MAN, PHYSICALLY CONSIDERED. 455 



nounce words and even sentences. But their mimicry 

 of human sound cannot be called speech. They may ar- 

 ticulate, but they are incapable of forming ideas and com- 

 municating them by language. Man alone possesses this 

 noble faculty, corresponding to his elevated, physical, 

 moral and intellectual powers. No race of savages was 

 ever yet discovered who had not a language framed for 

 enlarging and communicating ideas. And thus is man 

 distinguished from the brute. 



5. Capability of inhabiting all climates. Man is the 

 only animal which can live and multiply in every coun- 

 try, upon the surface of the globe. Some animals are 

 confined to the polar ice ; others to the temperate re- 

 gions ; others can only live beneath the blazing rays of 

 the torrid zone. Man scales the high mountain, and 

 spreads his tent upon the desert, and erects his dwelling 

 in the deep valley. He is healthy and vigorous under 

 the burning line, and braves the wintry tempest of the 

 arctic circle. All countries and all parts of the globe, 

 afford a dwelling-place for man. This power is pcssess- 

 ed by no other animal. 



6. Man is omnivorous. As man is capable of endur- 

 ing the extremes of heat and cold in all climates, so can 

 he in all countries find food, capable of affording him 

 nourishment and support. The brute creation are very 

 much limited in the sources from which they can derive 

 nourishment. To man there is hardly any limit. The 

 herbs of the field, and the fowls of the air, and the fishes 

 of the sea, and the beasts of the earth, alike contribute 

 to the strength and perfection of Jiis corporeal powers. 

 Among the eternal snows of the north, man lives upon 

 animal food alone ; upon the luxuriant plains of India, the 

 human frame is supported by vegetable aliment. 



7. Intellectual Powers. The Creator has given all 

 animals certain instincts by which their lives are pre- 

 served. And as there is a vast difference in the physical 

 organization of these animals, so is there a vast differ- 

 ence in the perfection of their instincts. It is difficult 

 to define the difference between instinct and reason, but 

 when we look at the effects, the difference is very mani- 

 fest. ' The most stupid man is able to manage the most 



