CHAPTER I 



ARCHITECTURE OF THE SKULL 



IT requires no disquisition to prove that the 

 brain is the most essential organ o the animal 

 system, and being so, we may presume that it 

 must be especially protected. We are now to 

 inquire how this main object is attained. 



We must first understand that the brain may 

 be hurt, not only by sharp bodies touching and 

 entering it, but by a blow upon the head which 

 shall vibrate through it, without the instrument 

 piercing the skull. Indeed, a blow upon a man's 

 head, by a body which shall cause a vibration 

 through the substance of the brain, may more 

 effectually deprive him of sense and motion than 

 if an axe or a sword penetrated into the substance 

 of the brain itself. 



Supposing that a man's ingenuity were to be 

 exercised in contriving a protection to the brain, 

 he must perceive that if the case were soft, it 

 would be too easily pierced ; that if it were of a 

 glassy nature, it would be chipped and cracked ; 

 that if it were of a substance like metal, it would 

 ring and vibrate, and communicate the concussion 

 to the brain. 



