172 THE IMMORTALITY OF ANIMALS 



of the extremities is shrunk up in the hoof, as the 

 tail or coccyx of man is shrunk up and hidden by 

 bones and flesh. The membrane of the bat called 

 wings is formed chiefly upon bones answering 

 precisely to those of the human hand. In the 

 paddles of a whale, the flippers of the seal and other 

 animals of the like species we see the same design. 



If you take the skeleton of a man ; incline the 

 bones of the pelvis ; shorten those of the thighs, 

 legs, and arms ; join the phalanges of the fingers 

 and toes ; lengthen the jaws by shortening the 

 frontal bones ; and lastly extend the spine of the 

 back, this skeleton would no longer represent that 

 of a man, but would resemble the skeleton of a 

 horse. 



By lengthening the back bone and the jaws, the 

 number of the vertebra, ribs and teeth, would be in- 

 creased, and it is only by the number of these 

 bones and by the prolongation, contraction, and 

 junction of others that the skeleton of a horse dif- 

 fers from that of a man. The ribs which are 

 essential to the figure of lower animals are found 

 equally in man, in quadrupeds, in birds, in fishes, 

 and even in the turtle. 



The foot of the horse, so apparently different 



