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need much force to infert their llings, becaufe they can introduce 

 them between the rows of Scales, and not llrike through the fohd 

 fubllance of the Scales. 



Thefe' my obfervations, feemed to me to prove, that there are no 

 particular pores in the external furfacc of our Ikins, but that the 

 moifture which proceeds from our bodies (particularly when we per- 

 lpire),may, at the fame time, ilfue in many places between each Scale, 

 though tlie Scales appear firmly united to each other ; and there 

 may be between each of the Scales fmail canals or du(fi:s through 

 which the moitlure may find a paflage. Now, if we recolleA 

 how many places there are which produce the Scales, and that in 

 a fpace covered by one Scale, there may be an hundred places 

 through which the perfpirable matter iflues ; and again, that two 

 hundred Scales, regularly difpofed, may be covered by a common 

 grain of fand, we may conclude, that there may be twenty thou- 

 fand pallages in our bodies for perlpiration, in a fpace covered by 

 a grain of fand, excepting only the places wherein the Scales are 

 rooted, or from whence they grow. Hence it appears, that our 

 bodies may be, as it were, one fingle pore throughout, while phy- 

 ficians are always talking of the pores of the body, as if there 

 were in it particular holes or orifices for that purpofe, and efpeci- 

 ally where they fee a Ihiall round drop of Iweat, not confidering 

 the efFedl of the air, and that a fmall portion ot moiliure, ilfuing 

 from many thoufand apertures, when preiled by the air, mull form 

 itfelf into a globule. 



I have feen a drawing, made by a gentleman of fome eminence, 

 reprefenting certain furrov^s in the infide of the fingers and the hand, 

 and pubhflicd to the world as indicating the pores of the tkin ; but, 

 for my part, I never confidercd thefe furrows, either in the i^ands 

 •or feet, as containing particular pores or orifices in the fkin, and I 

 always perceived a lefs propulfion of particles from thefe furrows 

 than from the places round about them ; and, upon examination, we 



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