The next Thing I shall take notice of, will relate to the Humours of the Eye, and that only concerning the Mechanism of the Crystalline Humour; not its incomparable Transparency; nor its exact lenticular Form; nor its curious araneous Membrane[cc], that constringeth and dilateth it, and so varieth its Focus, (if any such Variation there be, as some affirm with great Probability,) nor lastly, its admirable Approach to or from the Retina, by help of the Ciliar Ligament[dd], according as Objects are far off or near, because these Things are what are usually taken notice of; but that which I shall observe is, the prodigious Art and Finery of its constituent Parts, it being, according to some late nice Microscopical Observations[ee], composed of divers thin Scales, and these made up of one single minutest Thread or Fibre, wound round and round, so as not to cross one another in any one Place, and yet to meet, some in two, and some in more different Centers; a Web not to be woven, an Optick Lens, not to be wrought by any Art less than infinite Wisdom.
Lastly, To conclude the Parts of this admirable Organ, I shall make only one Remark more, and that is about its Nerves. And here, among others, the admirable Make of the Optick Nerves might deserve to be taken notice of in the first Place, their Medullary Part[ff] terminating in the Brain it self, the Teguments propagated from the Meninges, and terminating in the Coats of the Eye, and their commodious Insertions into the Ball of the Eye, in some directly opposite to the Pupil of the Eye, in others obliquely towards one Side[gg]. But most of these Things have been treated of, and the Convenience hereof set forth by others that have written of God’s Works. I shall therefore take notice only of one wise Provision the Creator hath made about the Motion of the Eye, by uniting into one the Third Pair of Nerves, called the Motory Nerves[hh], each of which sending its Branches into each Muscle of each Eye, would cause a Distortion in the Eyes; but being united into one, near their Insertion into the Brain, do thereby cause both Eyes to have the same Motion; so that when one Eye is moved this way and that way, to this and that Object, the other Eye is turned the same way also.
Thus from this transient and slight View (I may call it) of the Parts of the Eye, it appears what an admirable Artist was the Contriver thereof. And now in the
Seventh and last Place, Let us consider what Provision this admirable Artist hath made for the Guard and Security of this so well formed Organ[ii]. And here we shall find the Guard equivalent to the Use and Excellency of the Part. The whole Organ fortified and fenced with strong, compact Bones, lodged in a strong, well made Socket, and the Eye it self guarded with a nice made Cover[kk]. Its Humours, and its inward Tunicks, are indeed tender, proportionate to their tender, curious Uses; but the Coats without, are context and callous, firm and strong. And in some Animals, particularly Birds[ll], some Part of those Tunicles have the Nature and Hardness of Bone or Horn.
But for Creatures, whose Eyes, like the rest of their Body, are tender, and without the Guard of Bones; there Nature hath provided for this necessary and tender Sense, a wonderful kind of Guard, by endowing the Creature with a Faculty of withdrawing its Eyes into its Head[mm], and lodging them in the same Safety with the Body.
Thus have I survey’d this first Sense of Animals, I may say in a cursory, not accurate, strict manner, considering the prodigious Workmanship thereof; but so, as abundantly to demonstrate it to be the Contrivance, the Work of no less a Being than the infinite Wise, Potent, and Indulgent Creator[nn]. For none less could compose so admirable an Organ, so adapt all its Parts, so adjust it to all Occasions, so nicely provide for every Use, and for every Emergency: In a word, none less than God, could, I say, thus contrive, order, and provide an Organ, as magnificent and curious as the Sense is useful; a Sense without which, as all the Animal World would be in perpetual Darkness, so it would labour under perpetual Inconveniencies, be exposed to perpetual Harms, and suffer perpetual Wants and Distresses. But now by this admirable Sense, the great God, who hath placed us in this World, hath as well provided for our comfortable Residence in it; enabled us to see and chuse wholsome, yea delicate Food, to provide our selves useful, yea gaudy Cloathing, and commodious Places of Habitation and Retreat. We can now dispatch our Affairs with Alacrity and Pleasure, go here and there as our Occasions call us. We can, if need be, ransack the whole Globe, penetrate into the Bowels of the Earth, descend to the bottom of the Deep, travel to the farthest Regions of this World, to acquire Wealth, to encrease our Knowledge, or even only to please our Eye and Fancy. We can now look about us, discern and shun the Precipices and Dangers which every where enclose us, and would destroy us. And those glorious Objects which fill the Heavens and the Earth, those admirable Works of God which every where surround us, and which would be as nothing to us, without being seen, do by means of this noble Sense present their Glories to us[oo], and fill us with Admiration and Pleasure. But I need not expatiate in the Usefulness and Praises of this Sense, which we receive the Benefit of every Moment, and the want, or any defect of which, we lament among our greatest Misfortunes.
Leaving then this Sense, I shall proceed to the other four, but more briefly treat of them, by reason we have so ample a Sample of the divine Art in the last, and may presume that the same is exerted in all as well as one. For a Demonstration of which, let us in the next Place carry our Scrutiny to the Sense of Hearing.
