the influence of 
 the atmosphere, and by its elasticity under the pressure of the 
 wind, giving what is equivalent to exercise for the motion of 
 the sap. A tree opposed to winds and to a severe climate is 
 dense in its grain, and the wood is preferred by the workman 
 to that which is the growth of a milder climate. 
 
 We cannot miss seeing the analogy of the woody fibre to the 
 bones of animals. Bones are firm, to sustain the animal's weight, 
 and to give it form. They are jointed, and move under the 
 action of muscles ; and this exercise promotes the activity of 
 the living parts, and is necessary to health. But let us first 
 observe the structure of some of the lower animals. It will be 
 agreeable to find the hard material, though always appropriate 
 and perfect, becoming more and more mechanical and complex 
 in its construction, from the lithophytes, testacea, Crustacea, 
 reptiles, fishes, mammalia, up to Man. 
 
 The first material to be taken notice of, which bestows this 
 necessary firmness on the animal textures, is the cellular sub- 
 stance. This consists of delicate membranes, which form cells ; 
 these cells communicate with each other, and the tissue thus 
 composed enters everywhere into the structure of the animal 
 frame. It constitutes the principal part of the medusa^ which- 
 floats like a bubble on the water ; and it is found in every 
 texture of the human body. It forms the most delicate coats 
 of the eye ; and gives toughness and firmness to the skin. It 
 is twisted into ligaments, and knits the largest bones : it is the 
 medium between bone, muscle, and blood-vessel : it produces a 
 certain firmness, and union of the various component parts of 
 the body, while it admits of their easy motion. Without it, we 
 should be rigid, notwithstanding the proper organs for motion ; 
 and the cavities could not be distended or contracted, nor could 
 the vessels pulsate. 
 
 But the cellular texture is not sufficient on all occasions, 
 either for giving strength or protection : nor does it serve to 
 sustain the weight, unless the animal lives suspended in water, 
 or creeps upon the ground. Shell-fish have their strong cover- 
 ing for a double purpose : to keep them at the bottom of the 
 sea, and to protect them when drifted by the tide against rocks. 
 Those animals of the molluscous division which inhabit the 
 
184 SUBSTITUTES FOR BONE. 
 
 deep sea, and float singly, or in groups, as the genus scalpa, have 
 a leathern covering only; because they are not liable to the 
 rough movements to which the others are subject, in the advanc- 
 ing and retiring tides. The scalpa, simple as it is in structure 
 — for it presents the appearance of a mere bag with two orifices 
 capable of opening and closing by valves — possesses at once all 
 the functions of digestion, respiration, reproduction, and, more 
 strange than any, locomotion; in its outward form and sub- 
 stance, we may see the provisions for its mode of life, and 
 the place that it holds: from floating or swimming at will, 
 it is one of the " natantes ; " and it is further distinguished by 
 !the term " tunicata," from being furnished with a leathern coat : 
 now it is worthy of admiration, that although unprovided with 
 exterior members, and having only two or three muscular bands 
 attached to its outward covering, it can move from place to 
 place, by merely taking in, and throwing out, the water in which 
 it floats ; and the same operation is sufiicient to supply it with 
 its food, and carry on the process of respiration. 
 
 The hermit crab gives us a demonstration of the necessity for 
 a protecting covering. Its tail or hinder part has no crust or 
 shell upon it, as its body and claws have ; therefore this animal 
 requires to seek a suitable dwelling-place for itself — some empty 
 univalve shell, into which it insinuates its tail, and from which 
 its head and arms project : with this power of selecting a house, 
 it removes, when it has outgrown the shell in which it has 
 dwelt ; and may then be seen trying the empty shells upon the 
 shore, or contending with others of its own species for the pos- 
 session of a shell. Surveying these instances, we cannot resist 
 the conviction of the fine adaptation of the sensibilities and in- 
 stincts of animals to their forms and substances. 
 
 With all this, when we look to animals of more complex 
 structure, possessing a distinct system of muscles, we perceive 
 the necessity for some harder and more resisting material being 
 added, if the weight is to rest on points or extremities ; or if 
 the muscular activity is to be concentrated. And nature has 
 other means of supplying the fulcrum and lever, besides the 
 bones, or true skeleton, which we have been examining in the 
 first part of the volume. Perhaps we shall find that there is a 
 system of solid parts superior even to what we have been study- 
 ing in the vertebrata. 
 
DESIGI^ m SHELL OF OYSTER. 185 
 
 The larvse of proper insects, and the annelides, have no exterior 
 members for walking or flying : but to enable them to creep, 
 they must have points of resistance, or their muscles would be 
 useless. Their skins suflSce ; and these are hardened by a deposit 
 within them, for that purpose. But if this skin were not further 
 provided, it would be rigid and unyielding, and be no substitute 
 for bone. The hardened integuments are, therefore, divided 
 into rings ; to these the muscles are attached ; and as the cellular 
 membrane between the rings is pliant, the animals are enabled 
 to creep and turn in every direction. 
 
 Without further argument, we perceive how the skin, by hav- 
 ing a hard matter deposited within it, is adapted to all the 
 purposes of the skeleton. It is worthy of notice that some 
 animals, still lower in the scale — the tubipores, sertularia, cel- 
 lularia, &c., exhibit something like a skeleton. They are con- 
 tained within a strong case, from which they can extend them- 
 selves j whilst the corals and madrepores, on the other hand, 
 have a central axis of hard material, the soft animal matter 
 being, in a manner,, seated upon it. But these substitutes for 
 the skeleton are, like shell, foreign to the living animal; although 
 in sustaining the softer substance and giving form, they may 
 resemble bone. 
 
 The texture of a sponge, its form and elasticity, depends upon 
 a membranous and horny substance, to which both silicious 
 and calcareous spiculse are added. Of shell, the hardening 
 material is carbonate of lime, united to a membranous or car- 
 tilaginous animal matter. Paley describes the slime of a snail 
 hardening into shell by the influence of the atmosphere : but 
 that is a very imperfect, and indeed erroneous view. The shell 
 of the oyster, and even the pearl, consists of concentric layers 
 of membrane and carbonate of lime ; and it is their laminated 
 arrangement which causes the beautiful iridescence in the 
 polished surface of those shells.* In the rough outer surface of 
 an oyster shell, we shall see the marks of the successive layers : 
 that which now forms the centre and utmost convexity of the 
 shell was at an earlier age sufficient to cover the whole animal ; 
 but as the oyster grows, it throws out from its surface a new 
 secretion, composed of animal matter and carbonate of lime, 
 
 * See the discoveries of Sir David Brewster on this subject : Phil. 
 Trans. 1814, p. 397. 
 
186 
 
 DESIGN m SHELL OF OYSTEE. 
 
 which is attached to the shell already formed, and projects 
 farther at its edges. Thus the animal is not only protected by 
 this covering, but as it increases in size, the shell is made thicker 
 and stronger by successive layers. 
 
 The reader will not be unwilling that we should stop here to 
 show that, rudely composed as this covering of the oyster seems 
 to be, it not only answers the purpose of protecting the animal, 
 but is shaped with as curious a destination to the vital functions 
 of respiration and obtaining food, as anything we can survey in 
 the higher animals. We cannot walk the streets without noticing 
 that, in the fish-shops, the oysters are laid with their flat sides 
 uppermost. They would die were it otherwise. The animal 
 breathes and feeds by opening its shell, and thereby receiving a 
 new portion of water into the concavity of its under shell ; and 
 if it did not thus open its lid, the water could neither be pro- 
 pelled through its branchiae or respiratory apparatus, nor sifted 
 for its food. It is in this manner that they lie in their native 
 beds ; were they on their flat surface, no food could be gathered, 
 as it were, in their cup ; and if exposed by the retreating tide, 
 the opening of the shell would allow the water to escape, and 
 leave them dry, thus depriving them of respiration as well as 
 food.* We perceive, then, that the form of the oyster-shell, 
 rude as it seems, is not a thing of chance. Since the shell is a 
 cast of the body of the animal, the peculiar shape must have 
 been given to the soft parts, in anticipation of that of the shell; 
 an instance of prospective adaptation. 
 
 That the general conformation of the shell should have rela- 
 tion to what we may term its function, will be less surprising, 
 when we find a minute mechanical intention in each layer of 
 that shell. We should be inclined to say that the earthy 
 matter of the shell crystallises, were it not that the striated or 
 fibrous appearance differs in the direction of the fibres in each 
 successive stratum — each layer having the striae composing it 
 parallel to one another, but directed obliquely to those of the 
 layer previously formed, and the whole exhibiting a strong tex- 
 ture arranged upon well-known mechanical principles. 
 
 * In confirmation of these remarks, 
 when the geologist sees the fossil 
 shells in their strata, he can deter- 
 mine whetlier the oysters were over- 
 
 whelmed in their native beds; or 
 were rolled and scattered, as shells 
 merely. 
 
EXTERNAL SKELETOK 187 
 
 Shell is not alive, as true bone is. If tlie shell of any of the 
 testacea be broken, the surface of the animal secretes a new 
 shell: not, however, by the concretion of slime, but by the 
 regular secretion of a substance combined of earthy and gela- 
 tinous matter.* Delicate experiments have been made by 
 steeping shells in diluted nitric acid, by which it is shown that 
 the carbonate of lime is the earthy material of shells ; and that, 
 when that earth is dissolved in the acid, a gelatinous substance 
 of the form of the shell remains. 
 
 In crustaceous animals, such as the lobster and crab, the shell 
 is formed of the same substances as the testacea, but with an 
 addition of the phosphate to the carbonate of lime. A question 
 arises, how these animals grow ] It is found that they cast off 
 their shells, and remain retired until a new and larger shell is 
 secreted. Reaumur has given a very particular account of the 
 process of separation, in the cray-fish. f In the shell of Crus- 
 tacea, we find an approximation to bone, inasmuch as it is arti- 
 culated, and has certain processes directed inwards, to which 
 the muscles are attached. 
 
 In the insect, the resisting material is deposited externally> 
 and is converted to every purpose attained by means of an 
 osseous system. Distinct members are formed, with the power 
 of walking, leaping, flying, holding, spinning, and weaving. 
 The hardened integuments, articulated and performing the office 
 of bones, have like them spines and processes : with this differ- 
 ence, that their aspect is towards the centre, instead of project- 
 ing exteriorly. Were we to compare the system of resisting parts 
 in man, and in the insect, we should be forced to acknowledge 
 that the mechanical provisions in the lower animal are superior ! 
 The first advantage of the skeleton in the insect $ being ex- 
 ternal, and removed from the influence of the circulation, is, 
 that it is capable of having greater hardness and strength im- 
 parted to it, according to the necessities of the animal, than can 
 be bestowed upon bone. True bone, being internal, and depend- 
 
 * We owe our knowledge of the 
 formation of shell to the great 
 French naturalist Reaumur; who, 
 by ingenious experiments, showed 
 the distinction between shell and 
 bone, and that the former was se- 
 creted from the surface of the animal. 
 
 + See a paper by Sir John Dalzell, 
 on the Exuviation of the Crustacea : 
 Transactions of British Association^ 
 1851, p. 120. 
 
 X It is termed " exoskeleton," as 
 contrasted with the ' ' endoskeleton,'* 
 or internal skeleton. 
 
188 EXTERNAL SKELETON. 
 
 ing for its growth and vitality on the blood-vessels which pene- 
 trate it, must be porous and soft. The next advantage in the 
 exterior crust or skeleton, is mechanical ; the hard material is 
 proportionately stronger, to resist fracture, and bear the action 
 of muscles, according as it is removed to a distance from the 
 centre : now the muscles in the insect, instead of surrounding 
 the bones, as in the higher animals, are contained within the 
 shell ; consequently the shell is so much the further thrown ojff 
 from the axis of the limb ; and increased strength is thus ob- 
 tained. 
 
 When considering the larger vertebral animals, we had reason 
 to say that a correspondence is preserved between the resistance 
 of the bones, and the power of the muscles ; and we may in- 
 dulge the same reflection here. As the integument covering 
 the insect is much harder than bone, so are the muscles 
 stronger, compared with those of the vertebrata. From the 
 time of Socrates, have comparisons been made between the 
 strength of the horse and that of the insect ; to the undoubted 
 superiority of the insect. 
 
 As goodly a volume has been written on the muscles of a 
 caterpillar, as has ever been dedicated to human myology ; the 
 most minute anatomical description has been given of the cater- 
 pillar which feeds upon the willow.* And here we learn that 
 the annular construction of the hard integument determines the 
 plan of the whole anatomy — the arrangement of the muscles, 
 even the distribution of the nerves. Each ring has its three sets 
 of muscles ; direct and oblique ; traversing and interweaving, 
 but yet distinct and symmetrical ; and all as capable of being 
 minutely defined, as have been those of the human body by 
 Albinus. Corresponding to these muscles, the system of nerves 
 is delicately laid down. In short, we allow ourselves to be mis- 
 led in supposing that animals, either of minute size, or low in 
 the scale of arrangement, exhibit any neglect or imperfection. 
 Even if they were more simple in structure, the admiration 
 should be the greater : since all have the functions necessary to 
 life in full operation. 
 
 We may perceive that a certain firm substance, calculated to 
 sustain the more strictly living part, and to give strength, is 
 
 * The work referred to is by Lyon- I and sixty-one muscles in tliis eater- 
 net, who reckons four thousand | pillar. 
 
COMPOSITION^ OF B0:N'E. 189 
 
 traceable tlarougli all living bodies. In the vegetable, it is tlie 
 woody fibre ; and there sometimes, as if to mark the analogy, 
 we have silicious earth deposited, instead of the phosphate and 
 carbonate of lime of the animal structure. In the lower ani- 
 mals, we find membranes capable of secreting a solid material ; 
 and although, in some instances, that substance resembles 
 leather or cartilage, it is, in general, earthy, and, for the most 
 part, consists of carbonate of lime. But when elasticity, as 
 well as general resistance, is necessary, cartilage is employed ; a 
 highly compressible and elastic substance. Thus, fishes have a 
 large proportion of cartilage in their bones; and some, from 
 having it in greater quantity, are called cartilaginous, in distinc- 
 tion to the osseous or true fishes. The cartilaginous and elastic 
 structure comes into use in an unexpected manner in the fish ; 
 when the salmon or trout leaps from the water, the muscles of 
 one side first bend the spine ; as they relax, the spine recoils : 
 hence its elasticity assists the action of the muscles of the oppo- 
 site side : and thus these two forces combine to give a powerful 
 stroke on the water with the tail, and the fish makes its bound. 
 
 MECHANICAL PEOPEETIES OF BONE, OR OF THE TEUE SKELETON. 
 
 Those considerations lead us to understand more readily the 
 composition of bone. It consists of three parts, having differ- 
 ent properties — membrane, cartilage, and phosphate of lime. By 
 these various substances being united in its texture, bone is 
 enabled to resist stretching, torsion, and compression. If there 
 had been a superabundance of the earthy parts, it would have 
 broken like a piece of porcelain ; and if it had not possessed 
 toughness and some degree of elasticity, it would not have en- 
 abled a man to pull, and push, and twist. [The earthy sub- 
 stance is not merely united with the cartilage or gelatinous 
 matter ; but membranes and vessels enter into the composition 
 of bone. Bone is not excreted, or foreign to the system of the 
 animal body ; on the contrary, it participates in those laws that 
 govern living matter. It is continually undergoing changes of 
 deposition and absorption, through the influence of blood-ves- 
 sels and absorbing vessels ; by which means it grows with the 
 growth of the soft parts. 
 
 In fishes, which live in an element that supports the weight, 
 the bones have a very large proportion of elastic cartilage in 
 
190 PROPORTIONmG OF THE 
 
 their composition; and some, as we have already remarked, 
 possess so little phosphate of lime, as to be denominated carti- 
 laginous fishes. Indeed, in the higher classes of animals which 
 live upon land, there is, in the different bones, a finely appro- 
 priated union of earth, cartilage, and fibre ; so as to give to each 
 respectively the due proportion of resistance, elasticity, and 
 toughness. Not only is the bone of each class of animal pecu- 
 liar in the proportion of its ingredients ; but each bone of the 
 skeleton, as of man, has a due proportion of earth, cartilage, and 
 fibre, to suit its office. The temporal bone, in which the ear is 
 situated, is as dense as marble (it is called os petrosum), and of 
 course is suited to propagate the vibration of sound ; the heel- 
 bone, or projection of the elbow, on which the powerful muscles 
 pull, is, on the other hand, fibrous, as if partaking of the nature 
 of a tendon or rope ; whilst the columnar bones, which support 
 the weight, have an intermediate degree of density, and an ad- 
 mirable form, as we shall see presently. 
 
 Looking to the hard texture of bone, we should scarcely sup- 
 pose that it was elastic. But if ivory possess elasticity, this 
 property cannot be denied to bone. A billiard ball being put 
 upon a marble slab, recently painted, a very small spot will 
 mark the point of contact ; but if we let the ball drop upon 
 the marble from a height, we shall find the spot much larger ; 
 because the elasticity of the ivory has permitted the ball to 
 yield, and to assume momentarily an oblate spheroidal form. 
 
 When a new principle is admitted into a complex fabric, the 
 utmost ingenuity can hardly anticipate all the results. Elas- 
 ticity is extensively employed in the machinery of the animal 
 body. Now, to show how finely it must be apportioned, we may 
 take the illustration of a bridge, built of iron, instead of stone, 
 and having a certain swing and elasticity. It lately happened 
 that a bridge of that construction fell ; and it was under very 
 curious circumstances — by the marching of a body of soldiers 
 over it. The bridge was calculated to sustain a greater weight 
 than that of the body of men ; and had they walked tumultu- 
 ously over it, it would have withstood the pressure. But the 
 soldiers marched to time across it : accordingly, they accumu- 
 lated a motion in the bridge, consequent on the elasticity of the 
 material ; which swinging motion, added to their weight, broke 
 it down. This may give us some idea how finely adjusted the 
 
MATERIAL OP BOl^E. 191 
 
 different qualities in the solid material of tlie animal fabric 
 must be; not merely to enable it to sustain the incumbent 
 weight, or to resist transverse or oblique impulses, but to with- 
 stand the frequent and regularly-repeated forces to which it 
 may be subject in the various actions of the body. It gives 
 interest to this fact, that hardly is there a bone which has not 
 a constitution of its own, or a disposition of its material ad- 
 justed to its place and use : the heel-bone, the shin-bone, the 
 vertebrae, and the bones of the head, all differ in their mechani- 
 cal construction. 
 
 This explanation of the use of the prominent ridges of a 
 bone, imparts a new interest to osteology. The anatomist 
 ought, from the form of the ridges, to deduce the motions of 
 the limb, the forces bearing upon the bone, and the nature and 
 common place of fracture ; while, to the general inquirer, an 
 agreeable course of reasoning is introduced into a department, 
 which, when the " irregularities " of the bone are spoken of as 
 if they were the accidental consequences of the pressure of the 
 flesh upon it, is altogether barren of interest. It is perhaps not 
 far removed from our proper object to remark, that a person of 
 feeble texture and indolent habits, has the bone smooth, thin, 
 and light ; but that nature, solicitous for our safety in a manner 
 which we could not anticipate, combines with the powerful 
 muscular frame, a dense and perfect texture of bone, where 
 every spine and tubercle is completely developed. And thus 
 the inert and mechanical provisions of the bone always bear 
 relation to the living muscular power of the limb ; and exercise 
 is as necessary to the perfect constitution and form of a bone, 
 as it is to the increase of the muscular power. 
 
 Jockeys speak correctly enough when they use the term 
 " Uood and hone,'' as distinguishing the breed or genealogy of 
 horses ; for blood is an allowable term for the race, and bone is 
 so far significant, that the bone of a running horse is remark- 
 ably compact, compared with the bone of a draught horse. The 
 reader can easily understand, that in the gallop, the horse must 
 come on his fore-legs with a shock proportioned to the span ; 
 and that, as in man, the greater his muscular power, the denser 
 and stronger must be the bone. 
 
 As the bones are not mere pillars, intended to bear a per- 
 pendicular weight, we ought not to expect uniformity in their 
 
192 COMPAEISON WITH AETIFIGIAL MECHANISM. 
 
 shape. According to its place, each bone bears up against the 
 varying forces applied to it. Consider two men wrestling to- 
 gether, and then think how various must be the direction of 
 the resistances : now they are pulling, and the bones are like 
 ropes ; or again they are writhing and twisting, and the bones 
 bear a force like the axle-tree between two wheels; or the 
 bones are like pillars, under a great weight ; or they are acting 
 as levers. We see, therefore, why a bone, to withstand these 
 different shocks, should consist, as we have stated, of three 
 parts : the earth of bone (phosphate of lime) to give it firmness ; 
 fibres to give it toughness ; and cartilage to give it elasticity.] 
 
