ORDER EIMANA. 85 



blood necessary for an organ of so much volume, 

 would be poured into it too copiously and rapidly 

 if man should affect the horizontal position; and 

 frequent apoplexies would be the consequence of 

 his folly. 



It appears, then, that man is formed to stand and 

 walk upon his feet in an erect posture : his hands 

 are thus left at liberty to be employed in the 

 various arts and occupations of life, and his organs 

 of sense are the most favourably situated for their 

 destined purposes. 



The hands, which derive so many advantages 

 from the circumstance of being at liberty, possess 

 as many more from the wonderful mechanism of 

 their structure. The thumb, longer in proportion 

 than that of apes, affords greater facility for seizing 

 and holding small objects. All the fingers, with 

 the exception of the annularis, have separate move- 

 ments, which is not the case with any other ani- 

 mals, even the quadrumana. The nails being placed 

 at one side only of the extremity of the finger, form, 

 as it were, a kind of support for the touch, without, 

 in the least degree, injuring its delicacy. The arms 

 also, to which these hands are affixed, possess a 

 strong point of attachment in the large shoulder- 

 blade, the powerful clavicle, and the general ar- 

 rangement of their articulation. 



Though man is considerably favoured by nature 

 in the means of dexterity and address, he is not 

 equally so in respect to force and vigour. In swift- 



