404 



STrcarfttrp tif Datura! ^ 



powers and faculties, and which requires, 

 therefore, in Man pre-eminently, the endow- 

 ment of rational will as necessary for the 

 control and adjustment of the balance. Man 

 has not the quick hearing of the timid herbi- 

 vorous animals ; but it was not intended that 

 he should catch the sound of distant danger, 

 and be governed by his fears : he has not 

 the piercing sight of the eagle, nor the keen 

 scent of the beast of prey ; but neither was 

 Man intended to be the fellow of the tiger, 

 or a denizen of the forest. Hence the de- 

 parture from the perfect proportion of Man 

 which we observe in the inferior animals 

 may be regarded as deformities by exagge- 

 ration or defect, dependent upon a preponder- 

 ance of a part that necessitates a particular 

 use, or the absence of a part that deprives 

 the animal of a power, and in both instances 

 alike abrogates that freedom for which pro- 

 | vision is made in the balanced relation of 

 the constituents of the human fabric, which 

 permits the free choice of means, and the 

 adaptation to any purpose determined by 

 an intelligent free-will. Dilate the head, 

 and you have a symptom of disease ; pro- 

 trude the jaws, you have a voracious animal ; 

 lengthen the ears, timidity is expressed ; let 

 the nose project, and the animal is governed 

 by its scent ; enlarge the belly, and you are 

 reminded of the animal appetites : long arms 

 may fit him for an inhabitant of the trees, 

 and a fit companion for the ape ; and pre- 

 dominant length of legs are infallibly asso- 

 sociated with the habits of the wading or 

 leaping animals. In all, regarding Man's 

 form with reference to his destination as the 

 ideal standard, the means become ends ; de- 

 formity prevails, and becomes the badge of 

 unintelligent slavery to the mere animal 

 nature." 



" In the contemplation of the human ske- 

 leton, its most striking characteristic, and 

 that which contradistinguishes it from the 

 bony fabric of all other animals, is its adap- 

 tation to the erect position ; an attribute 

 not only peculiar to Man, but without which 

 his structure could not correspond with his 

 spiritual endowments, since it is at once the 

 need and symbol of a being raised above the 

 servile condition of the mere animal nature. 

 Thus the skull is poised with a slight pre- 

 ponderance anteriorly, at the top of the 

 vertebral column ; and a plumb-line dropped 

 from the point of its support falls through 

 the centre of gravity between the feet, which 

 present the base of support to the whole 

 towering fabric. We remark, however, that 

 the supporting parts do not range with this 

 line. The spine is bent like an italic S : it 

 recedes at the chest, in order to give room 

 to its cavity ; and at the same time is har- 

 moniously inflected forwards at the loins 

 and neck, in order to facilitate its balance 

 over the points of support : and it cannot be 

 doubted that these curves contribute to the 

 capability of bending 'and changing the 

 position of the trunk, without endangering 

 the loss of balance. But the balance of the 

 body is also greatly aided by the breadth of 

 the human pelvis, which, supplying a broad 

 base of support, permitn the inclinations of 

 the trunk without the necessity of altering 



the position of the lower limbs. The lateral 

 breadth of the pelvis, however, throws the 

 heads of the thigh-bones, upon which the 

 weight of the body is transmitted, to some 

 distance on each side of the line that falls 

 througli the centre of gravity : and in order 

 to provide a compensating adjustment, the 

 thigh-bones are placed obliquely, inclining 

 towards each other ; so that in the upright 

 posture with the feet together they touch 

 at the knees, and the weight is then received 

 upon the heads of the leg-bones or tibice, \ 

 which stand perpendicularly under the cen- I 

 tre of gravity : and these again are planted I 

 upon the arch of the foot or instep, on which 

 the whole weight of the body securely rests. 1 

 Then, in order to secure in the foot the 

 requisite firmness in standing, we find that 

 it is articulated with the leg at right angles, 

 so that both the heel and toes touch the 

 ground ; and the joint is placed nearer the 

 posterior than the anterior part of the foot, 

 so as to increase the base of support in that 

 direction towards which the body tends 

 most to fall : besides which, the weight is 

 here received on the inner side of the foot, 

 where it is most arched, thereby offering not 

 only the advantage of a strong support, but 

 one which is highly elastic, yielding without 

 injury in alighting iipon the feet, and acting 

 as a spring in progression. Thus the ma- 

 jestic cc-lumn of the human form is raised 

 and built up upon its pedestal ; and the 

 living pillar, readily maintaining its equi- 

 poise, bears aloft its capital, whilst the upper 

 limbs are left free to adlibitive motion. 

 Thus the place of the head, as the corporeal 

 representative of that which perceives and 

 wills ; the disposition of the senses therein as 

 the media of intelligence, and of the organs 

 of speech as the interpreters of thought ; 

 and the arrangement of the upper limbs as 

 the instruments of volition, no longer sub- 

 servient to mere animal needs, all impress 

 us with the conviction that even the skele- 

 ton cannot be intelligible to us without ad- 

 mitting that the human bodily frame was 

 designed for the instrument and dwelling of 

 a being contradistinguished from, and ele- 

 vated above, all other animals." 



It has been well argued by a popular 

 writer of the present day, that, " destitute 

 of either projecting teeth or strong claws, 

 covered neither with hard scales nor with 

 bristles, nor with a thick hide, and surpassed 

 in speed by many of his more powerful 

 antagonists, Man's condition would seem 

 most pitiable, and inferior to that of any 

 other animal ; for on all the rest of those 

 to whom she has denied the weapons of 

 attack, Nature has bestowed the means either 

 of defence, or of concealment, or of flight. 

 But Man, by his superior reason, has sub- 

 dued all other animals. His intellect can 

 scarcely suggest the mechanism which his 

 hands cannot frame ; and he has made for 

 himself arms more powerful and destructive 

 than any other creature wields ; he has 

 clothed himself in armour and built walls 

 of defence with which he can defy the 

 attacks of any but his fellow-men. Naturally 

 unarmed, Man has conquered the whole 

 armed creation : some he has driven from 



