380 THE SENSORIAL FUNCTIONS. 



they are to be placed at an after period, would 

 of itself, were it a solitary instance, be well fitted 

 to call forth our admiration. But the proofs of 

 design in the adaptation of organs to their res- 

 pective purposes multiply upon us in such pro- 

 fusion, as we study in detail each department of 

 the animal economy, that Me are apt to overlook 

 individual instances, unless they are particularly 

 brought before our notice. How often have we 

 witnessed and profited by the rapid renewal of 

 the cuticle, when by any accident it has been 

 destroyed, without adverting to the nature of the 

 process which it implies ; or reflected that the 

 vessels of the skin must, on all these occasions, 

 supply the materials, out of which the new 

 cuticle is to be formed, must effect their com- 

 bination in the requisite proportions, and must 

 deposit them in the precise situations in which 

 they are wanted ! 



Different animals present remarkable differ- 

 ences in the thickness and texture of the cuticle, 

 according to the element they are destined to 

 inhabit, and the situations in which they are 

 most frequently placed. Provision is in many 

 cases made for preserving the cuticle from the 

 injury it would receive from the long continued 

 action of the air or water ; for it is apt to become 

 rigid, and to peel off*, from exposure to a very 

 dry atmosphere ; and the constant action of 

 water, on the contrary, renders it too soft and 

 spongy. In order to guard against both these 



