made of the most proper Strength and Texture; shaped in the compleateft Form; and in a word, accouter'd with every Thing neceffary for its Motion, Office, Nourishment, Guard, and what not! What fo commodious a Structure and Texture could have been given to the Bones, for Inftance, to make them firm and ftrong, and withal light, as that which every Bone in the Body hath? Who could have shaped them fo nicely to every Ufe, and adapted them to ever Part, made them of fuch juft Lengths, given them fuch due Sizes and Shapes, chanelled, hollowed, headed, lubricated, and every other Thing miniftring, in the best and most compendious manner to their feveral Places and Ufes? What a glorious Collection and Combination have we also of the moft exquifite Workmanhip and Contrivance in the Eye, in the Ear, in the Hand (b), in the Foot (c), in the Lungs, and other Parts already mention'd? What an Abridgment of

(b) Galen having defcribed the Muscles, Tendons, and other Parts of the Fingers, and their Motions, cries out, Confidera igitur etiam hic mirabilem CREATORIS fapientiam! De Uf. Part. L. 1. c. 18.

(c) And not only in the Hand, but in his Account of the Foot (L. 3.) he frequently takes notice of what he calls Artem, Providentiam & Sapientiam Conditoris. As Ch. 13. An igitur non aquum eft hic quoque admirari Providentiam Conditoris, qui ad utrumque ufum, etfi certè contrarium, exacte convenientes & confentientes invicem fabricatus eft totius membri [tibiæ] particulas? And at the end of the Chap. Quod fi omnia que ipfarum funt partium mente immutaverimus, neque invenerimus pofitionem aliam meliorem eá quam nunc fortita funt, neque figuram, neque magnitudinem, neque connexinem, neque (ut paucis omnia complectar) aliud quidquam eorum, que corporibus neceffariò infunt, perfectiffimam pronunsiare oportet, & undique rette conftitutam præfentem ejus conBructionem. The like alfo concludes, Ch. 15.

Art,

Art, what a Variety of Ufes (d), hath Nature laid upon that one Member of the Tongue, the grand Inftrument of Taft, the faithful Judge, the Centinel, the Watchman of all our Nourishment, the artful Modulator of our Voice, the neceffary Servant of Maftication, Swallowing, Sucking, and a great deal befides? But I must defift from proceeding upon Particulars, finding I am fallen upon what I propos'd to avoid.

And therefore for a Close of this Chapter, I fhall only add Part of a Letter I receiv'd from the before-commended very curious and ingenious Phyfician Dr. Tancred Robinson, What, (faith he,) can possibly be better contriv'd for animal Motion and Life, than the quick Circulation of the Blood and Fluids, which run out of Sight in capillary Veffels, and very minute Ducts, without Impediment, (except in fome Difeafes,) being all directed to their peculiar Glands and Chanels, for the different Secretion, fenfible and infenfible; whereof the laft is far the greateft in Quantity and Effects, as to Health and Sicknefs, acute Diftempers frequently arifing from a Diminution of Tranfpiration, through the cutaneous Chimneys, and fome chronical Ones from an Augmentation: Whereas Obftructions in the Liver, Pancreas, and other Glands, may only cause a Schirrus, a Jaundice, an Ague, a Dropfy, or other flow Difeafes. So an Increase of that Secretion may accom pany the general Colliquations, as in Fluxes, bestick Sweats and Coughs, Diabetes, and other Confumptions. What a mighty Contrivance is there to preferve thefe due Secretions from the Blood, (on which

(d) At enim Opificis induftrii maximum eft indicium (quemadmodum ante fapenumerò jam diximus) iis que ad alium ufum fuerunt comparata, ad alias quoque utilitates abuti, neque Laborare ut fingulis utilitatibus fingulas faciat proprias particalas. Galen ub, fupr. L. 9. c. 5.

U 4

Life

Life fo much depends,) by frequent Attritions, and Communications of the Fluids in their Paffage through the Heart, the Lungs, and the whole Syftem of the Mufcles? What Meanders and Contortions of Vessels, in the Organs of Separation? And, What a Concourfe of elaftick Bodies from the Air, to fupply the Springs, and continual Motions of fome Parts, not only in Sleep, and Reft; but in long violent Exercifes of the Muscles? Whofe Force drive the Fluids round in a wonderful rapid Circulation through the minutest Tubes, affifted by the conftant Pabulum of the Atmosphere, and their own elaftick Fibres, which imprefs that Velocity on the Fluids.