 Let us compare the machinery of some complicated engine 
 with the mechanical properties in an animal body, that we may 
 comprehend what is most truly admirable in the latter. Sup- 
 pose the engineer has contrived a steam carriage ; that with the 
 utmost possible precision he has calculated the power of the 
 steam, the pressure of the atmosphere, the strength of the 
 tubes and cylinder, the weight to be moved, and the friction of 
 the whole machinery. At length, the engine is constructed. 
 But, on trial, it remains immoveable. After much thought, the 
 cause of the impediment is discovered, the pressure is eased, or 
 the friction diminished ; and, to the admiration of the beholders, 
 the carriage actually moves — till, in course of time, a pipe bursts. 
 This, however is mended ; the whole is improved, and a day is 
 appointed for a great trial. The engine now runs for half a 
 mile, and first a bolt is shaken loose, then a spring snaps ; but, 
 at length, with renewed ingenuity and labour, and much cor- 
 rection, after a few months, the carriage actually runs a stage. 
 By this comparison we are taught how much, even in the mere 
 machinery of the animal frame, before the powers of life are 
 measured out to it, is to be admired. Such, for example, as 
 the force of the heart to propel the blood ; the resistance of thje 
 tubes to the circulating fluids ; the proportioning of the strength 
 of the limbs to the weight of the body ; the adjustment of the 
 power of the muscles to the length of the bones, as levers ; the 
 flexibility of the joints ; the density of the bones to resist 
 pressure or weight ; their elasticity to prevent concussion and 
 fracture. In the animal body, so finely are the active and re- 
 sisting powers balanced, that no accident occurs from dispro- 
 portioned forces; no second trial is wanted, to increase the 
 
LIABILITY TO ACCIDEi^TS; 193 
 
 power, or strengthen the levers, or add to the elasticity of the 
 springs. It is at once perfect; perfect to its end. But to 
 understand that fully, and the adaptations in the constitution 
 of the bones, we must proceed a little deeper in our investiga- 
 tion. 
 
 It has been already said, that perfect security against acci- 
 dents, in the animal body, and in man especially, is not con- 
 sistent with the scheme of nature. Without the precautions, 
 and the continued calls to exertion, which danger and the uncer- 
 tainty of life produce, many of the faculties of the mind would 
 remain unexercised. Whence, else, would come courage, reso- 
 lution, and all the manly virtues 1 Take away the influence of 
 the uncertain duration of life, and we must suppose also a 
 change in the whole moral constitution of man. Whether we 
 consider the bones as formed to protect important organs, as in 
 the skull i or levers for the attachment of the muscles, as in the 
 limbs ; or in both capacities, as in the texture of the chest- 
 while they are perfectly adapted to their function, they are yet 
 subject to derangements from accident. The mechanical adap- 
 tations are sufficient to their ends, and afford safety, in the 
 natural exercises of the body. To these exercises there is an 
 intuitive impulse, ordered with a relation to the strength of the 
 frame of the body ; for by the admonitions of pain we are de- 
 terred from the excessive or dangerous use of the limbs. 
 
 The bones of the extremities are termed hollow cylinders. 
 Nov/, after having convinced ourselves of the necessity of the 
 cylindrical form for the bones of the limbs, as it is that which 
 combines strength with lightness, we may find, upon a more 
 particular examination, that they vary in their shape, in many 
 instances : and we may even, at last, be prone to believe that 
 there is much chance or irregularity in their forms. But such a 
 conception is quite inconsistent with a correct knowledge of the 
 skeleton; and as it leads to further mistakes, we shall take 
 pains to show, — first, why the bones are hollow cylinders ; and 
 secondly, why they vary in shape, so as to appear to the super- 
 ficial observer irregular. 
 
 The reasoning that serves to explain the admirable structure 
 of the hollow cylindrical bone, applies equally to many other 
 natural forms ; as that of a quill, a reed, or a straw. And this 
 last example may remind us of the .saying of that unfortunate 
 
194 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE 
 
 man, who being drawn from his cell, before the Inquisition, was 
 accused of denying that there is a God; picking up a straw 
 which had stuck to his garments, he said, "If there were 
 nothing else in nature to teach me the existence of a Deity, this 
 straw would be sufficient." 
 
 It hardly requires demonstration that, having a given mass of 
 material with which to construct a piUar or column, the hollow 
 cylinder will be the form of greatest strength. The experiments 
 of Du Hamel on the strength of beams, aifford us the best illus- 
 trations as to how the material should be arranged to resist 
 transverse fracture. When a beam, resting on its extremities, 
 sustains a weight upon its centre, it admits of being divided 
 into three portions, each being in a different condition with re- 
 gard to the weight : the lower part resists fracture by its tough- 
 ness ; the upper part, by its density and resistance to compres- 
 sion ; and the portion between these is not acted upon at all 
 This middle part might, therefore, be taken away, without any 
 considerable weakening of the beam : or it might be added to 
 the upper or the lower part, with great advantage. In illustra- 
 tion of this; when a tree is blown down, and broken at its 
 trunk, the fractured part gapes to the windward— where the 
 wood has been torn asunder like the snapping of a rope : to the 
 leeward, the woody fibres are crushed into one another and 
 splintered — having given way to the compression; while the 
 central part is merely bent, not wholly fractured. 
 
 It can be readily understood how a tougher substance added 
 to the lower part, would strengthen the beam : we see it in the 
 skin laid along the back part of the Indian's bow ; or in the 
 leather of a carriage spring. Again, the following is a beautiful 
 experiment to demonstrate the quality in the upper portion of 
 the timber by which the weight is resisted : if a part, amount- 
 ing to nearly a third of the beam, be cut away, and a denser 
 piece of wood be nicely let into the space, the strength will be 
 increased ; because the hardness of the new piece of wood is cal- 
 culated to withstand compression. This experiment I like the 
 better because it explains an interesting peculiarity in the con- 
 struction of the cylindrical bones ; namely, a difference in the 
 density of the several parts or sides of the bones. In reading 
 anatomical books, we are led to suppose that the pressure of the 
 muscles which surround the bones, has the effect of moulding 
 
MECHANICAL PROPEETIES OF BONE. 195 
 
 them into their particular forms. This is a mistake. Were we to 
 admit the truth of such an explanation, it would be the same as 
 admitting an imperfection in the design : and we should expect 
 to find, that if the bones yielded at all to the force of the muscles, 
 they would give way more and more, according as the power of 
 the muscles increased, until they were ultimately destroyed. 
 Nothing, however, in the living frame is more admirable than 
 the relation established between the muscular power and the 
 strength, or capacity of passive resistance, in the bones. The 
 deviations from the cylindrical form are not irregularities. If 
 we take for our example the chief bone of the leg, the tibia, or 
 shin-bone, which, of all others, varies the most from the cylin- 
 drical shape, we shall have the best demonstration of the cor- 
 respondence between the form of the bone and the force which 
 it has to sustain. When we consider the direction in which the 
 force falls upon the tibia, as we put the foot to the ground, in 
 walking, running, leaping, or in any of the powerful exertions 
 where the weight of the body is thrown forwards on the ball of 
 the great toe, it must appear that the pressure comes chiefly on 
 the anterior part. Accordingly, if the tibia were a perfect cylin- 
 der, it would be subject to fracture, even from the mere force of 
 the body, when thrown upon it. But if a column be rendered 
 stronger, by the material being accumulated to a distance from 
 the centre, we readily perceive the advantage gained by a spine 
 or ridge being formed upon the front of the tibia. Again, if we 
 examine the internal structure of that spine, we shall find that 
 it is much denser and stronger than the rest of the bone. No 
 one, therefore, can deem the deviation from the regular cylin- 
 drical form, or the density of this ridge, a thing of accident ; it 
 corresponds so perfectly with the experiment of Du Hamel, 
 where a dense piece of wood being let into the beam of timber, 
 had the efifect of increasing its power of resisting transverse 
 fracture. With the knowledge of these facts, were we to pro- 
 ceed to examine all the different bones of the skeleton, we 
 should find, everywhere, that the form was in strict relation 
 either to the motion to be performed, or the strain to which the 
 bone was most exposed. 
 
 In comparing the true bones of the higher animals with the 
 coverings of insects, we observed the necessity for the former 
 being of a porous structure ; and how inferior they were in 
 
196 MECHANICAL PEOPERTIES OF BOITE. 
 
 strength from that cause. If the texture of a bone be very 
 dense, it will not re-unite, upon being fractured ; and, if ex- 
 posed, it will die. Here, then, is an obvious defect : the bones 
 of animals cannot be made capable of sustaining great weight, 
 without losing a property necessary to their existence — that of 
 restoration on being injured. And even were the material very 
 much condensed, it does not appear that the phosphate of lime, 
 united as it is with the animal matter, would be capable of 
 withstanding great compression. Accordingly, a limit is put to 
 the size of animals. This may, perhaps, countenance the belief 
 that, in size and duration of life, animals bear a relation to the 
 powers and life of man — that it was only in a former condition 
 of the world, that creatures of the greatest dimensions could 
 exist. Our allusion here is to such animals only as have their 
 huge bulk resting on extremities ; for, with respect to the whale, 
 it lies out buoyed and supported in the water. Some of those 
 great fossil animals, the remains of which are found in the 
 secondary strata, are estimated to have been seventy feet in 
 length ; and they had extremities ; but the thigh and leg did 
 not exceed eight feet in length, while the foot extended to six 
 feet ; a proportion which implies that the extremities assisted 
 the animal to crawl, rather than to bear its weight, like the ex- 
 tremities of the mammalia. However, in the larger terrestrial 
 animals, the material of the bones is found to be dense, and 
 their cavities filled up ; the diameters of those of the extremities, 
 together with their spines and processes, being remarkably in- 
 creased. Nothing can be conceived more clumsy than the bones 
 of the megatherium. Hence it really appears as if nature had 
 exhausted her resources, with respect to this material : that 
 living and vascular bone could not be moulded into a form 
 capable of sustaining the bulk and weight of an animal much 
 superior in size to the elephant, mastodon, or megatherium. 
 
 [The subject may be illustrated in this manner : — A soft 
 stone projecting from a wall, may make a stile strong enough 
 to bear a person's weight ; but if it be necessary to double the 
 length of the stile, the thickness must be more than doubled, 
 or a freestone substituted : and were it necessary to make this 
 freestone project twice as far from the wall, it would not be 
 strong enough to bear a proportioned increase of weight, even 
 if doubled in thickness ; granite must be placed in its stead ; 
 
OF THE JOmTS. 197 
 
 and even granite would not be capable of sustaining four times 
 the weight which the soft stone bore in the first instance. In 
 the same way, the stones which form an arch, of a large span, 
 must be of the hardest granite, or their own weight will crush 
 them. The same principle is applicable to the bones of ani- 
 mals : the material of bone is too soft to admit of an indefinite 
 increase of weight. It is another illustration of what was 
 before stated, that a relation is established through all nature ; 
 that the structure of the very animals which move upon the 
 surface of the earth is proportioned to its magnitude, and the 
 gravitation to its centre.] 
 
 OF THE JOINTS. 
 
 With regard to the articulation of the bones at the joints, we 
 cannot mistake the reason why the surfaces of contact should 
 be enlarged; the expansion of the ends of the bones makes 
 them sit more securely upon each other, thereby diminishing 
 the danger of dislocation. And this advantage is gained with- 
 out detriment to the motion of the joint. In machinery, when 
 the weight or pressure are the same, an increase in the extent 
 of the surfaces in contact does not add to the friction. For 
 example, if a stone, or piece of timber, of the shape of a book 
 or a brick, be laid upon a flat surface, and drawn across it, 
 it will be moved with equal facility whether it rest upon its 
 edge, or upon its side. In the same manner, the friction be- 
 tween the articular surfaces of the bones of the knee-joint, is 
 not increased by their greater diameter ; while obvious advan- 
 tages result from their additional breadth : the ligaments knit 
 the bones more strongly ; and the tendons being removed to a 
 distance from the centre of motion, more power is given to the 
 action of the muscles. 
 
 [In comparing the skeleton with carpentry, or with anything 
 artificial that may admit of comparison with it, we remark an 
 absence of straight lines or regular forms in the various bones, 
 whether they serve the purposes of shafts, axles, or levers; 
 while, in the mechanism made by man, every part is levelled 
 and squared, or formed according to some geometrical line or 
 curve. This, as we have said, leads the superficial thinker to 
 conclude, that the bones are formed irregularly, or without 
 reference to principle. But the consideration of by Whom 
 
198 OF THE JOINTS. 
 
 formed, leads to a review; and a deeper examination brings 
 "with it tlie conviction that the curves, spines, and protuber- 
 ances of the bones, where they enter into the joints, are formed 
 with a relation to the weight which they bear, and the thrusts 
 and twists to which they are subjected, in the different motions 
 of the body. If we observe the various postures of a man at 
 any manual labour, or under a weight, or running, or leaping, 
 or wrestling, we shall be convinced that no carpentry of the 
 bones, formed according to geometrical lines or curves, could 
 suit all this variety of motion. No splicing, dove-tailing, cog- 
 ging, or any of all the various shapes into which the carpenter 
 or joiner cuts his material, could enable them to withstand 
 the motions of the body, where it is so utterly impossible 
 to estimate the forces, or to calculate upon the variety in their 
 direction. 
 
 That the varieties in the forms of the joints are not irregular 
 or accidental, but are related to the motions to be performed, 
 is apparent in the close examination of the human skeleton ; 
 and it is still more clearly evinced by comparative anatomy. 
 To comprehend the fine adjustment of each bone in its articu- 
 lation, we should require to go more minutely into the anatomy 
 than is suitable to this work. Then we should find with what 
 curious mechanical adaptation the motions are permitted in the 
 prescribed direction, and checked in every other. We should 
 observe how the motions of one joint are related to those of 
 another ; and how, by the combination of joints, each of which 
 is securely checked and strengthened, facility and extent of 
 motion are produced in the whole : for example, in the arm 
 and hand, where the motions are free, and varied in every pos- 
 sible direction. 
 
 It is interesting to see how the joints of the lower extremities 
 in man are modified, in comparison with those of the upper. 
 We have elsewhere remarked that the bones of the human 
 pelvis, thigh, and leg exceed those of all other animals in rela- 
 tive size ; which is a provision for the erect position of man. 
 The same design is evinced in the form of the ankle, knee, and 
 hip-joints. Whilst in their combination they give every neces- 
 sary degree of motion consistent with security, there is a happy 
 adaptation of each to produce at once firmness and mobility. 
 That is to say, when the limb is thrown forward in walking or 
 
OF THE MUSCULAR AND ELASTIC FORCES. 199 
 
 running, the whole member is loose, and capable of being freely 
 directed ; so that we plant it with every convenience to the 
 irregularity of the ground ; but when the body is carried for- 
 ward, and the weight comes to be perpendicular over the limb, 
 it acquires, by the curious adjustment of the bones, a firmness 
 equal to that of a post. Again, when the body is still further 
 thrown forward, and the limb is disencumbered of the weight 
 of the body, the joints are let loose, so as to be bent easily, and 
 to obey the action of the muscles.] 
 
 OF THE MUSCIJLAE AND ELASTIC FORCES. 
 
 Elastic ligaments are liberally supplied in the human spine : 
 a range of peculiar ligaments run along the course of the column, 
 and are highly elastic. The ligamentum nuchce is that ligament 
 which extends from the prominence of the spine between the 
 shoulders, to the back of the head ; and the student who hangs 
 his head over his book, enjoys the advantage of this elastic 
 support. We may trace the same ligament, with increasing 
 strength, from that which sustains a man's head, to the powerful 
 elastic structure in the neck of the elephant, which, like the 
 spring of a steel-yard, weighs against its immense head and 
 tusks. 
 
 These elastic ligaments vary with the length and motion of 
 the neck. It would be tedious to describe their varieties in the 
 camel, camelopard, ostrich, &c. We may be satisfied with the 
 fact, that the elastic ligament is a structure extensively used in 
 the animal textures ; generally coming in aid of the muscles, or 
 as a substitute for them. 
 
 The muscular power is contrasted with the elastic, as being a 
 property of motion possessed exclusively by a living part, the 
 muscular fibre. We acquiesce in the distinction, since the fibre 
 ceases to have irritability or power after death ; while the elastic 
 structures retain their peculiar quality. But yet there is a pro- 
 perty in the elasticity of the living body, which cannot be pre- 
 served after death. To illustrate this, let us take the instance 
 of the catgut string of a harp, and suppose that it is screwed 
 tightly, so as to vibrate in a given time, and sound the note 
 correctly; if it be struck rudely, it will be put out of tune; that 
 is, it will be stretched and somewhat relaxed, and no longer 
 vibrate in time. But this will not take place in the living elastic 
 
200 ELASTIC STRUCTUEES. 
 
 fibre ; in it there is a power of restoring the property. If we 
 see the tuner screwing up the harp-string, and with difficulty, 
 and after repeated trials, with the tuning-fork, and with his 
 utmost acquired skill, bringing it to its due tension, and restor- 
 ing it to its former elasticity, we have a demonstration of how 
 much Life is performing, after every act of over-exertion, in re- 
 pairing the fibres of the animal frame. The more powerful the 
 active forces of the body are, the more carefully is the proper 
 tension of the tendons, ligaments, and heart-cords preserved. 
 
 Or we may take the example of a steel spring. A piece of 
 steel, heated to a white heat, and plunged into cold water, ac- 
 quires certain properties ; and if heated again to 600° of Fahren- 
 heit, it becomes elastic; possessing what is called a "spring 
 temper," so that it will recoil and vibrate. But if this spring be 
 bent in a degree too much, it will be deprived of part of its elas- 
 ticity. In the living body, should a similar thing happen to one 
 of the elastic structures, it has a power of restoration, which the 
 steel has not. 
 
 [The safeguard against the excess of muscular power is in the 
 elasticity of the parts. This is obvious in the limbs and general 
 texture of the frame ; but it is most perfectly exhibited in the 
 organs of circulation. If the action of the Heart impelled the 
 blood against parts of solid structure, they would quickly yield. 
 When, by accident, this does take place, even the dense bone is 
 very soon destroyed. But the coats of the artery which receive 
 the rush of blood from the heart, although thin, are limber and 
 elastic ; and by this elasticity or yielding, they take off or sub- 
 due the shock of the heart's action, while no force is lost ; for as 
 the elastic artery has yielded to the sudden impulse of the heart, 
 it contracts by elasticity in the interval of the heart's pulsation ; 
 and the blood continues to be propelled onward in the course of 
 the circulation, without interruption, though regularly accele- 
 rated by the pulse of the heart. 
 
 If a steam-engine were used to force water along pipes, with- 
 out the intervention of some elastic body, the water would not 
 flow continuously, but in jerks ; therefore, a reservoir is con- 
 structed, containing air, into which the water is forced, against 
 the elasticity of the air. Thus, each stroke of the piston is not 
 perceptibly communicated to the conduit-pipe, because the inter- 
 vals are supplied by the resilience of the compressed air. The 
 
ELASTIC STEUCTUEES. 201 
 
 office of the reservoir containing air, is performed in the animal 
 body by the elasticity of the coats of the arteries ; by which 
 means the blood flows uninterruptedly into the arteries, and has 
 a continuous flow in the veins beyond them. 
 
 But as life advances, the arterial system loses much of its 
 elasticity, and becomes rigid. This is so common an occurrence 
 that we can no more call it a disease than the stifi'ened joints of 
 an old man ; it is the forerunner or the accompaniment of the 
 decline of life. Sometimes this change takes place too early in 
 life, and to an extreme degree ; and from its effects we must call 
 it morbid ; for it not unfrequently happens that the muscular 
 power of the heart being still entire and vigorous, the arteries 
 can no longer withstand it. They have lost that power which, 
 yielding to the heart's action, resists, recoils, and the more it 
 gives way, the more it takes off the suddenness of the shock ; 
 which, in yielding, wastes no power, since the recoil gives as 
 much force to the acceleration of the blood, as was lost of the 
 heart's action. The artery, then, being rigid, yields indeed to 
 the heart's impulse, but has no rebound. It becomes perma- 
 nently dilated or enlarged ; and is called aneurismal. A stronger 
 beat of the heart, excited by inordinate action or passion, chips 
 and bursts the now rigid coats of the artery. If the breach be 
 gradual, a pouch forms — a true aneurism. And here is the proof 
 we require ; for this bag coming to pulsate upon the solid bones, 
 they are absorbed. That action of the heart, which was so 
 lightly and so easily borne whilst the vessels were elastic, now 
 beating upon a solid structure, in a short time destroys it. Thus, 
 from what takes place on a very slight derangement of the pro- 
 perties of the parts, we are led to a more accurate knowledge of 
 the fine adjustment of the active and resisting properties in the 
 circulating vessels, during youth and health. 
 
