INVOLUNTARY MUSCLES. 139 



hW t )uch and bring him relief. But in accordance 

 vii,i what is mentioned on page 118, he tossed and 

 tvm.l ed incessantly till four in the morning, a period 

 of be fen hours, after which sleep came on. Next 

 day my youthful friend returned home in the stage- 

 coach, wiser, at least, if not the happier, for his 

 pleasure-excursion ; and now makes the observation, 

 that if he had been instructed in the least degree in 

 the nature of the human constitution, he would never 

 for a moment have entertained an expectation of 

 enjoyment from a proceeding so utterly in defiance 

 of all the laws of exercise, as that of which he reaped 

 the unpalatable fruits. He adds justly, that the num- 

 ber of young men who suffer in a similar way is by 

 no means small, and that he has reason to be thank- 

 ful that he has not, like some of his companions, 

 carried his transgression so far as permanently to 

 injure health, or even sacrifice life. 



My aim being practical utility, I have said nothing 

 in this place on the subject, of what are called the 

 Involuntary Muscles, or those over which the will 

 has no power, in contradistinction to the Voluntary, 

 or those which obey the direction of the will. Most 

 of the involuntary muscles are the agents of im- 

 portant vital functions, which are carried on by them 

 unconsciously to ourselves, and which it would have 

 been dangerous to leave under our control. The 

 chief of them is the heart, which goes on in one 

 unvarying round of alternate contraction and re- 

 laxation from the commencement till the termination 

 of existence. The next in importance are those 

 connected with respiration, which, like the heart, 

 continue to act by night and by day for the whole 

 period of a long life without weariness and without 

 interruption. The muscular fibres of the stomach, 

 bowels, bladder, and other viscera are excellent 

 examples of the same class ; and the beneficence of 

 Providence in withdrawing them from our control 

 cannot be sufficiently admired. Had the action of 



