118 



LECTURE V. 



Examination of other parts of the body.— The Pelvis : the Extremities.— 

 The Skin ; its coloration, structure, perspii-ation, and hair. — The soft 

 parts. — The Pace. — Eyes, nose, mouth, lips, cheeks, ears, and chin. — 

 Internal organs. 



G-ENTLEMEN, — ^Whenever we find a decided and persistent 

 variety in any essential part of an animal organism, we may 

 be sure we shall trace its influence in the other organs. 

 Though characters of species frequently present themselves 

 preferentially in some particular organ ; still, as a certain har- 

 mony pervades the whole structure, there wiU be corresponding 

 peculiarities in other organs. 



We are frequently able to trace the connexion of such 

 changes within the animal body ; but in most cases we must 

 be content simply to acknowledge the fact of such changes 

 in the organism, without being able to trace the causes which 

 produced them. Thus, we may readily understand that there 

 must be some connexion between a certain form of the cranium 

 and that of a pelvis, since the head of the child must, at birth, 

 pass through the pelvis; whilst, on the other hand, we cer- 

 tainly cannot understand why, in such or such a race, the 

 foot should be flatter, the arm longer, and nose broader. Fre- 

 quently, such distinguishing marks seem to be formed accord- 

 ing to a leading idea, a general plan. Very often, however, 

 all attempts to refer these phenomena to design, or to any 

 other determining causes, are unsuccessful. At aU events, 

 variations are found in the body generally as soon as they have 

 been proved to exist in any particular organ, and, to a certain 

 extent, they aff'ord a criterion of the importance of the varia- 

 tion to which the individual organ has been subjected. When, 

 therefore, we have to determine what characters are of primary 

 importance in the study of man, as an object of natural history. 