 A piece of rope, of a new patent, has been shown to us, which 
 is said to be many times stronger than any other rope of a like 
 diameter. It is so far formed upon the same principle as the 
 tendon of a muscle, that the strands are plaited, instead of being 
 twisted : but the tendon has still a superiority ; for the lesser 
 yarns of each strand in it, are interwoven with those of other 
 strands. It may be asked, however, do not the tendons of the 
 human body sometimes break 1 They do; and in circum- 
 stances which only add to the interest of the subject. By the 
 
202 
 
 ELASTIC STRUCTURES. 
 
 exercise of the tendons, (and their exercise is the act of being 
 pulled upon by the muscles, or having a strain on them,) they 
 get firmer and stronger; but in the failure of muscular activity, 
 they become less capable of resisting the tug made upon them ; 
 and if, after a long confinement, a man has some powerful ex- 
 citement to muscular exertion, then the tendon breaks. An old 
 gentleman, whose habits have been staid and sedentary, and 
 who is very guarded in his walk, is upon an annual festival 
 tempted to join the young people in a dance ; then he breaks his 
 Undo Achillis. This reminds us that we are speaking of a liv- 
 ing body j and that, in estimating the mechanical properties, we 
 ought not to forget the influence of Life, and the law that the 
 natural exercise of the parts, whether they be active or passive, 
 is the stimulus to the circulation through them, and to their 
 growth and perfection.] 
 
 ^\'^ 
 
ON THE POSITION" OF THE HEAD OF ANIMALS, AND 
 ITS RELATION TO THE SPINE. 
 
 To illustrate the proposition, that " aU parts of the skeleton are correlated ; 
 and that the variations in their form depend on the functions." 
 
 It has been shown in the text, when treating of the upper or 
 anterior extremity, that the changes of form exhibited in differ- 
 ent animals, may be referred to one principle — the adaptation of 
 the parts to their proper uses. The head, in certain animals, 
 may be considered as performing in some measure the office of 
 hands. Now, if we adopt this view, we shall be able to judge 
 more correctly how far it holds true that the centre of the skele- 
 ton, to which the h6ad belongs, remains permanent in its form, 
 compared with the extreme parts. 
 
 We have seen that it is the opinion of some naturalists, that 
 all the varieties in the conformation of the skeleton admit of 
 being explained according to a law, by which the central parts 
 preserve an uniform shape, whilst the extremities are incident 
 to change. That opinion I shall controvert, and show that 
 although the spine and head, in retaining their office, common 
 to all vertebrated animals, of protecting the brain and spinal 
 marrow, are permanent in regard to them, yet they vary in the 
 shapes of their processes, and in their relations to the adjacent 
 parts. Pursuing that idea, we shall be able to account for the 
 characteristic forms of animals. 
 
 The principle, then, which will guide us, both here and in a 
 more universal survey of animal nature, is, that the organisa- 
 tion varies in correspondence with the condition in which the 
 animal is placed, in reference to procuring food, and multiply- 
 ing its species. If we consider any of the great functions on 
 which life depends, we shall perceive that the apparatus is 
 altered and adapted to every changing circumstance. Diges- 
 tion, for example, is the same in all animals ; but the organisa- 
 tion presents numerous interesting varieties. Whether it be in 
 the quadruped, the bird, the fish, or the insect, the stomach 
 
204 VARIATIONS IN THE CEKTEE 
 
 varies both in its form and the number of its cavities, in accord- 
 ance with the nature of the food which it receives. And the 
 variation does not depend upon the size or form of the animal : 
 it is adapted purely to the conversion of its particular food into 
 nourishment : the gizzard of the fish, or of the insect, is as per- 
 fect as that of the fowl. So with the decarbonisation of the 
 blood in breathing : the process of throwing off the carbon is 
 the same in all living animals ; but the mode in which respira- 
 tion is performed varies according to circumstances; the ap- 
 paratus is especially modified and adjusted, according as it is 
 carried on in the atmosphere or the water. 
 
 But although the organs subservient to the grand func- 
 tions, — the heart and blood-vessels, the lungs, the stomach, — 
 be variously adapted to the different classes of animals, they 
 change much less than the parts by which animals are enabled 
 to pursue their prey or obtain their food. Their extremities, 
 by which they walk, or run, or creep, or cling, must vary infi- 
 nitely. And so their teeth and horns, and the position of their 
 head, and the strength of their neck, exhibit nearly as much 
 variety as their proper extremities; because these parts like- 
 wise must be adapted to their different modes of obtaining food, 
 or of combating their enemies. 
 
 Following this principle, therefore, let us observe the forms 
 of some of the more remarkably-shaped animals, and endeavour 
 to explain their meaning. When we look upon the boar's head, 
 its form alone enables us to comprehend something of the habits 
 of the animal ; we see the direction in which he will employ his 
 strength. He lives by digging up roots ; and the instruments 
 by which he feeds are also those by which he defends himself — 
 the position of his tusks protects his eyes in rushing through 
 the underwood; but the formation of the skull, and of the 
 spine, and the mass of muscle in the neck, all show the intention 
 of his configuration to be, that he may drive onward with his 
 whole weight and strength, and rend with his tusks. Accord- 
 ingly, the back part of the skull rises in remarkable spines or 
 ridges for the attachment of muscles ; and corresponding with 
 them, the spinous processes of the vertebrae of the neck and 
 back are of extraordinary length and strength. Processes of 
 such dimensions as these distinctly indicate the immense power 
 of the muscles which pass from the neck to the head. We now 
 
Al^D THE EXTEEMITIES. 205 
 
 understand the reason of the shortness and inflexibility of the 
 neck of the boar ; it is so formed because the strength of the 
 shoulders is directed to the head, or, we may say, to the large 
 tusks. An elongated and flexible neck would have rendered 
 these implements useless. The characteristic form of the wild 
 boar, then, consists in the height of the back, the shortness and 
 thickness of the neck, the wedge shape of the head, the projec- 
 tion of the tusks, and the shortness of the fore-legs, which must 
 always be in proportion to the neck. 
 
 Thus we perceive that the skull, unafiected in its office of con- 
 taining and protecting the brain, is yet subject to variations m 
 its form and place, according to its other functions ; — that it is 
 adapted, just as the extremities are, to the animal's mode of 
 life. In the same manner, we see the spine permanent in its 
 office as a tube to protect the spinal marrow, but yet varying 
 in its processes and articulations, as they bear a reference to the 
 skull. In short, although these be the very central parts of all, 
 they undergo changes of form in due accommodation to the 
 whole skeleton. 
 
 What a complete contrast there is between the wild boar and 
 any of the feline tribe ! But it is a contrast of form and motion, 
 at once referable to their spine. In the tiger or leopard, the 
 perfect flexibility of the body, and the almost vermicular motion 
 of the spine, correspond to the teeth and jaws, and the free use 
 of the paws. 
 
 The peculiarity of the elephant's configuration has been hap- 
 pily illustrated by Cuvier : and the principle may be pursued in 
 a manner interesting both to the naturaUst and geologist. 
 
 In ourselves, we may feel between the shoulders a certain 
 projection of the spine, which is called the vertebra prominens; 
 and if we stoop forward, as in reading a book which lies upon 
 the table, a ligament will be felt extending from that process to 
 the back of the head. This ligament suspends the head, and 
 relieves the muscles. But as man for the most part carries his 
 head balanced on the extremity of the spine, or can vary its re- 
 lation under fatigue, the strength of that suspensory ligament 
 is not to be compared with the corresponding part in quadru- 
 peds; where, from the horizontal position of the spine, the 
 head always hangs : and where there would be a great waste of 
 muscular exertion, but for the interposition of this elastic liga- 
 
206 
 
 VAEIATIONS m THE CEl^TEE 
 
 ment. In the horse it is long and strong ; and the admirable 
 thing is, 'the accurate adjustment of the elasticity of this liga- 
 ment to the weight and position of the head : the head is nicely 
 balanced by it, as on a steelyard. With this circumstance in 
 our mind, let us observe the peculiar form of the elephant. 
 
 1. As in treating of the boar, we begin again by observing the 
 teeth. Now, one grinder tooth of the elephant weighs seventeen 
 pounds ; * and of these there are four in the skull, besides the 
 rudiments of others. 2. We next observe how admirably these 
 
 teeth are suited to sus- 
 tain great pressure and 
 attrition. 3. The jaws 
 must be constructed of 
 a sufi&cient size, not 
 only to afford a deep 
 socketing to the teeth, 
 but to give lodgment to 
 muscles strong enough 
 to move this large 
 grinding machine. 4. 
 The animal must be 
 provided for its de- 
 fence too. Now each 
 of the tusks sometimes 
 weighs as much as one 
 hundred and thirteen 
 pounds : and project- 
 ing as they do, they 
 may be considered as 
 placed at the extremity 
 of a long lever. 5. If 
 this enormous and heavy head had hung on the end of a 
 neck of anything like the proportions in the horse, the pressure 
 on the anterior extremities would have been inordinate ; and 
 more than four times the expenditure of muscular power would 
 have been necessary to the motion of the head. 6. What has 
 been the resource of nature ? There are seven vertebrae of the 
 neck in this animal (the same number that we count in the 
 
 * The natural tooth weighed seventeen pounds, the fossil tooth sixteen- 
 and-a-half pounds. 
 
A'SB THE EXTEEMITIES. 207 
 
 giraffe) ; but these bones are compressed into a small space in a 
 very remarkable manner ; and thus the bead is brought close 
 upon the body, so as to appear a part of the body, without the 
 interposition of any neck. 7. But the animal must feed : and 
 since its head, owing to the short neck, cannot reach the ground, 
 it must possess an instrument, like a hand, in the proboscis — 
 to minister to the mouth, to grasp the herbage, and lift it to its 
 lips.* Thus we perceive that the conformation of the elephant, 
 as regards the peculiar character of his figure, in the shoulders 
 and head, in the closeness of the head to the body, in the posses- 
 sion of the proboscis, and the defence of that proboscis by the 
 projecting tusks, — is a necessary adaptation to the great weight 
 of the head, and, indeed, of the general large size of the animal. 
 
 We may carry the inquiry a little further, to the effect of 
 elucidating a very curious part of natural history. The Masto- 
 don is the name of an extinct animal, which must have been 
 nearly of the same size as the elephant. It has received that 
 name from the early familiarity of naturalists with the teeth ; 
 which have upon their surfaces of contact mamillary-shaped 
 projections. It was supposed, at one time, that these teeth 
 belonged to a carnivorous animal. But a portion of the upper 
 jaw, with the teeth preserved in it, being found, it admitted of 
 this course of reasoning : — In the superior maxillary bone of all 
 vertebrated animals, there is a hole for transmitting a branch 
 of the fifth nerve which goes to the upper lip ;t when, however, 
 as in the elephant, a great proboscis is added to the lip, it 
 follows that, as that organ possesses its sensibility through the 
 same branch of the fifth, not only will the nerve itself be pro- 
 portionably large, but the hole through which it is trans- 
 mitted, will be increased in diameter. Accordingly, when a 
 fragment of the upper jaw-bone in which that hole is preserved 
 is found, we can infer from the greater size of the orifice, that 
 the nerve supplied more than a mere upper lip — that, as in the 
 case of the mastodon, the animal had a proboscis, and was a 
 species of elephant. 
 
 Let us consider the principle in another light. How are the 
 
 * Anguimanus, was a name given to the elephant by Lucretius : — 
 
 " The beast who hath between his eyes 
 The serpent for a hand." 
 
 + See page 103. 
 
208 
 
 OF THE ELK. 
 
 neck and head of an animal accommodated to feeding, when 
 the neck is short, and there is no proboscis 1 The elk is a 
 strange, uncouth animal — principally from the setting on of its 
 head. The weight of the horns is enormous : and if the head 
 and horns were placed at the extremity of an elongated neck, 
 it would be preposterous ; they would, in fact, overbalance the 
 body. It is for that reason, we presume, that the head is so 
 curiously approximated to the trunk. We observe, in the next 
 place, a want of relation between the fore -legs and the neck — 
 that the legs are of great length, while the neck is extremely 
 short. Now it is interesting to find that the animal does not 
 browse upon the herbage at its feet j it feeds off the sides of the 
 
 rocks ! A very remarkable proof of the incapacity of this ani- 
 mal to feed in the common, way, was afforded by an accident 
 which befell a fine male specimen confined in the Zoological 
 Gardens. To reach the ground, on which his food was unin- 
 tentionally scattered, he had to extend out his fore-legs laterally; 
 
OF THE GIRAFFE. 209 
 
 in tMs position Ms foot slipped, he dislocated his shoulder, and 
 died of the accident. 
 
 Contrasted in a most remarkable manner with the elk, we 
 have the giraffe. The giraffe feeds upon the branches of lofty- 
 trees ; and the whole constitution and form of the animal are 
 provided to enable it to reach high — the fore-legs are long, the 
 neck still longer, the head is remarkably small and light, and 
 the tongue has a power of elongation which no other quadruped 
 possesses. The tongue, indeed, is not inaptly compared with 
 the trunk of the elephant ; it can be extended seventeen inches ; 
 it can be twisted about so as to resemble a long black worm; and 
 it is used with extraordinary dexterity, in picking up a straw, as 
 well as pulling down a branch. The relative proportions of the 
 skeleton of the giraffe are full of interest, as showing the accom- 
 modation in the structure to the necessities of the animal. 
 
 And, first, of the head : if we have the skull of the giraffe 
 before us, and compare it with that of the camel or horse, we 
 shall be struck with the delicacy of the bony textures of the 
 former, with its being cellular, thin, and light as a paper case. 
 Now, can there be anything more obvious than that this light- 
 ness of texture is provided in consequence of the extraordinary 
 length of the neck 1 Had the skull of the giraffe been as strong 
 and heavy as that of the horse or camel, it would have prepon- 
 derated too much at the extremity of such a neck. 
 
 Secondly, as to the spine : there is an accommodation in the 
 form and position of this part also. In most quadrupeds, the 
 spine lies horizontally : but if the bones had been so placed in 
 the giraffe, the whole weight of the shoulders, neck, and head 
 would have been thrown on the anterior extremities. This, how- 
 ever, is prevented by the anterior extremities being much longer 
 than the posterior : whence it results that the trunk is placed in 
 an oblique, or semi-erect position ; and, accordingly, a portion of 
 the weight of the neck and head, parts which in other creatures 
 are sustained altogether by the fore-legs, fails upon the hind-legs.* 
 
 Thirdly, on looking to the ribs, we observe another peculiarity 
 of form ; which may be accounted for on the same consideration 
 of the length, and consequent weight, of the neck and head. 
 The chest is supported, of course, upon the anterior extremities ; 
 
 * The ligamentum nuchse in this | the spiae, from the os sacrum to the 
 animal extends the whole length of | skuU. 
 
 O 
 
210 OF THE HIPPOPOTAMUS AND CAMEL. 
 
 but the ribs in front, wbich. rest upon tbe legs and bear the 
 principal pressure, are of great comparative strength ;' while the 
 posterior ones, by their delicacy, weakness, and mobility in 
 breathing, present a singular contrast to them. In short, the 
 fore part of the chest, which in a manner intervenes between the 
 neck and anterior extremities, requires its compages to be par- 
 ticularly firm and strong, for supporting the superincumbent 
 weight : while the motions of respiration are performed chiefly 
 by the posterior ribs. 
 
 Although the proportions between the neck and the legs, in 
 this creature, may seem to be duly preserved, yet he is not 
 suited to browse the grass : his proper food is the leaves on the 
 high branches of trees. In attempting to reach the ground with 
 his mouth, his limbs appear to be in danger of suffering disloca- 
 tion ; he extends his feet laterally, elevates the scapulae, draws 
 in the crupper, and stretches the neck, so as to present a very 
 ludicrous figure. 
 
 Camel and Hippopotamus. 
 
 We have here a sketch of the skeletons of the hippopotamus 
 and of the camel, as they stood accidentally contrasted in the 
 
OF THE HOESE'S HEAD. 211 
 
 Museum. Tlie head of the hippopotamus is of great strength 
 and weight, and it is appended to a short neck ; in the shortness 
 of its legs also, we see the correspondence which we have had 
 occasion to remark between the position of the head, and the 
 height of the trunk from the ground. The form of the camel is, 
 in every respect, different. This animal must have rapidity 
 and ease of motion on the ground : which qualities are secured 
 by the length of the extremities ; and in accordance with the 
 extremities, are the elongated neck and lightly-formed head. 
 Here, then, is the skeleton of an animal, properly terrestrial ; it 
 is accommodated to other peculiarities of its organisation con- 
 nected with its living on arid plains ; and is admirably adapted 
 for a rapid and long-continued course. The hippopotamus, on 
 the other hand, seeks its safety in the water ; and its uncouth 
 form and weight are suited to that element. 
 
 Of the Hoese's Head. — It is perhaps better to draw our 
 arguments from what is familiar and constantly before us : let 
 us then take the form of the horse's head. Some have affirmed 
 that the sound of neighing is produced in two sets of membra- 
 nous chambers in the horse's head, called the Eustachian cavities. 
 That name has been given to these cavities, because they com- 
 municate with the tubes termed Eustachian tubes, which lead 
 from the throat to the ear. But that is a very unsatisfactory 
 account of the cavities in question. "We are of opinion that 
 their use is connected with the weight of the head, the length 
 of the neck, and the power of mastication of the animal. It is 
 a very remarkable circumstance that a horse, whose "points" 
 are approved of by the jockey, will starve in a grass field. By 
 a system of crossing, the breeder will contrive, in a manner 
 almost artificial, to combine the incidental defects of nature, so 
 as to make the proportions of a horse correspond with his own 
 ideas of perfection ; and as a notion prevails that a short neck 
 and small head are excellences, inasmuch as the weight upon 
 the fore-feet is thereby diminished, it has sometimes happened 
 that the neck has become too short ; so that the animal has 
 actually been unable to reach the ground, in grazing. Having 
 observed that splints, corns, sandcracks, whitters, inflammations, 
 and other diseases of the horse's foot, belong almost exclusively 
 to the anterior extremity, they have attributed these to the 
 weight of the head and neck, in conjunction with the artificial 
 
212 OF THE HORSE'S HEAD. 
 
 condition of tlie horse : for were it, tliey say, tlie shoeing and 
 hard roads alone that produced these bad effects, they would 
 have been equally perceptible in the hind-feet. Such considera- 
 tions tend to show the importance of the peculiarity now to be 
 pointed out in the horse's skull. 
 
 On looking to the horse's head in profile, we see that its pecu- 
 liar form, especially the great depth of its jaws posteriorly, is a 
 necessary consequence of the length of the grinding teeth. We 
 have already noticed the magnitude and weight of the elephant's 
 head, in correspondence with its enormous teeth, provided for 
 the attrition of its food : and if we apply the same rule to the 
 head of the horse, we shall see how curiously it accounts for thei 
 peculiar shape of the skull. Like the elephant, the horse is; 
 graminivorous ; and the structure of the teeth evinces how well 
 calculated they are for mastication, without wearing. To enable 
 the teeth to bear great pressure, they are socketed very deeply 
 in the jaw; and as the strength of the muscles of mastication is 
 applied not merely to close the jaws, as in the carnivorous ani- 
 mal, but to grind, or to rub the teeth both laterally and to and 
 fro, extraordinary space is provided in the jaws, for the lodgement 
 of the powerful muscle called masseter ; a muscle which has the 
 double action of closing the teeth, and of drawing the lower jaw 
 across the upper. Here, then, we have the reason for that great 
 square portion of the jaw under the ear, which peculiarly dis- 
 tinguishes the horse's head : the bone is large, so as to give both 
 a deep socketing to the molar teeth, and an extensive attach- 
 ment to the muscles. Now, although the maxillary and nasal 
 cavities in the horse are very capacious, yet the space which they 
 take up does not suffice to occupy the remarkable depth of the 
 lower jaw. In fact, the larynx and pharynx, the organs con- 
 tained in that space, cannot fill up the whole depth of the head 
 at this part ; there is a great deal of room in the skull neither 
 required for the lodgement of the brain, nor for the bony cavities 
 of the nose, nor for the pharynx, nor the larynx; but solely 
 resulting from the great size of the jaws. Had this space been 
 occupied by solid bone, it would have added materially to the 
 weight of the head. Accordingly it has been filled up by the 
 two great membranous cells, the Eustachian cavities ; which 
 receive air into them by communicating with the cavities of the 
 nose. On the whole, then, we may consider these large cells in 
 
OF THE SPEEMACETI WHALE. 213 
 
 fclie liorse's head, as permitting the enlargement of the jaw-bone 
 at its back part, so as to afford a deep socketing for the grind- 
 ing teeth, and a sufficient lodgement for the powerful muscles 
 employed in mastication, without increasing very considerably 
 the solid material of the head. As in birds, advantage is here 
 taken of the admission of air, to increase the volume and 
 strength of the parts, without adding to the weight. We now 
 perceive that, if the horse's skull had been formed without 
 these membranous air-cells, there would have been a positive 
 defect, especially in the running horse; for the head would 
 have greatly exceeded in weight ; the animal would not have ' 
 been properly balanced upon its extremities ; and the weight 
 upon the fore-feet would have been so much increased, as to 
 have rendered him still more liable to those diseases of the foot 
 to which his artificial condition subjects him. 
 
