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diff --git a/75254-0.txt b/75254-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..016a232 --- /dev/null +++ b/75254-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18527 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75254 *** + + + + + +PHYSICO-THEOLOGY + +=Transcriber’s Note:= Due to the age of this book, spelling, grammar, +hyphenation, capitalization etc do not conform to modern standards, +and in many cases are not even consistent within the text itself. +Text has been retained as printed. Exceptions were made for a few +extremely obvious printer’s errors (such as RAEDER for READER in the +heading TO THE READER, and confusion between similar-looking Hebrew +letters). + +Italic text is denoted _like this_; upright text within italic passages +~like this~; bold text =like this=. + + + + + _PHYSICO-THEOLOGY_: + OR, A + DEMONSTRATION + OF THE + BEING and ATTRIBUTES of GOD, + FROM HIS + _Works_ of _Creation_. + + Being the Substance of + Sixteen SERMONS + Preached in St. _Mary-le-Bow-Church, London_; + At the Honourable Mr. _BOYLE_’s LECTURES, + in the Years 1711, and 1712. + + With large NOTES, and many curious OBSERVATIONS. + + By W: DERHAM, Canon of _Windsor_, Rector + of _Upminster_ in _Essex_, and F. R. S. + + _Mala & impia consuetudo est contra Deos disputare, sive animo id + fit, sive simulatè._ Cicer. de Nat. Deor. L. 2. fine. + + _The FIFTH EDITION, more Correct than any of the former._ + + [Illustration] + + _LONDON_: Printed for W. and J. INNYS, at the + _Prince’~s~-Arms_ the West End of St. _Paul_’s. 1720. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +TO THE + +Most Reverend Father in GOD, + +_THOMAS_, + +Lord Archbishop of CANTERBURY. + +Primate of all _ENGLAND_, &c. + +The Surviving TRUSTEE of the Honourable Mr. _BOYLE_’s LECTURES. + + +_May it please Your Grace_, + +I may justly put these LECTURES under your Graces Patronage, their +Publication being wholly owing to You: For having the Honour to be a +Member of the ROYAL SOCIETY, as well as a _Divine_, I was minded to try +what I could do towards the Improvement of _Philosophical_ Matters to +_Theological_ Uses; and accordingly laid a Scheme of what I have here +published a Part of, and when I had little else to do, I drew up what +I had to say, making it rather the diverting Exercises of my _Leisure +Hours_, than more serious _Theological Studies_. This Work, (although +I made a considerable Progress in it at first, whilst a Novelty, yet) +having no Thoughts of Publishing, I laid aside, until your Grace, +being informed of my Design by some of my Learned Friends, both of the +Clergy and Laity, was pleased to call me to the unexpected Honour of +Preaching Mr. _Boyle_’s LECTURES: An Honour I was little aware of in my +Country-Privacy, and not much acquainted with Persons in high Stations, +and not at all, particularly, with your Grace. So that therefore as it +pleased your Grace, not only to confer an unsought profitable Honour upon +me (a Stranger) but also to continue it for Two Years, out of Your good +Opinion of my Performance, in some measure, answering Mr. _Boyle_’s End; +so I can do no less than make this publick, grateful Acknowledgment of +your Grace’s great and unexpected Favour. + +But it is not my self alone; but the whole LECTURE also is beholden to +your _Grace_’s kind and pious Endeavours. It was You that encouraged this +noble Charity, and assisted in the Settlement of it, in the Honourable +_Founder_’s Life-time; and since his Death, it was You that procured a +more certain Salary for the LECTURERS, paid more constantly and duly +than it was before[a]. + +These Benefits as I my self have been a Sharer of, so I should be very +ungrateful should I not duly acknowledge, and repay with my repeated +Thanks and good Wishes And that the infinite Rewarder of well-doing may +give Your _Grace_ a plentiful Reward of these, and Your many other, both +Publick and Private Benefactions, is the hearty Wish of, + + _Your GRACE’s + Most Humble and Thankful + Son and Servant_, + + W. DERHAM. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] It may not only gratify the Reader’s Curiosity, but also be of Use +for preventing Encroachments in Time to come, to give the following +Account of Mr. _Boyle_’s Lectures. + +Mr. _Boyle_, by a Codicil, dated _July 28. 1691._ and annexed to +his Will, charged his Messuage or Dwelling-House in St. _Michael_’s +_Crooked-Lane, London_, with the Payment of the clear Yearly Rents and +Profits thereof, to some Learned Divine in _London_, or within the Bills +of Mortality, to be Elected for a Term not exceeding Three Years, by his +Grace the present _Lord Archbishop_ of _Canterbury_ (then Dr. _Tenison_), +Sir _Henry Ashurst_, Sir _John Rotheram_, and _John Evelyn_, Esq; The +Business he appointed those Lectures for, was, among others, _to be +ready to satisfie real Scruples, and to answer such new Objections and +Difficulties, as might be started: to which good Answers had not been +made_. And also, _To Preach Eight Sermons in the Year, the first ~Monday~ +of ~January~, ~February~, ~March~, ~April~ and ~May~, and of ~September~, +~October~ and ~November~._ The Subject of these Sermons was to be, _The +Proof of the Christian Religion against notorious Infidels, ~viz.~ +Atheists, Theists, Pagans, Jews, and Mahometans, not descending lower to +any Controversies that are among Christians themselves_. But by Reason +the Lecturers were seldom continued above a Year, and that the House +sometimes stood empty, and Tenants brake, or failed in due Payment of +their Rent, therefore the Salary sometimes remained long unpaid, or could +not be gotten without some Difficulty: To remedy which Inconvenience, his +present _Grace_ of _Canterbury_ procured a Yearly Stipend of 50_l._ to be +paid Quarterly for ever, charged upon a Farm in the Parish of _Brill_, in +the County of _Bucks_: Which Stipend is accordingly very duly paid when +demanded, without Fee or Reward. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +TO THE READER. + + +[Sidenote: _Vid. Bp. ~Burnet~’s Funeral Serm. p. 24._] + +_As the noble ~Founder~ of the LECTURES I have had the Honour of +Preaching, was a great Improver ~of Natural Knowledge~, so, in all +Probability, he did it out of a pious End, as well as in Pursuit of his +~Genius~. For it was his settled Opinion, that nothing tended more to +cultivate true Religion and Piety in a Man’s Mind, than a thorough Skill +in Philosophy. And such Effect it manifestly had in him, as is evident +from divers of his published Pieces; from his constant Deportment in +~never mentioning the Name of GOD without a Pause, and visible Stop in +his Discourse~; and from the noble Foundation of his Lectures for the +Honour of GOD, and the generous Stipend he allowed for the same._ + +[Sidenote: _Vid. Mr. ~Boyle~’s Will._] + +_And forasmuch as his Lectures were appointed by him for the ~Proof of +the Christian Religion against Atheists and other notorious Infidels~, +I thought, when I had the Honour to be made his Lecturer, that I could +not better come up to his Intent, than to attempt a Demonstration of +the ~Being~ and ~Attributes of GOD~, in what I may call Mr. ~Boyle~’s +own, that is a ~Physico-Theological~, Way. And, besides that it was +for this very Service that I was called to this Honour, I was the +more induced to follow this Method, by reason none of my learned and +ingenious Predecessors in these Lectures, have done it on purpose, but +only casually, in a transient, piece-meal manner; they having made it +their Business to prove the great Points of Christianity in another +Way, which they have accordingly admirably done. But considering what +our ~Honourable Founder~’s Opinion was of ~Natural Knowledge~, and that +his Intent was, that those Matters by passing through divers Hands, and +by being treated of in different Methods, should take in most of what +could be said upon the Subject, I hope my Performance may be acceptable, +although one of the meanest._ + +_As for others, who have before me done something of this kind; as +~Mersenne~ on ~Genesis~; Dr. ~Cockburne~ in his ~Essays~; Mr. ~Ray~ +in his ~Wisdom of God~, &c. and I may add the first of Mr. ~Boyle~’s +~Lecturers~, the most learned Dr. ~Bently~ in his ~Boyle~’s ~Lectures~, +the eloquent Arch-Bishop of ~Cambray~, (and I hear, the ingenious Mons. +~Perault~ hath something of this kind, but never saw it:) I say, as to +these learned and ingenious Authors, as the Creation is an ample Subject, +so I industriously endeavour’d to avoid doing over what they before had +done; and for that Reason did not, for many Years, read their Books until +I had finish’d my own. But when I came to compare what each of us had +done, I found my self in many Things to have been anticipated by some or +other of them, especially by my Friend, the late great Mr. ~Ray~. And +therefore in some Places I shorten’d my Discourse, and referr’d to them; +and in a few others, where the Thread of my Discourse would have been +interrupted, I have made use of their Authority, as the best Judges; as +of Mr. ~Ray~’s, for Instance, with Relation to the Mountains and their +Plants, and other Products. If then the Reader should meet with any +Thing mention’d before by others, and not accordingly acknowledged by +me, I hope he will candidly think me no Plagiary, because I can assure +him I have along, (where I was aware of it,) cited my Authors with their +due Praise. And it is scarce possible, when Men write on the same, or +a Subject near a-kin, and the Observations are obvious, but that they +must often hit upon the same Thing: And frequently this may happen from +Persons making Observations about one, and the same Thing, without +knowing what each other hath done; which indeed, when the first Edition +of my Book was nearly printed off, I found to be my own Case, having +(for want of Dr. ~Hook~’s ~Micrography~ being at hand, it being a very +scarce Book, and many Years since I read it,) given Descriptions of two +or three Things, which I thought had not been tolerably well observ’d +before, but are describ’d well by that curious Gentleman._ + +_One is a ~Feather~, the Mechanism of which we in the main agree in, +except in his Representation in ~Fig. 1. Scheme 22.~ which is somewhat +different from what I have represented in my ~Fig. 18, &c.~ But I can +stand by the Truth, though not the Elegance of my Figures. But as to +the other Differences, they are accidental, occasion’d by our taking +the Parts in a different View, or in a different Part of a Vane; and +to say the Truth, (not flattering my self, or detracting from the +admirable Observations of that great Man,) I have hit upon a few Things +that escap’d him, being enabled to do so, not only by the Help of such +Microscopes as he made use of; but also by those made by Mr. ~Wilson~, +which exceed all I ever saw, whether of ~English~, ~Dutch~, or ~Italian~ +make; several of which Sorts I have seen and examined._ + +_The other Thing we have both of us figur’d and describ’d, is, ~The +Sting of a Bee or Wasp~; in which we differ more than in the last. +But by a careful Re-examination, I find, that although Dr. ~Hook~’s +Observations are more critical than any were before, yet they are not so +true as mine. For as to the ~Scabbard~, (as he calls it,) I could never +discover any Beards thereon; and I dare be confident there are none, but +what are on the two Spears. And as to the Point of the ~Scabbard~, he +hath represented it as tubular, or bluntish at the Top; but it really +terminates in a sharp Point, and the two Spears and the Poyson come out +at a Slit, or longish Hole, a little below the Top or Point. And as to +the Spears, he makes them to be but one, and that the Point thereof lies +always out of the Scabbard. But by a strict Examination, they will be +found to be two, as I have said, and that they always lie within the +Scabbard, except in stinging; as I have represented them, in ~Fig. 21.~ +from the transparent Sting of a Wasp. And as to the Spear being made of +Joynts, and parted into two, as his ~Fig. 2. Scheme 16.~ represents, I +could never upon a Review, discover it to be so, but imagine, that by +seeing the Beards lying upon, or behind the Spears, he might take them +for Joynts, and by seeing the Point of one Spear lie before the other, he +might think the Spear was parted in two. But lest the Reader should think +himself imposed upon both by Dr. ~Hook~ and my ~Self~, it is necessary +to be observ’d, that the ~Beards~ (or ~Tenterhooks~ as Dr. ~Hook~ calls +them) lie only on one Side of each Spear, not all round them; and are +therefore not to be seen, unless they are laid in a due Posture in the +Microscope, ~viz.~ sideways, not under, or atop the Spear._ + +_The last Thing (which scarce deserves mention) is the Mechanism of the +~Hair~, which Dr. ~Hook~ found to be solid, like a long Piece of Horn, +not hollow, as ~Malpighi~ found it in some Animals. And I have found +both those great Men to be in some Measure in the Right, the Hair of +some Animals, or in some Parts of the Body being very little, if at all +tubular; and in others, particularly ~Mice~, ~Rats~ and ~Cats~, to be as +I have represented in my ~Fig. 14.~ &c._ + +_And now if my Inadvertency in other Things hath no worse Effect than +it hath had in these, namely, to confirm, correct, or clear others +Observations, I hope the Reader will excuse it, if he meets with any +more of the like kind. But not being conscious of any such Thing +(although probably there may be many such) I am more sollicitous to +beg the Reader’s Candour and Favour, with Relation both to the ~Text~ +and ~Notes~: In the former of which, I fear he will think I have much +under-done, as in the latter over-done the Matter: But for my Excuse, +I desire it may be consider’d, that the textual Part being Sermons, to +be deliver’d in the Pulpit, it was necessary to insist but briefly upon +many of the Works of GOD, and to leave out many Things that might have +been admitted in a more free Discourse. So that I wish it may not be +thought I have said too much rather than too little for such an Occasion +and Place. And indeed, I had no small Trouble in expunging some Things, +altering many, and softening the most, and, in a word, giving in some +measure the Whole a different Dress than what I had at first drawn it up +in, and what it now appears in._ + +_And as for the ~Notes~, which may be thought too large, I confess I +might have shorten’d them, and had Thoughts of doing it, by casting some +of them into the Text, as an ingenious, learned Friend advis’d. But when +I began to do this, I found it was in a Manner to new-make all, and +that I should be necessitated to transcribe the greatest Part of the +Book, which (having no Assistant) would have been too tedious for me, +being pretty well fatigu’d with it before. I then thought it best to +pare off from some, and to leave out others, and accordingly did so in +many Places, and would have done it in more, particularly, in many of +the ~Citations~ out of the ~Ancients~, both ~Poets~ and others, as also +in many of the ~anatomical Observations~, and many of my own and others +Observations: But then I consider’d as to the First, that those Citations +do (many of them at least) shew the Sense of Mankind about God’s Works, +and that the most of them may be acceptable to young Gentlemen at the +Universities, for whose Service these Lectures are greatly intended. +And as to the anatomical Notes, and some others of the like Nature, +most of them serve either to the Confirmation, or the Illustration, or +Explication of the Text, if not to the learned, yet to the unskilful, +less learned Reader; for whose sake, if I had added more, I believe he +would forgive me. And lastly, as to the Observations of my self and some +others, where it happens that they are long, it is commonly where a +Necessity lay upon me of fully expressing the Author’s Sense, or my own, +or where the Thing was new, and never before Publish’d; in which Case, it +was necessary to be more Express and Particular, than in Matters better +known, or where the Author may be referr’d unto._ + +_In the former Editions I promised ~another Part I~ Had ~relating to +the Heavens~, if I was thereunto encouraged. And two large Impressions +of this Book, having been sold off, so as to admit of a Third before +the Year was gone about; and hearing that it is translated into two, if +not three Languages; but especially being importuned by divers learned +Persons, both known and unknown, I have thought my self sufficiently +engaged to perform that Promise; and have accordingly published that +Part._ + +_So that I have now carry’d my ~Survey~ through most Parts of the visible +Creation, except the ~Waters~, which are for the most Part omitted; and +the ~Vegetables~, which, for want of Time, I was forced to treat of in a +perfunctory Manner. And to the Undertaking of the former of these, having +receiv’d divers Sollicitations from Persons unknown as well as known, +I think my self bound in Civility to own their Favour, and to return +them my hearty Thanks for the kind Opinion they have shewn of my other +Performances, that they have encourag’d me to undertake this other Task. +And accordingly I have begun it, and (as far as my Affairs will permit) +have made some Progress in it: But Age and Avocations growing upon me, +I begin to fear I shall scarce be able to finish it as I would, and +therefore must recommend that ample and noble Subject to others, who have +more leisure, and would do it better than I._ + +_As to ~Additions~, I have been much sollicited thereto by divers curious +and learned Persons, who would have had me to insert some of their +Observations, and many more of my own: But in a Work of this Nature, this +would have been endless; and although the Book would thereby be render’d +much better, and more compleat, yet I could by no Means excuse so great +an Injustice to the Purchasers of the former Editions. And therefore +(except in the second Edition, where it was not easy to be avoided) few +Additions or Alterations have been made, besides what were Typographical, +or of small Consideration. Only in the third Edition I amended the first +Paragraph of ~Note (a). Chap. 5. Book 1.~ concerning ~Gravity~; and in +the Fourth, ~Page 16.~ and ~18.~ I inserted two Passages out of ~Seneca~, +that were inadvertently left out, and corrected many Things, that upon a +careful Review, seem’d to want amendment._ + +_And lastly, as to the following ~Analysis~, it was added at the Request +of some of my learned and ingenious Friends; and although it might have +been contracted, they would not suffer it to be so._ + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +AN + +ANALYSIS + +OF THE + +Following BOOK. + + +The Works of the Creation relating to our Terraqueous Globe, are such as +are visible in the + + Outworks or Appendages of the Globe, _viz._ these three: + 1. The Atmosphere + Composed of Air and Vapours, _Page_ 4. + Useful to + Respiration and Animal Life 5. + Vegetation of Plants 9. + Conveyance of + The winged Tribes. + Sound 11. + The Functions of Nature. + Reflecting and Refracting Light 12. + Containing the + Winds, which are of great Use and Necessity + To the Salubrity and Pleasure of the Air 14. + In various Engines 18. + In Navigation. + Clouds and Rain: Of great Use to the + Refreshment of the Earth and the things therein 20. + Origine of Fountains, according to some 23. + 2. Light. Its + Fountain 26. + Wonderful Necessity and Use. + Improvement by Glasses 28. + Velocity. + Expansion 29. + 3. Gravity. + Its great Benefit 33. + Cause of _Levity_, which is of great Use in the World 35. + + Terraqueous Globe it self. Of which I take a View in General of. + Its Spherical Figure, which is the most commodious in regard of, + Light 40. + Heat. + Lodgment of the Waters. + The Winds 41. + Its Bulk 43. + Its Motion _ibid._ + Annual. + Diurnal. + Its Place and Distance from the Sun, and other heavenly Bodies 46. + Its Distribution, so as to cause all the Parts of the Globe to + Balance each other 48. + Be helpful to one another. + The great Variety and Quantity of all things serving for Food, + Physick, Building, and every Use and Occasion of all Ages, + Places, and Creatures 53. + An Objection answered 55. + + Particular of the Earth: of its Constituent Parts, _viz._ Its + Soils and Moulds, necessary to the + Growth of various Vegetables 61. + Various Occasions of Man, and other Animals 62. + Various Strata or Beds, affording Materials for + Tools. + Firing. + Building. + Dying, and thousands of other things 64. + Conveyance of the sweet Fountain-Waters 65. + Subterraneous Caverns and Vulcano’s; of great Use to the + Countries where they are 67. + Mountains and Valleys, which are not rude Ruins, but Works of + Design, inasmuch as this Structure of the Earth is + The most beautiful and pleasant. + The most Salubrious: to some Constitutions, the Hills; to some, + the Valleys 71. + Best to skreen us, and other things 72. + Beneficial to the + Production of various Vegetables. + Harbour and Maintenance of various Animals 73. + Generation of Minerals and Metals 75. + Absolutely necessary to the Conveyance of the Rivers; and in + all probability to the Origine of Fountains _ibid._ + Conclusion against blaming GOD 81. + + Its Inhabitants; which are either _Sensitive_ or _Insensitive_. + + Concerning the Sensitive, some things are + Common to all the Tribes, particularly these Ten: + I. The five Senses and their Organs; the 85. + Eye, an admirable Piece of Mechanism in regard of its + Form, for the most part Spherical, which is best for + The Reception of Objects. + Motion of the Eye 90. + Situation in the most commodious part of the Body of every + Creature. + Motion, in some Animals, + Every way. + Fixed; and the excellent Provision in that case 91. + Size: which is in + All Creatures, according to their Occasions. + Such as live abroad in the Light; larger. + Such as live under ground, less. + Number, in some Animals: + Two 94. + More: Together with the wise Provision to prevent double + Vision. + Parts; some of which are viewed + Transiently, the Arteries, Veins, and some of the Muscles + and Tunicks. + More strictly some of the + Muscles, and the excellent Provision made for their + peculiar Uses, Equilibration, _&c._ 96. + Tunicks: Among which the various Apertures, Forms, and + Positions of the Pupil are particularly noted 99. + Humours, especially the prodigious Finery and + Composition of the Crystalline, according to + Mr. _Lewenhoeck_. + Nerves 105. + Optick. + Motory. + Guard and Security, provided for by + The Reparation of the Aqueous Humour. + Covering of the Eye Lids. + Strong and curious Bones. + Hard and firm Tunicks. + Withdrawing them into their Heads 109. + Of erect Vision 111. + Hearing. Its + Organ, the Ear, 113. + Double, enabling us to hear every way, and a good Provision + for the Loss or Hurt of one. + Situated in the very best place for Information, Security, + and near the Eye and Brain. + The Fabrick of the Outward Ear, which is in + All Creatures formed, guarded, placed, and every way + accoutered according to their various Places and + Occasion 115. + Man suitable to his erect Posture; and all its Parts, + the _Helix_, _Tragus_, _Concha_, &c. admirably suited + to the Reception and Melioration of Sounds, and the + Security of the Part. + Inward Ear: In which I take a View of the 121. + Auditory Passage, curiously tunnelled, tortuous and + smooth and being always open, is lined with the + nauseous Ear-wax for a Guard. + Tuba Eustachiana 122. + Bone, particularly hard and context for Guard, and + to assist the Sound. + Tympanum, and its Membrane, Muscles, and four little + Bones to correspond to all kinds of Sound. + Labyrinth, Semicircular Canals, Cochlea; all made with + the utmost Art 127. + Auditory Nerves, one of which is ramified to the Eye, + Tongue, Muscles of the Ear, and to the Heart; + whence a great Sympathy between those Parts 128. + Object, Sound. Under which I consider, + The Improvements thereof by the Wit of Man 129. + Its great Necessity, and excellent Uses 132. + Its Pleasure, and the Power of Musick 134. + Smelling. In which sense these things are remarkable; the + Nostrils, always open, cartilaginous, and endowed with + Muscles 137. + Laminæ, serving for + A Guard against noxious Things 138. + The spreading of the Olfactory Nerves. + Prodigious Use of it in all, especially some of the + Irrationals 139. + Taste. The Things most remarkable in which Sense are, the + Nerves spread about the Tongue and Mouth, with their Guard. + The Papillæ, neatly made 140. + Situation thereof to be a Centinel to the Stomach and Food. + Consent thereof with the other Senses, by some Branches of + the fifth Pair 141. + Feeling. 142. + Whose Organ is the Nerves 143. + Which is dispersed through every Part of the Body, and the + admirable Benefit thereof. + II. Respiration the grand Act of Animal Life 145. + Ministering to the Circulation of the Blood and Diastole of + the Heart. + The Parts concerned therein are + The Larynx, with its great Variety of Muscles, _&c._ for + Respiration, and forming the Voice 148. + Trachea and Epiglottis, exquisitely contriv’d and made. + Bronchi and Lungs, with their curious Arteries, Veins and + Nerves 150. + Ribs, Diaphragm, and the several Muscles concerned. + Its Defects in the + Fœtus in the Womb 153. + Amphibious Creatures 157. + Some Animals in Winter. + III. The Motion of Animals: Concerning which I consider + Transiently the + Muscles, and their Structure, their Size, Fastening to the + Joynts, Motions, _&c._ 158. + Bones, and their curious Make. + Joynts, with their Form, Bandage and Lubricity 161. + Nerves, and their Origine, Ramifications and Inosculations. + More particularly the Loco-Motive Act it self, which is + Swift or slow, with Wings, Legs many or few, or none at all, + according to the various Occasions and Ways of Animals + Lives. As particularly in + Reptiles, whose Food and Habitation is near at hand. + Man and Quadrupeds, whose Occasions require a larger Range, + and therefore a swifter Motion 164. + Birds, and Insects, whose Food, Habitation and Safety + require yet a larger Range, and have accordingly a yet + swifter Motion and direct Conveyance. + Geometrically and neatly performed by the nicest Rules. + Well provided for by the + Due Equipoise of the Body 165. + Motive Parts being accurately placed with regard to the + Center of the Body’s Gravity, and to undergo their + due Proportion of Weight and Exercise. + IV. The _Place_ allotted to the several Tribes of Animals to + live and act in. Concerning which I observe that + Their Organs are adapted to their Place 167. + All Places habitable are duly stocked. + Various Animals have their various Places; and the Wisdom + thereof 168. + V. The Balance of Animals Numbers, so that the World is not + Overstocked by their Increase. + Depopulated by their Death. + Which is effected in + The several Tribes of Animals by a due Proportion in the + Length of their Life 169. + Number of their Young, in + Useful Creatures being many. + Pernicious few. + Man very remarkably by the + Different Length of his Life. + Soon after the Creation 171. + When the World was more, but not fully peopled 171. + When it was sufficiently stocked, down to the present + time. + Due Proportions of Marriages, Births and Burials 174. + Balance of Males and Females 175. + VI. The Food of Animals. In which the Divine Management and + Providence appears in the 179. + Maintaining such large Numbers of all kinds of Animals on + the Land, in the Seas, and divers Places too unlikely + to afford sufficient Food. + Adjustment of the Quantity of Food to the Number of Devourers, + so that + There is not too much, so as to rot, and annoy the World 181. + The most useful is most plentiful, and easiest propagated _ibid._ + Delight which the various Tribes of Animals have to the + Varieties of Food, so that what is grateful to one, is + nauseous to another: Which is a wise means to cause + All Creatures to be sufficiently supplied. + All sorts of Food to be consumed. + The World to be kept sweet and clean by those means 183. + Peculiar Food, that particular Places afford to the Creatures + residing therein 184. + Curious Apparatus in all Animals for Gathering, and Digestion + of their Food, _viz._ the + Mouth, nicely shaped for Food, _&c._ In + Some, little and narrow 189. + Some, with a large deep Incisure. + Insects very notable to catch, hold and devour Prey; to + carry Burdens, to bore and build their Habitations 190. + Birds as notable, Horned in all. In some + Hooked for Rapine, climbing, _&c._ 192. + Sharp and strong to pierce Trees, _&c._ + Long and slender to grope. + Long and broad to quaffer. + Thick and sharp edged to husk Grain. + Compressed to raise Limpets, _&c._ + Teeth, which are peculiarly hard, firmly inserted in the + Jaws, variously shaped in the same, and different + Animals, deficient young Creatures, _&c._ 194. + Salival Glands, commodiously placed for Mastication and + Deglutition 196. + Muscles and Tendons, serving to Mastication, strong and + well lodged. + Gullet, sized according to the Food; with curious Fibres, + _&c._ 196. + Stomach; 197. + Which hath a curious Mechanism of Fibres, Tunicks, Glands, + Nerves, Arteries and Veins. + Whose Faculty of Digestion by such seeming weak Menstruums + is admirable. + Whose Size and Strength is conformable to the Nature of + the Food, or Occasions of Animals. + Which is in + Tame Animals but one. + Ruminants, Birds, _&c._ more. + Guts, whose Tunicks, Glands, Fibres, Valves, and Peristaltick + Motion deserve Admiration 201. + Lacteals, together with the Impregnations from the + Pancreas, Gall, Glands, and Lymphæducts. + Sagacity of all Animals in finding out, and providing Food. In + Man less remarkable for the sake of his Understanding 202. + Inferiour Creatures. In such as are + Come to mature Age, and are able to help themselves, by their + Accurate Smell 203. + Natural Craft. + Hunting and groping out of Sight. + Seeing and Smelling at great Distances 205. + Climbing; the strong Tendons and Muscles acting therein. + Seeing in the dark. + Helpless. As 207. + Young Creatures. + Man, born the most helpless of any, the Parents Reason, + Hands and Affection sufficing. + Irrationals: For whose Young the Creator hath made a + sufficient Provision partly by the + Parent-Animal’s own + Στοργὴ, and Diligence in Nursing and Defending them 207. + Sagacity and Care in repositing their Eggs and Young, + where Food and all Necessaries are to be found 209. + Ability of the Young themselves to shift for, and help + themselves, with the little Helps of their Dams 210. + Creatures destitute of Food at some Seasons, or likely to + want it, who + Are able to live long without Food 211. + Lay up Food before-hand. + VII. The Cloathing of Animals, which is 214. + Suited to the Place and Occasions of all. In + Man, it is left to his own Reason and Art, joined with + sufficient Materials: Which is best for him, + Because he may sute his Cloathing to his Quality and + Business 218. + For Perspiration and Health sake. + To exercise his Art and Industry. + To excite his Diligence in keeping himself sweet and clean. + In being the Parent of divers Callings 219. + Irrationals: Who are either + Ready furnished with proper Cloathing. + On the dry Land with Hair, Fleeces, Furrs, Shells, hard + Skins, _&c._ 220. + In the Air with Feathers, light, strong and warm. + In the Waters with Scales, hard for Guard; smooth for + Passage; or with strong Shells to guard such as move + more slowly 223. + Provide for themselves by their Textrine, or Architechtonick + Art. Of which under the next Branch. + Well garnished, being all Workman-like, compleat, in its kind + beautiful, being 224. + Adorned with gay, various and elegant Colours. + If sordid, yet with exact Symmetry, and full of curious + Mechanism. + VIII. The Houses and Habitations of + Man, who is abundantly furnished with + Contrivance and Art to build and garnish his Habitations 226. + Materials of all sorts to effect his Works. + Irrationals, whose marvellous Instinct is manifested by the + Convenience of their Nests and Habitations for the + Hatching and Education of their Young 228. + Guard and Defence of themselves and their Young. + Fabrick of their Nests, scarce imitable by Man, and shewn by + their Contrivance and Make, being exactly suitable to + their Occasions, and made by + Putting only a few ugly Sticks, Moss, Dirt, _&c._ together 231. + Building Combs according to the best Rules of Mathematicks. + Weaving Webs, and making Cases. For which Service the Parts + of their Bodies, and Materials afforded by them are very + considerable. + IX. Animals Self-Preservation. For which there is always a Guard + in proportion to the Dangers and Occasions of their State. + Which is observable in + Man, whose Reason and Art supplies the Defect of Natural + Armature. + Irrational Creatures; who + As they are on one Hand sufficiently guarded by their + Shells, Horns, Claws, Stings, _&c._ 239. + Changing their Colours. + Wings, Feet, and Swiftness. + Diving in, and tinging the Waters. + Ejecting Juices out of their Body. + Accurate Smell, Sight and Hearing. + Natural Craft 243. + Uncouth Noise, ugly Gesticulations, and horrid Aspect. + Horrible Stink and Excrements. + So on the other Hand can by their Strength, Sagacity, + or natural Artifices entrap and captivate, what is + necessary for their Food and other Occasions. + X. Animal’s Generation. + Equivocal, is denied 244. + Univocal, Which of + Man, is οὐ πρέπειας ἕνεκα, passed wholly by + Irrational Creatures, which is remarkable for their + Sagacity in chusing the fittest Place for their Eggs + and Young: Where it is observable what a + Compleat Order they observe. + Neat Apparatus their Bodies are provided with for this + purpose 248. + Natural Venom they inject with their Eggs into Vegetables + to pervert Nature, and produce Balls, and Cases 250. + Making use of the fittest Seasons, either + All Seasons 251. + When Provisions are most plentiful and easiest had. + Due Number of Young 252. + Diligence and Concern for their Young, in point of + Incubation 253. + Safety and Defence 254. + Faculty of Nursing their Young, by + Suckling them. In which it is observable + How suitable this Food is. + How willingly parted with by all, even the most savage. + What a compleat Apparatus in all Creatures of Dugs, _&c._ + Putting Food in their Mouths, with their proper Parts + for catching and conveying Food 255. + Neither way, but by laying in Provisions before-hand 256. + + Having in the Fourth Book thus dispatched the Decad of Things in + common to the _Sensitive Creatures_, I take a view of their + particular Tribes, _viz._ of + _Man_; whom I consider with relation to his + Soul. Concerning which having cursorily mentioned divers things, + I insist upon two as shewing an especial divine Management, + the + Various Genii, or Inclinations of Men, which is a wise + Provision for the Dispatch for all the World’s Affairs, + and that they may be performed with Pleasure 263. + Inventive Faculty, In which it is remarkable that + Its Compass is so large, extending to all things of Use, and + occasioning so many several Callings. + Things of greatest Necessity and Use were soon and easily + found out; but things less useful later, and dangerous + things not yet. Here of divers particular Inventions, + with an Exhortation to exercise and improve our Gifts. + Body. In which the things particularly remarked upon are the + Erect Posture 282. + The most convenient for a Rational Being. + Manifestly intended, as appears from the Structure + of some particular Parts mentioned 285. + Nice Structure of the Parts ministring thereto. + Equilibration of all the Parts 286. + Figure and Shape of Man’s Body most agreeable to his Place + and Business 287. + Stature and Size, which is much the best for Man’s State 288. + Structure of the Parts, which are + Without Botches and Blunders. + Of due Strength. + Of the best Form. + Most accurately accommodated to their proper Offices. + Lodgment of the Parts, as the + Five Senses 297. + Hand. + Legs and Feet, + Heart. + Viscera. + Several Bones and Muscles, _&c._ 298. + Covering of all with the Skin. + Provision in Man’s Body to + Prevent Evils by the + Situation of the Eyes, Ears, Tongue and Hand 300. + Guard afforded all, especially the principal Parts. + Duplication of some Parts. + Cure Evils by means of + Proper Emunctories 301. + Diseases themselves making Discharges of things more + dangerous 303. + Pain giving Warning, and exciting our Endeavours. + Consent of the Parts, effected by the Nerves, a Sample + whereof is given in the Fifth Pair, branched to the + Eye, Ear, _&c._ + Political, sociable State. For the Preservation and Security + of which the Creator hath taken by variety of Mens. + Faces 308. + Voices. + Hand-writing. + _Quadrupeds._ Of which I take no notice, but wherein they differ + from Man, _viz._ + Prone Posture, which is considerable for + The Parts ministering to it, especially the Legs and Feet, + sized and made in some for + Strength and slow Motion 315. + Agility and Swiftness. + Walking and Running. + Walking and Swimming. + Walking and Flying. + Walking and Digging. + Traversing the Plains. + Traversing Ice, Mountains, &c. + Its Usefulness to + Gather Food 317. + Catch Prey. + Climb, Leap and Swim. + Guard themselves. + Carry Burdens, Till the Ground, and other Uses of Man. + Parts differing from those of Man. + Head, wherein I consider + Its Shape, commonly agreeable to the Animal’s Motion 319. + The Brain, which is, + Lesser than in Man 319. + Placed lower than the Cerebellum. + The Nictitating Membrane 321. + Carotid Arteries, and Rete Mirabile. + Nates. + Neck. + Answering the Length of the Legs 322. + Strengthened by the Whitleather. + Stomach, 324. + Corresponding to the several Species. + Suited to their Proper Food, whether Flesh, Grain, &c. + Heart: Its + Ventricles in some + One only 325. + Two. + Three, as some think. + Situation nearer the midst of the Body, than in Man. + Want of the Fattening of the Pericardium to the Midriff 327. + Nervous kinds. A Sample of which is given in the different + Correspondence between the Head and Heart of Man and Beast + by the means of the Nerves. 329. + _Birds._ Concerning which I take a View of their + Body and Motion; where I consider + The Parts concerned in their Motion 333. + The Shape of the Body, made exactly for swimming in, and + passing through the Air. + Feathers, which are + Most exactly made for Lightness and Strength. + All well placed in every Part, for the Covering and + Motion of the Body. + Preened and dressed 334. + Wings, which are + Made of the very best Materials, _viz._ of _Bones_ + light and strong; _Joynts_ exactly opening, shutting, + and moving, as the Occasions of Flight require; and + the _Pectoral Muscles_, of the greatest Strength of + any in the whole Body. + Placed in the nicest point of the Body of every Species, + according to the Occasions of Flight, Swimming or + Diving. + Tail, which is well made, and placed to keep the Body + steady, and assist in its Ascents and Descents 337. + Legs and Feet, which are made light for Flight, and + incomparably accoutred for their proper Occasions of + Swimming 338. + Walking. + Catching Prey. + Roosting. + Hanging. + Wading and Searching the Waters. + Lifting them upon their Wings. + Motion it self. + Performed by the nicest Laws of Mechanicks. + Answering every Purpose and Occasion. + Other Parts of the Body, _viz._ the + Head, remarkable for the commodious + Shape of it self 341. + Forms of the Bill. + Site of the Eye and Ear. + Position of the Brain. + Structure of the + Larynx. + Tongue. + Inner Ear. + Provision by Nerves in the Bill for tasting and + distinguishing Food 344. + Stomachs, one to + Macerate and prepare 345. + Grind and digest + Lungs incomparably made for + Respiration 346. + Making the Body buoyant. + Neck, which is made + In due Proportion to the Legs. + To search in the Waters, and + To counterpoise the Body in Flight. + State. Of which I take notice of three Things, _viz._ their + Migration remarkable for + The Knowledge Birds have of + Their Times of Passage 348. + The Places proper for them. + Their Accommodation for long Flights by long or else + strong Wings. + Incubation, which is considerable for + The Egg, and its parts 351. + Act itself; that these Creatures should betake themselves + to it, know this to be the Way to produce their Young, + and with delight and Patience fit such a due Number + of Days. + The Neglect of it in any, as the Ostrich, and the wonderful + Provision for the Young in that Case 354. + Nidification. Of which before. + _Insects._ Which, altho’ a despised Tribe, doth in some Respects + more set forth the infinite Power and Wisdom of the Creator, + than the larger Animals. + The things in this Tribe remarked upon are their + Body 359. + Shaped, not so much for long Flights, as for their Food, + and Condition of Life. + Built not with Bones, but with what serves both for Bones + and Covering too. + Eyes, reticulated to see all ways at once 360. + Antennæ, and their Use 361. + Legs and Feet made for + Creeping 363. + Swimming and Walking. + Hanging on smooth Surfaces. + Leaping. + Digging. + Spinning and Weaving Webs and Cases. + Wings, which are + Nicely distended with Bones 365. + Some incomparably adorned with Feathers and elegant + Colours. + Some joynted and folded up in their Elytra, and distended + again at pleasure. + In Number either + Two, with Poises. + Four, without Poises. + Surprizing Minuteness of some of those Animals themselves, + especially of their Parts, which are as numerous and + various as in other Animal Bodies 367. + State: which sets forth a particular Concurrence of the + Divine Providence, in the wise and careful Provision + that is made for their + Security against Winter, by their + Subsisting in a different, _viz._ their Nympha or Aurelia + state 369. + Living in Torpitude, without any Waste of Body or Spirits 370. + Laying up Provision before-hand. + Preservation of their Species by their + Chusing proper Places, to lay up their Eggs and Sperm, so + that the + Eggs may have due Incubation 373. + Young sufficient Food. + Care and Curiosity in repositing their Eggs in neat Order, + and with the proper Part uppermost 382. + Incomparable Art of Nidification, by being endow’d with + Parts proper for, and agreeable to the several Ways of + Nidification, and the Materials they use in it. + Architectonick Sagacity to build and weave their Cells, + or to make even Nature herself their Hand-maid 384. + _Reptiles._ Which agreeing with other Animals in something + or other before treated of, I consider only their + Motion, which is very remarkable, whether we consider the + Manner of it, as + Vermicular 394. + Sinuous. + Snail-like. + Catterpillar-like. + Multipedous. + Parts ministring to it. + Poison, which serves to + Scourge Man’s Wickedness 398. + Their easy Capture and Mastery of their Prey. + Their Digestion. + Watery Inhabitants considerable for their + Great Variety 401. + Prodigious Multitudes. + Vast bulk of some, and surprizing minuteness of others 403. + Incomparable Contrivance and Structure of their Bodies. + Supplies of Food. + Respiration. + Adjustment of their Organs of Vision to their Element. + Poise and Motion of the Body every Way 402. + + Insensitive Inhabitants. Among which having mentioned Fossils + and others, I insist only upon _Vegetables_, and that in a + cursory manner upon their + Great Variety for the several Uses of the World 404. + Anatomy. + Leaves 407. + Flowers and their admirable Gaiety. + Seed, remarkable for its + Generation. + Make. + Containing in it a compleat Plant 408. + Preservation and Safety in the Gems, Fruit, Earth, &c. + Sowing, which is provided for by Down, Wings, Springy Cases, + carried about by Birds, sown by the Husbandman, &c. 412. + Growing and Standing: Some by + Their own Strength 417. + The Help of others, by clasping about, or hanging upon them. + Remarkable Use, especially of some which seem to be provided + for the Good of + All Places 420. + Some particular Places, to + Heal some Local Distempers. + Supply some Local Wants. + + Practical Inferences upon the whole are these Six, viz. That + GOD’s Works. + 1. Are great and excellent 425. + 2. Ought to be enquired into, with a Commendation of such as + do so 427. + 3. Are manifest to all, and therefore Atheism unreasonable 428. + 4. Ought to excite Fear and Obedience 431. + 5. Ought to excite Thankfulness 432. + 6. Should move us to pay God his due Homages and Worship, + particularly that of the Lord’s Day: which is an + Appointment + The most ancient 438. + Wisely contrived for Dispatch of Business, and to prevent + Carnality. + Whose proper Business is, to cease from Worldly, and to + follow Spiritual Employments; the chief of which is + the Publick Worship of GOD. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +A + +SURVEY + +OF THE + +Terraqueous Globe. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +_INTRODUCTION._ + + +In _Psal._ cxi. 2. The Psalmist asserts, That _the[a] Works of the Lord +are great; sought out of all them that have Pleasure therein_. This is +true of all _God’s Works_, particularly of his _Works of Creation_: +Which, when _sought out_, or, as the _Hebrew_ Word [b] signifieth, when +_heedfully_ and _deeply pried into, solicitously observ’d and enquir’d +out_, especially when clearly discovered to us; in this Case, I say, we +find those Works of GOD abundantly to deserve the Psalmist’s Character +of being _Great_ and Noble; inasmuch as they are made with the most +exquisite Art, [c] contrived with the utmost Sagacity, and ordered +with plain wise Design, and ministring to admirable Ends. For which +reason St. _Paul_ might well affirm of those Ποιήματα of God, [d] That +the _invisible Things of God, even his eternal Power and Godhead, are +understood by them_. And indeed they are the most easy, and intelligible +Demonstrations of the _Being_ and _Attributes_ of God;[e] especially +to such as are unacquainted with the Subtilties of Reasoning and +Argumentation; as the greatest part of Mankind are. + +It may not therefore be unsuitable to the Nature and Design of +Lectures[f] founded by one of the greatest Vertuoso’s of the last Age, +and instituted too on purpose for the Proof of the Christian Religion +against Atheists and other Infidels, to improve this occasion in the +Demonstration of the _Being_ and _Attributes_ of an infinitely wise and +powerful Creator, from a Cursory Survey of the Works of _Creation_, or +(as often called) of _Nature_. + +Which Works belong either to our _Terraqueous Globe_, or the _Heavens_. + +I shall begin with our _own Globe_, being nearest, and falling most under +our Senses. Which being a Subject very various and copious, for the more +methodical and orderly proceeding upon it, I shall distribute the Works +therein: + +I. Into such as are not properly Parts, but _Appendages_ or _Out-works_ +of the Globe. + +II. The _Globe_ it self. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] It is not unlikely that the Psalmist might mean, at least have an Eye +to, _the Works of the Creation_ in this Text, the Word מעשה being the +same that in _Psal._ 19. 1. is translated _God’s Handy-work_, which is +manifestly applied to the Works of _Creation_, and properly signifieth +_Factum_, _Opus_, _Opisicium_, from עשה _Fecit_, _Paravit_, +_Aptavit_. And saith _Kircher_, _significat talem affectionem, quâ +aliquid existit vel realiter, vel ornatè, velut non sit in pristino statu +quo fuit._ Concord, p. 2. col. 931. + +[b] דרש _Quasivit_, _perquisivit_, _sciscitatus est_, Buxtor. in +verb. _Et simul importat curam, & solicitudinem._ Conrad. Kirch. ib. p. +1. col. 1174. + +[c] _Quod si omnes mundi partes ita constitute sunt, ut neque ad usum +meliores potuerint esse, neque ad speciem pulchriores; videamus utrùm ea +fortuita sint, an eo statu, quo cohærere nullo modo potuerint, nisi sensu +moderante divinâque providentia. Si ergo meliora sunt ea quæ Naturâ, +quàm illa, quæ Arte perfecta sunt, nec Ars efficit quid sine ratione; ne +Natura quidem rationis expers est habenda. Qui igitur convenit, signum, +aut tabulam pictam cùm adspexeris, scire adhibitam esse artem; cumque +procul cursum navigii videris, non dubitare, quin id ratione atque arte +moveatur: aut cùm Solarium, &c. Mundum autem, qui & has ipsas artes, +& earum artifices, & cuncta complectatur, consilii & rationis esse +expertem putare? Quod si in Scythiam, aut in Britanniam, Sphæram aliquis +tulerit hanc, quam nuper familiaris noster effecit Posidonius, cujus +singulæ conversiones idem efficiunt in Sole, &c.——quod efficitur in cœlo +singulis diebus & noctibus; quis in illâ barbarie dubitet, quin ea Sphæra +sit perfecta Ratione? Hi autem dubitant de Mundo, ex quo & oriuntur, & +fiunt omnia, casune ipse sit effectus,—an Ratione, an Mente divinâ? Et +Archimedem arbitrantur plus valuisse in imitandis Sphæræ conversionibus, +quàm Naturam in efficiendis, præsertim cùm multis partibus sint illa +perfecta, quam hæc simulata, solertius, ~&c.~_ Cic. de Nat. l. 2. c. 34, +35. + +[d] And a little before he saith of _Nature_ it self, _Omnem ergo regit +Naturam ipse ~[Deus]~ &c._ + +[e] _Mundus codex est Dei, in quo jugiter legere debemus_, Bernard. Serm. + +_Arbitror nullam gentem, neque Hominum societatem, apud quos ulla Deorum +est religio, quidquam habere sacris Eleusiniis aut Samothraciis simile: +Ea tamen obscurè docent quæ profitentur: Natura verò opera in omnibus +animantibus sunt perspicua._ Galen. de Us. Part. l. 17. c. 1. + +[f] _Philosophia est Catechismus ad Fidem._ Cyril. 1. contr. Jul. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK I. + +_Of the Out-works of the Terraqueous Globe; the Atmosphere, Light, and +Gravity._ + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAP. I. + +_Of the Atmosphere in general._ + + +The Atmosphere, or Mass of Air, Vapours and Clouds, which surrounds our +Globe, will appear to be a matter of Design, and the infinitely wise +Creator’s Work, if we consider its _Nature_ and _Make_[a], and its _Use_ +to the World[b]. + +1. Its Nature and Make, a Mass of Air, of subtile penetrating Matter, fit +to pervade other Bodies, to penetrate into the inmost Recesses of Nature, +to excite, animate, and spiritualize; and in short, to be the very Soul +of this lower World. A thing consequently + +2. Of greatest Use to the World, useful to the Life, the Health, the +Comfort, the Pleasure, and Business of the whole Globe. It is the Air +the whole Animal World breatheth, and liveth by; not only the Animals +inhabiting the Earth[c] and + +Air[d], but those of the Waters[e] too. Without it most Animals live +scarce half a Minute[f]; and others, that are the most accustomed to the +want of it, live not without it many Days. + +And not only Animals themselves, but even Trees and Plants, and the whole +vegetable Race, owe their Vegetation and Life to this useful Element; +as will appear when I come to speak of them, and is manifest from their +Glory and Verdure in a free Air, and their becoming Pale and Sickly, and +Languishing and Dying, when by any means excluded from it[g]. + +Thus useful, thus necessary, is the Air to the Life of the animated +Creatures; and no less is it to the Motion and Conveyance of many of +them. All the winged Tribes owe their Flight and Buoyancy[h] to it, +as shall be shewn in proper place: And even the watery Inhabitants +themselves cannot ascend and descend into their Element, well without +it[i]. + +But it would be tedious to descend too far into Particulars, to reckon +up the many Benefits of this noble Appendage of our Globe in many useful +Engines[k]; in many of the Functions and Operations of Nature[l] in the +Conveyance of Sounds; and a Thousand Things besides. And I shall but +just mention the admirable use of our Atmosphere in ministring to the +enlightening of the World, by its reflecting the Light of the heavenly +Bodies to us[m]; and refracting the Sun-beams to our Eye, before it +ever surmounteth our Horizon[n]; by which means the Day is protracted +throughout the whole Globe; and the long and dismal Nights are shorten’d +in the frigid Zones, and Day sooner approacheth them; yea the Sun itself +riseth in Appearance (when really it is absent from them) to the great +Comfort of those forlorn Places[o]. + +But passing by all these Things with only a bare mention, and wholly +omitting others that might have been named, I shall only insist upon the +excellent Use of this noble circumambient Companion of our Globe, in +respect of two of its Meteors, the Winds, and the Clouds and Rain[p]. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Mundi pars est Aer, & quidem necessaria: Hic est enim qui cœlum +terramque connectit, ~&c.~_ Senec. Nat. Qu. l. 2. c. 4. + +[b] _Ipse Aer nobiscum videt, nobiscum audit, nobiscum sonat; nihil enim +eorum sine eo fieri potest, ~&c.