GENERAL VIEW OF THE HUMAN SYSTEM. 21 



speech j this makes us gainers from the eyes and ears of others, 

 from the ideas they conceive and the observations they make. 

 The tongue has neither bone nor joint, yet fashions itself with the 

 utmost volubility, into every shape and posture, which can express 

 sentiment, or constitute harmony. :>,J 



By this little collection of muscular fibres, we communicate the 

 secrets of the breast, and make our thoughts audible. By this we 

 should instruct the ignorant, comfort the distressed, glorify God, 

 which is its noblest employ, and benefit each other. 



As the tongue requires a full scope and easy play, it is lodged in 

 an ample cavity, and surrounded with reservoirs of spittle (saliva), 

 always ready to distil the lubricating fluid. It moves under a con- 

 cave roof which serves as a sounding board to the voice, giving it 

 much the same additional vigor and grace as the shell of a violin 

 adds to the strings. The notes of the human voice,* so far as they 

 can reach are the most agreeable of all musical sounds. 



THE MIND. 



However we admire this multiplicity of animated organs, their 

 finished form, and their faultless order ; yet admiration must rise 

 higher when we recollect the mysterious power and sway the soul 

 has over them. Ten thousand reins are put into her hands ; she 

 is not acquainted with their offices, their use, or their name, yet she 

 manages all without perplexity ; the manner in which the will acts 

 upon the system, or how, or by what means, so many functions 

 are managed independent of the will, or that a variety of exertions 

 should be made without inconvenience to us, we know notf all we 

 can do is to exercise our w r onder and gratitude for so many circum- 

 stances, which all administer to our comfort. 



SOCIAL AFFECTIONS. 



A celebrated poet remarks, that the proper study of mankind 

 is man : and this study originates from the smallest beginnings, 



* Lavater considers the human voice as an indication of character. See Vol. I., p. 

 49 ; Vol. II., p. 54, 8vo. edition. Robinson's, 1789. 



t " The principle of muscular motion, viz. upon what cause the swelling of 

 the belly of the muscle, and consequent contraction of its tendons, either by an act of 

 the will, or by involuntary irritation, depends, is wholly unknown to us. The substance 

 employed, whether it be fluid, gaseous, elastic, electrical, or none of these, or nothing 

 resembling these, is also unknown to us. We see nothing similar to this contraction 

 in any machine which we can make, or any process which we can execute." Cuvier's 

 Lectures, Translated by Mr. Ross, 2 vols., 8vo., Longman, 1802 a work displaying an 

 infinite variety of facts relative to Comparative Anatomy. 



