112 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



even the gesticulations of a harlequin distort his 

 spine. 



Upon the whole, and as a guide to those who 

 may be inclined to carry the consideration of this 

 subject further, there are three views under which 

 the spine ought to be regarded, and in all which 

 it cannot fail to excite our admiration. These 

 views relate to its articulations, its ligaments, and 

 its perforation ; and to the corresponding advan- 

 tages which the body derives from it, for action, 

 for strength, and for that which is essential to 

 every part, a secure communication with the brain. 



The structure of the spine is not in general dif- 

 fei'ent in different animals."^ In the serpent tribe, 



'^ There is a notion entertained by the ingenious and somewhat 

 fanciful physiologists of France, that the extremities of the body, 

 the parts furthest removed from the centre, are most subject to 

 change in their conformation, •whilst the central parts of the sys- 

 tem are the most unvarying. Entertaining such a view, Me lose 

 much of the interest that is attached to the subject ; and the in- 

 ference which it is important to draw is forgotten, the accommo- 

 dation not of parts only, but of the whole framework of the animal 

 body, to the peculiar condition or necessities of the creature. The 

 teeth vary because the food is different ; the feet vary, because 

 the mode of progression is different ; the claws vary in connexion 

 with the teeth, and the mode of procuring food, by digging, or 

 scraping, or by holding and tearing. So does the eye, and so 

 does the ear. But with these adaptations of parts, we must not 

 jose sight of the fact which is the most important to our conclu- 

 sions — that the whole is accommodated, as well as the individual 

 organs. 



The spine in all vcrtebrated animals holds its office in perpetu- 

 ity ; it contains and protects the spinal marrow ; and so far as its 

 office is permanent, there will be an uniformity in its appearance 

 in all creatures. But even in man it varies in its structure, in the 



