238 SKELETON. 



externally, indeed almost flat, while it is raised to a considerable 

 height internally. This double arrangement is eminently ser- 

 viceable in many respects : it permits a concavity in which the 

 muscles of the toes may repose and act without being pressed 

 upon by the superincumbent weight of the body it also per- 

 mits a free flow of blood and of nervous energy to this struc- 

 ture, gives a very elastic base to the whole body, and allows 

 itself to be applied to such inequalities of surface as it meets 

 with. 



It has been agitated, by some ingenious inquirers into the 

 original condition of man, whether the erect attitude is natural 

 to him and not the result of an advancement in civilization. 

 Independently of the proofs derived from the authentic reports 

 of travellers concerning the varieties of the human family, from 

 none of whom have we rea'son to believe that the latter have 

 any where been found adopting habitually the attitude of quad- 

 rupeds ; there are evidences derived from the general mechan- 

 ism of the skeleton, still more conclusive, that standing is fully 

 natural to us. For example, 1st, The position of the foramen 

 magnum occipitis, evidently farther forwards in man than in 

 animals, indicates that his voluminous head is to be kept in equi- 

 librium by a vertical line of support near the centre of its base. 

 2d. The ligamentum nuchae, weak in man, is strong in quadru- 

 peds. 3d. The curvatures of the spine are so varied as to di- 

 minish the tendency to fall forward when we are erect. 4th. 

 The direction of the orbits of the eyes, which looking for- 

 wards, when we stand, and enabling the eye to apply itself to 

 a vast circumference, would, in the quadruped position, be di- 

 rected towards the ground, and thereby have the sphere of ob- 

 servation reduced to a few yards. 5th. The opening of the 

 nostrils, when we stand, permits odours to ascend easily into 

 the nose ; in the other attitude this opening would be directed 

 backwards. Such are the circumstances, in connexion with 

 the head only, which indicate the necessity of the biped posi- 

 tion for the full enjoyment of the functions which the Creator 

 has given to us. But there are, also, others equally evident 

 in the mechanism of the extremities, and of the parts of the 

 trunk to which they are attached. Thus, 1st, The breadth of 

 the pelvis, and the slight obliquity of its superior strait, in re- 



