ANATOMY. 



circumspection anil delicacy ; and v In re 

 we must not, upon any account, attempt 

 it. This informs tin- head, giv 'cs dcxtc- 

 rity to tin- li:uid, and familiarizes the In-art 

 with :i sort of neci s->ary inhumanity, the 

 cutting iu.struiiii.-nts upon our fel- 

 low-creatures. 



Were it possible to doubt of the advan- 

 tages which arise in surgery, from a know- 

 f aiiatomv, we might have ample 

 conviction, by comparing the present 

 practice with that of the ancients : and 

 upon tracing the improvements which 

 have been made in later times,tliey would 

 be found, generally, to have sprung from 

 a more accurate knowledge of the parts 

 concerned. In the hands of a good anato- 

 mist, surgery is a salutary, a divine art; 

 but when practised by men who know 

 not the structure of the human body, it 

 often becomes barbarous and criminal. 



The comparison of a physician to a ge- 

 neral is both rational and instructive. The 

 human both, under a disease, is the coun- 

 try which labours under a civil war or an 

 invasion. The physician is, or should be, 

 the dictator or general, who is to take the 

 command, and to direct all the necessary 

 operations. To do his duty w ith full ad- 

 vantage, a general, besides other acquire- 

 ments, ust ful in his profession, must make 

 himself master of the anatomy and physi- 

 ology, as we may call it, of the country. 

 lie may be said to be master of the ana- 

 tomy of the country, when lie knows the 

 figure, dimension, situation, and connec- 

 tion, of all the principal const ituent parts ; 

 such as the lakes, rivers, marshes, moun- 

 tains, precipices, plains, woods, roads, 

 , fords, towns, fortifications, &c. By 

 the physiology of the country, which he 

 ought likewise to understand, is meant 

 nil the variety of active influence which 

 is produced by the inhabitants. If the 

 general be well instructed in all these 

 points, he will find a hundred occasions 

 of drawing advantages from them; and 

 without such knowledge, he will be for 

 ever exposed to some fatal blunder. 



GENERAL ACCOTST OF THK >Mr<iMTIO\ 

 OF THE BqDT. 



After having considered the rise and 

 progress of anatoim ; tin- various disco- 

 veries that have been m:.de in it from 

 lime to time ; tin- great number of dili- 

 gent observers who have applied them- 

 selves to this alt; and the importance of 

 the study, not only for the prevention and 

 cure of diseases, but in furnishing the 

 liveliest proofs of divine wisdom; the 

 following questions seem naturally to 

 arise. Tor what purpose is tUerc such a 



variety of parts in the human body '. Why 

 such a complication of nice and tender 

 machinery ' \\ hv v\ as there not rather a 

 more simple, less delicate, and less ex- 

 p.ensiv v frti. 



That beginners in the study of anatomy 

 mat acquire a satisfactory, general, idea 

 of these subjects, we shall furnish them 

 with clear answers to all such questions. 

 Let us then, in our imagination, make a 

 man : in other words, let us suppose that 

 the mind, or immaterial part, is to be pla- 

 ced in a corporeal fabric, to hold a corres. 

 pondencc with other material beings, by 

 the intervention of the body ; and then 

 consider, a priori, what will be wanted for 

 her accommodation. In this inquiry we 

 shall plainly see the necessity, or advan- 

 tage, and therefore the final c:. 

 most of the parts, which we actually find 

 in .the human body. And if v\ e consider, 

 that, in order to answer sonic of the requi- 

 sites, human art and invention would be 

 very insufficient, we need not be surpris- 

 ed if we meet with some parts of the bod)-, 

 the use of which we cannot yet make out ; 

 and with some operations or functions 

 which we cannot explain. We can see 

 and comprehend that the whole boars the 

 strongest marks of excelling wisdom and 

 ingenuity; but the imperfect senses and 

 capacity of man cannot pretend to reach 

 every part of a machine, which nothingless 

 than the intelligence and power of the !Su- 

 prcme Being could contrive aud execute. 



To proceed then ; in the first place, the 

 mind, the thinking immaterial agent, 

 must be provided with a place of imme- 

 diate residence, which shall have all the 

 requisites for the union of spirit and body; 

 accordingly, she is provided with the 

 brain, where she dwells us g.iv . rnor and 

 superintendant ofthe whole fabric. 



In die second plitfe,as she is to hokl a 

 correspondence with aJ! the material be- 

 ings which surround her, she must 

 plied with organs fitted to receive the dif- 

 fcrt lit kinds of impressions that th 

 make. In fact, therefore, we see that sh- 

 is provided with the or/uns of s<. 

 we call them; the eve is adapted to light, 

 the ear to sound, the nose to smell, the 

 mouth to taste, and the skin to touch. 



In the third place, she must be provi- 

 ded with organs of communication be- 

 tween herself, in the brain, and tic 

 g-ans of sense, to give her information of :dl 

 the impressions that .ire made upon them : 

 and she must have organs !>ei . vccn her- 

 self, in the brain, and every oilier | 

 the body, fitted to convev her commands 

 and influence over the whole, l-'or thcM- 

 purposed the nerves arc actually given. 



