12 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 



in a variety of graceful attitudes, and qualify it for a multiplicity of 

 advantageous motions. The heel has under it a tendinous sub- 

 stance, so tough as not to wear, and at the same time, to prevent 

 the weight of the body from pressing too much on the finer vessels. 



The legs and thighs are substantial columns, articulated in such 

 a manner as to administer most commodiously to the act of walk- 

 ing : they swell out at the top, and are taper towards the bottom, 

 which lessens their bulk at the same time that it increases their 

 L_ beauty. 



The ribs form a regular arch, gently movable, for the act of 

 respiration; they form a secure lodgment for the lungs, heart, &c. 



The spine or back-bone is intended not only to strengthen the 

 body, but also to bring down the spinal marrow from the brain. It 

 guards, in a well-closed case, this vital silver. This fluid is thus 

 communicated to each part of the body ; had it been large, straight, 

 and hollow, it might have done this ; but then the loins would have 

 been inflexible, and we should have been, as it were, impaled alive : 

 to prevent this it consists of short bones knit together by inter- 

 vening cartilages. This prevents dislocation, and gives .this main 

 pillar of our frame the pliancy of the willow, while it possesses 

 the firmness of an oak. It is a kind of continued joint, capable of 

 various inflexions, without injuring the medullary contents, and 

 without intercepting the nervous fluid, which is to be detached from 

 this grand reservoir, or diminishing the strength necessary to sup- 

 port the whole. A structure so singular in any other of the solids, 

 would have been attended with great inconveniences, but is here a 

 masterpiece of creating skill. 



The arms pendent on each side are the guards that defend the 

 whole body, and are fitted for the most diversified operations ; firm 

 with bone, yet not weighty with flesh, capable of performing with 

 expedition and ease all useful motions ; they move inwards, out- 

 ward, upward, and recline downward ; they wheel round, and can 

 be placed in every situation we please. To these are annexed the 

 hands, and both are terminated by the fingers, which are not, like 

 the arms, of equal length and size, but in both respects different ; 

 which adds to their graceful appearance and utility. Were they 

 all flesh, they would be impotent ; were they all one bone, they 

 would not be movable ; but consisting as they do of various small 

 bones and muscles, they answer every possible use, and being 

 placed at the end of the arm, their sphere of action is considerably 

 enlarged. The extremities of the fingers are an assemblage of fine 