~_ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 33. + +[c] As the Air is of absolute Necessity to Animal Life, so it is +necessary that it should be of a due Temperament or Consistence; not +foul, by reason that suffocateth: not too rare and thin, because that +sufficeth not; with Examples of each of which, I shall a little entertain +the Reader. In one of Mr. _Hawksbee_’s Compressing Engines, I closely +shut up a _Sparrow_ without forcing any Air in; and in less than an Hour +the Bird began to pant, and be concerned; and in less than an Hour and +half to be sick, vomit, and more out of Breath; and in two Hours time was +nearly expiring. + +Another I put in and compressed the Air, but the Engine leaking, I +frequently renewed the Compressure; by which means, (although the +Bird panted a little after the first Hour,) yet after such frequent +Compressures, and Immission of fresh Air, it was very little concerned, +and taken out seemingly unhurt after three Hours. + +After this I made two other Experiments in compressed Air, with the +Weight of two Atmospheres injected, the Engine holding tight and well; +the one with the _Great Titmouse_, the other with a _Sparrow_. For near +an Hour they seemed but little concerned; but after that grew fainter, +and in two Hours time sick, and in three Hours time died. Another thing +I took notice of, was, that when the Birds were sick and very restless, +I fancied they were somewhat relieved for a short space, with the Motion +of the Air, caused by their fluttering and shaking their Wings, (a thing +worth trying in the _Diving-Bell_). I shall leave the ingenious Reader to +judge what the cause was of both the Birds living longer in compressed, +than uncompressed Air; whether a less quantity of Air was not sooner +fouled and rendred unfit for Respiration, than a greater. + +From these Experiments two Things are manifested; one is, that Air, +in some measure compressed, or rather heavy, is necessary to Animal +Life: Of which by and by. The other, that fresh Air is also necessary: +For pent up Air, when overcharged with the Vapours emitted our of the +Animal’s Body, becomes unfit for Respiration. For which Reason, in the +_Diving-Bell_, after some time of stay under Water, they are forced to +come up and take in fresh Air, or by some such means recruit it. But +the famous _Cornelius Drebell_ contrived not only a Vessel to be rowed +under Water, but also a Liquor to be carried in that Vessel, that would +supply the want of fresh Air. The Vessel was made for King _James_ I. +It carried twelve Rowers, besides the Passengers. It was tried in the +River of _Thames_; and one of the Persons that was in that submarine +Navigation was then alive, and told it one, who related the Matter to +our famous Founder, the Honourable, and most Ingenious Mr. _Boyl_. As to +the Liquor, Mr. _Boyl_ saith, he discovered by a Doctor of Physick, who +married _Drebell_’s Daughter, that it was used from time to time when +the Air in the submarine Boat was clogged by the Breath of the Company, +and thereby made unfit for Respiration; at which time, by unstopping a +Vessel full of this Liquor, he could speedily restore to the troubled Air +such a proportion of vital Parts, as would make it again for a good while +fit for Respiration. The Secret of this Liquor _Drebell_ would never +disclose to above one Person, who himself assured Mr. _Boyl_ what it was. +_Vid._ _Boyl. Exp. Phys. Mech. of the Spring of the Air, Exp. 41._ in +the _Digres_. This Story I have related from Mr. _Boyl_, but at the same +time much question whether the Virtues of the Liquor were so effectual as +reported. + +And as too gross, so too rare an Air is unfit for Respiration. Not to +mention the forced Rarefactions made by the Air-Pump, in the following +Note; it is found, that even the extraordinary natural Rarefactions, upon +the tops of very high Hills, much affect Respiration. An Ecclesiastical +Person, who had visited the high Mountains of _Armenia_, (on which some +fancy the Ark rested) told Mr. _Boyl_, that whilst he was on the upper +part of them, he was forced to fetch his Breath oftner than he was wont. +And taking notice of it when he came down, the People told him, that it +was what happen’d to them when they were so high above the Plane, and +that it was a common Observation among them. The like Observation the +same Ecclesiastick made upon the top of a Mountain in the _Cevennes_. So +a learned Traveller, and curious Person, on one of the highest Ridges +of the _Pyrenees_, call’d _Pic de Midi_, found the Air not so fit for +Respiration, as the common Air, but he and his Company were fain to +breath shorter and oftner than in the lower Air. _Vid._ _Phil. Transact._ +No. 63, or _Lowthorp’s Abridg._ Vol. 2. p. 226. + +Such another Relation the learned _Joseph Acosta_ gives of himself and +his Company, that, when they passed the high Mountains of _Peru_, which +they call _Periacaca_, (to which he saith, _the Alps themselves seemed +to them but as ordinary Houses, in regard of high Towers,) He and his +Companions were surprized with such extreme Pangs of Straining and +Vomiting, (not without casting up of Blood too,) and with so violent a +Distemper, that he concludes he should undoubtedly have died; but that +this lasted not above three or four Hours, before they came into a more +convenient and natural Temperature of the Air._ All which he concludes +proceeded from the too great Subtilty and Delicacy of the Air, which is +not proportionable to humane Respiration, which requires a more gross and +temperate Air, _Vid._ _Boyl_, _ubi supra_. + +Thus it appears, that an Air too Subtile, Rare and Light, is unfit for +Respiration: But the Cause is not the Subtilty or too great Delicacy, as +Mr. Boyl thinks, but the too great Lightness thereof, which renders it +unable to be a Counterbalance, or an Antagonist to the Heart, and all the +Muscles ministring to _Respiration_, and the _Diastole_ of the Heart. Of +which see _Book 4. Chap. 7. Note 1._ + +And as our Inability to live in too rare and light an Air may discourage +those vain Attempts of Flying and Whimsies of passing to the Moon, &c. +so our being able to bear an heavier State of the Air is an excellent +Provision for Mens Occasions in Mines, and other great Depths of the +Earth; and those other greater Pressures made upon the Air, in the +_Diving-Bell_, when we descend into great Depths of the Waters. + +[d] That the Inhabitants of the Air, (Birds and Insects,) need the Air +as well as Man and other Animals, is manifest from their speedy dying in +too feculent, or too much rarefied Air; of which see the preceding and +following _Note (f)._ But yet Birds and Insects (some Birds at least) +can live in a rarer Air than Man. Thus Eagles, Kites, Herons, and divers +other Birds, that delight in high Flights, are not affected with the +Rarity of the Medium, as those Persons were in the preceding Note. So +Insects bear the Air-Pump long, as in the following _Note (f)._ + +[e] Creatures inhabiting the Waters need the Air, as well as other +Animals, yea, and fresh Air too. The _Hydrocanthari_ of all Sorts, the +_Nymphæ_ of _Gnats_, and many other Water-Insects, have a singular +Faculty, and an admirable Apparatus, to raise their back Parts to the top +of the Waters, and take in fresh Air. It is pretty to see, for Instance, +the _Hydrocanthari_ come and thrust their Tails out of the Water, and +take in a Bubble of Air, at the tip of their _Vaginæ_ and Tails, and then +nimbly carry it down with them into the Waters; and, when that is spent, +or fouled, to ascend again and recruit it. + +So Fishes also are well known to use Respiration, by passing the Water +through their Mouths and Gills. But _Carps_ will live out of the Water, +only in the Air; as is manifest by the Experiment of their way of Fatting +them in _Holland_, and which hath been practised herein _England_, _viz._ +they hang them up in a Cellar, or some cool Place, in wet Moss in a small +Net, with their Heads out, and feed them with white Bread soaked in Milk +for many Days. This was told me by a Person very curious, and of great +Honour and Eminence, whose Word (if I had leave to name him) no Body +would question: And it being an Instance of the Respiration of Fishes +very singular, and somewhat out of the way, I have for the Reader’s +Diversion taken notice of it. + +[f] By Experiments I made my self in the Air Pump, in _September_ +and _October_, 1704; I observed that Animals whose Hearts have two +_Ventricles_, and no _Foramen Ovale_, as Birds, Dogs, Cats, Rats, Mice, +_&c._ die in less than half a Minute counting from the very first +Exsuction; especially in a small Receiver. + +A _Mole_ (which I suspected might have born more than other Quadrupeds) +died in one Minute (without Recovery) in a large Receiver; and doubtless +would hardly have survived half a Minute in a small Receiver. A _Bat_ +(although wounded) sustained the Pump two Minutes, and revived upon the +re-admission of the Air. After that, he remained four Minutes and a half +and revived. Lastly, After he had been five Minutes, he continued gasping +for a time, and after twenty Minutes I re-admitted the Air, but the _Bat_ +never revived. + +As for _Insects_: _Wasps_, _Bats_, _Hornets_, _Grashoppers_, and +_Lady-Cows_ seemed dead in appearance in two Minutes, but revived in the +open Air in two or three Hours time, notwithstanding they had been in +_Vacuo_ twenty four Hours. + +The _Ear-wig_, the great _Staphylinus_, the great black lowsy _Beetle_, +and some other Insects would seem unconcerned at the _Vacuum_ a good +while, and lie as dead; but revive in the Air, although some had lain +sixteen Hours in the exhausted Receiver. + +_Snails_ bear the Air Pump prodigiously, especially those in Shells; two +of which lay above twenty four Hours, and seemed not much affected. The +same Snails I left in twenty eight Hours more after a second Exhaustion, +and found one of them quite dead, but the other revived. + +_Frogs_ and _Toads_ bear the Pump long, especially the former. A large +Toad, found in the House, died irrecoverably in less than six Hours. +Another Toad and Frog I put in together, and the Toad was seemingly dead +in two Hours, but the Frog just alive. After they had remained there +eleven Hours, and seemingly dead, the Frog recovered in the open Air, +only weak, but the Toad was quite dead. The same Frog being put in again +for twenty seven Hours, then quite died. + +The Animalcules in _Pepper-Water_ remained in _Vacuo_ twenty four Hours. +And after they had been exposed a Day or two to the open Air, I found +some of them dead, some alive. + +[g] That the Air is the principal Cause of the Vegetation of Plants, +_Borelli_ proves in his excellent Book _De Mot. Animal._ Vol. 2. Prop. +181. And in the next Proposition, he assureth, _In Plantis quoque peragi +Aeris respirationem quandam imperfectam, à quâ earum vita pendet, & +conservatur._ But of this more when I come to survey Vegetables. + +_Some Lettice-Seed being sown upon some Earth in the open Air, and some +of the same Seed at the same time upon other Earth in a Glass-Receiver of +the Pneumatick Engine, afterwards exhausted of Air: The Seed exposed to +the Air was grown up an Inch and half high within Eight Days; but that in +the exhausted Receiver not at all. And Air being again admitted into the +same emptied Receiver, to see whether any of the Seed would then come up, +it was found, that in the Space of one Week it was grown up to the Height +of two or three Inches._ Vid. Phil. Trans. No. 23. Lowth. Abridg. Vol. 2. +p. 206. + +[h] _In volucribus pulmones perforati aerem inspiratum in totam ventris +cavitatem admittunt. Hujus ratio, ut propter corporis truncum Aere +repletum & quasi extensum, ipsa magis volatilia evadant, faciliusque +ab aere externo, proper intimi penum, sustententur. Equidem pisces, +quò leviùs in aquis natent, in Abdomine vesicas Aere inflatas gestant: +pariter & volucres, propter corporis truncum Aere impletum & quasi +inflatum, nudo Aeri incumbentes, minus gravantur, proindeque levius & +expeditiùs volant._ Willis de Anim. Brut. p. 1. c. 3. + +[i] _Fishes by reason of the Bladder of Air within them, can sustain, or +keep themselves in any Depth of Water: For the Air in that Bladder being +more or less compressed, according to the Depth the Fish swims at, takes +up more or less Space; and consequently, the Body of the Fish, part of +whose Bulk this Bladder is, is greater or less according to the several +Depths, and yet retains the same Weight. Now the Rule ~de Insidentibus +humido~ is, that a Body, that is heavier than so much Water, as is equal +in Quantity to the Bulk of it, will sink, a Body that is lighter will +swim; a Body of equal Weight will rest in any part of the Water. By +this Rule, if the Fish, in the middle Region of the Water, be of equal +Weight to the Water, that is commensurate to the Bulk of it, the Fish +will rest there, without any Tendency upwards or downwards: And if the +Fish be deeper in the Water, the Bulk of the Fish becoming less by the +Compression of the Bladder, and yet retaining the same Weight, it will +sink, and rest at the Bottom. And on the other side, if the Fish be +higher than the middle Region, the Air dilating it self, and the Bulk +of the Fish consequently increasing, but not the Weight, the Fish will +rise upwards and rest at the top of the Water. Perhaps the Fish by some +Action can emit Air out of its Bladder——, and, when not enough, take in +Air,——and then it will not be wondred, that there should be always a fit +Proportion of Air in all Fishes to serve their Use, ~&c.~_ Then follows +a Method of Mr. _Boyl_ to experiment the Truth of this. After which, in +Mr. _Lowthorp_’s Abridgment, follow Mr. _Ray_’s Observations. _I think +that——hath hit upon the true Use of the Swimming-Bladders in Fishes. +For, 1. It hath been observed, that if the Swimming-Bladder of any Fish +be pricked or broken, such a Fish sinks presently to the Bottom, and +can neither support or raise it self up in the Water. 2. Flat Fishes, +as Soles, Plaise, &c. which lie always grovelling at the Bottom, have +no Swimming-Bladders that ever I could find. 3. In most Fishes there is +a manifest Chanel leading from the Gullet——to the said Bladder, which +without doubt serves for the conveying Air thereunto.——In the Coat of +this Bladder is a musculous Power to contract it when the Fish lifts._ +See more very curious Observations relating to this Matter, of the late +great Mr. _Ray_, as also of the curious anonymous Gentleman in the +ingenious Mr. _Lowthorp_’s Abridgment, before cited, _p. 845._ from +_Phil. Trans. N._ 114, 115. + +[k] Among the Engines in which the Air is useful, Pumps may be +accounted not contemptible ones, and divers other Hydraulical Engines, +which need not to be particularly insisted on. In these the Water was +imagined to rise by the power of Suction, to avoid _a Vacuum_, and such +unintelligible Stuff; but the justly famous Mr. _Boyl_ was the first that +solved these Phænomena by the Weight of the Atmosphere. His ingenious and +curious Observations and Experiments relating hereto, may be seen in his +little Tract, _Of the Cause of Attraction by Suction_, and divers others +of his Tracts. + +[l] It would be endless to specify the Uses of the Air in Nature’s +Operations: I shall therefore, for a Sample only, name its great Use to +the World in conserving animated Bodies, whether endowed with animal or +vegetative Life, and its contrary Quality of dissolving other Bodies; +by which means many Bodies that would prove Nuisances to the World, +are put out of the Way, by being reduced into their first Principles, +(as we say), and so embodied with the Earth again. Of its Faculty as a +Menstruum, or its Power to dissolve Bodies; I may instance in Crystal +Glasses, which, with long keeping, especially if not used, will in Time +be reduced to a Powder, as I have seen. So divers Minerals, Earths, +Stones, Fossil-Shells, Wood, _&c._ which from _Noah_’s Flood, at least +for many Ages, have lain under Ground, so secure from Corruption, that, +on the contrary, they have been thereby made much the stronger, have in +the open Air soon mouldered away. Of which last, Mr. _Boyl_ gives an +Instance (from the _Dissertation de admirandis Hungar. Aquis_) of a great +Oak, like a huge Beam, dug out of a Salt Mine in _Transylvania_, _so +hard, that it would not easily be wrought upon by Iron Tools, yet, being +exposed to the Air out of the Mine, it became so rotten that in four Days +it was easy to be broken, and crumbled between one’s Fingers_. Boyl’s +Suspic. about some hid. Qual. in the Air, p. 28. So the Trees turned out +of the Earth by the Breaches at _West-Thurrock_ and _Dagenham_, near +me, although probably no other than _Alder_, and interred many Ages ago +in a rotten oazy Mold, were so exceedingly tough, hard, and found at +first, that I could make but little Impressions on them with the Strokes +of an Ax; but being exposed to the Air and Water, soon became so rotten +as to be crumbled between the Fingers. See my Observations in _Philos. +Transact._ Nᵒ. 335. + +[m] _By reflecting the Light of the heavenly Bodies to us_, I mean that +Whiteness or Lightness which is in the Air in the Day-time, caused by the +Rays of Light striking upon the Particles of the Atmosphere, as well as +upon the Clouds above, and the other Objects beneath upon the Earth. To +the same Cause also we owe the Twilight, _viz._ to the Sun-beams touching +the uppermost Particles of our Atmosphere, which they do when the Sun is +about eighteen Degrees beneath the Horizon. And as the Beams reach more +and more of the airy Particles, so Darkness goes off, and Day light comes +on and encreaseth. For an Exemplification of this, the Experiment may +serve of transmitting a few Rays of the Sun through a small Hole into +a dark Room: By which means the Rays which meet with Dust, and other +Particles flying in the Air, are render’d visible; or (which amounts to +the same) those swimming small Bodies are rendered visible, by their +reflecting the Light of the Sun-beams to the Eye, which, without such +Reflection, would it self be invisible. + +The Azure Colour of the Sky Sir _Isaac Newton_ attributes to Vapours +beginning to condense, and that are not able to reflect the other +Colours. _V._ _Optic._ l. 2. _Par. 3. Prop. 7._ + +[n] By the Refractive Power of the Air, the Sun, and the other heavenly +Bodies seem higher than really they are, especially near the Horizon. +What the Refractions amount unto, what Variations they have, and what +Alterations in time they cause, may be briefly seen in a little Book +called, _The Artificial Clock-Maker_, Chap. 11. + +_Although this inflective Quality of the Air be a great Incumbrance and +Confusion of Astronomical Observations;——yet it is not without some +considerable Benefit to Navigation; and indeed in some Cases, the Benefit +thereby obtained is much greater than would be the Benefit of having the +Ray proceed in an exact straight Line._ [Then he mentions the Benefit +hereof to the Polar Parts of the World.] _But this by the by_ (saith he.) +_The great Advantage I consider therein, is the first Discovery of Land +upon the Sea; for by means hereof, the tops of Hills and Lands are raised +up into the Air, so as to be discoverable several Leagues farther off on +the Sea than they would be, were there no such Refraction, which is of +great Benefit to Navigation for steering their Course in the Night, when +they approach near Land; and likewise for directing them in the Day-time, +much more certainly than the most exact Celestial Observations could do +by the Help of an uninflected Ray, especially in such Places as they +have no Soundings._ [Then he proposes a Method to find by these means +the Distance of Objects at Sea.] V. Dr. _Hook_’s _Post. Works_. Lect. of +Navig. p. 466. + +[o] _Cum Belgæ in novâ Zemblâ hybernarent, Sol illis apparuit 16 diebus +citiùs, quàm revera in Horizonte existeret, hoc est, cùm adhuc infra +Horizontem depressus esset quatuor circiter gradibus, & quidem aere +sereno._ Varen. Geog. c. 19. Prop. 22. + +_~[These Hollanders]~ found, that the Night in that place shortened no +less than a whole Month; which must needs be a very great Comfort to all +such Places as live very far towards the North and South Poles, where +length of Night, and want of seeing the Sun, cannot chuse but be very +tedious and irksome._ Hook Ibid. + +_~[By means of the Refractions]~ we found the Sun to rise twenty Minutes +before it should; and in the Evening to remain above the Horizon twenty +Minutes (or thereabouts) longer than it should._ Captain _James_’s Journ. +in _Boyl_ of Cold. Tit. 18. p. 190. + +[p] _Aer—in Nubes cogitur: humoremque colligens terram auget imbribus: +tum effluens huc & illuc, ventos efficit. Idem annuas frigorum & calorum +facit varietates: idemque & volatus Alitum sustinet, & spiritu ductus +alit & sustentas animantes._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 39. + + + + +CHAP. II. + +_Of the Winds[a]._ + + +To pass by other Considerations, whereby I might demonstrate the Winds +to be the infinite Creator’s Contrivance, I shall insist only upon their +great usefulness to the World. And so great is their Use, and of such +absolute Necessity are they to the Salubrity of the Atmosphere, that all +the World would be poisoned without those Agitations thereof. We find +how putrid, fetid, and unfit for Respiration, as well as Health and +Pleasure, a stagnating, confined, pent up Air is. And if the whole Mass +of Air and Vapours was always at Rest, and without Motion, instead of +refreshing and animating, it would suffocate and poison all the World: +But the perpetual Commotions it receives from the Gales and Storms, keep +it pure and healthful[b]. + +Neither are those Ventilations beneficial only to the Health, but to the +Pleasure also of the Inhabitants of the Terraqueous Globe; witness the +Gales which fan us in the heat of Summer; without which, even in this +our temperate Zone, Men are scarce able to perform the Labours of their +Calling, or not without Danger of Health and Life[c]. But especially, +witness the perpetual Gales which throughout the whole Year do fan the +Torrid Zone, and make that Climate an healthful and pleasant Habitation, +which would otherwise be scarce habitable. + +To these I might add many other great Conveniencies of the Winds in +various Engines, and various Businesses. I might particularly insist +upon its great Use to transport Men to the farthest distant Regions of +the World[d] and I might particularly speak of the general and coasting +Trade-Winds, the Sea, and the Land-Breezes;[e] the one serving to carry +the Mariner in long Voyages from East to West; the other serving to waft +him to particular Places; the one serving to carry him into his Harbour, +the other to bring him out. But I should go too far to take notice of all +Particulars[f]. Leaving therefore the Winds, I proceed in the next Place +to the Clouds and Rain. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Ventus est aer fluens_, is _Seneca_’s Definition, _Na. Qu. l. 5._ +And as Wind is a Current of the Air, so that which excites or alters its +Currents may be justly said to be the Cause of the Winds. An Æquipoise of +the Atmosphere produceth a Calm; but if that Æquipoise be more or less +taken off, a Stream of Air, or Wind, is thereby accordingly produced +either stronger or weaker, swifter or slower. And divers things there +are that may make such Alterations in the Æquipoise or Balance of the +Atmosphere, _viz._ Eruptions of Vapours from Sea or Land; Rarefactions +and Condensations in one Place more than another; the falling of Rain, +pressure of the Clouds, _&c._ _Pliny_, l. 2. c. 45. tells us of a certain +_Cavern_ in _Dalmatia_, called _Senta_, _in quem_, saith he, _dejecto +levi pondere, quamvis tranquillo die, turbini similis emicat procella_. +But as to Caves it is observed, that they often emit Winds more or less. +Dr. _Connor_, taking notice of this matter, specifies these, _In regno +Neapolitano ex immani Cumanæ Sibyllæ antro tenuem ventum effluentem +percepi_. The like he observed at the Caves at _Baiæ_, and in some of the +Mines of _Germany_, and in the large Salt-Mines of _Cracow_ in _Poland_. +_Ubi_, saith he, _opifices, & ipse fodinæ dominus Andreas Morstin, Nob. +Polonus, mihi asseruerunt, quòd tanta aliquando Ventorum tempestas ex +ambagiosis hujus fodinæ recessibus surgere solebat, quod laborantes +fossores humi prosternebat, nec non portas & domiciliæ (quæ sibi in hâc +fodinâ artifices exstruunt) penitùs evertebat_. Bern. Connor. Dissert. +Med. Phys. p. 33. Artic. 3. + +And as great Caves, so great Lakes sometimes send forth Winds. So +_Gassendus_ saith the _Lacus Legnius_ doth, _E quo dum exoritur fumus, +nubes haud dubiê creanda est, quæ sit brevi in tempestatem sævissimam +exoneranda_. Gassend. Vit. Peiresk. l. 5. P. 417. + +But the most universal and constant Alterations of the Balance of the +Atmosphere are from Heat and Cold. This is manifest in the General +Trade-Winds, blowing all the Year between the Tropicks from East to +West: if the Cause thereof be (as some ingenious Men imagine) the Sun’s +daily Progress round that part of the Globe, and by his Heat rarefying +one part of the Air, whilst the cooler and heavier Air behind presseth +after. So the Sea and Land Breezes in _Note (d)._ And so in our Climate, +the Northerly and Southerly Winds (commonly esteemed the Causes of cold +and warm Weather), are really the Effects of the Cold or Warmth of the +Atmosphere: Of which I have had so many Confirmations, that I have no +doubt of it. As for Instance, it is not uncommon to see a warm Southerly +Wind, suddenly changed to the North, by the fall of Snow or Hail; to see +the Wind in a frosty, cold Morning North, and when the Sun hath well +warmed the Earth and Air, you may observe it to wheel about towards +the Southerly Quarters; and again to turn Northerly or Easterly in the +cold Evening. It is from hence also, that in Thunder-Showers the Wind +and Clouds are oftentimes contrary to one another, (especially if Hail +falls) the sultry Weather below directing the Wind one way; and the Cold +above the Clouds another way. I took Notice upon _March_ the 10ᵗʰ 1710/1, +(and divers such like Instances I have had before and since) that the +Morning was warm, and what Wind stirred was West-South-West, but the +Clouds were thick and black (as generally they are when Snow ensues): A +little before Noon the Wind veered about to North by West, and sometimes +to other Points, the Clouds at the same time flying some North by West, +some South-West: About one of the Clock it rained apace, the Clouds +flying sometimes North-East, then North, and at last both Wind and Clouds +settled North by West; At which time Sleet fell plentifully, and it grew +very cold. From all which I observe, 1. That although our Region below +was warm, the Region of the Clouds was cold, as the black, snowy Clouds +shewed. 2. That the struggle between the warmth of ours, and the cold of +the cloudy Region, stopped the airy Currents of both Regions. 3. That the +falling of the Snow through our warmer Air melted into Rain at first; but +that it became Sleet after the superiour Cold had conquered the inferiour +Warmth. 4. That, as that Cold prevailed by Degrees, so by Degrees it +wheeled about both the Winds and Clouds from the Northwards towards the +South. + +_Hippocrates_, l. 2. _De Vict. Orat._ _Omnes Ventos vel à nive, glacie, +vehementi gelu, fluminibus, ~&c.~ spirare necesse judicat_, Bartholin. de +usu Nivis, c. 1. + +[b] _It is well observed in my Lord ~Howard~s Voyage to ~Constantinople~, +that at ~Vienna~ they have frequent Winds, which if they cease long in +Summer, the Plague often ensues: So that it is now grown into a Proverb, +that if ~Austria~ be not windy, it is subject to Contagion._ Bohun of +Wind, _p. 213._ + +From some such Commotions of the Air I imagine it is, that at _Grand +Cairo_ the Plague immediately ceases, as soon as the _Nile_ begins to +overflow; although Mr. _Boyl_ attributes it to nitrous Corpuscles. +_Determ. Nat. of Effluv._ Chap. 4. + +_Nulla enim propemodum regio est, quæ non habeat aliquem flatum ex se +nascentem, & circa se cadentem._ + +_Inter cætera itaq; Providentiæ opera, hoc quoq; aliquis, ut dignum +admiratione suspexerit. Non enim ex unâ causâ Ventos aut invenit, aut +per diversa disposuit: sed primum ut aera non sinerent pigrescere, sed +assiduâ vexatione utilem redderens, vitaiemq; tracturis._ Sen. Nat. +Quæst. l. 5. c. 17, 18. + +All this is more evident, from the Cause assigned to malignant epidemical +Diseases, particularly the Plague, by my ingenious, learned Friend, Dr. +_Mead_; and that is, an hot and moist Temperament of the Air, which +is observed by _Hippocrates_, _Galen_, and the general Histories of +Epidemical Diseases, to attend those Distempers. _Vid._ _Mead of Poisons, +Essay 5._ p. 161. But indeed, whether the Cause be this, or poisonous, +malignant Exhalations or Animalcules, as others think, the Winds are +however very salutiferous in such Cases, in cooling the Air, and +dispersing and driving away the moist or pestiferous Vapours. + +[c] _July 8. 1707_, (called for some time after the _Hot Tuesday_,) +was so excessively hot and suffocating, by reason there was no Wind +stirring, that divers Persons died, or were in great Danger of Death, in +their Harvest-Work. Particularly one who had formerly been my Servant, a +healthy, lusty, young Man, was killed by the Heat: And several Horses on +the Road dropped down and died the same Day. + +In the foregoing Notes, having Notice of some Things relating to Heat, +although it be somewhat out of the way, I hope the Reader will excuse me, +if I entertain him with some Observations I made about the Heat of the +Air under the Line, compared with the Heat of our Bodies. _J. Patrick_, +who, as he is very accurate in making Barometrical and Thermometrical +Instruments, had the Curiosity for the nicer adjusting his Thermometers, +to send two abroad under the Care of two very sensible, ingenious +Men; one to the Northern Lat. of 81; the other to the Parts under the +Æquinoctial: In these two different Climates, the Places were marked +where the Spirits stood at the severest Cold and greatest Heat. And +according to these Observations he graduates his Thermometers. With his +Standard I compared my Standard Thermometer, from all the Degrees of +Cold, I could make with _Sal Armoniack_, &c. to the greatest Degrees of +Heat our Thermometers would reach to. And with the same Thermometer (of +mine) I experimented the greatest Heat of my Body, in _July 1709_. First +in an hot Day without Exercise, by patting the Ball of my Thermometer +under my Armpits, and other hottest Parts of my Body. By which means the +Spirits were raised 284 Tenths of an Inch above the Ball. After that, in +a much hotter Day, and indeed nearly as hot as any Day with us, and after +I had heated my self with strong Exercise too, as much as I could well +bear, I again tried the same Experiment, but could not get the Spirits +above 288 Tenths; which I thought an inconsiderable Difference, for so +seemingly a very different Heat of my Body. But from some Experiments +I have made (altho’ I have unfortunately forgotten them) in very cold +Weather, I imagine the Heat of an healthy Body to be always much the same +in the warmest Parts thereof, both in Summer and Winter. Now between +those very Degrees of 284 and 288, the Point of the equatorial Heat +falleth. From which Observation it appears, that there is pretty nearly +an equal Contemperament of the Warmth of our Bodies, to that of the +hottest Part of the Atmosphere inhabited by us. + +If the Proportion of the Degrees of Heat be desired from the +Freezing-Point, to the Winter, Spring, and Summer Air, the Heat of Man’s +Body, of heated Water, melted Metals, and so to actual Fire; an Account +may be met with of it, by my most ingenious Friend, the great Sir _Isaac +Newton_, in _Phil. Transact._ Nᵒ. 270. + +[d] _In hoc ~Providentia~ ac ~Dispositor~ ille Mundi ~Deus~, aera +ventis exercendum dedit,——non ut nos classes partem freti occupaturas +compleremus milite armato, ~&c.~ Dedit ille ventos ad custodiendam +cœli terrarumq; temperiem, ad evocandas supprimendásq; aquas, ad +alendos satorum atq; arborum fructus; quos ad maturitatem cum aliis +causis adducit ipsa jactatio, attrahens cibum in summa, & ne torpeat, +promovens. Dedit ventos ad ulteriora noscenda: fuisset enim imperitum +animal, & fine magnâ experientiâ rerum Homo, si circumscriberetur natalis +soli fine. Dedit ventos ut commoda cujusq; regionis fierent communia; +non ut legiones equitemq; gestarent, nec ut perniciosa gentibus arma +transveherent._ Seneca, ibid. + +[e] _~Sea-Breezes~ commonly rise in the Morning about nine a Clock.——They +first approach the Shore gently, as if they were afraid to come near +it.——It comes in a fine, small, black Curle upon the Water, whereas all +the Sea between it and the Shore (not yet reached by it) is as smooth +and even as Glass in Comparison. In half an Hours time after it has +reached the Shore, it fans pretty briskly, and so encreaseth gradually +till twelve a Clock; then it is commonly strongest, and lasts so till two +or three, a very brisk Gale.——After three it begins to die away again, +and gradually withdraws its force till all is spent; and about five a +Clock——it is lulled asleep, and comes no more till next morning._ + +_And as the Sea Breezes do blow in the Day, and rest in the Night; so on +the contrary ~[The Land-Breezes]~ blow in the Night, and rest in the Day, +alternately succeeding each other.——They spring up between six and twelve +at Night, and last till six, eight, or ten in the Morning._ Dampier’s +Disc. of Winds, _ch._ 4. + +[f] One Thing more I believe some of my Friends will expect from me is, +that I shew the Result of comparing my own Observations of the Winds, +with others they know I have from _Ireland_, _Switzerland_, _Italy_, +_France_, _New-England_, and some of our Parts of _England_. But the +Observations being some of them but of one Year, and most of the rest of +but a few Years, I have not been able to determine any great Matters. +The chief of what I have observed is, that the Winds in all these Places +seldom agree, but when they most certainly do so, it is commonly when +the Winds are strong, and of long continuance in the same Quarter: And +more I think in the Northerly and Easterly, than other Points. Also a +strong Wind in one Place, is oftentimes a weak one in another Place, +or moderate, according as Places have been nearer or farther distant. +_Vid._ _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 297, and 321. But to give a good and tolerable +Account of this or any other of the Weather, it is necessary to have good +Histories thereof from all Parts; which, as yet we have but few of, and +they imperfect, for want of longer and sufficient Observations. + + + + +CHAP. III. + +_Of the Clouds and Rain._ + + +The Clouds and Rain[a] we shall find to be no less useful Meteors than +the last mentioned; as is manifest in the refreshing pleasant Shades +which the Clouds afford, and the fertile Dews and Showers which they +pour down on the Trees and Plants, which would languish and die with +perpetual Drought, but are hereby made Verdant and Flourishing, Gay and +Ornamental; so that (as the Psalmist saith, _Psal._ lxv. 12, 13.) _The +little Hills rejoice on every side, and the Valleys shout for Joy, they +also sing._ + +And, if to these Uses, we should add the Origine of Fountains and +Rivers, to Vapours and the Rains, as some of the most eminent modern +Philosophers[b] have done, we should have another Instance of the great +Use and Benefit of that Meteor. + +And now, if we reflect upon this necessary Appendage of the Terraqueous +Globe, the _Atmosphere_; and consider the absolute Necessity thereof to +many Uses of our Globe, and its great Convenience to the whole: And in +a Word, that it answereth all the Ends and Purposes that we can suppose +there can be for such an Appendage: Who can but own this to be the +Contrivance, the Work of the great Creator? Who would ever say or imagine +such a Body, so different from the Globe it serves, could be made by +Chance, or be adapted so exactly to all those forementioned grand Ends, +by any other Efficient than by the Power and Wisdom of the infinite God! +Who would not rather, from so noble a Work, readily acknowledge the +Workman[c] and as easily conclude the Atmosphere to be made by GOD, as an +Instrument wrought by its Power, any Pneumatick Engine, to be contrived +and made by Man! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] Clouds and Rain are made of Vapours raised from Water, or Moisture +only. So that I utterly exclude the Notion of Dry, Terrene Exhalations, +or Fumes, talked much of by most Philosophers; Fumes being really no +other than the humid Parts of Bodies respectively Dry. + +These Vapours are demonstratively no other than small Bubbles, or +Vesiculæ detached from the Waters by the Power of the Solar, or +Subterraneous Heat, or both. Of which see _Book 2. Chap. 5. Note (b)._ +And being lighter than the Atmosphere, are buoyed up thereby, until they +become of an equal Weight therewith, in some of its Regions aloft in the +Air, or nearer the Earth; in which those Vapours are formed into Clouds, +Rain, Snow, Hail, Lightning, Dew, Mists, and other Meteors. + +In this Formation of Meteors the grand Agent is Cold, which commonly, if +not always, occupies the superior Regions of the Air; as is manifest from +those Mountains which exalt their lofty Tops into the upper and middle +Regions, and are always covered with Snow and Ice. + +This Cold, if it approaches near the Earth, presently precipitates the +Vapours, either in _Dews_; or if the Vapours more copiously ascend, and +soon meet the Cold, they are then condensed into _Misting_, or else into +Showers of _small Rain_, falling in numerous, thick, small Drops: But if +those Vapours are not only copious, but also as heavy as our lower Air it +self, (by means their Bladders are thick and fuller of Water,) in this +Case they become visible, swim but a little Height above the Earth, and +make what we call a _Mist_ or _Fog_. But if they are a Degree lighter, so +as to mount higher, but not any great Height, as also meet not with Cold +enough to condense them, nor Wind to dissipate them, they then form an +heavy, thick, _dark Sky_, lasting oftentimes for several Weeks without +either Sun or Rain. And in this Case, I have scarce ever known it to +Rain, till it hath been _first Fair, and then Foul_. And Mr. _Clarke_, +(an ingenious Clergyman of _Norfolk_, who in his Life-time, long before +me, took notice of it, and kept a Register of the Weather for thirty +Years, which his learned Grandson, Dr. _Samuel Clarke_ put into my Hands, +he, I say) saith, he scarce ever observed the Rule to fail in all that +Time; only he adds, _If the Wind be in some of the easterly Points_. But +I have observed the same to happen, be the Wind where it will. And from +what hath been said, the Case is easily accounted for, _viz._ whilst +the Vapours remain in the same State, the Weather doth so too. And such +Weather is generally attended with moderate Warmth, and with little or no +Wind to disturb the Vapours, and an heavy Atmosphere to support them, the +Barometer being commonly high then. But when the Cold approacheth, and +by condensing drives the Vapours into Clouds or Drops, then is way made +for the Sun-beams, till the same Vapours, being by further Condensation +formed into Rain, fall down in Drops. + +The Cold’s approaching the Vapours, and consequently the Alteration of +such dark Weather I have beforehand perceived, by some few small Drops +of Rain, Hail, or Snow, now and then falling, before any Alteration hath +been in the Weather; which I take to be from the Cold meeting some of the +straggling Vapours, or the uppermost of them, and condensing them into +Drops, before it arrives unto, and exerts it self upon the main Body of +Vapours below. + +I have more largely than ordinary insisted upon this part of the Weather, +partly, as being somewhat out of the way; but chiefly, because it gives +Light to many other _Phænomena_ of the Weather. Particularly we may +hence discover the Original of Clouds, Rain, Hail and Snow; that they +are Vapours carried aloft by the Gravity of the Air, which meeting +together so as to make a Fog above, they thereby form a _Cloud_. If the +Cold condenseth them into Drops, they then fall in _Rain_, if the Cold +be not intense enough to freeze them: But if the Cold freezeth them in +the Clouds, or in their Fall through the Air, they then become _Hail_ or +_Snow_. + +As to _Lightning_, and other enkindled Vapours, I need say little in this +Place, and shall therefore only observe, that they owe also their Rise +to Vapours; but such Vapours as are detached from mineral Juices, or at +least that are mingled with them, and are fired by Fermentation. + +Another _Phænomenon_ resolvable from what hath been said is, why a +_cold_, is always a _wet_ Summer, _viz._ because the Vapours rising +plentifully then, are by the Cold soon collected into Rain. A remarkable +Instance of this we had in the Summer of 1708, part of which, especially +about the _Solstice_, was much colder than usually. On _June 12_, it +was so cold, that my Thermometer was near the Point of hoar Frost, and +in some Places I heard there was an hoar Frost; and during all the cool +Weather of that Month, we had frequent and large Rains, so that the +whole Month’s Rain amounted to above two Inches Depth, which is a large +Quantity for _Upminster_, even in the wettest Months. And not only with +us at _Upminster_, but in other Places, particularly at _Zurich_ in +_Switzerland_, they seem to have had as unseasonable Cold and Wet as we. +_Fuit hic mensis——præter modum humidus, & magno quidem vegetabilibus +hominibusque damno. Multum computruit Fœnum, ~&c.~_ complains the +industrious and learned Dr. _J. J. Scheuchzer_: Of which, and other +Particulars, I have given a larger Account in _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 321. + +In which _Transaction_ I have observed farther, that about the Equinoxes +we (at _Upminster_ at least) have oftentimes more Rain than at other +Seasons. The Reason of which is manifest from what hath been said, +_viz._ in Spring, when the Earth and Waters are loosed from the brumal +Constipations, the Vapours arise in great Plenty: And the like they do in +Autumn, when the Summer Heats, that both dissipated them, and warmed the +superior Regions, are abated; and then the Cold of the superior Regions +meeting them, condenseth them into Showers, more plentifully than at +other Seasons, when either the Vapours are fewer, or the Cold that is to +condense them is less. + +The manner how Vapours are precipitated by the Cold, or reduced into +Drops, I conceive to be thus: Vapours being, as I said, no other than +inflated _Vesiculæ_ of Water; when they meet with a colder Air than what +is contained in them, the contained Air is reduced into a less Space, and +the watery Shell or Case rendered thicker by that means, so as to become +heavier than the Air, by which they are buoyed up, and consequently must +needs fall down. Also many of those thickned _Vesiculæ_ run into one, and +so form Drops, greater or smaller, according to the Quantity of Vapours +collected together. + +As to the Rain of different Places, I have in some of our _Transactions_ +assigned the Quantities; particularly in the last cited _Transaction_, I +have assigned these, _viz._ the Depth of the Rain one Year with another, +in _English_ Measure, if it was to stagnate on the Earth, would amount +unto, at _Townely_ in _Lancashire_, 42½ Inches; at _Upminster_ in _Essex_ +19¼ Inches; at _Zurich_ in _Switzerland_ 32¼ Inches; at _Pisa_ in +_Italy_ 43¼ Inches; at _Paris_ in _France_ 19 Inches; and at _Lisle_ in +_Flanders_ 24 Inches. + +It would be endless to reckon up the _bloody_ and other _prodigious +Rains_ taken notice of by Historians, and other Authors, as præternatural +and ominous Accidents; but, if strictly pried into, will be found owing +to natural Causes: Of which, for the Reader’s Satisfaction, I will +give an Instance or two. A bloody Rain was imagined to have fallen in +_France_, which put the Country People into so great a Fright, that +they left their Work in the Fields, and in great haste flew to the +Neighbouring Houses. _Peirise_ (then in the Neighbourhood) strictly +enquiring into the Cause, found it to be only red Drops coming from a +sort of Butterfly that flew about in great Numbers at that Time, as +he concluded from seeing such red Drops come from them; and because +these Drops were laid, _Non supra ædificia, non in devexis lapidum +superficiebus, uti debuerat contingere, si è cœlo sanguine pluisset; +sed in subcavis potius & in foraminibus.——Accessit, quòd parietes iis +tingebantur, non qui in mediis oppidis, sed qui agrorum vicini erant, +neque secundum partes elatiores, sed ad mediocrem solùm altitudinem, +quantam volitare Papiliones solent._ Gassend in vit. Peiresk. L. 2. p. +156. + +So Dr. _Merret_ saith also, _Pluvia Sanguinis quàm certissimè constat +esse tantùm Insectorum excrementa: Pluvia Tritici quàm nihil aliud esse +quàm Hederæ bacciferæ grana à Sturnis devorata excretaque comparanti +liquidissimè patet_. Pinax rerum, _&c._ _p. 220._ + +The curious _Worm_ tells of the raining of Brimstone, _An. 1646. Maii +16._ _Hic Hafniæ cùm ingenti pluviâ tota urbs, omnesque ita inundarentur +plateæ, ut gressus hominum impediret, Sulphureoque odore aërem inficeret, +dilapsis aliquantulum aquis, quibusdam in locis colligere licuit +Sulphureum pulverem, cujus portionem servo, colore, odore, & aliis verum +Sulphur ferentem._ Mus. Worm. L. 1. c. 11. Sect. 1. + +Together with the Rain we might take notice of other Meteors, +particularly _Snow_; which although an irksome Guest, yet hath its +great Uses, if all be true that the famous _T. Bartholin_ saith of +it, who wrote a Book _de Nivis usu Medico_. In which he shews of what +great Use Snow is in fructifying the Earth, preserving from the Plague, +curing Fevers, Colicks, Head-Aches, Tooth-Aches, Sore Eyes, Pleurisies, +(for which Use he saith his Country-Women of _Denmark_ keep Snow-Water +gathered in _March_), also in prolonging Life, (of which he instanceth in +the _Alpine_ Inhabitants, that live to a great Age,) and preserving dead +Bodies; Instances of which he gives in Persons buried under the Snow in +passing the _Alps_, which are found uncorrupted in the Summer, when the +Snow is melted; which sad Spectacle he himself was an Eye-Witness of. And +at _Spitzberg_ in _Greenland_, dead Bodies remain entire and uncorrupted +for thirty Years. And lastly, concerning such as are so preserv’d when +slain, he saith they remain in the same Posture and Figure: Of which +he gives this odd Example, _Visum id extra urbem nostram ~[Hafniam]~ +quum, 11 Feb. 1659. oppugnantes hostes repellerentur, magnâque strage +occumberent; alii enim rigidi iratum vultum ostendebant, alii oculos +elatos, alii ore diducto ringentes, alii brachiis extensis Gladium +minari, alii alio situ prostrati jacebant_. Barthol. de usu Niv. c. 12. + +But although Snow be attended with the Effects here named, and others +specified by the learned _Bartholin_; yet this is not to be attributed to +any peculiar Virtue in the Snow, but some other Cause. Thus when it is +said to _fructify the Earth_, it doth so by guarding the Corn or other +Vegetables against the intenser cold of the Air, especially the cold +piercing Winds; which the Husbandmen observe to be the most injurious to +their Corn of all Weathers. So for _Conserving dead Bodies_, it doth it +by constipating such Bodies, and preventing all such Fermentations or +internal Conflicts of their Particles, as would produce Corruption. + +Such an Example as the preceding is said to have happened some Years +ago at _Paris_, in digging in a Cellar for supposed hidden Treasure; +in which, after digging some Hours, the Maid going to call her Master, +found them all in their digging Postures, but dead. This being noised +abroad, brought in not only the People, but Magistrates also, who found +them accordingly; _Ille qui ligone terram effoderat, & socius qui palâ +effossam terram removerat, ambo pedibus stabant, quasi sua quisque +operâ affixus incubuisset; uxor unius quasi ab opere defessa in scamno, +solicito quodam vultu, sedebat, inclinato in palmam manûs genibus +innitentis capite; puerulus laxatis braccis in margine excavatæ foveæ +defixis in terram oculis alvum exonerabat; omnes in naturali situ, carneæ +tanquam statuæ rigidi, apertis oculis & vultu vitam quasi respirante, +exanimes stabant._ Dr. Bern. Connor, Dissert. Med. Phys. _p. 15._ + +The Doctor attributes all this to Cold; but I scarce think there could +be Cold enough to do all this at _Paris_, and in a Cellar too. Bur his +following Stories are not improbable, of Men and Cattle killed with Cold, +that remained in the very same Posture in which they died; of which he +gives, from a _Spanish_ Captain, this Instance, that happened two Years +before, of a Soldier who unfortunately straggled from his Company that +were foraging, and was killed with the Cold, but was thought to have +fallen into the Enemies Hands. But soon after their return to their +Quarters, they saw their Comrade returning, sitting on Horseback, and +coming to congratulate him, found him dead, and that he had been brought +thither in the same Posture on Horseback, notwithstanding the jolting of +the Horse. _Ibid. p._ 18. + +[b] Of this Opinion was my late most ingenious and learned Friend, Mr. +_Ray_, whose Reasons see in his _Physico-Theolog. Discourses_, Disc. 2. +ch. 2. p. 89, _&c_. So also my no less learned and ingenious Friends, +Dr. _Halley_, and the late Dr. _Hook_, many of the _French_ Vertuoso’s +also, and divers other very considerable Men before them, too many to be +specified here. + +[c] _An Polycletum quidem admirabimur propter partium +Statuæ—convenientiam ac proportionem? Naturam autem non modò non +laudabimus, sed omni etiam arte privabimus, quæ partium proportionem non +solùm extrinsecus more Statuariorum, sed in profundo etiam servavit? +Nonne & Polycletus ipse Naturæ est imitator, in quibus saltem eam +potuit imitari? Potuit autem in solis externis partibus in quibus artem +consideravit._ With much more to the like Purpose, _Galen. de Us. Part. +l. 17. c. 1._ + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +_Of Light._ + + +Thus much for the first Thing ministring to the Terraqueous Globe, the +Atmosphere and its Meteors; the next Appendage is _Light_.