406 



(Emfttrg of Natural 



remarked, that the proportions alter in every 

 age, and are obviously different in the two 

 sexes. In Women the shoulders are narrower, 

 and the neck is proportionally longer, than 

 in Men ; the hips are also considerably 

 larger, and the thighs shorter. These pro- 

 portions, however, vary greatly at different 

 stages of life : in infancy the upper parts of 

 the body are much larger than .the lower ; 

 and the legs and thighs do not nearly con- 

 stitute half the height of the whole figure. 

 In proportion as the child increases in age, 

 the inferior parts lengthen, so that the body 

 is not equally divided till it arrives at its 

 full stature. 



There is a striking difference in the size 

 of Men. Those are said to be tall who mea- 

 sure from five feet eight to six feet in height; 

 the middle stature is from five feet five to 

 five feet eight ; and such as fall short of 

 these proportions are said to be of a diminu- 

 tive size. It should be observed, however, 

 that the same person is always taller in the 

 morning than on going to bed at night ; 

 there being sometimes the difference of an 

 inch. The reason of this is obvious. Be- 

 tween all the joints of the back-bone a 

 glutinous liquor, styled synovia, is deposited, 

 which serves, like oil in a machine, to give 

 the parts an easy play on each other: this 

 lubricating liquor, or synovia, according to 

 anatomists, is poured in during the season 

 of repose, and is consumed by exercise and 

 employment ; so that after hard labour 

 scarcely any of it remains, but the joints 

 grow stiff, and their motion is painful and 

 uneasy. Hence, therefore, the body di- 

 minishes in stature : for this moisture being 

 drained away from between the numerous 

 joints of the back-bone, they lie close on 

 each other, and their entire length is thus 

 very sensibly diminished ; but sleep, by re- 

 storing the fluid, again swells the spaces 

 between the vertebrae, and the whole is ex- 

 tended to its former dimensions. 



A comparison between the strength of Men 

 and other animals may be estimated by 

 various modes. First, by the weight they 

 are able to carry. It is affirmed that the 

 porters of Constantinople carry burdens 

 of nine hundred pounds weight : and Des- 

 guliers tells us that, by means of a certain 

 harness, by which every part of a Man's 

 body was proportionably loaded, the person 

 he employed in this experiment was able to 

 support in an erect posture, a weight not 

 less than two thousand pounds. A horse, 

 about seven times our bulk, would be thus 

 able to raise a weight of fourteen thousand 

 pounds, if his strength were in the same pro- 

 portion. But the fact is, a horse cannot 

 carry on his back above two or three hundred 

 weight ; while a Man can support two thou- 

 sand pounds. But if we reflect for a moment, 

 the reason of this will be apparent : a load on 

 a Man's shoulders is placed to the greatest ad- 

 vantage ; while, on the contrary, on the back 

 of a horse it is placed to the greatest disadvan- 

 tage. Suppose a Man to be standing as upright 

 as possible under this before mentioned enor- 

 mous weight; then all the bones may be com- 

 pared to pillars supporting a buildirg, and his 

 muscles will have very little employment in 



this dangerous duty : however, they are not 

 absolutely inactive ; as Man, let him stand 

 ever so upright, will have some bending in 

 different parts of his body. The muscles 

 therefore give the bones a partial assistance, 

 and that with the greatest possible ad- 

 vantage. The greatest force of a horse, and 

 of other quadrupeds, is exerted when the 

 load is placed in such a position that the 

 column of the bones can be properly applied, 

 which is lengthwise. When, therefore, we 

 estimate the comparative strength of a horse, 

 we must not regard what he can carry, but 

 what he can draw : and in this case his 

 amazing superiority over Man is easily dis- 

 covered ; for one horse can draw a load 

 which ten Men would be unable to move. 



Among the ancients, strength was a qua- 

 lity of much greater use than at present ; 

 as, in time of war, the same Man who had 

 strength enough to carry the heaviest armour, 

 had also ability sufficient to strike the most 

 fatal blow. In this case, his strength was 

 at once his protection and his power. We 

 should not, therefore, be surprised when we 

 read of one Man whose personal prowess 

 rendered him terrible in war, and irresistible, 

 though we may fairly make allowances for 

 its being greatly exaggerated by flattery, or 

 magnified by terror. And, in an age of 

 ignorance, which is ever an age of wonder, 

 mankind, having no just idea of the human 

 powers, were pleased rather to represent 

 what they wished than what they knew ; 

 and exalted human strength, to fill up the 

 whole sphere of their limited conceptions. 

 Great strength is an accidental endowment ; 

 two or three persons in a country may 

 possess it, and these may institute a claim 

 to heroism ; but prodigious strength is not 

 hereditary, like family honours ; and when 

 we contemplate the splendid characters of 

 Homer's heroes, who are all represented as 

 the descendants of heroes, we may well be- 

 lieve that they are more indebted to their 

 princely titles, than to their bodily strength 

 and indomitable vigour, for their splen- 

 did attributes and their herculean achieve- 

 ments. 



There are indeed, in later ages_, some in- 

 stances of amazing strength, which cannot 

 be questioned ; but in these Nature is found 

 to pursue her ordinary course. These strong 

 men have originated from the lowest ranks, 

 and gradually risen into notice as their ad- 

 ventitious superiority had more opportunities 

 of being displayed. Among this number 

 may be ranked the Roman tribune who ob- 

 tained the name of the second Achilles, and 

 who is said to have killed, with his own 

 hand, at different times, three hundred of 

 the enemy ; and, when insidiously attacked 

 by twenty-five of his own countrymen, 

 though past his sixtieth year, to have killed 

 fourteen of them before he himself was slain. 

 Of this number, too, was Milo, who, when 

 he stood upright, could not be moved from 

 his place. Pliny also mentions one named 

 Athenatus, who walked across the stage at 

 Rome loaded with a breast-plate which 

 weighed five hundred pounds, and buskins 

 of the same weight. But of all the prodigies 

 of strength recorded in authentic history, 



