6 LETTERS TO BROTHER JOHN. 



fibres from bulbous roots, and whose office it is to 

 carry the motive power from these roots to the 

 muscles, he would of course distribute and conceal 

 among the numberless little bundles of fibres of 

 which the muscles are composed. 



Again contemplating his production, it would 

 occur to him, that the materials of which he had 

 found it necessary to construct it were liable to 

 decomposition and decay putrefaction. To sur- 

 mount this new difficulty, it would be incumbent 

 upon him to contrive a conservative system : and 

 hence he would arrive at the fourth idea that of a 

 system of nutrition. As the organs of this system 

 are large and numerous, he would be compelled to 

 hollow out the whole body of the statue, in order 

 to make room for them, and put them out of sight ; 

 leaving no more of the solid image than just suffi- 

 cient to support and give attachment to the several 

 new contrivances which, in improving upon his 

 original idea, he had been obliged to add. 



Once more contemplating his work, he would 

 now be delighted to see his new, animated, and 

 improved statue moving from place to place, with- 

 out assistance. His satisfaction, however, would 

 be somewhat disturbed, by observing the grotesque, 

 awkward, and uncertain manner in which it pro- 



