. MAN. 25 
four fingers joined to the body of the hand; but observe 
how the thumb can be made to meet the tip of either 
finger, or to touch the tips of all of them at once, and 
how each finger can move independently of the others, 
or all can move together. Then observe, farther, in how 
many different ways the hand can take hold of different 
things, such as a pen, a whip, a rope, a string, an axe, 
ete. 
28. What appears so simple when we look only at the 
outside, is found to be exceedingly complicated when ex- 
amined within by the anatomist. The frame-work of 
this machine is made up of 32 bones, and there are nu- 
merous muscles with their cords or tendons. Then there 
are countless fibres branching from the nerves into these 
muscles. It is by these nerves that the mind in the brain 
works all this machinery. 
29. Many animals have something like fingers, but 
none but man have any thing like thumbs except the 
monkey and ape tribe, and the opossum family; and in 
these the thumb is but a poor imitation of this organ in 
man. 
30. While man is superior to all other animals in the 
variety of machinery in his body, there are some things 
in which some animals are superior to him. The horse, 
that is so inferior to man in the variety of his muscular 
movement, has better running machinery than he has. 
The monkey, the squirrel, the cat, etc., are better climb- 
ers. Fishes are better swimmers. And some animals 
have machinery which man does not possess at all, as 
flying machinery. The body of man, then, is superior to 
that of all other animals as a whole, but not in all re- 
spects. 
31. The body of man is superior to that of other ani- 
mals in some things besides those already mentioned. It 
is the only animal body that can maintain a perfectly 
erect position. The monkey can, indeed, stand and walk 
on its hind feet, or rather its foot-hands; but its position 
B 
