MENTAL AND CORPOREAL 267 



the physical peculiarities of man himself have 

 had a wonderful effect in calling forth his intel- 

 lectual faculties. We allude to his want of 

 protection to his skin, and to the deficiency in 

 his natural means of defence. 



There are few circumstances that so well 

 illustrate the intention of the supreme Being, that 

 man should depend upon his own resources, as the 

 want of that covering and protection to his skin, 

 which the necessities of his condition so urgently 

 require. All other animals are provided in this 

 particular according to their wants. To quadru- 

 peds and birds, we find an ample covering has 

 been given, suitable to the climate in which they 

 are placed ; and which serves as a protection to 

 their bodies, excepting where very extraordinary 

 force has been applied. In the arctic regions, 

 where excessive cold might destroy them, a thick, 

 wooly coat, or a covering very similar, protects 

 the quadruped against the inclemency of the 

 weather; and a dense, close mass of plumage, 

 which in many assumes a thick downy form, 

 secures the feathery tribe from a similar incon- 

 venience. In tropical climates, where the in- 

 fluence of excessive heat is to be counteracted, 

 the woolly coat of the former, is more frequently 

 changed into a loose-hairy like covering, sufficient 

 to ward off the sun's rays, but not so dense as to 

 prevent that evaporation from the surface, so 

 essential to carry off the superfluous heat from 