Now I have mention'd fome Ufes of the Air, in carrying on feveral Functions in animal Bodies; I may add the Share it hath in all the Digeftions of the folid and fluid Parts. For when this Syftem of Air comes, by divine Permittance, to be corrupted with poyfonous, acrimonious Steams, either from the Earth, from Merchandife, or infected Bodies, What Havock is made in all the Operations of living Creatures? The Parts gangrene, and mortify under Carbuncles, and other Tokens: Indeed, the whole animal Oeconomy is ruin'd; of fuch Importance is the Air to all the Parts of it. Thus my learned Friend.

CHAP.

CHAP. VI.

Of the PLACING the PARTS of Man's Body.

N this Chapter, I propofe to confider the Lodg

IN

ment of the curious Parts of Man's Body, which is no lefs admirable than the Parts themfelves, all fet in the moft convenient Places of the Body, to minifter to their own feveral Ufes and Purposes, and affift, and mutually to help one another. Where could thofe faithful Watchmen the Eye, the Ear, the Tongue, be fo commodioufly plac'd, as in the upper Part of the Building? Where could we throughout the Body find fo proper a Part to lodge four of the five Senfes, as in the Head (a), near the Brain (b), the common Senfory, a Place well guarded, and of little other Use than to be a Seat to those Senfes? And, How could we lodge the fifth Senfe, that of Touching otherwise (c), than to difperfe it to all Parts of the

(a) Senfus, interpretes ac nuntii rerum, in capite, tanquam in arce, mirificè ad ufus neceffarios & facti, & collocati funt. Nam oculi tanquam fpeculatores, altiffimum locum obtinent; ex quo plurima confpicientes, fungantur fuo munere. cum fonum recipere debeant, qui naturâ in fublime fertur; reEte in illis corporum partibus collocata funt. Cic. de Nat. Deor. L. 2. c. 56. ubi plura de cæteris Senfibus.

Et aures

(b) Galen well obferves, that the Nerves miniftring to Motion, are hard and firm, to be lefs fubject to Injury; but thofe miniftring to Senfe, are foft and tender; and that for this Reafon it is, that four of the five Senfes are lodg'd fo near the Brain, viz. partly to partake of the Brain's Softness and Tenderness, and partly for the Sake of the strong Guard of the Skull. Vid. Gal. de Uf. Part. L. 8. c. 5. 6.

(f) See Book IV, Chap. 6. Note (c).

Body?

Body? Where could we plant the Hand (d), but juft where it is, to be ready at every Turn, on all Occafions of Help and Defence, of Motion, Action, and every of its useful Services? Where could we fet the Legs and Feet, but where they are, to bear up, and handfomely to carry about the Body? Where could we lodge the Heart, to labour about the whole Mass of Blood, but in, or near the Center of the Body (e)? Where could we find Room for that noble Engine to play freely in? Where could we fo well guard it against external Harms, as it is in that very Place in which it is lodg'd and fecur'd? Where could we more commodiously Place, than in the Thorax and Belly, the ufeful Viscera of those Parts, fo as not to fwag, and jog, and over-fet the Body, and yet to minifter fo harmoniously, as they do, to all the feveral Uses of Concoction, Sanguification, the Separation of various Ferments from the Blood, for the great Ufes of Nature, and to make Discharges of what is ufelefs, or would be burdenfome or pernicious to the Body (f)? How could we plant the curious and great Variety of Bones, and of Mufcles, of all Sorts and Sizes, neceffary, as I have faid, to the Support, and every Motion of the Body? Where could we lodge all the Arteries and Veins, to convey Nourishment; and the Nerves, Senfation throughout the Body? Where,' I fay, could we lodge all these Implements of the

(d) Quàm verò aptas, quamque multarum artium miniftras 'Manus natura homini dedit? The Particulars of which, enumerated by him, fee in Cic. ubi fupr. c. 60.

(e) See Book VI. Chap. 5,

(f) Ut in adificiis Architecti avertunt ab oculis & naribus dominorum ea, que profluentia neceffariò tetri effent aliquid habitura; fic natura res fimiles (fcil. excrementa) procul amandavit à fenfibus. Cicer. de Nat. Deor, L. 2. c. 56.

Body,