In which their peculiar Hardness (gg) is remarkable, their Growth (bb) alfo, their firm Infertion and Bandage in the Gums and Jaws, and their various Shape and Strength, fuited to their various Occafion and Ufe (ii); the foremost weak and fartheft from the Center, as being only Preparers to the reft; the others being to grind and mince, are accordingly made ftronger, and placed nearer the

the Read, and the Feck; and in all granivorous Birds, the Crop, the Echinus and the Gizard. For as chewing is to an eafie Digeftion, fo is swallowing whole to that which is more laborious. Dr. Grew's Cofmol. Sacr. c. 5. §. 24.

(gg) J. Peyer faith, the Teeth are made of convolved Skins hardened; and if we view the Grinders of Deer, Horfes, Sheep, c. we fhall find great Reafon to be of his Mind. His Obfervations are, Mirum autem eos (i. e. Dentes) cùm primùm è pelliculis imbricatim convolutis muco vifcido conftarent, in tantam dirigefcere foliditatem, que offa cuncta fuperet. Idem fit etiam in Officulis Ceraforum, &c. Separatione facta, per membranas conditur Magma locellis, quos formant lamina tenues, ac duriufcula ad Dentis figuram anteà divinitùs compofita. J. Peyer Merycol. 1. 2. c. 8.

(hb) Qui autem (i. e. Dentes) renafcuntur, minimè credendi funt à facultate aliquâ plaftica Brutorum denuò formari, fed latentes tantummodo in confpectum producuntur augmento molis ex effluente fucco. Id. ibid.

(ii) From thefe, and other like Confiderations of the Teeth, Galen infers, that they must needs be the Work of fome wife, provident Being; not Chance, nor a fortuitous Concourfe of Atoms. For the Confirmation of which he puts the Cafe, That fuppofe the order of the Teeth should have been inverted, the Grinders fet in the room of the Incifors, c. (which might as well have been, had not the Teeth been placed by a wife Agent) in this cafe, what Ufe would the Teeth have been of? What Confufion by fuch a flight Error in their Difpofal only? Upon which he argues, At fiquis choream hominum 32 (the Number of the Teeth) ordine difpofuit, eum ut hominem induftrium laudaremus: cùm verò Dentium choream Natura tam bellè exornârit, nonne ipfam quoque laudabimus? And then he goes on with the Argument, from the Sockets of the Teeth, and their nice fitting in them, which being no lefs accurately done, than what is done by a Carpenter, or Stone-Cutter, in fitting a

Tenon

the Center of Motion and Strength. Likewife their various Form (kk), in various Animals is confiderable, being all curioufly adapted to the peculiar Food (1), and Occafions of the feveral Species of Animals (mm). And lastly, the temporary De fect of them (nn), is no less obfervable in Children, and

Tenon into a Mortice, doth as well infer the Art and Act of the wife Maker of Animal Bodies, as the other doth the Act and Art of Man. And fo he goes on with other Arguments to the fame Effect. Galen. de Uf. Part. l. II. c. 8.

(kk) A curious Account of this may be found in an Extract of a Letter concerning the Teeth of divers Animals. Printed at Paris, in M. Vaugnion's Compleat Body of Chirurg. Oper. Chap. 53.

() As it hath been taken notice of, that various Animals delight in various Food; fo it conftantly falls out, that their Teeth are accordingly fitted to their Food; the rapacious to catching, holding and tearing their Prey; the herbaceous to Gathering and Comminution of Vegetables: And fuch as have no Teeth, as Birds, their Bill, Craw and Gizard, are affifted with Stones, to fupply the defect of Teeth. But the moft confiderable Example of this Kind is in fome Families of the Infect-Tribes, as the Papilio-Kind, &c. who have Teeth, and are voracious, and live on tender Vegetables in their Nympha, or Caterpillar-State, when they can only creep; but in their mature 'Papilio-State, they have no Teeth, but a Probofcis, or Trunk to fuck up Honey, c. their Parts for gathering Food, as well as their Food being changed, as foon as they have Wings to enable them to fly to it.

(mm) It is remarkable in the Teeth of Fishes, that in fome they are sharp, as alfo jointed, fo as to fall back, the better to catch and hold their Prey, and to facilitate its Paffage into the Stomach: So in others they are broad and flat, made to break the Shells of Snails and Shell-Fish devoured by them. These Teeth, or Breakers, are placed, in fome in the Mouth; in fome, in the Throat; and in Lobsters, &c. in the Stomach it felf; in the bottom of whofe Stomachs are three of those Grinders, with peculiar Mufcles to move them.

(nn) What is there in the World can be called an A& of Providence and Defign, if this temporary Defect of Teeth be not fuch; that Children, for Inftance, fhould have none whilft they are not able to use them, but to hurt themselves; or the Mother; and that at the very Age when they can take

and fuch young Creatures, where there is no Occafion for them; but they would be rather an Annoyance to the tender Nipples and Breafts.

From the Teeth, the grand Inftruments of Maftication; let us proceed to the other minifterial Parts. And here the Parotid, Sublingual, and maxillary Glands; together with thofe of the Cheeks and Lips, are confiderable; all lodged in the moft convenient Places about the Mouth and Throat to afford that noble digeftive falival Liquor, to be mixed with the Food in Maftication, and to moiften and lubricate the Paffages, to give an eafie descent to the Food. The commodious Form alfo of the Jaws, deferves our Notice; together with the ftrong Articulation of the lowermoft, and its Motion. And lastly, the curious Form, the great Strength, the convenient Lodgment and Situation of the feveral Mufcles and Tendons (00), all miniftring to this fo neceffary an Act of Life, as Maftication is; they are fuch Contrivances, fuch Works, as plainly fet forth the infinite Workman's Care and Skill.

