ANIMALS. 



147 



similitude. There fire some differences, how- 

 ever, which we shall take notice of in ano- 

 ther place. The bodies of all quadruped ani- 

 mals are covered with hair ; but the head of 

 man seems the part most adorned ; and that 

 more abundantly than in any other animal. 



There is a very great variety in the teeth 

 of all animals ; some have them above and 

 below ; others have them in the under jaw 

 only ; in some they stand separate from each 

 other ; while in some they are continued and 

 united. The palate of some fishes is nothing 

 else but a bony plate studded with points, 

 which perform the offices of teeth. All these 

 substances, in every animal, derive their ori- 

 gin from the nerves ; the substance of the 

 nerves hardens by being exposed to the air; 

 and the nerves that terminate in the mouth, 

 being thus exposed, acquire a bony solidity. 

 In this manner, the teeth and nails are formed 

 in man ; and in this manner, also, the beak, 

 the hoofs, the horns, and the talons, of other 

 animals, are found to be produced. 



The neck supports the head, and unites it 

 to the body. This part is much more con- 

 siderable in the generality of quadrupeds, 

 than in man. But fishes, and other animals 

 that want lungs similar to ours, have no neck 

 whatsoever. Birds, in general, have the neck 

 longer than any other kind of animals : those 

 of them, which have short claws, have also 

 short necks ; those, on the contrary, that have 

 them long, are found to have the neck in pro- 

 portion. " In men, there is a lump upon the 

 wind-pipe, formed by the thyroid cartilage, 

 which is not to be seen in women ; an Arabi- 

 an fable says, that this is a part of the origi- 

 nal apple, that has stuck in the man's throat 

 by the way, but that the woman swallowed 

 her part of it down." 



The human breast is outwardly formed in 

 a very different manner from that of other 

 animals. It is larger in proportion to the size 

 of the body ; and none but man, and such ani- 

 mals as make use of their fore feet as hands, 

 such as monkeys, bats, and squirrels, and 

 such quadrupeds as climb trees, are found to 

 have those bones called the clavicles, or, as 

 we usually term them, the collar-bones." 



* Mr. Buffon says, that none but monkeys have them ; 

 hut this is an oversight. 



The breasts in women are larger than in men; 

 however, they seem formed in the same man- 

 ner; and, sometimes, milk is found in the 

 breasts of men, as well as in those of women. 

 Among animals, there is a great variety in 

 this part of the body. The teats of some, as 

 in the ape and the elephant, are like those of 

 men, being but two, and placed on each side 

 of the breast. The teats of the bear amount 

 to four. The sheep has but two, placed 

 between the hinder legs. Other animals, 

 such as the bitch and the sow, have them all 

 along the belly ; and, as they produce many 

 young, they have a great many teats for their 

 support. The form also of the teats varies 

 in different animals ; and, in the same animal, 

 at different ages. The bosom in females, 

 seems to unite all our ideas of beauty, where 

 the outline is continually changing, and the 

 gradations are soft and regular. 



" The graceful fall of the shoulders, both 

 in man and woman, constitute no small part 

 of beauty. In apes, though otherwise made 

 like us, the shoulders are high, and drawn up 

 on each side towards the ears. In man they 

 fall by a gentle declivity ; and the more so, 

 in proportion to the beauty of his form. In 

 fact, being high-shouldered, is not without rea- 

 son considered as a deformity, for we find very 

 sickly persons are always so ; and people, 

 when dying, are ever seen with their shoul- 

 ders drawn up in a surprising manner. The 

 muscles that serve to raise the ribs, mostly 

 rise near the shoulders : and the higher we 

 raise the shoulders, we the more easily raise 

 the ribs likewise. It happens, therefore, in 

 the sickly and the dying, who do not breathe 

 without labour, that to raise the ribs, they are 

 obliged to call in the assistance of the shoul- 

 ders; and thus their bodies assume, from ha- 

 bit, that form which they are so frequently 

 obliged to assume. Women with child also, 

 are usually seen to be high-shouldered ; for 

 the weight of the inferior parts drawing down 

 the ribs, they are obliged to use every effort 

 to elevate them, and thus they raise the shoul- 

 ders of course. During pregnancy, also, the 

 shape, not only of the shoulders, but also of 

 the breast, and even the features of the face, 

 are greatly altered : for the whole upper fore- 

 part of the body is covered with a broad thin 

 skin, called the myoides; which being, at 



