FOOTNOTES:
[a] It is manifestly an Argument of Design, that in the Bodies of different Animals, there is an Agreement of the Parts, so far as the Occasions and Offices agree, but a difference of those, where there is a difference of these. In an Human Body are many Parts agreeing with those of a Dog for Instance; but in his Forehead, Fingers, Hand, Instruments of Speech, and many other Parts, there are Muscles, and other Members which are not in a Dog. And so contrariwise in a Dog, which is not in a Man. If the Reader is minded to see what particular Muscles are in a Man, that are not in a Dog; or in a Dog that are not in an Humane Body, let him consult the curious and accurate Anatomist Dr. Douglass’s Myogr. compar.
[] Galen having described the Muscles, Tendons, and other Parts of the Fingers, and their Motions, cries out, Considera igitur etiam hìc mirabilem Creatoris sapientiam! De Us. Part. L. 1. c. 18.
[c] And not only in the Hand, but in his Account of the Foot (L. 3.) he frequently takes notice of what he calls Artem, Providentiam & Sapientiam Conditoris. As Ch. 13. An igitur non equum est hìc quoque admirari Providentiam Conditoris, qui ad utrumque usum, eisi certè contrarium, exactè convenientes & consentientes invicem fabricatus est totius membri [tibiæ] particulas? And at the end of the Chap. Quòd si omnia quæ ipsarum sunt partium mente immutaverimus, neque invenerimus positionem aliam meliorem eâ quam nunc sortita sunt, neque figuram, neque magnitudinem, neque connexionem, neque (ut paucis omnia complectar) aliud quidquam eorum, quæ corporibus necessariò insunt, perfectissimam pronunciare oportet, & undique recte constitutam præsentem ejus constructionem. The like also concludes, Ch. 15.
[d] At enim Opisicis indistrii maximum est indicium (quemadmodum antè sapenumerò jam diximus) iis quæ ad alium usum fuerunt comparata, ad alias quoque utilitates abuti, neque laborare ut singulis utilitatibus singulas faciat proprius particulas. Galen. ub. supr. L. 9. c. 5.
CHAP. VI.
Of the Placing the Parts of Man’s Body.
In this Chapter, I propose to consider the Lodgment of the curious Parts of Man’s Body, which is no less admirable than the Parts themselves, all set in the most convenient Places of the Body, to minister to their own several Uses and Purposes, and assist, and mutually to help one another. Where could those faithful Watchmen the Eye, the Ear, the Tongue, be so commodiously plac’d, as in the upper Part of the Building? Where could we throughout the Body find so proper a Part to lodge four of the five Senses, as in the Head[a], near the Brain[], the common Sensory, a Place well guarded, and of little other Use than to be a Seat to those Senses? And, How could we lodge the fifth Sense, that of Touching otherwise[c], than to disperse it to all Parts of the Body? Where could we plant the Hand[d], but just where it is, to be ready at every Turn, on all Occasions of Help and Defence, of Motion, Action, and every of its useful Services? Where could we set the Legs and Feet, but where they are, to bear up, and handsomely to carry about the Body? Where could we lodge the Heart, to labour about the whole Mass of Blood, but in, or near the Center of the Body[e]? Where could we find Room for that noble Engine to play freely in? Where could we so well guard it against external Harms, as it is in that very Place in which it is lodg’d and secur’d? Where could we more commodiously Place, than in the Thorax and Belly, the useful Viscera of those Parts, so as not to swag, and jog, and over-set the Body, and yet to minister so harmoniously, as they do, to all the several Uses of Concoction, Sanguification, the Separation of various Ferments from the Blood, for the great Uses of Nature, and to make Discharges of what is useless, or would be burdensome or pernicious to the Body[f]? How could we plant the curious and great Variety of Bones, and of Muscles, of all Sorts and Sizes, necessary, as I have said, to the Support, and every Motion of the Body? Where could we lodge all the Arteries and Veins, to convey Nourishment; and the Nerves, Sensation throughout the Body? Where, I say, could we lodge all these Implements of the Body, to perform their several Offices? How could we secure and guard them so well, as in the very Places, and in the self same Manner in which they are already plac’d in the Body? And lastly, to name no more, What Covering, what Fence could we find out for the whole Body, better than that of Nature’s own providing, the Skin[g]? How could we shape it to, or brace it about every Part better, either for Convenience or Ornament? What better Texture could we give it, which although less obdurate and firm, than that of some other Animals; yet is so much the more sensible of every touch, and more compliant with every Motion? And being easily defensible by the Power of Man’s Reason and Art, is therefore much the properest Tegument for a reasonable Creature.
