252 THE REASON \VIIT. 



" The very hairs of your head are all numbered." M ATTIIEVT XI. 



which feed a plant are always proportionate to the size of the plant itself, how 

 fine must be those vessels which form the roots of the hair, being in proportion 

 to the size of the hair, which is in itself so small that the eye cannot see 

 its structure? The hair is, in fact, an animal plant, growing upon the 

 body in much the same mariner that plants grow upon the surface of the 

 earth. But how does this hair grow ? Not alone by the addition of matter 

 at its roots, pushing up and enlor.gating its stem : nourishment passes 

 up through its whole length, and is deposited upon its end, just as the 

 nourishment of a tree is deposited upon its extreme branches. If, after 

 having your hair cut, you were to examine its ends by the microscope, you 

 would discover the abrupt termination left by the scissors. But allow the hair 

 to grow, and then examine it, and you will discover that it grows from its point 

 which, in comparison with its former state, is perfect and fine. The reason 

 why the beard is so hard is, that the ends of the hair are continually being 

 shaved off. The hair of the beard, if allowed to grow, would become almost as 

 soft as the hair of the head. 



But why is man's head thus covered with hair? For precisely the same reason 

 that a house is tha'ched to keep the inmates warm. We might add, also, to 

 give beauty to the edifice. But as beauty is a conventional quality and if men 

 were without it they would consider themselves quite as handsome as they do 

 now we will not enlarge upon the argument. Our bald-headed friends, too, 

 might have reason to complain of such a partial hypothesis. The brain 

 is the great organ upon which the health, the welfare, and the happiness of the 

 system depends. The skull, therefore, may be regarded as analagous to the 

 " strong box," the iron chest in which the merchant keeps his treasure. There 

 is no point at which the brain can be touched to its injury, without first doing 

 violence to the skull. Even the spinal cord runs down the back through a 

 tunnel or tube, formed in a number of strong bones, so closely and firmly jointed 

 together, that they are commonly termed " the back-bone." 



Look at the eyebrows. What purpose do they fulfil ? Precisely that of a 

 shed, or arch placed over a window to shelter it from ra ; n. But for (he eye- 

 brows the perspiration would frequently run from the brow into the eyes, and 

 obscure the sight ; a man wa'king in a shower of rain would scarcely be able to 

 see ; and a mariner in a storm would find a double difficulty in braving the 

 tempest. 



Now we come to the eye, which is the window of the Soul's abode. And what 

 a window ! how curiously constructed ! how wisely guarded ! In the eyelashes, 

 as well as the eyebrows, we see the hair fulfilling a useful purpose, differ 'ng 

 from any already described. The eyelashes serve to keep cold winds, dust, and 

 too bright sun, from injuring or entering the windows of the body. When we 

 walk against the east wind, we bring the tips of our eyelashes together, and in 

 that way exclude the cold air from the surface of the eyo ; and in the samo 

 manner we exclude the dust and modify the light. The eyelashes, therefore, 

 are like so many sentries, constantly moving to and fro, protecting a most 

 important organ from injury. The eyelids are the shutters by which tht 

 windows are opened and closed. But they al o cleanse the eye, keeping it 

 bright and moist. There are, moreover, in the lids of each eye or window, 

 little glands, or springs, by which a clear fluid is formed and supplied for 

 cleansing the eye. The eye is placed in a socket of the skull, in which it has 

 free motion, turning rigV.t or left, up or down, to serve -.the purpose of tlie 



