ANATOMY. 
inflexible, can only turn upon joints : se- 
condly, therefore, joints for this purpose, 
one at the shoulder to raise the arm, an- 
other at the elbow to bend it : these joints 
continually fed with a soft mucilage, to 
make the parts slide easily upon one an- 
other, and holden together by strong braces, 
to keep them in their position : then, third- 
ly, strings and wires, i.< e. muscles and ten- 
dons, artificially inserted for the purpose of 
drawing the bones in the directions in 
which the joints allow them to move. Hi- 
therto, we seem to understand the mecha- 
nism pretty well ; and understanding this, 
we possess enough for our conclusion . ne- 
vertheless we have hitherto only a machine 
standing still; a dead organization— an ap- 
paratus. To put the system in a state of 
activity ; to set it at work ; a further pro- 
vision is necessary, viz. a communication 
with the brain by means of nerves. We 
know the existence of this communication, 
because we can see the communicating 
threads, and can trace them to the brain ; 
its necessity we also know, because if the 
thread be cut, if the communication be in- 
tercepted, the muscle becomes paralytic: 
but beyond this we know little ; the orga- 
nization being too minute and subtle for 
our inspection. 
a Xo what has been enumerated, as officiat- 
ing in the single act of a man’s raising his hand 
to his head, must be added likewise all that is 
necessary, and all that contributes to the 
growth, nourishment, and sustentation of 
the limb, the repair of its waste, the pre- 
servation of its health : such as the circula- 
tion of the blood through every part of it ; 
its lymphatics, exhalants, absorbents ; its 
excretions and integuments. All these 
share in the result ; join in the effect ; and 
how all these, or any of them, come toge- 
ther without a designing, disposing intelli- 
gence, it is impossible to /conceive. 
But the more immediate purposes of ana- 
tomy concern those who are to be the 
guardians of health; as this study is neces- 
sary to lay a foundation for all the branches 
of medicine. 
The more we know of our fabric, the 
more reason we have to believe, that if 
our senses were more acute, and our judg- 
ment more enlarged, we should be able to 
trace many springs of life, which are now 
hidden from us; by the same sagacity we 
should discover the true causes and nature 
of diseases ; and thereby be enabled to 
restore the health of many, who are now, 
from our more confined knowledge, said to 
labour under incurable disorders. By such 
an intimate acquaintance with the economy 
of our bodies, we should discover even the 
seeds of diseases ; and destroy them, before 
they had! taken root in the constitution. 
This, indeed, is a pitch ot knowledge, 
which we must not expect to attain. But, 
surely, we may go some way ; and, there- 
fore, let us endeavour to go as far as we can. 
And if we consider that health and disease 
are the opposites of each other, there can 
be no doubt, that the study of the natural 
state of the body, which constitutes the 
one, must be the direct road to the know- 
ledge of 1 at 1 other. What has been said of 
the usefulness of anatomy in physic, will 
only be called in question by the more 
illiterate empirics among physicians. They 
would discourage others trom the pui suit 
of knowledge, which they have not them- 
selves, and which, therefore, they cannot 
know the value of ; and tell us that a little 
of anatomy is enough for a physician. 
That anatomy is the very basis of surgery, 
every body allows. It is dissection alone 
that can teach us where we may cut the 
living body with freedom and dispatch ; 
where we may venture with great circum- 
spection and delicacy ; and where we must 
not, upon any account, attempt it. I his 
informs the head, gives dexterity to the 
hand, and familiarizes the heart with a sort 
of necessary inhumanity, the use of cutting 
instruments upon our fellow' creatures. 
Were it possible to doubt of the advan- 
tages which arise. in surgery, from a know- 
ledge of anatomy, we might have ample con- 
viction by comparing the present practice 
with that of the ancients : and upon tracing 
the improvements which have been made in 
later times, they would be found, generally, 
fo have sprung from a more accurate know- 
ledge of the parts concerned. In the hands 
of a good anatomist, surgery is a salutary, 
a divine art ; but, when practised by men 
who know not the structure of the human 
body, it often becomes barbarous and cri- 
minal. 
The comparison of a physician to a gene- 
ral, is both rational and instructive. The 
human body under a disease, is the country 
which labours under a civil war or an inva- 
sion. The physician is, or should be, the 
dictator or general, who is to take the com- 
mand, and to direct all the necessary opera- 
tions. To do his duty with full advantage, 
a general, besides other acquirements, use- 
ful in his profession, must make himself mas- 
ter of the anatomy and physiology, as we 
