BODY OF THE HOUSE. 67 



pardon me if I make, in this place, a short ex- 

 tract from that admirable work. 



" The difference in the length of the fingers 

 serves a thousand purposes, adapting the hand 

 and fingers, as in holding a rod, a switch, a 

 sword, a hammer, a pen or pencil, engraving 

 tool, &c., in all which a secure hold and free- 

 dom of motion are admirably combined. No- 

 thing is more remarkable than the manner in 

 which the delicate and moving apparatus of 

 the palm and fingers is guarded. The power 

 with which the hand grasps, as when a sailor 

 lays hold to raise his body to the rigging, 

 would be too great for the texture of mere 

 tendons, nerves and vessels ; they would be 

 crushed, were not every part that bears the 

 pressure defended with a cushion of fat, as 

 elastic as that which we have described in the 

 foot of the horse and the camel. To add to 

 this, there is a muscle which runs across the 

 palm of the hand, and supports the cushion 

 on the -inner edge. It is this muscle which, 

 raising the inner edge of the palm, forms the 

 drinking cup of Diogenes." 