 This provision for making the head of the horse lighter, has 
 a parallel in the head of the spermaceti whale. The spermaceti 
 whale, a species of the physeter or cachelot, has a very large 
 head ; it is remarkable also for possessing teeth ; the common 
 whale having only whalebone in its mouth for teeth. Now, 
 from the great size and length of the head, loaded as it is with 
 teeth and jaw-bones, ponderous and dense in proportion, and 
 from the lungs being situated too far behind the centre of 
 gravity, it would have followed that the animal could not raise 
 itself to the surface of the sea, for breathing : accordingly, large 
 cavities in the head (twelve feet long, and four feet deep) are 
 filled with spermaceti, a material lighter than water; by this 
 means the head is rendered buoyant, and the equilibrium of the 
 animal is maintained. 
 
 Although the changes in the shape of the skulls of animals 
 principally affect their anterior part, that is, the bones of the 
 face, yet the slighter deviations behind, if minutely scanned, 
 may indicate much. For example, among other interesting 
 specimens of fossil bones, the portion of a skull was found in 
 the caves of the limestone rock near Plymouth. It consisted 
 merely of the condyles or articulating processes of the skull, 
 which join it to the vertebrae of the neck ; together with parts 
 of the occipital and temporal bones. Yet from that alone it 
 could be ascertained that the fragment belonged to an hyaena : 
 although its proportions were double those of the corresponding 
 
214 OF THE HY^l^A'S JAWS. 
 
 parts of the largest recent species. First, the high spine indi- 
 cated great muscular power in the neck ; secondly, the depth 
 and extent of the fossa or hollow for the lodgement of the tem- 
 poral muscle, proved that there was a remarkable mass, and 
 consequent strength of muscle, for closing the jaws ; thirdly, 
 that the fragment belonged neither to the bear nor the tiger, 
 was shown by the extraordinary thickness and density of the 
 whole bone. In this last respect, the portion of bone corre- 
 sponded with that of no animal but the hy^na ; for the entire 
 skull of the hyasna participates in the strength which belongs 
 so remarkably to its teeth; these being capable of breaking 
 the hardest and largest bones.* 
 
 In treating of the jaw-bones and teeth of the hy^na found 
 in a fossil state, Dr Buckland has given us an example of the 
 mode of drawing deductions from such a subject, not inferior 
 to the best specimen of similar reasoning by Cuvier. While 
 lecturing on the comparative anatomy of the skeleton, I have 
 put the subject in this light: — "All nature, we have seen, is 
 full of life ; and wherever food is to be obtained, there ani- 
 mals are, suited in structure to reach it. Suppose the horse run 
 down by wolves, and his carcass consumed by lesser carnivo- 
 rous quadrupeds, and birds of prey ; there is still left, in the 
 large cylindrical bones, an abundance of nutriment ; which, how- 
 ever, these animals cannot get at. Turn your attention, then, to 
 the skull of the hysena ; it presents great clumsiness and weight, 
 contrasted with that of the dog, the wolf, or the bear. Next, 
 observe the teeth ; you see that they are conical— which is the 
 very form of strength ; and that by their abundant enamel, they 
 are case-hardened on the exterior. In proportion to the power 
 of resistance of the teeth, are the size and density of the jaws. 
 Again, this hollow for lodging the temporal muscle, which 
 closes the jaws ; and this prominence of the zygomatic arch, 
 which gives attachment to another muscle of the same class, 
 produce together that extraordinary breadth of the face which 
 is characteristic of this very ugly animal. And, corresponding 
 with the strength of its teeth, jaws, and muscles, you see how 
 much thicker and denser in its texture the whole skull is, than 
 in other animals : as if to show, by the supporting frame-work 
 
 * Tliis specimen is in the Museum 1 beautifully drawn in Mr Cliffs paper 
 of the College of Surgeons, and is J in the Philosophical Transactions. 
 
OF THE SPINE. 215 
 
 the strength of the engine ; an engine capable of breaking these 
 powerfiil cylindrical bones of the larger animals, and of disclos- 
 ing a rich repast in the marrow they contain." 
 
 [Of the Spine. — As the skull thus exhibits a freedom in 
 changing its form, when required by its application to new 
 offices, so it is with the spine ; which, according to the theory 
 we are considering, is still more centrally placed than the skulL 
 It is true that the spine presents a general uniformity of shape 
 and appearance. As the spinal marrow belongs to the whole 
 class of vertebrated animals, and must be protected by the bony 
 canal which we call the spine, the principal use of the part be- 
 ing permanent, so also must its form be permanent. But 
 whenever there is a change in the action, or rather the play of 
 the spine, we find the vertebrae conforming to that action. 
 
 Thus the progress of a fish through the water, results mainly 
 from lateral movements of the spine and of the tail. Now, were 
 the constituent bones formed like those of other vertebrata, 
 the processes on each side would lock together, and interfere 
 with these motions ; they are, therefore, kept subordinate ; while 
 other processes, required to give varied and extensive origin to 
 the numerous muscles, are elongated in a more remarkable and 
 diversified manner than is to be found in any other animals. 
 In the whale, dolphin, &c., the position of the tail differs from 
 that in the fish : its flat surface is placed horizontally instead of 
 vertically, which is to accommodate it to the important func- 
 tion of respiration ; for these inhabitants of the sea must rise 
 to the surface to breathe the air, and their tails are thus directed 
 to enable them to elevate the head above the water. 
 
 In quadrupeds, the tail is the prolongation of the spine ; and 
 here the advocates of the theory think they have a strong case. 
 Because the bones constituting the tail become smaller and 
 rounder towards the end, and terminate in cartilage, in which 
 there is no bone, it is thought to confirm the law — that parts, 
 when repeated, become more and more imperfect as they recede 
 from the centre. But is it not obvious that the tail is con- 
 structed with a view to its proper purpose : firm towards the 
 root, and large enough for the attachment of muscles which 
 shall play it about in all directions ; but less firm, and more 
 lithe and elastic towards the end, for it to carry the brush ? 
 Can anything be better adapted for its peculiar uses ? Would 
 
216 YARIETIES IN THE SPINE 
 
 it have been more perfect, if, instead of a series of round bones 
 joined together, there had been a set of vertebrae, fully formed, 
 with all their projecting processes ? In short, shall we conceal 
 from ourselves the admirable adaptation of this appendage to 
 its various offices — sometimes used as a mantle to coil round the 
 animal for warmth — sometimes as a rudder in running — some- 
 times as a fan or switch, reaching where neither the ear nor the 
 tongue can touch — all to favour an hypothesis of animal bodies 
 being constituted so imperfectly that if a part, like a vertebra, be 
 formed in the centre, and be repeated or prolonged, each link, 
 as it recedes, becomes less and less perfect, degenerating from 
 what is gratuitously assumed to be its original form ? 
 
 The spine is the most perfect structure in the whole animal 
 machine. Perhaps, if our words were critically taken, it would 
 be better to say, that the intention of the curious mechanical 
 structure was here the most apparent, and on that account, most 
 the object of our admiration. Besides binding the bones of the 
 skeleton together, and forming, as it were, the very centre of the 
 whole, the spine is a tube, for protecting the most vital organ of 
 all — the spinal marrow. But, again, in man, the spine has a 
 new office imposed upon it ; in correspondence with his privi- 
 lege of carrying himself erect, it is a pillar for sustaining, not 
 only the superior parts of the body, but the globe of the head, 
 which we shall find it protects in a very unexpected manner. 
 Our admiration, then, arises from being able to perceive the 
 modes by which these different offices are performed by the con- 
 struction of this column : how nature has reconciled the most 
 opposite and inconsistent functions in one set of bones ; — for 
 the vertebrse are so strong, as not to suffer under the longest 
 fatigue or the greatest weight which the limbs can bear ; and so 
 flexible, as to perform the chief turnings and bendiiigs of the 
 body ; and yet so steady withal, as to contain and defend the 
 most material and the most delicate part of the nervous system. 
 
 In some animals, the lowest of the vertebrata, the protecting 
 texture of the spinal marrow hardly deserves the name of verte- 
 bral column. In certain fishes — for example, the myxine, lam- 
 prey, sturgeon, &c. — the spine consists of a cartilage, made tough 
 by ligamentous intertexture. In the myxine, this cartilage does 
 not entirely enclose the spinal marrow ; for it lies in a deep 
 groove on the upper part of the spine. But let us not suppose 
 
ACCORDING TO ITS USES. 217 
 
 that in fishes there is any imperfection in the vertebral column : 
 it is an elastic structure on which the muscles act so as to be- 
 come the means of powerful locomotion ; and in all fishes the 
 spine has, more or less, this remarkable elasticity. Ascending 
 in the scale of animals, we find the cartilage forming the spinal 
 column subdivided by cavities, which contain a gelatinous fluid ; 
 and these cavities being surrounded with a strong but elastic 
 ligamentous covering, nothing can be conceived more admirably 
 adapted to give a springiness to the whole column. StiU ascend- 
 ing, we discover that the bony matter becomes deposited be- 
 tween these cavities ; and here the separate vertebrae first appear. 
 If two vertebrae of the great shark be taken out together, and 
 the sac between them punctured, such is the elasticity of the 
 walls of this sac, that the fluid will be spouted out to a distance. 
 In other fishes, as the cod-fish, (an osseous fish,) the structure ap- 
 proaches to that of the mammalia ; the intervertebral substance 
 is gelatinous. In the whales, circular concentric ligaments join 
 the vertebrae, and a small portion in the centre consists of a 
 glairy matter. In mammalia, and in man, there are strong and 
 distinct bones — the vertebrae ; and these are joined by a liga- 
 mentous cartilage, the outer circle of which is remarkably strong, 
 and the central soft and elastic. The toughness and strength of 
 the exterior circle, and the soft condition of the centre, make a 
 joint equivalent in action to what might be produced by a ball 
 intervening between the surfaces : a facility of motion is thus 
 bestowed which no form of solid could give ; and yet the joint 
 is so strong, that the bone breaks from violence, but the liga- 
 mentous cartilage never gives way. When the veterinary sur- 
 geon casts a horse, if he be not careful to restrain him, he will 
 twist himself with a force which will break the vertebrae : frac- 
 ture is a frequent accident in man ; but the texture that gives 
 mobility to the spine never yields. 
 
 The next thing admirable in the spine is the manner in which 
 the head is sustained on an elastic column, whereby the brain is 
 saved from undue concussion in the movements of the body. 
 This object is not attained altogether through the elastic sub- 
 stance which we have described as intervening between the 
 bones ; it is owing, in a great measure, to the general form of 
 the spine in man. Had the vertebrae been built up, like a lofty 
 column, of portions, put correctly and vertically over one another, 
 
218 OF THE HUMAN SPINE. 
 
 the spine would not have had the advantages which result from 
 the structure we are about to describe. The incumbent weight 
 would then have fallen on the centres of all the bodies of the 
 vertebrae ; and they would have yielded but to a slight degree. 
 The column is formed according to the figure of the italic/; 
 which waving line we need not admire because it is the line of 
 beauty, as some have defined it, but because it is the form of 
 elasticity. The spine being originally of this curved shape, the 
 pressure is directed upon the margins of the vertebrae and of the 
 intervertebral substances ; they therefore yield readily ; by 
 yielding, they produce an increase of the curve, and a conse- 
 quent shortening of the whole column; and then they admit of 
 an easy return to their original places. Suppose we rest the 
 palm of the hand upon a walking-cane, elastic, but perfectly 
 straight ; it bears a considerable pressure without yielding, and 
 when it does yield, it is with a jerk ; but if it be previously bent, 
 however we may increase or diminish the pressure, there will be 
 no shock : the hand will be supported, or the cane yield, with 
 an easy and uninterrupted resihency. Such we conceive to be 
 the end obtained through the double curvature of the spine : 
 that the brain shall receive no shock, in the sudden motions of 
 the body. 
 
 Were we to give our attention to the processes of bone which 
 stand out from the bodies of the vertebrae, we should find un- 
 expected provisions there also. It is a common remark of anat- 
 omists, that the bones of the spine are secured in their proper 
 places, by the relations of the surfaces in contact ; the surface 
 of the body of the vertebra being oblique in one direction, and 
 those of the articulating processes in another — the one inclina- 
 tion prevents the bone being dislocated forwards, and the other 
 prevents it being displaced backwards. There is something 
 more than this. The articulating processes consist of four 
 wedge-like projections from the back and lateral parts of each 
 vertebra ; two being directed upwards, and two downwards ; 
 and their smooth surfaces are inclined in such a manner that 
 those of the adjoining vertebrae slide upon one another— that is 
 to say, the surface of the lower articulating process of the verte- 
 bra above, being itself inclined, moves upon another, viz., that 
 of the upper articulating process of the vertebra below, which is 
 also inclined. As the intervertebral substances of the bodies 
 
WHY THE SPINE IS CUEYED. 219 
 
 yield and recoil, the articulating process of the upper vertebra 
 shifts upon the inclined surface of the process on which it is 
 seated, ascending and descending ; but owing to the wedge-like 
 shape of the processes, the impediment to the descent is greater 
 the more the vertebra sinks ; thus adding to the elasticity and 
 security of the whole, and preventing the abrupt shocks which 
 would be the consequence of the surfaces being horizontal. 
 The eighteen-pounder made to recoil upon an ascending plane, 
 or a surface forming a portion of a circle, represents the mechan- 
 ism of the articulating processes of the vertebrae. 
 
 Let the separate spine be presented before us ; it stands up, 
 like a mast, broad and strong below, and tapering upwards. 
 The mast of a ship is supported by the shrouds and stays ; and 
 if we sought for analogies to these, we must select the long 
 muscles of the back which run along the spine to sustain it. But 
 as a mast goes by the board in a storm, we see where the spine 
 would be most in danger, if nature had not provided against it. 
 When we start forward in walking or running, it is by the exer- 
 tion of the muscles of the lower extremities ; and the body fol- 
 lows. Did the spine stand directly up, perpendicularly, it 
 would sustain a shock or jar at its base, in these sudden motions. 
 We see, therefore, the intention of the lower vertebrae being 
 inclined forwards from their foundation on the sacrum : for by 
 this arching forwards, the jar which might endanger the junction 
 of the lowest piece, is divided amongst the five pieces that form 
 the curve. The same thing is seen in the neck of the quadru- 
 ped ; for as the spine in the back and loins lies horizontally, and 
 the neck rises towards the perpendicular, there would be dan- 
 ger of dislocation, if the vertebras of the neck rose suddenly 
 and abruptly upwards from the body : there is, therefore, at the 
 lowest part of the neck, a sweep or semicircle formed by several 
 vertebrae, to permit the head to be erected; a remarkable ex- 
 ample of which is shown in the stag.* 
 
 * Every one who has seen a ship 
 pitching in a heavy sea, must have 
 asked himself why the masts are not 
 upright, or rather, why the fore-mast 
 stands upright, whilst the main and 
 mizen masts stand oblique to the 
 deck, or, as the phrase is, rake aft or 
 towards the stern of the ship. The 
 main and mizen masts incline back- 
 
 wards, because the strain is greatest 
 in the forward pitch of the vessel; 
 for the mast having received an 
 impulse forwards, it is suddenly 
 checked as the head of the ship 
 rises; but the mast being set with 
 an inclination backwards, the motion 
 falls more in the perpendicular line 
 from the head to the keel. This ad- 
 
220 EXEECISE ESSENTIAL TO PEEFECTIOK 
 
 It may be here observed, tliat when a delicate piece of mechan- 
 ism is constructed by the hands of man, it may be put aside, 
 locked up, and preserved. But the most delicate textures of 
 the living frame stand distinguished above all by this quality — 
 that if they be not put to use, they very quickly degenerate.- 
 Not only is the power of action lost by inaction ; as every one 
 must be aware in the functions of his own mind, or in the 
 exercise of his senses ; but the texture of the organs quickly 
 deteriorates. If by accident a limb should lose certain move- 
 ments, the muscles, nerves, vessels, which nature intended to 
 be subservient to these motions, become, in a few weeks or 
 months, so wasted, that they are hardly recognisable by the 
 anatomist. Applying this acknowledged principle to the spine, 
 and bearing in mind that the texture of bone, cartilage, liga- 
 ment, tendon, muscle, in short, all the parts which enter into 
 its structure, however varying in solidity or composition, retain 
 their perfection by being exercised, we shall readily perceive 
 the effect of undue confinement on young females. Without 
 any positive disease, but from being over-educated in modes 
 which require sedentary application, the spine becomes weak, 
 and loose in texture, and yields to the prevailing posture, what- 
 ever that may be. We mention this, because it is a principle 
 important in every consideration to each individual, and appli- 
 cable to both body and mind. 
 
 Of the Chest. — The thorax, or chest, is formed of bones and 
 
 cartilages, so disposed as to sustain and protect the most vital 
 
 parts, the heart and lungs ; to move incessantly in the act of 
 
 respiration, without a moment's interval during a whole life ; 
 
 and to turn and twist with perfect facility, in every motion of 
 
 the body. In anatomical description, the thorax is formed of 
 
 the vertebral column, or spine, on the back part ; the ribs on 
 
 either side ; and the breast-bone, or sternum, on the fore part. 
 
 The manner in which these bones are united ; and especially, 
 
 in which they are joined to the breast-bone by the interposition 
 
 vantage is lost in the upright position 
 of the fore-mast, but it is sacrificed 
 to a superior advantage gained in 
 working the ship ; the sails upon 
 this mast act more powerfully in 
 swaying the vessel round, and the 
 perpendicular position causes the 
 ship to tack or stay better ; but the 
 
 perpendicular position, as we have 
 seen, causes the strain in jpitching to 
 come at right angles to the mast, 
 and is, therefore, more apt to spring 
 it. These considerations give an in- 
 terest to the fact, that the human 
 spine, from its utmost convexity 
 near its base, inclines backwards. 
 
ELASTICITY OF CHEST. 221 
 
 of cartilages, or gristle, a substance softer than bone, and more 
 elastic and yielding ; is most admirable. By this combination 
 of hardness and elasticity, the ribs are fitted to protect the 
 chest against the effects of violence ; and even to sustain life, 
 after the muscular power of respiration has become too feeble 
 to continue, without the aid of elasticity. 
 
 If the ribs were complete circles, formed entirely of bone 
 from the spine to the breast-bone, there would be greater Ha- 
 bility to fracture and danger to life ; the rubs and jolts to which 
 the human frame is continually exposed, would be too much 
 for their delicate and brittle texture. This evil is avoided by 
 the interposition of the elastic cartilages. On their fore part, 
 the ribs are eked out and joined to the breast-bone by means of 
 cartilages of a form corresponding to their own; being, as it 
 were, the continuations of the arches of the ribs by substances 
 more adapted to yield, and recoil, in every shock or contusion, 
 than bony hoops. The elasticity of this portion meets and 
 subdues those crushings of the body which would otherwise 
 occasion fracture of the ribs. We lean forward, or to one side, 
 and the ribs accommodate themselves, not by a change of form 
 in the bones, but by the bending or elasticity of the cartilages. 
 A severe blow upon the ribs does not break them, because their 
 extremities recoil and yield to the violence. But it is only in 
 youth, when the human frame is in perfection, that this pliancy 
 and elasticity have full effect. In old age, the cartilages of the 
 ribs become bony ; they are firmly attached to the breast-bone, 
 and the extremities of the ribs are fixed, as if the whole arch 
 were formed of bone, unyielding and inelastic. Then a violent 
 blow upon the side will fracture the ribs, — an accident seldom 
 occurring in childhood, or in youth. 
 
