Chapter 50

CHAP. VI.Of thePlacingthePartsof Man’s Body.

Of thePlacingthePartsof 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[b], 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 ofTouchingotherwise[c], than to disperse it to all Parts of theBody? 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 usefulVisceraof 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 theBody, 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.

FOOTNOTES:[a]Sensus, interpretes ac nuntii rerum, in capite, tanquam in arce, mirificè ad usus necessarios & facti, & collocati sunt. Nam oculi tanquam speculatores, altissimum locum obtinent; ex quo plurima conspicientes, fungantur suo munere. Et aures cum sonum recipere debeant, qui naturâ in sublime fertur; rectè in illis corporum partibus collocata sunt.Cic. de Nat. Deor. L. 2. c. 56. ubi plura de cæteris Sensibus.[b]Galenwell observes, that the Nerves ministring to Motion, are hard and firm, to be less subject to Injury; but those ministring to Sense, are soft and tender; and that for this Reason it is, that four of the five Senses are lodg’d so near the Brain,viz.partly to partake of the Brain’s Softness and Tenderness, and partly for the Sake of the strong Guard of the Skull. Vid.Gal. de Us. Part.L. 8. c. 5. 6.[c]SeeBook IV. Chap. 6. Note (c).[d]Quàm verò aptas, quamque multarum artium ministras Manus natura homini dedit?The Particulars of which, enumerated by him, see inCic. ubi supr.c. 60.[e]SeeBook VI. Chap. 5.[f]Ut in ædificiis Architecti avertunt ab oculis & naribus dominorum ea, quæ profluentia necessariò tetri essent aliquid habitura; sic natura res similes (scil. excrementa) procul amandavit à sensibus.Cicer. de Nat. Deor. L. 2. c. 56.[g]Compare hereGalen’s Observationsde Us. Part.L. 11. c. 15. AlsoL. 2. c. 6.See alsoCowper. Anat.where in Tab. 4. are very elegant Cuts of the Skin in divers Parts of the Body, drawn from microscopical Views; as also of thepapillæ Pyramidales, thesudoriferous Glandsand Vessels, theHairs, &c.

[a]Sensus, interpretes ac nuntii rerum, in capite, tanquam in arce, mirificè ad usus necessarios & facti, & collocati sunt. Nam oculi tanquam speculatores, altissimum locum obtinent; ex quo plurima conspicientes, fungantur suo munere. Et aures cum sonum recipere debeant, qui naturâ in sublime fertur; rectè in illis corporum partibus collocata sunt.Cic. de Nat. Deor. L. 2. c. 56. ubi plura de cæteris Sensibus.

[b]Galenwell observes, that the Nerves ministring to Motion, are hard and firm, to be less subject to Injury; but those ministring to Sense, are soft and tender; and that for this Reason it is, that four of the five Senses are lodg’d so near the Brain,viz.partly to partake of the Brain’s Softness and Tenderness, and partly for the Sake of the strong Guard of the Skull. Vid.Gal. de Us. Part.L. 8. c. 5. 6.

[c]SeeBook IV. Chap. 6. Note (c).

[d]Quàm verò aptas, quamque multarum artium ministras Manus natura homini dedit?The Particulars of which, enumerated by him, see inCic. ubi supr.c. 60.

[e]SeeBook VI. Chap. 5.

[f]Ut in ædificiis Architecti avertunt ab oculis & naribus dominorum ea, quæ profluentia necessariò tetri essent aliquid habitura; sic natura res similes (scil. excrementa) procul amandavit à sensibus.Cicer. de Nat. Deor. L. 2. c. 56.

[g]Compare hereGalen’s Observationsde Us. Part.L. 11. c. 15. AlsoL. 2. c. 6.See alsoCowper. Anat.where in Tab. 4. are very elegant Cuts of the Skin in divers Parts of the Body, drawn from microscopical Views; as also of thepapillæ Pyramidales, thesudoriferous Glandsand Vessels, theHairs, &c.

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