138 
PECULIAR ORGANIZATIONS. 
ly answering to it in another.* Of this kind are the exam¬ 
ples which I have to propose in the present chapter: and 
the reader will see that, though some of them be the strong¬ 
est, perhaps, he will meet with under any division of our 
subject, they must necessarily be of an unconnected and 
miscellaneous nature. To dispose them, however, into 
some sort of order, we will notice first, particularities of 
structure which belong to quadrupeds, birds, and fish, as 
such, or to many of the Kinds included in these classes of 
animals; and then, such particularities as are confined to 
one or two species. 
I. Along each side of the neck of large quadrupeds, 
runs a stiff, robust ligament, which butchers call the 
pax wax. No person can carve the upper end of a crop of 
beef without driving his knife against it. It is a tough, 
strong, tendinous substance, braced from the head to the 
middle of the back; its office is to assist in supporting the 
weight of the head. It is a mechanical provision, of which 
this is the undisputed use; and it is sufficient, and not 
more than sufficient, for the purpose which it has to exe¬ 
cute. The head of an ox or a horse is a heavy weight, 
acting at the end of along lever, (consequently with a great 
purchase,) and in a direction nearly perpendicular to the 
joints of the supporting neck. From such a force, so ad¬ 
vantageously applied, the bones of the neck would be 
in constant danger of dislocation, if they were not fortified 
by this strong tape. No such organ is found in the hu¬ 
man subject, because, from the erect position of the head, 
(the pressure of it acting nearly in the direction of the 
spine,) the junction of the vertebras appears to be sufficient¬ 
ly secure without it. This cautionary expedient, therefore, 
is limited to quadrupeds: the care of the Creator is seen 
where it is wanted. 
♦The objection here made to the use of the term, Comparative Anato¬ 
my, does not seem well founded. As commonly employed, it is intended 
to designate the anatomy of animals compared with that of men and of 
one another. It is only by comparison that the use of parts can be dis¬ 
covered. Generally, conformations found in one animal have something 
corresponding to them in other animals; but even where this is not the 
case, a comparison is not the less necessary to discover the use of the 
conformation. Thus, particularly, in the first instance mentioned by the 
author, he points out the function of the pax wax by the very process 
which he affirms cannot have place. It is by comparing the neck of large 
quadrupeds in which this provision is found, with that of man in which it 
is not found, and by comparing the position maintained by man with that 
maintained by quadrupeds, that he illustrates the object for which this 
Drovision is made.— Ed. 
