NATURAL THEOLOGY. 75 



low of this bone, resembling the pith in the stalk of 

 a plant. This substance is so exceedingly tender 

 and vital, that the slightest wound, or even pressure, 

 would be productive of serious and probably fatal 

 consequences. It might seem, therefore, that in or- 

 der to secure it the more completely from any injury, 

 the case which contains it ought to be a firm and 

 unbending tube. Yet the spine must bend to admit 

 of the motions of the body. Any considerable bend- 

 ing in one particular spot, however, would press upon 

 the marrow within, and be highly dangerous. 



The danger is happily avoided by the bone being 

 composed of a great number of little rings piled one 

 upon another, as many as twenty-four, which are 

 called the vertebra, from a Latin word, which signi- 

 fies to turn. They admit of a great flexure through 

 the whole, without requiring each to bend but a very 

 little. Thus, stooping is not a sudden, hinge-like 

 motion in a single spot, like shutting a penknife ; but 

 is the united bending or curvature of several bones, 

 for a considerable extent upon the back, like bending 

 a piece of whale-bone. If the bend were entirely 

 at one place, a wrinkle or crease would be made in 

 the spinal marrow, such as we may see on the inside 

 of the joint of the finger, when we bend the finger 

 inward. No other bone in the body is so constructed. 

 No other requires it. 



B. By no other requiring it, is meant, no doubt, 

 that no other bone which has to bend, contains the 

 same delicate contents. This is truly a wonderful 

 expression of design. The only bone in the body 



