46G 
iftebieku. 
Quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non.—H or. 
Bridgewater Treatises, No. 4. 2'he Hand—its Mechanism and 
Vital Endowments, as evincing Design. 
By Sir C. Bell, K.G.H., 8cc. &c.—(Second Notice.) 
In our last review of this highly interesting and useful publi¬ 
cation, we furnished our readers with a beautiful description of 
the anatomy of the horse’s shoulder: we purpose, in this, to 
follow the learned author in his description of the comparative 
anatomy of the bones of the fore extremities. These bones form 
«/ 
the most important part in the whole frame of the horse ; they 
are the very main props and supports of the building ; and if not 
sound to the core, the whole superstructure must fall. An inti¬ 
mate and thorough acquaintance, therefore, with the anatomy of 
the fore extremities cannot be too strongly recommended to all 
veterinarians. 
Of the Humerus, or Arm-Bone. 
The demonstration of this bone need not be so dry a matter of 
detail as the anatomist makes of it. We can see in its form the 
same curious relation of parts and wonderful design as Sir C. 
Bell, Paley, and Baron Cuvier observed in the human arm, and 
employed so successfully to prove design, and from which were 
brought out some of the finest examples of inductive reasoning. 
Sir Charles says, judging from the appearance of this bone in 
the human skeleton—from the great hemispherical surface for 
articulation with the glenoid cavity of the scapula—the two 
tubercles near the joint being depressed, and not interfering with 
the revolving of the humerus, by striking against the socket, we 
are perfectly assured that all the motions of the arm are free; 
and that a geologist, on finding such a bone in the course of his 
researches, would conclude that it belonged to an animal that 
' KJ _ 
possessed great freedom and motion in the shoulder. But sup¬ 
pose that the bone found has a different character; that the 
tubercles project so as to limit the motion to one direction, and 
that the articulating surface is less regularly convex. On in¬ 
specting the lower extremity of such a bone, we shall perceive 
provisions for a deeper and more secure hinge joint at the elbow ; 
and neither in the form of the articulating surface (which is here 
called trochlea), nor in the crest or spine on the outside, will 
there be signs of the rotation of one bone of the fore-arm on the 
other. We have, therefore, got the bone of an herbivorous qua¬ 
druped, either with a solid or with a cloven foot.” 
