BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 45 



tion, from whence the ramifications of the nerves 

 take their rise. 



To mention only one or two of the most obvious, 

 for instance; what a curious and wonderful piece of 

 mechanism is the human Eye, so admirably con- 

 trived with its various coats, muscles, vessels, hu- 

 mours, nerves, and retina, for the purposes of vision ! 

 How excellent its situation for the use it was de- 

 signed ! and how safely guarded by tie projecting 

 eye brows and watchful eye lashes, ev^ppn the alert, 

 from external injury ! The Eur, too, is a most 

 wonderful structure, contrived by its .ridges and 

 hollow's to gather and concentrate sounds till they 

 strike on the transparent membrane that forms the 

 surface of the drum, although deeply lodged that it 

 may also be preserved from outward accident 

 These are strange pieces of mechanism indeed! 

 and is it not natural to conclude, " He that planted 

 the ear shall he not hear f he that formed the eye 

 shall he not see ?" 



If the brain, which is the seat of sensation and 

 the fountain of the animal spirits, is environed round 

 with such a hard, thick, and tough substance as the 

 skull, the heart and lungs are wisely placed in the 

 centre of the body, and encompassed by a double 

 fence of bones or ribs, muscles, and skin. 



Without breathing, to put the wheel in motion at 

 the cistern, no animal could exist, and how admira- 

 bly situated and guarded also, as we have observed, 

 are the organs of respiration, and that mysterious 

 movement, " that faints not, neither is weary/' but 



