92 THE HOUSE 1 LIVE IN. 



is on this account, that we cannot swing our 

 legs round with quite as much freedom as we 

 can our arms. 



But though the shoulder joint is pretty easily 

 dislocated, it is not so easy to put it in its place 

 again, when it once gets out, as you may 

 imagine. It sometimes requires all the skill 

 of a wise surgeon, and all the strength of one 

 or two strong men. 



The number of hinge joints and other joints 

 in the frame of the house I live in is very 

 great. It must be nearly if not quite 150. I 

 do not think there are many frames that have 

 more hinges in them than the human. Some 

 there are, no doubt, such as those large public 

 houses, boarding houses, &tc. But I was 

 thinking only of those of ordinary dwellings. 



You see the wisdom of the great Creator 

 fully displayed in this structure and connection 

 of the bones. What if the joint of the knee 

 would move in every direction, like that of the 

 shoulder? Do you not see that when we 

 walked, the legs would have dangled about 

 strangely, instead of moving backwards and 

 forwards in one direction only ? And is it not 



