208 



ARTICULATA. 



of the mammalia, or those which are inured to the 

 most stubborn and stony paths the mountain-ante- 

 lopes and mountain-goats could make the least way 

 over such a surface. It would be equally beyond 

 their strength and their endurance : they could not 

 accomplish it; and even if, in point of strength, they 

 could, their flesh would soon be cut to pieces, and 

 their bones broken to splinters by falls. But the arti- 

 culated animal, defended by its crust, or other firm- 

 jointed covering, and by the advantage of its internal 

 muscles, performs its analogous, parallel, or even 

 apparently more arduous labour, not only without in- 

 jury, but without the least appearance of fatigue; for 

 though we often find these little creatures in a state 

 of repose, we can in no instance say that they are 

 resting, because their leap, their inarch, or their flight, 

 has fatigued them to exhaustion. 



Thus we find, in the general structure of articulated 

 animals, a consummate wisdom of design, and the very 

 perfection of adaptation. So perfect and so striking, 

 indeed, are these, that, in the minutest of the animal 

 kingdom, it is difficult to imagine how any others 

 than articulated ones could perform their functions, 

 and preserve their existence ; and when we reflect on 

 the almost countless number of the genera, the abso- 

 lutely countless myriads of some of the species, and 

 how industriously and incessantly they are all at 

 work, we see what a mighty blank there would be in 

 creation a blank, the occurrence of which would 

 suspend all the other operations if this division were 

 to cease to exist. 



But, while we look" with admiration upon one 

 division, and revere to the fullest extent the demon- 

 stration of Creative wisdom which it displays, we 

 must not suppose that the special wisdom has been 

 displayed, or the superiority of fatherly care ex- 

 pended upon that ; for when we turn our attention 

 to the next, be it what it may, we find that though 

 the mode is different, the demonstration of wisdom, 

 power, and goodness is still the same ; and though 

 we follow it to that shadowy boundary, where our 

 knowledge of the creature is in a great measure 

 matter of imagination, we find, even then, that the 

 demonstration of the Creator is subject to no dimi- 

 nution, but that, like His own eternal and immutable 

 essence, it is at all times and in all places exactly the 

 same. 



Though the limbs and other moving parts of arti- 

 culated animals possess what may be considered as 

 the maximum of strength and endurance in the same 

 quantity of matter, they by no means possess the 

 maximum of all advantages ; and though we may 

 with propriety reckon theirs the most powerful form 

 of organisation, it is still an inferior form ; as the 

 very circumstances which give security and strength 

 to the articulated members, limit them in that 

 higher function which may be called aptitude. Every 

 joint of theirs is, necessarily, from the structure of 

 the parts, and especially from the moving power 

 passing through the centre of motion, and being 

 between the points of motion in the hard parts, little 

 else thari a common hinge, or ginglymus, as it is 

 technically called. Such a joint, when well made 

 (and all the natural joints of animals are well made), is, 

 even in common mechanics, at once the most steady, 

 and the one by means of which the greatest effect 

 can be produced by the same application of force. 

 But the hinge opens and shuts only in one plane ; and 

 if it is wished to turn the motion into new directions, 



there must be an additional hinge for every one of 

 these. It is the same with the joints of the articulata ; 

 there must be as many joints as there are directions of 

 motion ; and as in any thing which is articulated there 

 is always necessarily one piece more than the number 

 of joints, the limbs in the articulata, to give them the 

 same number of motions of which those of vertebrated 

 animals are susceptible, would require a vast manv 

 more pieces and joints ; so that to " bring up " the 

 articulated animals even to the common active 

 motions of the vertebrated, would require them to be 

 at once very clumsy and very complicated. The 

 sacrifice of power which arises from the structure of 

 those animals which have internal bones and external 

 organs for moving their bones, is not, therefore, a 

 total sacrifice, it is merely sacrificing the single 

 attribute of strength for the superior advantage of 

 conveniency ; and before an articulated animal could 

 have the same conveniency the same varied use of 

 its members, it probably would have to exert more 

 than a corresponding portion of the greater strength 

 which it possesses in the single joint. The external 

 muscles admit of all sorts of joints, from the hinge in 

 one plane only, to the ball and socket which mines in 

 all directions ; and they admit of being so applied as to 

 give to those joints every kind of motion, linear, rota- 

 tory and oblique. The human arm and hand, being 

 intended for the most miscellaneous and universal 

 application, arc certainly the most perfect instance of 

 articulation. And they are truly wonderful. If we take 

 from the shoulder only, there are not very many 

 joints ; and yet the axis of the finger can be brought, 

 without strain or exertion, to every point within a 

 space of not less, even in a short arm, than two cubic 

 feet. The human hand can divide space, and record 

 the division by marks visible with a glass, to less than 

 the 2500th of an inch, but say the 2000th, that 

 makes 8,000,000,000 points in the cubic inch, or 

 13,824,000,000,000 in the cubic feet. The last is a 

 number, not only beyond all counting, but beyond 

 all ordinary comprehension ; and yet it does not 

 express all the positions of the fingers, even it' 

 we suppose the shoulder to be immoveablc ; it only 

 expresses that very limited fraction of them which can 

 be seen by the eye, aided by its glasses. But if we bring 

 into consideration the flexures of the spine, the number 

 becomes so great that instead of understanding it, 

 we have hardly any name by which to call it. There 

 is probably not, in the whole of the vertebrated 

 animals, any organ capable of nearly so many motions 

 as the hand ; but in all cases, a much smaller number 

 of joints effects every compound motion in those 

 than in the articulata ; and when we consider the 

 state of the earth's surface, we cannot but perceive 

 that the vertebrated animals are those to which it 

 seems especially adapted ; and that though the 

 adaptation is equally perfect, the other tribes may 

 rather be said to, be adapted to their particular 

 situations upon it. 



The inferior adaptation of the joints of the articu- 

 lated compared with those of vertebrated animals are 

 shown in many parts of their organisation. Their 

 legs are'more numerous, and the increased number 

 appears to be equally necessary for the purposes of 

 stability and of locomotion. They present a wider 

 base both when the animal stands and when it walks ; 

 and in some species they spread so wide that the 

 animal stands upon more than ten times as much 

 ground as its body would cover ; so that if we were 