 There is a purpose stUl more important to be accomplished by 
 means of the elastic structure of the ribs ; that is, in the highly 
 excited respiration which accompanies great efforts of bodily 
 strength. There are two acts of breathing — expircdion, or the 
 sending forth of the breath ; and inspiration, or drawing in the 
 breath. When the chest is at rest, it is neither in a state of 
 expiration, nor in that of inspiration ; it is in the intermediate 
 condition ; and the muscular effort by which either the one or 
 the other is produced, is an act opposed to the elasticity of the 
 ribs. The muscles of respiration are excited alternately, to 
 
222 WINDPIPE AND CHEST ILLUSTEATED 
 
 dilate or to contract the cavity of the chest, and, in doing so, to 
 raise or depress the ribs. Hence it is, that both in inspiration 
 and in expiration, the elasticity of the ribs is called into play ; 
 and, were it within our province, it would be easy to show, that 
 after the muscular power had become too weak to continue the 
 breathing unassisted, the action can be carried on, and life pre- 
 served, through the aid of the elastic property of the ribs. 
 
 From what has been now explained, it will at once be under- 
 stood that violent exertion is incompatible with the condition 
 of the chest in old age. The elasticity of the. cartilages is gone, 
 the circle of the ribs is unyielding, and will not allow that high 
 breathing, that sudden and great dilatation and contraction of 
 the cavity of the chest, which is required for circulating the 
 blood through the lungs, and relieving the heart in the tumul- 
 tuous flowing of the blood which laborious exertion produces. 
 
 Looking to the means of guarding life, nothing can be more 
 important than the condition of the lungs in respect to the 
 quantity of atmospheric air within them. The sensibility, and 
 the rapid contraction of the glottis, near the mouth of the 
 respiratory tube, are for arresting any foreign matter, afloat in 
 the atmosphere, which might be drawn in by the stream of 
 inspired air, and so reach the recesses of the lungs. But were 
 this all, the oflice would not be half performed. The foreign 
 body would be arrested ; but how expelled, if it lodged 1 In 
 common expiration, the air is never discharged altogether from 
 the lungs ; there is enough retained to be propelled against this 
 foreign body, and to eject it. And, but for this, the sensibility 
 of the glottis, and the actions of the expiratory muscles, would 
 be in vain ; we should be suff'ocated by the slightest husk of 
 seed, or subject to deep inflammation from foreign matter drawn 
 into the air-tubes collecting in the lungs. 
 
 We may here observe, that the instinctive actions for the 
 protection of the body are calculated, if we may say so, for the 
 natural condition of man. The manufacturer is sometimes 
 removed from that condition ; and our invention must be 
 taxed, not only to maintain the purity, in a chemical sense, of 
 the atmosphere in which he works, but to arrest, or convey 
 away, the small portions of material which may be thrown off— 
 for example, by the operations of the flax-dresser in heckling, 
 or of the cutler who grinds the steel after the instrument is 
 
BY THE HYDROSTATIC PARADOX. 223 
 
 forged, or of the stone-cutter, &c. — and so to prevent those parti- 
 cles from being inhaled. The length of the air-passages which 
 lead to the lungs, the sensibility and muscular apparatus be- 
 stowed upon them, and the mucous secretions thrown into 
 them, are the natural means by which foreign matter is arrested 
 and thrown out. But in these artificial conditions of men, 
 insoluble particles are continually floating in the atmosphere 
 which they breathe ; these are drawn in and lodge in the lungs, 
 and irritate to disease. 
 
 This part of our subject suggests the consideration of that 
 law of fluids which appears, at first, so contradictory as to be 
 called the " hydrostatic paradox." Suppose a machine formed 
 of two boards of equal diameter, and joined together by leather 
 nailed to their margins, like a pair of bellows ; a hole is made 
 in the upper board, into which is inserted a tube. If a person 
 mount upon this apparatus when it is filled with water, and 
 blow into the pipe, he can raise the upper board, carrying him- 
 self upwards by the force of his own breath — indeed, by the 
 power of his cheeks alone. It is on the same principle that, 
 when a forcing-pump is let into a closed reservoir of water, it 
 produces surprising effects. The piston of the hydraulic press 
 being loaded with a weight of one pound, the same degree of 
 pressure will be transmitted to every part of the surface of the 
 reservoir that is given to the bottom of the tube, and the power 
 of raising the upper lid will be multiplied in the proportion 
 that its surface is larger than the diameter of the tube. Or, to 
 state it conversely : suppose we had to raise the column of water 
 in the tube by compressing the reservoir ; it would require the 
 weight of a pound on every portion of the superficies of the 
 reservoir equal in extent to the base of the piston, before the 
 water could be raised in the tube. Were the apparatus which 
 we have described full of air instead of water, we should witness 
 a similar effect ; for all fluids, whether elastic or not, press 
 equally in all directions; and this is the law on which the 
 phenomenon depends. If we blow into the nozzle of a common 
 pair of bellows, it is surprising what a weight of books we can 
 heave up if laid upon its board. 
 
 Understanding, then, that the power of the hydraulic press, 
 in raising the lid, depends on the size of the reservoir, and its 
 relation to the tube ; and again, that in pressing the fluid up 
 
224 THE HYDEOSTATIC PARADOX. 
 
 through the tube, the pressure upon the sides of the reservoir 
 must be the greater the larger the cavity, we can conceive how 
 a glass-blower propels the air into his blow-pipe with great ease, 
 if he blow by means of the contraction of the cheeks, the smaller 
 cavity ; but that it will be with an exhausting effort, if he blow 
 by the compression of the larger cavity, the chest. Dr Young 
 made a calculation that, in propelling the air through a tube of 
 the same calibre, a weight of four pounds, operating upon a 
 cavity of the size of the mouth, would be equal to the weight of 
 seventy pounds, pressing upon a cavity of the dimensions of the 
 chest. 
 
 Let us see how beautifully this hydraulic principle is intro- 
 duced to give strength in the common actions of the body. We 
 have remarked that the extension of the superficies of the tho- 
 rax is necessary to the powerful action of the muscles which lie 
 upon it ; and these are the muscles of the arms. In preparation 
 for a great effort, we draw the breath and expand the chest. 
 The start of surprise, and of readiness for exertion, in man and 
 animals, is this instinctive act. But unless there were other 
 means of preserving the lungs distended, the action of those 
 muscles which should be thrown upon the arms would be 
 wasted in keeping the chest expanded. It is here, then, that 
 the principle which we have noticed is brought into play. The 
 chink of the glottis, which the reader has already understood 
 to be the top of that tube which descends into the lungs, is 
 closed by a muscle not weighing a thousandth part of the 
 muscles which clothe the chest ; yet this little muscle controls 
 them all ! A sailor leaning his breast over a yard-arm, and ex- 
 erting every muscle on the rigging, gives a direction to the 
 whole muscular system, and applies the muscles of respiration 
 to the motions of the trunk and arm, through the influence of 
 this small muscle, that is not capable of raising a thousandth 
 part of the weight of his body; because this little muscle 
 operates upon the chink of the glottis, and is capable of oppos- 
 ing the whole combined power of all the muscles of expiration. 
 It closes the tube just in the same way that the man standing 
 on the hydraulic bellows can with his lips support his whole 
 weight. Thus it is that the muscles which would else be en- 
 gaged in dilating the chest, are permitted to give their power to 
 the motions of the arms. 
 
OF THE KA:N'GAR00. 225 
 
 Some cruel experiments have been made, which, for whatever 
 intended, illustrate the necessity of closing the top of the wind- 
 pipe during exertion. The wind-pipe of a dog was opened, 
 which produced no defect until the animal was solicited by his 
 master to leap across a ditch, when it fell into the water in the 
 act of leaping ; it failed in its leap, because the muscles which 
 should have given force to the fore-legs lost their power by the ^ 
 sudden sinking of the chest. This experiment is sufficiently 
 repugnant to our feelings ; and I need not offend the reader by 
 giving instances in further illustration, from what sometimes 
 takes place in man.] 
 
 Relation betweeist the Skeleton of the Bied, and its 
 MODE OF PEODTJCiNG ITS Offspeing. — Having, in the earlier part 
 of the volume, noticed some of the mare remarkable peculiari- 
 ties of the skeleton of the bird, we may take this opportunity 
 of observing the relation between its general form, and one of 
 its principal functions. Putting out of the question, for the 
 present, digestion iand respiration, functions necessary for pre- 
 serving the life of the individual, the continuation of the species 
 is the next in importance. If a bird is to be buoyant and cap- 
 able of flying, it cannot be viviparous. We have seen that a full 
 stomach impeded the flight of a carnivorous bird ; now, from 
 that it is evident that it could not have carried its young within 
 it. Is it not curiously provided, then, that the bird shall pro- 
 duce its offspring by a succession of small eggs ; and that these 
 shall accumulate in the nest, instead of growing in the body ? 
 In short, it requires no argument to prove that the hollow bones 
 of the skeleton, the extension of the breast-bone, the air-cells, 
 the quill-feathers, the bill, and the laying of eggs, are all in 
 necessary relation to each other. 
 
 Of THE Kangaeoo. — Since we have spoken of the adaptation 
 of the skeleton of the bird to its mode of producing its young, 
 we may, for the same object, advert to the subject in a quadru- 
 ped. In the mammalia, there is no deviation from the general 
 form of the skeleton more extraordinary than that in the kan- 
 garoo ; and there is, at the same time, a remarkable peculiarity 
 in the manner in which it produces its offspring. Instead of 
 remaining within the mother for the usual period of gestation, 
 the young, by a singular process, not perfectly understood, is 
 excluded, and found attached to the teat there, covered by an 
 
226 COKCLUDmG REMARKS. 
 
 exterior warm pouch, formed of the skin; it hangs by the 
 mouth, until, from being a minute and shapeless thing, it is 
 matured to the degree when the offspring of other animals are 
 usually brought forth. 
 
 Now it appears that the upright position of this animal, and 
 the disproportioned magnitude of the lower part of its body — 
 for it is the only creature except man which rests in the perpen- 
 dicular — may account for the peculiarity of its mode of gestation. 
 Without entering far into the subject, we may observe that an 
 accurate correspondence must subsist between the form of the 
 young offspring and the bones of the mother through which it 
 has to be expelled. In animals generally, the head is the larger 
 part ; but in the kangaroo, that bears no proportion to the mag- 
 nitude of the hind quarters ; for when an animal is designed for 
 the perpendicular position, the hip-bones must necessarily be of 
 large size to sustain the weight ; and such is the case with the 
 kangaroo. Nature has, therefore, accomplished the production 
 of the young safely, and by the simplest means, — that is, by 
 anticipating the period of the separation of the young animal ; 
 and providing for its growth exteriorly, after it has passed 
 through the circle of bones called the pelvis. For these reasons 
 we conclude that there is a relation between the mode of pro- 
 ducing the offspring, and the form of the skeleton, in this 
 animal. 
 
 I hope that I have now gone far enough to prove that where 
 uniformity is preserved in the shape of any part of the skeleton, 
 it depends on the permanence in the function of the organ. In 
 certain respects the head and spine are persistent in their forms ; 
 but that is merely because the brain and spinal marrow contained 
 within the skull and vertebral column do not vary, except in 
 point of relative size. As regards the application of the bones 
 of the face to be instruments for obtaining food, for attack, or 
 defence, they are ever curiously changed in their processes and 
 articulations, in accommodation to the numerous different modes 
 of using the parts. In fine, we may observe, that there never 
 takes place any modification in the form of the parts of the 
 body, — whether in the forehead, occiput, jaws, teeth, spine, 
 pelvis, or extremities, — without a corresponding adaptation 
 extending through the whole skeleton. 
 
IMAGINAEY ANIMALS. 227 
 
 Imaginaey Animals.— "No doubt we can imagine a greater 
 variety of animals than do actually exist ; " sucli are tlie words 
 of Archdeacon Paley. But what is the fact 1 Suppose we take the 
 fabled animals of antiquity ; not one of them could have existed ! 
 
 It may serve both to show the imperfection of man's ingenu- 
 ity, compared with nature, and the perfection of the system of 
 the animal body, if, for a moment, we examine these imaginary 
 animals, and inquire whether they could have fed, or breathed, 
 or moved, or flown. 
 
 What, in fact, are these monstrous fancies, but an incongruous 
 union of parts of different animals, patched together without 
 order or system, and which could not have belonged to any 
 living creature ? When the head of a lion is joined to the belly 
 of a goat, or the head of a woman to the body of a bird, or the 
 body of a man to the tail of a serpent, there is no real inven- 
 tion. Not one of the centaurs of Thessaly, satyrs of the Indian 
 mountains, sphinxes of Egypt, griffins among the one-eyed na- 
 tions, could have stood, run, or flown. It may be alleged, and 
 perhaps truly, that these figures were mere allusive representa- 
 tions — the mystical types of some country or element. It is 
 sufficient, however, for our argument, that such are the only ima- 
 ginary animals which have been acquiesced in by the classical 
 scholar, as having had a fanciful existence. 
 
 In the antique marble figure of the centaur, the merit of the 
 sculptor is evinced by his success in reconciling our fancy to the 
 unnatural union of the various members : for example, in the 
 face, the expansion of the nostrils, and the coltish wildness of 
 the expression, are in correct correspondence with the artist's 
 design of joining to the human form that of the horse. But this 
 attempt at combined representation would not have satisfied 
 one narrowly acquainted with the proportions of the horse. He 
 would know that too heavy a fore- quarter, too long a neck, or too 
 large a head, was incompatible with wind, speed, or safe going ; 
 and he would have concluded that an animal with such defects 
 would be unsound, would founder in the feet. What, then, would 
 he have said to a centaur, where, besides head and extremities, 
 an additional body is made to rest upon the fore-legs ? 
 
 Galen wonders if Pindar believed in centaurs. " For," says 
 he, "if such an animal were to exist, it ought to have two 
 mouths ; one to correspond to the stomach of man ; the other 
 
228 IMAGINARY ANIMALS. 
 
 to masticate for the stomach of the horse. If it could run upon 
 the plain, it could not climb the hill, or make its way in rocky 
 places. Though possessed of human faculties, it could not build 
 for itself an habitation, or navigate ships, or man the sails ;" and, 
 more particular still in his objections, he adds, "that it could 
 neither sit like the tailor, nor make shoes like the cobbler." 
 
 How nature manages to rear a heavy structure on the fore- 
 legs of a quadruped, without the incumbent weight bearing in- 
 ordinately upon them, we saw when examining the skeleton of 
 the giraffe. We observed that the pressure of the greatly elon- 
 gated neck was partly taken off the fore-quarters, and directed 
 on the hind-legs by the oblique position of the spine and short- 
 ness of the hind-quarters. However beautiful, then, as works 
 of art, may be the figures of the centaur upon antique gems, 
 they are yet monsters ; their construction, a joining together of 
 incongruous parts. 
 
 Few designs are more difficult to execute than that of the 
 fawn or satyr. This results from the artist having to reconcile 
 the inconsistencies of a human form and face united to the 
 limbs of a brute. If we have attended to the great size and 
 strength of the human lower extremities, as compared with 
 the upper part of the body, we may have perceived the incon- 
 gruity of rearing the human trunk and head upon the hind-legs 
 of a goat, the bones of which are disproportionately small, and 
 the masses of muscle misplaced. This is not thought of by the 
 painter and sculptor, when they represent their fawns dancing 
 and piping. An instant's consideration of the comparative size 
 and relative position of the bones, and of the action of the 
 muscles, would have shown that the limbs must have been in- 
 capable of such activity. Had these fabulous forms actually 
 existed, they must have crept weakly along the ground. 
 
 And so of the griffin. Eagle's wings could never have raised 
 the body of the lion. For a creature to rise on the wing, there 
 must be not only a mass of muscle proportioned to the extended 
 wing, but a surface of bone of sufficient extent to give lodgment 
 and attachment to the muscles of ffight. Corresponding to the 
 muscular strength of the lion, his bones are thick, dense, and 
 heavy ; now a skeleton composed of such bones would never 
 answer for a creature that was to be buoyant in the air. Ac- 
 cordingly, even if the external forms were consistent, the inter- 
 oaal conformation would be incompatible with the existence of 
 
IMAGII^AEY ANIMALS. 229 
 
 such an animal as the griffin. The lion's tail, again, would be a 
 very useless appendage, compared with the fine rudder with 
 which the eagle directs his swoop. 
 
 These instances might be multiplied. But we venture to say- 
 that every animal form, not actually existing in nature, but the 
 invention of the artist or poet, would be discovered to have 
 some defect in the balance of the exterior members, or in the 
 relation of the parts necessary for motion ; or were the exterior 
 and moving parts duly balanced, some internal organ would be 
 found unconformable, or displaced — too much developed, or 
 too much compressed. In short, man's imagination is more 
 limited than he may at first have believed. His inventions are 
 only the incongruous union of things presented separately in 
 nature. It is, indeed, far beyond his power to accompUsh what 
 was supposed possible by Paley, who said, " that multitudes of 
 conformations, both of vegetables and animals, may be conceived 
 capable of existence and succession, which yet do not exist." 
 
 This manner of viewing the subject confirms more strongly 
 our belief in the perfection of that natural system of parts, 
 which, in an infinite variety of creatures, admits of all the 
 changes necessary for the difierent acts of walking, running, 
 flying, swimming, &c. ; at the same time that it accommodates 
 the internal functions which minister to life, to every condition 
 of existence to which the animal may be destined. 
 
APPROPRIATE SEN"SIBILinES INDUCE COIIBINED MUSCU- 
 LAR ACTIONS, FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE VITAL 
 ORGANS, OR THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR FUNCTIONS. 
 
 In addition to the examples given in Chap. VII., we offer one 
 or two more, to show how the sensibilities, which are endow- 
 ments of life, vary and are adapted to the mechanical organisa- 
 tion, with an appropriation more admirable than the mechanism. 
 The sensibility we allude to differs from that of the skin. It is 
 put in connection with numerous muscles ; and without its 
 high and peculiar property of controlling, independently of the 
 will, the multiplied combinations of the muscles, the mechanical 
 provisions we are about to describe would be useless. 
 
 The top of the windpipe, the larynx, consists of five elastic 
 cartilages. These do not merely keep the sides of the windpipe 
 apart, and a passage for the breath free, but they perform 
 ofiices important to the economy both of body and mind ; they 
 are an essential part of the instrument of voice : they at the 
 same time guard the lungs from injury. 
 
 The thyroid cartilage is the largest ; it is that which we feel 
 projecting on the fore part of the throat. Situated behind, 
 and within the embrace of the thyroid, are the arytenoid carti- 
 lages, of an irregularly triangular form, socketed on the cricoid 
 cartilage below, and perfectly moveable. Between the corners 
 of the arytenoid cartilages, which project forwards, and the 
 thyroid, are stretched, from behind forwards, two ligaments, 
 parallel, and at a little distance from each other, called the vocal 
 cords {cordce vocales) ; these ligaments or cords, being invested 
 with the lining membrane of the windpipe, a slit, like the till 
 of a shop-counter, is formed between them ; and through this 
 chink (called rima glottidis) the air passes to and fro. To the 
 sides and back part of the arytenoid cartilages small muscles 
 are attached ; and these, by moving the cartilages, tighten or 
 relax the cordse vocales ; which, again, by vibrating in the stream 
 of air, vocalise the breath, and the tones so produced are arti- 
 culated in speech. 
 
COUGHING. 231 
 
 This is a subject far from being exhausted in our philoso- 
 phical works ; but at present we may look on these vocal cords, 
 not as connected with voice, but in another of their offices, as 
 forming the commissure which opens and shuts in breathing to 
 protect the lungs from the intrusion of extraneous bodies. And 
 here it is pertinent to remark, that in the structure of an animal 
 body, one organ is frequently made subservient to several func- 
 tions, and that without interference with the performance of any 
 of them. This is especially true of the larynx. It is to one of 
 its uses only that we have at present to attend. 
 
