369 



comes more concave; 4thly, by the motions of opposition and circurn- 



duction of the thumb and little finger ; pthly, by the great number of 

 the phalanges : every thing, in this part of the upper extremity, proves 

 the excellence of its structure, and justifies all that philosophers and 

 naturalists have said of its advantages. 



In applying pressure, for instance, in pressing on a seal, nearly the 

 whole weight of the body bears on one of the upper extremities, which 

 is powerfully extended, the shoulder resting on the arm, so that the gle- 

 noid cavity of the scapula may be perpendicular to the head of the hu- 

 merus, 



Jt would be a superfluous task to endeavour to describe all the motions 

 which our parts may execute ; these partial motions are explained in 

 anatomical works, in treating of the muscles on whose action they depend, 

 J shall content myself with having inquired into the principal phenomena 

 of animal mechanism, chiefly with a reference to the human structure. 

 Fuller details, on animal mechanism, would be out of place in a work like 

 this. They will be found in those works which treat professedly* of this* 

 important part of physiology, the only one in which it is possible to ob- 

 tain, in the investigation of its objects, that degree of mathematical cer-* 

 tainty, so much sought after by every man of precision and of sound 

 judgment, 



CXCIV, Partial motions may yet farther be studied as signs ex- 

 pressive of ideas. They compose what is called the language of action, 

 and are supplemental to speech. The language of gestures, in its per- 

 fection, is found sufficient even to express the most subtle ideas, and the 

 finest feelings, in the mute scenes, known under the name of pantomimes. 

 The gestures, with which the man of most phlegm accompanies his dis- 

 course, are a language superaclded to that which he speaks: they contri- 

 bute to the exposition of the thought : but what force, in the man of 

 passion, do they not add to his expression ? what power to his language ? 

 This eloquence of gesture, which was so often employed to move and 

 sway the assembled multitude in the public place of Rome and Athens, 

 was habitual to the orators of the ancient republics, and the moment when 

 Mark Antony uncovers and shows to the Roman people the bloody corse 

 of the first of the Caesars, is not the least eloquent passage of his harangue. 



Thus, although the organ of voice is that which offers us the greatest 

 abundance of resources for the expression of our ideas, for communica- 

 tion with our fellow-creatures,- though the hearing be the sense to which 

 we must address ourselves to produce in them distinct, varied, and lasting 

 impressions, we do yet address ourselves to their touch and their sight, 

 when we would strongly move them, by an energetic declaration of our 

 desires. These three different languages are employed at once, when we 

 lead a man towards an object, and at the same time point it out to him, 

 and bid him go there : touch and gesture are then auxiliary to speech, 

 and testify in him who makes use of them, a strong and resolute will. 

 The motions of the eyes, the eye-brows, the eye-lids, the lips, and, gene-* 

 rally, of all parts of the face, those of the upper limbs, and of the trunk 



* Consult J, A. Borelli, de matu animalium, 4to. The errors contained in this work 

 depend on the circumstance of the author's being more a mathematician then an ana- 

 tomist. 



P. J. BartheZj nouvelle Jllechanigue des JHouvemens dc PHomme et des Jlnimavx.Jlu* 

 Vbfe. 