Next to the Mouth, the Gullet prefenteth it felf; in every Creature well-fiz'd to the Food it hath occafion to fwallow; in fome but narrow, in o

in more fubftantial Food, and live without the Breast, and begin to need Teeth, for the fake of Speech; that then, fay, their Teeth fhould begin to appear, and gradually grow, as they more and more ftand in need of 'em.

(00) It would be endless to particularize here, and therefore I fhall refer to the Anatomifts; among the reft, particularly to Galen, for the fake of his Defcant upon this Subject. For having defcribed the great Accuracy of the Contrivance and Make of thefe Parts, he faith, Haud fcio an hominum fit fobriorum ad Fortunam opificem id revocare: alioqui quid tandem erit, quod cum Providentiâ atque Arte efficitur? Omnino enim hoc ei contrarium effe debet, quod cafu ac fortuitè fit. Galen. de Uf. Part. 1. 11. c. 7. ubi plura.

thers

Chap. XI. Of Animals Throats.

197 thers as large and extensive (pp); in all exceedingly remarkable for the curious Mechanism of its Muscles, and the artificial Decuffation and Pofition of their Fibres (99).

And now we are arriv'd to the grand Receptacle of the Food, the Stomach; for the moft Part as various as the Food to be convey'd therein. And here I might defcribe the admirable Mechanism of its Tunicks, Muscles, Glands, the Nerves, Arteries and Veins (rr); all manifefting the fuper-eminent Contrivance and Art of the infinite

(pp) The Bore of the Gullet is not in all Creatures alike anfwerable to the Body or Stomach. As in the Fox, which both feeds on Bones, and fwallows whole, or with little chewing; add next in a Dog, and other offivorous Quadrupeds, 'tis very Large, viz. to prevent a Contufion therein. Next in a Horfe, which though he feeds on Grass, yet fwallows much at once, and fo requires a more open Paffage. But in a Sheep, Rabbit, or Ox, which bite short, and swallow lefs at once, 'tis fmaller. But in a Squirrel, ftill leffer, both because he eats fine, and to keep him from difgorging his Meat upon his defcending Leaps. And fo in Rats and Mice, which often run along Walls with their Heads downwards. Dr. Grew's Comp. Anat. of Stom. and Guts. Chap. 5.

(99) Of this fee Dr. Willis's Pharm. Rat. Part . Sect. 1. c. 2. Steno alfo, and Peyer Mery, 1. 2.

The Defcription thefe give of the mufcular Part of the Gullet, the late ingenious and learned Dr. Drake faith is very exact in Ruminants, but not in Men. In Men, this Coat (the fecond of the Gullet) confifts of two fleshy Lamellæ, like two diftinct Muscles. The outward being composed of trait longitudinal Fibres. The inner Order of Fibres is aunular, without any obfervalle Angles. The Ufe of this Coat, and thefe Orders of Fibres is to promote Deglutition; of which the Longitudinal, fhorten the Oefophagus, and fo make its Capacity larger, to admit of the Matter to be swallowed. The Annular, on the contrary, contract the Capacity, and closing behind the defcending Aliment, prefs it downwards. Drake's Anat. vol. 1. l. I. c. 9.

(rr) See Willis, ibid. Cowper's Anat. Tab, 35. and many other Authors.

Workman (); they being all nicely adjusted to their respective Place, Occafion and Service. I might also infift upon that moft neceffary Office of Digeftion; and here confider that wonderful Faculty of the Stomachs of all Creatures, to diffolve (tt) all the feveral Sorts of Food appropriated to their Species; even fometimes Things of that Confiftency as feem infoluble (uu); efpecially by fuch feemingly fimple and weak Menftruums as we find in their Stomachs: But I fhall only give thefe Things a bare mention, and take more peculiar Notice of the fpecial Provifion made in the particular Species of Animals, for the Digeftion of that fpecial Food appointed them.

(S) Promptuarium autem hoc, alimentum univerfum excipiens, ceu Divinum, non Humanum fit opificium. Galen. de Uf. Part. 1. 4. C. I.

(tt) How great a Comprehenfion of the Nature of Things, did it require, to make a Menftruum, that should corrode all forts of Flesh coming into the Stomach, and yet not the Stomach it felf, which is alfo Flesh? Dr, Grew's Cofmol. Sacr. c. 4.

(uu) The Food of the Caftor being oftentimes, if not always, dry Things, and hard of Digeftion, fuch as the Roots and Bark of Trees, 'tis a wonderful Provifion made in that → Creature's Stomach, by the digeftive Juice lodged in the curious little Cells there. A Description of whofe admirable Structure and Order may be found in Blafius from Wepfer; concerning which he faith, In quibus Mucus reconditus, non fecus ac Mel in Favis. Nimirum quia Caftoris alimentum exfuccum, & coctu difficillimum eft, fapientiffimus & fumme admirandus in fuis operibus rerum Conditor, D. O. M. ipfi pulcherrima iftâ & affabrè factâ structurâ benigniffimè prospexit, ut nunquam deeffet Fermentum, quod ad folvendum, & comminuendum alimentum durum & afperum par foret. Vid. Blaf. Anat. Animal. c. 10. Confer etiam Act. Erud. Lipf. Ann. 1684. p. 360.

Most of our modern Anatomifts and Physicians attribute Digeftion to a diffolving Menftruum; but Dr. Drake takes it to be rather from fermentative, diffolving Principles in the Aliment it self, with the Concurrence of the Air and Heat of the Body; as in Dr. Papin's Digefter. Vid. Dr. Anat. vol. I,

And