432 HISTORY OF 



and less adapted to maintain the equilibrium of 

 the body in walking, dancing, or running. 



The nails are less in man than in any other 

 animal. If they were much longer than the ex- 

 tremities of the fingers, they would rather be 

 prejudicial than serviceable, and obstruct the ma- 

 nagement of the hand. Such savages as let them 

 grow long, make use of them in flaying animals, 

 in tearing their flesh, and such like purposes ; 

 however, though their nails are considerably lar- 

 ger than ours, they are by no means to be com- 

 pared to the hoofs or the claws of other animals. 

 " They may sometimes be seen longer, indeed, 

 than the claws of any animal whatsoever ; as we 

 learn that the nails of some of the learned men 

 in China are longer than their fingers. But these 

 want that solidity which might give force to their 

 exertions ; and could never, in a state of nature, 

 have served them for annoyance or defence.'* 



There is little known exactly with regard to 

 the proportion of the human figure ; and the 

 beauty of the best statues is better conceived by 

 observing than by measuring them. The statues 

 of antiquity, which were at first copied after the 

 human form, are now become the models of it ; 

 nor is there one man found whose person ap- 

 proaches to those inimitable performances, that 

 have thus, in one figure, united the perfections 

 of many. It is sufficient to say, that, from being 

 at first models, they are now become originals ; 

 and are used to correct the deviations in that 

 form from whence they were taken. I will not, 

 however, pretend to give the proportions of the 