[a] Concerning +which I have in my Survey of the Heavens[b] shewed what admirable +Contrivances the infinitely wise Creator hath for the affording this +noble, glorious and comfortable Benefit to other Globes, as well as +ours; the Provision he hath made by Moons, as well as by the Sun, for the +Communication of it. + +And now let us briefly consider the great Necessity and Use thereof to +all our Animal World. And this we shall find to be little less than the +very Life and Pleasure of all those Creatures. For what Benefit would +Life be of, what Pleasure, what Comfort would it be for us to live +in perpetual Darkness? How could we provide ourselves with Food and +Necessaries? How could we go about the least Business, correspond with +one another, or be of any Use in the World, or any Creatures be the same +to us, without Light, and those admirable Organs of the Body, which the +great _Creator_ hath adapted to the Perception of that great Benefit? + +But now by the help of this admirable, this first-made[c], because most +necessary, Creature of God, by this, I say, all the Animal World is +enabled to go here and there, as their Occasions call; they can transact +their Business by Day, and refresh and recruit themselves by Night, +with Rest and Sleep. They can with Admiration and Pleasure, behold the +glorious Works of God; they can view the Glories of the Heavens, and +see the Beauties of the flowry Fields, the gay Attire of the feathered +Tribe, the exquisite Garniture of many Quadrupeds, Insects, and other +Creatures; they can take in the delightsome Landskips of divers Countries +and Places; they can with Admiration see the great Creator’s wonderful +Art and Contrivance in the Parts of Animals and Vegetables: And in a +word, behold the Harmony of this lower World, and of the Globes above, +and survey God’s exquisite Workmanship in every Creature. + +To all which I might add the Improvements which the Sagacity of Men hath +made of this noble Creature of God, by the Refractions and Reflections of +Glasses. But it would be endless to enumerate all its particular Uses and +Benefits to our World. + +But before I leave this Point, there are two Things concerning Light, +which will deserve an especial Remark; and that is, its swift and almost +instantaneous Motion, and its vast Extension. + +1. It is a very great Act of the Providence of God, that so great a +Benefit as Light is, is not long in its Passage from Place to Place. For +was the Motion thereof no swifter than the Motion of the swiftest Bodies +on Earth, such as of a Bullet out of a great Gun, or even of a Sound[d] +(which is the swiftest Motion we have next Light), in this Case Light +would take up, in its Progress from the Sun to us above thirty two Years +at the rate of the first, and above seventeen Years at the rate of the +latter Motion. + +The Inconveniencies of which would be, its Energy and Vigour would +be greatly cooled and abated; its Rays would be less penetrant; and +Darkness would with greater Difficulty and much Sluggishness, be +dissipated, especially by the fainter Lights of our sublunary, luminous +Bodies. But passing with such prodigious Velocity, with nearly the +instantaneous Swiftness of almost Two hundred thousand _English_ Miles in +one Second of Time,[e] or (which is the same Thing) being but about seven +or eight Minutes of an Hour in coming from the Sun to us, therefore with +all Security and Speed, we receive the kindly Effects and Influences of +that noble and useful Creature of God. + +2. Another Thing of great Consideration about Light is, its vast +Expansion, it’s almost incomprehensible, and inconceivable Extension, +which as a late ingenious Author[f] saith, “Is as boundless and +unlimited as the Universe it self, or the Expansum of all material +Beings: The vastness of which is so great, that it exceeds the +Comprehensions of Man’s Understanding. Insomuch that very many have +asserted it absolutely infinite, and without any Limits or Bounds.” + +And that this noble Creature of God is of this Extent,[g] is manifest +from our seeing some of the farthest distant Objects, the heavenly +Bodies, some with our naked Eye, some with the help of Optical +Instruments, and others in all Probability farther and farther, with +better and better Instruments: And had we Instruments of Power equivalent +to the Extent of Light, the luminous Bodies of the utmost Parts of the +Universe, would for the same Reason be visible too. + +Now as Light is of greatest Use to impower us to see Objects at all, so +the Extension thereof is no less useful to enable us to see Objects afar +off. By which means we are afforded a Ken of those many glorious Works +of the infinite Creator, visible in the Heavens, and can improve them to +some of the noblest Sciences, and most excellent Uses of our own Globe. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] It is not worth while to enumerate the Opinions of the +_Aristotelians_, _Cartesians_, and others, about the Nature of Light, +_Aristotle_ making it a Quality; _Cartes_ a Pulsion, or Motion of the +Globules of the second Element, _Vid._ _Cartes Princip._ p. 3. §. 55, +_&c._ But with the Moderns, I take _Light_ to consist of material +Particles, propagated from the Sun, and other luminous Bodies, not +instantaneously, but in time, according to the Notes following in this +Chapter. But not to insist upon other Arguments for the Proof of it, our +noble Founder hath proved the Materiality of Light and Heat, from actual +Experiments on Silver, Copper, Tin, Lead, Spelter, Iron, Tutenage, and +other Bodies, exposed (both naked and closely shut up) to the Fire: All +which were constantly found to receive an Increment of Weight. I wish he +could have met with a favourable Season to have tried his Experiments +with the Sun-beams as he intended. _Vid._ _Boyl Exp. to make Fire and +Flame ponderable_. + +[b] Astro-Theol. Book 7. + +[c] Gen. i. 3. _And God said, Let there be Light, and there was Light._ + +[d] It may not be ungrateful to the Curious, to take notice of the +Velocity of these two Things. + +According to the Observations of _Mersennus_, a Bullet-shot out of +a great Gun, flies 92 Fathom in a Second of Time, (_Vid._ _Mersen. +Balist._) which is equal to 589½ Feet _English_, and according to the +Computation of Mr. _Huygens_, it would be 25 years in passing from the +Earth to the Sun. But according to my own Observations made with one +of her Majesty’s _Sakers_, and a very accurate Pendulum-Chronometer, a +Bullet, at its first Discharge, flies 510 Yards in five half Seconds, +which is a Mile in a little above 17 half Seconds. And allowing the Sun’s +Distance to be, as in the next Note, a Bullet would be 32½ Years in +flying with its utmost Velocity to the Sun. + +As to the Velocity of Sound, see _Book 4. Chap. 3. Note 28._ according +to which rate there mentioned, a Sound would be near 17½ Years in flying +as far as the distance is from the Earth to the Sun. Confer here the +Experiments of the _Acad. del Ciment._ p. 140, _&c._ + +[e] Mr. _Romer_’s ingenious Hypothesis about the Velocity of Light, hath +been established by the _Royal Academy_, and in the _Observatory_ for +eight Years, as our _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 136. observe from the _Journ. +des Scavans_; our most eminent Astronomers also in _England_ admit +it: But Dr. _Hook_ thinks with Monsieur _Cartes_, the Motion of Light +Instantaneous, _Hook Post. Works, pag. 77._ And this he endeavours to +explain, _pag. 130_, &c. + +What Mr. _Romer_’s Hypothesis is, may be seen in the _Phil. Transact._ +before-cited: As also in the before commended Sir _Isaac Newton_’s +_Opticks_: _Light is propagated from luminous Bodies in time, and spends +about seven or eight Minutes of an Hour in passing from the Sun to the +Earth. This was first observed by ~Romer~, and then by others, by means +of the Eclipses of the Satellites of ~Jupiter~. For these Eclipses, when +the Earth is between the Sun and ~Jupiter~, happen about seven or eight +Minutes sooner than they ought to do by the Tables; and when the Earth is +beyond the ☉, they happen about seven or eight Minutes later than they +ought to do: The reason being, that the Light of the Satellites hath +farther to go in the latter Case than in the former, by the Diameter of +the Earth’s Orbit._ Newt. Opt. L. 2. Part. 3. Prop. 11. + +Now forasmuch as the Distance between the Sun and the Earth (according +to the Computations in my _Astro-Theology_, _B. 1. ch. 3. Note 2._) is +86051398 _English_ Miles; therefore, at the rate of 7½ Minutes, or 450 +Seconds in passing from the Sun, Light will be found to fly above 191225 +Miles in one Second of Time. + +[f] Dr. _Hook_ Post. Works. Lect. of Light, _pag. 76._ + +[g] For the proof of this vast Extent of Light, I shall take the +Computation of the same great Man, _pag. 77_. _If_, saith he, _we +consider first the vast Distance between us and the Sun, which from the +best and latest Observations in Astronomy, is judged to be about 10000 +Diameters of the Earth, each of which It about 7925 ~English~ Miles; +therefore the Sun’s distance is 7925000 Miles; and if we consider that +according to the Observations, which I published to prove the Motion of +the Earth, ~[which were Observations of the Parallax of some of the fixt +Stars in the Head of _Draco_, made in 1699]~ the whole Diameter of the +Orb, ~viz.~ 20000, made the Subtense but of one Minute to one of the fixt +Stars, which cannot therefore be less distant than 3438 Diameters of this +great Orb, and consequently 68760000 Diameters of the Earth: And if this +Star be one of the nearest, and that the Stars that are of one Degree +lesser in Magnitude (I mean not of the Second Magnitude, because there +may be many Degrees between the first and second) be as much farther; +and another sort yet smaller be three times as far; and a fourth four +times as far, and so onward, possibly to some 100 Degrees of Magnitude, +such as may be discovered by longer and longer Telescopes, that they may +be 100 times as far; then certainly this material Expansion, a part of +which we are, must be so great, that ’twill infinitely exceed our shallow +Conception to imagine. Now, by what I last mentioned, it is evident that +Light extends it self to the utmost imaginable Parts, and by the help +of Telescopes we collect the Rays, and make them sensible to the Eye, +which are emitted from some of the almost inconceivably remote Objects, +~&c.~——Nor is it only the great Body of the Sun, or the vast Bodies of +the fixt Stars, that are thus able to disperse their Light through the +vast Expansum of the Universe; but the smallest Spark of a lucid Body +will do the very same Thing, even the smallest Globule struck from a +Steel by a Flint, ~&c.~_ + + + + +CHAP. V. + +_Of Gravity._ + + +The last Thing subservient to our Globe, that I shall take notice of, is +_Gravity_[a], or that Tendency which Bodies have to the Centre of the +Earth. + +In my _Astro-Theology_, _Book 6. Ch. 2._ I have shewn of what absolute +Necessity, and what a noble Contrivance this of Gravity is, for keeping +the several Globes of the Universe from shattering to Pieces, as they +evidently must do in a little Time by their swift Rotation round their +own Axes[b]. The Terraqueous Globe particularly, which circumvolves at +the rate of above 1000 Miles an Hour[c], would by the centrifugal force +of that Motion, be soon dissipated and spirtled into the circumambient +Space, was it not kept together by this noble Contrivance of the Creator, +this natural inherent Power, namely, the Power of Attraction or Gravity. + +And as by this Power our Globe is defended against Dissipation, so all +its Parts are kept in their proper Place and Order. All material Things +do naturally gravitate thereto, and unite themselves therewith, and so +preserve its Bulk intire[d]. And the fleeting Waters, the most unruly +of all its Parts, do by this means keep their constant æquipoise in the +Globe[e], and remain in _that Place which_, the Psalmist saith, _God had +founded for them; a bound he had set, which they might not pass; that +they turn not again to cover the Earth_, Psal. civ. 8, 9. So, that even +in a natural Way, by virtue of this excellent Contrivance of the Creator, +the Observation of the Psalmist is perpetually fulfilled, _Psal._ lxxxix. +9. _Thou rulest the raging of the Sea; when the Waves thereof arise, thou +stillest them._ + +To these, and an hundred other Uses of Gravity that I might have +named, I shall only just mention another Thing owing to it, and that +is _Levity_[f], that, whereby what we call light Bodies swim, a Thing +no less useful to the World than its opposite, _Gravity_, is in many +Respects, to divers Tribes of Animals, but particularly serviceable to +the raising up of Vapours[g], and to their Conveyance about the World. + +And now from this transient View of no other than the Out-works, than +the bare Appendages of the Terraqueous Globe, we have so manifest a +Sample of the Wisdom, Power, and Goodness of the infinite Creator, that +it is easy to imagine the whole Fabrick is of a Piece, the Work of at +least a skilful Artist. A Man that should meet with a Palace[h], beset +with pleasant Gardens, adorned with stately Avenues, furnished with +well-contrived Aqueducts, Cascades, and all other Appendages conducing +to Convenience or Pleasure, would easily imagine, that proportionable +Architecture and Magnificence were within: But we should conclude the +Man was out of his Wits that should assert and plead that all was the +Work of Chance, or other than of some wise and skilful Hand. And so when +we survey the bare Out-works of this our Globe, when we see so vast a +Body, accouter’d with so noble a Furniture of Air, Light and Gravity; +with every Thing, in short, that is necessary to the Preservation and +Security of the Globe it self, or that conduceth to the Life, Health, and +Happiness, to the Propagation and Increase of all the prodigious Variety +of Creatures the Globe is stocked with; when we see nothing wanting, +nothing redundant or frivolous, nothing botching or ill-made, but that +every thing, even in the very Appendages alone, exactly answereth all +its Ends and Occasions: What else can be concluded, but that all was +made with manifest Design, and that all the whole Structure is the Work +of some intelligent Being; some Artist, of Power and Skill equivalent to +such a Work? + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] That there is such a Thing as _Gravity_, is manifest from its Effects +here upon Earth; and that the Heavenly Bodies attract or gravitate to +one another, when placed at due Distances, is made highly probable by +Sir _Isaac Newton_. This attractive or gravitating Power, I take to be +congenial to Matter, and imprinted on all the Matter of the Universe +by the Creator’s _Fiat_ at the Creation. What the _Cause_ of it is, +the _Newtonian Philosophy_ doth not pretend to determine for want of +Phænomena, upon which Foundation it is that that Philosophy is grounded, +and not upon chimerical and uncertain Hypotheses: But whatever the Cause +is, that _Cause penetrates even to the Centers of the Sun and Planets, +without any Diminution of its Virtue; and it acteth not according to the +Superficies of Bodies (as Mechanical Causes do) but in proportion to +the Quantity of their solid Matter; ~and lastly~, it acteth all round +it at immense Distances, decreasing in duplicate proportion to those +Distances_, as Sir _Isaac Newton_ saith, _Princip._ pag. ult. What useful +Deductions, and what a rational Philosophy have been drawn from hence, +may be seen in the same Book. + +This Attraction, or Gravity, as its Force is in a certain proportion, so +makes the Descent of Bodies to be at a certain rate. And was it not for +the Resistence of the Medium, all Bodies would descend to the Earth at +the same rate; the lightest Down, as swiftly as the heaviest Mineral: As +is manifest in the _Air-Pump_, in which the lightest Feather, Dust, _&c._ +and a piece of Lead, drop down seemingly in the same Time, from the top +to the bottom of a tall exhausted Receiver. + +The rate of the Descent of heavy Bodies, according to _Galileo_, Mr. +_Huygens_, and Dr. _Halley_ (after them) is 16 Feet one Inch in one +Second of Time; and in more Seconds, as the Squares of those Times. +But in some accurate Experiments made in St. _Paul_’s _Dome_, June 9. +1710, at the Height of 220 Feet, the Descent was scarcely 14 Feet in +the first Second. The Experiments were made in the Presence of some +very considerable Members of the Royal Society, by Mr. _Hawksbee_, +their Operator, with glass, hollow Balls, some empty, some filled with +Quick-silver, the Barometer at 297, the Thermometer 60 Degrees above +Freezing. The Weight of the Balls, their Diameters, and Time of the +Descent is in this Table. + + +----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ + | Balls filled with ☿. | Empty Balls. | + +---------+-------------+----------+---------+--------------+----------+ + | Weight. | Diameter. | Time. | Weight. | Diameter. | Time. | + +---------+-------------+----------+---------+------+-------+----------+ + | Grains. | Tenth inch. | ½ Secᵈˢ. | Grains. | Inch.| Tenth.| ½ Secᵈˢ. | + +---------+-------------+----------+---------+------+-------+----------+ + | 908 | 8 | 8 | 510 | 5 | 1 | 17 | + | | | | | | | | + | 993 | 8 | 8 less. | 642 | 5 | 2 | 16 | + | | | | | | | | + | 866 | 8 | 8 | 599 | 5 | 1 | 16 | + | | | | | | | | + | 747 | 7½ | 8 more. | 515 | 5 nearly | 16½ | + | | | | | | | | + | 808 | 7½ | 8 | 483 | 5 nearly | 17 | + | | | | | | | | + | 784 | 7½ | 8 more. | 641 | 5 | 2 | 16 | + +---------+-------------+----------+---------+------+-------+----------+ + +The Reason why the heavy, full Balls fell in half the Time of the hollow +ones, was the Resistence of the Air: Which Resistence is very ingeniously +and accurately assigned by Dr. _Wallis_, in _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 186. And +the cause of the Resistence of all Fluids, (as Sir _Isaac Newton_, _Opt._ +Q. 20.) is partly from the _Friction_ of the Parts of the Fluid, partly +from the _Inertia_ thereof. The Resistence a spherical Body meets with +from Friction, is as the right Angle under the Diameter, and the Velocity +of the moving Body: And the Resistence from the _Vis Inertia_, is as the +Square of that Product. + +For a farther Account of the Properties and Proportions, _&c._ of Gravity +in the Fall or Projection of Bodies, I shall refer to the larger Accounts +of _Galilæus_, _Torricellius_, _Huygens_, Sir _Isaac Newton_, &c. or to +the shorter Accounts of Dr. _Halley_ in Philos. Trans. abridged by Mr. +_Lowthorp_, Vol. I. p. 561. or Dr. _Clarke_ in his Notes on _Rohault_, +_Phys._ 2. c. 28. §. 13, 16. And for the Resistence of Fluids, I refer to +Dr. _Wallis_ before-cited, and the _Act. Erudit. Lips._ May 1693. where +there is a way to find the Force of Mediums upon Bodies of different +Figures. + +[b] That the heavenly Bodies move round their own Axes, is, beyond all +doubt, manifest to our Eye, in some of them, from the Spots visible on +them. The Spots on the Sun (easily visible with an ordinary Glass) do +manifest him to revolve round his own Axis in about 25¼ Days. The Spots +on ♃ and ♂ prove those two Planets to revolve also from East to West, as +Dr. _Hook_ discover’d in 1664, and 1665. And ♀ also (although near the +strong Rays of the Sun) hath, from some Spots, been discovered by Mr. +_Cassini_, in 1666, and 1667, to have a manifest Rotation. _V._ _Lowth. +Abridg._ Vol. 1. p. 382, and 423, 425. And such Uniformity hath the +_Creator_ observ’d in the Works of Nature, that what is observable in +one, is generally to be found in all others of the same kind. So that +since ’tis manifest the Sun, and three of his Planets whirl round, it is +very reasonable to conclude all the rest do so too, yea, every Globe of +the Universe. + +[c] The Earth’s Circumference being 25031½ Miles, (according to _Book II. +Chap. 2. Note (a)._) if we divide that into 24 Hours, we shall find the +Motion of the Earth to be nearly 1043 Miles in an Hour. Which, by the by, +is a far more reasonable and less rapid Rate, than that of the Sun would +be, if we suppose the Earth to stand still, and the Sun to move round the +Earth. For according to the Proportions in _Note (e)_, of the preceding +Chapter, the Circumference of the _Magnus Orbis_ is 540686225 _English_ +Miles, which divided by 24 Hours, gives 22528364 Miles in an Hour. But +what is this to the Rapidity of the fixt Stars, if we suppose them; not +the Earth, to move? Which is a good Argument for the Earth’s Motion. + +[d] _Nihil majus, quàm quòd ita stabilis est Mundus, atque ita cohæret +ad permanendum, ut nihil nè excogitari quidem possit aptius. Omnes +enim partes ejus undique medium locum capessentes, nituntur æqualiter: +maximè autem corpora inter se juncta permanent, cum quodam quasi vinculo +circumdata colligantur: quod facit ea natura, quæ per omnem mundum omnia +Mente, & Ratione conficiens, funditur, & ad medium rapit, & convertit +extrema_, Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 45. + +[e] _Eâdem ratione Mare, cùm supra terram sit, medium tamen terræ locum +expetens, conglobatur undique æqualiter, neque redundat unquam, neque +effunditur._ Id. paulo post. + +[f] That there is no such Thing as _positive Levity_, but that Levity is +only a less Gravity, is abundantly manifested by the acute _Seig. Alph. +Borelli de Mot. à Grav. pend._ cap. 4. See also the Annotations of the +learned and ingenious Dr. Clark on _Rohaulti Phys._ p. 1. c. 16. Note 3. +Also the Exper. of the _Acad. del Cimento_, p. 118, &c. Dr. _Wallis_’s +_Disc. of Gravity and Gravitation before the Royal Society_, Nov. 12. +1674. p. 28, _&c._ + +[g] I have before in _Note (a), Chap. 3._ shewn what _Vapours_ are, and +how they are rais’d. That which I shall here note, is their Quantity: +Concerning which the before-commended Dr. _Halley_ hath given us some +curious Experiments in our _Phil. Transact._ which may be met with +together in Mr. _Lowthorp_’s _Abridg._ Vol. II. _p. 108._ and _126._ Mr. +_Sedileau_ also at _Paris_ observed it for near three Years. By all their +Observations it appears, that in the Winter Months the Evaporations are +least, and greatest in Summer, and most of all in windy Weather. And by +_Monsieur Sedileau_’s Observations it appears, that what is raised in +Vapours, exceeds that which falleth in Rain. In the seven last Months of +the Year 1688, the Evaporations amounted to 22 Inches 5 Lines; but the +Rain only to Inches 6⅓ Lines: In 1689, the Evaporations were 32 Inches +10½ Lines; but the Rain 18 Inches 1 Line: In 1690, the Evaporations 30 +Inches 11 Lines; the Rain 21 Inches ⅓ of a Line. _Vid._ _Mem. de Math. +Phys. Ann. 1692._ p. 25. + +If it be demanded, What becomes of the Overplus of Exhalations that +descend not in Rain? I answer, They are partly tumbled down and spent by +the Winds, and partly descend in Dews, which amount to a greater quantity +than is commonly imagined. Dr. _Halley_ found the descent of Vapours in +Dews so prodigious at St. _Helena_, that he makes no doubt to attribute +the Origine of Fountains thereto. And I my self have seen in a still, +cool Evening, large thick Clouds hanging, without any Motion in the Air, +which in two or three Hours Time have been melted down by Degrees, by the +cold of the Evening, so that not any the least Remains of them have been +left. + +[h] See _Book II. Chap. 3. Note (c)._ + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK II. + +_Of the Terraqueous Globe it self in general._ + + +In the foregoing Book having dispatch’d the Out-works, let us take a +Survey of the Principal Fabrick, _viz._ the _Terraqueous Globe_ it self; +a most stupendious Work in every particular of it, which doth no less +aggrandize its Maker[a], than every curious, complete Work, doth its +Workman. Let us cast our Eyes here and there, let us ransack all the +Globe, let us with the greatest Accuracy inspect every part thereof, +search out the inmost Secrets of any of the Creatures; let us examine +them with all our Gauges, measure them with our nicest Rules, pry into +them with our Microscopes, and most exquisite Instruments[b] still we +find them to bear Testimony to their infinite Workman; and that they +exceed all humane Skill so far, as that the most exquisite Copies and +Imitations of the best Artists, are no other than rude bungling Pieces +to them. And so far are we from being able to espy any Defect or Fault +in them, that the better we know them, the more we admire them; and the +farther we see into them, the more exquisite we find them to be. + +And for a Demonstration of this; I shall, + +I. Take a general Prospect of the Terraqueous Globe. + +II. Survey its Particulars. + +I. The Things which will fall under a general Prospect of the Globe, will +be its _Figure_, _Bulk_, _Motion_, _Place_, _Distribution_ into Earth and +Waters, and the great _Variety_ of all Things upon it and in it. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Licet——oculis quodammodo contemplari pulchritudinem earum rerum, +quas Divinâ Providentiâ dicimus constitutas. Ac principio Terra universa +cernatur, locata in media mundi sede, solida, & globosa——vestita +floribus, herbis, arboribus, frugibus. Quorum omnium incredibilis +multitudo, insatiabili varietate distinguitur. Adde huc Fontium gelidas +perennitates, liquores perlucidos Amnium, Riparum vestitus viridissimos, +Speluncarum concavas altitudines, Saxorum asperitates, impendentium +Montium altitudines, immensitatesque Camporum: Adde etiam reconditas +Auri——venas——Qua verò, & quàm varia genera Bestiarum?——Qui Volucrum +lapsus, atque cantus? Qui Pecudum pastus?——Quid de Hominum genere dicam? +Qui quasi cultores terra constituti, ~&c.~——Qua si, ut animis, sic +oculis videre possemus, nemo cunctam intuens terram, de Divinâ Ratione +dubitaret._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 39. + +[b] _I cannot here omit the Observations that have been made in +these later Times, since we have had the Use and Improvement of the +~Microscope~, concerning the great Difference, which by the help of +that, doth appear betwixt ~Natural~ and ~Artificial~ Things. Whatever is +Natural, doth by that appear adorned with all imaginable Elegance and +Beauty.——Whereas the most curious Works of Art, the sharpest, finest +Needle doth appear as a blunt, rough Bar of Iron, coming from the Furnace +or the Forge. The most accurate Engravings or Embossments seem such rude, +bungling, deformed Works, as if they had been done with a Mattock, or a +Trowel. So vast a Difference is there betwixt the Skill of Nature, and +the Rudeness and Imperfection of ~Art~._ _Bp._ Wilk. Nat. Rel. L. 1. Ch. +6. + + + + +CHAP. I. + +_Of the Figure of the Terraqueous Globe._ + + +This I suppose I may take for granted to be Spherical, or nearly so[a]. +And this must be allowed to be the most commodious, apt Figure for a +World on many Accounts; as it is most capacious, as its Surface is +equi-distant from the Center, not only of the Globe, but at least +(nearly) of Gravity and Motion too, and as some have thought, of the +central Heat and Waters. But these, and divers other Things I shall pass +over, and insist only upon two or three other Benefits of this globous +Figure of the Earth and Waters. + +1. This Figure is the most commodious in regard of Heat, and I may add of +Light also in some measure. For by this means, those two great Benefits +are uniformly and equally imparted to the World: They come harmoniously +and gradually on, and as gradually go off again. So that the daily and +yearly Returns of Light and Darkness, Cold and Heat, Moist and Dry, +are Regular and Workman-like, (we may say,) which they would not be, +especially the former, if the Mass of Earth and Waters were (as some +fancied[b] it) a large Plain; or as others, like a large Hill in the +midst of the Ocean; or of a multangular Figure; or such like. + +2. This Figure is admirably adapted to the commodious and equal +Distribution of the Waters in the Globe. For since, by the Laws of +Gravity, the Waters will possess the lowest Place; therefore, if the +Mass of the Earth was cubick, prismatick, or any other angular Figure, +it would follow, that one (too vast a Part) would be drowned; and +another be too dry. But being thus orbicular, the Waters are equally +and commodiously distributed here and there, according as the Divine +Providence saw most fit; of which I shall take notice by and by. + +3. The orbicular Figure of our Globe, is far the most beneficial to +the Winds and Motions of the Atmosphere. It is not to be doubted, if +the Earth was of some other, or indeed any other Figure, but that the +Currents of Air would be much retarded, if not wholly stopped. We find +by Experience what Influence large and high Mountains, Bays, Capes, and +Head-lands have upon the Winds; how they stop some, retard many, and +divert and change (near the Shores) even the _general_ and _constant +Winds_[c], that blow round the Globe in the Torrid Zone. And therefore, +since this is the effect of such little Excrescences, which have but +little Proportion to our Globe, what would be the Consequences of much +vaster Angles, which would equal a Quarter, Tenth, or but an Hundredth +Part of the Globe’s Radius? Certainly these must be such a Barricade, +as would greatly annoy, or rather absolutely stop the Currents of the +Atmosphere, and thereby deprive the World of those salutiferous Gales +that I have said keep it sweet and clean. + +Thus the Figure of our Globe doth manifest it to be a Work of +Contrivance, inasmuch as it is of the most commodious Figure; and all +others would be liable to great and evident Inconveniences. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] Although the Terraqueous Globe be of an orbicular Figure, yet it is +not strictly so, 1. On account of its Hills and Vallies. But there are +inconsiderable to the Earth’s Semidiameter; for they are but as the Dust +upon a common Globe. But, 2. Our modern Astronomers assign a much greater +Variation from a globous Form, namely, that of a prolate Sphæroid, making +the Polar about 34 Miles shorter than the Equatorial Diameter. The Cause +of which they make to be the centrifugal Force of the diurnal Rotation of +the Globe. + +This Figure they imagine is in _Jupiter_, his Polar being to his +Equatorial Diameter, as 39⅗ to 40⅗. But whether it be so or no, I confess +I could never perceive, although I have often viewed that Planet through +very good, and long Glasses, particularly a tolerable good one of 72 Feet +in my Hands: And although by Reason of cloudy Weather, and (at present) +_Jupiter_’s Proximity to the Sun, I have not been of late able to take a +review of that Planet; yet _Saturn_ (so far as his Ring would permit,) +and _Mars_ appear perfectly round thro’ Mr. _Huygens_’s long Glass of +126 Feet, which by Will he bequeathed, with its whole Apparatus, to our +_R. S._ by whose Favour it is now in my Hands. And moreover, I believe +it difficult, next to impossible, to measure the two Diameters to a 40ᵗʰ +Part, by reason of the smallness of _Jupiter_’s apparent Diameter, and by +reason he is moving all the time of measuring him. + +As to what is alledged from lengthening the Pendulums of Clocks, to make +them keep the same Time under the Equator, as they do in our Climes; I +have shewn from the like Variations in the Air-Pump, that this may arise +from the rarity of the Air there, more than here. _V._ _Phil. Trans._ +Nᵒ. 294. But if the Degrees of a Meridian grow larger, the more we go +towards the Line, (as Mr. _Cassini_ affirms they do, by an 800ᵗʰ Part in +every Degree, in _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 278.) then there is great reason to +conclude in behalf of this Sphæroidal Form. + +The natural Cause of this Sphericity of our Globe, is (according to +Sir _Isaac Newton_’s Principles) that _Attraction_, which the infinite +Creator hath stamp’d on all the Matter of the Universe, whereby all +Bodies, and all the Parts of Bodies mutually attract themselves and one +another. By which means, as all the Parts of Bodies tend naturally to +their Center, so they all betake themselves to a globous Figure, unless +some other more prevalent Cause interpose. Thus Drops of Quick-silver put +on a spherical Form, the Parts thereof strongly attracting one another. +So Drops of Water have the same Form, when falling in the Air; but are +Hemispherical only when they lie on a hard Body, by reason their Gravity +doth so far over-power their self-attracting Power, as to take off one +half of their Sphericity. This Figure is commonly attributed to the +Pressure of the circumambient Air: But that this can’t be the cause, is +manifest from the Air-Pump; the case being the very same in an exhausted +Receiver, as in the open Air, and not any the least Alteration of the +Figure that I could perceive, in all the Trials I have made. + +[b] It would be frivolous as well as endless to reckon up the various +Opinions of the Ancients about the Figure of the Terraqueous Globe; some +of them may be seen in _Varen. Geogr._ l. 1. _c. 3. init._ or _Johnston’s +Thaumat. c. 1. Artic. 3._ But among the variety of Opinions, one of the +principal was, That the visible Horizon was the Bounds of the Earth, and +the Ocean the Bounds of the Horizon, that the Heavens and Earth above +this Ocean, was the whole visible Universe; and that all beneath the +Ocean was _Hades_, or the _invisible World_. Hence, when the Sun set, he +was said _tingere se Oceano_; and when any went to _Hades_, they must +first pass the Ocean. Of this Opinion were not only the ancient Poets, +and others among the Heathens, but some of the Christian Fathers too, +particularly _Lactantius_, St. _Augustine_, and others, who thought their +Opinion was favoured by the Psalmist, in _Psal._ xxiv. 2. and cxxxvi. 6. +See _Bp. Usher’s Ans. to a Jes. Chall._ p. 366. _&c._ + +[c] _Neither do these constant ~Trade-Winds~ usually blow near the Shore, +but only on the Ocean, at least 30 or 40 Leagues off at Sea, clear from +any Land; especially on the West Coast, or Side of any Continent: For +indeed on the East Side, the Easterly Wind being the true Trade-Wind, +blows almost home to the Shore, so near as to receive a check from the +Land-Wind._ Dampier’s Winds, Ch. 1. + +And not only the _general Trade-Winds_, but also the _constant coasting +Trade-Winds_, are in like manner affected by the Lands. Thus, for +Instance, on the Coast of _Angola_ and _Peru_. But this, saith the +curious Captain _Dampier_, the Reader must take notice of, _That the +Trade-Winds that blow on any Coast, except the North Coast of ~Africa~, +whether they are constant, and blow all the Year, or whether they are +shifting Winds, do never blow right in on the Shore, nor right along +Shore, but go slanting, snaking an acute Angle of about 22 Degrees. +Therefore, as the Land tends more East or West, from North or South on +the Coast; so the Winds do alter accordingly._ Ibid. Ch. 2. + + + + +CHAP. II. + +_Of the Bulk of the Terraqueous Globe._ + + +The next Thing remarkable in the Terraqueous Globe, is the prodigious +Bulk thereof[a]. A Mass of above 260 Thousand Million of Miles solid +Content. A Work too grand for any thing less than a God to make. To which +in the next Place we may add, + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] It is not difficult to make a pretty near Computation of the Bulk +of the Terraqueous Globe, from those accurate Observations of a Degree +made by Mr. _Norwood_ in _England_, and Mr. _Picart_, and Mr. _Cassini_ +in _France_. Whose Measures do in a surprizing manner agree. But Mr. +_Cassini_’s seeming to be the most accurate (as I have shewn in my +_Astro-Theology_, _B. 1. Ch. 2. Note (a)._) I have there made use of +his Determinations. According to which the Diameter of the Earth being +7967,72 _English_ Miles, its Ambit will be 25031½ Miles; and (supposing +it to be Spherical) its Surface will be 199444220 Miles; which being +multiplied into ⅓ of its Semidiameter, gives the Solid Content, _viz._ +264856000000 Miles. + + + + +CHAP. III. + +_The Motions of the Terraqueous Globe._ + + +The Motions the Terraqueous Globe hath, are round its own Axis, and round +its Fountain of Light and Heat, the Sun[a]. That so vast a Body as the +Earth and Waters should be moved at all[b], that it should undergo two +such different Motions, as the Diurnal and Annual are, and that these +Motions should be so constantly and regularly[c] performed for near 6000 +Years, without any the least Alteration ever heard of (except some Hours +which we read of in _Josh._ x. 12, 13. and in _Hezekiah_’s Time, which, +if they cannot be accounted for some other way, do greatly encrease +the Wonder[d]; these Things, I say,) do manifestly argue some divine +infinite Power to be concerned therein[e]: But especially, if to all +this we add the wonderful Convenience, yea absolute Necessity of these +Circumvolutions to the Inhabitants, yea all the Products of the Earth +and Waters. For to one of these we owe the comfortable Changes of Day +and Night; the one for Business, the other for Repose;[f] the one for +Man, and most other Animals to gather and provide Food, Habitation, +and other Necessaries of Life; the other to rest, refresh, and recruit +their Spirits[g], wasted with the Labours of the Day. To the other of +those Motions we owe the Seasons of Summer and Winter, Spring and Autumn, +together with the beneficial Instances and Effects which these have on +the Bodies and State of Animals, Vegetables, and all other Things, both +in the Torrid, Temperate, and Frigid Zones. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] With the _Copernicans_, I take it here for granted, that the Diurnal +and Annual Revolutions are the Motions of the Terraqueous Globe, not of +the Sun, _&c._ but for the Proof thereof I shall refer the Reader to the +Preface of my _Astro-Theology_, and _B. 4. Chap. 3._ + +[b] _Every thing that is moved, must of Necessity be moved by something +else; and that thing is moved by something that is moved either by +another Thing, or not by another Thing. If it be moved by that which is +moved by another, we must of Necessity come to some ~prime Mover~, that +is not moved by another. For it is impossible, that what moveth, and is +moved by another, should proceed_ in infinitum. Aristot. Phys. l. 8. c. 5. + +_Solum quod seipsum movet, quia nunquam deseritur à se, nunquam ne moveri +quidem definit; quinetiam cæteris quæ moventur, hic fons: hoc principium +est movendi. Principii autem nulla est origo: nam ex principio oriuntur +omnia; ipsum autem nullâ ex re aliâ nasciepotest: nec enim esset id +principium, quod gigneretur aliunde._ Cicer. Tusc. Quest. l. 1. c. 23. + +_Cogitemus qui fieri possit, ut tanta magnitudo, ab aliquâ possit naturâ, +tanto tempore circumferri? Ego igitur assero Deum causam esse, nec aliter +posse fieri._ Plato in Epinom. + +[c] Among the Causes which _Cleanthes_ is said in _Tully_ to assign for +Men’s Belief of a Deity, one of the chief is, _Æquabilitatem motûs, +conversionem Cœli, Solis, Lunæ, Siderumque omnium distinctionem, +varietatem, pulchritudinem, ordinem: quarum rerum aspectus ipse satis +indicaret, non esse ea fortuita. Ut siquis in domum aliquam, aut in +gymnasium, aut in forum venerit; cùm videat omnium rerum rationem, modum, +disciplinam, non possit ea sine causâ fieri judicare, sed esse aliquem +intelligat, qui præsit, & cui pareatur: multo magis in tantis motibus, +tantisque vicissitudinibus, tam multarum rerum atque tanrarum ordinibus, +in quibus nihil unquam immmensa & infinita vetustas mentita sit, statuat +necesse est ab aliquâ Mente tantos naturæ motus gubernari._ Cir. de Nat. +Deor. l. 1. c. 5. + +_Homines cœperunt Deum agnoscere, cùm viderent Stellas, tantam +concinnitatem efficere; ac dies, noctesque, æstate, & hyeme, suos servare +statos ortus, atque obitus._ Plutarch de placit. l. 1. c. 6. + +[d] We need not be sollicitous to elude the History of these Miracles, +as if they were only poetical Strains, as _Maimonides_, and some others +fancy _Joshua_’s Day to have been, _viz._ only an ordinary Summer’s +Day; but such as had the Work of many Days done in it; and therefore +by a poetical Stretch made, as if the Day had been lengthened by the +Sun standing still. But in the History they are seriously related, as +real Matters of Fact, and with such Circumstances as manifest them to +have been miraculous Works of the Almighty; And the Prophet _Habakkuk_, +iii. 11. mentions that of _Joshua_ as such. And therefore taking +them to be miraculous Perversions of the Course of Nature, instead +of being Objections, they are great Arguments of the Power of God: +For in _Hezekiah_’s Case, to wheel the Earth it self backward, or by +some extraordinary Refractions, to bring the Sun’s Shadow backward 10 +Degrees: Or in _Joshua_’s Case, to stop the diurnal Course of the Globe +for some Hours, and then again give it the same Motion; to do, I say, +there Things, required the same infinite Power which at first gave the +Terraqueous Globe its Motions. + +[e] + + _Nam cùm dispositi quasissem fœdera Mundi,_ + _Præscriptosque Maris fines, Annique meatus,_ + _Et Lucis, Noctisque vices: tunc omnia rebar_ + _Consilio firmata Dei, qui lege moveri_ + _Sidera, qui fruges diverso tempore nasci,_ + _Qui variam Phœben alieno jusserit igne_ + _Compleri, Solemque suo; porrexerit undis_ + _Littora; Tellurem medio libraverat axe._ + + Claudian in Rufin. L. 1. initio. + +[f] _Diei noctisque vicissitudo conservat animantes, tribuens aliud +agendi tempus, aliud quiescendi. Sic undique omni ratione concluditur, +Mente, Consilioque divino omnia in hoc mundo ad salutem omnium, +conservationemque admirabiliter administrari._ Cicer. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. +c. 53. + +[g] The acute Dr. _Cheyne_, in his ingenious _Philos. Princ. of Natural +Religion_, among other uses of Day and Night, saith, the Night is most +proper for Sleep; because when the Sun is above the Horizon, Sleep is +prejudicial, by reason the Perspirations are then too great. Also that +Nutrition is mostly, if not altogether, performed in Time of Rest; the +Blood having too quick a Motion in the Day: For which Reason, weak +Persons, Children, _&c._ are nourished most, and recruit best by Sleep. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +_Of the Place and Situation of the Terraqueous Globe, in respect of the +Heavenly Bodies._ + + +Another Thing very considerable in our Globe, is its Place and Situation +at a due Distance from the Sun[a], its Fountain of Light and Heat; and +from its neighbouring Planets of the solar System, and from the fixt +Stars. But these Things I have spoken more largely of in my Survey of the +Heavens[b], and therefore only barely mention them now; to insist more +largely upon, + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] It is a manifest Sign of the Creator’s Management and Care, in +placing the Terraqueous Globe at that very Distance it is from the Sun, +and contempering our own Bodies and all other Things so duly to that +Distance. For was the Earth farther from the Sun, the World would be +starved and frozen with Cold: And was it nigher we should be burnt, at +least the most combustible Things would be so, and the World would be +vexed with perpetual Conflagrations. For we see that a few of the Rays of +the Sun, even no more than what fall within the Compass of half an Inch +or an Inch in a Burning-Glass, will fire combustible Bodies, even in our +own Climate. + +[b] _Astro-Theology_, Book vii. Chap. 7. + + + + +CHAP. V. + +_The Distribution of the Earth and Waters._ + + +The Distribution of the Waters and the dry Land, although it may seem +rude and undesigned to a careless View, and is by some taxed as such[a], +yet is admirably well adjusted to the Uses and Conveniences of our World. + +For in the first Place, the Distribution is so well made, the Earth and +Waters so handsomely, so Workman-like laid, every where all the World +over, that there is a just æquipoise of the whole Globe. The _Northern_ +balanceth the _Southern Ocean_, the _Atlantick_ the _Pacifick Sea_. The +_American dry Land_, is a Counterpoise to the _European_, _Asiatick_ and +_African_. + +In the next Place, the Earth and the Waters are so admirably well placed +about in the Globe, as to be helpful to one another, to minister to one +another’s Uses. The great Oceans, and the lesser Seas and Lakes, are +so admirably well distributed throughout the Globe[b], as to afford +sufficient Vapours[c] for Clouds and Rains, to temperate the Cold[c] of +the Northern frozen Air, to cool and mitigate the Heats[d] of the Torrid +Zone, and to refresh the Earth with fertile Showers; yea, in some measure +to minister fresh Waters to the Fountains and Rivers. Nay, so abundant +is this great Blessing, which the most indulgent Creator hath afforded +us by means of this Distribution of the Waters I am speaking of, that +there is more than a scanty, bare Provision, or mere Sufficiency; even a +Plenty, a Surplusage of this useful Creature of God, (the fresh Waters) +afforded to the World; and they so well ordered, as not to drown the +Nations of the Earth, nor to stagnate, stink, and poison, or annoy them; +but to be gently carried through convenient Chanels back again to their +grand Fountain[e] the Sea; and many of them through such large Tracts +of Land, and to such prodigious Distances, that it is a great Wonder +the Fountains should be high enough[f], or the Seas low enough, ever +to afford so long a Conveyance. Witness the _Danube_[g] and _Wolga_ of +_Europe_, the _Nile_[h] and the _Niger_[i] of _Africk_, the _Ganges_[k] +and _Euphrates_ of _Asia_, and the _Amazons River_[l] and _Rio de la +Plata_ of _America_, and many others which might be named; some of which +are said to run above 5000 Miles, and some no less than 6000 from their +Fountains to the Sea. And indeed such prodigious Conveyances of the +Waters make it manifest, that no accidental Currents and Alterations of +the Waters themselves, no Art or Power of Man, nothing less than the +_Fiat_ of the Almighty, could ever have made, or found, so long and +commodious Declivities, and Chanels for the Passage of the Waters. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] The most eminent Author I have met with, that finds fault with the +Distribution of the Earth and Waters, and indeed with the whole present +Structure of the Globe, is the learned and eloquent Theorist, Dr. +_Burnet_, who frequently exclaims on this Point, _Tellus nostra, si totam +simul complectamur, non est ordinata & venusta rerum compages——sed moles +aggesta vario, incertoque situ partium, nullâ ordinis aut venustatis +habitâ ratione._ Theor. Sacr. l. 1. c. 7. _Ecquis autem à Deo hæc ita +facta? ~&c.~_ ib. _Quo autem Herculeo labore opus effet ad excavandum +terram in tantum hiatum?——Si immediatè à causâ primâ effectus fuisset +hic alveus, aliquem saltem ordinem, mensuram, & proportionem notare +voluisset in ipsius formâ, & partium dispositione;——sed confusa omnia, +~&c.~_ ib. c. 8. _Tellus nostra cùm exigua sit, est etiam rudis: Et in +illâ exiguitate multa sunt superflua, multa inelegantia. Dimidiam terræ +superficiem inundat Oceanus; magnâ ex parte, ut mihi videtur, inutilis._ +And then he goes on to shew how this Part of the Creation might be +mended, _ib._ c. 10. All this is to me surprizing from an Author of +great Ingenuity, who seems in his Book to have a just Opinion of, and +due Veneration for God. But certainly such Notions are very inconsistent +with the Belief of God’s creating, especially his governing and ordering +the World. But suppose the Terraqueous Globe was such a rude, confused, +inconvenient Mass, as he pretends, yet it is well enough for a sinful +World. But besides, what others have long ago abundantly answered, the +following Survey, will, I hope, sufficiently manifest it to be the Work +of a wise and beneficent, as well as omnipotent Creator. + +[b] Some have objected against the Distribution of the Earth and Waters, +as if the Waters occupied too large a part of the Globe, which they +think would be of greater Use, if it was dry Land. But then they do not +consider that this would deprive the World of a due Quantity of Vapours +and Rain. For if the Cavities which contain the Sea, and other Waters, +were deeper, although the Waters were no less in Quantity, only their +Surfaces narrower and lesser, the Evaporations would be so much the +less, inasmuch as those Evaporations are made from the Surface, and are, +consequently, in proportion to the Surface, not the Depth or Quantity of +Water. + +[c] I took notice before in _Book I. Chap. 3. Note (a)._ That the Vapours +constituting Clouds and Rain, are _Vesiculæ_ of Water detached by Heat. +The manner of which I conceive to be thus; Heat being of an agile Nature, +or the lightest of all Bodies, easily breaks loose from them; and if they +are humid, in its Passage, carries along with it Particles, or little +Cases of the Water; which being lighter than Air, are buoyed up thereby, +and swim in it; until by knocking against one another, or being thickened +by the Cold, (as in the Note before-cited,) they are reduced into Clouds +and Drops. + +Having mentioned the manner how Vapours are raised, and there being more +room here than in the Note before-cited, I shall, for the Illustration of +Natures Process, take notice of three Things observable to our purpose, +in Water over the Fire. 1. That the Evaporations are proportional to the +Heat ascending out of the Water. A small Heat throws off but few Vapours, +scarce visible: A greater Heat, and ascending in greater Quantities, +carries off grosser, larger, and more numerous _Vesiculæ_, which we call +a _Steam_: And if the Heat breaks through the Water with such a Fury, as +to lacerate and lift up great Quantities or Bubbles of Water, too heavy +for the Air to carry or buoy up, it causeth what we call _Boyling_. And +the Particles of Water thus mounted up by the Heat, are visible Sphærules +of Water, if viewed with a Microscope, as they swim about in a Ray of +the Sun let into a dark Room, with warm Water underneath; where some of +the Vapours appear large, some smaller Sphærules, according (no doubt) +to the larger and lesser Quantities of Heat blowing them up and carrying +them off. 2. If these Vapours be intercepted in their Ascent by any +Context, especially cold Body, as Glass, Marble, _&c._ they are thereby +reduced into Drops, and Masses of Water, like those of Rain, _&c._ 3. +These Vapours in their Ascent from the Water, may be observed, in cold +frosty Weather, either to rise but a little above the Water, and there +to hang, or to glide on a little above its Surface: Or if the Weather be +very cold, after a little ascent, they may be seen to fall back again +into the Water; in their Ascent and Descent describing a Curve somewhat +like that of an Arrow from a Bow. But in a warmer Air, and still, the +Vapours ascend more nimbly and copiously, mounting up aloft, till they +are out of Sight. But if the Air be warm and windy too, the Vapours are +sooner carried out of Sight, and make way for others. And accordingly +I have often observed, that hot Liquors, if not set too thin, and not +frequently stirred, cool slower in the greatest Frosts, than in temperate +Weather, especially if windy. And it is manifest by good Experiments, +that the Evaporations are less at those times than these; less by far in +the Winter than the warmer Months. + +[c] As our Northern Islands are observed to be more temperate than our +Continents, (of which we had a notable Instance in the great Frost in +1708/9, which _Ireland_ and _Scotland_ felt less of, than most Parts +of _Europe_ besides; of which see _Book IV. Chap. 12. Note (c)._) so +this Temperature is owing to the warm Vapours afforded chiefly by the +Sea, which by the preceding Note must necessarily be warm, as they are +Vapours, or Water inflated by Heat. + +The Cause of this Heat I take to be partly that of the Sun, and partly +Subterraneous. That it is not wholly that of the Sun, is manifest from +Vapours, being as, or more copiously raised when the Sun Beams are +weakest, as when strongest, there being greater Rains and Winds at the +one time than the other. And that there is such a thing as _Subterraneous +Heat_, (whether Central, or from the meeting of Mineral Juices; or +such as is Congenial or Connatural to our Globe, I have not Time to +enquire; but I say, that such a Thing is,) is evident not only from the +Hot-Baths, many fiery Erruptions and Explosions, _&c._ but also from the +ordinary Warmth of Cellars and Places under Ground, which are not barely +comparatively warm, but of sufficient Heat to raise Vapours also: As is +manifest from the smoking of perennial Fountains in frosty Weather, and +Water drawn out of Pumps and open Wells at such a Time. Yea, even Animals +themselves are sensible of it, as particularly _Moles_, who dig before +a Thaw, and against some other Alterations of the Weather; excited, no +doubt, thereunto by the same warm Vapours arising in the Earth, which +animate them, as well as produce the succeeding Changes of the Weather. + +[d] Besides the _Trade-Winds_, which serve to mitigate the excessive +Heats in the Torrid Zone; the Clouds are a good Screen against the +scorching Sun-Beams, especially when the Sun passeth their Zenith; at +which Time is their Winter, or coolest Season, by reason they have then +most Clouds and Rain. For which Service, that which _Varene_ takes notice +of, is a great Providence of God, _viz._ _Pleraque loca Zonæ Torridæ +vicinum habent mare, ut India, Insulæ Indicæ, Lingua Africæ, Guinea, +Brasilia, Peruvia, Mexicana, Hispania: Pauca loca Zonæ Torridæ sunt +Mediterranea._ Varenii. Geogr. l. 2. c. 26. Prop. 10. §. 