176 NATURAL THEOLOaY. 



that which rendered their motions equable. Lastly, in look- 

 ing upon the index and face of the watch, he saw the use 

 and conclusion of the mechanism, namely, marking the suc- 

 cession of minutes and hours ; but all depending upon the 

 motions within, all upon the system of intermediate actions 

 between the spring and the pointer. What thus struck his 

 attention in the several parts of the watch, he might proba- 

 bly designate by one general name of "relation;" and ob- 

 serving with respect to all cases whatever, in v/hich the 

 origin and formation of a thing could be ascertained by evi- 

 dence, that these relations were found in things produced by 

 art and design, and in no other things, he would rightly 

 deem of them as characteristic of such productions To 

 apply the reasoning here described to the works of nature. 



The animal economy is full, is made up of these rda- 

 tiojis. 



1. There are. first, what in one form or other belong to 

 all animals, the parts and powers which successively act 

 upon ihoii food. Comipare this action with the process of a 

 manufactory. In men and quadrupeds the aliment is first 

 broken and bruised by mechanical instruments of mastica- 

 tion, namely, sharp spikes or hard knobs, pressing against 

 or rubbing upon one another : thus ground and comminuted, 

 it is carried by a pipe into the stomach, where it waits to 

 undergo a great chemical action, which we call digestion ; 

 when digested, it is delivered through an orifice, which opens 

 and shuts, as there is occasion, into the first intestine ; there, 

 after being mixed with certain proper ingredients, poured 

 through a hole in the side of the vessel, it is further dissolv- 

 ed ; in this state the milk, chyle, or part which is wanted, 

 and which is suited for animal nourishment, is strained ofi 

 by the mouths of very small tubes opening into the cavity of 

 the intestines : thus freed from its grosser parts, the perco- 

 lated fluid is carried by a long, winding, but traceable course, 

 into the main stream of the old circulation, which conveys 

 it in its progress to every part of the body. Now I say 



