198 A HISTORY OF 



rosts are faded ; and the younger are obliged to submit, though not 

 compelled by the same necessity. In all parts of the world, this cus- 

 tom prevails more or less ; and powdering and frizzing the hair, though 

 not so general, seems to have arisen from a similar control. 



But leaving the draperies of the human picture, let us return to the 

 figure, unadorned by art. Man's head, whether considered external- 

 ly or internally, is differently formed from that of all other animals, 

 the monkey-kind only excepted, in which there is a striking similitude. 

 There are some differences, however, which we shall take notice of 

 in. another place. The bodies of all quadruped animals 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 office of teeth. 

 All these substances, in every animal, derive their origin 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 considerable 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 proportion. " In men, there is a 

 lump upon the wind-pipe, formed by the thyroid cartilage, which is 

 not to be seen in women ; an Arabian fable says, that this is a part 

 of the original 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 ot 

 the body ; and none but man, and such animals 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.* The breasts 

 in women are larger than in men ; however, they seem formed in the 

 same manner ; 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 th< ir support. 

 The form also of the teats varies in different animals, and in the same 



* Mr. Buffon says that none but monkeys have them ; but this is an ovcr-sifjit. 



