90 MUSCLE — CONSTRUCTION, [BOOK I. 



throat, and intestines, that its chief disorder is a 

 cold, which shows itself in the cessation of the se- 

 cretion ; soon after this, the parts being inflamed, 

 throw forth a thin acrid discharge, which is greatest 

 when the inflammation arrives at its height, some- 

 times producing a little blood, either upwards or 

 downwards ; when the inflammation wears off, these 

 appearances are also lowered by the mucus becom- 

 ing more and more thick, until it reaches its usual 

 consistency. The cure is to be effected by lower- 

 ing the inflammation ; but this is most frequently 

 effected by the natural discharge of the mucous 

 matter just spoken of. 



27. Muscles are fleshy bodies of various sizes 

 and shapes, according to their uses ; reddish, of a 

 grainy, fibrous texture, easily separated, but more 

 stringy at some places than at others : the last- 

 mentioned are termed " coarse parts" or pieces, > in 

 the animals sent for our sustenance, and are those 

 where the greatest strength lies. These fibres 

 formed into bundles, and surrounded by the cellular 

 membrane, are visible to the eye, if there be not at- 

 tached to each fibre a continuation of the same 

 cellular structure that is not visible. Several of 

 those bundles, being further enclosed by a stronger 

 membrane, form a muscle ; each whereof is at- 

 tached by its two farthest extremities to some other, 

 or, to two different bones, upon one or the other of 

 which it acts as a lever. A muscle accomplishes 

 this motion of the bone by expanding its belly or 

 middle part, and contracting it towards the centre ; 



