QQ MEMOIRS OF 



ism to divide tliem — liquids to dissolve them; 

 and nutrition no longer commences by the im- 

 mediate absorption of substances as they are 

 supplied by the ground and the atmosphere ; it 

 must be preceded by a multitude of preparatory 

 operations, the whole of which constitute diges- 

 tion." 



From the second division of this first lecture, 

 which treats of the organs of which animals 

 are composed, I shall select the passage con- 

 cerning the senses, as most interesting to the 

 general reader. After exposing the nervous 

 system in its different bearings ; after noticing 

 the cellular tissue, the medullary substance, the 

 muscles, the bones, the joints, the cliemical ana- 

 lysis of various parts of the body, &c., M. Cu- 

 vier proceeds : — " We perceive the action of ex- 

 ternal bodies on our own, in proportion as the 

 nerve which is affected by them communicates 

 w^th the spinal chord, or common bundle of 

 nerves, and this with the brain ; a ligature, or a 

 rupture, by intercepting the physical communi- 

 cation, destroys the feeling. The only sense 

 which belongs to all animals, and which exer- 

 cises its influence over nearly the whole of the 

 surface of the body of each, is the touch. It 

 resides in the extremities of the nerves which 



