FOOTNOTES:
[a] The Elephant being a Creature of prodigious Weight, the largest of all Animals; Pliny saith, hath its Legs accordingly made of an immense Strength, like Pillars, rather than Legs.
[] Deer, Hares, and other Creatures, remarkable for Swiftness, have their Legs accordingly slender, but withal strong, and every way adapted to their Swiftness.
[c] Thus the Feet of the Otter are made, the Toes being all conjoined with Membranes, as the Feet of Geese and Ducks are. And in Swimming, it is observable, that when the Foot goes forward in the Water, the Toes are close; but when backward, they are spread out, whereby they more forcibly strike the Water, and drive themselves forward. The same may be observed also in Ducks and Geese, &c.
Of the Castor or Beaver, the French Academists say, The Structure of the Feet was very extraordinary, and sufficiently demonstrated, that Nature hath designed this Animal to live in the Water, as well as upon Land. For although it had four Feet, like Terrestrial Animals, yet the hindmost seemed more proper to swim than walk with, the Five Toes of which they were compos’d, being joined together like those of a Goose by a Membrane, which serves this Animal to swim with. But the fore ones were made otherwise; for there was no Membrane which held those Toes joined together: And this was requisite for the Conveniency of this Animal, which useth them as Hands like a Squirrel, when he eats. Memoirs for a Nat. Hist. of Animals, pag. 84.
[d] The Mole’s Feet are a remarkable Instance.
[e] The Wings of the Bat are a prodigious Deviation from Nature’s ordinary Way. So ’tis in the Virginian Squirrel, whose Skin is extended between the Fore-Legs and its Body.
[f] Of the Legs of the Elk, the French Academists say, Although some Authors report, that there are Elks in Moscovia, whose Legs are jointless; there is great Probability, that this Opinion is founded on what is reported of those Elks of Muscovia, as well as of Cæsar’s Alce, and Pliny’s Machlis, that they have Legs so stiff and inflexible, that they do run on Ice without slipping; which is a Way that is reported that they have to save themselves from the Wolves, &c. ibid. p. 108.
[g] The common tame Goat (whose Habitation is generally on Mountains and Rocks, and who delighteth to walk on the tops of Pales, Houses, &c. and to take great and seemingly dangerous Leaps) I have observ’d, hath the Joints of the Legs very stiff and strong, the Hoof hollow underneath, and its Edges sharp. The like, I doubt not, is to be found the Wild Goat, considering what Dr. Scheuchzer hath said of its climbing the most dangerous Craggs of the Alps, and the Manner of their hunting it. Vid. Iter. Alpin. 3. p. 9.
[h] Thus in Apes and Monkeys, in the Beaver before, and divers others.
[] It is a singular Provision Nature hath made for the Strength of the Lion, if that be true, which Galen saith is reported of its Bones being not hollow (as in other Animals) but solid: Which Report he thus far confirms, that most of the Bones are so; and that those in the Legs, and some other Parts, have only a small and obscure Cavity in them. Vid. Galen. de Us. Part. L. 11. c. 18.
[k] These Sorts of Differences in the Mechanism of Animals, upon the Score of the Position of their Bodies, occur so often, that it would be no mean Service to Anatomy——if any one would give us a History of those Variations of the Parts of Animals, which spring from the different Postures of their Bodies. Drake Anat. V. 1. B. 1. c. 17.
CHAP. II.
Of the Heads of Quadrupeds.
It is remarkable, that in Man, the Head is of one singular Form; in the four-footed Race, as various as their Species. In some square and large, suitable to their slow Motion, Food, and Abode; in others less, slender, and sharp, agreeable to their swifter Motion, or to make their Way to their Food[a], or Habitation under Ground[]. But passing by a great many Observations that might be made of this Kind, I shall stop a little at the Brain, as the most considerable Part of this part of the Body, being the great Instrument of Life and Motion in Quadrupeds, as ’tis in Man of that, as also in all Probability the chief Seat of his immortal Soul. And accordingly it is a remarkable Difference, that in Man the Brain is large, affording Substance and Room for so noble a Guest; whereas in Quadrupeds, it is but small. And another Thing no less remarkable, is the Situation of the Cerebrum and Cerebellum, or the greater or lesser Brain, which I shall give in the Words of one of the most exact Anatomists we have of that Part[c]: “Since, saith he, God hath given to Man a lofty Countenance, to behold the Heavens, and hath also seated an immortal Soul in the Brain, capable of the Contemplation of heavenly Things; therefore, as his Face is erect, so the Brain is set in an higher Place, namely, above the Cerebellum and all the Sensories. But in Brutes, whose Face is prone towards the Earth, and whose Brain is capable of Speculation, the Cerebellum, (whose Business it is to minister to the Actions and Functions of the Præcordia, the principal Office in those Creatures) in them is situated in the higher Place, and the Cerebrum lower. Also some of the Organs of Sense, as the Ears and Eyes, are placed, if not above the Cerebrum, yet at least equal thereto.”
Another Convenience in this Position of the Cerebrum and Cerebellum, the last ingenious Anatomist[d] tells us is this, “In the Head of Man, saith he, the Base of the Brain and Cerebell, yea, of the whole Skull, is set parallel to the Horizon; by which Means there is the less Danger of the two Brains joggling, or slipping out of their Place. But in Quadrupeds, whose Head hangs down, the Base of the Skull makes a right Angle with the Horizon, by which Means the Brain is undermost, and the Cerebell uppermost; so that one would be apt to imagine the Cerebell should not be steady, but joggle out of its Place. To remedy which Inconvenience he tells us, And lest the frequent Concussions of the Cerebell should cause a Fainting, or disorderly Motion of the Spirits about the Præcordia, therefore, by the Artifice of Nature, sufficient Provision is made in all, by the dura Meninx closely encompassing the Cerebellum; besides which, it is (in some) guarded with a strong bony Fence; and in others, as the Hare, the Coney, and such lesser Quadrupeds, a part of the Cerebell is on each Side fenced with the Os Petrosum: So that by this double Stay, its whole Mass is firmly contained within the Skull.”
Besides these Peculiarities, I might take notice of divers other Things no less remarkable, as the Nictitating Membrane of the Eye[e], the different Passages of the Carotid Arteries[f] through the Skull, their Branching into the Rete Mirabile[g], the different Magnitude of the Nates, and some other Parts of the Brain in Beasts, quite different from what it is in Man: But the Touches already given, may be Instances sufficient to prevent my being tedious in inlarging upon these admirable Works of God.