7. + +[e] That Springs have their Origine from the Sea, and not from Rains and +Vapours, among many other strong Reasons, I conclude from the Perennity +of divers Springs, which always afford the same quantity of Water. Of +this sort there are many to be found every where. But I shall, for an +Instance, single out one in the Parish of _Upminster_, where I live, +as being very proper for my purpose, and one that I have had better +Opportunities of making Remarks upon above twenty Years. This in the +greatest Droughts is little, if at all diminished, that I could perceive +by my Eye, although the Ponds all over the Country, and an adjoining +Brook have been dry for many Months together; as particularly in the dry +Summer Months of the Year 1705. And in the wettest Seasons, such as the +Summer and other Months were, preceding the violent Storm in _November_ +1703. (_Vid._ _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 289.) I say, in such wet Seasons I +have not observed any Increment of its Stream, excepting only for violent +Rains falling therein, or running down from the higher Land into it; +which discoloureth the Waters oftentimes, and makes an increase of only +a Day’s, or sometimes but a few Hours Continuance. But now, if this +Spring had its Origine from Rain and Vapours, there would be an increase +and decrease of the one, as there should happen to be of the other: As +actually it is in such temporary Springs as have undoubtedly their Source +from Rain and Vapours. + +But besides this, another considerable Thing in this _Upminster_ Spring +(and Thousands of others) is, that it breaks out of so inconsiderable +an Hillock, or Eminence of Ground, that can have no more Influence in +the Condensation of the Vapours, or stopping the Clouds, (which the +Maintainers of this Hypothesis suppose) than the lower Lands about it +have. By some Critical Observations I made with a very nice portable +Barometer, I found that my House stands between 80 and 90 Feet higher +than the Low-Water Mark in the River of _Thames_, nearest me; and that +part of the River being scarce thirty Miles from the Sea, I guess, (and +am more confirmed from some later Experiments I made nearer the Sea) +that we cannot be much above 100 Feet above the Sea. The Spring I judge +nearly level with, or but little higher than where my House stands; and +the Lands from whence it immediately issues, I guess about 15 or 20 Feet +higher than the Spring: and the Lands above that, of no very remarkable +Height. And indeed, by actual Measure, one of the highest Hills I have +met with in _Essex_, is but 363 Feet high; (_Vid._ _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. +313. _p. 16._) and I guess by some very late Experiments I made, neither +that, nor any other Land in _Essex_, to be above 400 Feet above the Sea. +Now what is so inconsiderable a rise of Land to a perennial Condensation +of Vapours, fit to maintain even so inconsiderable a Fountain, as what I +have mentioned is? Or indeed the High-lands of the whole large County of +_Essex_, to the maintaining of all its Fountains and Rivulets? + +But I shall no farther prosecute this Argument, but refer to the late +learned, curious and industrious Dr. _Plot_’s _Tentamen Phil. de Orig. +Font._ in which he hath fully discussed this Matter. + +As to the manner how the Waters are raised up into the Mountains and +Higher Lands, an easy and natural Representation may be made of it, by +putting a little Heap of Sand, Ashes, or a little Loaf of Bread, _&c._ +in a Bason of Water; where the Sand will represent the dry Land, or an +Island, and the Bason of Water the Sea about it. And as the Water in the +Bason riseth to, or near the top of the Heap in it, so doth the Waters +of the Sea, Lakes, _&c._ rise in the Hills. Which case I take to be the +same with the ascent of Liquids in capillary Tubes, or between contiguous +Planes, or in a Tube filled with Ashes: Of which the industrious and +compleat Artificer in Air-Pumps, Mr. _Hawksbee_, hath given us some, not +contemptible Experiments, in his _Phys. Mech. Exp._ pag. 139. + +Among the many Causes assigned for this ascent of Liquors, there are two +that bid the fairest for it, _viz._ _the Pressure of the Atmosphere_, +and the _Newtonian Attraction_. That it is not the former, appears from +the Experiments succeeding, as well, or better in _Vacuo_, than in the +open Air, the ascent being rather swifter in _Vacuo_. This then being not +the Cause, I shall suppose the other is; but for the Proof thereof, I +shall refer to some of our late _English_ Authors, especially some very +late Experiments made before our most famous _R. S._ which will be so +well improved by some of that illustrious Body, as to go near to put the +Matter out of doubt. + +[f] See _Book III. Chap. 4._ + +[g] _The ~Danube~ in a sober Account, performs a Course of above 1500 +Miles, ~(_i.e._ in a strait Line)~ from its Rise to its Fall._ Bohun’s +Geogr. Dict. + +[h] _Tractus_ sc. _Longitudo ~[Nili]~ est milliarium circiter 630 Germ. +sive Ital. 2520, pro quibus ponere licet 3000 propter curvaturas._ Varen. +Geogr. l. 1. c. 16. p. 27. + +[i] _Varene_ reckons the Course of the _Niger_, at a middle Computation, +600 _German_ Miles, that is 2400 _Italian_. + +[k] That of the _Ganges_ he computes at 300 _German_ Miles. But if we add +the Curvatures to these Rivers, their Chanels are of a prodigious Length. + +[l] _Oritur, flumen (quod plerumque Amazonum, ~&c.~) haud procul Quito +in montibus——Cùm per leucas Hispanicas 1356. cursum ab occidente in +orientem continuârit, ostio 84 leucas lato——in Oceanum præcipitatur._ +Chr. D’Acugna Relatio de flumine Amaz. in Act. Erud. Aug. 1683. + + + + +CHAP. VI. + +_The great Variety and Quantity of all Things upon, and in the +Terraqueous Globe, provided for the Uses of the World._ + + +The last Remark I shall make about the Terraqueous Globe in general is, +the great Variety of Kinds, or Tribes, as well as prodigious Number of +Individuals of each various Tribe, there is of all Creatures[a]. There +are so many Beasts, so many Birds, so many Insects, so many Reptiles, so +many Trees, so many Plants upon the Land; so many Fishes, Sea-Plants, and +other Creatures in the Waters; so many Minerals, Metals, and Fossiles in +the Subterraneous Regions; so many _Species_ of these _Genera_, so many +_Individuals_ of those _Species_, that there is nothing wanting to the +Use of Man, or any other Creature of this lower World. If every Age doth +change its Food, its way of Cloathing, its way of Building; if every +Age[b] hath its Variety of Diseases; nay, if Man, or any other Animal, +was minded to change these Things every Day, still the Creation would +not be exhausted, still nothing would be wanting for Food, nothing for +Physick, nothing for Building and Habitation, nothing for Cleanliness and +Refreshment, yea, even for Recreation and Pleasure. But the Munificence +of the Creator is such, that there is abundantly enough to supply the +Wants, the Conveniencies, yea, almost the Extravagancies of all the +Creatures, in all Places, all Ages, and upon all Occasions. + +And this may serve to answer an Objection against the Excellency of, and +Wisdom shewed in the Creation; namely, What need of so many Creatures[c]? +Particularly of so many Insects, so many Plants, and so many other +Things? And especially of some of them, that are so far from being +useful, that they are very noxious; some by their Ferity, and others by +their poisonous Nature, _&c._? + +To which I might answer, that in greater Variety, the greater Art is +seen; that the fierce, poisonous, and noxious Creatures serve as Rods and +Scourges to chastise us[d], as means to excite our Wisdom, Care, and +Industry, with more to the same purpose. But these Things have been fully +urged by others; and it is sufficient to say, that this great Variety is +a most wise Provision for all the Uses of the World in all Ages and all +Places. Some for Food, some for Physick[e], some for Habitation, some for +Utensils, some for Tools and Instruments of Work, and some for Recreation +and Pleasure, either to Man, or to some of the inferior Creatures +themselves; even for which inferior Creatures, the liberal Creator hath +provided all Things necessary, or any ways conducing to their happy, +comfortable living in this World, as well as for Man. + +And it is manifest, that all the Creatures of God, Beasts, Birds, +Insects, Plants, and every other _Genus_ have, or may have, their +several Uses even among Men. For although in one Place many Things may +lie neglected, and out of Use, yet in other Places they may be of great +Use. So what hath seemed useless in one Age, hath been received in +another; as all the new Discoveries in Physick, and all the Alterations +in Diet do sufficiently witness. Many Things also there are which in one +Form may be pernicious to Man; but in another, of great Use. There are +many Plants[f], many Animals, many Minerals, which in one Form destroy, +in another heal. The _Cassada Plant_ unprepared poisoneth, but prepared, +is the very Bread of the _West-Indies_[g]. _Vipers_ and _Scorpions_, and +many Minerals, as destructive as they are to Man, yet afford him some of +his best Medicines. + +Or if there be many Things of little, immediate Use to Man, in this, or +any other Age; yet to other Creatures they may afford Food or Physick, +or be of some necessary Use. How many Trees and Plants, nay, even the +very Carcases of Animals, yea, the very Dust of the Earth[h], and the +most refuse, contemptible Things to be met with; I say, how many such +Things are either Food, or probably Medicine to many Creatures, afford +them Retreat, are Places of Habitation, or Matrixes for their Generation, +as shall be shewed in proper Place? The prodigious Swarms of Insects in +the Air, and in the Waters, (many of which may be perhaps at present of +no great Use to Man) yet are Food to Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Insects +themselves, and other Creatures[i], for whose happy and comfortable +Subsistence, I have said the bountiful Creator hath liberally provided, +as well as for that of Man. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Non dat Deus beneficia? Unde ergò ista qua possides?——Unde hæc +innumerabilia, oculos, aures & animum mulcentia? Unde illa luxuriam +quoque instruens copia? Neque enim necessitatibus tantummodò nostris +provisum est: usque in delicias amamur. Tot arbusta, non uno modo +frugifera, tot herba salutares, tot varietates ciborum, per totum annum +digestæ, ut inerti quoque fortuita terræ alimenta præberent. Jam animalia +omnis generis, alia in sicco, ~&c.~——ut omnis rerum naturæ pars tributum +aliquod nobis conferret._ Senec. de Benef. l. 4. c. 5. ubi plura vide. + +_Hic, ubi habitamus non intermittit suo tempore Cœlum nitescere, arbores +frondescere——cum multitudinem pecudum partim ad vescendum, partim +ad cultus agrorum, partim ad vehendum, partim ad corpora vestienda; +hominemque ipsum quasi contemplatorem cœli ad deorum, ipsorumque +cultorem.——Hæc igitur, & alia innumerabilia cùm cernimus, possumusne +dubitare, quin his præsit aliquis vel Effector, si hæc nata sunt, ut +Platoni videtur: vel si semper fuerint, ut Aristoteli placet, Moderator +tanti operis & muneris?_ Cicer. Tusc. Quæst. l. 1. c. 28, 29. + +[b] _Sunt & gentium differentiæ non mediocres——quæ contemplatio aufert +rursus nos ad ipsorum animalium naturas, ingenitasque iis vel certiores +morborum omnium medicinas. Enim verò rerum omnium Parens, nullum animal +ad hoc tantum ut pasceretur, aut alia satiaret nasci voluit: artesque +salutares iis inseruerit._ Plin. N. H. l. 27. c. 13. + +[c] This was no very easy Question to be answered by such as held, +that _all Things were made for Man_, as most of the Ancients did; as +_Aristotle_, _Seneca_, _Cicero_ and _Pliny_, (to name only some of the +chief). And _Cicero_ cites it as the celebrated _Chrysippus_’s Opinion, +_Præclare enim Chrysippus, Cætera nata esse Hominum Causâ, & Deorum._ +_De fin. bon. & mal. l. 3._ And in his _De Nat. Deor. l. 2. fin._ he +seriously proves the World it self to have been made for the Gods and +Man, and all Things in the World to have been made and contrived for the +Benefit of Man (_parata & inventa ad fructum Hominum_, are his Words). +So _Pliny_ in his Preface to his 7ᵗʰ Book saith, Nature made all Things +for Man; but then he makes a doubt, whether she shewed her self a more +indulgent Parent, or cruel Step-Mother, as in _Book IV. Chap. 12. Note +(b)._ But since the Works of God have been more discovered, and the +Limits of the Universe have been found to be of infinitely greater Extent +than the Ancients supposed them; this narrow Opinion hath been exploded. +And the Answer will be found easy to these Questions, Why so many useless +Creatures? In the Heavens, Why so many fixt Stars, and the greatest part +of them scarce visible? Why such Systems of Planets, as in _Jupiter_, +_Saturn_, &c. (See my _Astro-Theology_.) In the Earth and Waters, Why so +many Creatures of no use to Man? + +[d] _Nec minùs clara exitii documenta sunt etiam ex contemnendis +animalibus. M. Varro author est, à cuniculis suffossum in Hispaniâ +opidum, à talpis in Thessaliâ: ab ranis civitatem in Galliâ pulsam, ab +locustis in Africâ: ex Gyaro, Cycladum insulâ, incolas à muribus fugatos; +In Italiâ Amyclas à serpentibus delatas. Citra Cynamolgos Æthiopas +latè deserta regio est, à scorpionibus & solpugis gente sublatâ: & à +scolopendris abactos Trerienses, author est Theophrastus._ Plin. Nat. +Hist. l. 8. c. 29. + +To these Instances may be added, the Plague they sometimes suffer from a +kind of Mice (they call _Leming_, _Leminger_, _Lemmus_, &c.) in _Norway_, +which eat up every green Thing. They come in such prodigious Numbers, +that they fancy them to fall from the Clouds; but _Ol. Magnus_, rather +thinks they come from some of the Islands. _Hist. l. 8. c. 2._ If the +Reader hath a mind to see a large Account of them, with a Dispute about +their Generation, a handsome Cut of them, with the Prayers, and an +Exorcism against them used in the Church of _Rome_, I shall refer him, +(it being too tedious to recite in these Notes) to _Musæum Wormian._ l. +3. c. 23. + +_Quare patimur multa mala à creaturâ quam fecit Deus, nisi quia +offendimus Deum?——De pœnâ tuâ peccatum tuum accusa, non judicem. Nam +propter Superbiam instituit Deus creaturam istam minimam & abjectissimam, +ut ipsa nos torqueret, ut cùm superbus fuerit homo, & se jactaverit +adversus Deum,——cùm se erexerit, Pulicibus subdatur. Quid est, quòd te +inflas humanâ superbiâ?——Pulicibus resiste, ut dormias. Cognosce qui sis. +Nam propter superbiam nostram domandam——creata illa quæ molesta sunt: +populum Pharaonis superbum potuit Deus domare de Ursis, de ~&c.~ Muscas & +Ranas illis immisit, ut rebus vilissimis superbia domaretur. Omnia ergo +per ipsum——facta sunt; & fine ipso factum est nihil._ August. Tract. 1. +in S. Johan. + +But although the infinitely wise Creator hath put it in the Power of +such vile Animals to chastise us, yet hath he shewed no less Wisdom and +Kindness in ordering many, if not most of them so, as that it shall be in +the Power of Man, and other Creatures to obviate or escape their Evils. +For, besides the noble Antidotes afforded by Minerals, Vegetables, _&c._ +many, if not most of our _European_ venemous Animals carry their Cure, +as well as Poison, in their own Bodies. The Oil, and I doubt not, the +Body of _Scorpions_ too, is a certain Remedy against its Stroke. A _Bee_, +_Wasp_, or _Hornet_ crushed and rubbed, and bound upon the Place, I have +always found to be a certain Cure for the Sting of those Creatures. And +I question not, but the Flesh, especially the Head of _Vipers_, would be +found a Remedy for their Bites. + +_Our Viper-Catchers have a Remedy in which they place so great +Confidence, as to be no more afraid of the Bite ~[of a Viper]~, than +of a common Puncture, immediately curing themselves by the Application +of their Specifick. This though they keep a great Secret, I have upon +strict Enquiry found to be no other than ~Axungia Viperina~, presently +rubbed into the Wound._ This Remedy the learned Doctor tried himself with +good Success in a young Dog that was bitten in the Nose. _Vid._ _Mead of +Poisons_, p. 29. + +And as to the means to escape the Mischief of such noxious Animals, +besides what may be effected by the Care, Industry and Sagacity of Man; +some of them are so contrived and made, as to give Warning or Time to +Creatures in danger from them. Thus, for Instance, the _Rattle-Snake_, +the most poisonous of any Serpent, who darts its poisonous Vapours to +some distance, and in all Probability was the _Basilisk_ of the Ancients, +said to kill with its Eyes, this involuntarily gives warning by the +Rattle in its Tail. So the _Shark_, the most rapacious Animal of the +Waters, is forced to turn himself on his Back, (and thereby gives an +Opportunity of Escape) before he can catch his Prey. + +[e] _Hæc sola Naturæ placuerat esse remedia parata vulgo, inventu +facilia, ac sine impendio, ex quibus vivimus. Posteà fraudes hominum & +ingeniorum capturæ officinas invenire istas, in quibus sua cuique homini +vœnalis promittitur vita. Statim compositiones & misturæ inexplicabiles +decantantur. Arabia atque India in medio æstimantur, ulcerique parvo +medicina à Rubro mari imputatur, cùm remedia vera quotidie pauperrimus +quisque cœnet._ Plin. l. 24. c. 1. + +_Non sponte suâ ex tellure germinant Herbæ, quæ contra quoscunque morbos +accommodæ sunt; sed eæ voluntate Opisicis, ad nostram utilitatem producta +sunt._ Basil. Ascet. Tom. 2. + +Consult here, _Book X. Note (z), (aa), (bb)._ + +[f] Among poisonous Vegetables, none more famous of old than _Hemlock_, +accounted at this Day also very dangerous to Man, of which there are some +dismal Examples in our _Phil. Trans. Wepfer_, &c. But yet this Plant is +Food for _Goats_, and its Seeds to _Bustards_; and as _Galen_ saith, to +_Starlings_ also. Neither is this, so pernicious a Plant, only Food, but +also Physick to some Animals. An Horse troubled with the _Farcy_, and +could not be cured with the most famed Remedies, cured himself of it +in a short Time, by eating _Hemlock_, of which he eat greedily. _Vid._ +_Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 231. _And a Woman which was cured of the Plague, but +wanted Sleep, did with very good Effect eat ~Hemlock~ for some time; till +falling ill again of a Fever, and having left off the Use of this Remedy, +he ~[Nic. Fontanus]~ endeavoured to procure her Rest by repeated Doses +of ~Opium~, which had no Operation, till the Help of ~Cicuta~ was again +called in with desired Success._ Mead of Pois. p. 144. + +And not only _Hemlock_, but many other, if not most Plants accounted +poisonous, may have their great Use in Medicine: Of which take the +Opinion of an able Judge, my ingenious and learned Friend Dr. _Tancred +Robinson_, in a Letter I have of his to the late great Mr. _Ray_, of +Nov. 7. 1604, viz. _According to my Promise, I here send you a few +Observations concerning some Plants, seldom used in Medicine, being +esteemed poisonous, which if truly corrected, or exactly dosed, may +perhaps prove the most powerful and effectual Medicines yet known._ +Having then given an Account of some of their Correctives, he gives +these following Examples, _viz._ _1. The Hellebores incorporated with +a Sapo, or Alkaly-Salts alone, are successful Remedies in Epilepsies, +Vertigo’s, Palsies, Lethargies, and Mania’s. Dos. a ℈j. to ʒss. 2. The +Radic. Assari, Cicutæ, and the Napellus, in Agues and periodical Pains. +Dos. ℈j. to ʒss. 3. The Hyoscyamus in Hæmorrhagies, violent Heats and +Perturbation of the Blood, and also in all great Inflammations. Dos. +℈j. to ʒss. 4. The Semen Stramonia is a very good Anodyne, useful in +Vigilia’s, Rheumatisms, Hysterick Cases, in all the Orgasms of the Blood +or Spirits, and where-ever there is an Indication for a Paregorick. Dos. +℈j. to ʒss. 5. Elaterium thus corrected, may be given from gr. x. to xv. +in Hydropical Cases, without any sensible Evacuation or Disturbance. So +may the Soldanella and Gratiola in greater Doses. 6. Opium corrected +as afore-mentioned, loses its Narcotick Faculty, and may be given +very safely in great Doses, and proves more than usually prevalent in +Convulsive Cases, Fluxes, Catarrhs, and all painful Paroxysms, ~&c.~_ + +[g] _It is of the most general Use of any Provision all over the +~West-Indies~, especially in the hotter Parts, and is used to Victual +Ships._ _Dr. ~Sloan~’s_ Nat. Hist. of _Jamaica_, Vol. 1. Chap. 5. §. 12. + +[h] I have shewn in the _Phil. Trans._ that the _Pediculus fatidicus_, +_Mortisaga_, _Pulsatorius_, or _Death-Watch_ there described, feedeth +upon Dust; but that this Dust they eat, is powdered Bread, Fruits, or +such like Dust, not powdered Earth; as is manifest from their great +Diligence and Curiosity in hunting among the Dust. See more in _Phil. +Trans._ Nᵒ. 291. + +[i] _Vid._ _Book IV. Chap. 11._ + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK III. + +_Of the Terraqueous Globe in particular, more especially the Earth._ + + +Having thus taken a general Prospect of our Terraqueous Globe, I shall +in this Book come to its Particulars. But here we have such an immense +Variety presenting it self to our Senses, and such amazing Strokes of +Power and Wisdom, that it is impossible not to be at a Stand, and very +difficult to know where to begin, how to proceed, or where to end. But we +must however attempt. + +And for the more clear and regular proceeding on this copious Subject, I +shall distribute the Globe into its own grand constituent Parts. + +I. The _Earth_ and its Appurtenances. + +II. The _Waters_ and Theirs. + +The first of these only, is what at present I shall be able to take into +this Survey. + +And in Surveying the _Earth_, I intend, + +1. To consider its constituent Parts, or Things peculiar to its self. + +2. The Inhabitants thereof, or the several Kinds of Creatures that have +their Habitation, Growth, or Subsistence thereon. + +1. As to the Earth it self, the most remarkable Things that present +themselves to our View, are, + +1. Its various Moulds and Soils. + +2. Its several Strata, or Beds. + +3. Its very Subterraneous Passages, Grotto’s and Caverns. + +4. Its Mountains and Vallies. + + + + +CHAP. I. + +_Of the Soils and Moulds in the Earth._ + + +The various Soils and Moulds are an admirable and manifest Contrivance +of the All-wise Creator, in making this Provision for the various +Vegetables[a], and divers other Uses of the Creatures. For, as some +Trees, some Plants, some Grains dwindle and die in a disagreeable Soil, +but thrive and flourish in others; so the All-wise Creator hath amply +provided for every Kind a proper Bed. + +If some delight in a warm, some a cold Soil; some in a lax or sandy, +some a heavy or clayie Soil; some in a Mixture of both, some in this, and +that and the other Mould, some in moist, some in dry Places[b]; still we +find Provision enough for all these Purposes: Every Country abounding +with its proper Trees and Plants[c], and every Vegetable flourishing and +gay, somewhere or other about the Globe, and abundantly answering the +Almighty Command of the Creator, when the Earth and Waters were ordered +to their peculiar Place, _Gen._ i. 11. _And God said, Let the Earth bring +forth Grass, the Herb yielding Seed, and the Tree yielding Fruit after +his kind._ All which we actually see is so. + +To this Convenience which the various Soils that coat the Earth are of to +the Vegetables, we may add their great Use and Benefit to divers Animals, +to many Kinds of Quadrupeds, Fowls, Insects, and Reptiles, who make in +the Earth their Places of Repose and Rest, their Retreat in Winter, their +Security from their Enemies, and their Nests to repose their Young; some +delighting in a lax and pervious Mould, admitting them an easy Passage; +and others delighting in a firmer and more solid Earth, that will better +secure them against Injuries from without. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] It is not to be doubted, that although Vegetables delight in peculiar +Soils, yet they owe not their Life and Growth to the Earth it self, but +to some agreeable Juices or Salts, _&c._ residing in the Earth. Of this +the great Mr. _Boyl_ hath given us some good Experiments. He ordered his +Gardener to dig up, and dry in an Oven some Earth fit for the Purpose, +to weigh it, and to set therein some _Squash Seeds_, (a kind of _Indian_ +Pompion). The Seeds when sown were watered with Rain or Spring-water +only. But although a Plant was produced in one Experiment of near 3 _l._ +and in another of above 14 _l._ yet the Earth when dried, and weighed +again, was scarce diminished at all in its Weight. + +Another Experiment he alledges is of _Helmont_’s, who dried 200 _l._ of +Earth, and therein planted a Willow weighing 5 _l._ which he watered with +Rain or distilled Water: And to secure it from any other Earth getting +in, he covered it with a perforated Tin Cover. After five Years, weighing +the Tree with all the Leaves it had born in that time, he found it to +weigh 169 _l._ 3 Ounces, but the Earth to be diminished only about 2 +Ounces in its weight. _Vid._ _Boyl’s Scept. Chym._ Part 2. _pag. 114._ + +[b] Τοὺς δὲ τόπους ζητεῖ τοὺς ὀικείους, οὐ μόνον τὰ περιττὰ——Τῶν +δένδρων, &c. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ φιλεῖ ξηροὺς, τὰ δὲ ἐνύδρους, τὰ δὲ χειμερινοὺς, +τὰ δὲ προσήλους, τὰ δὲ παλισκίους, καὶ ὅλως, τὰ μὲν ὀρεινοὺς, τὰ δὲ +ἑλώδεις.——Ζητεῖ γὰρ τὰ πρόσφορὰ κατὰ τὴν κράσιν, ἕτι δὲ ἀσθενῆ, καὶ +ἰσχυρὰ, καὶ βαθύῤῥιζα, καὶ ἐπιπολαιόῤῥιζα, καὶ ἔστις ἄλλη διαφορὰ κατὰ τὰ +μέρη·——Πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα, ἔτι δὲ τὰ ὅμοια ζητεῖ τὸ ὅμοιον, καὶ τὰ ἀνόμοια +μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν, ὅταν ᾖ τις παραλλαγὴ τῆς φύσεως. _Theophrast. de Caus. +Plant._ l. 2. c. 9. + +[c] + + _Nec verò Terræ ferre omnes omnia possunt._ + _Fluminibus Salices, crassisque paludibus Alni_ + _Nascuntur; steriles saxosis montibus Orni:_ + _Littora Myrtetis lætissima: denique apertos_ + _Bacchus amat colles: Aquilonem & frigora Taxi._ + _Aspice & extremis domitum cultoribus orbem,_ + _Eoasque domos Arabum, pictosque Gelonos:_ + _Divisa arboribus patriæ, ~&c.~_ + + Vir. Georg. L. 2 + + + + + +CHAP. II. + +_Of the various Strata or Beds observable in the Earth._ + + +The various _Strata_ or _Beds_, although but little different from the +last, yet will deserve a distinct Consideration. + +By the _Strata_ or _Beds_, I mean those Layers of Minerals[a], Metals[b], +Earth, and Stone[c], lying under that upper _Stratum_, or Tegument of +the Earth last spoken of, all of a prodigious Use to Mankind: Some being +of great Use for Building; some serving for Ornament; some furnishing +us with commodious Machines, and Tools to prepare our Food, and for +Vessels and Utensils, and for multitudes of other Uses; some serving +for Firing to dress our Food, and to guard us against the Insults of +Cold and Weather; some being of great Use in Physick, in Exchange and +Commerce, in manuring and fertilizing our Lands, in dying and colouring, +and ten thousand other Conveniences, too many to be particularly spoken +of: Only there is one grand Use of one of these Strata or Beds, that +cannot easily be omitted, and that is, those subterraneous Strata of +Sand, Gravel, and laxer Earth that admit of, and facilitate the Passage +of the sweet Waters[d], and may probably be the Colanders whereby they +are sweetened, and then at the same time also convey’d to all Parts of +the habitable World, not only through the temperate and torrid Zones, but +even the farthest Regions of the frozen Poles. + +That these Strata are the _principal Passages_ of the sweet +Fountain-Waters, is, I think not to be doubted, considering that in them +the Waters are well known to pass, and in them the Springs are found by +those that seek for them. I say, the principal Passages, because there +are other subterraneous Guts and Chanels, Fissures and Passages, through +which many Times the Waters make their way. + +Now that which in a particular manner doth seem to me to manifest a +special Providence of God in the repositing these watery Beds is, that +they should be dispersed all the World over, into all Countries, and +almost all Tracts of Land: That they should so entirely, or for the +most part, consist of lax, incohering Earth, and be so seldom blended +with other impervious Moulds, or if they are so, it is commonly but +accidentally; and that they are interposed between the other impervious +Beds, and so are as a Prop and Pillar to guard them off, and to prevent +their sinking in and shutting up the Passages of the Waters. + +The Time when those Strata were laid, was doubtless at the Creation, when +_God said_ (Gen. i. 9.) _Let the Waters under the Heaven be gathered +together unto one Place, and let the dry Land appear_; or else at the +Deluge, if, with some sagacious Naturalists, we suppose the Globe of +Earth to have been dissolved by the Flood[e]. At that Time (whatever it +was) when the terraqueous Globe was in a chaotick State, and the earthy +Particles subsided, then those several Beds were in all Probability +reposited in the Earth, in that commodious Order in which they now are +found; and that, as is asserted, according to the Laws[f] of Gravity. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] Altho’ Minerals, Metals and Stones lie in Beds, and have done so +ever since _Noah_’s Flood, if not from the Creation; yet it is greatly +probable that they have Power of _growing_ in their respective Beds: +That as the Beds are robbed and emptied by Miners, so after a while they +recruit again. Thus _Vitriol_, Mr. _Boyl_ thinks, will grow by the Help +of the Air. So _Alum_ doth the same. _We are assured_ (he saith) _by the +experienced ~Agricola~, That the Earth or Ore of ~Alum~, being robbed of +its Salt, will in tract of Time recover it, by being exposed to the Air._ +_~Boyl~’s_ Suspic. about some Hid. Qual. in the Air, p. 18. + +[b] As to the Growth of _Metals_, there is great Reason to suspect that +also, from what Mr. _Boyl_ hath alledged in his _Observations about the +Growth of Metals_: And in his _Scept. Chym. Part 6. pag. 362._ Compare +also _Hakewil_’s _Apol. pag. 164._ + +And particularly as to the Growth of _Iron_, to the Instances he gives +from _Pliny_, _Fallopius_, _Cæsalpinus_, and others; we may add, what +is well known in the _Forest of Dean_ in _Gloucestershire_: That the +best Iron, and most in Quantity, that is found there, is in the old +Cinders, which they melt over again. This is the Author of the _Additions +to Gloucestershire in Cambd. Brit._ of the last Edition, _p. 245._ +attributes to the Remissness of the former Melters, in not exhausting +the Ore: But in all Probability it is rather to be attributed to the new +Impregnations of the old Ore, or Cinders, from the Air, or from some +seminal Principle, or plastick Quality in the Ore it self. + +[c] As for the Growth of _Stone_, Mr. _Boyl_ gives two Instances. One +is that famous Place in _France_, called _Les Caves Goutieres: Where +the Water falling from the upper Parts of the Cave to the Ground, doth +presently there condense into little Stones, of such Figures as the +Drops, falling either severally, or upon one another, and coagulating +presently into Stones, chance to exhibit_. Vid. Scept. Chym. pag. 360. + +Such like Caves as these I have my self met with in _England_; +particularly on the very Top of _Bredon-Hill_ in _Worcestershire_, +near the _Precipice_, facing _Pershore_, in or near the old Fortress, +called _Bembsbury-Camp_; I saw some Years ago such a Cave, which (if I +mis-remember not) was lined with those _Stalactical Stones_ on the Top +and Sides. On the Top they hung like Icicles great and small, and many +lay on the Ground. They seemed manifestly to be made by an Exsudation, +or Exstillation of some petrifying Juices out of the rocky Earth there. +On the Spot, I thought it might be from the Rains soaking through, and +carrying with it Impregnations from the Stone, the Hill being there all +rocky. Hard by the Cave is one or more vast Stones, which (if I mistake +not) are incrustated with this Sparry, Stalactical Substance, if not +wholly made of it. But it is so many Years ago since I was at the Place, +and not being able to find my Notes about it, I cannot say whether the +whole Stone is (in all Probability) Spar, (as I think it is,) or whether +I found it only cased over with it, notwithstanding I was very nice in +examining it then, and have now some of the Fragments by me, consisting, +among other shining Parts, of some transparent angular ones. + +The other Instance of Mr. _Boyl_, is from _Linschoten_, who saith, that +in the _East-Indies_, when they have cleared the Diamond Mines of all the +Diamonds, _In a few Years Time they find in the same Place new Diamonds +produced._ Boyl. Ibid. + +[d] It is not only agreeable to Reason, but I am told by Persons +conversant in digging of Wells throughout this County of _Essex_, where +I live, that the surest Beds in which they find Water, are _Gravel_, and +a coarse, dark coloured _Sand_; which Beds seldom fail to yield Plenty +of sweet Water: But for _Clay_, they never find Water therein, if it be +a strong, stiff _Clay_; but if it be lax and sandy, sometimes Springs +are found in it; yet so weak, that they will scarcely serve the Uses +of the smallest Family. And sometimes they meet with those Beds lying +next, under a loose, black Mould, (which, by their Description, I judged +to be a sort of oazy, or to have the Resemblance of an ancient, rushy +Ground,) and in that Case the Water is always naught, and stinks. And +lastly, Another sort of Bed they find in _Essex_, in the clayie-Lands, +particularly that part called the _Rodings_, which yields Plenty of sweet +Water, and that is a Bed of white Earth, as though made of Chalk and +white Sand. This they find, after they have dug through forty, or more +Feet of Clay; and it is so tender and moist, that it will not lie upon +the Spade, but they are forced to throw it into their Bucket with their +Hands, or with Bowls; but when it comes up into the Air, it soon becomes +an hard white Stone. + +Thus much for the Variety of Beds wherein the Waters are found. That it +is in these Beds only or chiefly the Springs run, is farther manifest +from the forcible Eruption of the Waters sometimes out of those watery +Beds. Of which see _Chap. 4. Note (k)._ This Eruption shews, that the +Waters come from some Eminence or other, lying at a Distance, and being +closely pent up within the _watery Stratum_, by the clayie Strata, the +Waters with force mount up, when the Strata above are opened. + +[e] _V._ Dr. _Woodward_’s Essay, Part 2. _Steno_’s Prodr. _&c._ + +[f] Id. ib. _pag. 28._ and _74._ But Dr. _Leigh_ in his _Nat. History +of Lancashire_, speaking of the Coal-pits, denies the Strata to lie +according to the Laws of Gravitation, saying the Strata are a Bed of +_Marle_, afterwards _Free-Stone_, next _Iron-Stone_, then _Coal_, or +_Kennel-Mine_, then some other Strata, and again _Coal_, _&c._ + +But upon a stricter Enquiry into the Matter, finding I had reason to +suspect that few, if any, actually had tried the Experiment, I was minded +to bring the Thing to the Test of Experiment my self; and having an +Opportunity, on _April 11. 1712._ I caused divers Places to be bored, +laying the several _Strata_ by themselves; which afterwards I weighed +with all Strictness, first in Air, then in Water, taking Care that no +Air-bubbles, _&c._ might obstruct the Accuracy of the Experiment. The +Result was, that in my Yard, the Strata were gradually specifically +heavier and heavier, the lower and lower they went; and the upper which +was Clay, was considerably specifically lighter than the lower _Stratum_; +which was first a loose Sand, then a Gravel. In which _Stratum_ +principally the Springs run that supply my Well. + +But in my Fields, where three Places were bored (to no great Depth) I +found below the upper (superficial _Stratum_) a deep Bed of Sand only, +which was of different Colours and Consistence, which I weighed as +before, together with the Virgin-Mould; but they were all of the same, +or nearly the same specifick Gravity, both out of the same Hole, and out +of different Holes, although the Sand was at last so gravelly, that it +hinder’d our boring any deeper. + +Upon this, fearing lest some Error might be in the former Experiments, I +try’d them over again; and that with the same Success. + +After this, I made some Experiments in some deep Chalk-Pits, with the +Flints, Chalk, _&c._ above and below; but the Success was not so uniform +as before. + +Acquainting our justly renowned _R. S._ with these Experiments, they +ordered their Operator to experiment the _Strata_ of a Coal-Pit; the +Success whereof may be seen in _Philos. Trans. Nr. 336_. + + + + +CHAP. III. + +_Of the Subterraneous Caverns, and the Vulcano’s._ + + +I shall take notice of the subterraneous Caverns, Grotto’s and Vulcano’s, +because they are made an Objection[a] against the present Contrivance +and Structure of the Globe. But, if well considered, they will be found +to be wise Contrivances of the Creator, serving to great Uses of the +Globe, and Ends of God’s Government. Besides many secret, grand Functions +and Operations of Nature in the Bowels of the Earth, that in all +Probability these Things may minister unto, they are of great Use to the +Countries where they are[b]. To instance in the very worst of the Things +named, _viz._ the _Vulcano’s_ and ignivomous Mountains; although they +are some of the most terrible Shocks of the Globe, and dreadful Scourges +of the sinful Inhabitants thereof, and may serve them as Emblems, and +Presages of Hell it self; yet even these have their great Uses too, being +as Spiracles or Tunnels[c] to the Countries where they are, to vent the +Fire and Vapours that would make dismal Havock, and oftentimes actually +do so, by dreadful Succussions and Convulsions of the Earth. Nay, if the +Hypothesis of a central Fire and Waters be true, these Outlets seem to +be of greatest Use to the Peace and Quiet of the terraqueous Globe, in +venting the subterraneous Heat and Vapours; which, if pent up, would make +dreadful and dangerous Commotions of the Earth and Waters. + +It may be then accounted as a special Favour of the divine Providence, +as is observed by the Author before praised[d], “That there are scarcely +any Countries, that are much annoyed with Earthquakes, that have not one +of these fiery Vents. And these, (saith he) are constantly all in Flames +whenever any Earthquake happens, they disgorging that Fire, which whilst +underneath, was the Cause of the Disaster. Indeed, (saith he,) were it +not for these _Diverticula_, whereby it thus gaineth an _Exit_, ’twould +rage in the Bowels of the Earth much more furiously, and make greater +Havock than now it doth. So, that though those Countries, where there are +such _Vulcano_’s, are usually more or less troubled with Earthquakes; +yet, were these _Vulcano_’s wanting, they would be much more annoyed with +them than now they are; yea, in all Probability to that Degree, as to +render the Earth, for a vast Space around them, perfectly uninhabitable. +In one word, (saith he) so beneficial are these to the Territories where +they are, that there do not want Instances of some which have been +rescued, and wholly delivered from Earthquakes by the breaking forth of +a new _Vulcano_ there; this continually discharging that Matter, which +being till then barricaded up, and imprisoned in the Bowels of the Earth, +was the occasion of very great and frequent Calamities”. Thus far that +ingenious Author. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Nemo dixerit terram pulchriorem esse quòd cavernosa sit, quòd +dehiscat in multis locis, quòd disrupta caveis & spatiis inanibus; iisque +nullo ordine dispositis, nullâ formâ: nec quæ aliud contineant quàm +tenebras & sordes; unde graves & pestifera exhalationes, terræ motus, +~&c.~_ Burnet ubi supr. c. 7. + +[b] The _Zirchnitzer_ Sea in _Carniola_, is of great Use to the +Inhabitants of that Country, by affording them Fish, Fowls, Fodder, +Seeds, Deer, Swine, and other Beasts, Carriage for their Goods, _&c._ +_Vid._ _Phil. Trans. Nr. 191_, &c. or _Lowth. Abridg. Vol. 2. p. 306_, +&c. where you have put together in one View, what is dispersed in divers +of the _Transactions_. This Sea or Lake proceeds from some subterraneous +Grotto, or Lake, as is made highly probable by Mr. _Valvasor_, _Ibid._ + +The _Grotto Podpetschio_ may be another Instance, that the very +subterraneous Lakes may be of Use, even to the Inhabitants of the +Surface above: Of which see _Lowth. ubi supr. pag. 317._ _Sturmius_ +also may be consulted herein his _Philos. Eclect. Exercit. 11. de Terræ +mot._ particularly in _Chap. 3._ some of the most eminent Specus’s are +enumerated, and some of their Uses. + +[c] _Crebri specus ~[remedium]~ præbent. Præconceptum enim spiritum +exhalant: quod in certis notatur oppidis, quæ minùs quatiuntur, crebris +ad eluviem cuniculis cavata._ Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. 2. cap. 82. + +[d] _Woodward_’s Essay, _Part 3. Consect. 13._ + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +_Of the Mountains and Valleys._ + + +The last Thing I shall take notice of relating to the Earth, shall be the +_Hills_ and _Valleys_. These the eloquent _Theorist_ owns to “contain +somewhat august and stately in the beholding of them, that inspireth +the Mind with great Thoughts and Passions, that we naturally on such +Occasions think of God and his Greatness”. But then, at the same Time +he saith, “The Hills are the greatest Examples of Ruin and Confusion; +that they have neither Form nor Beauty, nor Shape, nor Order, any more +than the Clouds in the Air; that they consist not of any proportion of +Parts, referable to any Design, nor have the least Footsteps of Art or +Counsel”. Consequently one grand Part of this lower Creation, even the +whole present Face of our terraqueous Globe, according to this ingenious +Author, is a Work of mere Chance, a Structure in which the Creator did +not concern himself. + +Part of this Charge I have already briefly answered, and my Survey now +leads me to shew, that the Mountains are so far from being a Blunder of +Chance, a Work without Design, that they are a noble, useful, yea, a +necessary part of our Globe[a]. + +And in the first Place, as to the Business of Ornament, Beauty, and +Pleasure, I may appeal to all Men’s Senses, whether the grateful Variety +of Hills and Dales, be not more pleasing than the largest continued +Planes. Let those who make it their Business to visit the Globe, to +divert their Sight with the various Prospects of the Earth; let these, I +say, judge whether the far distant Parts of the Earth would be so well +worth visiting, if the Earth was every where of an even, level, globous +Surface, or one large Plane of many 1000 Miles; and not rather, as now it +is, whether it be not far more pleasing to the Eye, to view from the Tops +of the Mountains the subjacent Vales and Streams, and the far distant +Hills; and again from the Vales to behold the surrounding Mountains. The +elegant Strains and lofty Flights, both of the ancient and modern Poets +on these Occasions, are Testimonies of the Sense of Mankind on this +Configuration of the Earth. + +But be the Case as it will as to Beauty, which is the least valuable +Consideration, we shall find as to Convenience, this Configuration of the +Earth far the most commodious on several Accounts. + +1. As it is the most salubrious, of great use to the Preservation or +Restoration of the Health of Man. Some Constitutions are indeed of so +happy a Strength, and so confirmed in Health, as to be indifferent to +almost any Place or Temperature of the Air: But then others are so weakly +and feeble, as not to be able to bear one, but can live comfortably in +another Place. With some, the finer and more subtile Air of the Hills +doth best agree, who are languishing and dying in the feculent and +grosser Air of great Towns, or even the warmer, and vaporous Air of the +Valleys and Waters: But contrarywise, others languish on the Hills, and +grow lusty and strong in the warmer Air of the Valleys. + +So that this Opportunity of shifting our Abode from the warmer and more +vaporous Air of the Valleys, to the colder and mote subtile Air of +the Hills, or from the Hills to the Vales, is an admirable Easement, +Refreshment, and great Benefit to the valetudinarian, feeble part +of Mankind, affording those an easy and comfortable Life, who would +otherwise live miserably, languish and pine away. + +2. To this salutary Conformation of the Earth, we may add another great +Convenience of the Hills, and that is, in affording commodious Places for +Habitation; serving (as an eminent Author[b] wordeth it) “as Skreens to +keep off the cold and nipping Blasts of the northern and easterly Winds, +and reflecting the benign and cherishing Sun-Beams, and so rendering +our Habitations both more comfortable and more chearly in Winter; and +promoting the Growth of Herbs and Fruit-Trees, and the Maturation of the +Fruits in Summer.” + +3. Another Benefit of the Hills is, that they serve for the Production +of great Varieties of Herbs and Trees[c]. And as there was not a better +Judge of those Matters, so I cannot give a better Account of this +Convenience, than in the Words of the last cited famous Author, the late +most eminent and learned Mr. _Ray_[d], (who hath so fully discussed this +Subject I am upon, that it is scarce possible to tread out of his Steps +therein). His Observation is, “That the Mountains do especially abound +with different Species of Vegetables, because of the great Diversity of +Soils that are found there, every _Vertex_ or Eminence almost, affording +new Kinds. Now these Plants, (saith he,) serve partly for the Food and +Sustenance of such Animals as are proper to the Mountains, partly for +medicinal Uses; the chief Physick, Herbs and Roots, and the best in their +Kinds growing there: It being remarkable, that the greatest and most +luxuriant Species in most Genera of Plants are native of the Mountains.” + +4. Another Convenience which my last named learned Friend observes[e] +is, “That the Mountains serve for the Harbour, Entertainment, and +Maintenance of various Animals; Birds, Beasts and Insects, that breed, +feed and frequent there. For, (saith he) the highest Tops and Pikes of +the _Alps_ themselves are not destitute of their Inhabitants, the _Ibex_ +or _Stein-buck_, the _Rupicapra_ or _Chamois_, among Quadrupeds; the +_Lagopus_ among Birds. And I my self (saith he) have observed beautiful +_Papilio_’s, and Store of other Insects upon the Tops of some of the +_Alpine_ Mountains. Nay, the highest Ridges of many of these Mountains, +serve for the Maintenance of Cattle, for the Service of the Inhabitants +of the Valleys.” + +5. Another Thing he observes is, “That those long Ridges and Chains of +lofty and topping Mountains, which run through whole Continents East and +West[f], serve to stop the Evagation of the Vapours to the North and +South in hot Countries, condensing them like Alembick Heads into Water +and so (according to his Opinion) by a kind of external Distillation +giving original to Springs and Rivers; and likewise by amassing, cooling +and constipating of them, turn them into Rain, by those Means rendring +the fervid Regions of the torrid Zone habitable.” + +To these might be added some other Uses and Conveniences[g]; as that the +Hills serve to the Generation of Minerals and Metals[h], and that in +them principally are the most useful Fossiles found; or if not found and +generated only in them, yet at least all these subterraneous Treasures +are most easily come at in them: Also their Use to several Nations of the +Earth, in being Boundaries and Bullwarks to them. But there is only one +Use more that I shall insist on, and that is, + +6. And lastly, That it is to the Hills that the Fountains owe their Rise, +and the Rivers their Conveyance. As it is not proper, so neither shall +I here enter into any Dispute about the Origine of Springs, commonly +assigned by curious and learned Philosophers. But whether their Origine +be from condensed Vapours, as some think[i]; or from Rains falling, as +others; or whether they are derived from the Sea by way of Attraction, +Percolation, or Distillation; or whether all these Causes concur, or only +some, still the Hills are the grand Agent in this prodigious Benefit to +all the Earth: Those vast Masses and Ridges of Earth serving as so many +huge _Alembicks_ or _Cola_ in this noble Work of Nature. + +But be the _Modus_, or the Method Nature takes in this great Work as it +will, it is sufficient to my Purpose, that the Hills are a grand Agent +in this so noble and necessary a Work: And consequently, that those vast +Masses and lofty Piles are not as they are charged, such rude and useless +Excrescences of our ill-formed Globe; but the admirable Tools of Nature, +contrived and ordered by the infinite Creator, to do one of its most +useful Works, and to dispense this great Blessing to all Parts of the +Earth; without which neither Animals could live, nor Vegetables scarcely +grow, nor perhaps Minerals, Metals, or Fossiles receive any Increase. +For was the Surface of the Earth even and level, and the middle Parts of +its Islands and Continents, not mountainous and high, (as now it is) it +is most certain there could be no Descent for the Rivers, no Conveyance +for the Waters; but instead of gliding along those gentle Declivities +which the higher Lands now afford them quite down to the Sea, they would +stagnate, and perhaps stink, and also drown large Tracts of Land. + +But indeed, without Hills, as there could be no Rivers, so neither could +there be any Fountains, or Springs about the Earth; because, if we could +suppose a Land could be well watered (which I think not possible) without +the higher Lands, the Waters could find no Descent, no Passage through +any commodious Out-lets, by Virtue of their own Gravity; and therefore +could not break out into those commodious Passages and Currents, which +we every where almost find in, or near the Hills, and seldom, or never +in large and spacious Planes; and when we do find them in them, it is +generally at great and inconvenient Depths of the Earth; nay, those very +subterraneous Waters, that are any where met with by digging in these +Planes, are in all Probability owing to the Hills, either near or far +distant: As among other Instances may be made out, from the forcible +Eruption of the subterraneous Waters in digging Wells, in the _lower +Austria_, and the Territories of _Modena_, and _Bologna_ in _Italy_, +mentioned by my fore-named learned Friend Mr. _Ray_[k]. Or if there be +any such Place found throughout the Earth, that is devoid of Mountains, +and yet well watered, as perhaps some small Islands may; yet in this +very Case, that whole Mass of Land is no other than as one Mountain +descending, (though unperceivedly) gently down from the Mid-land Parts to +the Sea, as most other Lands do; as is manifest from the Descent of their +Rivers, the Principal of which in most Countries have generally their +Rise in the more lofty Mid-land Parts. + +And now considering what hath been said concerning this last Use of the +Hills, there are two or three Acts of the divine Providence observable +therein. One is, that all Countries throughout the whole World, should +enjoy this great Benefit of Mountains, placed here and there, at due and +proper Distances, to afford these several Nations this excellent and most +necessary Element the Waters. For according to Nature’s Tendency, when +the Earth and Waters were separated, and order’d to their several Places, +the Earth must have been of an even Surface, or nearly so. The several +component Parts of the Earth, must have subsided according to their +several specifick Gravities, and at last have ended in a large, even, +spherical Surface, every where equi-distant from the Center of the Globe. +But that instead of this Form, so incommodious for the Conveyance of the +Waters, it should be jetted out every where into Hills and Dales, so +necessary for that purpose, is a manifest Sign of an especial Providence +of the wise Creator. + +So another plain Sign of the same especial Providence of God, in this +Matter, is, that generally throughout the whole World, the Earth is +so dispos’d, so order’d, so well laid; I may say, that the Mid-land +Parts, or Parts farther from the Sea, are commonly the highest: Which +is manifest, I have said, from the Descent of the Rivers. Now this is +an admirable Provision the wise Creator hath made for the commodious +Passages of the Rivers, and for draining the several Countries, and +carrying off the superfluous Waters from the whole Earth, which would be +as great an Annoyance, as now they are a Convenience. + +Another providential Benefit of the Hills supplying the Earth with Water, +is, that they are not only instrumental thereby, to the Fertility of +the Valleys, but to their own also[l]; to the Verdure of the Vegetables +without, and to the Increment and Vigour of the Treasures within them. + +Thus having vindicated the present Form and Fabrick of the Earth, as +distributed into Mountains and Valleys, and thereby shewn in some Measure +the Use thereof, particularly of the Mountains, which are chiefly found +fault with: I have, I hope, made it in some Measure evident, that God was +no idle Spectator[m], nor unconcerned in the ordering of the terraqueous +Globe, as the former bold Charges against it do infer; that he did +not suffer so grand a Work, as the Earth, to go unfinish’d out of his +almighty Hand; or leave it to be ordered by Chance, by natural Gravity, +by casual Earthquakes, _&c._ but that the noble Strokes, and plain +Remains of Wisdom and Power therein, do manifest it to be his Work. That +particularly the Hills and Vales, though to a peevish weary Traveller, +they may seem incommodious and troublesome; yet are a noble Work of the +great Creator, and wisely appointed by him for the Good of our sublunary +World. + +And so for all the other Parts of our terraqueous Globe, that are +presumed to be found fault with by some, as if carelessly order’d, and +made without any Design or End; particularly the Distribution of the dry +Land and Waters; the laying the several Strata, or Beds of Earth, Stone, +and other Layers before spoken of; the Creation of noxious Animals, and +poisonous Substances, the boisterous Winds; the Vulcano’s, and many other +Things which some are angry with, and will pretend to amend: I have +before shewn, that an infinitely wise Providence, an almighty Hand was +concerned even in them; that they all have their admirable Ends and Uses, +and are highly instrumental and beneficial to the Being, or Well-being of +this our Globe, or to the Creatures residing thereon. + +So also for humane Bodies, it hath been an ancient[n], as well as modern +Complaint, that our Bodies are not as big as those of other Animals; that +we cannot run as swift as Deer, fly like Birds, and that we are out-done +by many Creatures in the Accuracy of the Senses, with more to the same +Purpose. But these Objections are well answered by _Seneca_[o], and will +receive a fuller Solution from what I shall observe of animal Bodies +hereafter. + +But indeed, after all, it is only for want of our knowing these Things +better, that we do not admire[p] them enough; it is our own Ignorance, +Dulness or Prejudice, that makes us charge those noble Works of the +Almighty, as Defects or Blunders, as ill-contriv’d, or ill-made. + +It is therefore fitter for such finite, weak, ignorant Beings as we, to +be humble and meek, and conscious of our Ignorance, and jealous of our +own Judgment, when it thus confronteth infinite Wisdom. Let us remember +how few Things we know, how many we err about, and how many we are +ignorant of: And those, many of them, the most familiar, obvious Things: +Things that we see and handle at Pleasure; yea, our own very Bodies, +and that very Part of us whereby we understand at all, our Soul. And +should we therefore pretend to censure what God doth! Should we pretend +to amend his Work! Or to advise infinite Wisdom! Or to know the Ends and +Purposes of his infinite Will, as if we were of his Council! No, let us +bear in Mind, that there Objections are the Products, not of Reason, +but of Peevishness. They have been incommoded by Storms and Tempests; +they have been terrify’d with the burning Mountains, and Earthquakes; +they have been annoy’d by the noxious Animals, and fatigu’d by the +Hills; and therefore are angry, and will pretend to amend these Works +of the Almighty. But in the Words of St. _Paul_[q], we may say, _Nay, +but O Man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the Thing +formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not +the Potter power over the Clay, of the same Lump to make one Vessel to +honour, and another to dishonour?