10 CORPOREAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN. 



posture for seizing and handling objects, by the freedom of its 

 motions, by the great length of the fingers above that of the toes, 

 and by the existence of the thumb, which, standing at a distance 

 from the fingers and bending towards them, acts as an opponent, 

 while the great toe is, like the rest, too short for apprehension, 

 stands in the same line with them, and moves in the same direc- 

 tion : were our hands employed in the horizontal posture, they 

 would be lost to us as grand instruments in the exercise of our 

 mental superiority. Quadrupeds have a strong ligament at the 

 back of the neck to sustain the head ; in us there is no such thing, 

 and our extensor muscles at the back of the neck are compa- 

 ratively very weak. P They have the thorax deep and narrow, 

 that the anterior extremities may lie near together and give more 

 support ; the sternum too is longer, and the ribs extend con- 

 siderably towards the pelvis to maintain the incumbent viscera; 

 our thorax is broad from side to side, that the arms being thrown 

 to a distance may have greater extent of motion, and shallow 

 from the sternum to the spine ; and the abdominal viscera, press- 

 ing towards the pelvis rather than towards the surface of the 

 abdomen in the erect attitude, do not here require an osseous 

 support. The pelvis is beautifully adapted in us for supporting 

 the bowels in the erect posture ; it is extremely expanded, and 

 the sacrum and os coccygis bend forwards below: in brutes it 

 does not merit the name of pelvis; for, not having to support 

 the abdominal contents, it is narrow, and the sacrum inclines but 

 little to the pubes. The nates, besides extending the pelvis upon 

 the thigh bones in the erect state of standing or walking, allow 

 us to rest while awake in the sitting posture, in which, the head 

 and trunk being still erect, our organs of sense have their proper 

 direction equally as in walking or standing; were we compelled 

 to lie down like quadrupeds, when resting during the waking 

 state, the different organs of the face must change their present 

 situation to retain their present utility, no less than if we were 

 compelled to adopt the horizontal progression ; and, conversely, 



P As the head is connected with the trunk farther back in brutes than in us, 

 the small length of lever between the occipital foramen and the back of the head, 

 and the length of the head below the foramen, require all this power ; but even 

 in us much more upholding power than we have at the back of the neck would 

 be required for all-four progression, as the head would no longer rest upon the 

 spine. 



