NATURAL THEOLOGY. 279 



tion ill the vat, the bestowing of the Hquor thus 

 fermented in the hogsheads, the drawing off into 

 bottles, the pouring out for use into the glass. Let 

 any one show me any difference between these two 

 cases as to the point of contrivance. That which 

 is at present under our consideration, the " rela- 

 tion " of the parts successively employed, is not 

 more clear in the last case than in the first. The 

 aptness of the jaws and teeth to prepare the food 

 for the St imach is, at least, as manifest as that of 

 the cider-mill to crush the apples for the press. 

 The concoction of the food in the stomach is as 

 necessary for its future use as the fermentation of 

 the stum in the vat is to the perfection of the li- 

 quor. The disposal of the aliment afterwards, the 

 action and change which it undergoes, the route 

 vrhich it is made to take, in order that, and until 

 that, it arrive at its destination, is more complex 

 indeed and intricate, but, in the midst of compli- 

 cation and intricacy, as evident and certain as is 

 the apparatus of cocks, pipes, tunnels, for trans- 

 ferrins: the cider from one vessel to another; of 

 barrels and bottles for preserving it till fit for use, 

 or of cups and glasses for bringing it when want- 

 ed to the lip of the consumer. The character of 

 the machinery is in both cases this, — that one 

 part answers to another part, and every part to 

 the final result. 



This parallel between the alimentary operation 

 and some of the processes of art might be car- 

 ried further into detail. Spallanzani has remark- 



