Natural theology". 19 



that of the head being pierced through by any pene- 

 trating body, as a fork, a penknife, the corner of a 

 stone, &tc. ; and hence the advantage of a hard and 

 glassy cover about the brain, capable of turning the 

 edge of any sharp or pointed instrument. But then, 

 a covering hard and glassy throughout would be sub- 

 ject to be chipped and cracked continually. Under 

 these circumstances, the double case is plainly the 

 true mechanical contrivance, that is, an inner bone 

 calculated to resist any cutting or pointed body, 

 — plated over with another, less subject to be scaled 

 or splintered by strokes upon the outside. Such is 

 die architectural contrivance exhibited in the skull. 



B. Who could ever have supposed all this to 

 be accidental ! If a man's ingenuity were to be ex- 

 ercised in contriving a protection for the brain, it 

 is difficult to say how he could have obtained the 

 object better. It seems as though there could be no 

 danger now from any common accident, except the 

 brain might be liable to be jarred by blows or falls 

 occasionally. 



T. These blows and falls, however, are apt not 

 to be very infrequent ; and the brain is so tender 

 and sensitive an organ, as might render even a jar a 

 very serious affair. A celebrated anatomist observes, 

 that a blow upon a man's head, by a body which shall 

 cause a vibration, (or jar), through the substance of 

 the brain, may more effectually deprive him of sense 

 and motion, than if an axe or a sword penetrated into 

 the substance of the brain itself. There is, in several 

 respects, a remarkable structure of the head, adapted 



