OF THE HUMAN BODY. 77 



mists have sought for parts in the anterior portion of the trunk, 

 corresponding to the vertebral column; they think they have 

 found them in the sternum: observation here shows no rea- 

 sonable approximation, except between ihe anterior and pos- 

 terior muscles of the spine. Let us abandon then, compari- 

 sons which can tend to no good or useful purpose. 



68. The human body is divided like that of the other 

 vertebrata, into trunk and members. The trunk is the cen- 

 tral and principal part, that which contains the organs most 

 essential to life^ or the viscera. These parts are lodged in 

 three cavities; the inferior is the abdomen, and contains the 

 organs of digestion, of the urinary secretion, and of genera- 

 tion; the middle one, the thorax, contains the organs of respi- 

 ration and circulation, while the superior, the head, whose 

 cavity is continued into the vertebral column, contains the 

 nervous centre and the senses. It may have been already re- 

 marked, (sec. 1,) how much this distribution of the viscera is 

 in relation with their importance in the animal kingdom. 

 We shall see hereafter, that it is equally so with the order of 

 their developement. Considered as a whole, the trunk from 

 before backward, presents a face anterior or external, one pos- 

 terior or dorsal, and sides; it presents two extremities, the one 

 superior or cephalic, the other inferior or pelvic. The limbs 

 or members, articulated appendages, destined for motion, are 

 divided into superior or thoracic, and inferior or abdominal, 

 both being divided, in several places, by articulations. The 

 different portions of the trunk and members, are again subdi- 

 vided into a certain number of regions or parts, all distinct 

 and important, on account of the organs placed there. These 

 divisions and subdivisions of the body, are principally deter- 

 mined by the bones. A knowledge of the regions is neces- 

 sary, in order to determine the exact situation of the organs, 

 and their profound study, the surest or rather the only means 

 of knowing the respective situation of parts: this knowledge 

 constitutes a sort of topographical anatomy, which is of the 

 greatest importance. 



69. The human body, like all those that are organized, 

 is composed of solid and fluid parts, which have a similar 