_ If the Almighty Lord of the World, +had for his own Pleasure, made this our World more inconvenient for Man, +it would better become us to sit still, and be quiet; to lament our own +great Infirmities and Failings, which deserve a worse Place, a more +incommodious Habitation, than we meet with in this elegant, this well +contriv’d, well formed World; in which we find every Thing necessary for +the Sustentation, Use and Pleasure, both of Man, and every other Creature +here below; as well as some Whips, some Rods to scourge us for our +Sins[r]. But yet so admirably well temper’d is our State, such an Accord, +such an Harmony is there throughout the Creation, that if we will but +pursue the Ways of Piety and Virtue, which God hath appointed; if we will +form our Lives according to the Creator’s Laws, we may escape the Evils +of this our frail State, and find sufficient Means to make us happy while +we are in the Body. The natural Force and Tendency of our Virtue, will +prevent many of the Harms[s], and the watchful Providence of our Almighty +Benefactor, will be a Guard against others; and then nothing is wanting +to make us happy, as long as we are in this World, there being abundantly +enough to entertain the Minds of the most contemplative; Glories enough +to please the Eye of the most curious and inquisitive; Harmonies and +Conforts of Nature’s own, as well as Man’s making, sufficient to delight +the Ear of the most harmonious and musical; All Sorts of pleasant Gusto’s +to gratify the Taste and Appetite, even of the most luxurious; And +fragrant Odours to please the nicest and tenderest Smell: And in a Word, +enough to make us love and delight in this World, rather too much, than +too little, considering how nearly we are ally’d to another World, as +well as this. + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Though there are some that think Mountains to be a Deformity to +the Earth, ~&c.~ yet if well considered, they will be found as much +to conduce to the Beauty and Conveniency of the Universe, as any of +the other Parts. Nature_ (saith _Pliny_) _purposely framed them for +many excellent Uses; partly to tame the Violence of greater Rivers, to +strengthen certain Joints within the Veins and Bowels of the Earth, +so break the Force of the Sea’s Inundation, and for the Safety of the +Earth’s Inhabitants, whether Beasts or Men. That they make much for the +Protection of Beasts, the Psalmist testifies, ~The highest Hills are a +Refuge for the wild Goats, and the Rocks for Conies.~ The Kingly Prophet +had likewise learnt the Safety of those by his own Experience, when he +also was fain to make a Mountain his Refuge from the Fury of his Master +~Saul~, who prosecuted him in the Wilderness. True indeed, such Places +as these keep their Neighbours poor, as being most barren, but yet they +preserve them safe, at being most strong; witness our unconquered ~Wales~ +and ~Scotland~.——Wherefore a good Author doth rightly call them ~Natures +Bulwarks~, cast up at God Almighty’s Charges, the Scorns and Curbs of +victorious Armies; which made the ~Barbarians~ in ~Curtius~ so confident +of their own Safety, ~&c.~_ Bishop _Wilkin_’s World in the Moon, _pag. +114._ + +[b] _~Ray~’s Wisdom of God, ~&c.~ pag. 251. Dissolution of the World, +pag. 35._ + +[c] _Theophrastus_ having reckoned up the Trees that delight most in the +Hills, and others in the Valleys, observeth, Ἅπαντα δὲ ὅσα κοινὰ τῶν ὀρῶν +καὶ τῶν πεδίων, μείζω μὲν καὶ καλλίω τῄ ὅψες τὰ ἐν τοῖς πεδιοις γινε ται. +κρείττω δὲ χρήσες τῶν ξύλων καὶ τῶν καρπῶν, τὰ ὀρεινά. _Theoph. Hist. Pl. +l. 3. c. 4._ Ἅπαντα δὲ ἐν τοῖς ὀικείοις τόποις καλλίω γίνεται, καὶ μᾶλλον +ἐυσθενεῖ·——Τὰ μὲν γαρ φιλει τοὺς ἐφίδρους καὶ ἑλώδεις.——Τὰ δὲ, τοὺς +ἐυτκεπεῖς καὶ ἐυηλιους. _Ib. l. 4. c. 1._ + +[d] _Wisdom of God_, p. 252. + +[e] _Ubi supra._ + +[f] Many have taken Notice, that some of the greatest Eminences of the +World run generally East and West, of which take the late ingenious and +learned Dr. _Nichols_’s Account, [_Confer. with a Theist_, Part 2. pag. +191.] _To go no farther than our own Country, all our great Ridges of +Hills in ~England~ run East and West; so do the ~Alps~ in ~Italy~, and in +some Measure the ~Pyrenees~; so do the Mountains of the Moon in ~Africk~, +and so do Mount ~Taurus~ and ~Caucasus~._ This he saith _is a wise +Contrivance to prevent the Vapours, which would all run Northwards, and +leave no Rains in the ~Mediterranean~ Countries._ + +[g] That the Generation of many of the Clouds is owing to the Hills, +appears from the Observations of the ingenious and learned Dr. _Joh. Jam. +Scheuchzer_ of _Zurich_, and Mr. _Joach. Frid. Creitlovius_ cited by +him. They observed at Sun-rising, divers Clouds detached by the Heat of +the Sun, from some of the Tops of the _Alps_, &c. upon all which their +Observations, the Conclusion is, _Mirati summam Creatoris sapientiam, +qui & id quod paulò antè nulli nobis usui esse videbatur, maximis rebus +destinaverat, adeóque ex illo tempore dubitare cœpi, num Nubes essent +futura, si istiusmodi Montes & Petræ non darentur. Hypothesi hâc stante, +elucesceret permagna utilitas, imò necessitas, quam ~Helviticæ Alpes~ +non nobis tantùm accolis sed & vicinis aliis regionibus præstant, +dispensando, quas gignunt Nubes, Ventos, Aquas_. Scheuch. Iter. Alpin. 2. +p. 20. + +[h] Let us take here _Ol. Mag._ Observation of his Northern Mountains, +_Montes excelsi sunt, sed pro majori parte steriles, & aridi; in quibus +ferè nil aliud pro incolarum commoditate & conservatione gignitur, +quàm inexhausta pretiosorum Metallorum ubertas, quâ satìs opulenti, +fertilesque sunt in omnibus vitæ necessariis, forsitan & superfluis +aliunde si libet conquirendis, unanimique robore, ac viribus, ubi vis +contra hæc naturæ dona intentata fuerit, defendendis. Acre enim genus +hominum est, ~&c.~_ _Ol. Mag._ Hist. L. 6. Præf. See also Sir _Robert +Sibbald_’s Prodr. Nat. Hist. Scot. p. 47. + +[i] See _Book I. Chap. 3. Note (b)._ + +[k] _Monsieur ~Blundel~, related to the ~Parisian~ Academy, what Device +the Inhabitants the lower ~Austria~, (which is encompassed with the +Mountains of ~Stiria~) are wont to use to fill their Wells with Water. +They dig in the Earth to the Depth of 25 and 20 Feet, till they come to +an Argilla ~[clammy Earth]~——which they bore through so deep, till the +Waters break forcibly out; which Water it is probable comes from the +neighbouring Mountains in subterraneous Chanels. And ~Cassinus~ observed, +that in many Places of the Territory of ~Modena~ and ~Bologna~ in +~Italy~, they make themselves Wells by the like Artifice, ~&c.~ By this +Means the same ~Seig. Cassini~ made a Fountain at the Castle of ~Urbin~, +that cast up the Water five Foot high above the level of the Ground._ +_~Ray~’s_ Disc. 1. pag. 40. _ubi plura_. + +Upon Enquiry of some skilful Workmen, whose Business it is to dig Wells, +_&c._ whether they had ever met with the like Case, as these in this +Note, they told me they had met with it in _Essex_, where after they had +dug to 50 Foot Depth, the Man in the Well observed the clayie Bottom to +swell and begin to send out Water, and stamping with his Foot to stop +the Water, he made way for so suddain and forcible a Flux of Water, that +before he could get into his Bucket, he was above his Waste in Water; +which soon ascended to 17 Feet height, and there stayed: And although +they often with great Labour endeavoured to empty the Well, in order to +finish their Work, yet they could never do it, but were forced to leave +it as it was. + +[l] As the Hills being higher, are naturally disposed to be drier than +the Valleys; so kind Nature hath provided the greater Supplies of +Moisture for them, such at least of them as do not ascend above the +Clouds and Vapours. For, besides the Fountains continually watering them, +they have more Dews and Rains commonly than the Valleys. They are more +frequently covered with Fogs; and by retarding, stopping, or compressing +the Clouds, or by their greater Colds condensing them, they have larger +Quantities of Rain fall upon them. As I have found by actual Experience, +in comparing my Observations with those of my late very curious and +ingenious Correspondent, _Richard Townley_, Esq; of _Lancashire_, and +some others, to be met with before, _Chap. 2. Note (a)._ From which it +appears, that above double the Quantity of Rain falleth in _Lancashire_, +than doth at _Upminster_. The Reason of which is, because _Lancashire_ +hath more, and much higher Hills than Essex hath. See _Book II. Chap. 5. +Note (e)._ + +[m] _Accusandi sanè meâ sententiâ hìc sunt Sophistæ, qui cùm nondum +invenire, neque exponere opera Naturæ queant, eam tamen inertiâ atque +inscitiâ condemnant, ~&c.~_ Galen. de Us. Part 1. l. 10. c. 9. + +[n] _Vide quàm iniqui sint divinorum munerum astimatores, etiam quidam +professi sapientiam. Queruntur quòd non magnitudine corporis æquemus +Elephantes, velocitate Cervos, levitate Aves, impetu Tauros; quòd +solidior sit cutis Belluis, decentior Damis, densior Ursis, mollior +Fibris; quòd sagacitate nos narium Canes vincant, quòd acie luminum +Aquilæ, spatio ætatis Corvi, multa Animalia nandi facilitate. Et cùm +quædam nè coire quidem in idem Natura patiatur, ut velocitatem corporis +& vires pares animalibus habeamus; ex diversis & dissidentibus bonis +Hominem non esse compositum, injuriam vocant; & in negligentes nostri +Deos querimoniam jaciunt, quòd non bona valetudo, & vitiis inexpugnabilis +data sit, quòd non futuri scientia. Vix sibi temperant quin eousque +impudentiæ provehantur, ut Naturam oderint, quòd infra Deos sumus, quòd +non in æquo illis stetimus._ Seneca de Benef. l. 2. c. 29. + +[o] _Quanto satiùs est ad contemplationem tot tantorumque beneficiorum +reverti, & agere gratias, quòd nos in hoc pulcherrimo domicilio voluerunt +~(Dii)~ secundos fortiri, quòd terrenis præfecerunt._ Then having +reckoned up many of the Privileges and Benefits, which the Gods, he +saith, have conferred upon us, he concludes, _Ita est: carissimos nos +habuerunt Dii immortales, habentque. Et qui maximus tribui honos potuit, +ab ipsis proximos collocaverunt. Magna accepimus, majora non cepimus._ +Senec. Ibid. + +[p] _Naturam maximè admiraberis, si omnia ejus opera perlustraris._ +Galen. de Us. Part. I. 11. conclus. + +[q] Rom. ix. 20, 21. + +[r] _Neither are they ~[noxious Creatures]~ of less Use to amend our +Minds, by teaching us Care and Diligence, and more Wit. And so much the +more, the worse the Things are we see, and should avoid. ~Weezels~, +~Kites~, and other mischievous Animals, induce us to a Watchfulness: +~Thistles~ and ~Moles~ to good Husbandry; ~Lice~ oblige us to Cleanliness +in our Bodies; ~Spiders~ in our Houses; and the ~Moth~ in our Clothes. +The Deformity and Filthiness of ~Swine~, make them the Beauty-Spot of the +Animal Creation, and the Emblems of all Vice——The truth is, Things are +hurtful to us only by Accident; that is, not of Necessity, but through +our own Negligence or Mistake. Houses decay, Corn is blasted, and the +Weevel breeds in Mault, soonest towards the South. Be it so, it is then +our own Fault, if we use not the Means which Nature and Art have provided +against these Inconveniencies_. Grew’s Cosmol. c. 2. §. 49, 50. + +[s] + + _Non est gemendus, nec gravi urgendus nece,_ + _Virtute quisquis abstulit fatis iter._ + + Senec. Hercul. Oet. Act. 5. Car. 1833. + + _Nunquam Stygias fertur ad umbras_ + _Inclyta virtus._ + + Id. Ibid. Car. 1982. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK IV. + +_Of Animals in general._ + + +In the last BOOK, having survey’d the Earth it self in Particular, I +shall next take a View of the Inhabitants thereof; or the several Kinds +of Creatures[a], that have their Habitation, Growth, or Subsistence +thereon. + +These Creatures are either Sensitive, or Insensitive Creatures. + +In speaking of those endow’d with Sense, I shall consider: + +I. Some Things common to them all. + +II. Things peculiar to their Tribes. + +I. The Things in common, which I intend to take Notice of, are these Ten: + +1. The five _Senses_, and their Organs. + +2. The great Instrument of Vitality, _Respiration_. + +3. The _Motion_, or Loco-motive Faculty of Animals. + +4. The _Place_, in which they live and act. + +5. The _Balance_ of their Numbers. + +6. Their _Food_. + +7. Their _Cloathing_. + +8. Their _Houses_, _Nests_ or _Habitations_. + +9. Their Methods of _Self-Preservation_. + +10. Their _Generation_, and _Conservation_ of their Species by that Means. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] + + _Principio cœlum, ac terras, camposque liquentes,_ + _Lucentemque globum Lunæ, Titaniaque astra_ + _Spiritus intùs alit, totamque infusa per artus_ + _Mens agitat molem, & magno se corpore miscet._ + _Inde hominem, pecudumque genus, vitæque volantum,_ + _Et quæ marmoreo fert monstra sub æquore pontus._ + _Igneus est illis vigor, & cœlestis origo_ + _Seminibus._ + + Virgil. Æneid. L. 6. Carm. 724. + + + + + +CHAP. I. + +_Of the five Senses in general._ + + +The first Thing to be consider’d, in common to all the Sensitive +Creatures, is, their Faculty of _Seeing_, _Hearing_, _Smelling_, +_Tasting_ and _Feeling_; and the _Organs_ ministring to there five +_Senses_, together with the exact Accommodation of those Senses, and +their Organs, to the State and Make of every Tribe of Animals[a]. +The Consideration of which Particulars alone, were there no other +Demonstrations of God, is abundantly sufficient to evince the infinite +Wisdom, Power and Goodness, of the great Creator. For, Who can but stand +amaz’d at the Glories of these Works! At the admirable Artifice of them! +And at their noble Use and Performances! For suppose an Animal, as +such, had Breath and Life, and could move it self hither and thither; +yet how could it know whither to go, what it was about, where to find +its Food, how to avoid thousands of Dangers[b], without Sight! How +could Man, particularly, view the Glories of the Heavens, survey the +Beauties of the Fields, and enjoy the Pleasure of beholding the noble +Variety of diverting objects, that do, above us in the Heavens, and +here in this lower World, present themselves to our View every where; +how enjoy this, I say, without that admirable Sense of _Sight_[c]! How +could also the Animal, without _Smell_ and _Taste_, distinguish its Food, +and discern between wholsome and unwholsome; besides the Pleasures of +delightful Odours, and relishing Gusto’s! How, without that other Sense +of _Hearing_, could it discern many Dangers that are at a Distance, +understand the Mind of others, perceive the harmonious Sounds of Musick, +and be delighted with the Melodies of the winged Choir, and all the rest +of the Harmonies the Creator hath provided for the Delight and Pleasure +of his Creatures! And lastly, How could Man, or any other Creature +distinguish Pleasure from Pain, Health from Sickness, and consequently be +able to keep their Body sound and entire, without the Sense of _Feeling_! +Here, therefore, we have a glorious Oeconomy in every Animal, that +commandeth Admiration, and deserveth our Contemplation: As will better +appear by coming to Particulars, and distinctly considering the Provision +which the Creator hath made for each of these Senses. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Ex sensibus ante cætera Homini Tactus, deinde Gustatus: reliquis +superatur à multis. Aquilæ clariùs cernunt: Vultures sagaciùs ordorantur, +liquidiùs audiunt Talpæ obrutæ terrâ, tam denso atque surdo naturæ +elemento._ Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 69. + +[b] _Subjacent Oculi, pars corporis pretiosissima, & qui lucis usu vitam +distinguant à morte._ Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37. + +[c] _Fœminæ aliquæ Megarenses solis oculis discernere valebant inter Ova +quæ ex Gallinâ nigrâ, & quæ ex albâ nata sunt_, is what is affirmed (how +truly I know not) by _Grimald. de Lumin. & Color. Pr._ 43. §. 60. + + + + +CHAP. II. + +_Of the Eye._ + + +For our clearer Proceeding in the Consideration of this noble Part[a], +and understanding its Oeconomy, I shall consider: + +1. The _Form_ of the Eye. + +2. Its _Situation_ in the Body. + +3. Its _Motions_. + +4. Its _Size_. + +5. Its _Number_. + +6. Its _Parts_. + +7. The _Guard_ and _Security_ Nature hath provided for this so useful a +Part. + +As this eminent Part hath not been pretermitted by Authors, that have +made it their particular Design and Business to speak of the Works of +God; so divers of the aforesaid Particulars have been touched upon by +them. And therefore I shall take in as little as possible of what they +have said, and as near as I can, mention chiefly what they have omitted. +And, + +1. For the _Form_ of the Eye; which is for the most part Globous, or +somewhat of the sphæroidal Form: Which is far the most commodious optical +Form, as being fittest to contain the Humours within, and to receive the +Images of Objects from without[b]. Was it a Cube, or of any multangular +Form, some of its Parts would lie too far off[c], and some too nigh +those lenticular Humours, which by their Refractions cause Vision. +But by Means of the Form before-mentioned, the Humours of the Eye are +commodiously laid together, to perform their Office of Refraction; and +the _Retina_, and every other Part of that little darkned Cell, is neatly +adapted regularly to receive the Images from without, and to convey them +accordingly to the common Sensory in the Brain. + +To this we may add the aptitude of this Figure to the Motion of the Eye, +for it is necessary for the Eye to move this way, and that way, in order +to adjust it self to the Objects it would view; so by this Figure it is +well prepared for such Motions, so that it can with great Facility and +Dexterity direct it self as occasion requires. + +And as the Figure, so no less commodious is, + +2. The _Situation_ of the Eye, namely in the Head[d], the most erect, +eminent Part of the Body, near the most sensible, vital Part, the Brain. +By its Eminence in the Body, it is prepar’d to take in the more[e] +Objects. And by its Situation in the Head, besides its Proximity to the +Brain, it is in the most convenient Place for Defence and Security. +In the Hands, it might indeed (in Man) be render’d more eminent than +the Head, and be turned about here and there at pleasure. But then it +would be exposed to many Injuries in that active Part, and the Hands[f] +render’d a less active and useful Part. And the like may be said to its +Sight, in any other Part of the Body, but where it is. But in the Head, +both of Man, and other Animals, it is placed in a Part that seems to be +contrived, and made chiefly for the Action of the principal Senses. + +Another Thing observable in the Sight of the Eye, is the Manner of its +Situation in the Head, in the Fore-part, or Side-part thereof; according +to the particular Occasions of particular Animals. In Man, and some other +Creatures, it is placed to look directly forward chiefly; but withal it +is so order’d, as to take in near the Hemisphere before it. In Birds, and +some other Creatures, the Eyes are so seated, as to take in near a whole +Sphere, that they may the better seek their Food, and escape Dangers. And +in some Creatures they are seated, so as to see best behind them[g], or +on each Side, whereby they are enabled to see their Enemy that pursues +them that way, and so make their Escape. + +And for the Assistance of the Eyes, and some of the other Senses in their +Actions; the Head is generally made to turn here and there, and move as +Occasion requires. Which leads me to the + +3. Thing to be remarked upon, the _Motions_ of the Eye it self. And this +is generally upwards, downwards, backwards, forwards, and every way[h], +for the better, more easy, and distinct Reception of the visual Rays. + +But where Nature any way deviateth from this Method, either by denying +Motion to the Eyes, or the Head[i], it is a very wonderful Provision +she hath made in the Case. Thus for a Remedy of this Inconvenience, in +some Creatures their Eyes are set out at a Distance[k] from the Head, +to be circumvolved here and there, or one this, the other that way, +at Pleasure. And in Creatures, whose Eyes are without Motion, as in +divers Insects; in this Case, either they have more than two Eyes, or +their Eyes are nearly two protuberant Hemispheres, and each Hemisphere +often consisting of a prodigious number of other little Segments of a +Sphere[l]. By which Means those Creatures are so far from being deny’d +any Benefit, of that noble and most necessary Sense of Sight, that +they have probably more of it than other Creatures, answerable to the +Rapidity of their Flight, and brisk Motion; and to their Inquests after +Food, Habitation, or Repositories of Generation, or such other Necessity +of the Animal. + +4. Another admirable Provision in the Eye, is, its Size; in some Animals +large, in some little. It would be endless here to enumerate Particulars; +as thole of Quadrupeds, Birds, Insects, and other terrestrial Animals. +And as for Fishes, they will fall under another Part of my Survey. + +I shall therefore only take Notice of its Size in one Creature, +the _Mole_[m]. As the Habitation of that uncouth Animal is wholly +subterraneous, its Lodging, its Food, its Exercises, nay, even all its +Pastimes and Pleasures, are in those subterraneous Recesses and Passages, +which its own Industry hath made for it self; so it is an admirable +Provision made in the Size of the Eye of that little Creature, to answer +all its Occasions, and at the same time to prevent Inconveniences. For +as a little Light will suffice an Animal living always under Ground; so +the smallest Eye will abundantly supply that Occasion. And as a large +protuberant Eye, like that of other Animals, would much annoy this +Creature in its principal Business, of digging for its Food and Passage; +so it is endow’d with a very small one, commodiously seated in the Head, +and well fenced and guarded against the Annoyances of the Earth. + +5. Another Thing remarkable in this noble Part of Animals, is, its +_Numbers_; no less than two[n] in any Instance, that I know of; and in +some Animals more, as I have already hinted[o]. + +Now this is an admirable Provision; first, for the Convenience of taking +in the larger Angle or Space: And in the next Place, the Animal is by +this Provision, in some Measure prepar’d for the Misfortune of the Loss +of one of these noble, and necessary Organs of its Body. + +But then besides all this, there is another Thing considerable in this +multiplicate Number of the Eye; and that is, that the Object seen is +not multiplied as well as the Organ, and appears but one, though seen +with two or more Eyes[p]. A manifest Sign of the infinite Skill of the +Contriver of this so noble a Part, and of the exquisite Art he employed +in the Formation thereof. But the Design and Skill of the infinite +Workman, will best be set forth by + +6. Surveying the _Parts_ and _Mechanism_ of this admirable Organ the Eye. +And here indeed we cannot but stand amazed, when we view its admirable +Fabrick, and consider the prodigious Exactness, and the exquisite Skill +employed in every part ministring to this noble and necessary Sense. +To pass by its Arteries and Veins, and such other Parts common to the +rest of the Body, let us cast our Eye on its _Muscles_. These we shall +find exactly and neatly placed for every Motion of the Eye. Let us view +its _Tunicks_, and these we shall find so admirably seated, so well +adapted, and of so firm a Texture, as to fit every Place, to answer +every Occasion, and to be Proof against all common Inconveniences and +Annoyances. Let us examine its three _Humours_, and these we shall find +all of exquisite Clearness and Transparency, for an easy Admission of the +Rays; well placed for the refracting of them, and formed (particularly +the _Crystalline Humour_) by the nicest Laws of Opticks, to collect the +wandring Rays into a Point. And to name no more, let us look into its +darkned Cell, where those curious Humours lie, and into which the Glories +of the Heavens and the Earth are brought, and exquisitely pictured; and +this Cell we shall find, without, well prepared by Means of its Texture, +Aperture, and Colour, to fence off all the useless or noxious Rays; and +within, as well coated with a dark Tegument, that it may not reflect, +dissipate, or any way confuse or disturb the beneficial Rays[q]. + +But to descend to Particulars, although it would be a great Demonstration +of the Glory of God, yet would take up too much Time, and hath been in +some Measure done by others that have written of God’s Works. Passing +over therefore what they have observed, I shall under each principal Part +take a transient Notice of some Things they have omitted, or but slightly +spoken of. + +And my first Remark shall be concerning the _Muscles_ of the Eye, and +their Equilibration. Nothing can be more manifestly an act of Contrivance +and Design, than the _Muscles_ of the Eye, admirably adapted to move +it any, and every way; upwards, downwards, to this side or that, or +howsoever we please, or there is occasion for, so as to always keep +that Parallelism of the Eye, which is necessary to true Vision. For +the Performance of which Service, the Form, the Position, and the +due Strength of each Muscle is admirable. And here I might Instance +the peculiar and artificial Structure of the _Trochlearis_, and the +Augmentation of its Power by the _Trochlea_[r]; the Magnitude and +Strength of the _Attollent Muscle_, somewhat exceeding that of its +Antagonist; the peculiar Muscle, called the _Seventh_, or _Suspensory +Muscle_[s], given to Brutes, by reason of the prone Posture of their +Bodies, and frequent Occasions to hang down their Heads: And I might +speak also of the peculiar Origine and Insertion of the _lower Oblique +Muscle_[t], which is very notable, and many other Things relating to +these Parts; but it would be tedious to descend too much to those +admirable Particulars. And therefore to close up these Remarks, all I +shall farther take Notice of, shall be only the exquisite Equilibration +of all these _Opposite_ and _Antagonist Muscles_, affected partly by +the Equality of the Strength; which is the Case of the _Adducent_ and +_Abducent Muscles_; partly by their peculiar Origine, or the Addition of +the _Trochlea_, which is the Case of the _Oblique Muscles_[u]: and partly +by the natural Posture of the Body, and the Eye, which is the Case of +the _Attollent_ and _Depriment Muscles_. By this so curious and exact +a Libration, not only unseemly Contortions, and incommodious Vagations +of the Eye are prevented, but also it is able with great Readiness and +Exactness to apply it self to every Object. + +As to the _Tunicks_ of the Eye, many Things might be taken notice of, +the prodigious Fineness of the _Arachnoïdes_, the acute Sense of the +_Retina_, the delicate Transparency of the _Cornea_[w], and the firm and +strong Texture of that and the _Sclerotica_ too; and each of them, in +these and every other respect, in the most accurate manner adapted to +the Place in which it is, and the Business it is there to perform. But +for a Sample, I shall only take notice of that part of the _Uvea_ which +makes the _Pupil_. It hath been observed by others, particularly by our +Honourable Founder[x], That as we are forced to use various Apertures to +our Optick Glasses, so Nature hath made a far more compleat Provision in +the Eyes of Animals, to shut out too much, and to admit sufficient Light, +by the Dilatation and Contraction of the Pupil[y]. But it deserveth our +especial Remark, that these Pupils are in divers Animals of divers Forms, +according to their peculiar Occasions. In some (particularly in Man) it +is round; that being the most proper Figure for the Position of our Eyes, +and the Use we make of them both by Day and Night. In some other Animals +it is of a longish Form; in some Transverse[z], with its Aperture large, +which is an admirable Provision for such Creatures to see the better +laterally, and thereby avoid Inconveniencies, as well as help them to +gather their Food on the Ground, both by Day and Night. In other Animals +the Fissure of the Pupil is erect[aa], and also capable of opening +wide, and shutting up close. The latter of which serveth to exclude the +brighter Light of the Day, and the former to take in the more faint Rays +of the Night, thereby enabling those Nocturnal Animals (in whom generally +this erect Form of the Pupil is) to catch their Prey with the greater +Facility in the dark[bb], to see upwards and downwards, to climb, _&c_. +Thus much for the _Tunicks_. + +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_. + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _In Dissectionibus anatomicis vix aliquid admirabilius, aut +artificiosius structurâ Oculi humani, meo quidem judicio, occurrit: ut +meritò, per excellentiam, Creatoris appelletur Miraculum._ Gul. Fabr. +Hildan. Cent. 2. Observ. 1. + +So likewise that accurate Surveyor of the Eye, Dr. _Briggs_, whose +_Ophthalmography_ I have met with since my penning this part of my +Survey. His Character of this curious piece of God’s Work is, _Inter +præcipuas corporis animati partes, quæ magni Conditoris nostri sapientiam +ostendunt, nulla sanè reperitur, quæ majori pompâ elucet quàm ipse +Oculus, aut quæ elegantiori formâ concinnatur. Deum enim aliæ partes vel +minori satellitio stipantur, vel in tantam venustatem haud assurgunt; +Ocelli peculiarem honorem & decus à supremo Numine efflatum referunt, & +nunquam non stupendæ suæ Potentia characteres repræsentant. Nulla sanè +pars tam divino artificio & ordine, ~&c.~_ Cap. 1. §. 1. + +[b] It is a good Reason _Frier Bacon_ assigns for the Sphæricity of the +Eye: _Nam si esset planæ figuræ, species rei majoris oculo non posset +cadere perpendiculariter super eum——Cùm ergò Oculus videt magna corpora, +ut ferè quartam cœli uno aspectu, manifestum est, quòd non potest esse +planæ figuræ, nec alicujus nisi sphæricæ, quoniam super sphæram parvam +possunt cadere perpendiculares infinitæ, quæ à magno corpore veniunt, & +tendunt in centrum Sphæræ: Et sic magnum corpus potest ab oculo parvo +videri._ For the Demonstration of which he hath given us a Figure. _Rog. +Bacon. Perspect. Distinct. 4. Cap. 4._ + +Dr. _Briggs_ saith, _Pars antica, (sive Cornea,) convexior est posticâ: +hâc enim ratione radii meliùs in pupillam detorquentur, & Oculi fundus +ex altarâ parte in majorem (propter imagines rerum ibidem delineandos) +expanditur._ Ibid. §. 2. + +[c] Suppose the Eye had the _Retina_, or back part flat for the Reception +of the Images, as in _Fig. 1._ ABA: it is manifest, that if the Extremes +of the Image AA were at a due focal distance, the middle B would be too +nigh the Crystalline, and consequently appear confused and dim; but all +Parts of the _Retina_ lying at a due focal distance from the Crystalline, +as at ACA, therefore the Image painted thereon is seen distinct and +clear. Thus in a dark Room, with a Lens at a Hole in the Window, (which +_Sturmius_ calls his Artificial Eye, in his _Exercit. Acad._ one of which +he had made for his Pupils, to run any where on Wheels). In this Room, I +say, if the Paper that receives the Images be too nigh, or too far off +the Lens, the Image will be confused and dim; but in the Focus of the +Glass, distinct, clear, and a pleasant Sight. + +[d] _Blemmyis traduntur capita abesse, Ore & Oculis pectori affixis._ +Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 8. _Occidentem versus quosdam sine cervice +Oculos in humeris habentes._ Ib. l. 7. c. 2. From these, and other such +like Fables, in this last cited Chapter of _Pliny_, no doubt our famous +Romancer Sir _J. Mandevile_, had his Romnantick Stories related in his +Travels. + +[e] See _Book V. Chap. 2. Note (e)._ + +[f] _Galen_ deserves to be here consulted, who in his Book _De Usu +Partium_, from many Considerations of the Hand, such as what is here +mentioned, as also its Structure, Site and Use, largely proves and +reflects upon the Wisdom and Providence of the Contriver and Maker of +that Part. + +[g] Thus in _Hares_ and _Conies_, their Eyes are very protuberant, and +placed so much towards the sides of their Head, that their two Eyes take +in nearly a whole Sphere: Whereas in _Dogs_, (that pursue them) the Eyes +are set more forward in the Head, to look that way more than backward. + +[h] _Sed lubricos Oculos fecit ~[Natura]~ & mobiles, ut & declinarent +siquid noceret; & aspectum, quo vellent, facile converterent_. Cicer. de +Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 57. + +[i] _The Eyes of ~Spiders~, ~(in some four, in some six, and in some +eight)~ are placed all in the fore-front of their Head, (which is round, +and without any Neck) all diaphanous and transparent, like a Locket of +Diamonds, ~&c.~ neither wonder why Providence should be so anomalous +in this Animal, more than in any other we know of. For, 1. Since they +wanting a Neck, cannot move their Head, it is requisite that Defect +should be supplied by the multiplicity of Eyes. 2. Since they were to +live by catching so nimble a Prey as a Fly is, they ought to see her +every way, and to take her ~per saltum~, (as they do) without any Motion +of the Head to discover her: Which Motion would have scared away so +timorous an Insect._ _~Power~’s_ Micros. Observ. pag. 11. + +_The Eyes of the ~Cameleon~ resemble a Lens, or Convex Glass, set in +a versatile globular Socket, which she turneth backward, or any way, +without moving her Head; and ordinarily the one a contrary, or quite +different way from the other._ Dr. _Goddard_ in Phil. Tran. Nᵒ. 137. + +_But what is more extraordinary in this Motion ~[of the Cameleon’s Eye]~ +is to see one of the Eyes move, whilst the other remains immoveable; and +the one to turn forward, at the same time that the other looketh behind; +the one to look up to the Sky, when the other is fixed on the Ground. +And these Motions to be so extreme, that they do carry the ~Pupilla~ +under the Crest which makes the Eye-brow, and so far into the ~Canthi~, +or Corners of the Eyes, that the Sight can discern whatever is done +just behind it, and directly before, without turning the Head, which is +fastned to the Shoulders._ Mem. for a Nat. Hist. in Anatom. Dissect. at +Paris. Diss. of Camel. pag. 22. + +[k] _Snails_ send out their Eyes at a distance, they being contained in +their four Horns, _like atramentous Spots, fitted to the end of their +Horns, or rather to the ends of those black Filaments or optick Nerves, +which are sheathed in her Horns_, as Dr. _Power_ wordeth it. _Obs. 31. +pag. 36._ So the ingenious Dr. _Lister_. _Exercit. Anat. Cochl. & Limac._ + +[l] _Vid._ _l. 8. c. 3. Note (a)._ + +[m] _Severinus_ is of _Aristotle_’s, _Pliny_’s, and _Alb. Magnus_’s +Opinion, that the _Mole_ hath no Sight; _G. Seger_ denies any Humour to +be therein, but thinks they may probably see, because Nature made nothing +in vain. But _Borrichius_ saith, their Eyes have _appendiculam nerveam in +cerebrum euntem, cujus beneficio globuli illi ~[the little Eyes]~ extra +pellem facilè poterant exseri, retrahique pro arbitrio——In illis oculorum +globulis humor aqueus copiose satis natabat; cæterorum non nisi tenue +vestigiem._ Blas. Anat. Anim. c. 35. + +_Et quoniam Natura hoc vitæ genus ipsi destinavit, etiam perquàm exiguos +Oculos——dedit eo concilio, ut ii, pretiosissima corporis pars, à terræ +pulvere nè affligerentur. Ii insuper pilis recti, ~&c.~ Humores illis +oculis insunt, & tunica nigra, uvea, se prodit. Ad hos tramite alio +nervus venit._ Schneider in Blas. ibid. + +Some time since I made divers accurate Dissections of the _Eyes_ of +_Moles_, with the help of Microscopes, having a doubt whether what we +take to be Eyes, were such or no. And upon a strict Scrutiny I plainly +could distinguish the _Vitreous_ and _Crystalline_ Humours, yea, the +_Ligamentum Ciliare_, and the atramentaceous _Mucus_. The _Pupil_ I could +manifestly discern to be round, and the _Cornea_ copped, or conical: The +Eye is at a great distance from the Brain, the Optick Nerve very slender +and long, reaching from the Eye through the intermediate Flesh, and so +passeth to the Brain, along with the pair of Nerves reaching to the Nose, +which are much the largest that are in all the Animal. These Creatures, +I imagine, have the Faculty of withdrawing their Eyes, if not quite into +the Head, (as _Snails_) yet more or less within the Hair, as they have +more or less Occasion to use or guard their Eyes. + +_Galen_ saith, _Moles_ have Eyes, the _Crystalline_ and _Vitreous_ +Humours, encompassed with _Tunicks_. _De Us. Part. l. 14. c. 6._ So +accurate an Anatomist was he for his Time. + +[n] _Pliny_ tells us of a sort of _Heron_ with but one Eye, but ’twas +only by hear-say. _Inter Aves Ardeolarum genere, quos Leucos vocant, +altero oculo carere tradunt._ Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37. So the King of the +_Nigræ_ that hath but one Eye, and that in his Forehead, _l. 6. c. 30._ +Which Fables I take notice of more for the Reader’s Diversion, than any +Truth in them. + +[o] _Supra_, _Note (i)._ + +[p] The most celebrated Anatomists differ greatly about the Reason why +we see not double with two Eyes. This _Galen_, and others after him, +generally thought to be from a Coalition or Decussation of the Optick +Nerves, behind the _Os Sphenoïdes_. But whether they decussate, coalesce, +or only touch one another, they do not well agree. The _Bartholines_ +expressly assert they are united, _non per simplicem contactum vel +intersectionem in homine, sed totalem substantiæ confusionem_, Anat. +l. 3. c. 2. And whereas _Vesalius_, and some others had found some +Instances of their being disunited; they say, _sed in plerisque ordinarie +confunditur interior substantia, ut accuratâ disquisitione deprehendi_. + +But our Learned Dr. _Gibson_, (_Anat. l. 3. c. 10._) saith, they _are +united by the closest Conjunction, but not Confusion of their Fibres_. + +But others think the Reason is not from any Coalescence, Contact, or +crossing of the Optick Nerves, but from a Sympathy between them. Thus +Monsieur _Cartes_ is of Opinion, that the _Fibrillæ_ constituting the +medullary Part of those Nerves, being spread in the _Retina_ of each Eye, +have each of them corresponding Parts in the Brain; so that when any of +those _Fibrillæ_ are struck by any part of an Image, the corresponding +Parts of the Brain are thereby affected, and the Soul thereby informed, +_&c._ but see more hereafter under _Note (oo)_, from _Cartes_ himself. + +Somewhat like this is the Notion of our judicious Dr. _Briggs_, who +thinks the Optick Nerves of each Eye consist of _Homologous Fibres_, +having their rise in the _Thalamus Nervorum Opticorum_, and thence +continued to both the _Retinæ_, which are made of them; And farther, that +those _Fibrillæ_ have the same Parallelism, Tension, _&c._ in both Eyes; +and consequently when an Image is painted on the same corresponding, +sympathizing Parts of each _Retina_, the same Effects are produced, the +same Notice or Information is carried to the _Thalamus_, and so imparted +to the Soul, or judging Faculty. That there is such an Ὁμοιοπάθεια +between the _Retina_, &c. he makes very probable from the ensuing of +double Vision upon the Interruption of the Parallelism of the Eyes; as +when one Eye is depressed with the Finger, or their Symphony interrupted +by Disease, Drunkenness, _&c._ And lastly, That simple Vision is not +made in the former way, _viz._ by a Decussation or Conjunction of the +Optick Nerves, he proves, because those Nerves are but in few Subjects +decussated, and in none conjoined otherwise than by a bare Contact, which +is particularly manifest in Fishes; and in some Instances it hath been +found, that they have been separated without any double Vision ensuing +thereupon. _Vid._ _Brig. Ophthalmogr._ cap. 11. & 5. and _Nov. Vis. +Theor._ _passim_. + +What the Opinion of our justly eminent Sir _Isaac Newton_ is, may be +seen in his _Opticks_, Qu. 15. _Are not the Species of Objects seen with +both Eyes, united where the Optick Nerves meet before they come into the +Brain, the Fibres on the right side of both Nerves uniting there, ~&c.~ +For the Optick Nerves of such Animals as look the same way with both +Eyes, (as of Men, Dogs, Sheep, Oxen, ~&c.~) meet before they come into +the Brain; but the Optick Nerves of such Animals as do not look the same +way with both Eyes, (as of Fishes and of the Cameleon) do not meet, if I +am rightly informed._ Newt. Opt. Q. 15. + +[q] _Nigra est ~[Uvea]~ ut radios (ab Oculi fundo ad anteriorem ejus +partem reflexos) obumbret; nè hi (ut ait clar. Cartesius) ad Oculi fundum +retorti ibidem confusam visionem efficerent. Alia forsan ratio hujus +nigredinis statuatur, quòd radii in visione superflui, qui ab objectis +lateralibus proveniunt hoc ritu absorbeantur. Ita enim è loco obscuro +interdiu objecta optimè intuemur, quia radii tunc temporis circumfuso +lumine non diluuntur._ Brigg’s Ophthal. c. 3. §. 5. + +[r] _Admirandum Dei artificium ex diversorum animalium comparatione +indies evadit manifestiùs. Mirantur omnes Trochlearem in oculis Hominum +& Quadrupedum, & quidem jure: sed admirationem omnem superat, quòd sine +Trochleâ oculum movens in Avibus novum genus Trochleæ longè artificiosiùs +Nictitandi Membranæ dederit._ Blas. Anat. Animal. p. 2. c. 4. _ex Stenon._ + +_~[Musculum Trochlearem]~ per intermedium trochleam traductum, nunquam +intueor, quin admirabundus mecum, Ὁ Θεὸς, exclamem ὀυ μόνον ἀεὶ +γεωμετρεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀεὶ μηχανᾶται._ _I. C. Sturmii Exercit. Acad. 9. de +Vis. Org. & Rat._ c. 3. §. 4. p. 446. + +[s] _Observare est quod Quadrupedes, qui oculos in terram pronos, +ac pendulos gerunt, Musculum peculiarem habent, quo Oculi globus +suspenditur——Hoc Musculo Bos, Equus, Ovis, Lepus, Porcus, &c. præditi +sunt: hoc etiam Canis instruitur, sed alio modo conformatum habet._ +Willis de An. Brut. p. 1. c. 15. + +Of this Opinion also was _Bartholine Anat._ l. 3. c. 8. and divers other +eminent Anatomists. + +But Dr. _Briggs_ is of Opinion that the _Adnata_, and the other Muscles +sufficiently answer all those Ends ascribed to that Muscle by former +Anatomists, and thinks _Probabiliùs itaque esse hunc Musculum nervi +Optici actionem (per vices) confirmare, nè à prono Brutorum incessu & +copioso affluxu humorum debilitetur_, Ophthal. c. 2. §. 2. + +The _Musculus Suspensorius_ being in the _Porpess_, as well as Brutes, +Dr. _Tyson_ thinks the Use of it is not to suspend the Bulk of the +Eye; but rather by its equal Contraction of the _Sclerotis_, to render +the Ball of the Eye more or less Spherical, and so fitter for Vision. +_Tyson’s Anat. of the Porpess_, p. 39. + +[t] _Musculus obliquus inferior oritur à peculiari quodam foramine in +latere Orbitæ ocularis facto, (contra quam in cæteris, ~&c.~) quo fit +ut ex unâ parte à Musculo trochleari, ex alterâ verò ab hujus Musculi +commodissimâ positione, Oculus in æquilibrio quodam constitutus, +irretorto obtutu versus objecta feratur, nec plus justo accedat versus +internum externumve canthum; quæ quidem Libratio omnino nulla fuisset, +absque hujus Musculi peculiari originatione (cujus ratio omnes hucusque +Anatomicos latuit)._ And so this curious Anatomist goes on to shew +farther the stupendous Artifice of the great Creator in this Position of +the _Oblique Muscles_. Brigg’s _Nova Vis. Theor._ p. 11. _meo libro_. + +[u] Besides those particular Motions which the Eye receives from the +_Oblique Muscles_, and I may add its Libration also in some Measure, some +Anatomists ascribe another no less considerable Use to them; namely, to +lengthen and shorten the Eye (by squeezing and compressing it) to make it +correspond to the Distances of all Objects, according as they are nigh +or far off. Thus the ingenious Dr. _Keil_; _The Aqueous Humour being the +thinnest and most liquid, easily changeth its Figure, when either the +~Ligamentum Ciliate~ contracts, or both the ~Oblique Muscles~ squeeze the +middle of the Ball of the Eye, to render it Oblong when Objects are too +near us._ _~Keil~’s Anat. Chap. 4. Sect. 4._ See _Note (y)._ + +[w] _Quis verò opifex præter Naturam, quâ nihil potest esse callidiùs, +tantam solertiam persequi potuisset in Sensibus? quæ primùm Oculos +membranis tenuissimis vestivit, & sepiit; quas primum perlucidas fecit, +ut per eas cerni posset: firmas aurem, ut continerentur._ Cic. de Nat. +Deor. l. 2. c. 57. + +[x] _Boyl_ of _Final Causes._ + +[y] It is easy to be observed, that the _Pupil_ openeth in dark Places; +as also when we look at far distant Objects, but contracts by an Increase +of Light, and when the Objects are nigh. This Motion of the _Pupil_ +some say, is effected by the circular and strait Fibres of the _Uvea_, +and some attribute it to the _Ligamentum Ciliare_. Yet I have no great +doubt but that they both concur in that Action, and that the _Ligamentum +Ciliare_ doth, at the same time the Pupil opens or shuts, dilate or +compress the _Crystalline_, and bring it nigher unto, or carry it farther +off the _Retina_. For the Structure of the _Ligamentum Ciliare_, and its +two Sorts of Fibres, drawn with the Help of a Microscope, I shall refer +to Mr. _Cowper’s Anat._ T. 11. + +[z] _In Bove, Caprâ, Equo, Ove, & quibusdam aliis elliptica est +~(Pupilla)~ ut eo magis in hisce forsan animalibus, quæ prono incessu +victum in agris quæritant, radios laterales ad mala & incommoda utrinque +devitanda admittat._ _~Briggs~’s Ophthal._ c. 7. §. 6. + +_Homini erecto, aliisque, ~&c.~ caput erigere, & quaquaversus +circumspicere solitis, plurima simul objecta, tum suprà, tum infrà, tum è +latere utroque——visu excipiuntur; quapropter Oculi Pupilla rotunda esse +debet.——Attamen bovi, ~&c.~ caput ferè semper pronum——gerentibus, tantùm +quæ coràm, & paulo à latere obversantur, intuitu opus est: quapropter +Pupilla——oblonga est, ~&c.~_ Willis _de Anim. Brut._ p. 1. c. 15. + +[aa] Thus _Cats_ (their Pupils being erect, and the shutting of their +Eye-lids transverse thereunto) can so close their Pupil, as to admit of, +as it were, one only single Ray of Light; and by throwing all open, they +can take in all the faintest Rays. Which is an incomparable Provision for +these Animals, that have occasion to watch and way-lay their Prey both by +Day and Night. + +[bb] There is besides this large opening of the Pupil, in some nocturnal +Animals, another admirable Provision, enabling them to catch their Prey +in the Dark; and that is a Radiation of the Eyes: Of which Dr. _Willis_ +thus; _Hujus usus est Oculi Pupillam, quasi jubare insito, illuminare, +ut res noctu, & in tenebris positas conspicere valeat: quare in Fele +plurimùm illustris est: at Homini, Avibus, & Piscibus deest._ This +Illumination he speaks of, is from the _Tapetum_, in the Bottom of the +Eye, or the shining of the _Retina_, round the optick Nerve. + +Besides which, he saith, the _Iris_ hath a Faculty also, in some, of +darting out Rays of Light, so as to enable them to see in the Dark: Of +which he tells this Story; _Novi quendam cerebro calidiori præditum, +qui post uberiorem vini generosi potum in nocte atratâ, sive tenebris +profundis, literas distincte legere potuit. Cujus ratio videtur esse, +quòd spiritus animales velut accensi, adeòque ab hâc Iride irradiantes, +jubare infito Medium illuminabant._ Willis Ibid. + +Such another Thing, _Pliny_ tells us, was reported of _Tiberius Cæsar_: +_Ferunt Tib. Cæs. nec alii genitorum mortalium, fuisse naturam, +ut expergefactus noctu paulisper, haud alio modo quam luce clarâ, +contueretur omnia._ Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37. + +So Dr. _Briggs_: _Virum sanè calidæ indolis novi in Comitatu Bedfordiensi +degentem, qui oculis felineis——donatus est: adeò ut epistolam——mirè +admodùm in loco obscuro (ubi eadem mihi vix apparuit) perlegit. Hujus +verò Oculi (nisi quod Pupillas insigniores obsinuere) ab aliorum +formatione neutiquam discrepabant._ Ophthal. c. 5. §. 12. + +[cc] The _Tunica Aranea_ is taken notice of by _Frier Bacon_, who +calls it, _Tela Aranea_, and saith, _in hâc continetur——glaciale vel +Crystallinum_. _~Rog. Bacon~’s Perspect. Distinct. 2. c. 3._ The +wrinkling of this, and the _Cornea_ (as the Skin is of old Persons) +he thinks is the Cause of the Obscurity of the Sight in such Persons. +_Bacon_ Ib. par. 2. cap. 2. But this _Tunick_ some deny, and others +allow of: Dr. _A. M._ of _Trinity-College, Dublin_, (in his _Relat. of +Anat. Obs._ in the Eyes of Animals, in a Letter to Mr. _Boyl_, _Ann. +1682._ annexed to his _Anat. Account of the Elephant burnt in ~Dublin~_, +p. 57.) affirms the _Tunica Aranea_, and saith, _I have often seen it +before ’twas exposed to the Air one Minute, notwithstanding what Dr. +~Briggs~ saith to the contrary, ~&c.