FOOTNOTES:
[a] Malpighi is of this Opinion, that as Taste is performed by the Papillæ in the Tongue, so is Feeling by such like Papillæ under the Skin. From several Dissections, and other Observations, he thus concludes, Ex his & similibus videbatur animus abundè certior redditus, earundem Papillarum pyramidalium copiam, quas aliàs in Linguâ descripsi, in locis præcipuè acquisitiori Tactui dicatis reperiri, eodem progigni nervoso & cuticulari corpore, simulque circumvolvi reticulari involucro, & extimam cuticulam, veluti ultimum terminum attingere.——Microscopio quilibet in manûs dorso pro sudore orificia quædam miro ordine dispersa intueri potest, circa quæ frequentia quædam capitula assurgunt; hæc verò sunt Papillarum fines, dum à cute assurgentes interpositum superant rete, simulque extimam cuticulam. Hæc repetitis sectionibus deprehendi; ex quibus non improbabiliter deducam, sicuti ex elatioribus——papillis——in Linguâ, Gustûs Organon elicitur,——ita ex copiosâ harum Papillarum congerie——in organis, ubi maximè animalia Tactûs motione afficiuntur,——adæquatum Tactûs organum sufficientèr haberi. Malpig. de extern. Tact. Org. p. 26. Consul. quoque ejusd. Vit. p. 28.
These Observations of Malpighi, our late curious and diligent Mr. Cowper hath confirmed, and given us very elegant Cuts both of the Skin, and the Papillæ, and the Nerves, Glands, &c. under it, from Microscopical Observations. Vid. Cowper’s Anat. Introd. and Tab. 4.
[] Although the Eye be the usual Judge of Colours, yet some have been able to distinguish them by their Feeling. Quidam fuit qui venit ad M. Duc. Hetruriæ aulam qui colores per Tactum cognoscebat. Pro experimento velum sericum, uniformiter textum, & pluribus coloribus tinctum, offerebatur, & veracitèr de colore to singulis partibus judicabat. Grimald. de Lum. & Col. prop. 43. §. 59.
[c] Tactus autem toto corpore æquabilitèr fusus est, ut omnes ictus, omnesque nimios & frigoris, & caloris appulsus sentire possimus. Cicer. ubi supr.
Tactus sensus omnibus est, etiam quibus nullus alius; nam & Ostreis, & terrestribus Vermibus quoque. Existimaverim omnibus sensum & Gustatûs esse. Cur enim alios alia sapores appetunt? in quo vel præcipua Naturæ architectio. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 71.
CHAP. VII.
Of Respiration.
Of all the Acts of Animal Life, this is one of the chief, and most necessary. For whatsoever hath Animal Life, hath also the Faculty of Respiration, or somewhat equivalent thereto[a]. Indeed so congenial is this with Life, that Breath and Life are in Scripture Phrase and Common Speech taken as synonymous Things, or at least necessary Concomitants of one another. Moses[] expresseth animal Life, by [The Breath of Life]. Saith he, Gen. vii. 21, 22. All Flesh that moved on the Earth, Fowl, Cattle, Beast, creeping Things, and Man; all in whose Nostrils was the Breath of Life in the dry Land died. So the Psalmist, Psal. civ. 29. Thou takest away their Breath, they die. So grand an Act therefore in common to all Animals, may justly deserve a Place in this Survey of the Works of God in the animal Kingdom.
And here I might launch out into an ample Description of all the Parts ministering to this necessary Act, and shew the curious Contrivance and artificial Structure of them; but a transient View shall suffice. I might begin with the outward Guards, the Nose and Mouth; but these have been already touched upon. But the exquisite Mechanism of the Larynx, its Variety of Muscles, its Cartilages, all so exquisitely made for the Purpose of Respiration, and forming the Voice[c], are very admirable: And no less so is the Tongue[d], which ministers to that, and many other Uses too.
Next, the Fabrick of the[e] Trachea deserves especial Remark. Its Valve, the Epiglottis on the Top, to fence against all Annoyances; its cartilaginous Rings[f] nearly environing it, with its membranous Part next the Gullet, to give the freer Passage to the Descent of the Food. And Lastly, Its inner Tegument of exquisite Sense to be readily affected with, and to make Efforts against every Thing that is hurtful or offensive; these, I say, do all justly deserve our Admiration.
And no less prodigious are the Parts farther within; the Bronchi, the Vesiculæ[g], with their muscular Fibres[h], as some assert they have, together with the Arteries and Veins, which every where accompany the airy Passages, for the Blood to receive there its Impregnations from the Air.
From hence I might proceed to the commodious Form of the Ribs[], the curious Mechanism of the Intercostal-Muscles[k], the Diaphragm, and all the other Muscles[l] ministring both to the ordinary, and extraordinary Offices of Respiration. But passing them by, I shall stop at one prodigious Work of Nature, and manifest Contrivance of the Almighty Creator, which although taken notice of by others[m], yet cannot be easily passed by in the Subject I am upon; and that is the Circulation of the Blood in the Fœtus in the Womb, so different from the Method thereof after it is Born. In the Womb, whilst it is as one Body with the Mother, and there is no Occasion, nor Place for Respiration, there are two Passages[n] on purpose for the Transmission of the Blood without passing it through the Lungs. But as soon as the Fœtus is Born, and become thereby a perfectly distinct Being, and breathes for it self, then these two Passages are shut up: one nearly obliterated, the other becomes only a Ligament, except in some Creatures that are Amphibious, or are forced to lie long under Water, in whom these Passages probably remain open[o].
And now what Action of any rational Creature, what is there in a Man’s Life, that doth more plainly shew Design, Reason, and Contrivance, than this very Act of Nature doth the Contrivance and Design of the great GOD of Nature? What is Thought and Contrivance, if this be not? Namely, That there should be a temporary Part in the Body, made just for the present Exigence; to continue whilst there is occasion for it, and to cease when there is none; in some Creatures to remain always, by Reason of their amphibious Way of Living, and in Land-animals (purely such) to cease?
Another excellent Contrivance, a-kin to the last, is, for the Preservation of such Creatures whose occasions frequently necessitate them to live without, or with but little Respiration: Fishes might be named here, whose Habitation is always in the Waters; but these belong to an Element which I cannot at present engage in. But there are many Animals of our own Element, or partly so, whose Organs of Respiration, whose Blood, whose Heart, and other Instruments of Life, are admirably accommodated to their Method of Living: Thus many amphibious Creatures[p], who live in Water as well as Air; many quadrupeds, Birds, Insects, and other Animals, who can live some Hours, Days, yea, whole Winters, with little or no Respiration, in a Torpitude, or sort of Sleep, or middle State between Life and Death: The Provision made for these peculiar Occasions of Life, in the Fabrick of the Lungs, the Heart, and other Parts of such Creatures[q], is manifestly the Work of him, who as St. Paul saith[r], giveth to all Breath, and Life, and all Things.