 The chink of the glottis formed between the cordse vocales 
 opens at every inspiration, and closes at every expiration, ex- 
 panding and contracting as we see the nostrils do in breathing. 
 But the admirable thing is the acute sensibility given to this 
 part, and the immediate influence of that sensibility upon the 
 muscles connected with it. As soon as the lightest husk, or 
 seed, or smallest fly, drawn in with the breath, touches the 
 margin of the chink, there is a rapid action of the muscles 
 which move the vocal cords, the aperture is closed, and the 
 object is arrested. This provision is an effectual means of pre- 
 venting the entrance of foreign matters into the delicate cells of 
 the lungs. But how is the object carried thus far expelled? 
 The same sensibility of the aperture of the glottis animates 
 another, and that a very extensive class of muscles, viz., all 
 those which, seated on the chest, compress it, and force out the 
 air, in coughing ; these combining in one powerful and simul- 
 taneous effort, whilst the glottis is closed, overcome that con- 
 striction, and propel the breath through the contracted pipe 
 with an explosive force, which brushes off the offending body. 
 
 There is one thing more necessary to this most important 
 though familiar action. The lungs are never empty of air : in 
 breathing, we do not fully expel it. If we did, there would be 
 a period of danger occurring seventeen times in a minute ; for 
 in the first part of each inspiration, something might be drawn 
 into the windpipe which would suffocate : but by this reserve of 
 air in the lungs, the act of coughing can take place at any in- 
 stant and the object be expelled. 
 
 The sensibility seated in one spot of the throat, so beneficently, 
 does not extend into the windpipe or lungs ; for we cannot more 
 admire the perfect adaptation of this property to its object, than 
 
232 OF THE MOUTH. 
 
 the fact of its never being bestowed in a superfluous degree, or 
 given where it is not absolutely required. Just as we have seen 
 that the sensibility of the skin suffices to protect the parts situ- 
 ated beneath, so the sensibility of the top of the windpipe pro- 
 tects all the interior of the tube and the lungs themselves, with- 
 out extending through the whole continuous surface. 
 
 The simple act of sneezing affords a curious instance of the 
 mutual relation between the muscular activity and the govern- 
 ing sensibility. The sensation which gives rise to this convul- 
 sive act, is seated in the membrane of the interior of the 
 nostrils ; we are not surprised, therefore, at its differing from 
 the sensibility in the throat which excites coughing, the seat of 
 both being different. But as regards the muscular action suc- 
 ceeding the irritation in the nostrils, is it not curious, that in 
 the powerful expiration which constitutes sneezing, some twenty 
 muscles or more, which had been excited in the similar act of 
 coughing, are thrown out of action ; while a different set, about 
 equal in number, which had not acted in coughing, are called 
 into action; the difference in the combination of the muscles 
 being for the obvious purpose of directing the strong current of 
 air, past the mouth, along the tubes of the nostrils ? By no act 
 of the will could the air be propelled so successfully through 
 the nose, to the effect of brushing off the offensive and irritating 
 particles from the membrane, as by this co-operation of the 
 muscles, excited by the peculiar sensibility. 
 
 It is surely admirable to find in the Mouth so many faculties 
 combining and consenting in action, each with its appropriate 
 organisation, and each most curiously connected with other 
 structures. Thus we have the power of mastication, of degluti- 
 tion, of modulation of the voice, the senses of taste and of touch, 
 concentrated in one apparently simple organ. Not to speak of 
 other relations, can there be any better proof of design, than the 
 effects of the excited sensibility of the tongue? No sooner 
 have the gustatory points of the nerves been excited, than there 
 is poured out into the mouth most abundantly, by four distinct 
 tubes, the saliva ; that fluid which facilitates mastication, and 
 directly prepares the food for the action of the stomach. We 
 presume that this fluid is chiefly itseful in mastication, as the 
 glands are large, and the fluid most abundant, in animals which 
 chew the cud. In all, these glands are so disposed as to receive 
 
DEGLUTITIOl^ BY CROCODILE. 233 
 
 gentle pressure from the motion of the jaw ; so that, whilst their 
 ■vascular apparatus is excited by the sensibilities of the tongue, 
 the fluid is urged from the ducts by the pressure of the jaw, and 
 the action of the muscles which move it. And however well we 
 might imagine such a supply of fluid to assist deglutition, this is 
 not all that is here done in preparation ; for whilst the morsel 
 is moved by tongue, and lips, and jaws, an appropriate fluid is 
 collecting in what appear to be mere irregularities in the back 
 part of the throat, but which are, in truth, so many receptacles, 
 that, pointing towards the stomach, give out their contents as 
 the morsel passes. 
 
 There is one curious circumstance which we may notice be- 
 fore quitting this subject. Eating seems always to be an act of 
 the will, and attended with gratification. Yet it is well known 
 that the operation of mastication, or what is very nearly the 
 same, may go on within the stomach, without any outward 
 sign at least of pleasure. The gizzard (with which we are 
 most familiar in fowls, though found in the vegetable feeders 
 of different classes of animals) is correctly enough described 
 as an organ of mastication, in which an incessant and alter- 
 nate action of opponent muscles takes place, like the motions 
 of the jaws. In the stomach of the lobster, these are not 
 merely the muscles of chewing, but the teeth also : so that it 
 appears the function may be performed altogether internally 
 and without the volition, and probably without the sensations 
 that accompany the offices of the mouth. We mention this, as 
 drawing the reader to comprehend that many organs may be in 
 operation in the internal economy, without our consciousness. 
 
 Let us advert to the mode of swallowing by the crocodile, 
 as an instance of the changes in the organisation which adapt 
 an animal to new conditions. In terrestrial animals, the act of 
 swallowing must be accommodated to the atmosphere ; but if the 
 creature live in water, and still breathes the air, the structure 
 of the parts must be changed. The crocodile seizes its prey, 
 and descends into the water with it. Its power of descending 
 does not result, as in the fish, from compressing the air-bladder, 
 but is owing, as we have shown, to a provision in its ribs and 
 lungs. Unless the crocodile could expel the air from its lungs 
 in a greater degree than the mammalia are capable of doing, it 
 could not crawl upon the bottom, nor retain its place there 
 
234 OF HUNGER AND THIEST. 
 
 without continual exertion. There is in the mouth, as well as 
 in the thorax and lungs, an adaptation to this mode of destroy- 
 ing its prey by carrying it under water. The crocodile has no 
 lips ; it lies on the shore basking with its mouth open and 
 teeth exposed, so that flies light upon and crawl into its mouth. 
 Against these the air* tubes are protected, not by lips, or a sensi- 
 bility of the mouth, but by an apparatus which separates the 
 mouth from the throat and windpipe. This partition between 
 the cavities is necessary when the animal seizes its prey : for as 
 it plunges under the water with open mouth, the air tube must 
 be protected against the ingress of the water. For that purpose, 
 there is a transverse ridge, arising from the body of the bone of 
 the tongue, which raises a duplicature of the membrane, so as 
 to form a septum across the back part of the mouth below, 
 whilst the curtain of the soft palate, hanging from above, meets 
 the margin of the lower septum, and they form together a com- 
 plete partition between the anterior and posterior cavities. Thus 
 the animal is enabled to hold its prey in the open mouth, with- 
 out admitting the water to the air passages. 
 
 Hunger and Thirst. — Hunger and thirst are in truth senses, 
 although the seat or organ is not easily ascertained. The wants, 
 and desires, and pains accompanying them resemble no other 
 sensations. Like the senses, they are given as monitors and 
 safeguards, at the same time that, like them, they are sources 
 of gratification. 
 
 Hunger is defined to be a peculiar sensation experienced in 
 the stomach from a deficiency of food. Such a definition does 
 not greatly differ from the notions of those who referred the 
 sense of hunger to the mechanical action of the surfaces of the 
 stomach upon each other, or to a threatening of chemical action 
 of the gastric juice on the stomach itself. But an empty 
 stomach does not cause hunger. On the contrary, the time 
 when the meal has passed the stomach is the best suited for 
 exercise, and when there is the greatest alacrity of spirits. The 
 beast of prey feeds at long intervals ; the snake and other cold- 
 blooded animals take food after intervals of days or weeks. A 
 horse, on the contrary, is always feeding. His stomach, at most, 
 contains about four gallons, yet throw before him a truss of 
 tares or lucerne, and he will eat continually. The emptying of 
 the stomach cannot therefore be the cause of hunger. 
 
OF HUNGEE AND THIRST. 235 
 
 The natural appetite is a sensation related to tlie general con- 
 dition of the system, and not simply referable to the state of 
 the stomach ; neither to its action, nor its emptiness, nor the 
 acidity of its contents; nor in a starved creature will a full 
 stomach satisfy the desire of food. Under the same impulse 
 which makes us swallow, the ruminating animal draws the 
 morsel from its own stomach. 
 
 Hunger is well illustrated by thirst. Suppose we take the 
 definition of thirst — that it is a sense of dryness and constriction 
 in the back part of the mouth and fauces — the moistening of 
 these parts will not allay thirst after much fatigue or during 
 fever. In making a long speech, if a man's mouth be parched, 
 and the dryness merely from speaking, it will be relieved by 
 moistening ; but if it come from the feverish anxiety and excite- 
 ment attending a public exhibition, his thirst will not be so 
 assuaged. The question, as it regards thirst, was brought to a 
 demonstration by the following circumstance. A man having 
 a wound low down in his throat, was tortured with thirst ; but 
 no quantity of fluid passing through his mouth and gullet, and 
 escaping by the wound, was found in any degree to quench his 
 thirst. 
 
 Thirst, then, like hunger, has relation to the general condition 
 of the animal system — to the necessity for fluid in the circula- 
 tion. For this reason, a man dying from loss of blood sufi'ers 
 under intolerable thirst. In both thirst and hunger, the supply 
 is obtained through the gratification of an appetite; and as 
 to these appetites, it will be acknowledged that the pleasures 
 resulting from them far exceed the pains. They gently solicit 
 for the wants of the body : they are the perpetual motive and 
 spring to action. 
 
 Breathing, as we have seen, is even more directly necessary 
 to life than food ; but to this we are difi"erently admonished. 
 An appetite implies intervals of satiety and indifference. The 
 uninterrupted action of breathing could not be supported by a 
 perpetual desire: we cannot imagine such an uniformity of 
 sensation. The action of breathing has been made instinctive, 
 while pain and the alarm of death are brought as the only 
 adequate agents to control the irregularities of a function so 
 necessary to life. Pain does here what desire and the solicita- 
 tion of pleasure could not accomplish. 
 
236 OF THE SENSIBILITY 
 
 Of the Sensibilities governing the actions of the Stomach. — 
 The examples recently given may introduce us to an acquaintance 
 with those internal sensibilities which excite the actions of parts 
 quite removed from the influence of the will ; but the descrip- 
 tion of the organs themselves may be deemed unnecessary. Let 
 us take the instance of the guard which nature has placed on 
 the lower orifice of the stomach, to check the passage of aliments 
 not easy of digestion, which the appetites of hunger and thirst 
 may have tempted one to swallow. This lower orifice is en- 
 circled with a muscular ring, and the ring is in the keeping of a 
 watchful guard. If we are employing the language of meta- 
 phor, it is of ancient use; for the Greeks called this orifice 
 pylorus, signifying a porter."^ And his ofiice is this : when the 
 stomach has received the food, it lies in the left extremity, or is 
 slightly agitated there. When the digestive process is accom- 
 plished, the stomach urges the food towards the lower orifice. 
 If the matter be bland and natural, it passes, and no sensation 
 is experienced. But if crude and undigested matter be pre- 
 sented, opposition is ofiered to its passage ; and a contention is 
 begun which happily terminates in the food being thrown again 
 to the left extremity of the stomach, to be submitted to a more 
 perfect operation of the digestive power seated there. It is dur- 
 ing this unnatural retrograde movement of the food, that men 
 are made sensible of having a stomach. Yet the sensations, how 
 unpleasant soever, are not to be regarded as a punishment ; but 
 rather as a call on reason to aid the instinctive powers, and to 
 guard against disease, by preventing impure matters from being 
 admitted into the portion of the intestinal canal which absorbs, 
 and would thus carry those impurities into the blood to en- 
 gender disease. 
 
 Here, then, is another example of a sensibility bestowed to 
 guard us against external influences, when they threaten destruc- 
 tion to the framework ; and to regulate the operations of internal 
 parts too complicated, and too remotely situated for the super- 
 intendence of reason. 
 
 Medical authors, without being empirics, seem occasionally, 
 from the rules they lay down, to calculate on the ignorance of 
 the community. They appear to ignore the sensations expe- 
 
 * The upper orifice was called by 1 purveyor, from two words signify- 
 them cesophac/us, as if it were the | iijg, to bring food. 
 
OF THE STOMACH. 237 
 
 rienced in tlie stomach during tlie process of digestion : and 
 yet no harm can be apprehended from giving a man confidence 
 in the warnings which these impart, as to the functions being 
 healthy or disturbed. We have the best proof of what we wish 
 to inculcate in the action of the ruminating stomach. A cow 
 swallows the gross herbage, and fills its large first stomach. 
 When it chews the cud, the stomach, by its action, rolls up the 
 grass into distinct pellets, or balls, with as much regard to its 
 being returned into the mouth, as we do in masticating and 
 rolling the morsel in preparation for swallowing. When the 
 ball is brought into the mouth and chewed, it is again swal 
 lowed ; but in descending into the lower part of the gullet, a 
 muscle draws close the aperture by which it had passed into 
 the large stomach in the first instance ; it is now ushered into 
 a second stomach, and so successively onwards to that stomach 
 in which the digestion is performed. The curious muscular 
 apparatus by which this is accomplished need not be described ; 
 but surely the sensibility which directs it, and which, although 
 independent of the will, is yet so like an operation of reason in 
 its results, presents a subject of just admiration. 
 
 The elastic structure of the camel's foot ; the provision around 
 its eyes for ridding them of offensive particles ; the power of 
 closing its nostrils against the clouds of sand ; and its endur- 
 ance of fatigue — would not enable it to pass the desert, unless 
 there were provisions for the lodgment of water in its stomach, 
 and unless this apparatus were animated by peculiar sensi- 
 bilities. Accordingly, a muscular apparatus is provided for re- 
 taining the water in the cells of its stomach, only permitting it 
 to ooze out according to the necessities of the animal ; there is 
 also a muscular band which pulls up the one or the other of 
 the orifices of the different stomachs, to receive the food from 
 the lower end of the gullet, according to its condition, whether 
 to be deposited merely as in a store, or to be submitted to the 
 operation of digestion. The surprising thing in all this is not 
 so much the mechanical provision, as the governing sensibility. 
 What, for example, should, in the first place, impel the grosser 
 food, newly collected, into the first stomach 1 W^hat, after rumi- 
 nation and mastication in the mouth, should carry that into 
 the third stomach 1 And why should the water be carried into 
 neither of these, but into the cells of the second stomach? i 
 
238 OF THE SEI^SIBILITY 
 
 Yet, after all, this only brings us back to a sense of the opera- 
 tions in our own bodies. The act of swallowing,— the propul- 
 sion of the food into the gullet, the temporary closing of the 
 windpipe by the epiglottis, the momentary relaxation of the 
 diaphragm, fibres of which encircle the upper orifice of the 
 stomach at such a time, — is just as surprising. The shutting of 
 the larynx by the epiglottis is never deranged but by the inter- 
 ference of the will. If the individual attempt to speak, that is, 
 to govern the parts by volition, when they should be left to 
 these instinctive actions, or if terror, or some such mental ex- 
 citement, prevail at the moment of swallowing, then the morsel 
 may stick in the throat. 
 
 All this shows how perfect the operations of nature are, and 
 how w^ell it is provided that the vital motions should be with- 
 drawn from the control of reason, and even of volition, and be 
 subjected to a more uniform and certain law. But the point to 
 which we would carry the reader is this, — that the human 
 stomach, though not so complicated in its apparatus of mace- 
 rating and digesting vats as in some of the lower animals, 
 especially the herbivorous, is possessed of a no less wonderful 
 degree of governing sensibility, which may be trusted to as 
 surely as the precepts of the most skilful physiologist. We are 
 told that we must not drink at meals, lest the fluid interfere 
 with the operation of digestion. Of this there need be no ap- 
 prehension. The stomach separates, and lets off with the most 
 curious skill, all superfluous fluid through its orifice ; while it 
 retains the matter fit for digestion. It retains it in its left ex- 
 tremity, permitting the fluid to pass into the intestines, there to 
 supply the other wants of the system, no less important than 
 digestion. The veterinary professor, Coleman, ascertained that 
 a pail of water passed through the stomach and intestines of a 
 horse at the rate of ten feet in the minute, until it reached the 
 larger bowel. Drinking at a stated period after meals, say an 
 hour, is at variance with both appetite and reason. The diges- 
 tion is then effectually interfered with ; for what was solid has 
 become a fluid (the chyme) ; this fluid is already in part assimi- 
 lated ; it has undergone the first of those changes which fit it 
 ultimately to be the living blood : and the drink mixing with it 
 must produce disturbance, and interrupt the work of assimila- 
 tion> 
 
OF THE STOMACH. 239 
 
 Looking in this manner upon the very extraordinary proper- 
 ties of the stomach, we perceive how natural it was for physi- 
 cians to give a name to the sensibility of which we have been 
 speaking. The Archeus of Van Helmont, the Anima of Stahl, 
 were the terms used to designate this nature, principle, or 
 faculty, subordinate to and distinct from perception ; a notion 
 entertained, and more or less distinctly hinted at, by philo- 
 sophers, from Pythagoras to John Hunter. 
 
 We now learn what is meant by organic and by animal sensi- 
 bility. The first is that condition of the living organ which 
 makes it sensible of an impression, on which it reacts, and per- 
 forms its functions. It appears from what has preceded, that 
 this sensibility may cause the blowing of a flower or the motion 
 of a heart. The animal sensibility is indeed an improper term, 
 because it would seem to imply that its opposite, organic sensi- 
 bility, was not also animal ; but it means that impression which 
 is referred to the sensorium, where (when action is excited) per- 
 ception and the effort of the will are intermediate agents be- 
 tween the sensation and the action or motion. 
 
 We may sum up the inquiry into sensibility and motion thus : — 
 
 1. The peculiar distinction of a living animal is, that its 
 minute particles are undergoing a continual change or revolution 
 under the influence of life. Philosophers have applied no term 
 to these motions. 
 
 2. An organ possessed of an appropriate muscular texture, 
 and of sensibility in accordance with the moving instrument, as 
 the heart or the stomach, has the power of action without re- 
 ference to the mind. The term automatic, sometimes given to 
 those motions, conveys a wrong idea of the source of motion, 
 as if, instead of being a living power, it were consequent upon 
 some elastic or mechanical property. 
 
 3. There are sensibilities bestowed on certain organs, and 
 holding a control over a number of muscles, which combine 
 them in action in a manner greatly resembling the influence of 
 the mind upon the body, yet independent of the mind ; as the 
 sensibility which combines the muscles in breathing. 
 
 4. In the last instance, a large class of muscles is combined 
 without volition. But the whole animal fabric may be so em- 
 ployed ', as in the instinctive operations of animals, where there 
 is an impulse to certain actions not accompanied by intelligence. 
 
240 VARIETIES IN SENSIBILITIES, 
 
 5. A motive must exist before there are voluntary actions ; 
 and hence philosophers have supposed that there can be nothing 
 but instinctive actions in a new-born child. But we must 
 distinguish here what are perfect at first, from what are at first 
 imperfect and irregular, and become perfect by use and the 
 direction of the will. The act of swallowing is perfect from the 
 beginning. The motions of the legs and arms, and the sounds of 
 the voice, are irregular and weak, and imperfectly directed. It 
 is the latter which improve with the mind. From not knowing 
 the internal structure, and the arrangement of the nerves, philo- 
 sophers, as Hartley, supposed that an instinctive motion, such 
 as swallowing, may become a voluntary act. Volition in the 
 act of swallowing consists merely in putting the morsel within 
 the instinctive grasp of the fauces, when a series of involuntary 
 actions commences, over which we have no more control in 
 mature age than in the earliest infancy. Swallowing is not a 
 voluntary action; the thrusting of the morsel back with the 
 tongue is like the putting of the cup to the lip. It is the pre- 
 paration for the act of swallowing that is voluntary : but over 
 the act itself we have no control. 
 