~_ But Dr. _Briggs_ his Opinion is, +_Humor Crystallinus, nisi aeri diutiùs expositus, vel lenitèr coctus +(instar lactis) cuticulam non acquirit: quæ verò impropriè, Tunica Aranea +dicitur, cùm si tantùm adventitia, ut in Oculo Bovis recens execto +appareat._ _~Briggs~’s Ophthalm. c. 3._ + +The _Crystalline Humour_ being of a double Substance, outwardly like +a Gelly, towards the Center as consistent as hard Suet, upon occasion +whereof its Figure may be varied; which Variation may be made by the +_Ligamentum Ciliare_; Dr. _Grew_ doth, upon these Accounts, not doubt to +ascribe to the _Ligamentum Ciliare_, a Power of making the _Crystalline_ +more Convex, as well as of moving it to, or from the _Retina_. See +_Grew_’s _Cosmolog. Sacr._ l. 1. c. 4. Now it is certain by the Laws +of Opticks, that somewhat of this is absolutely necessary to distinct +Vision, inasmuch as the Rays proceeding from nigh Objects do more +diverge, and those from distant Objects less: Which requires either that +the _Crystalline Humour_ should be made more Convex, or more flat; or +else an Elongation, or shortning of the Eye, or of the Distance between +the _Crystalline Humour_ and the _Retina_. + +But although Dr. _Briggs_ (so good a Judge) denies the _Tunica +Crystallina_, contrary to the Opinion of most former Anatomists; yet +there is great Reason to conclude he was in a Mistake, in my Opinion, +from the Observations of the _French Anatomists_, of the _Crystalline_ of +the Eye, of the _Gemp_ or _Chamois_, who say, _The Membrana Arachnoïdes +was very thick, and hard, so that it was easily separated from the +Crystallinus_, p. 145. + +The same Anatomists also favour the Surmise of Dr. _Grew_, This +[Contraction of the Fibres of the _Ligamentum Ciliare_ on one side, +and Dilatation on the other] _would make us think that these Fibres of +the ~Ligamentum Ciliare~, are capable of Contraction, and voluntary +Dilatation, like that of the Fibres of the Muscles; and that this Action +may augment, or diminish the Convexity of the ~Crystallinus~, according +as the Need which the Distance of the Objects may make it to have on the +Eye, to see more clearly and distinctly._ Anat. Descrip. of a _Bear_, p. +49. + +Since my penning the foregoing Notes, having as critically as I could, +dissected many Eyes of Birds, Beasts and Fishes, I manifestly found the +_Membrana Arachnoïdes_, and will undertake to shew it any one, with +great Ease and Certainty. It is indeed so transparent, as not to be seen +distinct from the _Crystalline_. But if the _Cornea_ and _Uvea_ be taken +off before, or the _vitreous Humour_ behind it, and the out-side of the +_Crystalline_ be gently cut, the _Arachnoïdes_ may be seen to open, and +the _Crystalline_ will easily leap out, and part from the _Ligamentum +Ciliare_; which otherwise it would not do: For it is by the _Arachnoïdes_ +braced to the _Ligamentum Ciliare_. This Membrane or Tunick, in the Ox, +is so substantial and strong, though thin, that it yields to, or sinks +under the sharpest Lancet, and requires (for so thin and weak a Membrane +in appearance) a strong Pressure to pierce it. + +[dd] As Birds and Fishes are in divers Things conformable, so in some +sort they are in their Eye; to enable it to correspond to all the +Convergences, and Divergences of the Rays, which the Variations of each +of the Mediums may produce. For this Service the _Tunica Choroeides_, +(in Fishes) hath a musculous Substance at the Bottom of it, lying round +the optick Nerve, at a small Distance from it; by which Means I imagine +they are able to contract, and dilate the _Choroeides_, and thereby to +lengthen and shorten the Eye: For the helping in which Service, I imagine +it is that the _Choroeides_, and _Sclerotica_, are in a great Measure +parted, that the _Choroeides_ may have the greater Liberty of acting upon +the Humours within. + +But in Birds, I have my self found, that although the _Choroeides_ be +parted from the _Sclerotica_; yet the _Choroeides_ hath no Muscle, +but instead thereof, a curious pectinated Work, seated on the optick +Nerve, represented in _Fig. 2._ In which _c.a.e.b.d._ represents the +_Choroeides_ and _Sclerotica_: _a.b._ the Part of the _optick Nerve_, +that is within the Eye: _v.v.v._ the _vitreous Humour_: _a.f.g.b._ the +_Pecten_: _h.i._ the _Crystalline_. For the Reception of this _Pecten_, +the _optick Nerve_ comes farther within the Eye, than in other Creatures. +The Structure of this _Pecten_, is very like that of the _Ligamentum +Ciliare_; and in the Eye of a _Magpy_, and some others, I could perceive +it to be musculous towards the Bottom. This _Pecten_ is so firmly fixed +unto, or embodied in the _vitreous Humour_, that the _vitreous Humour_ +hangs firmly to it, and is not so easily parted from it. By which +Means all the Motions of the _Pecten_ are easily communicated to the +_vitreous Humour_, and indeed to all contained in the _Choroeides_. And +forasmuch as the _Crystalline_ is connected to the _vitreous Humour_, +therefore also the Alterations in the _vitreous Humour_ affect also the +_Crystalline_; and the _Crystalline_ is hereby brought nearer unto, or +farther from the _Retina_, as occasion is. Besides all which Observables +in the _Choroeides_, and inner Eye, I have also found this farther +remarkable in the _Sclerotica_, and outer-part of the Eye of Birds, +_viz._ That the fore-part of the _Sclerotica_ is horny and hard, the +middle-part thin and flexible, and _Braces_ intervene between the fore +and hind-part, running between the _Choroeides_ and _Sclerotica_; by +which Means the _Cornea_, and back-part of the Eye, are brought to the +same Conformity, that the rest of the Eye hath. + +The great End and Design of this singular and curious _Apparatus_ in +the Eyes, both of Birds and Fishes, I take to be, 1. To enable those +Creatures to see at all Distances, far off, or nigh; which (especially in +the Waters) requireth a different Conformation of the Eye. In Birds also, +this is of great Use, to enable them to see their Food at their Bill’s +End, or to reach the utmost Distances their high Flights enable them +to view; as to see over great Tracts of Sea or Land, whither they have +occasion to fly; or to see their Food or Prey, even small Fishes in the +Waters, and Birds, Worms, _&c._ on the Earth, when they sit upon Trees, +high Rocks, or are hovering high in the Air. 2. To enable those Animals +to adapt their Eye to all the various Refractions of their _Medium_. +Even the Air it self varies the Refractions, according as it is rarer +or denser, more or less compressed; as is manifest from the learned and +ingenious Mr. _Lowthorp_’s Experiment in _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 257. and some +other Experiments since of the before-commended Mr. _Hawksbee_, both in +natural, rarify’d and compressed Air; in each of which, the Refractions +constantly varied in exact Proportion to the Rarity or Density of the +Air. _Vid._ _Hawksbee_’s _Exp._ pag. 175, _&c._ + +Besides this Conformity in general, between the Eyes of Birds and Fishes, +_Du Hamel_ tells us of a singular Conformity in the _Cormorant_’s Eye, +and that is, that the _Crystalline_ is globous, as in Fishes, to enable +it to see and pursue its Prey under Water: Which _J. Faber_, in Mr. +_Willoughby_ saith, they do _with wonderful Swiftness, and for a long +Time_. Will. Ornithol. p. 329. + +[ee] The _Crystalline Humour_, when dry’d, doth manifestly enough appear +to be made up of many very thin spherical _Laminæ_, or Scales lying one +upon another. Mr. _Lewenhock_ reckons there may be 2000 of them in one +_Crystalline_, from the outermost to the Center. Every one of these +Scales, he saith, he hath discovered to be made up of one single Fibre, +or finest Thread wound, in a most stupendous Manner, this way, and that +way, so as to run several Courses, and meet in as many Centers, and yet +not to interfere, or cross one another, in any one Place. In _Oxen_, +_Sheep_, _Hogs_, _Dogs_ and _Cats_, the Thread spreads into three several +Courses, and makes as many Centers: In _Whales_ five; but in _Hares_ and +_Rabbets_ only two. In the whole Surface of an _Ox_’s _Crystalline_, he +reckons there are more than 12000 Fibres juxtaposited. For the right and +clear Understanding of the Manner of which admirable Piece of Mechanism, +I shall refer to his Cuts and Descriptions in _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 165. +and 293. The Truth hereof I have heard some ingenious Men question; but +it is what I my self have seen, and can shew to any Body, with the Help +of a good Microscope. + +[ff] _S. Malpighi_ observed the Middle of the _optick Nerve_ of the +_Sword-Fish_, to be nothing else but a large Membrane, folded according +to its Length in many Doubles, almost like a Fan, and invested by the +_Dura mater_; whereas in Land-Animals it is a Bundle of Fibres. _V._ +_Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 27. + +[gg] _Certissimum est, quòd in omnibus Oculis humanis (quos saltem mihi +dissecare contigit) Nervus opticus Pupillæ è diametro apponitur, ~&c.~ +Briggs_’s Ophthal. c. 3. §. 15. Ita _Willis de Anim. Brut._ p. 1. c. 15. + +_Nervi Optici in nobis, item in Cane, Fele (& in cateris forsan +animalibus calidis) ad fundum Oculi delati Pupilla regioni prospiciunt, +dum interim in aliis Quadrupedibus, uti etiam in Piscibus & Volueribus, +obliquè semper Tunica Sclerotidi inseruntur. Unde, ~&c.~_ _Willis Ib._ c. +7. §. 11. + +[hh] _This Pair is united at its Rise; whence is commonly drawn a Reason +why one Eye being mov’d towards an Object, the other is directed also to +the same._ Gibson’s Anat. _Book III. Chap. 11._ So _Bartholine Anat._ +Libellus 3. c. 2. + +[ii] Among all the other Security the Eye hath, we may reckon the +Reparation of the _aqueous Humour_; by which Means the Eye when +wounded, and that in all Appearance very dangerously too, doth often +recover its Sight: Of which _Bern. Verzascha_ gives divers Examples +ancient and modern. One is from _Galen_, of a Boy so wounded, that the +_Cornea_ fell, and became flaccid, but yet recovered his Sight. Other +such like Instances also he gives from _Realdus Columbus_, _Rhodius_, +and _Tulpius_; and one that he cured himself in these Words, _Ego in +Nobilissimi viri filiolâ similem casum observavi: hæc dum levibus +de causis cum fratre altercaret, iste iracundiâ percitus cultellum +Scriptorium apprehendit, & sororis oculo vulnus infligit, inde humor +aqueus effluxit. Vocatus præsentem Chirurgum jussi sequens collyrium +anodynum & exsiccans tepidè sæpiùs admovere. ~℞~ aq. Plantag. ~℥iv.~ +Rosar. Sanicul. Euphras. ~ana~ Trochisc. alb. Rhaf. cum Opio ~℈ii.~ +Tutiæ pp. ~℈i.~ Croci orient. ~℈ss. M.~ Hoc Collyrium inflammationem +compescuit, vulnus siccavit & sanavit. Hinc post aliquot menses Humor +aqueus succrevit. Nam visus, sed dibilior, cum summo parentum gaudio +redivit._ B. Verzaschæ Observ. Medicæ. Obs. 14. + +Another Cure of this kind, was experimented by Dr. _Daniel Major_, upon a +Goose, Ann. 1670, the _aqueous Humour_ of both whose Eyes they let out, +so that the Eyes fell, and the _Goose_ became quite blind: But without +the Use of any Medicine, in about two Days Time, Nature repaired the +watery Humour again, the Eyes returned to their Former Turgency, and the +_Goose_ was in a Week after produced seeing before twenty eight or thirty +Spectators. _Ephem. Germ._ T. 1. Add. ad. Obs. 117. + +From the same Cause, I doubt not, it was that the Eye of a Gentleman’s +Daughter, and those of a Cock, when wounded, so that the _Cornea_ sunk, +were restored by a _Lithuanian_ Chymist, that passed for a Conjurer, by +the Use of a Liquor found in _May_, in the Vesiculæ of _Elm_. Of which +see Mr. _Ray’s Catal. Cantab._ in _Ulmus_ from _Henr. ab Heers_. + +[kk] _Palpebræ, quæ sunt tegumenta Oculorum, mollissimæ tactu, nè +lederent aciem, aptissimæ factæ, & ad claudendas Pupillas, nè quid +incideret, & ad aperiendas; idque providit, ut identidem fieri posset cum +maximâ celeritate. Munitæque sunt Palpebræ tanquàm vallo pilorum: quibus +& apertis Oculis, si quid incideret, repelleretur, & somno conniventibus, +cùm Oculis ad cernendum non egerimus, ut qui, tanquàm involuti, +quièscerent. Latent prætereà utiliter, & excelsis undique partibus +sepiuntur. Primùm enim superiora Superciliis obducta sudorem à capitæ, +& fronte destuentem repellunt. Genæ deinde ab inferiore parte tutantur +subjectæ, leviterque eminentes._ Cicer. de Nat. Deor. L. 2. c. 57. + +_Tully_, in the Person of a _Stoick_, having so well accounted for +the Use of the _Eye-Lids_, I shall for a further Manifestation of the +Creator’s Contrivance and Structure of them, take notice of two or three +Things: 1. They consist of a thin and flexible, but strong Skin, by which +means they the better wipe, clean, and guard the _Cornea_. 2. Their Edges +are fortified with a soft _Cartilage_, by which means they are not only +enabled the better to do their Office, but also to close and shut the +better. 3. Out of these Cartilages grow a Pallisade of stiff Hairs, of +great Use to warn the Eye of the Invasion of Dangers, to keep off Motes, +and to shut out too excessive Light, _&c._ and at the same time to admit +of (through their Intervals) a sufficient Passage for Objects to approach +the Eye. And it is remarkable, that these Hairs grow but to a certain, +commodious Length, and need no cutting, as many other Hairs of the Body +do: Also, that their Points stand out of the way, and in the upper-lid +bend upwards, as they do downwards in the lower lid, whereby they are +well adapted to their Use. From which last Observables, we may learn how +critical and nice the great Author of Nature hath been, in even the least +and most trivial Conveniencies belonging to Animal Bodies; for which +Reason I have added it to _Tully_’s Remarks. And more might have been +added too, as particularly concerning the curious Structure and Lodgment +of the _Right Muscle_, which opens the Eye-Lids; and the _Orbicularis_, +or _Circular_ one, that shuts them; the nice _Apparatus_ of Glands that +keep the Eye moist, and serve for _Tears_; together with the Reason why +Man alone, who is a social Animal, doth exhibit his social Affections +by such outward Tokens as _Tears_; the _Nerves_ also, and other Organs +acting in this Ministry. I might also speak of the Passages for +discharging the superfluous Moisture of the Eyes through the Nostrils, +and much more of the like kind. But it would take up too much Room in +these Notes; and therefore it shall suffice to give only such Hints as +may create a Suspicion of a noble Œconomy and Contrivance in this (I had +almost said) least considerable part of the Eye. But for Particulars I +shall refer to the Anatomists; and for some of these Things, particularly +to Dr. _Willis_’s _Cereb. Anat._ and _de Anim. Brut._ and Mr. _Cowper_’s +Elegant Cuts in the 11ᵗʰ _Tab._ of his _Anatomy_. + +To the Eye-Lids we may add another Guard afforded the Eyes of most +Quadrupeds, Birds, and Fishes, by the _nictitating Membrane_, which Dr. +_Willis_ gives this Account of, _Plurimis ~[Animalibus]~ quibus Musculus +suspensorius adest_ (which Limitation he needed not to have added) +_etiam alter Membranosus conceditur, qui juxta interiorem oculi canthum +situs, quando elevatur, Oculi globum ferè totum obtegit. Hujus usus esse +videtur, ut cùm Bestiæ inter gramina, ~&c.~ capita sua propter victum +capessendum demergunt, hic Musculus Oculi Pupillam, nè à stipularum +incursu seriatur, oculit, munitque._ De Anim. Brut. p. 1. c. 15. + +This Membrane Man hath not, he having little Occasion to thrust his +Head into such Places of Annoyance, as Beasts and other Animals; or if +he hath, he can defend his Eyes with his Hands. But Birds (who frequent +Trees and Bushes) and Quadrupeds, (Hedges and long Grass) and who have no +part ready, like the Hand, to fence off Annoyances; these, I say, have +this incomparable Provision made for the Safety of their Eyes. And for +Fishes, as they are destitute of Eye-Lids, because in the Waters there is +no occasion for a Defensative against Dust and Motes, offensive to the +Eyes of Land Animals, nor to moisten and wipe the Eyes, as the Eye-Lids +do, so the _Nictitating-Membrane_ is an abundant Provision for all their +Occasions, without the Addition of the Eye-Lids. + +And now, if we reflect, are these the Works of any Thing but a wise and +indulgent Agent? + +[ll] Although the Hardness and Firmness of the _Adnata_, or _Sclerotica_ +in Birds, is a good Guard to their Eyes, yet I do not think it is made +thus, so much for a Defence, as to minister to the lengthning and +shortning the Eye, mentioned before in _Note (cc)._ + +[mm] _Cochleis oculorum vicem Cornicula bina pratentu implent._ Plin. +Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37. See more of the Eyes of _Snails_ before in _Note +(k)_; and in _Note (l)_, I said that I suspected _Moles_ also might +thrust out, or withdraw their Eyes more or less within the Hair or Skin. + +[nn] The diligent _Sturmius_ was fully persuaded there could not be any +speculative Atheism in any one that should well survey the Eye. _Nobis_, +saith he, _fuit persuasissimum. Atheismum, quem vocant speculativum, h. +e. obsirmatam de Deitate in Universo nullâ persuasionem, habere locum +aut inveniri non posse in eo homine, qui vel unius corporis organici, & +speciatim Oculi fabricam attento animo aspexerit._ Sturm. Exerc. Acad. 9. +De Vis. Organ. & Rat. in Epilogo. + +[oo] The glorious Landskips, and other Objects that present themselves +to the Eye, are manifestly painted on the _Retina_, and that not erect, +but inverted as the Laws of Opticks require; and is manifest to the Eye +from _Monsieur Cartes_’s Experiment, of laying bare the vitreous Humour +on the back part of the Eye, and clapping over it a Bit of white Paper, +or the Skin of an Egg; and then placing the fore-part of the Eye to the +Hole of the Window of a darkned Room. By which means we have a pretty +Landskip of the Objects abroad invertedly painted on the Paper, on the +back of the Eye. But now the Question is, How in this Case the Eye comes +to see the Objects erect? _Monsieur Cartes_’s Answer is, _Notitia illius +ex nullâ imagine pendet, nec ex ullâ actione ab objectis veniente, sed ex +solo situ exiguarum partium cerebri, è quibus Nervi expullulant.——E.g. +cogitandum in Oculo——situm capillamenti nervi optici——respondere ad +alium quendam partis cerebri——qui facit ut Anima singula loca cognoscat, +quæ jacent in rectâ, aut quasi rectâ lineæ; ut ita mirari non debeamus +corpora in naturali situ videri, quamvis imago in oculo delineata +contrarium habeat._ Dioptr. c. 6. But our most ingenious Mr. _Molyneux_ +answereth thus, _The Eye is only the Organ or Instrument, ’tis the Soul +that sees by means of the Eye. To enquire then how the Soul perceives +the Object erect, by an inverted Image, is to enquire into the Soul’s +Faculties——But erect and inverted are only Terms of Relation to up and +down; or farther from, or nigher to the Center of the Earth, in Parts +of the same Thing.——But the Eye, or visive Faculty takes no notice of +the internal Posture of its own Parts, but useth them as an Instrument +only, contrived by Nature for the Exercise of such a Faculty.——Let us +imagine, that the Eye ~(on its lower Part)~ receives an Impulse ~[by a +Ray from the upper part of the Object]~ must not the visive Faculty be +necessarily directed hereby to consider this Stroke, as coming from the +top rather than the bottom ~[of the Object]~ and consequently be directed +to conclude it the Representation of the top? Hereof we may be satisfied, +by supposing a Man standing on his Head. For here, though the upper Parts +of Objects are painted on the upper Parts of the Eye, yet the Objects are +judged to be erect. What is said of Erect and Reverse, may be understood +of Sinister and Dexter._ Molyneux’s Dioptr. Nov. Part I. Prop. 28. + + + + +CHAP. III. + +_Of the Sense of Hearing._ + + +Concerning the Sense of _Hearing_, I shall take notice of two Things, the +Organ, the _Ear_; and its Object, _Sound_. + +I. For the Organ, the _Ear_; I shall pass by its convenient Number of +being double, which (as in the last Sense) serves for the commodious +Hearing every way round us; as also a wise Provision for the utter Loss +or Injury[a] of one of the Ears. But I shall a little insist upon its +Situation, and its admirable Fabrick and Parts. + +1. It is situated in the most convenient Part of the Body, (like as I +said the Eye is) in a Part near the common Sensory in the Brain, to give +the more speedy Information; in a Part where it can be best guarded, and +where it is most free from Annoyances and Harms it self, and where it +gives the least Annoyance and Hindrance to the Exercises of any other +Part; in a Part appropriated to the peculiar Use of the principal Senses, +in the most lofty, eminent Part of the Body, where it can perceive the +most Objects, and receive the greatest Information: And lastly, in a +Part in the Neighbourhood of its Sister Sense the Eye, with whom it +hath peculiar and admirable Communication by its Nerves, as I intend to +shew in its proper Place. In respect then of its Situation and Place in +the Body, this Sense is well designed and contrived, and may so far be +accounted the Work of some admirable Artist. But, + +2. If we survey its Fabrick and Parts, it will appear to be an admirable +Piece of the Divine Wisdom, Art, and Power. For the Manifestation of +which, let us distinctly survey the outward and the inward Part of its +curious Organ. + +1. For the _outward Ear_: If we observe its Structure in all Kinds of +Animals, it must needs be acknowledged to be admirably Artificial, +it being so nicely prepared, and adjusted to the peculiar Occasions +of each respective Animal. In Man[b], it is of a Form proper for the +erect Posture of his Body. In Birds, of a Form proper for Flight; not +protuberant, because that would obstruct their Progress, but close and +covered, to afford the easier Passage through the Air. In Quadrupeds, +its Form is agreeable to the Posture, and slower Motion of their Bodies; +and in these too, various, according to their various Occasions. In some +large, erect, and open, to hear the least Approaches of Dangers[c], +in others covered, to keep out noxious Bodies. In the Subterraneous +Quadrupeds, who are forced to mine, and dig for their Food and +Habitation, as a protuberant Ear, like that of other Quadrupeds, would +obstruct their Labours, and be apt to be torn and injured; so they have +the contrary[d], their Ears short, lodged deep and backward in their +Head, and passing to the under Part thereof, and all sufficiently fenced +and guarded. And as for Insects, Reptiles, and the Inhabitants of the +Waters, if they enjoy this Sense, (as there is great Reason to think they +do,) it may probably be lodged commodiously under the same Security and +Guard, as the Smelling, or some other Sense is. + +And moreover, as the Form of this Organ is various in various Animals, +so in each of them its Structure is very curious and observable, being +in all admirably contrived to collect the wandering, circumambient +Impressions, and Undulations of Sound, and to convey them to the Sensory +within. If I should run over the several _Genera_ of Animals, we might +find a notable Prospect of the handy-work of God[e], even in this so +inconsiderable Part of Animals. But I shall only carry my Survey to that +of Man. And here the first Thing that offereth it self to our View, is +the _Helix_, with its tortuous Cavities, made to stop, and collect the +sonorous Undulations, to give them a gentle Circulation and Refraction, +and so convey them to the _Concha_, or larger and more capacious round +Cell at the Entrance of the Ear. And to bridle the Evagation of the +Sound, when arrived so far, but withal not to make a Confusion thereof, +by any disagreeable Repercussions, we may take notice of a very curious +Provision in those little Protuberances, called the _Tragus_, and +_Antitragus_ of the outward Ear, of a commodious Form and Texture[f], and +conveniently lodged for this Use. The great Convenience and Benefit of +this Form and Contrivance of the outward Ear, is sufficiently manifest +by the want thereof, which causeth a _Confusion in the Hearing, with a +certain Murmur, or Swooing like the Fall of Waters_[g]. + +Another wise Provision of the Creator, is in the Substance of the outward +Ear, which is cartilaginous, the fittest for this Place. For (as an +ingenious Anatomist[h] observes) “If it had been Bone, it would have been +troublesome, and might by many Accidents have been broken off: If Flesh, +it would have been subject to Contusion”. But indeed a worse Consequence +than this would have ensu’d such a Softness as that of Flesh, and that +is, it would neither have remain’d expanded, neither would it so kindly +receive and circulate the Sounds, but absorb, retard, or blunt their +Progress into the inward Organ. But being hard, and curiously smooth and +tortuous, Sounds find an easie Passage, with a regular Volutation and +Refraction: As in a well-built Arch, Grotto, or musical Instrument, which +magnify and meliorate Sounds; and some of which convey even a Whisper to +a large Distance[i]: But from the outward, let us carry our Survey, + +2. To the inward Part of this admirable Organ. And here we find the +most curious and artful Provision for every Emergency and Occasion. The +_auditory Passage_, in the first Place, curiously tunnelled, and artfully +turned, to give Sounds an easie Passage, as well as a gentle Circulation +and Refraction; but withal, so as to prevent their too furious rushing +in, and assaulting the more tender Parts within. + +And forasmuch as it is necessary that this Passage should be always +open, to be upon the Watch[k]; therefore to prevent the Invasion of +noxious Insects, or other Animals, (who are apt to make their retreat in +every little Hole), Nature hath secured this Passage[l], with a bitter +nauseous Excrement[m], afforded from the Glands[n] appointed for that +Purpose. + +From hence let us approach the most inward Parts, in which we shall see +Strokes of the most exquisite Art. To pass over the _innate Air_, that +most Authors talk of[o], (because there is no such) the passage to the +Palate[p], and their Uses, with divers other curious Things that might +be named; let us stop a little at the Part containing the rest, namely, +the Bone[q]. The particular Texture and Hardness of which, above other +Bones of the Body, is very remarkable; whereby it serves not only as a +substantial Guard to the Sensory, but also to oppose the Impulses of the +ætherial Matter, that there may be no loss, nor Confusion in the Sound; +but that it may be conveyed regularly, and intirely to the auditory +Nerves. + +The next Part I shall take Notice of, may be that fine Membrane, called +the _Tympanum_, or _Membrana Tympani_[r], with its inner Membrane[s]; +together with the four little appendent Bones[t], and the three inner +Muscles to move them, and adjust the whole _Compages_ to the several +Purposes of Hearing, to hear all Manner of Sounds, loud or languid, +harsh or grateful[u]. + +From this Region of the _Tympanum_, I might pass to that of the +_Labyrinth_[w], and therein survey the curious and admirable Structure +of the _Vestibulum_, the _Semicircular Canals_[x], and _Cochlea_; +particularly the artificial Gyrations, and other singular Curiosities +observable in the two latter. + +But I shall not expatiate on these recluse Parts; only there is one +special Contrivance of the Nerves, ministring to this Sense of Hearing, +which must not be passed by; and that is, the Branches of one of the +_auditory Nerves_[y], spread partly to the Muscles of the Ear, partly to +the Eye, partly to the Tongue and Instruments of Speech, and inosculated +with the Nerves to go to the Heart and Breast. By which Means there is an +admirable, and useful Content between these Parts of the Body; it being +natural for most Animals, upon the Hearing any uncouth Sound, to erect +their Ears, and prepare them to catch every Sound; to open their Eyes +(those constant faithful Sentinels) to stand upon their Watch; and to +be ready with the Mouth to call out, or utter what the present Occasion +shall dictate. And accordingly it is very usual for most Animals, when +surpriz’d, and terrify’d with any Noise, presently to shriek and cry out. + +But there is besides this, in Man, another great Use of this nervous +Commerce between the Ear and Mouth: And that is, (as one of the best +Authors on this Subject expresseth it)[z], “That the Voice may correspond +with the Hearing, and be a kind of Echo thereof, that what is _heard_ +with _one_ of the two Nerves, may be readily expressed with the Voice, by +the help of the _other_.” + +Thus much shall suffice to have spoken concerning the Organ. Let us, + +II. Take Notice of the _Object_ of this admirable Sense, namely, _Sound_; +and so conclude this Chapter. I shall not here enquire into the Nature +and Properties of _Sound_, which is in a great Measure intricate, and +hath puzzelled the best Naturalists: Neither shall I shew how this +admirable Effect of the divine Contrivance, may be improv’d to divers +Uses[aa] and Purposes in humane Life; but my Business will be to shew +that this Thing, of so admirable Use in the animal World, is the Work of +God. And this will appear, let the subject Matter of Sounds be what it +will; either the Atmosphere[bb] in Gross, or the ætherial Part thereof, +or soniferous Particles of Bodies, as some fancy, or whatever else the +Philosopher may think it. For who but an intelligent Being, what less +than an omnipotent and infinitely wise God could contrive, and make +such a fine Body, such a Medium, so susceptible of every Impression, +that the Sense of Hearing hath occasion for, to empower all Animals to +express their Sense and Meaning to others; to make known their Fears, +their Wants, their Pains and Sorrows in melancholick Tones; their Joys +and Pleasures in more harmonious Notes; to send their Minds at great +Distances[cc], in a short Time[dd], in loud Boations; or to express their +Thoughts near at hand with a gentle Voice, or in secret Whispers! And to +say no more, who less than the same most wise and indulgent Creator, +could form such an Oeconomy, as that of Melody and Musick is! That the +_Medium_ should (as I said) so readily receive every Impression of +Sound, and convey the melodious Vibration of every musical String, the +harmonious Pulses of every animal Voice, and of every musical Pipe; and +the Ear be as well adapted, and ready to receive all these Impressions, +as the _Medium_ to convey them: And lastly, that by Means of the curious +Lodgment, and Inosculations of the _auditory Nerves_ before-mentioned, +the Orgasms of the Spirits should be allay’d, and Perturbations of the +Mind, in a great Measure quieted and stilled[ee]: Or to express it in +the Words of the last-cited famous Author[ff], “That Musick should not +only affect the Fancy with Delight; but also give Relief to the Grief and +Sadness of the Heart; yea, appease all those turbulent Passions, which +are excited in the Breast by an immoderate Ferment, and Fluctuation of +the Blood”. + +And now, who can reflect upon all this curious Apparatus of the _Sense of +Hearing_, and not give the great Creator his due Praise! Who can survey +all this admirable Work, and not as readily own it to be the Work of an +omnipotent, and infinitely wise and good _GOD_[gg], as the most artful +Melodies we hear, are the Voice or Performances of a living Creature! + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] I presume it will not be ungrateful to take notice here of the +admirable, as well as useful Sagacity of some deaf Persons, that have +learnt to supply their want of _Hearing_ by understanding what is said +by the Motion of the Lips. My very ingenious Friend Mr. _Waller_, _R. S. +Secr._ gives this Account, _There live now and have from their Birth, +in our Town, a Man and his Sister, each about fifty Years old, neither +of which have the least Sense of Hearing,——yet both of these know, by +the Motion of the Lips only, whatever is said to them, and will answer +pertinently to the Question proposed to them——The Mother told me they +could hear very well, and speak when they were Children, but both lost +that Sense afterwards, which makes them retain their Speech; though +that, to Persons not used to them, is a little uncouth and odd, but +intelligible enough._ Phil. Trans. No. 312. + +Such another Instance is that of Mr. _Goddy_, Minister of St. _Gervais_ +in _Geneva_, his Daughter. _She is now about sixteen Years old. Her Nurse +had an extraordinary Thickness of Hearing; at a Year old, the Child spake +all those little Words that Children begin to speak at that Age.——At two +Years old, they perceived she had lost her Hearing, and was so Deaf, that +ever since, though she hears great Noises, yet she hears nothing that one +can speak to her.——But by observing the Motions of the Mouth and Lips +of others, she hath acquired so many Words, that out of these she hath +formed a sort of Jargon, in which she can hold Conversation whole Days +with those that can speak her own Language. I could understand some of +her Words, but could not comprehend a Period, for it seemed to be but a +confused Noise. She knows nothing that is said to her, unless she seeth +the Motion of their Mouths that speak to her; so that in the Night, when +it is necessary to speak to her, they must light a Candle. Only one thing +appeared the strangest part of the whole Narration: She hath a Sister, +with whom she hath practised her Language more than with any other: And +in the Night, by laying her Hand on her Sister’s Mouth, she can perceive +by that what she saith, and so can discourse with her in the Night._ +Bishop _Burnet_’s Let. 4. p. 248. + +[b] I cannot but admire that our most eminent modern Anatomists should +not agree, whether there be any Muscles in the outward Ear of Man or +not. Dr. _Keil_ saith there are two; Dr. _Drake_ the same Number; and +Dr. _Gibson_ makes them to be four. So also doth _Monsieur Dionis_, and +so did the ancient Anatomists: But Dr. _Schelhammer_ expressly denies +there are any, and saith, _Seduxit autem reliquos Brutorum Anatome, +in quorum plerisque tales Musculi plures inveniuntur; putârunt autem +fortassis ignominiosum Homini, si non & his instructus esset, & minùs +inde perfectum animal fore._ Schel. de Auditu p. 1. c. 1. §. 7. But +_Valsalva_, who wrote very lately, and is very accurate in his Survey +of the Ear, saith, _Musculi auriculæ posteriores quandoque quatuor, +quandoque duo; sed ut plurimùm tres adnotantur; & quando solùm duo se +manifestant, tunc unus ex illis duplicato tendine versùs Concham deferri +solet. Horum musculorum in numero varietatem non solùm in diversis; verùm +etiam in eodem subjecto quandoque vidi——Ex quibus differentiis subortæ +sunt Auctorum discrepantiæ in horum Musculorum numero, & positu:——quod +non evenisset, si pluries in diversis Corporibus iidem Musculi quæsiti +essent._ Ant. Mar. _Valsalva de Aur. Human._ c. 1. §. 6. But Dr. _Drake_ +thinks some of _Valsalva_’s Muscles the Product of Fancy. Mr. _Cowper_ +makes them to be three, one _Attollent_, and two _Retrabent Muscles_. See +_Anat._ Tab. 12. + +[c] _Inter cætera ~[animalia aurita]~ maximè admirabilis est auris +leporinæ fabrica, quod cùm timidissimum animal sit, & prorsus inerme, +natura id tum auditu acurissimo, tanquam hostium exploratore ad +perfentienda pericula, tum pedibus ceu armis ad currendum aptis munisse +videtur._ A. Kircher’s _Phonurg._ l. 1. §. 7. Technas. 2. + +[d] _Moles_ have no protuberant Ear, but only a round Hole between the +Neck and Shoulder; which Situation of it, together with the thick, +short Fur that covers it, is a sufficient Defensative against external +Annoyances. The _Meatus Auditorius_ is long, round and cartilaginous, +reaching to the under part of the Skull. Round the inside runs a little +Ridge, resembling two Threads of a Skrew; at the Bottom whereof is a +pretty Inlet, leading to the Drum, made, on one side with the aforesaid +cochleous Ridge, and on the other, with a small Cartilage. I observed +there was _Cerumen_ in the _Meatus_. + +As to the _inner Ear_, it is somewhat singular, and different from that +of the other Quadrupeds, and much more from Birds, although I have met +with some Authors that make it agreeing with that of Birds. There are +three small Bones only (all hollow) by which the _Drum_ (to use the +old Appellation) or the _Membrana Tympani_ (as others call it) acteth +upon the _Auditory Nerve_. The first is the _Malleus_, which hath two +Processes nearly of equal Length; the longer of which is braced to +the _Membrana Tympani_, the shorter to the side of the _Drum_ or _Os +Petrosum_; the back part of it resembles the Head and Stalk of a small +_Mushroom_, such as are pickled. On the back of the _Malleus_ lies the +next small Bone, which may be called the _Incus_, long, and without any +Process, having somewhat the Form of the short Scoop wherewith Water-men +throw the Water out of their Wherries. To the end of this the third and +last small Bone is tacked by a very tender Brace. This little Bone bears +the Office of the _Stapes_, but is only forked without any Base. One of +these Forks is at one _Fenestra_, or _Foramen_, the other at another; in +which _Fenestra_ I apprehend the Forks are tacked to the Auditory Nerve. +These _Fenestra_ (equivalent to the _Fenestra Ovalis_, and _Rotunda_ in +others) are the Inlets into the _Cochlea_ and _Canales Semicirculares_, +in which the _Auditory Nerve_ lieth. The _Semicircular Canales_ lie at a +distance from the _Drum_, and are not lodged (as in other Animals) in a +strong, thick Body of Bone, but are thrust out, within the Skull, making +an _Antrum_, with an handsome _Arch_ leading into it, into which a part +of the Brain enters. + +One Leg of the _Malleus_ being fastned to the _Membrana Tympani_, and the +_Incus_ to the back of the _Malleus_, and the top of that to the top of +the _Stapes_, and the Forks or Branches of the _Stapes_ to the _Auditory +Nerve_, I observed that whenever I moved the Membrane, all the little +Bones were at the same time moved, and consequently the _Auditory Nerve_ +thereby affected also. + +I hope the Reader will excuse me for being so particular in this Organ +only of the _Mole_, a despised Creature, but as notable an Example of +_God_’s Work, as its Life is different from that of other Quadrupeds; for +which Reason it partly is that I have enlarged on this part differing +from that of others, and which no Body that I know of, hath taken much +notice of, and which is not discoverable without great Patience and +Application; and partly because by comparing these Observations with +_Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (d)_, we may judge how the Sense of Hearing is +performed. + +[e] _Among many Varieties, both in the inner and outer Ear, those which +appear in the Passage into the Rock-Bone, are remarkable. For in an ~Owl~, +that perches on a Tree or Beam, and hearkens after the Prey beneath +her, it is produced farther out above than it is below, for the better +Reception of the least Sound. But in a Fox, that scouteth underneath the +Prey at Roost; it is for the same Reason, produced farther out below. In +a ~Pole-Cat~, which hearkens strait forward, it is produced behind, for +the taking of a forward Sound. Whereas in a ~Hare~, which is very quick +of Hearing, and thinks of nothing but being pursued, it is supplied with +a bony Tube, which as a natural Otocoustick, is so directed backward, as +to receive the smallest and most distant Sound that comes behind her._ +Grew’s Cosmolog. Sacr. _lib. 1. c. 5. §. 6_. + +[f] The Texture of the _Tragus_ and _Antitragus_, is softer than that of +the _Helix_, which serveth gently to blunt, not forcibly to repel the +Sound in the _Concha_. + +[g] Dr. _Gibson_’s Anatomy, _Chap. 22. Book III_. + +_Those whose Ears are cut off, have but a confused way of Hearing, and +are obliged either to form a Cavity round the Ear with their own Hands, +or else to make use of a Horn, and apply the end of it to the inner +Cavity of the Ear, on order to receive the agitated Air. ’Tis likewise +observed, that those whose Ears jut out, hear better than flat-eared +Persons_. Monsieur Dionis’s _Anat. Demonstr. 8_. + +[h] _Gibs._ Ibid. + +[i] It would nauseate the Reader to reckon up the Places famed for the +Conveyance of Whispers, such as the Prison of _Dionysius_ at _Syracuse_, +which is said to encrease a Whisper to a Noise; the clapping ones Hands +to the Sound of a Cannon, &c. Nor the _Aquaducts_ of _Claudius_, which +carry a Voice sixteen Miles, and many others both Ancient and Modern. If +the Reader hath a mind to be entertained in this way, he may find enough +in _Kircher_’s _Phonurgia_. But it may not be irksome to mention one or +two of our own in _England_. Among which, one of the most famed is the +_Whispering-Place_ in _Gloucester Cathedral_, which is no other than a +Gallery above the East-end of the Choir, leading from one side thereof +to the other. It consisteth, (if I mistake not) of five Angles, and six +Sides, the middle-most of which is a naked, uncovered Window, looking +into a Chapel behind it. I guess the two Whisperers stand at about twenty +five Yards Distance from one another. But the _Dome_ of St. _Paul_’s, +_London_, is a more considerable _Whispering-Place_, where the ticking +of a Watch (when no Noise is in the Streets) may be heard from Side to +Side; yea, a Whisper may be sent all round the _Dome_. And not only in +the Gallery below, but above, upon the Scaffold, I tried, and found that +a Whisper would be carried over one’s Head round the top of the Arch, +notwithstanding there is a large Opening in the middle of it into the +upper part of the _Dome_. + +[k] _Auditus autem semper patet: ejus enim sensu etiam dormientes egemus: +A quo cùm sonus est acceptus, etiam è somno excitamur. Flexuosum iter +habet, nè quid intrare possit, si simplex, & directum pateret; provisum +etiam, ut siqua minima bestiola conaretur irrumpere, in sordibus aurium, +tanquàm in visco, inhæresceret._ Cicer. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 57. + +It deserves a particular Remark here, that in Infants in the Womb, and +newly born, the _Meatus Auditorius_ is shut up very closely, partly by +the Constriction of the Passage, and partly by a glutinous Substance, +whereby the _Tympanum_ is guarded against the Water in the _Secundine_, +and against the Injuries of the Air as soon as the Infant is born. + +[l] It is remarkable, that in most, if not all Animals, whose Ears are +tunnelled, or where the _Meatus Auditorius_ is long enough to afford +Harbour to _Ear-wigs_, or other Insects; that, I say, in the Ears of +such, _Ear-wax_ is constantly to be found. But in Birds, whose Ears are +covered with Feathers, and where the _Tympanum_ lies but a little way +within the Skull, no _Ear-wax_ is found, because none is necessary to the +Ears so well guarded, and so little tunnelled. + +[m] The _Ear-wax_ was thought by the old Anatomists to be an Excrement of +the Brain: _Humor biliosus à cerebro expugnatus_, the _Bartholines_ say +of it, l. 3. _c. 9._ But as _Schelhammer_ well observes, _Nil absurdius, +quàm cerebri excrementum hoc statuere. Nam & ratio nulla suadet, ut in +cerebro fieri excrementum tale credamus:——neque viæ patent per quas ab eo +seclusum in meatum auditorium possit inde penetrare._ As to its Taste, +_Casserius_ gives Instances of its being sweet in some Creatures. But +_Schelhammer_ says, _Ego verò semper, cum amaritie aliquid dulcedinis in +illo deprehendi_. Vid. Schel. de Audit. _p. 1. c. 2. §. 10_. But I could +never distinguish any Sweetness in it; but think it insipid mixed with a +Bitterness. + +[n] _Cerumina amara Arteriolis exudantia._ Willis de Anim. Brut. _par. +1. c. 14_. _In the Skin——are little Glands, which furnish a yellow and +bitter Humour._ Monsieur Dionis’s Dem. 18. An handsome Cut of those +_Glandulæ ceruminosæ_ is in Dr. _Drake_, from _Valsalva_. + +_Pliny_ attributes a great Virtue to the _Ear-wax_; _Morsus hominis inter +asperrimos numeratur: medentur sordes ex auribus: ac ne quis miretur, +etiam Scorpionum ictibus Serpentiumque statim impositæ._ Plin. Nat. Hist. +_l. 28. c. 4_. And that it hath an healing Quality, and may be accounted +a good Balsam, I my self have experienced. + +[o] That there is such a Thing as the _innate Air_, (talked of much by +most Authors on this Subject) _Schelhammer_ very justly, I think, denies, +by Reason there is a Passage into the inner Ear from the Throat, through +which the _innate Air_ may pass out, and the outward Air enter in. _V._ +_Par. Alt._ p. 2. c. 1. §. 10. When by stopping our Breath, and Straining, +we force the external Air into the Ear, it may be heard rushing in; and +if much be forced in, it may be felt also to beat against the _Tympanum_. +When the Passage to the Throat is by any Means stopp’d, as by a Cold in +the Head, &c. the Hearing thereby becomes dull and blunt; by Reason the +Communication between the outward and inward Air are obstructed: But when +by strong Swallowing, or such-like Motion of the Throat, the Passage is +opened, we perceive it by a sudden Smack or Crack, and we immediately +hear very clearly; the load of feculent Air being at that Time discharged +from the inner Ear. + +It is a wise Provision, that the Passage for the Air into the Ear, is +from the Throat; _Ut non statim quivis aer externus irrumpere queat_ (as +_Schelhammer_ saith, _Par. Ult. c. 4. §. 8._) _sed nonnihil immutatus, ac +temperatus, calore ex medio ventre exspirante; imò fortassis non facilè +alius, nisi ex pulmonibus._ + +[p] _Valsalva_ hath given us a more accurate Description of the _Tuba +Eustachiana_, or _Passage to the Palate_, than any other Author, to whom +I therefore refer, _De Aur. Human._ c. 2. §. 16, _&c._ + +The chief Use hereof, he thinks, is to give way to the inner Air, upon +every Motion of the _Membrana Tympani_, the _Malleus_, _Incus_ and +_Stapes_. This Passage, if it be shut up, Deafness ensues: Of which he +gives two Instances: One a Gentleman, who lost his Hearing by a Polypus +in the Nose reaching to the _Uvula_; the other a Yeoman, labouring with +an Ulcer above the left Side of the _Uvula_; which when he stopt with +a Tent dipped in Medicine, he lost his Hearing in the left Ear, and +recovered it, as soon as the Tent was out. _Ibid. c. 5. §. 10._ + +[q] Os [petrosum] _ex quo interiores ~[Labyrinthi]~ cavitatum parietes +conflati sunt, album, durissimum, necnon maximè compactum. Id autem à +Naturâ ita comparatum esse videtur, ut materia ætherea Sonorum objectorum +impressionibus onusta, dum prædictis impingitur Parietibus, nihil aut +saltem ferè nihil motûs sui amittat, atque adeò illum qualem ab Objectis +sonoris accepit, talem communicet spiritui animali contento intra +expansiones rami mollioris Nervorum auris._ Dr. _Raym. Vieussens_ of +_Montpellier_, in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 258. + +[r] The _Tympanum_ of the Ear, or as _Valsalva_ and the Moderns, the +_Membrana Tympani_ was taken notice of as early as _Hippocrates_’s Time. +In Birds, it is strained towards the outward Parts; in other Animals +towards the Brain, or inner Parts. Monsieur _Dionis_ saith, _It is not +equally fastened to the whole Circumference of the bony Circle, in which +it is inchased; for on the upper Side it hath a free disengaged Part, +by which some can give vent to the Smoak in their Mouth._ Demonstr. 8. +That there is some Passage I doubt not, but I question whether Monsieur +_Dionis_ ever saw the disengaged Part he mentions. I have my self +carefully searched divers Subjects, and do not remember to have seen any +such Passage; and I perceive it escaped the diligent _Schelhammer_’s Eye. +_Valsalva_ also by injecting in through the _Tuba Eustachiana_, could +not force any Liquor into the _Meatus Auditorius_; but yet he imagines +he found the Passage out in another Place of the Drum, in some morbid, +and one sound Head. _Valsalv. de Aur. Hum._ c. 2. §. 8. Mr. _Cowper_ also +affirms there is a Passage by the upper Part of the Membrane. _Anat. Ap._ +Fig. 8. + +[s] Dr. _Vieussens_, before-named, discovered a Membrane, +_tenuissimæ raræque admodùm texturæ intra cavitatem Tympani_; as +he describes it. Whose use he saith is, _1. Occludens Labyrinthi +januam impedit nè naturalis purissimus ac subtilissimus Aer intra +cavitates——communicationem——habeat cum aere crasso. 2. Labyrinthi basin +calefacit, ~&c.~ ubi supra._ Probably this double Membrane may be such, +or after the same Manner as it is in the _Tympanum_ of Birds: Of which +see my Observations in _Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (d)._ + +[t] The four little Bones being treated of by all that have concerned +themselves about this Sense of Hearing, since their Discovery, I shall +take Notice of only two Things concerning them. 1. The Discovery of them +is owing wholly to the Diligence and Sagacity of the latter Ages; of +which _Schelhammer_ gives this Account from _Fallopius_, _Hæc Officula +antiquis Anatomicis——ignota fuere; primusque qui in lucem produxit +~[Malleum & Incum]~ fuit Jac. Carpensis; primus quoque procul omni dubio +Anatomicæ artis, quam Vesalius posteà perfecit, restaurator. Tertium +~[Stapedem]~ invenit ac promulgavit primus Joh. Phil. ab Ingrassia, +Siculus, Philosophus ac Medicus doctissimus. Quartum, Thomâ Bartholin. +teste, viro longè celeberrimo, Fran. Sylvio debetur_ Schel. _ubi supr._ +c. 3. §. 9. 2. Their Difference in Animals: In _Man_, and _Quadrupeds_, +they are four, curiously inarticulated with one another; with an external +and internal Muscle to draw, or work them, in extending, or relaxing the +_Drum_; but in _Fowls_ the Case is very different: _His unum Ossiculum +solùm largita est Natura, quod Collumellam fortè appellaveris: teres enim +est & subtilissimum, basi innitens latiori, rotundæ. Huic adnexa est +cartilago valde mobilis, quæ in Tympanum videtur terminari._ Id. Ib. §. +8. _In the Ears of all the Fowl that I could examine, I never found any +more than one Bone, and a Cartilage, making a Joynt with it, that was +easily moveable. The Cartilage had generally an Epiphyse, or two, one on +each Side.——The Bone was very hard and small, having at the end of it a +broad Plate, of the same Substance, very thin, upon which it rested, as +on its Basis._ Dr. _Al. Moulen_ in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 100. + +These are the most material Things I find observed by others, concerning +the Ears of Fowls, and some of them hardly, I believe, observed before. +To which I shall subjoyn some other Things I have my self discovered, +that I presume escaped the Eyes of those most curious and inquisitive +Anatomists. Of which the last cited _Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (d)._ + +[u] _Videtur quòd Tympanum Auditionis instrumentum præliminare, & quasi +præparatorium fuerit, quad Soni impressionem, sive species sensibiles +primo suscipiens, eas in debitâ proportione, & aptâ conformitate, versùs +Sensorium, quod adhuc interiùs situm est, dirigat: simili officio +fungitur respectu Auditûs, ac tunicæ Oculi Pupillam constituentes, +respectu Visûs; utræque Membranæ Species sensibiles refringunt & quasi +emolliunt, easque Sensorio non nisi proportionatas tradunt, cui nudo si +adveniant, teneriorem ejus crasin facilè lædant, aut obruant. Reverà +Tympanum non audit, sed meliori tutiorique Auditioni confert. Si hæc pars +destruatur, Sensio adhuc aliquamdiu, rudi licèt modo, peragi possit; +quippe experimento olim in Cane facto, ~&c.~——Janitoris officio ut +Tympanum rectè defungi possit, expansum ejus pro datâ occasione stringi, +aut relaxari debet, veluti nimirùm Oculi Pupilla——Quapropter huic Auris +Tympano, non secus ac bellico, machinæ sive tæniæ quædam apponuntur, +quæ superficiem ejus modò tensiorem, modò laxiorem reddant: hoc enim +efficiunt tria Ossicula, cum Musculo, ~&c.~_ _Willis_’s de Anim. Brut. c. +14. + +For this Opinion of Dr. _Willis_, Dr. _Schelhammer_ is very severe upon +him, deriding the Refractions he speaks of; and therefore seriously +proves that they are the Humours, not Tunicks of the Eye, that refract +the Rays of Light; and then jeeringly demandeth, Whether the sonorous +Rays are refracted by passing through a different Medium? Whether the +Convexity or Concavity of the Drum collects those Rays into a focal +Point, or scatters them? _&c._ And then saith, _Ob has rationes à +clariss. Viri, ac de re Medicâ præclarè meriti, sententiâ non possumus +non esse alieniores; in quo uti ingenium admiror, quoties medicamentorum +vires, aut morborum causas explicat, sic ubi forum suum egressus, +Philosophum agit, ac vel Partium usum, vel Chymicarum rerum naturam +scrutetur, ejus haud semel non modò judicium desidero, verùm aliquando +etiam fidem._ This is so severe and unjust a Censure of our truly +famous Countryman, (a Man of known Probity) that might deserve a better +Answer; but I have only Time to say, that although Dr. _Schelhammer_ +hath out-done all that wrote before him, in his Book _de Auditu_, and +shewed himself a Man of Learning and Industry; yet as our Countryman +wrote more than he, (though perhaps not free from Errors too) so he hath +manifested himself to have been as curious and sagacious an Anatomist, +as great a Philosopher, and as learned and skilful a Physician, as any +of his Censurers, and his Reputation for Veracity and Integrity, was no +less than any of theirs too. But after all this terrible Clamour, Dr. +_Schelhammer_ prejudicately mistaketh Dr. _Willis_’s Meaning, to say no +worse. For by _utræque Membranæ refringunt_, Dr. _Willis_ plainly enough, +I think, means no more than a Restriction of the Ingress of too many +Rays; as his following explicatory Words manifest, _viz. refringunt, & +quasi emolliunt, easque Sensorio non nisi proportionatas tradunt_. But +indeed Dr. _Schelhammer_ hath shewn himself a too rigid Censor, by making +Dr. _Willis_ say, the _Ear-Drum_ hath such like Braces as the _War-Drum_, +viz. _Quod porrò de machinis seu tæniis Tympani bellici adducit, dicitque +idem in Tympano auditorio conspici, id prorsus falsissimum est._ I wonder +Dr. _Schelhammer_ did not also charge Dr. _Willis_ with making it a +Porter, since he saith in the same Paragraph, _Janitoris officio, ~&c.~_ +But Dr. _Willis_’s Meaning is plain enough, that the little Bones and +Muscles of the _Ear-Drum_ do the same Office in straining and relaxing +it, as the Braces of the _War-Drum_ do in that. And considering how +curious and solemn an Apparatus there is of Bones, Muscles, and Joynts, +all adapted to a ready Motion; I am clearly of Dr. _Willis_’s Opinion, +that one great Use of the _Ear-Drum_ is for the proportioning Sounds, and +that by its Extension and Retraction, it corresponds to all Sounds, loud +or languid, as the Pupil of the Eye doth to several Degrees of Light: And +that they are no other than secondary uses assigned by Dr. _Schelhammer_, +as the principal or sole Uses of keeping out the external colder Air, +Dust, and other Annoyances; but especially that, _ob solius aerís interni +potissimùm irrumpentis vim, hunc motum Tympani ac Mallei esse conditum, +ut cedere primùm, deinde sibi restitui queat_; as his Words are, _P. +ult._ c. 6. §. 