VESSELS OF ANIMALS 125 



junction with the larynx, of voice and speech. They are, 

 to animal utterance, what the bellows are to the organ. 



For the sake of method, we have considered animal 

 bodies under three divisions — their bones, their muscles, and 

 their vessels ; and we have stated our observations upon 

 these parts separately. But this is to diminish the strength 

 of the argument. The wisdom of the Creator is seen, not 

 in their separate but their collective action — in their mutual 

 subserviency and dependence — in their contributing together 

 to one eflect and one use. It has been said, that a man can- 

 not lift his hand to his head without finding enough to con- 

 vince him of the existence of a God. And it is well said ; 

 for he has only to reflect, familiar as this action is, and 

 simple as it seems to be, how many things are requisite for 

 the performing of it — how many things which Ave under- 

 stand, to say nothing of many more, probably, which we do 

 not : namely, first, a long, hard, strong cylinder, in order to 

 give to the arm its firmness and tension ; but which, being 

 rigid, and in its substance inflexible, can only turn upon 

 joints : secondly, therefore, joints for this purpose, one at 

 the shoulder to raise the arm, another at the elbow to bend 

 it ; these joints continually fed with a soft mucilage to make 

 the parts slip easily upon one another, and holden together 

 by strong braces to keep them in their position : then, third- 

 ly, strings and wires, that is, muscles and tendons, artifi- 

 cially inserted, for the purpose of drawing the bones in the 

 directions in which the joints allow them to move. Hith- 

 erto we seem to understand the mechanism pretty well ; 

 and understanding this, we possess enough for our conclu- 

 sion. Nevertheless, we have hitherto only a machine stand- 

 ing still — a dead organization — an apparatus. To put the 

 system in a state of activity, to set it at work, a further pro- 

 vision is necessary, namely, a communication with the brain 

 by means of nerves. We know the existence of this com- 

 munication, because we can see the communicating threads, 



