54 THE PHILOSOPHT 



CHAPTER 11. 



Of the organs and generalJlruElure cf Animals — AJhort view of 



the external and infernal parts of the human body — This fruc-^ 



tare compared with thofe of Qiiadrupeds, Birds, Fifies, and In^* 



feEls — How far peculiarities of fruclure are connected with 



peculiarities of manners and difpofitions. 



In treating of this fubjedl, it is not intended to 

 dive into the depths of anatomical refearch. On the con- 

 trary, I fhall exhibit fhort views only of the general ftruc- 

 ture and organization of the various claffes of animated 

 beingSj from man, who is the mofl: perfect animal of which 

 we have any knowledge, down to the infect tribes. Con- 

 fideringman, therefore, as the ftandard of animal perfection, 

 we fhall inftitute frequent comparifons, and mark peculiar 

 diftindlions between him and the brute creation, both with re- 

 gard to form, manners and fagaclty. By following this plan, 

 I hope I fhall be enabled to render a fubje£l which at firft 

 fight, may have a forbidding afpedl, both interefting and a- 

 greeable» 



STRUCTURE OF MAN. 

 The bones may be regarded as the bafis upon which the 

 human body is conflructed. The fpine, or back-bone, con- 

 fifls of a number of vertebrae, or fmall bones, conne£led to- 

 gether by cartilages, articulations, and ligaments. In the 

 centre of each vertebrae there is a foreman, or a hole, for the 

 lodgement and continuation of the fpinal marrow, which ex- 

 tends from the brain to the rump. From thefe vertebrae 

 the arched bones called ribs proceed ; and feven of them 

 join the breaft-bone on each fide, where they terminate in 

 cartilages, and form the cavity of the thorax, or chefl. This 

 cavity contains the heart and lungs ; and the oefophagus, or 



