[aaa] It would be much too long a Task to insist upon it here as it deserves, and therefore concerning the whole Business of Rumination, I shall refer to J. Conr. Peyeri Merycolog. seu de Ruminantibus & Ruminatione Commentar. where he largely treateth of the several Ruminating Animals, of the Parts ministring to this Act, and the great Use and Benefit thereof unto them.
[bbb] There are too many Particulars to be insisted on, observable in the Passages of the Chyle, from the Guts to the Left Subclavian Vein, where it enters into the Blood; and therefore I shall only, for a Sample of this admirable Oeconomy, take notice of some of the main and more general Matters. And,
1. After the Food is become Chyle, and gotten into the Guts, it is an excellent Provision made, not only for its Passage through the Guts, but also for its Protrusion into the Lacteals, by the Peristaltick Motion and Valvulæ conniventes of the Guts. 2. It is an admirable Provision, that the Mouths of the Lacteals, and indeed the Lacteals primi generis themselves are small and fine, not wider than the Capillary Arteries are, lest by admitting Particles of the Nourishment grosser than the Capillaries, dangerous Obstructions might be thereby produced. 3. After the Reception of the Aliment into the Lacteals primi generis, it is a noble Provision for the Advancement of its Motion, that in the Mesenterick Glands, it meets with some of the Lymphæ-Ducts, and receives the Impregnations of the Lympha. And passing on from thence, it is no less Advantage. 4. That the Lacteals, and Lymphæ-Ducts meet in the Receptaculum Chyli, where the Aliment meeting with more of the Lympha, is made of a due Consistence, and Temperament, for its farther Advancement through the Thoracick Duct, and so into the Left Subclavian Vein and Blood. Lastly, This Thoracick Duct it self is a Part of great Consideration. For (as Mr. Cowper saith) If we consider in this Duct its several Divisions and Inosculations, its numerous Valves looking from below upwards, its advantagious Situation between the great Artery and Vertebræ of the Back, together with the Ducts discharging their refluent Lympha from the Lungs, and other neighbouring Parts, we shall find all conduce to demonstrate the utmost Art of Nature used in furthering the steep and perpendicular Ascent of the Chyle. Anat. Introduct.
[ccc] These, although noble Contrivances and Works of God, are too many to be insisted on, and therefore I shall refer to the Anatomists, particularly Dr. Willis Pharmaceut. Dr. Cole, in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 125. and Mr. Cowper’s elegant Cuts in Anat. Tab. 34, 35. and Append. Fig. 39, 40.
[ddd] In the Thornback, and some other Fishes, it is a very curious Provision that is made to supply the Paucity and Brevity of the Guts; by the Perforation of their single Gut, going not strait along, but round like a Pair of Winding Stairs; so that their Gut, which seems to be but a few Inches long, hath really a Bore of many Inches. But of these, and many other noble Curiosities and Discoveries in Anatomy, the Reader will, I hope, have a better and larger Account from the curious and ingenious Dr. Dowglas, who is labouring in those Matters.
[eee] Quibus bestiis erat is cibus, ut alius generis bestiis vescerentur, aut vires natura dedit, aut celeritatem: data est quibusdam etiam machinatio quædam, atque solertia, &c. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 48.
[fff] Among Reptiles that have a strange Faculty to shift for Food, &c. may be reckoned Eels, which, although belonging to the Waters, can creep on the Land from Pond to Pond, &c. Mr. Mosely of Mosely, saw them creep over the Meadows, like so many Snakes from Ditch to Ditch; which he thought, was not only for bettering their Habitation, but also to catch Snails in the Grass. Plot’s Hist. of Staffordshire, c. 7. §. 32.
And as early as the Year 1125, the Frost was so very intense, that the Eels were forced to leave the Waters, and were frozen to Death in the Meadows. Vid. Hakewill’s Apol. l. 2. Chap. 7. S. 2.
[ggg] Enumerare possum, ad pastum capessendum conficiendúmque, quæ sit in figuris animantium & quam solers, subtilisque descriptio partium, quámque admirabilis fabrica membrorum. Omnia enim quæ intus inclusa sunt, ita nata, atque ita locata sunt, ut nihil eorum supervacaneum sit, nihil ad vitam retinendam non necessarium. Dedit autem eadem Natura belluis & sensum, & appetitum, ut altero conatum haberent ad naturales pastus capessendos; altero secernerent pestifera à salutaribus. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 37. See [Book IV. Chap. 4.]
[hhh] It would be endless to give Instances of my own and others Observations of the prodigious Sagacity of divers Animals in Hunting, particularly Hounds, Setting-Dogs, &c. one therefore shall suffice of Mr. Boyl’s, viz. A Person of Quality——to make a Trial, whether a young Blood-Hound was well instructed,——caused one of his Servants——to walk to a Town four Miles off, and then to a Market-Town three Miles from thence.——The Dog, without seeing the Man he was to pursue, followed him by the Scent to the abovementioned Places, notwithstanding the Multitude of Market-People that went along in the same Way, and of Travellers that had occasion to cross it. And when the Blood-Hound came to the chief Market-Town, he passed through the Streets, without taking notice of any of the People there, and left not till he had gone to the House, where the Man he sought rested himself, and found him in an upper Room, to the wonder of those that followed him. Boyl. Determ. Nat. of Effluv. Chap. 4.