90 



tfestined with an unctuous matter, in some places com- 

 pose a soft cushion : as in the calf of the leg, whose 

 large muscles, mixed \vith fat are of singular service to 

 those important b<*nes. i his flanks and fortifies 

 them, like a strong bastion, supports arid cherishes 

 them, like a soft pillow. In other places they fill up 

 the vacuities, and smooth the inequalities of the flesh. 

 Inwardly, they supply the macir.ne for motion ; out- 

 wardly, they render it smooth and graceful. 



The skin, like a curious surtout, covers the whole, 

 formed of the most delicate net- work, whose meshes 

 are minute, and whose threads are multiplied, even to 

 a prodigy : the meshes are so minute, that nothing 

 passes them, which is discernible by the eye ; though 

 they discharge, every moment, myriads and myriads 

 of superfluous encumbrances. The threads are so 

 multiplied, that neither the point of t e smallest needle, 

 nor the infinitely finer lance of a gnat, can pierce any 

 part, without drawing blood, and causing an uneasy 

 Sensation. Consequently, without wounding, by so 

 small a puncture, both a nerve and a vein ! 



But a course of incessant action must exhaust ths 

 Solids and waste the fluids, and unless both are pro- 

 perly recruited, in a short time destroy the machine. 

 For this reason it is furnished with the organs, -and 

 endued with the powers of nutrition : teeth, the fore- 

 most, thin and sharp, to bite asunder the food ; the 

 hiudcrmost, broad and strong, indented with small ca- 

 vities, the better to grind in pieces what is transmit- 

 ted to them. But iu chi'dreri, the formation of teeth is 

 postponed till they have occasion for them. 



Were the teeth like other bones, covered with the 

 periosteum, chevying would give iiuich pain. Were 

 they quite naked, they would soon decay and perish. 

 To guard against both, they are ovenaid with a neat 

 enamel j harder than the bone itself, which gives na 

 pain in chewing, and yet secures them from various 

 injuries. 



The Lips prevent the food from slipping out of the 

 mouthj and assisted by the tongue, return it to the 