 It is an error to suppose that all muscular actions are in the 
 first instance involuntary, and that over some of them we ac- 
 quire a voluntary power. A child's face has a great deal of 
 motion in it, very diverting from its resemblance to expression, 
 before there can be any real motive to the action. It will crow, 
 and make strange sounds, before there is an attempt at speech. 
 But this gradual development of intelligence and acquisition of 
 power ought not to be called the will attaining influence over 
 involuntary muscles, since, in fact, the apparatus of nerves and 
 muscles is prepared, and waits for the direction of the mind 
 with so perfect a readiness, as to fall into action and just com- 
 bination before that condition or afiection of the mind which 
 should precede the action takes place. A child smiles before 
 anything incongruous can enter the mind, before even pleasure 
 can be supposed a condition of the mind. Indeed, the smile on 
 an infant's face is first perceived in sleep. 
 
 6. All the motions enumerated above are spontaneous motions 
 belonging to the internal economy; but the external relations 
 of the animal, the necessity of escaping from injury or warding 
 off violence, require a sensibility to those outward impressions. 
 
AI^D THEIR I^^DUCED ACTIONS. 241 
 
 and an activity consequent on volition. Nothing less than per- 
 ceptions of the mind, and voluntary acts, suited to a thousand 
 circumstances of relation, could preserve the higher classes of 
 animals, and man above all others, from destruction. 
 
 All these provisions proceed from an arrangement of nerves 
 and muscles. The mechanical adjustment of the muscles and 
 tendons is perfect according to the principles of mechanics. 
 The muscles themselves possess a different property ; they are 
 irritable parts ; motion originates in them. This living property 
 of contraction is admirably suited, in each particular muscle, to 
 the office it has to perform. In some it is necessary that the 
 muscles should act as rapidly as the bowstring on the arrow ; in 
 others their action is slow and regular ; in others it is irregular, 
 and after long intervals, according as the functions to which 
 they are subservient require. The motions of the limbs, the 
 motions of the eye, those of the heart and arteries, stomach and 
 bowels, are all different. This appropriation of action is not in 
 the muscles themselves, but as they stand in relation to the ner- 
 vous system, and the sensibilities which impel them. 
 
 We hope, then, that by the course we have taken, we have 
 carried the reader to a higher sense of the perfection of the ani- 
 mal structure. We first drew him to observe provisions in the 
 strengthening of the bones, the adjustment of their extremities 
 to the joints, the course of the tendons, and other such mecha- 
 nical appliances ; proving to him the existence of design in 
 the formation of the solid fabric of the body. We have then 
 explained how that motion is produced which was at all times 
 familiar to him, but even the immediate causes of which he did 
 not comprehend. We have, in the last place, shown him that 
 under the term Life, he has a still more admirable subject of 
 contemplation, in the adjustment of the living properties; in 
 the sensibilities, which differ not so much in degree as in kind ; 
 and in their appropriation, both to the operations of the inter- 
 nal economy, and to the relations external and necessary to 
 safety. 
 
 It is not possible to examine these things without having the 
 fuU proofs before us of the power of the Creator in forming and 
 sustaining the animal body. As a man with gictta serena may 
 
 Q 
 
242 VARIETIES IN SENSIBILITIES, ETC. 
 
 turn his eyes to the sun, and feel no influence of light, so may 
 the understanding be blind to these proofs. With the cele- 
 brated Dr Hunter, we may say, that he who can c'ontemplate 
 them without enthusiasm, must labour under a dead palsy in 
 some part of his mind ; and we must pity him as unfortunate.] 
 
A COMPARISON OF THE EYE WITH THE HAND. 
 
 "And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee." 
 
 If in quest of an object whicli shall excite tlie highest interest, 
 and at the same time afford the most convincing proofs of de- 
 sign, we naturally turn to the Eye, as the most delicate of all 
 the organs of the body. And some consideration of this organ 
 is appropriate to our present purpose, which is to show how 
 much the sense of vision depends on the Hand — how strict is 
 the analogy between these two organs. 
 
 From the time of Sir Henry Wotton, to the latest writer on 
 light, the eye has been a subject of admiration and eulogy. 
 But on a former occasion,* I have ventured to say, that this 
 admiration is misplaced, if given to the ball of the eye, or the 
 optic nerve, exclusively. The high endowments of this organ 
 belong to the exercise of the whole eye — to its exterior appen- 
 dages of muscles, as much as to its humours and the proper 
 nerve of vision. It is to the muscular apparatus which moves 
 the eye, and to the conclusions we are enabled to draw from the 
 consciousness of muscular effort, that, in combination with the 
 impression on the retina, we owe our knowledge of the form, 
 magnitude, and relations of objects. One might as well imagine 
 that he understood the uses of a theodolite by estimating the 
 optical powers of the glasses, without looking to the quadrant, 
 level, or plumb-line, as suppose that he had learnt the whole 
 powers of the eye by confining his study to the naked ball. 
 
 Let us begin by some observations on the minute structure, 
 and the sensibility, of the retina. The retina is the internal 
 coat of the eye ; it consists of a delicate, pulpy, nervous matter, 
 which is contained between two membranes of extreme fineness ; 
 and these membranes both support it and give to its surfaces a 
 smoothness mathematically correct. The matter of the nerve, 
 as well as these supporting membranes, is perfectly transparent 
 during hfe. In the axis of the human eye, there is a small 
 * See Philosophical Transactions. 
 
244 COMPAPJSOK OF EYE 
 
 portion wliicli, after death, wlien the rest of the membrane be- 
 comes opaque, remains transparent ; and has thence been mis- 
 taken for an opening in the retina."^ Surprising as it may be 
 after all the industry employed to demonstrate the structure of 
 the eye, it is Only in the present day that a most essential part 
 of the retina has been discovered — the membrane of Mr Jacob. 
 From observing the phenomena of vision, and especially the 
 extreme minuteness of the image cast upon the retina, I had 
 conceived that the whole nerve was not the seat of vision, but 
 only one or other of its surfaces. That could not be well demon- 
 strated until this exterior membrane of the retina was known ; 
 now we see, when it is floated in water under a magnifying glass, 
 that this membrane is of extreme tenuity : and its smooth surface 
 is calculated to correspond to the exterior surface of that layer 
 of nervous matter, which is the seat of the sense. 
 
 The term retina would imply that the nerve constituted a 
 network; and the expressions of some of our first modern 
 authorities would induce us to believe that they viewed its 
 structure in that light, as agreeing with their hypothesis. But 
 there is no fibrous texture in the matter of the nerve : although, 
 when floated and torn with the point of a needle, the innermost 
 of the membranes which support the retina, the tunica vasculosa 
 retince, presents something of that appearance. 
 
 Vision is not excited by light, unless the rays penetrate 
 through the transparent retina, and reach its exterior surface 
 from withim 
 
 We all know that by pressing upon the eye-ball with a key 
 or end of a pencil-case, zones of light are produced : and they 
 are perceived as if the rays came in a direction opposite to the 
 pressure. It may be said, that here the efiect of the pressure is 
 assimilated to that of light; and as light can approach and 
 strike the part of the nerve pressed upon from without by the 
 key, only by entering the interior of the eye and coming 
 from within, that the zones of light produced by the me- 
 chanical im.pulse must appear in the usual direction of rays 
 impinging upon that part : and that, consequently, they will 
 give the impression of their source being in the opposite 
 quarter. Contrast, however, this phenomenon with the follow- 
 ing experiment. Let the eyelids be closed, and covered with a 
 * It is this part which, is called the foramen of SoemmerriTig. 
 
WITH HAXD. 245 
 
 piece of black clotli or paper, with a small hole in it ; place this 
 hole, not opposite to the pupil, but to the white of the eye ; 
 then direct a beam of light upon the hole : this light will be 
 seen in its true direction. Why is there this difference in the 
 apparent place from which the light is derived in these two 
 cases? Is it not because the rays directed through the hole 
 upon the white part of the eye-ball, after penetrating the 
 coats and striking upon the retina at this part, pierce through 
 it, and through the humours of the eye, and impinge upon the 
 retina again on the opposite side ?• That explains why light 
 transmitted in such a manner shall appear to come from a dif- 
 ferent quarter. But it does not explain why there should not 
 be a double impression — why the beam of light should not in- 
 fluence the retina while penetrating it in the first instance ; that 
 is, in passing through it from without inwards, as well as when 
 it has penetrated the humours and impinged upon its opposite 
 part, from within outwards. 
 
 Another fact, which has perplexed philosophers, is the insensi- 
 bility of the optic nerve itself to light. If it be so contrived 
 that a strong beam of light shall fall upon the bottom of the 
 eye, so as to impinge on the end of the nerve where it begins to 
 expand into the delicate retina, no sensation of light will be 
 produced. This ought not to surprise us, if I am correct in my 
 statement that the gross matter of the nerve is not the organ of 
 vision, but the exterior surface of it only ; for in the extremity 
 of the optic nerve there is, of course, no posterior surface. In- 
 deed, nothing can better prove the distinct office of the nerve 
 itself, as contrasted mth the expanded retina, than this circum- 
 stance, — that when a strong ray of light strikes into the nerve, 
 the impression is not perceived : it seems to imply that the 
 capacity of receiving the impression, and that of conveying it to 
 the sensorium, are two distinct functions. 
 
 Is not this opinion more consistent with the phenomena, than 
 what is expressed by one of our first philosophers, — that the nerve 
 at its extremity towards the eye is insensible, and forms what 
 has been called the punctum coecum (blind spot), because it is not 
 yet divided into those ahnost infinitely minute fibres, which he 
 considers can alone be fine enough to be thrown into tremors 
 by the rays of light ? 
 
 Independently of this "punctum coecum," we have to observe 
 
246 eelatio:n" of sensible spot 
 
 that the whole surface of the retina is not equally sensible to 
 light. There is a small spot, opposite to the pupil, and in the 
 axis of the eye, which is more peculiarly sensible to visual im- 
 pressions than the rest of the nerve. An attempt has been made 
 to ascertain the diameter of this spot j and it is said that a ray, 
 at an angle of five degrees from the optic axis, strikes beyond it. 
 But we shall see reason to conclude, that the sensible spot is not 
 limited to an exact circle, that it is not regularly defined, and 
 that the sensibility, in fact, increases to the very centre. 
 
 Some have denied the existence of this extreme sensibility in 
 the centre of the retina ; attributing the vividness of sensation 
 to the circumstance of the light converging through the humours 
 with greater correctness to this point. I shall, therefore, show 
 how impossible it would be, if it were not for the sensibility of 
 the retina increasing gradually from its utmost circumference to 
 the point which forms the axis of the eye, to possess distinct 
 vision. 
 
 We see an object by the rays reflected from it, even although 
 direct light from a luminous body may be entering the eye at 
 the same instant. As the illumination from rays coming thus 
 directly is many times stronger than from light reflected by an 
 object, if there were not a provision in the retina, by which the 
 bright light shall'fall upon a part possessing a slight degree of 
 sensibility, while the dimmer, reflected light falls upon the most 
 sensible spot, the contrast would be so great that vision would 
 be destroyed. If, for example, in full day, and in the open field, 
 the eye be directed southward, the rays from the sun will enter 
 the eye, as we are looking at an object near us : now, were the 
 part of the retina struck by the sun's rays as sensible as the 
 central spot on which the image of the object is impressed, the 
 direct rays from the sun would extinguish all other impressions : 
 the glare would be painfully powerful, as when we look directly 
 at the sun. If a momentary glance towards the sun produce a 
 sensation so acute that we can see nothing for some time after- 
 wards, would not the same happen, even did we not turn our 
 eyes towards it, were the retina alike sensible in all its surface ? 
 There is a similar efiect in a chamber lighted with candles ; we 
 cannot see a person standing immediately on the other side of 
 the candle: for the direct light interferes with the reflected 
 light, and eflfaces the slighter impression of the latter. 
 
TO MOTIONS OF THE EYE. 247 
 
 We perceive, therefore, tliat if tlie retina were equally sensible 
 over its whole surface, we could not see. Let us, then, observe 
 how we really do see, and how the organ is exercised. There is 
 a continual desire to make the sensible spot, the proper seat of 
 vision, bear correctly on the object. When an impression is 
 made upon the retina in that unsatisfactory degree which is the 
 effect of its being upon any part but the centre, there is an effort 
 to direct the axis towards it ; or, in other words, to receive the 
 rays upon the more sensible centre. It is this sensibility, con- 
 joined with the action of the muscles of the eye-ball, which pro- 
 duces the constant searching motion of the eye. So that, in 
 effect, from the lesser sensibility of the retina generally, arises 
 the necessity for a constant exercise of the muscles of the organ ; 
 and to this may be attributed its high perfections. 
 
 This faculty of searching for the object is slowly acquired in 
 the child ; and, in truth, the motions of the eye, like those of 
 the hand, are made perfect by slow degrees. In both organs 
 the operation is compound : — the impression on the nerve of 
 vision is accompanied with an effort of the will and sense of 
 muscular action. That the faculty of vision should be found 
 perfect in the young of some animals from the beginning, is no 
 more opposed to this view, than the fact that the young duck 
 runs to the water the moment the shell is broken, is against the 
 conclusion that the child learns to stand and walk after a 
 thousand repeated efforts. 
 
 Now, observe how essential this searching motion of the eye 
 is to vision. On coming into a room, we see the whole side of 
 it, as we suppose, at once — the mirror, the pictures, the cornice, 
 the chairs. But we are deceived; and that arises from our 
 being unconscious of the motions of the eye : for each object is 
 rapidly, but successively, presented to the most sensible spot in 
 the eye. 
 
 It is easy to show, that if the eye were without motion, 
 steadily fixed in the socket, vision would be quickly lost — that 
 objects of the greatest briUiancy would be obscurely seen, or 
 disappear. For example, let us fix the eye on one point— a 
 thing somewhat difficult to do, owing to the very disposition in 
 the eye to be constantly moving : but suppose that by repeated 
 attempts we have at length acquired the power of directing the 
 eye steadily on an object; when we have done so, we shall find 
 
248 MUSCULAE SENSE 
 
 that tlie whole scene becomes more and more obscure, and finally 
 vanishes. Let ns fix the eye on the corner of the frame of the 
 principal picture in the room; at first, everything around the 
 frame will be distinct; in a very little time, the impression will 
 become weaker, objects will appear dim, and then the eye will 
 have an almost uncontrollable desire to wander; if this be re- 
 sisted, the impressions of the figures in the picture will first 
 fade : for a time, we shall see the gilded frame alone : but this 
 also will become faint. When we have thus far ascertained the 
 fact, if we change the direction of the eye but ever so little, the 
 whole scene will at once be again perfect before us. 
 
 These phenomena are consequent upon the retina being sub- 
 ject to exhaustion. When a coloured ray of light impinges con- 
 tinuously on the same part of the eye, the retina becomes less 
 sensible to it, but more sensible to a ray of the opposite colour. 
 When the eye is fixed upon a point, the lights, shades, and colours 
 of objects continuing to strike upon the same relative parts of 
 the retina, the nerve is exhausted : but when the eye shifts, there 
 is a new exercise of the nerve : the part of the retina that was 
 opposed to the lights is now opposed to the shades, and what 
 was opposed to the difi'erent colours is now opposed to other 
 colours, and the variation in the exciting cause produces a re- 
 newed sensation. From this it appears how essential the in- 
 cessant searching motion of the eye is to the continued exercise 
 of the organ. 
 
 Before dismissing this subject, we may give another instance. 
 If we are looking upon an extensive prospect, and have the eye 
 caught by an object at a distance, or when, in expectation of a 
 friend, we see a figure advancing on the distant road, and we 
 endeavour to scrutinise the object, fixing the eye intently upon 
 it, it disappears ; in our disappointment we rub the eyes, cast 
 them about, look again, and once more we see the object. The 
 reason of this is very obvious : the retina is exhausted, but be- 
 comes recruited by looking on the other objects of different 
 shades and colours. The sportsman feels this a hundred times, 
 on the moor or the hill-side, in marking down his covey, and 
 keeping his eye fixed, while travelling towards the spot. 
 
 Reverting to the sensible part of the retina, it does not ap- 
 pear that we are authorised to term it a spot. The same law 
 governs vision, whether we look to a fine point of a needle or to 
 
ESSENTIAL TO VISIOK 249 
 
 an object in an extensive landscape. We look to tlie end of a 
 pen, and we can rest the attention on the point upon the one 
 side of the slit, to the exclusion of the other, just as we can 
 select and intently survey a house or a tree. If the sensible spot 
 were regularly defined, it must be very small : and we should be 
 sensible of it ; which we are not. The law, therefore, seems to 
 be, at all times, that the nearer to the centre of the eye, the 
 greater is the sensibility to impression; and that holds whether 
 we are looking abroad on the country, or are microscopically 
 intent upon objects very minute. 
 
 When men deny the fine adaptation of the muscular actions 
 of the eye to the sensations on the retina, how do they account 
 for the obvious fact — that the eye-ball does move in such just 
 degrees? how is the one eye adjusted to the other with such 
 marvellous precision? and how do the eyes move together in 
 pursuit of an object, never failing to accompany it correctly, 
 whether in tracing the flight of a bird, or the course of a tennis- 
 ball, or even that of a bomb-shell? Is it not an irresistible 
 conclusion, that to follow an object, and adjust the action of 
 the muscles of the eye so as to present the axis of vision succes- 
 sively to it as it changes its place, we must be sensible of these 
 motions? for how could we direct the muscles, unless we were 
 conscious of their action? The question then comes to be — 
 whether, being sensible of the condition of the muscles, and 
 capable of directing them with extraordinary minuteness, the 
 sense of the action of the muscles does not enter into our com- 
 putation of the place of an object ? 
 
 But is not this exactly the same question recurring, as when 
 we asked — whether in judging of the place of an object, by the 
 hand, we did not include, as an important part of the process 
 of perception, the knowledge acquired through the sense of the 
 muscular action of the arm ? Must there not be a conscious- 
 ness of the position of the hand, before we can direct it to an 
 object ? And must ^ve not have a knowledge of the relation of 
 the muscles and of the position of the axis of the eye, before 
 we can alter its direction, to fix it upon a new object ? 
 
 It surprises me to find ingenious men refusing their assent to 
 the opinion, that the operation of the muscles of the eye is 
 necessary to perfect vision, when they may witness the gradual 
 acquisition of the power by the awakening sense in the infant. 
 
250 MUSCULAE SENSE 
 
 "When a bright object is withdrawn from the infant's eye, there 
 is a blank expression in the features ; but an excitement as 
 soon as the object is again presented. For a time, if we shift 
 the object before it, it is not attended with the searching action 
 of the eye ; but, by and by, the eye follows the object, and looks 
 around for it when lost. In this gradual acquisition of power 
 to guide the eye to the object, there is an exact parallel to the 
 acquisition of power to seize with the hand : in both instances, 
 the infant seeks to join the experience obtained by means of the 
 muscular motion, with the impression on the proper nerve of 
 sense. 
 
 Some maintain that our idea of the position of an object is 
 implanted in the mind, and independent of experience. We 
 must acknowledge the possibility of this, had it been so pro- 
 vided. We see the young of some creatures enjoying the sense 
 of vision perfectly at the moment of birth : but in these animals, 
 every corresponding faculty is, in the same manner, fully deve- 
 loped from the beginning : the dropped foal, or the lamb, rises 
 and follows its mother. As to the property of the eye which 
 we are considering, we can no more compare what it is in the 
 helpless human ofifspring, with what it is in the young of other 
 animals, than compare the duration of man's existence with that 
 of the fly, which has its period of life limited to an hour at 
 noon, — which breaks from its confinement, knows its mate, 
 deposits its eggs on the appropriate tree, the willow or the 
 thorn — then dies. These subjects are foreign to the inquiry; 
 since it is obvious that the human eye has no such complete 
 power of vision originally bestowed upon it, but that, like the 
 exercise of the other senses, and the faculties of the mind itself, 
 it is perfected by repeated eff'orts, or experience. 
 
 If it be admitted that the ideas received through the eye are 
 acquired by experience, we must allow that before a conception 
 can be formed of an object being exterior to the eye, or of its 
 being placed in a particular direction, the mind must have been 
 engaged in an act of comparison. Authors make the subject 
 complex by referring to the inverted picture drawn at the bottom 
 of the eye ; representing to us the mind contemplating this 
 picture, and comparing the relative position of its parts. But 
 it is not shown how the mind looks into this camera! The 
 question would be rendered, at least, more simple, if we asked 
 
GIVES KNOWLEDGE OF DIEECTIOK 251 
 
 oiTTselves, how we know the direction in wHcli any single point 
 is seen by the eye. Suppose it is a star in the heavens, or a 
 beacon seen by the mariner. In order to ascertain the position 
 of the star, must he not find out some other object of compari- 
 son, some other star which shall disclose to him the constella- 
 tion to which the one that he is examining belongs : or to ascer- 
 tain the position of the beacon, must he not look to his compass 
 and card, and so trace the relative direction of the light-house 1 
 This is, in fact, the process followed every time that we look at 
 an object. A single point is directly in the axis of the eye ; but 
 we cannot judge of its position without turning to some other 
 point, and becoming sensible of the traversing of the eye-ball 
 and the angle to which it is moved : or if we do not see another 
 point to compare with the first, we must judge of its place by 
 means of a comparison with the motion of the eye itself. We 
 are sensible that the eye is directed to the right or to the left; 
 and we compare the visible impression on the nerve with the 
 motion, its direction, and its extent. 
 
