Ingenious Contrivances of Nature.
The human spine.
I have already spoken of many things which display wonderful ingenuity of contrivance, on the part of the Creator, and, at the same time, attest his wisdom and power. In every department of nature, the mineral, vegetable, and animal, there are contrivances which no human art can rival. Man may make imitations, but he can do no more.
In order to render this skill of the Creator more palpable, let us examine one or two mechanical contrivances in the structure of animals. We will select as our first instance, the human spine, or back bone. This consists of twenty-four bones, joined and compacted together in the most wonderful manner. It is so contrived that while it is firm, and enables the body to support an erect position, it is, at the same time, flexible, so as to bend in all directions. No human art has ever been able to devise a chain that can perform these double offices. Here we see that in mere mechanical contrivance, the works of God defy competition from man.
But this is not all. The spine has still another office to perform. In the centre of this chain of twenty-four bones, and passing through them all, is a tube, containing the spinal nerve. This extends from the brain through the back, and communicates with every part of the body by a thousand small pipes which have the name of nerves.
Besides all this, the spine is to be so adjusted that the ribs may be fastened to it, as well as the legs and arms; and finally, to this the various muscles, which enable the limbs and body to move, are to be fastened.
Now suppose that an ingenious mechanic were to undertake to construct an artificial skeleton, in imitation of that which belongs to man; would it not be impossible for him to accomplish the task; and would he not be compelled to give up in despair? Let us consider that we only ask of the human architect an imitation, and that even this is beyond his ability. How great, then, must be the wisdom and power of that Supreme Architect, who not only made, but designed and contrived his works, and not only designed and contrived them, but furnished the very materials from his own manufactory—the bones, the muscles, the nerves, and the fluids necessary for his purpose.
The veins.
Let us take another illustration of the wisdom and power of God, as displayed in animal mechanism. It is the design of the Creator that the blood shall be distributed throughout the body, and that this shall be essential to life. The body is, therefore, provided with two systems of blood-vessels—arteries and veins; the first to carry the blood from the heart, and the latter to bring it back.
These tubes are wonderfully contrived and distributed over the body; and the blood, which is to pass through them, is furnished by means equally wonderful. But what machinery can be devised to receive the blood from the veins and force it through the arteries and throughout the system? The heart is destined to perform the work. This is a hollow muscle, in the centre of the body, surrounded by spiral fibres, running in both directions, the layers crossing and interlacing each other. By a contraction of these spiral fibres, the hollow muscle is compressed, and whatever fluid may be in it, is squeezed out from the cavity within. By a relaxation of these spiral fibres, the cavities in the hollow muscle are prepared to admit any fluid that may be poured into it. Into these cavities the great trunks or pipes of the arteries and veins are inserted—the one to carry out the blood and the other to return it.
The arteries.
The heart.
Every time that the heart beats, a contraction of the spiral fibres takes place, and the blood is sent through the arteries by the force of the stroke, as water gushes through a syringe; and exactly at the same time an equal proportion is received from the veins. Thus at every pulse about two spoonfuls of blood are sent out from the human heart, through the arteries, and the same quantity is received through the veins. It is said that each ventricle of the heart will contain an ounce of blood. The heart contracts four thousand times in an hour, from which it appears that four thousand ounces, or two hundred and fifty pounds of blood pass through the heart every hour!—[From Parley’s Farewell.]