13. + +It was no improbable thought of _Rohault, nos attentos præbere, nil aliud +est, nisi ~Tympanum~, ubi ita opus est facto, contendere aut laxare, & +operam dare ut illud in eâ positione intentum stet, in quâ tremulum aeris +externi motum commodissimè excipere possit._ Roh. Phys. p. 1. c. 26. §. +48. + +The Hearing of deaf Persons more easily by Means of loud Noises, is +another Argument of the Use of the Straining or Relaxation of the +_Tympanum_ in Hearing. Thus Dr. _Willis_ (ubi supra) _Accepi olim à viro +fide digno, se mulierem novisse, quæ licèt surda fuerit, quousque tamen +intra conclave Tympanum pulsaretur, verba quævis clarè audiebat: quare +Maritus ejus Tympanistam pro servo domestico conducebat, ut illius ope, +colloquia interdum cum Uxore suâ haberet. Etiam de alio Surdastro mihi +narratum est, qui prope Campanile degens, quoties unà plures Campanæ +resonarent, vocem, quamvis facilè audire, & non aliàs, potuit._ + +_Abscisso Musculo ~[Processus majoris Mallei]~ in recenti aure, relaxatur +~[Tympani Membrana]~._ _Valsalv. de Aur. Hum._ c. 2. §. 5. + +Upon considering the great Difference in Authors Opinions, about the +Use of the Parts, and Manner how Hearing is performed, as also what a +curious Provision there is made in the Ear, by the four little Bones, the +Muscles, Membrane, _&c._ I was minded (since I penned this Note) to make +enquiry my self into this Part, and not to rely upon Authority. And after +a diligent search of various Subjects, I find we may give as rational and +easie an Account of Hearing, as of Seeing, or any other Sense; as I have +shewn in my last cited _Note (d) Book VII. Chap. 2._ with relation to +Birds. And as to Man and Beasts, the Case is the same, but the Apparatus +more complex and magnificent. For whereas in Birds, the _auditory Nerve_ +is affected by the Impressions made on the _Membrane_, by only the +Intermediacy of the _Collumella_; in Man, it is done by the Intervention +of the four little Bones, with the Muscles acting upon them; his Hearing +being to be adjusted to all kinds of Sounds, or Impressions made upon +the _Membrana Tympani_. Which Impressions are imparted to the _auditory +Nerve_, in this Manner, _viz._ First they act upon the _Membrane_ and +_Malleus_, the _Malleus_ upon the _Incus_, and the _Incus_ upon the _Os +Orbiculare_ and _Stapes_; and the _Stapes_ upon the _auditory Nerve_: +For the Base of the _Stapes_ (the same as the _Operculum_ in Birds) not +only covers the _Fenestra Ovalis_, within which the _auditory Nerve_ +lieth, but hath a Part of the _auditory Nerve_ spread upon it too. It +is manifest that this is the true Process of Hearing; because, if the +_Membrane_ be mov’d, you may see all the Bones move at the same Time, and +work the Base of the _Stapes_ up and down in the _Fenestra Ovalis_, as I +shewed in this Chapter, _Note (d)_ concerning the _Mole_; and as it may +be seen in other Ears carefully opened, if the Parts remain _in situ_. + +[w] I do not confine the _Labyrinth_ to the _Canales Semicirculares_, +or any other Part, as the elder Anatomists seem to have done, who by +their erroneous and blind Descriptions seem not well to have understood +there Parts; but with those much more curious and accurate Anatomists, +_Monsieur de Vernay_, and Dr. _Valsalva_; under the _Labyrinth_, I +comprehend the _Canales Semicirculares_, and the _Cochlea_, together with +the intermediate Cavity, called by them the _Vestibulum_. + +[x] In the _semicircular Canals_, two Things deserve to be noted. 1. +That the three Canals are of three different Sizes, _Major_, _Minor_, +and _Minimus_. 2. Although in different Subjects, they are frequently +different; yet in the same Subject they are constantly the same. The +Reason of all which, together with their Uses, _Valsalva_ ingeniously +thinks is, that as a Part of the tender _auditory Nerve_ is lodged in +these Canals, so they are of three Sizes, the better to suit all the +Variety of Tones; some of the Canals suiting some, and others, other +Tones. And although there be some Difference as to the Length and Size of +these Canals, in different Persons; yet, lest there should be any discord +in the auditory Organs of one and the same Man, those Canals are always +in exact Conformity to one another in one and the same Man. _V._ _Valsal._ +_ubi supr._ c. 3. §. 7. and c. 6. §. 4. 9. + +[y] _Hic posterior Nervus extra cranium delatus, in tres ramos dividitur, +qui omnes motibus patheticis——inserviunt. Primus——musculis Auris +impenditur. Proculdubio hujus actione efficitur, ut animalia quævis, à +subito soni impulsu, aurs, quasi sonum nimis citò transeuntem captaturas +erigant. Ramus alter——versus utrumque oculi angulum surculos emittit: qui +musculis palpebrarum attollentibus inseruntur; quorum certè munus est ad +subitum soni appulsum oculos confestim aperire, eosque velut ad Excubias +vocare.——Tertius——ramus versus Linguæ radicem descendens, musculis ejus & +ossis Hyoeideos distribuitur, adeóque organa quædam vocis edendæ actuat, +~&c.~_ _Willis_’s Cereb. Anat. c. 17. + +[z] _Hujusmodi Nervorum conformatio in Homine usum alium insigniorem +præstas, nempe ut Vox, ~&c.~_ _Willis Ibid._ + +[aa] Among the Uses to which the Wit of Man hath employ’d Sounds, we +may reckon the Instruments useful in convocating Assemblies, managing +Armies, and many other Occasions, wherein Bells, Trumpets, Drums, Horns, +and other sounding Instruments are used; the Particularities of which +it would be tedious to recount: As that the biggest _Bell_ in _Europe_ +is reckoned to be at _Erfurt_ in _Germany_, which they say may be heard +twenty four Miles; with much more to the same Purpose. I shall therefore +only for a Sample take notice of the _Speaking-Trumpet_; the Invention +of which is commonly ascribed to our eminent Sir _Samuel Morland_; but +was more probably _Ath. Kircher_’s; at least he had contrived such an +Instrument, before Sir _Samuel_ hit upon his. _Kircher_ in his _Phonurg._ +saith, the _Tromba_ published last Year in _England_, he had invented +twenty four Years before, and published in his _Misurgia_; that _Jac. +Albanus Ghibbesius_, and _Fr. Eschinardus_ ascribe it to him; and that +_G. Schottus_ testifieth he had such an Instrument in his Chamber in the +_Roman College_, with which he could call to, and receive Answers from +the Porter. And considering how famed _Alexander_ the _Great_’s Tube was, +which is said might be heard 100 _Stadia_, it is somewhat strange that +no Body sooner hit upon the Invention. Of this _Stentorophonick Horn_ +of _Alexander_, there is a Figure preserved in the _Vatican_, which for +Curiosity sake, I have from _Kircher_ represented in _Fig. 3._ He saith +its Diameter was five Cubits, and that it was suspended on a Supporter. + +For the Make of the _Speaking-Trumpet_, and the Reason why it magnifies +Sounds, I shall refer to _Kircher_; especially to Sir _Samuel Morland_’s +_Tuba Stentorophonica_, Published in 1672. + +[bb] That the Air is the Subject, or _Medium_ of Sound, is manifest +from the Experiments in rarefied and condensed Air. In an unexhausted +Receiver, a small Bell may be heard at the Distance of some Paces; but +when exhausted, it can scarce be heard at the nearest Distance: And if +the Air be compressed, the Sound will be louder, proportionably to the +Compression or Quantity of Air crouded in, as I have often tried my self, +and may be seen in Mr. _Hawksbee_’s curious Experiments, p. 97. Also his +Experiments in _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 321. + +_Kircher_ saith, he took one of these Trumpets of fifteen Palms length, +along with him to the _Mons Eustachianus_, where he convocated 2200 +Persons to Prayers, by means of the unusual Sound, at two, three, four, +and five _Italian_ Miles Distance. + +With these _Bellowing Trumpets_, I shall join some _Bellowing-Caves_ +for the Reader’s Diversion. _Ol. Magnus_ describes a Cave in _Finland_, +near _Viburg_, called _Smellen_, into which, if a Dog, or other Living +Creature be cast, it sends forth so dreadful a Sound, that knocks +down every one near it. For which Reason they have guarded the Cave +with high Walls, to prevent the Mischiefs of its Noise. _Vid._ _Ol. +Magn. Histor._ l. 11. c. 4. Such another _Peter Martyr_ saith is in +_Hispaniola_, which, with a small Weight cast into it, endangers Deafness +at five Miles Distance. And in _Switzerland_, _Kircher_ saith, in the +_Cucumer-Mountain_ is a Pit that sends out both a dreadful Noise and +a great Wind therewith; and that there is a Well in his Country 3000 +Palms deep, whose Sound is equal to that of a great Gun. _Vid._ _Kirch. +Phonurg._ + +_Ol. Magnus_ speaking of the vast high Mountains of a Northern Province, +call’d _Angermannia_ saith, _Ubi bases eorum in profundissimo gurgite +stantes, casu aliquo, vel proposito Nautæ accesserint, tantum horrorem +ex altâ fluctuum collisione percipiunt, ut nisi præcipiti remigio, +aut valido vento evaserint, solo pavore ferè exanimes fiant, multoque +dierum curriculo, ob capitis turbationem, pristinæ mentis, & sanitatis +compotes vix evadant. Habent bases illorum montium in fluctuum ingressu & +regressu tortuosas rimas, sive scissuras, satis stupendo naturæ opificio +fabricatas, in quibus longâ varagine formidabilis ille Sonitus quasi +subterraneum tonitru generatur._ Ol. Magn. l. 2. c. 4. See also _Chap. +12._ + +Neither doth this succeed only in forced Rarefactions and Condensations +of the Air, but in such also as are natural; as is evident from _David +Frœdlichius_ in _Varenius_, upon the highest Eminencies of _Carpathus_, +near _Kesmarckt_ in _Hungary_. The Story of _Frœdlichius_ is this, _Ego +Mense Junii 1615. tum adolescens, sublimitatem horum montium, cum duobus +comitibus Scholaribus, experiri volens, ubi, cùm in primæ rupis vertice, +magno labore, me summum terminum assecutum esse putarem, demum sese +obtulit alia multo altior cautes, ubi pervasta eaque vacillantia saxa +(quorum unum, si loco à viatore dimovetur——aliquot centena——rapit, & +quidem tanto cum fragore, ut illi metuendum sit nè totus Mons corruat, +eumque obruat) enixus essem, iterum alia sublimior prodiit, ~&c.~ donec +summo vitæ periculo ad supremum cacumen penetraverim. Ex declivioribus +montibus cùm in subjectas valles,——nil nisi obscuram noctem, aut cœruleum +quid, instar profundi aeris, quod vulgò sudum cœlum appellatur, observare +potui, mihique videbar, si de monte caderem, non in terram, sed recte in +solum me prolapsurum. Nimiá enim declivitate, species visibiles extenuatæ +& hebetatæ fuerunt. Cum verò altiorem montem peterem, quasi intra +nebulas densissimas hærebam——Et cùm non procul à summo vertice essem de +sublimi quiescens prospexi & animadverti iis in locis, ubi mihi antea +videbar intra nebulas hæsisse, compactas atque albas sese movere nubes, +supra quas, per aliquot milliaria, & ultra terminos Sepusi commodus +mihi prospectus patuit. Alias tamen etiam nubes altiores, alias item +humiliores, necnon quasdam æqualiter à terrâ distantes vidi. Atque hinc +tria intellexi, 1. Me tum transivisse principium media Aeris regionis. 2. +Distantiam nubium à terrâ, non esse æqualem.——3. Distantiam nubium——non +72 Mill. Ger. ut quidam——sed tantum dimidiatum Mill. Ger. In summum +montis verticem cùm pervenissem, adeò tranquillum & subtilem aërem ibi +offendi, ut nè pili quidem motum sentirem, cùm tamen in depressioribus +ventum vehementem expertus sim: unde collegi summum cacumen istius montis +Carpathici ad Mill. Germ. à radicibus suis imis exsurgere, & ad supremam +usque aëris regionem, ad quam Venti non ascendunt, pertingere. Explosi +in eâ summitate Sclopetum: quod non majorem sonitum primò præ se tulit, +quàm si ligillum vel bacillum confregissem; post intervallum autem +temporis murmur prolixum invaluit, inferioresque montis partes, convalles +& sylvas opplevit. Descendendo per nives annosas intra convalles, cùm +iterum Sclopetum exonerarem, major & horribilior fragor, quàm ex tormento +capacissimo inde exoriebatur: hinc verebar nè totus mons concussus +mecum corrueret: duravitque hic sonus per semiquadrantem horæ usque dum +abstrusissmas cavernas penetrâsset, ad quas aër undiq; multiplicatus +resiliit.——In his celsis montibus, plerumq; ningit grandinatve mediâ +astate, quoties nempe in subjectâ & vicinâ planitie pluit, utì hoc ipsum +expertus sum. Nives diversorum annorum ex colore & cortice duriore +dignosci possunt._ Varen. Georg. Gen. l. 1. c. 19. Prop. ult. + +The Story being diverting, and containing divers Things remarkable, +I have chosen to note the whole of it (altho’ somewhat long) rather +than single out the Passages only which relate to the diminishing the +Sound of his Pistol, by the Rarity of the Air at that great Ascent into +the Atmosphere; and the magnifying the Sound by the Polyphonisms or +Repercussions of the Rocks, Caverns, and other Phonocamptick Objects +below in the Mount. + +But ’tis not the Air alone that is capable of the Impressions of Sound, +but the Water also, as is manifest by striking a Bell under Water, the +Sound of which may plainly enough be heard, but it is much duller, and +not so loud; and it is also a fourth deeper, by the Ear of some great +Judges in Musical Notes, who gave me their Judgments in the matter. But +_Mersenne_ saith, a Sound made under Water, is of the same Tone or Note, +if heard under Water; as are also Sounds made in the Air, when heard +under Water. _Vid._ _Mersen. Hydraul._ + +Having mentioned the hearing of Sounds under Water, there is another +Curiosity worth mentioning, that also farther proves Water to be +susceptible of the Impressions of Sound, _viz._ _Divers_ at the bottom +of the Sea, can hear the Noises made above, only confusedly. But, on +the contrary, those above cannot hear the Divers below. Of which an +Experiment was made, that had like to have been fatal: One of the Divers +blew an Horn in his Diving-Bell, at the bottom of the Sea; the Sound +whereof (in that compressed Air) was so very loud and irksome, that +stunned the Diver, and made him so giddy, that he had like to have dropt +out of his Bell, and to have been drowned. _Vid._ _Sturmii Colleg. Cur. +Vol. 2. Tentam. 1._ + +[cc] As to the Distance to which Sound may be sent, having some doubt, +whether there was any Difference between the Northern and Southern Parts, +by the Favour of my learned and illustrious Friend Sir _Henry Newton_, +her Majesty’s late Envoy at _Florence_: I procured some Experiments to be +made for me in _Italy_. His most Serene Highness the _Great Duke_, was +pleased to order great Guns to be fir’d for this purpose at _Florence_, +and Persons were appointed on purpose to observe them at _Leghorne_, +which they compute is no less than 55 Miles in a strait Line. But +notwithstanding the Country between being somewhat hilly and woody, and +the Wind also was not favouring, only very calm and still, yet the Sound +was plainly enough heard. And they tell me, that the _Leghorne_ Guns are +often heard 66 Miles off, at _Porto Ferraio_; that when the _French_ +bombarded _Genoa_, they heard it near _Leghorne_, 90 Miles distant: and +in the _Messina Insurrection_, the Guns were heard from thence as far +as _Augusta_ and _Syracuse_, about 100 _Italian_ Miles. These Distances +being so considerable, give me Reason to suspect, that Sounds fly as +far, or nearly as far in the Southern, as in the Northern Parts of the +World, notwithstanding we have a few Instances of Sounds reaching farther +Distances. As Dr. _Hearn_ tells us of Guns fired at _Stockholm_ in 1685, +that were heard 180 _English_ Miles. And in the _Dutch_ War, 1672, the +Guns were heard above 200 Miles. _Vid._ _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 113. Also +there is this farther Reason of Suspicion, that the _Mercury_ in the +_Barometer_ riseth higher without than within the Tropicks, and the more +Northerly, still the higher, which may encrease the Strength of Sounds, +by _Note (bb)._ + +[dd] As to the Velocity of Sounds, by Reason the most celebrated Authors +differ about it, I made divers nice Experiments my self, with good +Instruments; by which I found, 1. That there is some, although a small +Difference in the Velocity of Sounds, with or against the Wind: which +also is, 2. Augmented or diminished by the Strength or Weakness of +the Wind. But that nothing else doth accelerate or retard it, not the +Differences of Day or Night, Heat or Cold, Summer or Winter, Cloudy or +Clear, Barometer high or low, _&c._ 3. That all kinds of Sounds have the +same Motion, whether they be loud or languid, of Bells, Guns, great or +small, or any other sonorous Body. 4. That they fly equal Spaces in equal +Times. Fifthly and Lastly, That the Mean of their Flight is at the Rate +of a Mile in 9¼ half Seconds, or 1142 Feet in one Second of Time. _Vid._ +_Phil. Trans. Ibid._ + +[ee] _Timothy_ a Musician could excite _Alexander the Great_ to Arms with +the _Phrygian_ Sound, and allay his Fury with another Tone, and excite +him to Merriment. So _Ericus_ King of _Denmark_, by a certain Musician, +could be driven to such a Fury, as to kill some of his best and most +trusty Servants. More of this Power of Musick over the Affections, may +be seen in _Ath. Kirch. Phonurg. L. 2. §. 1._ Also in _Is. Vossius de +Poematum cantu, & Rythmi viribus_. + +And not only upon the Affections, but also on the Parts of the Body. +Musick is able to exert its Force, as appears from the _Gascoigne_ +Knight, _Cui Phormingis sono audito Vesica statim ad Urinam reddendam +vellicabatur_. Such another we have in Aᵒ. 1. _Ephem. Nat. Curios. +Observ. 134_. Also _Morhoff de Scyph. vitr. per cert. human. vocis +sonum fracto_: where there is not only the Account of the _Dutchman_ at +_Amsterdam_, one _Nich. Peter_, that brake Romer-Glasses with the Sound +of his Voice; but also divers other Instances of the Powers and Effects +of Sound. But to the Story of the _Gascoigne_ Knight, Mr. _Boyl_, from +_Scaliger_, adds a pleasant Passage, That one he had disobliged, to be +even with him, caused at a Feast, a Bag-pipe to be played, when he was +hemmed in with the Company; which made the Knight bepiss himself, to the +great Diversion of the Company, as well as Confusion of himself. _Boyl_’s +_Essay of the Effect of Lang. Motion._ In the same Book are other Matters +that may be noted here. One whose Arm was cut off, was exceedingly +tormented with the discharge of the great Guns at Sea, although he was +at a great Distance on Land. And a great Ship-Commander observed his +wounded Men, with broken Limbs, suffered in like manner at the Enemies +Discharges. An ingenious Domestick of his own would have his Gums bleed +at the tearing of Brown-Paper. And an ingenious Gentleman of Mr. _Boyl_’s +Acquaintance confessed to him, that he was inclined to the _Knight of +Gascoigne_’s Distemper, upon hearing the Noise of a Tap running. The +dancing to certain Tunes, of Persons bit with the _Tarantula_, he was +assured of by an ingenious Acquaintance at _Tarentum_, who saw several, +among the rest a Physician, affected with that Distemper. And many other +Accounts of this kind, seemingly credible, are related in _Morhoff_, +_Kircher_, and many others; although Dr. _Cornelio_ questions the Matters +of Fact relating to the cure of the _Tarantula_-bite, in _Phil. Trans._ +Nᵒ. 83. Mr. _Boyl_ also saith, a sober Musician told him, he could make +a certain Woman weep, by playing one Tune, which others would be little +affected at. And he saith, that he himself had a kind of shivering at the +repeating two Verses in _Lucan_. And I add, that I very well know one +to have a sort of chill about his _Præcordia_ and Head, upon reading or +hearing the 53ᵈ Chapter of _Isaiah_; as also _David_’s Lamentations for +_Saul_ and _Jonathan_, 1 Sam. i. + +Neither are our own Minds and Bodies only affected with Sounds, but +inanimate Bodies are so also. Of which many Stories may be met with in +_Kircher_, particularly a large Stone that would tremble at the Sound +of one particular Organ-Pipe; in _Morhoff_ also, who among many other +Relations hath this, _Memini cùm ipsi [clarif. Willisio] de experimento +Vitri per vocem fracti narrarem, ex eo audivisse, quod in adibus Musicis +sibi vicinis aliquoties collapsum pavimentum fuerit; quod ipse sonis +continuis adscribere non dubitavit._ Morhoff. cap. 12. _Mersenne_ also, +among many Relations in his _Harmon._ and other Books, tells a far +more probable Story, of a particular Part of a Pavement, that would +shake, as if the Earth would open, when the Organs played, than what he +relates about _Antipathy_, in his _Quæst. Comment. in Genes._ viz. That +the Sound of a Drum made of a Wolf’s Skin, will break another made of +Sheep’s Skin: That Hens will fly at the Sound of an Harp strung with +Fox-Gut-Strings, and more to the same purpose. Mr. _Boyl_ also, in his +last cited Book tells us, Seats will tremble at the Sound of Organs; and +that he hath felt his Hat do so too under his hand, at certain Notes both +of Organs, and in Discourse, that he tried an Arch that would answer to +C fa-ut, and had done so an 100 Years; and that an experienced Builder +told him any well-built Vault will answer some determinate Note. And at +_Eastbury-House_ near _Barking_, I my self discovered the Porch, (having +firm Brick-Walls,) not only to sound when struck on the Bottom, but also +to give almost as loud a Sound, when I sounded the same Note with my +Voice. + +[ff] _Willis_, ubi supra. + +[gg] _Ille Deus est——qui non calamo tantùm cantare, & agreste, atque +inconditum carmen ad aliquam tantùm oblectationem modulari docuit, sed +tot artes, tot vocum varietates, tot sonos, alios spiritu nostro, alios +externo cantu edituros commentus est._ Senec. de Benef. l. 4. cap. 6. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +_Of the Sense of Smelling._ + + +This Sense I shall dispatch in less Compass than the two last, because +its Apparatus (although sufficiently grand and admirable, yet) is not +so multiplicious as of the Eye and Ear; it being sufficient in this +Sense, that the odoriferous Effluvia of Bodies[a] can have an easy, free +Passage to the olfactory Nerves, without the Formalities of Refractions, +and other Preparations necessary to the Perfection of the two former +Senses. Accordingly the all-wise Creator hath made sufficient Provision +for the Reception of Smells, by the Apertures of the Nostrils[b]; made +not of Flesh, or Bone, but cartilaginous, the better to be kept open, +and withal, to be dilated or contracted, as there is occasion: For which +Service it hath several proper and curious Muscles[c]. + +And forasmuch as it is by Breathing[d], that the odorant Particles are +drawn in, and convey’d to the Sensory; therefore there is a very wise +Provision made in the _Laminæ_, with which the upper Part of the Nose is +barricaded, which serve to two excellent Uses: Partly, to fence out any +noxious Substances from entering the breathing Passages in our Sleep, +or when we cannot be aware[e]; and partly, to receive the Divarications +of the _olfactory Nerves_, which are here thick spread, and which do by +these Means meet the Smells entring with the Breath, and striking upon +them. + +And accordingly, the more accurate this Sense is in any Animal, the +longer we may observe those _Laminæ_ are; and more of them in number +folded up, and crouded together, to contain the more nervous Filaments, +and to detain and fetter the odoriferous Particles in their Windings and +Turnings. + +And an admirable Provision this is, which the great Creator hath made +for the good of brute Creatures[f]; the chief Acts of many of whose +Lives, are perform’d by the Ministry of this Sense. In insects, and many +other Creatures, it is of great Use in the Propagation of their Kind; +as particularly in helping them to safe and convenient Places for the +Incubation of their Eggs, and breeding up their Young. Others are by the +Accuracy of this Sense, of Use to Mankind, which would be otherwise of +little or no Use[g]. And most of the irrational Animals, Birds, Beasts, +and creeping Things, do, by their Smell, find out their Food; some at +great Distances, and some at Hand. With what Sagacity do some discover +their Food in the Midst of Mud and Dirt[h]? With what Curiosity do the +herbaceous Kind pick and chuse such Plants as afford them wholsome Food, +or sometimes such as are Medicinal[i], and refute such as would hurt and +destroy them? And all by the Help principally, if not only, of the Smell, +assisted by its near Ally the Taste. Of which I shall in the next Place +speak very briefly. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] Piece of _Ambergrease_ suspended in a Pair of Scales, that would turn +with a very small Part of a Grain, lost nothing of its Weight in 3½ Days; +neither did _Assa fœtida_ in 5½ Days; but an Ounce of _Nutmegs_ lost 5½ +Grains in 6 Days; and _Cloves_ 7⅘ Grains. _Boyl’s Subtil. of Effluv._ c. +5. + +[b] _Nares, eò quòd omnis Odor ad superiora fertur, rectè sursum sunt: +Et quòd Cibi & Potionis judicium magnum earum est, non sine causâ +vicinitatem Oris secutæ sunt._ Cicero de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 56. + +[c] Had not the Contriver of Animal Bodies been minded that his Work +should have all the Signatures of Accuracy, this Sense might have been +performed with a bare Aperture of the Nose; but that nothing might +go imperfect out of his Hand, he hath made a part of the Nose easily +moveable, and given a Set of Muscles to lift up, and open and shut the +Nostrils; and so adjust it to every Occasion of this Sense. + +[d] _Odorem non aliud, quàm infectum Aera, intelligi posse._ Plin. Nat. +Hist. l. 9. c. 7. + +[e] For a further Guard against the Ingress of noxious Things, the +_Vibrissi_, or Hairs placed at the Entrance of the Nostrils serve, which, +in some measure, stop the Entrance of Things improper, or however give +Warning of them, but at the same Time allow an easy Passage to the Breath +and Odours. + +[f] _Multò præclarius emicat [Olfactus] in brutis animalibus, quàm in +homine: ista namque hoc solo indice, herbarum, aliorumque corporum priùs +ignotorum virtutes certissimè dignoscunt, quin & victum suum absentem, +vel in abstruso positum, Odoratu venantur, ac facillimè investigant. Quòd +autem minùs sagaces sunt hominum nares, illud non facultatis hujus abusui +(prout nonnulli volunt) ascribi debet, verùm in causâ est ipsius Organi +defectus: hoc enim circa victûs humani criteria (ubi ratio, & intellectus +adsunt) non ita accuratum requiritur: Proptereà enim inferiores potentiæ +in homine, à naturâ minùs perfectæ existunt, ut superiorum cultui & +exercitio relinqueretur locus._ Willis de Anim. Brut. _cap. 13._ + +[g] Thus the chief Use of Hounds is to hunt; and other Dogs, to be a +Watch and Guard to our Houses by Night. For which Services (particularly +in Hounds) their _Olfactory Nerves_ are not only remarkably large, (like +as they are in other Brutes,) but their Branches and Filaments are, in +the _Laminæ_ of the Nostrils, both more and larger than I have seen in +any other Creature whatsoever. Also there are more Convulsions of the +_Laminæ_ than I ever remember to have found in any other Animal. + +The Sagacity of Hounds is prodigious, of which see an Instance in _Book +IV. Chap. 11. Note (hhh)._ + +[h] See _Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (e)._ + +[i] _Vid._ _Plin. Hist. Nat._ l. 8. cap. 27. _Quæ animalia quas herbas +ostenderunt._ + + + + +CHAP. V. + +_Of the Taste[a]._ + + +In this, as in the last Sense, we have an _Apparatus_ abundantly +sufficient to the Sense; Nerves curiously divaricated about the +Tongue[b], and Mouth, to receive the Impressions of every Gusto; and +these Nerves guarded with a firm and proper Tegument to defend them from +Harms; but withal, so perforated in the papillary Eminences, as to give a +free Admission to Tastes. + +But I shall say no more of this Sense; only a Word or two of its Consent +with the Smell, and the Situation of them both: Their Situation is +in the most convenient Place imaginable, for the Discharge of their +Offices; at the first Entrance[c], in the Way to the grand Receptacle +of our Food and Nourishment; to survey what is to be admitted therein; +to judge between what is wholsome, and fit for Nourishment, and what is +unsavoury and pernicious. And for this End, the all-wise Creator seems to +have establish’d a great Consent between the Eye, the Nose, and Tongue, +by ordering the Branches of the same Nerves[d], to each of those three +Parts; as also indeed to divers other Parts of the Body, which I may have +occasion to mention in a more proper Place[e]. By which Means, there is +all the Guard that can be, against pernicious Food; forasmuch as before +it is taken into the Stomach, it is to undergo the Trial of three of +the Senses; the Scrutiny of the Eye, the strict Surveyor of its outward +Appearance; and the Probation of the Smell and Taste, the two severest +Judges of its natural Constitution and Composition. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] τὰ δὲ εἴδη τῶν χυλῶν, &c. _Saporum genera,——dulcis, pinguis, +austerus, acerbus, acris, salsus, amarus, acidus._ Theophr. de Caus. +Plant. l. 6. c. 1. What may the Cause of the difference of Tastes, +he saith is hard to assign, πότερον γὰρ τοῖς πάθεσι, &c. _Utrum +affectionibus Sensuum——an figuris, quibus singuli constant, ut Democritus +censet._ id. ib. Δημόκριτος δὲ, &c. _Democritus——dulcem esse saporem qui +rotundus: acerbum qui figurâ magnâ; asperum qui multis angulis, ~&c.~_ +id. ib. &c. But of the Diversities and Causes of Tastes, see Dr. _Grew_, +_Lect._ 6. and Dr. _Willis de Anim. Brut._ c. 12. + +[b] _Intellectus Saporum est cæteris in primâ linguâ: Homini, & in +palato._ Plin. l. 11. c. 37. + +The Opinions of Anatomists concerning the Organ of _Taste_, are various. +_Bauhin_, _T. Bartholin_, _Bartholette_, _Vestinge_, _Deusinge_, &c. +place it in the laxer, fleshy Parts of the Tongue. Our famous _Wharton_, +in the Gland at the Root of the Tongue: _Laurentius_ in the thin Tunick +covering the Tongue; but the Learned _Malpighi_ with great Probability +concludes, because the outward Cover of the Tongue is perforated, under +which lie papillary Parts, (of which Mr. _Cowper_, hath very good Cuts +in his _Anat. Tab. 13._) that in these the Taste lieth. _Malpighi_’s +Words are, _Quare cùm dictis meatibus insignibus occurrant papillaria +corpora, probabilius est in his ultimo, ex subintranti sapido humore +titillationem, & mordicationem quandam fieri, quæ Gustum efficiat._ +Malpig. Op. Tom. 2. De Linguâ, pag. 18. + +_Præcipuum ac ferè solum Gustatûs organon est Lingua; cui aliquatenus +subobscure tamen Palatum, & superior Gulæ pars consentiunt: in omnibus +verò fibræ nervosæ immediata sensionis instrumenta sunt. Quare observare +est, Linguam præ aliâ quâvis parte insigniter fibrosam esse, etiam +texturâ valdè porosâ constare, in eum nempe finem, ut particulæ rei +sapidæ copiosiùs ac penitiùs intra Sensorii meatus admittantur——Nervi +autem qui fibris Linguæ densissimè intertextis famulantur, ac saporum +impressiones τῷ πρώτῳ αἰσθητηρίῳ communicant, sunt——Nervi è paribus tum +quinto, tum nono; & ubique cum densâ propaginum serie per totam ejus +compagem distributi._ Willis ibid. + +[c] _Gustatus, qui sentire eorum quibus vescimur genera debet, habitat in +eâ parte Oris, quâ esculentis & poculentis iter natura patefecit._ Cicer. +de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 56. _Vid._ _quoque supr._ _Note (b), Chap. 4._ + +[d] _Multa hujus ~[quinti paris]~ Nervi propagines Masticationis operi +destinantur; ideoque quoniam alimenta ingerenda non modo Gustus, ast +etiam Olfactûs & Visûs examen subire debent, ab eodem Nervo, cujus rami +ad Palatum & Fauces missi, Manducationis negotium peragunt, propagines +aliæ, velut exploratrites, ad Nares & Oculos feruntur, nempe ut isthæc +aliorum sensuum organa, etiam ad objecta Gustûs melius dignoscenda +probationum auxiliis quibusdam instruantur._ Willis Nerv. Descrip. & +Usus. _cap. 22._ + +[e] See _Book V. chap. 8._ + + + + +CHAP. VI. + +_Of the Sense of Feeling[a]._ + + +Having spent so much Time upon the other Senses, and therein given such +ample Proofs of the infinite Creator’s Wisdom; I shall but briefly take +Notice of two Things relating to this last Sense. + +One is its Organ, the Nerves. For as all Sensation is performed by the +Nerves[b], and indeed the other Senses (performed by Nerves) are a kind +of Feeling; so is this Sense of _Feeling_ performed by Nerves likewise, +spread in the most incomparable, curious Manner throughout the whole +Body. But to describe their Origine in the Brain, and Spinal-Marrow, +their Ramifications to all the Parts; their Inosculations with one +another; and other Matters; whereby not only the Sense of _Feeling_ is +perform’d, but also animal Motion, and an admirable Consent and Harmony +of all the Parts of the Body is effected: (To describe, I say, these +Things) would take up too much Time, and I have already, and shall, as I +go along, give some Hints thereof. + +The other Thing I shall take Notice of, is, the Dispersion of this Sense +throughout the Body, both without, and within. The other Senses, I have +observ’d, are seated in the very best Place for the Relief and Comfort, +the Guard and Benefit of the Animal. And forasmuch as it is necessary to +the Being, and well-being of the Body, that every Part should be sensible +of Things safe, or Things prejudicial to it self; therefore it is an +admirable Contrivance of the great Creator, to disperse this Sense of +_Feeling_ throughout every Part[c]; to distinguish between Pleasure and +Pain; Things salutary, and Things hurtful to the Body. + +Thus in the five Senses of Animals, we have an Œconomy worthy of the +Creator, and manifestly demonstrating his Power, Wisdom and Indulgence. +For whether we consider the Mechanism of the Organs, or the great Use +and Convenience of each Sense, we find it noble and grand, curious and +artificial; and every way worthy of its infinite Maker, and beyond the +Wit and Power of any Thing but a GOD: And therefore we must even deny our +Senses, by denying them to be God’s handy-work. + +And now from those chief Machines of animal Performances and Enjoyments, +the five Senses; let us pass to another Thing in common to all the +Sensitive Creatures, which is Respiration. + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Malpighi_ is of this Opinion, that as _Taste_ is performed by the +_Papillæ_ in the Tongue, so is _Feeling_ by such like _Papillæ_ under +the Skin. From several Dissections, and other Observations, he thus +concludes, _Ex his & similibus videbatur animus abundè certior redditus, +earundem Papillarum pyramidalium copiam, quas aliàs in Linguâ descripsi, +in locis præcipuè acquisitiori Tactui dicatis reperiri, eodem progigni +nervoso & cuticulari corpore, simulque circumvolvi reticulari involucro, +& extimam cuticulam, veluti ultimum terminum attingere.——Microscopio +quilibet in manûs dorso pro sudore orificia quædam miro ordine dispersa +intueri potest, circa quæ frequentia quædam capitula assurgunt; hæc verò +sunt Papillarum fines, dum à cute assurgentes interpositum superant rete, +simulque extimam cuticulam. Hæc repetitis sectionibus deprehendi; ex +quibus non improbabiliter deducam, sicuti ex elatioribus——papillis——in +Linguâ, Gustûs Organon elicitur,——ita ex copiosâ harum Papillarum +congerie——in organis, ubi maximè animalia Tactûs motione +afficiuntur,——adæquatum Tactûs organum sufficientèr haberi._ Malpig. de +extern. Tact. Org. _p. 26._ _Consul. quoque ejusd. Vit._ p. 28. + +These Observations of _Malpighi_, our late curious and diligent Mr. +_Cowper_ hath confirmed, and given us very elegant Cuts both of the +Skin, and the _Papillæ_, and the Nerves, Glands, _&c._ under it, from +Microscopical Observations. _Vid._ _Cowper’s Anat._ Introd. and Tab. 4. + +[b] Although the Eye be the usual Judge of Colours, yet some have been +able to distinguish them by their Feeling. _Quidam fuit qui venit ad M. +Duc. ~Hetruriæ~ aulam qui colores per Tactum cognoscebat. Pro experimento +velum sericum, uniformiter textum, & pluribus coloribus tinctum, +offerebatur, & veracitèr de colore to singulis partibus judicabat._ +Grimald. de Lum. & Col. prop. 43. §. 59. + +[c] _Tactus autem toto corpore æquabilitèr fusus est, ut omnes ictus, +omnesque nimios & frigoris, & caloris appulsus sentire possimus._ Cicer. +_ubi supr._ + +_Tactus sensus omnibus est, etiam quibus nullus alius; nam & Ostreis, & +terrestribus Vermibus quoque. Existimaverim omnibus sensum & Gustatûs +esse. Cur enim alios alia sapores appetunt? in quo vel præcipua Naturæ +architectio._ Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 71. + + + + +CHAP. VII. + +_Of Respiration._ + + +Of all the Acts of Animal Life, this is one of the chief, and most +necessary. For whatsoever hath Animal Life, hath also the Faculty of +Respiration, or somewhat equivalent thereto[a]. Indeed so congenial +is this with Life, that _Breath_ and _Life_ are in Scripture Phrase +and Common Speech taken as synonymous Things, or at least necessary +Concomitants of one another. _Moses_[b] expresseth animal Life, by [_The +Breath of Life_]. Saith he, _Gen._ vii. 21, 22. _All Flesh that moved on +the Earth, Fowl, Cattle, Beast, creeping Things, and Man; all in whose +Nostrils was the Breath of Life in the dry Land died._ So the Psalmist, +_Psal._ civ. 29. _Thou takest away their Breath, they die._ So grand an +Act therefore in common to all Animals, may justly deserve a Place in +this Survey of the Works of God in the animal Kingdom. + +And here I might launch out into an ample Description of all the Parts +ministering to this necessary Act, and shew the curious Contrivance and +artificial Structure of them; but a transient View shall suffice. I +might begin with the outward Guards, the Nose and Mouth; but these have +been already touched upon. But the exquisite Mechanism of the _Larynx_, +its Variety of Muscles, its Cartilages, all so exquisitely made for the +Purpose of Respiration, and forming the Voice[c], are very admirable: +And no less so is the Tongue[d], which ministers to that, and many other +Uses too. + +Next, the Fabrick of the[e] _Trachea_ deserves especial Remark. Its +Valve, the _Epiglottis_ on the Top, to fence against all Annoyances; +its cartilaginous Rings[f] nearly environing it, with its membranous +Part next the Gullet, to give the freer Passage to the Descent of the +Food. And Lastly, Its inner Tegument of exquisite Sense to be readily +affected with, and to make Efforts against every Thing that is hurtful or +offensive; these, I say, do all justly deserve our Admiration. + +And no less prodigious are the Parts farther within; the _Bronchi_, the +_Vesiculæ_[g], with their muscular Fibres[h], as some assert they have, +together with the Arteries and Veins, which every where accompany the +airy Passages, for the Blood to receive there its Impregnations from the +Air. + +From hence I might proceed to the commodious Form of the Ribs[i], the +curious Mechanism of the Intercostal-Muscles[k], the Diaphragm, and all +the other Muscles[l] ministring both to the ordinary, and extraordinary +Offices of Respiration. But passing them by, I shall stop at one +prodigious Work of Nature, and manifest Contrivance of the Almighty +Creator, which although taken notice of by others[m], yet cannot be +easily passed by in the Subject I am upon; and that is the Circulation +of the Blood in the _Fœtus in the Womb_, so different from the Method +thereof after it is Born. In the Womb, whilst it is as one Body with the +Mother, and there is no Occasion, nor Place for Respiration, there are +two Passages[n] on purpose for the Transmission of the Blood without +passing it through the Lungs. But as soon as the _Fœtus_ is Born, and +become thereby a perfectly distinct Being, and breathes for it self, then +these two Passages are shut up: one nearly obliterated, the other becomes +only a Ligament, except in some Creatures that are Amphibious, or are +forced to lie long under Water, in whom these Passages probably remain +open[o]. + +And now what Action of any rational Creature, what is there in a Man’s +Life, that doth more plainly shew Design, Reason, and Contrivance, than +this very Act of Nature doth the Contrivance and Design of the great GOD +of Nature? What is Thought and Contrivance, if this be not? Namely, That +there should be a temporary Part in the Body, made just for the present +Exigence; to continue whilst there is occasion for it, and to cease when +there is none; in some Creatures to remain always, by Reason of their +amphibious Way of Living, and in Land-animals (purely such) to cease? + +Another excellent Contrivance, a-kin to the last, is, for the +Preservation of such Creatures whose occasions frequently necessitate +them to live without, or with but little Respiration: Fishes might +be named here, whose Habitation is always in the Waters; but these +belong to an Element which I cannot at present engage in. But there +are many Animals of our own Element, or partly so, whose Organs of +Respiration, whose Blood, whose Heart, and other Instruments of Life, are +admirably accommodated to their Method of Living: Thus many amphibious +Creatures[p], who live in Water as well as Air; many quadrupeds, Birds, +Insects, and other Animals, who can live some Hours, Days, yea, whole +Winters, with little or no Respiration, in a Torpitude, or sort of Sleep, +or middle State between Life and Death: The Provision made for these +peculiar Occasions of Life, in the Fabrick of the Lungs, the Heart, and +other Parts of such Creatures[q], is manifestly the Work of him, who as +St. _Paul_ saith[r], _giveth to all Breath, and Life, and all Things_. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] The Uses assign’d to _Respiration_ by all the Anatomists before +_Malpighi_’s Discoveries of the Structure of the Lungs, are so various, +and many of them so improbable, that it would be frivolous to recount +them. But the more eminent modern Anatomists assign these Uses. _Willis_ +thus sums up his Opinion, _Præcipua Pulmonum functio, & usus sunt, +sanguinem & aerem per totas partium compages, intimosque recessus, atq; +ductus quosque minutissimos traducere, & ubique invicem committere; in +cum nempe finem, ut sanguis venosus à circuitu redux, & chymo recenti +dilutus,——tum perfectiùs misceatur & velut subigatur, tum potissimùm +ut secundùm omnes suas partes ab aëre nitroso de novo accendatur._ +Pharmaceut. p. 2. S. 1. c. 2. §. 2. _Mayow_ saith rightly, that one grand +Use of _Expiration_ is, _Ut cum aëre expulso, etiam vapores è sanguine +exhalantes, simul exsufflentur._ And as for _Inspiration_, that it +coveyeth a nitro-aerial ferment to the Blood, to which the Animal-Spirits +are owing, and all Muscular-Motion. _Mayow de Respir._ p. 22. _&c._ _meâ +Edit_. + +Somewhat of the Opinion of these two last cited, if I mistake not (it +being long since I read their Tracts, and have them not now at hand,) +were _Ent_, _Sylvius_, _Swammerdam_, _Diemerbroek_, and my Friend Mr. +_Ray_ in an unpublished Tract of his, and in his Letters now in my Hands. + +But our Dr. _Thurston_, for good Reasons, rejects these from being +principal Uses of Respiration, and thinks, with great Reason, the +principal Uses to be to move, or pass the Blood from the right to +the left Ventricle of the Heart. Upon which account Persons hanged, +drowned, or strangled by Catarrhs, so suddenly die, namely, because +the Circulation of their Blood is stopped. For the same Reason also it +is, that Animals die so soon in the Air-Pump. Among other Proofs he +instanceth in an Experiment of Dr. _Croon_, _Profess. Gresh._ which he +made before our _R. S._ by strangling a Pullet, so that not the least +Sign of Life appear’d; but by blowing Wind into the Lungs through the +_Trachea_, and so setting the Lungs a playing, he brought the Bird to +Life again. Another Experiment was once tried by Dr. _Walter Needham_, +before Mr. _Boyl_, and others at _Oxford_, by hanging a Dog, so that +the Heart ceased moving. But hastily opening the Dog, and blowing Wind +into the _Ductus Pecquetianus_, he put the Blood in Motion, and by that +means the Heart, and so recovered the Dog to Life again. _V._ _Thurston +de Respir. Us._ p. 60, and 63. _meâ Edit_. + +Such an Experiment as Dr. _Croon_’s my Friend, the late justly renowned +Dr. _Hook_ shewed also our _R. S._ He cut away the _Ribs_, _Diaphragm_, +and _Pericardium_, of a Dog; also the top of the Wind-Pipe, that he might +tie it on to the Nose of a Pair of Bellows; and by blowing into the +Lungs, he restored the Dog to Life; and then ceasing blowing, the Dog +would soon fall into dying Fits; but by blowing again, he recovered; and +so alternately would die, and recover, for a considerable Time, as long, +and often as they pleased. _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 28. + +For the farther Confirmation of Dr. _Thurston_’s Opinion, the ingenious +Dr. _Musgrave_ cut off, and close stopped up the Wind-Pipe of a Dog +with a Cork, and then threw open the _Thorax_; where he found the Blood +stagnating in the _Lungs_, the _Arteria Pulmonaris_ the _right Ventricle_ +and _Auricle_ of the _Heart_, and the two great Trunks of the _Cava_, +distended with Blood to an immense Degree; but at the same Time, the +_Vena Pulmonaris_, the _left Ventricle_ and _Auricle_ of the _Heart_ in +a manner empty, hardly a spoonful of Blood therein. _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. +240. Or both the Experiments may be together met with in _Lowth. Abridg. +Vol. 3. p. 66, 67._ + +This Opinion of our learned _Thurston_, the late learned _Etmullerus_ +espoused, who being particular in reckoning up the Uses of Respiration, +I shall therefore the more largely cite him. Respiration, saith +he, serves, _1. Ad Olfactum. 2. Ad Screatum & Sputationem. 3. Ad +Oscitationem, Tussim, Sternutationem, Emunctionemque. 4. Ad liquidorum +Sorbitionem, Suctionemve. 5. Ad Loquelam, Cantum, Clamorem, Risum, +Fletum, Flatum, ~&c.~ 6. Ad facum Alvi, Urinæ, Fœtûs Molæve, necnon +Secundinarum expulsionem. 7. Ad promovendi Ventriculi, Intestinorum, +Lacteorumque vasorum, ~&c.~ contenta. 8. Ad halitus aqueos Sanguinis è +pulmonibus, aëris ope, exportandos. 9. Ad Diapnoën. 10. Ad exactiorem +Chyli, Lymphaque, necnon Sanguinis——miscelam. 11. Ad conciliandum +sanguini——coccineam rubedinem, ~&c.~ 12. Nec merosè negabimus, +aërem——pulmones, & sanguinem illos transcurrentem, minùs calida reddere, +~&c.~ 13. Quod denique aër sanguini singulis Respirationibus aliquantillâ +sui parte, admixtus, paucissimas quasdam in spiritum animalium +elaboratione particulas simul contribuat._ All these Uses, although of +great Consequence, yet he thinks rather conduce to the _Well-Being_, than +the Being of the Animal; because without any of them, the Animal would +not so speedily die, as it doth by Strangling, or in the Air-Pump. He +therefore assigns a 14ᵗʰ, and the principal Use of Respiration to be, +_For the passing of the Blood through the Lungs, that is thrown into them +by the Heart._ Etmull. Dissert. 2. c. 10. §. 1. & 16. + +But the late Dr. _Drake_, with great Ingenuity and Address, (like a +Person so considerable for his Years, as he was in his Time,) not only +establish’d this Notion of Respiration, but also carries it farther, +making it the true Cause of the _Diastole_ of the Heart; which neither +_Borelli_, _Lower_, or _Cowper_, much less any before those great Men, +have well accounted for. That the Heart is a Muscle, is made evident +beyond all doubt by Dr. _Lower_. And that the Motion of all Muscles +consists in Constriction, is not to be doubted also. By which means the +_Systole_ is easily accounted for. But forasmuch as the Heart hath no +_Antagonist-Muscle_, the _Diastole_ hath puzzled the greatest Wits. But +Dr. _Drake_ with great Judgment, and much Probability of Reason, maketh +the Weight of the Incumbent Atmosphere to be the true _Antagonist_ +to all the Muscles which serve both for ordinary Inspiration and the +Constriction of the Heart. The Particulars of his Opinion may be seen in +his _Anatomy_, l. 2. c. 7. And in _Philos. Trans. 281._ + +And I remember when I was at the University, my most ingenious and +learned Tutor Dr. _Wills_, when he read Anatomy to us, was of Opinion, +that the Lungs were blown up by the Weight of the incumbent Air, and +represented the manner of Respiration in this manner, _viz._ He put a +Bladder into a Pair of Bellows, turning back the Neck of the Bladder, +and tying it fast, so that no Air might enter in between the Bladder +and Bellows. This being done, when the Bellows were opened, the Bladder +would be blown up by the Weight of the incumbent Air; and when shut, +the Air would be thereby pressed forcibly out of the Bladder, so as to +blow the Fire. This Experiment I take Notice of here; because (besides +the Illustration it gives to Respiration) that great _Genius_ seems to +have had a truer Notion of this _Phænomenon_, than was very common then, +_viz._ about the Year 1677 or 78; as also, because I have in some Authors +met with the same Experiment, without mention of Dr. _Wills_, whose I +take it to have been. + +Another Use of great Consideration, the already commended Dr. _Cheyne_ +assigns; namely, to form the elastick Globules of which the Blood +principally consists, without which there would be a general Obstruction +in all the capillary Arteries. _Cheyne_’s _Phil. Prin. of Nat. Rel._ or +_Harris_’s _Lex. Tech. in Lungs._ + +[b] _Gen._ ii. 7. vi. 17. _and_ vii. 15. + +[c] Because it would be endless to specify the curious Mechanism of all +the Parts, concurring to the Formation of the Voice; I shall therefore +for a Sample note only two Things, 1. There are thirteen Muscles provided +for the Motion of the five Cartilages of the _Larynx_, _Gibs. Anat. l. 2. +c. 14_, a Sign of the careful and elaborate Provision that is made for +the Voice. 2. It is a prodigious Faculty of the _Glottis_, in contracting +and dilating itself with such Exquisiteness, as to form all Notes. For +(as the ingenious Dr. _Keil_ saith) _supposing the greatest Distance +of the two Sides of the ~Glottis~, to be one tenth Part of an Inch in +sounding 12 Notes, (to which the Voice easily reaches;) this Line must +be divided into 12 Parts, each of which gives the Aperture requisite for +such a Note, with a certain Strength. But if we consider the Sub-division +of Notes, into which the Voice can run, the Motion of the Sides of the +~Glottis~ is still vastly nicer. For if two Chords sounding exactly +Unisons, one be shortened, ⅟₂₀₀₀ Part of its Length, a just Ear will +perceive the Disagreement, and a good Voice will sound the Difference, +which is ⅟₁₉₆ Part of a Note. But suppose the Voice can divide a Note +into 100 Parts, it follows that the different Apertures of the ~Glottis~ +actually divide the tenth Part of an Inch into 1200 Parts, the Effect +of each of which produces a sensible Alteration upon a good Ear. But +because each Side of the ~Glottis~ moves just equally, therefore the +Divisions are just double, or the Sides of the ~Glottis~, by their Motion +do actually divide one tenth Part of an Inch into 2400 Parts._ _Keil_’s +Anat. c. 3. Sect. 7. + +[d] Among the Instruments of Speech, the Tongue is a necessary one; and +so necessary, that it is generally thought no Speech can be without it. +But in the third Tome of the _Ephem. Germ._ is published, _Jac. Rolandi +Aglossostomographia, sive Descriptio Oris sine Linguâ, quod perfecte +loquitur, & reliquas suas functiones naturalitèr exercet._ The Person +described is one _Pet. Durand_, a _French_ Boy of eight or nine Years +old, who at five or six lost his Tongue by a _Gangrene_, occasioned the +Small-Pox. Notwithstanding which, he could (as the Title saith) speak +perfectly, as also taste, spit, swallow, and chew his Food; but this +latter he could do only on that Side he put it into, not being able to +turn it to the other Side his Mouth. + +In the same Tract, _Chap. 6._ is this Observation of _ventriloquous_ +Persons, _Memini me à quodam sat celebri Anatomico audivisse, dum de +duplicaturâ Mediastini ageret, si Membrana ista duplex naturalitèr +unita in duas partes dividatur, loquelam quasi ex pectore procedere, ut +circumstantes credant Dæmoniacum hunc, aut Sternomythum._ + +[e] _The Variation of the Wind-pipe is observable in every Creature, +according as it is necessary for that of the Voice. In an ~Urchin~, which +hath a very small Voice, ’tis hardly more than membranous. And in a +~Pigeon~, which hath a low and soft Note, ’tis partly cartilaginous, and +partly membranous. In an ~Owl~, which hath a good audible Note, ’tis +more cartilaginous; but that of a ~Jay~, hath hard Bones instead of +Cartilages; and so of a ~Linnet~: Whereby they have both of them a louder +and stronger Note, ~&c.