 Even mathematicians are found who affirm that we judge of 
 the direction of an object, by the line in which the several rays 
 falling upon the retina come to the eye. They forget that the 
 rays strike a mere point of the retina ; and that this point can 
 have no direction by itself. The obliquity of the incidence of the 
 ray cannot be estimated by means of this point alone ; rays of 
 all degrees of obliquity are converging towards it. Do not the 
 same mathematicians, in the very first lessons of their science, 
 require as the definition of a line, that it shall be drawn through 
 two points at least ? Where are the two points at which a ray 
 can aiiect a nerve, so as to indicate the direction of the line in 
 which it approaches the eye 1 The cornea, or the humours of 
 the eye,- are not sensible to the passage of the ray.'^ Or is this 
 an error that has crept in from inaccurate conceptions of the 
 anatomy? has the idea arisen from the notion that the ray 
 passes through the thick and turbid matter of the retina, and 
 that we can trace its course by that means "? 
 
 I would ask, why is a " finder " attached to the great tele- 
 scope 1 Is it not because the instrument magnifies in so high a 
 degree, that the observer can see only one object, and therefore 
 
 * See a paper by Mr Alexander I ject very happily, Journal of the 
 Shaw, who has explained this sub- | Itoi/al Institution, 1832. 
 
252 MUSCULAE SEI^SE 
 
 he cannot direct it in tlie heavens ? It is to remedy this, that 
 a smaller telescope, possessing a less power, but commanding a 
 wider field, is mounted upon the greater one : this " finder " 
 the astronomer directs to the constellation, and moves from star 
 to star, until the one which he desires to examine is in the centre 
 of the field: by which means he adjusts the larger telescope 
 to his object. Is this not a correct illustration of the operation 
 of the eye ? The eye is imperfectly exercised when it sees but 
 one point : it is not in a full performance of its function, unless 
 when it moves from one point to another, judges of the degree 
 and the direction of that motion, and thus enables us, by com- 
 parison, to form our conclusion as to the place of the object. 
 
 A most ingenious philosopher of our time, who has opposed 
 these views of the compound nature of the sense of vision, and 
 maintains that the forms and relations of objects are known by 
 the unassisted operation of the eye-ball itself — by the trans- 
 mission of the rays through the humours of the eye, and by 
 their effect upon the retina — has also affirmed, that we should 
 know the position of objects, even were the muscles of the 
 eye paralytic. But when I attach so much importance to the 
 motions of the eye, I hope it has been understood that I do not 
 neglect the movements of the body, and more especially those 
 of the hand. In truth, the measure which we take through the 
 motions of the eye, is in correspondence with the experience 
 obtained through the motions of the whole frame ; and without 
 such experience, we should have no knowledge of matter, or of 
 position, or of distance, or of form. Were the eye fixed in the 
 head, or its muscles paralytic, we should be deprived, in a great 
 degree, of the exercise of the organ, and lose many of the 
 appliances necessary for its protection : but we should still be 
 capable of comparing the visual impression with the knowledge 
 of the movements of the body. As long as we could distinguish 
 the right hand from the left, or raise our head to see what is 
 above us, or stoop to see a man's foot, we should never be at a 
 loss to form a comparison between the impression on the nerve 
 of sight, and the experience of the body. 
 
 Against this view of the compound operation of the eye, it is 
 arg-ued, that if a man receive the impression of a luminous 
 body upon his eye, so that the spectrum shall remain when the 
 eyelids are shut, and if he be seated upon a stool made to turn, 
 
GIVES KNOWLEDGE OF DIRECTIOK 253 
 
 and whirled round by the hand of a friend, without his own 
 effort, the motion of the spectrum will correspond with his own 
 rotatory motion. No doubt it will, because he is conscious of 
 being turned round : a man cannot sit upon a stool that is 
 turning, without an effort to keep his place, without a conscious- 
 ness of being whirled ; and being sensible, at the same time, 
 that the impression is still before his eye, he will see the spec- 
 trum in that aspect to which he has been revolved. 
 
 Were I not conscious that I was right, I should feel it neces- 
 sary to make some apology for arguing against the opinions of 
 eminent men on this matter. But I conceive the explanation 
 of the discrepancy to be, that we are influenced considerably by 
 the different modes in which we approach the examination of 
 such a subject. A man accustomed to observe with admiration 
 the properties of light, and to study the effect of the humours 
 of the eye as an optical instrument, may be blinded to those 
 inferences which to me, from reflecting on the living endow- 
 ments that belong to the organ, seem undeniable. When, 
 instead of looking upon the eye as a mere camera, or show-box, 
 with the picture inverted on the bottom, we determine the 
 value of muscular activity ; mark the sensations attending the 
 balancing of the body ; that fine property which we possess of 
 adjusting the muscular frame to its various inclinations ; how 
 it is acquired in the child ; how it is lost in the paralytic and 
 drunkard: how motion and sensation are combined in the 
 exercise of the hand ; how the hand, by means of this sensi- 
 bility, guides the finest instruments : when we consider how 
 the eye and the hand correspond ; how the motions of the eye, 
 combining with the impression on the retina, become the means 
 of measuring and estimating the place, form, and distance of 
 objects — the sign in the eye of what is known to the hand : 
 finally, when, by attention to the motions of the eye, we are 
 aware of their extreme minuteness, and how we are sensible to 
 them in the finest degree — the conviction irresistibly follows, 
 that without the power of directing the eye, (a motion holding 
 relation to the action of the whole body,) our finest organ of 
 sense, which so largely contributes to the development of the 
 powers of the mind, would lie unexercised. 
 
254 MOTION OF EYE 
 
 THE MOTION OF THE EYE CONSIDERED IN REGARD TO THE EFFECT 
 OF SHADE AND COLOUR IN PAINTING. 
 
 A question naturally arises whether from this part of philo- 
 sophy it be possible to suggest some principles for the assist- 
 ance of the painter in the disposition of shades and colours of 
 a picture. When attempting to establish rules for that purpose, 
 the ideas and language of the artist or amateur are certainly 
 very vague. 
 
 We have to remark, in the first place, that the colours of 
 objects represented in a painting differ in most essential cir- 
 cumstances in the effect which they produce, from those of 
 the natural objects themselves. In nature, bodies of various 
 colours placed together have their tints reflected from each 
 other, and so combined : this is one mode in which the hues of 
 nature are harmonised before they reach the eye. But the 
 colours upon the flat surface of the canvas cannot be thus 
 reflected and mingled. Again, the hues of natural objects are 
 affected by the atmosphere differently from those in a picture : 
 the rays proceeding from distant objects are softened by means 
 of it ; whereas, in a painting, from the canvas being close to 
 the eye, the effect of the atmosphere will amount to nothing. 
 
 There is, however, another mode by which the eye is influ- 
 enced in regard to colours, and it is an effect common to natural 
 objects and to paintings. When we repeat the familiar experi- 
 ment of looking steadily, and for some time, upon differently 
 coloured spots in succession, we become aware of the remark- 
 able effect produced on the sensibility of the retina by the im- 
 pression dwelling on the nerve. As this effect is not an inci- 
 dental occurrence, but is produced, more or less, whenever we 
 exercise the eye, the nerve must be influenced to a certain degree 
 in the same manner on looking to the difterent colours of a 
 picture. It is necessary, therefore, to carry this fact with us 
 into the inquiry ; and I may offer one or two illustrations. 
 
 If we throw a silver coin upon a dark table, and fix the eye 
 upon its centre, it will be found, when we remove the coin, that 
 there is, for a moment, a white spot in its place, which presently 
 becomes deep black. If we put a red wafer upon a sheet of 
 paper, and continue to keep the eye fixed upon it, when we 
 remove the wafer, the spot where it lay on the white paper will 
 
m EELATIOl^ TO COLOUR. 255 
 
 appear green. If we look upon a green wafer in the same man- 
 ner, and remove it, the spot will be red ; if upon blue or indigo, 
 the paper will seem yellow. These phenomena are to be ex- 
 plained by considering that the nerve is exhausted from the 
 continuance of the impression, and becomes more apt to receive 
 the sensation of an opposite colour. All the colours of the 
 prism come into the eye from a surface that is white : accord- 
 ingly, when we remove the coloured wafer (take that which was 
 red) from the white paper, all these combined colours of the 
 prism enter ; but if the nerve has been exhausted by the red 
 colour of the wafer, it will be insensible to the red rays reflected 
 from the paper, and the effect of the rays of an opposite kind 
 will be increased ; consequently, the spot will be no longer white, 
 nor red, but of a green colour. 
 
 Let us next observe how this exhaustion of the sensibility of 
 the nerve produces an effect in engraving, where there is no 
 colour, and only light and shade. Is it possible that a high 
 tower, in a cloudless sky, can be less illuminated at the top, 
 than at the bottom ] Yet if we turn to a book of engravings, 
 where an old steeple, or tower, is represented standing up 
 against the clear sky, we shall find that all the higher part is 
 dark ; and the effect is picturesque and pleasing. Now, this is 
 perfectly correct ; for although the highest part of the tower be 
 in the brightest illumination, it is not seen as if it were — ^it 
 never appears so to the eye. The reason is, that on looking 
 towards the steeple, a great part of the retina is opposed to the 
 strong light of the sky ; and when we shift the eye, to look at 
 the particular parts of the steeple, the reflected light falls upon 
 the retina where it is exhausted by the direct light of the sky. 
 If we look to the top of the tower, and then drop the eye to 
 some of the lower architectural ornaments, the effect will infal- 
 libly be, that the upper half of the tower will appear dark ; not 
 by contrast, as it might thoughtlessly be said, but by the nerve 
 being somewhat exhausted of its sensibility. This, then, is the 
 first effect that we shall remark, as arising from the searching 
 motion of the eye, and the variety in the sensibility of the 
 nerve. 
 
 The refreshing colours of the natural landscape are at no time so 
 pleasing as when, reading on a journey, we turn the eye from the 
 book to the fields and woods ; the shadows are then deeper — the 
 
25Q MOTION" OF EYE 
 
 greens more soothing ; and the whole colours softened. Eeynolds 
 observed to Sir George Beaumont that the pictures of Rubens 
 appeared different to him, and less brilliant, on his second visit 
 to the continent, than on his first ; and the reason of the differ- 
 ence he discovered to be, that on the first visit he had taken 
 notes, and on the second he had not. The alleged reason is 
 quite equal to the effect ; but I cannot help imagining that there 
 is some incorrectness in the use of the term brilliant, unless 
 warmth and depth of colouring is meant; for when the eye 
 turns from the white paper to the painting, the reds and yellows 
 must necessarily be deeper. If we look out from the window, 
 and then turn towards a picture, the whole effect will be gone — 
 the reflected rays from the picture will be too feeble to produce 
 their impression ; or if we look upon a sheet of paper, and then 
 upon a picture, the tone will be deeper, and the warm tints 
 stronger, but the lights and shades less distinct. If we place 
 an oil painting, without the frame, upon a large sheet of paper, 
 or against a white wall, it will appear offensively yellow : this 
 is because the eye alternately, though insensibly, moves from 
 the white paper or wall to the painting, which is of a deep tone, 
 and consequently the browns and yellows are rendered unnatu- 
 rally strong. We see the necessity of the gilt frame for such a 
 picture, and the effect that it produces : it does not merely cut 
 off surrounding objects, but it prepares the eye for the coJours 
 of the painting — it allows, if I may so express it, the painter to 
 use his art more boldly, and to exaggerate the colours of naturew 
 Painters proceed by experiment ; and in painting a portrait, 
 they know that they can represent the features by contrast of 
 lights and shadows, with very little colour ; but such a portrait 
 is never popular. If they are to present the likeness without 
 much contrast of light and shade, they must raise the features 
 by contrasts of the colours ; hence the carnations are necessarily 
 exaggerated : but all this is softened down, by throwing a piece 
 of drapery into the picture ; and the effect of this will be so 
 striking, from its colours preparing the eye properly for receiv- 
 ing those of the rest of the picture, that the features, which, 
 perhaps, before gave the idea of an inflamed countenance, will 
 appear natural. The common resource of the painter is to 
 throw in a crimson curtain, or to introduce some flower or piece 
 of dress, that shall lead the eye, by the succession of tints, to- 
 
BLENDS COLOUES. 257 
 
 wards it : and by tMs means the eye will be prepared to receive 
 the otherwise exaggerated colours of the portrait : first survey- 
 ing the red curtain, and then the countenance, the whole ap- 
 pears coloured with the modesty of nature. 
 
 Those who hang pictures do not place an historical picture, 
 painted after the manner of the Bolognese school, with distinct 
 and abruptly-coloured draperies, by the side of a landscape ; 
 for the colours of a landscape, to be at all consonant with nature, 
 must be weak and reduced to a low tone, corresponding with 
 the effect produced by the intervention of the atmosphere ; its 
 colours, therefore, would be destroyed by too powerful a con- 
 trast. It is because pictures are, for the most part, painted on 
 different principles, that there is a difficulty of deciding which 
 colours are best adapted for the walls of a gallery ; but, gene- 
 rally speaking, the dark, subdued red, or morone, brings out the 
 colours of paintings ; in other words, if we look on a wall of 
 this hue, and then turn to the picture, the prevailing green and 
 yellow tints will appear brighter. 
 
 The word " contrast " is used without an exact comprehension 
 of what it implies. From the illustrations that have been given, 
 it will be seen that the effect resulting from the proper distri- 
 bution of colours placed together, is produced through the 
 motion of the eye, combined with the law to which we have 
 been adverting, of the sensibility of the retina. When we ima- 
 gine that we are comparing colours, we are really experiencing 
 the effect of the nerve being exhausted by dwelling on one 
 colour, and becoming more susceptible of the opposite colour. 
 In drapery, for example, there is such a mixture of different 
 tints reflected from it, that although one prevail, the impression 
 may be greatly modified by what the eye has previously expe- 
 rienced. If the colouring of the flesh be, as the painter terms 
 it, too " warm," it may be made " cold " by rendering the eye 
 insensible to the red and yellow rays, and more than usually 
 susceptible of the blue and purple rays. Every coloured ray 
 from the flesh is transmitted to the eye ; but if the eye has 
 moved from a yellow or crimson drapery, then the rays of that 
 kind will be lost for the moment, and the colour of the flesh 
 will appear less warm, in consequence of the prevalence of the 
 opposite rays of colour. 
 
 It oiight to be unsatisfactory to the philosophical student to 
 
258 CHIAROSCURO. 
 
 make use of a term without knowing its full meaning: yet 
 much has been said about contrast and harmony in painting, 
 as resulting from the arrangement of the colours ; the idea 
 being that the colours placed together are seen at the same 
 time, and that this gives rise to the effect of which we are all 
 sensible ; whereas it results from alternately looking at the one 
 colour and then at the other. The subject might be pleasantly 
 pursued, but I mean only to vindicate the importance of the 
 motions of the eye to our enjoyment of colours, whether they 
 be those of nature or of art. 
 
 There is another subject of some interest, namely, the effect 
 produced upon the retina when the eye is intently fixed upon 
 an object, and is not permitted to wander from point to point. 
 This touches on the chiaroscuro of painting; which is not 
 merely the managing of the lights and shadows, but the pre- 
 serving of the parts of a scene subordinate to the principal 
 object. There is something unpleasant in a picture, even to the 
 least experienced eye, when everything is made out, when the 
 drapery of every figure, or the carvings and ornaments, are all 
 minutely represented : for, in nature, things are never seen in 
 such a way. On the other hand, a picture is truly effective, 
 and felt to be natural, when the eye is led to dwell on the 
 principal group or principal figure with which it is the artist's 
 intention to occupy the imagination. With fine mastery of his 
 art, the painter heightens the colours of the chief parts in his 
 picture, and subdues, by insensible degrees, those which are 
 removed from the centre ; and thus he represents the scene as 
 when we look intently at anything : that is, by making the ob- 
 jects which are near the axis of the eye be seen distinctly — the 
 other objects retreating, as it were, or rising out less and less 
 distinctly, in proportion as they recede from the centre. In 
 the one instance, the artist paints a panorama, where, on turn- 
 ing round, we have the several divisions of the circle presented 
 before the eye, and the objects visible in each, appearing equally 
 distinct : in the other, he paints a picture, which represents the 
 objects, not as when the eye wanders from one to the other, 
 but where it is fixed with higher interest upon some central 
 figure, or part of the scene, and the rest falls off subordinately. 
 
 Keverting to our main argument, the proofs of beneficence in 
 the capacities of the living frame, we look naturally to the plea- 
 
EXPRESSION IN THE EYE. 
 
 259 
 
 sures received through this double property of the eye — its mo- 
 tion and sensibility ; and we perceive that, whilst the varieties 
 of light and shade are necessary to vision, the coloured rays are 
 also, by their variety, suited to the higher exercise of this sense. 
 They do not all equally illuminate objects ; nor are they all 
 equally agreeable to the eye. The yellow, pale green, or Isabella 
 colours, illuminate in the highest degree,"^"" and are the most 
 agreeable to the sense ; and we cannot but observe, when we 
 look out on the face of nature, whether to the country, the sea, 
 or the sky, that these are the prevailing colours. The red ray 
 illuminates the least, but it irritates the most ; and it is this 
 variety in the influence of these rays upon the nerve, that con- 
 tinues its exercise, and adds so much to our enjoyment. We 
 have pleasure from the succession and contrast of colours, inde- 
 pendently of that higher gratification which the mind enjoys 
 through the influence of association. 
 
 OF EXPEESSION IN THE EYE. 
 
 In the conclusion of the volume, I took occasion to remark 
 that natural philosophy sometimes disturbs the mind of a weak 
 person. I recollect a student who objected to the attitude and 
 the direction of the eyes upwards, in prayer : " For," said he, 
 " it is unmeaning ; the globe on which we stand is round, and 
 the inhabitants in every degree, or division, of the sphere, have 
 their eyes directed differently, diverging from the earth, and 
 concentrated to nothing." This foolish observation may lead us 
 once more to notice the relations between the mind, the body, 
 and external nature. 
 
 The posture, and the expression of reverence, have been uni- 
 versally the same in every period of life, in all stages of society, 
 and in every clime. On first consideration, it seems merely 
 natural that, when pious thoughts prevail, man's countenance 
 should be turned from things earthly, to the purer objects 
 above. But there is a link in this relation every way worthy of 
 attention : the eye is raised, whether the canopy over us be 
 shrouded in darkness, or display all the splendour of noon. 
 
 The muscles which move the eye-ball are powerfully affected 
 
 * The Astronomer selects for his 
 telescope a glass which refracts the 
 pale yellow light in the greatest pro- 
 
 portion, because it illuminates in 
 the highest degree and irritates the 
 least. 
 
260 EXPRESSION IN THE EYE. 
 
 in certain conditions of the mind. Independently altogether of 
 the will, the eyes are rolled upwards during mental agony, and 
 whilst strong emotions of reverence and piety prevail in the 
 mind. This is a natural sign, stamped upon the human counte- 
 nance, and as peculiar to man as anything which distinguishes 
 him from the brute. The posture of the body follows neces- 
 sarily, and forms one of those numerous traits of expression 
 which hold mankind in sympathy. 
 
 The same evidence that we brought forward in treating of a 
 somewhat similar question, on the expression of the hand, 
 might be adduced here — the v»^orks of the great painters, who 
 have made the sublimer passions of man the subjects of their 
 art. By the upward direction of the eyes, and the correspond- 
 ence of feature and attitude, in their paintings, they speak to all 
 mankind. Thus we must admit that the reverential posture 
 and uphfting of the eyes are natural, whether in the darkened 
 chamber or under the vault of heaven. They result from the 
 very constitution of the mind and body, and are too powerful 
 to be effaced or altered. No sooner does pain or misfortune 
 subdue a man, or move him to supplication, than the same uni- 
 versal expression prevails. Here is the correspondence of the 
 mind, the frame, and external nature, by which man is directed 
 to look for aid from above. 
 
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