120 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



the limb naturally performs, none of the jerks and 

 twists to which it is ordinarily liable, nothing less 

 indeed than the utmost and the most unnatural vio- 

 lence, can pull them assunder. It is hardly ima- 

 ginable, how great a force is necessary, even to 

 stretch, still more to break, this ligament : yet so 

 flexible is it, as to oppose no impediment to the sup- 

 pleness of the joint. By its situation also it is in- 

 accessible to injury from sharp edges. As it can- 

 not be ruptured (such is its strength,) so it cannot 

 be cut, except by an accident which would sever 

 the hmb. If I had been permitted to frame a proof 

 of contrivance, such as might satisfy the most dis- 

 trustful inquirer, I know not w^hether I could have 

 chosen an example of mechanism more unequivo- 

 cal, or more free from objection, than this ligament. 

 Nothing can be more mechanical ; nothing, however 

 subservient to the safety, less capable of being gen- 

 erated by the action of the joint. I would particu- 

 larly solicit the reader's attention to this provision, 

 as it is found in the head of the thigh-hone : to its 

 strength, its structure and its use. It is an instance 

 upon which I lay my hand. One single fact, ^veigh- 

 ed by a mind in earnest, leaves oftentimes the deep- 

 est impression. For the purpose of addressing dif- 

 ferent understandings and different apprehensions 

 — for the purpose of sentiment — for the purpose 

 of exciting admiration of the Creators works, we 

 diversify our views, we multiply our examples : but 

 for the purpose of strict argument, one clear in- 

 stance is sufficient ; and not only sufficient, but ca- 