~_ + +_The Rings of the Wind-pipe are fitted for the Modulation of the Voice: +For in ~Dogs~ and ~Cats~, which in the Expression of divers Passions use +a great many Notes, (as Men do,) they are open and flexible, as in Man. +Whereby all, or any of them are dilated, or contracted, more or less, as +is convenient for a higher or deeper Note, ~&c.~ whereas in some other +Animals, as in the ~Japan-Peacock~, which useth hardly more than one +single Note, they are entire, ~&c.~_ _Grew_’s Cosmolog. Sacr. _Book I. +Chap. 5. §. 9, 10._ + +[f] It is a farther manifest Indication of singular Design in the +cartilaginous Rings of the _aspera Arteria_, that all the Way where they +are contiguous to the _Oesophagus_, they are membranous, to afford an +easie Passage to the Food; but after that, in the _Bronchi_; they are, +some compleatly annular, some triangular, _&c._ And another observable +is, the lower Parts of the superior Cartilages, receive the upper Parts +of the inferior, in the _Bronchi_; whereas in the _aspera Arteria_, the +Cartilages run and remain parallel to one another; which is a noble +Difference or Mechanism in this (in a Manner) one and the same Part, +enabling the Lungs and _Bronchi_ to contract themselves in Expiration, +and to extend and dilate themselves in Inspiration. + +[g] I shall not here intrench so much upon the Anatomist’s Province, to +give a Description of the _Lungs_, although it be a curious Piece of +God’s Workmanship; but refer to Seignior _Malpighi_, the first Discoverer +of their _Vesiculæ_ in 1660, in his two Letters to _Borelli de Pulmon_. +Also to Dr. _Willis_’s _Pharm. Rat._ p. 2. S. 1. c. 1. _de Respir. +Orig. & Us._ who as he wrote after _Malpighi_, so hath more accurately +described those parts; and to Mr. _Cowper_’s _Anat._ Tab. 24, 25. And +if the Reader hath a Mind to see what Opposition Seignior _Malpighi_’s +Discoveries met with at Home and Abroad, and what Controversies he had +on that Account, as also his Censures of Dr. _Willis_’s Descriptions and +Figures, he may consult _Malpighi_’s Life written by himself, _pag. 4 to +21_. + +That the _Lungs_ consist of _Vesiculæ_, or _Lobuli_ of _Vesiculæ_ +admitting of Air from the _Bronchi_, is visible, because they may be +blown up, cleansed of Blood, and so dried. But Mr. _Cowper_ saith, he +could never part the _Lobuli_, (so as to make Dr. _Willis_’s _Fig. +1. Tab. 3. & 4._) so that probably the _Vesiculæ_ are contiguous to +one another throughout each Lobe of the Lungs. And not only Air; but +_Diemerbroeck_ proves, that the _Vesiculæ_ admit of Dust also, from two +asthmatick Persons he opened; one a Stonecutter’s Man, the _Vesiculæ_ of +whose Lungs were so stuffed with Dust, that in cutting, his Knife went as +if through an Heap of Sand; the other was a Feather-driver, who had these +Bladders filled with the fine Dust or Down of Feathers. + +[h] There is a considerable Difference between Dr. _Willis_, and +_Etmuller_, _viz._ Whether the _Vesiculæ_ of the Lungs have any muscular +Fibres or not? _Etmuller_ expressly saith, _Nullas Fibras musculosas, +multo minùs rubicundam Musculorum compagem (sunt enim Vesiculæ albidæ & +fere diaphanæ) in ipsis reperiri._ ubi supr. c. 6. §. 2. And afterwards, +§. 3. _Pulmones esse molles flexilesque musculosis fibris ceu propriæ +explicationis organis destitutos._ But Dr. _Willis_ as expressly alerts +they have musculous Fibres, and assigns an excellent Use of them; +_Cellulæ istæ vesiculares, ut nixus pro expiratione contractivos edant, +etiam fibras, utì per Microscopium planè conspicere est, musculares +obtinent_, ubi supr. §. 16. And in the next §, _Ut pro datâ occasione +majorem aëris copiam exsufflent, aut materiam extussiendam ejiciant, +fibris muscularibus donatæ, sese arctiùs contrahunt, contentaque sua +penitùs exterminant. Et enim ordinariæ pectoris Systolæ, quas musculorum +relaxationes ex parte efficiunt, aërem forsan totum à Tracheâ & +Bronchiis, haud tamen à Vesiculis, quâque vice ejiciunt: propter has +(quoties opus erit) inaniendas, & totius Pectoris cavitas plurimùm +angustatur, & cellulæ ipsæ vesiculures à propriis fibris constrictis +coarctantur._ + +[i] _Circa hos motus [Scil. Pectoris dilatationem, &c.] divini Conditoris +mechanicen, ad regulas Mathematicas planè adaptaram, satis admirari non +possumus; siquidem nullâ aliâ in re manifestùs Ὁ Θεὸς γεωμετρεῖν videtur. +Quippe cùm pectoris, tum ampliato, tum coarctatio à quibusdam Musculis +(quorum munus unicum est contrahere) perfici debeat; res ita instituitur, +ut Costæ quæ thoracis, volut parallelogrammi oblongi versus cylindrum +incurvati, latera efformant, in figuram modò quadratam, cum angulis +rectis, pro pectoris ampliatione; modò in rhomboeidem, cum angulis acutis +pro ejusdem contractione, ducantur, ~&c.~_ Willis, _ubi supr._ §. 28. + +_Galen_ having spoken of the Parts ministring to Respiration, concludeth, +_Nihil usquam à Naturâ ullo pacto per incuriam, fuisse præteritum, +qua cùm omnia præsentiret & provideret, quæ sunt necessaria illa, quæ +causa alicujus extiterunt, confecutura, omnibus instaurationes parare +occupavit, cujus apparatus copiosa facultas admirabilem Sapientiam +testantur._ De us. part. l. 5. c. 15. See also _l. 6. c. 1._ + +[k] For the Structure of the _Intercostals_, _Midriff_, &c. I shall +refer to Dr. _Willis_, and other Anatomists. Bur Dr. _Drake_ taxeth Dr. +_Willis_ with an Error in fancying there is an Opposition in the Office +of the _Intercostals_, by reason that the Fibres of the _external_ and +_internal Intercostals_ decussate; that therefore the _external_ serve +to raise the Ribs, the _internal_ to draw them down. But Dr. _Drake_ +is of _Steno_’s, and Dr. _Mayow_’s Opinion, that notwithstanding the +Decussation of their Fibres, the Power they exert upon, and the Motion +they effect in the Ribs, is one and the same. _Drake_’s _Anat._ l. 2. c. +7. and l. 4. c. 5. _Mayow de Respir._ c. 7. + +[l] Although Dr. _Drake_ and some others deny the _Intercostals_ being +Antagonist-Muscles, as in the preceding Note, yet they, and most other +Anatomists that I have met with, attribute a considerable Power to them +in the act of Respiration, as they do also to the _Subclavian_ and +_Triangular Muscles_: but the learned _Etmuller_ denies it for these +three Reasons, _1. Quia respirando nullam in illis contractionem sentio. +2. Quia——sibi invicem non adducuntur, ~&c.~ 3. Quia Costæ omnes ab aliis +modò enarratis musculis moventur, idque simul, ~&c.~ Intercostales +itaque, necnon Subclavios Musculos Costis, parietum instar, ad complenda +interstitia intercostalia, pectusque integrandum, ac Costas connectendas, +intertectos esse, probabiliter concludo; quo munere triangulares +etiam——fungi, rationi consentaneum est._ Etmul. Dissert. 2. cap. 4. §. 6. + +But as to the Use of the _Triangular Muscle_ in Respiration, we may +judge of it, from its remarkable Size, and Use in a Dog; of which Dr. +_Willis_ gives this Account from _Fallopius_: _In Homine parvus adeò & +subtilis iste ~[Musculus]~ est, ut vix pro Musculo accipi queat: in Cane +per totum os pectoris protenditur, & cartilagines omnes, etiam verarum +Costarum sterno inosculatas, occupat: Cujus discriminis ratio divinam +circa Animalium fabricas Providentiam planè indigitat. Quippe cùm hoc +animal, ad cursus velocissimos & diu continuandos natum, quo sanguis, dum +intensiùs agitatur, ritè accendatur eventileturque, aërem celerrimè & +fortiter uti inspirare, ita etiam exspirare debet——idcirco propter hunc +actum firmiùs obeundum (cujus in Homine haud magnus est usus) musculus +caninas molem ingentem & tanto operi parem fortitur._ Willis _ubi supr._ +§. 32. + +[m] _Ray_’s Wisdom of God in the Creation, p. 343. + +[n] Mr. _Cheselden_, an ingenious and most accurate Anatomist, having +somewhat particular in his Observations about the Circulation of the +Blood through the Heart of the _Fœtus_, I shall present the Reader with +some of his Observations, which he favoured me with the Sight of. _The +Blood_ (saith he) _which is brought to the Heart by the ascending Cava, +passes out of the right Auricle into the left, through a Passage called +~Foramen Ovale~, in the ~Septum~ ~[common to them both]~ without passing +through the right Ventricle (as after the Birth) while the Blood from +the descending Cava passeth through the right Auricle and Ventricle into +the pulmonary Artery, and thence into the ~Aorta~ through the Duct, +betwixt that and the pulmonary Artery, called ~Ductus Arteriosus~, whilst +a small Portion of the Blood, thrown into the pulmonary Artery passeth +through the Lungs, no more than is sufficient to keep open the pulmonary +Vessels. Thus both Ventricles are employed in driving the Blood through +the ~Aorta~ to all Parts of the ~Fœtus~, and to the Mother too. But after +the Birth, the Blood being to be driven from the ~Aorta~ through the +~Fœtus~ alone, and not the Mother too, one Ventricle becomes sufficient, +whilst the other is employed in driving the Blood through the Lungs, +the ~Ductus Arteriosus~ being shut up by means of the Alteration of its +Position, which happens to it from the raising the ~Aorta~ by the Lungs +when they become inflated. After that the Blood is thus driven into the +Lungs, in its return it shuts the ~Valve~ of the ~Foramen Ovale~ against +the ~Foramen~ it self, to whose Sides it soon adheres, and so stops up +the Passage. The ~Ductus Arteriosus~, or ~Ductus Arteriosus in Ligamentum +versus~, is seldom to be discerned in adult Bodies, but the Figure of the +Foramen ~Ovale~ is never obliterated._ + +[o] It hath been generally thought to be not improbable, but that on some +Occasions the _Foramen Ovale_ may remain open in Man. In a Girl of four +or five Years of Age, Dr. _Connor_ found it but half closed, and in the +Form of a Crescent. And he thinks somewhat of this kind might be in the +Person whose Skeleton was found to have no Joynts in the Back-Bone, Ribs, +_&c._ Of which a Description, with Cuts, may be found in _Phil. Trans._ +Nᵒ. 215. and more largely in his _Dissert. Med. Phys. de stupendo Ossium +coalitu_, where he adds to the Girl, in whom the _For. Ov._ was not shut, +a like Observation of another Girl he opened at _Oxford_ of three Years +Old, _In quâ Foramen Ovals ferè erat occlusum, in medio tamen, exili +foramine, per quod Turundam facilè transmisi, erat pervium_, pag. 30. So +Mr. _Cowper_ (than whom none more accurate and a better Judge) saith, _I +have often found the ~Foramen Ovale~ open in the Adult._ Anat. Append. +Fig. 3. But Mr. _Cheselden_ is of a different Opinion. Of which in the +following Note. + +From somewhat of this Cause I am apt to think it was that the +_Tronningholm Gardiner_ escaped drowning, and some others mentioned +by _Pechlin_. His Stories are, _Hortulanus Tronningholmensis etiamnum +vivens, annos natos 65, pro illâ ætate satis adhuc valens & vegetus, cùm +ante 18 annos, alii in aquas delapso opem ferre vellet, forte fortunâ & +ipse per glaciem incautiùs procedens, aquas incidet 18 ulnas profundas: +ubi ille, corpore erecto quasi ad perpendiculum, pedibus fundo adhæsit. +Constitit sic per 16 horas, antequàm produceretur in auras. Dixit autem, +simul ac infra aquarum superficiem fuit demersus, statim obriguisse +totum, &, si quem tum habuit motum & sensum, amisisse, nisi quod sonantes +Stockolmii campanas etiam sub aquis obscuriùs percipere sibi sit visus. +Sensit etiam, statim sese velut vesiculam ori applicâsse, adeò ut aqua +nulla os penetraverit, in aures verò transitum, etiam sentiente illo, +habuerit; atque inde auditum suum debilitatum aliquandiu esse. Hoc statu +dum 16 horas permansit frustrà quæsitus, tandem repertum, conto in +caput infixo, cujus etiam sensum se habuisse dixit, fundo extraxerunt, +sperantes ex more aut persuasione gentis revicturum esse. Itaque pannis +linteisque productum obvolvunt, ne aër admitti possit perniciosus +futurus subito illapsu: custoditum sic satis ab aëre sensim sensimque +tepidiori loco admovent mox calidis adoriuntur fasciis, fricant, radunt, +& sufflaminatum tot horis sanguinis corporisque motum negotiosâ illâ +operâ reducunt: denique antapoplecticis & genialibus liquoribus vitæ +reddunt & pristinæ mobilitati. Retulit is atque ostendit se etiamnum in +capite circumferre vestigia violentiæ à conto illatæ, & cephalalgiis +vexari gravissimis. Et propter hunc ipsum casum, religiosè à popularibus, +& hujusce rei testibus probatum, Serenissimæ Reginæ matris munificentiâ +& annuo stipendio est donatus——& Serenis. Principi——oblatus, vivus sui +testis——Consignatam manu habes Historiam D. Tilasii, Biblioth. Reg. +Præfecti, qui testatus est se prænovisse mulierem, quæ tres ipsos dies +sub aquis hæsit, & similem in modum, quo Hortulanus ille, resuscitata, +adhuc dum lucis plenâ fruitur usurâ. Accedit Nob. Burmanni——fides. +qui confessus est,——se in pago ~Boness~ parochiæ ~Pithoviæ~ concionem +frequentâsse funebrem, in quâ, dum acta recenseret Præco Senis cujusdam +septuagenarii Laur. Jonæ——audiverit ex ore Concionatoris, vivum eum, +adolescentum 17 annorum, aquis submersum, 7 demum hebdomadâ (rem +prodigiosam!) extractum ad se rediisse vivum & incolumem._ Pechlin. de +Aer. & Alim. def. c. 10. + +Shall we to this Cause, or to the Ossification, or more than ordinary +Strength of the Wind-Pipe, attribute the Recovery to Life of Persons +hanged? Of which _Pechlin_ gives an Instance that fell under his own +Knowledge, of a Woman hanged, and in all Appearance dead, but recovered +by a Physician accidentally coming in, with a plentiful Administration +of _Spir. Sal. Armon. Pechl. ib._ c. 7. And the Story of _Anne Green_, +executed at _Oxford_, _Dec. 14. 1650._ is still well remembered among the +Seniors there. _She was hanged by the Neck near half an Hour, some of +her Friends in the mean Time thumping her on the Breast, others hanging +with all their Weight upon her Legs, sometimes lifting her up, and then +pulling her down again with a sudden Jirk, thereby the sooner to dispatch +her out of her Pain_: as her printed Account wordeth it. After she was in +her Coffin, being observed to breath, a lusty Fellow stamped with all his +Force on her Breast and Stomach, to put her out of her Pain. But by the +assistance of Dr _Peity_, Dr. _Willis_, Dr. _Bathurst_, and Dr. _Clark_, +she was again brought to Life. I my self saw her many Years after, after +that she had (I heard) born divers Children. The Particulars of her +Crime, Execution and Restauration, see in a little Pamphlet, called _News +from the Dead_, written, as I have been informed, by Dr. _Bathurst_, +(afterwards the most vigilant and learned President of _Trinity-College, +Oxon_,) and published in 1651. with Verses upon the Occasion. + +[p] The Sea-Calf hath the _Foramen Ovale_, by which means it is enabled +to stay long under the Water, as the _Paris. Anatomists_. Of which see in +_Book VI. Chap. 5. Note (c)._ + +But the fore-commended Mr. _Cheselden_ thinks the _Foramen Ovale_ is +neither open in amphibious Creatures, nor any adult Land-Animals. _When +I first_ (saith he) _applied my self to the Dissection of Human Bodies, +I had no distrust of the frequent Accounts of the ~Foramen Ovale~ being +open in Adults: but I find since, that I mistook the ~Ostium Venarum +Coronariarum~ for the ~Foramen~. The like I suppose Authors have done, +who assert that it is always open in amphibious Animals: for we have made +diligent Enquiry into those Animals, and never found it open. Neither +would that (as they imagine) serve these Creatures to live under Water, +as the ~Fœtus~ doth in ~Utero~, unless the ~Ductus Arteriosus~ was open +also._ + +This Opinion of Mr. _Cheselden_ hath this to render it probable, that +the _Ostium Venarum Coronariarum_ is so near the _Foramen Ovale_, that +without due regard, it may be easily mistaken for it. Such therefore as +have Opportunity of examining this Part in amphibious Animals, or any +other Subject, ought to seek for the _Ostium_, whenever they suspect they +have met with the _Foramen_. + +[q] Of the singular Conformation of the Heart and Lungs of the +_Tortoise_, which is an amphibious Animal. See _Book VI. Chap. 5. Note +(b)._ + +[r] _Acts_ xvii. 25. + + + + +CHAP. VIII. + +_Of the Motion of Animals._ + + +Next to the two grand Acts of animal Life, their Sense or Respiration, +I shall consider their _Motion_, or _locomotive Faculty_; whereby they +convey themselves from Place to Place, according to their Occasions, +and Way of Life: And the admirable Apparatus to this Purpose, is a +plain Demonstration of God’s particular Foresight, Care, and especial +Providence towards all the animal World. + +And here I might view in the first Place the Muscles, their curious +Structure[a], the nice tacking them to every Joynt, to pull it this +Way, and that Way, and the other Way, according to the special Purpose, +Design, and Office of every such Joint: Also their various Size and +Strength; some large and corpulent, others less, and some scarce visible +to the naked Eye; all exactly fitted to every Place, and every use of +the Body. And lastly, I might take Notice of the muscular Motions, both +involuntary and spontaneous[b]. + +Next, I might survey the special Fabrick of the Bones[c], ministring +to animal Motion. Next, I might take notice of the Joynts[d], their +compleat Form adjusted to the Place, and Office they are employed in; +their Bandage, keeping them from Luxations; the oily Matter[e] to +lubricate them, and their own Smoothness to facilitate their Motion. + +And lastly, I might trace the various Nerves throughout the Body; +sent about to minister to its various Motions[f]. I might consider +their Origine[g], their Ramifications to the several Parts, and their +Inosculations with one another, according to the Harmony and Accord of +one Part with another, necessary for the Benefit of the Animal. But some +of those Things I have given some Touches upon already, and more I shall +mention hereafter[h], and it would be tedious here to insist upon them +all. + +I shall therefore only speak distinctly to the Locomotive Act it self, or +what directly relates to it. + +And here it is admirable to consider the various Methods of Nature[i], +suited to the Occasions of various Animals. In some their Motion is +swift, in others slow. In some performed with two, four, or more Legs: in +some with two, or four Wings: in some with neither[k]. + +And first for swift or slow Motion. This we find is proportional to the +Occasions of each respective Animal. _Reptiles_, whose Food, Habitation, +and Nests, lie in the next Clod, Plant, Tree, or Hole, or can bear +long Hunger and Hardship, they need neither Legs nor Wings for their +Transportation; but their vermicular or sinuous Motion (performed with +no less Art, and as curiously provided for as the Legs or Wings of other +Creatures: This, I say,) is sufficient for their Conveyance. + +_Man_ and _Beasts_, whose Occasions require a large Room, have +accordingly a swifter Motion, with proper Engines for that Service; +answerable to their Range for Food, their Occupation of Business, or +their want of Armature, and to secure them against Harms[l]. + +But for the winged Creatures (Birds and Insects,) as they are to traverse +large Tracts of Land and Water, for their Food, for their commodious +Habitation, or Breeding their Young, to find Places of Retreat and +Security from Mischiefs; so they have accordingly the Faculty of flying +in the Air; and that swiftly or slowly, a long or short a Time, according +to their Occasions and Way of Life. And accordingly their Wings, and +whole Body, are curiously prepared for such a Motion; as I intend to shew +in a proper Place[m]. + +Another remarkable Thing in the motive Faculty of all Creatures, is the +neat, geometrical Performance of it. The most accurate Mathematician, the +most skilful in mechanick Motions, can’t prescribe a nicer Motion (than +what they perform) to the Legs and Wings of those that walk or fly[n], +or to the Bodies of those that creep[o]. Neither can the Body be more +compleatly poised for the Motion it is to have in every Creature, than +it already actually is. From the largest Elephant, to the smallest Mite, +we find the Body artfully balanced[p]. The Head not too heavy, nor too +light for the rest of the Body, nor the rest of the Body for it[q]. The +_Viscera_ are not let loose, or so placed, as to swag, over-balance, +or over-set the Body; but well-braced, and distributed to maintain the +æquipoise of the Body. The motive Parts also are admirably well fixed +in respect to the Center of Gravity; placed in the very Point, fittest +to support and convey the Body. Every Leg beareth his true Share of the +Body’s Weight. And the Wings so nicely are set to the Center of Gravity, +as even in that fluid _Medium_, the Air, the Body is as truly balanced, +as we could have balanced it with the nicest Scales. + +But among all Creatures, none more elegant than the sizing the Body of +_Man_, the gauging his Body so nicely, as to be able to stand erect, to +stoop, to sit, and indeed to move any way, only with the Help of so small +a Stay as the Feet[r]: whose Mechanism of Bones, Tendons and Muscles to +this purpose, is very curious and admirable. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] That the Muscles are compounded of Fibres, is visible enough. Which +Fibres, the curious and ingenious _Borelli_ saith, are cylindraceous; not +hollow, but filled with a spungy, pithy Substance, after the manner of +Elder, as he discovered by his Microscopes. _Borel. de Mot. Animal._ Part +1. These Fibres, he saith, are naturally white; but derive their Redness +only from the Blood in them. + +These Fibres do in every Muscle, (in the Belly at least of the Muscle,) +run parallel to one another, in a neat orderly Form. But they do not +at all tend the same Way, but some run aslant, some longways, _&c._ +according to the Action or Position of each respective Muscle. The +Particulars of which, and of divers other Observables in the Muscles, +would, besides Figures, take up too much room in these Notes; and +therefore I must refer to the Anatomists, particularly _Steno_, +_Borelli_, _Cowper_, &c. + +[b] The infinite Creator hath generally exerted his Art and Care, in +the Provision made by proper Muscles and Nerves, for all the different +Motions in animal Bodies, both involuntary, and voluntary. It is a noble +Providence that most of the vital Motions, such as of the Heart, Stomach, +Guts, _&c._ are involuntary, the Muscles acting whether we sleep or wake, +whether we will or no. And it is no less providential that some, even +of the vital Motions, are partly voluntary, partly involuntary, as that +for Instance, of Breathing, which is performed both sleeping and waking; +but can be intermitted for a short Time on occasion, as for accurate +hearing any Thing, _&c._ or can be encreased by a stronger Blast, to make +the greater Discharges of the Blood from the Lungs, when that any Thing +overcharges them. And as for the other Motions of the Body, as of the +Limbs, and such as are voluntary, it is a no less Providence, that they +are absolutely under the Power of the Will; so as that the Animal hath it +in his Power to command the Muscles and Spirits of any part of its Body, +to perform such Motions and Actions as it hath Occasion for. + +[c] _Quid dicam de Ossibus? quæ subjecta corpori mirabiles commissuras +habent, & ad stabilitatem aptas, & ad artus finiendos accommodatas, & ad +motum, & ad omnem corporis actionem._ Cicer. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 55. + +By Reason it would be endless to mention all the Curiosities observable +in the Bones, I shall for a Sample, single out only an Instance or two, +to manifest that Design was used in the Structure of these Parts in Man. + +The first shall be in the _Back-Bone_, which (among many others) hath +these two Things remarkable. 1. Its different Articulations from the +other Joynts of the Body. For here most of the Joynts are flat, and +withal guarded with Asperities and Hollows, made for catching and +holding; so as firmly to lock and keep the Joynts from Luxations, but +withal to afford them such a Motion, as is necessary for the Incurvations +of the Body. 2. The difference of its own Joynts in the Neck, Back +and Loins. In the Neck, the _Atlas_, or upper _Vertebra_, as also the +_Dentata_, are curiously made, and joynted (differently from the rest) +for the commodious and easie bending and turning the Head every way. In +the _Thorax_, or Back, the Joynts are more close and firm; and in the +Loins, more lax and pliant; as also the Spines are different, and the +Knobs and Sockets turned the quite contrary way, to answer the Occasions +the Body hath to bend more there, than higher in the Back. I shall close +this Remark with the ingenious Dr. _Keil_’s Observation. + +_The Structure of the ~Spine~ is the very best that can be contrived; for +had it been all Bone, we could have had no Motion in our Backs; had it +been of two or three Bones articulated for Motion, the ~Medulla Spinalis~ +must have been necessarily bruised at every Angle or Joynt; besides, +the whole would not have been so pliable for the several Postures we +have occasion to put our selves in. If it had been made of several Bones +without intervening Cartilages, we should have had no more Use of it, +than if it had been but one Bone. If each ~Vertebra~ had had its own +distinct Cartilages, it might have been easily ~dislocated~. And lastly, +The oblique Processes of each superior and inferior ~Vertebra~, keep +the middle one that it can neither be thrust backwards nor forwards to +compress the ~Medulla Spinalis~._ _Keil_’s _Anat._ c. 5. §. 8. + +Compare here what _Galen_ saith of the Articulations, Ligaments, +Perforation, _&c._ of the _Spine_, to prove the Wisdom and Providence of +the Maker of animal Bodies, against such as found fault with Nature’s +Works; among which he names _Diagoras_, _Anaxagoras_, _Asclepiades_ and +_Epicurus_. _V._ _Galen. de Us. Part. L. 12. init._ and _Chap. 11_, _&c._ +also _L. 13. init._ + +2. The next Instance shall be in one or two Things, wherein the Skeletons +of Sexes differ. Thus the _Pelvis_ made in the Belly by the _Ilium_, +_Ossa Coxendicis_ and _Pubis_, is larger in a Female than Male Skeleton, +that there may be more room for the lying of the _Viscera_ and _Fœtus_. +So the Cartilage bracing together the two _Ossa Pubis_, or _Sharebones_, +_Bartholine_ saith, is twice thicker and laxer in Women than Men: As also +is the Cartilage that tieth the _Os Sacrum_ to its _Vertebra_; and all to +give way to the Passage of the _Fœtus_. + +Another considerable Difference is in the cartilaginous Production of the +seven long Ribs, whereby they are braced to the Breast-Bone. These are +harder and firmer in Women than in Men; the better to support the Weight +of the Breasts, the sucking Infant, _&c._ + +[d] It is remarkable in the Joynts, and a manifest Act of Caution and +Design, 1. That altho’ the Motion of the Limbs be circular, yet the +Center of that Motion is not in a Point, but an ample Superficies. In +a Point, the Bones would wear and penetrate one another; the Joynts +would be exceedingly weak, _&c._ but the Joynts consisting of two large +Superficies, Concave and Convex, some furrowed and ridged, some like a +Ball and Socket, and all lubricated with an oily Substance, they are +incomparably prepared both for Motion and Strength. 2. That the Bones +next the Joynt are not spungy, as their Extremities commonly are, nor +hard and brittle, but capped with a strong, tough, smooth, cartilaginous +Substance, serving both to Strength and Motion. + +But let us here take notice of what _Galen_ mentions on this Subject. +_Articulorum unusquisque Eminentiam Cavitati immissam habet: Veruntamen +hoc fortasse non adeò mirabile est: Sed si, consideratâ omnium totius +corporis ossium mutuâ connexione, Eminentias cavitatibus suscipientibus +æquales semper inveneris; Hoc mirabile. Si enim justo amplior esset +Cavitas, laxus sanè & infirmus fieret Articulus; si strictior, motus +difficulter fieret, ut qui nullam versionem haberet; ac periculum esset +non parvum, eminintias ossium arctatas frangi: sed horum neutrum factum +est.——Sed quoniam ex tam securâ constructione periculum erat, nè motiones +difficiliùs fierent, & eminentiæ ossium extererentur, duplex rursus +auxilium in id Natura molita est. 1. Cartilagine os utrumque subungens, +atque oblinens: alterum, ipsis Cartilaginibus humorem unctuosum, velut +oleum, superfundens; per quem facilè mobilis, & attritu contumax omnis +articulatio Ossium facta est.——Ut undique diligenter Articulus omnis +custodiretur, Ligamenta quædam ex utroque osse produxit Natura._ Galen de +Us. Part. l. 1. c. 15. + +[e] For the affording this oily or mucilaginous Matter, there are +_Glandules_ very commodiously placed near the Joynts, so as not to suffer +too great Compression by the Motion of the neighbouring Bones, and yet +to receive a due Pressure, so as to cause a sufficient Emission of the +Mucilage into the Joynts. Also another Thing considerable is, that the +excretory Ducts of the _mucilaginous Glands_ have some Length in their +Passage from the Glands to their Mouths; which is a good Contrivance, to +prevent their Mouths being oppressed by the Mucilage, as also to hinder +the too plentiful Effusion thereof, but yet to afford a due Expressure +of it at all Times, and on all Occasions, as particularly in violent +and long-continued Motions of the Joynts, when there is a greater than +ordinary Expence of it. See _Cowper_’s _Anat. Tab._ 79. + +[f] There is no doubt to be made, but that the Muscles receive their +Motion from the Nerves. For if a Nerve be cut, or straightly bound, that +goes to any Muscle, that Muscle shall immediately lose its Motion. Which +is doubtless the case of Paralyticks; whose Nerves are some of them by +Obstructions, or such like Means, reduced to the same State as if cut or +bound. + +And this also is the cause of that _Numness_ or _Sleepiness_ we find +oftentimes, by long sitting or lying on any Part. + +Neither is this a modern Notion only: For _Galen_ saith, _Principium +Nervorum omnium Cerebrum est, & spinalis Medulla.——Et Nervi à Cerebro +animalem virtutem accipiunt——Nervorum utilitas est facultatem Sensûs & +Motûs à principio in partes diducere._ And this he intimates to have been +the Opinion of _Hippocrates_ and _Plato_. De Us. Part. l. 1. c. 16. _& +passim_. + +[g] Dr. _Willis_ thinks, that in the _Brain_ the Spirits are elaborated +that minister to voluntary Motion; but in the _Cerebellum_, such as +effect involuntary, or natural Motions; such as that of the Heart, the +Lungs, _&c._ _Cerebri Anat._ c. 15. + +[h] See _Book V. Chap. 8._ + +[i] To the foregoing, I shall briefly add some Examples of the special +Provision made for the Motion of some Animals by _Temporary Parts_. +_Frogs_ and _Toads_, in their _Tadpole-state_, have Tails, which fall off +when their Legs are grown out. The _Lacerta aquatica_, or _Water-Newt_, +when Young, hath four neat ramified Fins, two on a Side, growing out a +little above its Fore-Legs, to poise and keep its Body upright, (which +gives it the Resemblance of a young Fish,) which fall off when the Legs +are grown. And the _Nymphæ_ and _Aureliæ_, of all or most of the Insects +bred in the Waters, as they have particular Forms, different from the +Insects they produce; so have also peculiar Parts afforded them for their +Motion in the Waters: Oars, Tails, and every Part adapted to the Waters, +which are utterly varied in the Insects themselves, in their mature State +in the Air. + +[k] _Jam verò alia animalia gradiendo, alia serpendo ad pastum accedunt, +alia volando, alia nando._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 47. + +Compare also what _Galen_ excellently observes concerning the Number of +Feet in Man, and in other Animals; and the wise Provision thereby made +for the Use and Benefit of the respective Animals. _De Us. Part._ in the +beginning of the third Book. + +[l] As I shall hereafter shew, that the indulgent Creator hath +abundantly provided for the Safety of Animals by their Cloathing, +Habitations, Sagacity and Instruments of Defence; so there appears to be +a Contemperament of their _Motion_ with these Provisions. They that are +well armed and guarded, have commonly a slower Motion; whereas they that +are destitute thereof, are swifter. So also timid helpless Animals are +commonly swift; thus Deer and Hares: But Animals endowed with Courage, +Craft, Arms, _&c._ commonly have a slower Motion. + +[m] See _Book VII. Chap. 1._ + +[n] See _Book VII. Chap. 1._ the end. + +[o] See _Book IX. Chap. 1. Note (c)._ + +[p] _Siquis unquam alius Opifex, æqualitatis & proportionis magnam habuit +providentiam, certè Natura habuit in animalium corporibus conformandis; +unde Hippocrates eam rectissimè justam nominat._ Galen. de Us. Part. l. +2. c. 16. + +[q] The Make of the Bodies of some Water-fowl, seems to contradict what +I here say, the Heads and long Necks of some, as of Swans, Ducks and +Geese; and the hinder Parts of others, as of the Doucker and More-hen, +and some other Kinds, seeming to be too heavy for the rest of their Body. +But instead of being an Argument against, it is a notable Instance of, +the divine Art and Providence, these Things being nice Accommodations to +their way of Life. Of such as have long Necks, see _Book VII. Chap. 2. +Note (i)._ + +And as for such whose hinder Parts seem to over-balance their foremost +Parts, whereby they fly with their Bodies in a manner erect, this also is +an excellent Accommodation to their way of Life, which is Diving rather +than Flying. _Vid._ _Book VII. Chap. 4. Note (k)._ + +[r] See _Book V. Chap. 2. Note (h)._ + + + + +CHAP. IX. + +_Of the Place allotted to the several Tribes of Animals._ + + +Having dispatched the Motion of Animals, let us in the next Place +consider the _Place_ which the infinitely wise Creator hath appointed +them to move and act, and perform the Offices of the Creation in. And +here we find every Particular well ordered. All Parts of our Terraqueous +Globe fit for an Animal to live and act in, are sufficiently stocked +with proper Inhabitants: The watery Element (unfit, one would think, +for Respiration and Life) abounding with Creatures fitted for it; its +Bowels abundantly stored, and its Surface well bespread. The Earth also +is plentifully stocked in all its Parts, where Animals can be of any +Use; not probably the deepest Bowels thereof indeed, being Parts in all +likelihood unfit for Habitation and Action, and where a living Creature +would be useless in the World; but the Surface every where abundantly +stored. + +But that which is most considerable in this Matter, and plainly sheweth +the divine Management in the Case, is, that those Creatures are +manifestly designed for the Place in which they are, and the Use and +Services they perform therein. If all the Animals of our Globe had been +made by Chance, or placed by Chance, or without the divine Providence, +their Organs would have been otherwise than they are, and their Place +and Residence confused and jumbled. Their Organs (for Instance) of +Respiration, of Vision, and of Motion, would have fitted any _Medium_, or +have needed none; their Stomachs would have served any Food, and their +Blood, and Covering of their Bodies been made for any Clime, or only one +Clime. Consequently all the Animal World would have been in a confused, +inconvenient, and disorderly Commixture. One Animal would have wanted +Food, another Habitation, and most of them Safety. They would have all +flocked to one, or a few Places, taken up their Rest in the Temperate +Zones only, and coveted one Food, the easiest to be come at, and most +specious in shew; and so would have poisoned, starved, or greatly +incommoded one another. Bur as the Matter is now ordered, the Globe is +equally bespread, so that no Place wanteth proper Inhabitants, nor any +Creature is destitute of a proper Place, and all Things necessary to its +Life, Health, and Pleasure. As the Surface of the Terraqueous Globe is +covered with different Soils, with Hills and Vales, with Seas, Rivers, +Lakes and Ponds, with divers Trees and Plants, in the several Places; so +all these have their Animal Inhabitants, whole Organs of Life and Action +are manifestly adapted to such and such Places and Things; whose Food +and Physick, and every other Convenience of Life, is to be met with in +that very Place appointed it. The watery, the amphibious[a], the airy +Inhabitants, and those on the dry Land Surface, and the Subterraneous +under it, they all live and act with Pleasure, they are gay, and flourish +in their proper Element and allotted Place, they want neither for Food, +Cloathing, or Retreat; which would dwindle and die, destroy, or poison +one another, if all coveted the same Element, Place, or Food. + +Nay, and as the Matter is admirably well ordered, yet considering the +World’s increase, there would not be sufficient Room, Food, and other +Necessaries for all the living Creatures, without another grand Act of +the divine Wisdom and Providence, which is the _Balancing the Number +of Individuals_ of each Species of Creatures, in that Place appointed +thereto: Of which in the next Chapter. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Est etiam admiratio nonnulla in bestiis aquatilibus iis, quæ +gignuntur in terrâ: veluti Crocodili, fluviatilesque Testudines, +quædamque Serpentes ortæ extra aquam, simul ac primùm niti possunt, aquam +persequuntur. Quin etiam Anatum ova Gallinis sæpe supponimus——~[Pulli]~ +deinde eas ~[matres]~ relinquunt——& effugiunt, cùm primùm aquam, quasi +naturalem domum, videre potuerunt._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 48. + + + + +CHAP. X. + +_Of the Balance of Animals, or the due Proportion in which the World is +flocked with them._ + + +The whole Surface of our Globe can afford Room and Support only to such a +Number of all Sorts of Creatures. And if by their doubling, trebling, or +any other Multiplication of their Kind, they should encrease to double or +treble that Number, they must starve, or devour one another. The keeping +therefore the Balance even, is manifestly a Work of the divine Wisdom +and Providence. To which end, the great Author of Life hath determined +the Life of all Creatures to such a Length, and their Increase to such +a Number, proportional to their Use in the World. The Life of some +Creatures is long, and their Increase but small, and by that means they +do not over-stock the World. And the same Benefit is effected, where the +Increase is great, by the Brevity of such Creatures Lives, by their great +Use, and the frequent Occasions there are of them for Food to Man, or +other Animals. It is a very remarkable Act of the Divine Providence, that +useful Creatures are produced in great Plenty[a], and others in less. +The prodigious and frequent Increase of Insects, both in and out of the +Waters, may exemplify the one; and ’tis observable in the other, that +Creatures less useful, or by their Voracity pernicious, have commonly +fewer Young, or do seldomer bring forth: Of which many Instances might +be given in the voracious Beasts and Birds. But there is one so peculiar +an Animal, as if made for a particular Instance in our present Case, and +that is the _Cuntur_ of _Peru_[b]: A Fowl of that Magnitude, Strength and +Appetite, as to seize not only on the Sheep, and lesser Cattle, but even +the larger Beasts, yea, the very Children too. Now these, as they are the +most pernicious of Birds, so are they the most rare, being seldom seen, +or only one, or a few in large Countries; enough to keep up the Species; +but not to over-charge the World. + +Thus the Balance of the animal World, is, throughout all Ages, kept even; +and by a curious Harmony, and just Proportion between the Increase of all +Animals, and the Length of their Lives, the World is through all Ages +well; but not over-stored: _One Generation passeth away, and another +Generation cometh_[c]; so equally in its Room, to balance the Stock of +the terraqueous Globe in all Ages, and Places, and among all Creatures; +that it is an actual Demonstration of our Saviour’s Assertion, _Mat._ x. +29. that the most inconsiderable, common Creature, _Even a Sparrow (two +of which are sold for a Farthing) doth not fall on the Ground without our +heavenly Father._ + +This Providence of God is remarkable in every Species of living +Creatures: But that especial Management of the Recruits and Decays +of Mankind, so equally all the World over, deserves our especial +Observation. In the Beginning of the World, and so after _Noah_’s +Flood, the Longævity of Men, as it was of absolute Necessity to the +more speedy peopling of the new World; so is a special Instance of the +divine Providence in this Matter[d]. And the same Providence appears in +the following Ages, when the World was pretty well peopled, in reducing +the common Age of Man then to 120 Years, (_Gen._ vi. 3.) in Proportion +to the Occasions of the World at that Time. And lastly, when the World +was fully peopled after the Flood, (as it was in the Age of _Moses_, and +so down to our present Time) the lessening the common Age of Man to 70 +or 80 Years[e], (the Age mentioned by _Moses_, _Psal_. xc. 10. this, I +say,) is manifestly an Appointment of the same infinite Lord that ruleth +the World: For, by this Means, the peopled World is kept at a convenient +Stay; neither too full, nor too empty. For if Men (the Generality of +them, I mean) were to live now to _Methusalah_’s Age of 969 Years, or +only to _Abraham_’s, long after the Flood, of 175 Years, the World would +be too much over-run; or if the Age of Man was limited to that of divers +other Animals, to ten, twenty, or thirty Years only; the Decays then of +Mankind would be too fast: But at the middle Rate mentioned, the Balance +is nearly even, and Life and Death keep an equal Pace. Which Equality +is so great and harmonious, and so manifest an Instance of the divine +Management, that I shall spend some Remarks upon it. + +It appears from our best Accounts of these Matters, that in our +_European_ Parts[f], and I believe the same is throughout the World; +that, I say, there is a certain Rate and Proportion in the Propagation of +Mankind: Such a Number marry[g], so many are born, such a Number die; in +Proportion to the Number of Persons in every Nation, County, or Parish. +And as to Births, two Things are very considerable: One is the Proportion +of Males and Females[h], not in a wide Proportion, not an uncertain, +accidental Number at all Adventures; but nearly equal. Another Thing is, +that a few more are born than appear to die, in any certain Place[i]. +Which is an admirable Provision for the extraordinary Emergencies and +Occasions of the World; to supply unhealthful Places, where Death +out-runs Life; to make up the Ravages of great Plagues, and Diseases, and +the Depredations of War, and the Seas; and to afford a sufficient Number +for Colonies in the unpeopled Parts of the Earth. Or on the other Hand, +we may say, that sometimes those extraordinary Expences of Mankind, may +be not only a just Punishment of the Sins of Men; but also a wise Means +to keep the Balance of Mankind even; as one would be ready to conclude, +by considering the _Asiatick_, and other the more fertile Countries, +where prodigious Multitudes are yearly swept away with great Plagues, and +sometimes War; and yet those Countries are so far from being wasted, that +they remain full of People. + +And now upon the whole Matter, What is all this but admirable and plain +Management? What can the maintaining throughout all Ages, and Places, +these Proportions of Mankind, and all other Creatures; this Harmony in +the Generations of Men be, but the Work of one that ruleth the World? Is +it possible that every Species of Animals should so evenly be preserved, +proportionate to the Occasions of the World? That they should be so well +balanced in all Ages and Places, without the Help of almighty Wisdom and +Power? How is it possible by the bare Rules, and blind Acts of Nature, +that there should be any tolerable Proportion; for Instance, between +Males and Females, either of Mankind, or of any other Creature[k]; +especially such as are of a ferine, not of a domestick Nature, and +consequently out of the Command and Management of Man? How could Life +and Death keep such an even Pace through all the animal World? If we +should take it for granted, that, according to the Scripture History, the +World had a Beginning, (as who can deny it[l]; or if we should suppose +the Destruction thereof by _Noah_’s Flood: How is it possible, after +the World was replenished,) that in a certain Number of Years, by the +greater Increases and Doublings of each Species of Animals; that, I say, +this Rate of Doubling[m] should cease; or that it should be compensated +by some other Means? That the World should be as well, or better stocked +than now it is, in 1656 Years (the Time between the Creation and the +Flood; this) we will suppose may be done by the natural Methods of each +Species Doubling or Increase: But in double that Number of Years, or at +this Distance from the Flood, of 4000 Years, that the World should not +be over stock’d, can never be made out, without allowing an infinite +Providence. + +I conclude then this Observation with the Psalmist’s Words, _Psal._ civ. +29, 30. _Thou hidest thy Face, all Creatures are troubled; thou takest +away their Breath, they die, and return to their Dust. Thou sendest forth +thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the Face of the Earth._ + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Benigna circa hoc Natura, innocua & esculenta animalia fœcunda +generavit._ Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 55. + +[b] _Captain ~J. Strong~ gave me this Account, together with a +Quill-Feather of the ~Cuntur~ or ~Condor~ of ~Peru~. On the Coast +of ~Chili~, they met with this Bird in about 33° S. Lat. not far from +~Mocha~, an Island in the South-Sea,——they shot it sitting on a Cliff, by +the Sea-side; that it was 16 Feet from Wing to Wing extended; that the +~Spanish~ Inhabitants told them they were afraid of these Birds, lest +they should prey upon their Children. And the Feather he gave me_ (saith +the Doctor) _is 2 Feet, 4 Inches long; the Quill-part 5¾ Inches long, and +1½ Inch about in the largest Part. It weighed 3 dr. 17½ gr. and is of a +dark brown Colour._ Dr. _Sloane_ in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 208. + +To this Account, the Doctor, (in a Letter to Mr. _Ray_, _March 31, 1694_, +with other Papers of Mr. _Ray_’s, in my Hands,) adds the Testimony +of _Jos. Acosta_, l. 4. c. 7. and _Garcilass. de la Vega_, who l. 8. +c. 19. saith, _There are other Fowls, call’d ~Cuntur~, and by the +~Spaniards~ corruptly ~Condor~. Many of these Fowls having been kill’d +by the ~Spaniards~, had their Proportion taken, and from End to End of +their Wings measured 15 or 16 Feet.——Nature, to temper and allay their +Fierceness, deny’d them the Talons which are given to the ~Eagle~; their +Feet being tipp’d with Claws like a Hen: However, their Beak is strong +enough to tear off the Hide, and rip up the Bowels of an ~Ox~. Two of +them will attempt a ~Cow~ or ~Bull~, and devour him: And it hath often +happened, that one of then alone hath assaulted Boys of ten or twelve +Years of Age, and eaten them. Their Colour is black and white, like a +~Magpie~. It is well there are but few of them; for if they were many, +they would very much destroy the Cattle. They have on the forepart of +their Heads, a Comb, not pointed like that of a ~Cock~; but rather even, +in the Form of a Razor. When they come to alight from the Air, they make +such an humming Noise, with the fluttering of their Wings, as is enough +to astonish, or make a Man deaf._ + +[c] _Eccles._ i. 4. + +[d] The Divine Providence doth not only appear in the Longævity of Man, +immediately after the Creation and Flood; but also in their different +Longævity at those two Times. Immediately after the Creation, when +the World was to be peopled by one Man, and one Woman, the Age of the +greatest Part of those on Record, was 900 Years, and upwards. But after +the Flood, when there were three Persons by whom the World was to be +peopled, none of those Patriarchs, except _Shem_, arriv’d to the Age +of 500; and only the three first of _Shem_’s Line, _viz._ _Arphaxad_, +_Salah_, and _Eber_, came near that Age; which was in the first Century +after the Flood. But in the second Century, we do not find any reached +the Age of 240. And in the third Century, (about the latter End of which +_Abraham_ was born,) none, except _Terah_, arriv’d to 200 Years: By which +Time the World was so well peopled, (that Part of it, at least where +_Abraham_ dwelt,) that they had built Cities, and began to be cantoned +into distinct Nations and Societies, under their respective Kings; so +that they were able to wage War, four Kings against five, _Gen._ xiv. +Nay, if the Accounts of _Anian_, _Berosus_, _Manetho_, and others, yea, +_Africanus_ be to be credited; the World was so well peopled, even before +the Times we speak of, as to afford sufficient Numbers for the great +Kingdoms of _Assyria_, _Ægypt_, _Persia_, &c. But learned Men generally, +with great Reason, reject these as legendary Accounts. If the Reader +hath a Mind to see a Computation of the Increase of Mankind, in the +three first Centuries after the Flood, he may find two different Ones +of the most learned Archbishop _Usher_, and _Petavius_; together with a +Refutation of the so early Beginning of the _Assyrian Monarchy_; as also +Reasons for placing _Abraham_ near 1000 Years after the Flood, in our +most learned Bishop _Stillingfleet_’s _Orig. Sacr._ Book III. Chap. 4. §. +9. + +[e] That the common Age of Man hath been the same in all Ages since the +World was peopled, is manifest from prophane, as well as sacred History. +To pass by others: _Plato_ lived to the Age of 81, and was accounted +an old Man. And those which _Pliny_ reckons up, _l. 7. c. 48._ as rare +Examples of long Life, may for the most Part be match’d by our modern +Histories; especially such as _Pliny_ himself gave Credit unto. Dr. +_Plot_ hath given us divers Instances in his History of _Oxfordshire_, +c. 2. §. 3. and c. 8. §. 54. and History of _Staffordshire_, c. 8. §. +91, _&c._ Among others, one is of twelve Tenants of Mr. _Biddulph_’s, +that together made 1000 Years of Age. But the most considerable Examples +of aged Persons among us, is of old _Parre_ of _Shropshire_, who lived +152 Years 9 Months, according to the learned Dr. _Harvey_’s Account; and +_Henry Jenkins_ of _Yorkshire_, who lived 169 Years, according to the +Account of my learned and ingenious Friend Dr. _Tancred Robinson_; of +both which, with others, see _Lowth. Abridg. Phil. Trans._ V. 3. p. 306. +The great Age of _Parre_ of _Shropshire_, minds me of an Observation of +the Reverend Mr. _Plaxton_, that in his two Parishes of _Kinardsey_ and +_Donington_ in _Shropshire_, every sixth Soul was 60 Years of Age, or +upwards, _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 310. + +And if we step farther North into _Scotland_, we shall find divers +recorded for their great Age: Of which I shall present the Reader with +only one modern Example of one _Laurence_, who married a Wife after he +was 100 Years of Age, and would go out to Sea a Fishing in his little +Boat, when he was 140 Years old; and is lately dead of no other Distemper +but mere old Age, saith Sir _Rob. Sibbald_, _Prodr. Hist. Nat. Scot._ p. +44. _and_ l. 3. p. 4. + +As for Foreigners, the Examples would be endless; and therefore that of +_Joh. Ottele_ shall suffice, who was as famous for his Beard, as for +being 115 Years of Age. He was but two _Brabant_ Ells ³⁄₉ high; and his +long grey Beard was one Ell ¼ long. His Picture and Account may be seen +in _Ephem. Germ. T. 3. Obs. 163._ + +As for the Story _Roger Bacon_ tells, of one that lived 900 Years by the +Help of a certain Medicine, and many other such Stories, I look upon +them as fabulous. And no better is that of the _Wandring Jew_, named +_Joh. Buttadæus_, said to have been present at our Saviour’s Crucifixion; +although very serious Stories are told of his being seen at _Antwerp_, +and in _France_, about the Middle of the last Century but one; and +before in _Ann. 1542_, conversed with by _Paul_ of _Eitsen_, Bishop of +_Sleswick_; and before that, _viz._ in 1228, seen and convers’d with by +an _Armenian Archbishop_’s _Gentleman_; and by others at other Times. + +If the Reader hath a Mind to see more Examples, he may meet with some +of all Ages, in the learned _Hakewill’s Apol. p. 181._ where he will +also find that learned Author’s Opinion of the Causes of the Brevity and +Length of humane Life. The Brevity thereof he attributeth to a too tender +Education, sucking strange Nurses, too hasty Marriages; but above all, to +Luxury, high Sauces, strong Liquors, _&c._ The Longævity of the Ancients +he ascribes to Temperance in Meat and Drink, anointing the Body, the +Use of Saffron and Honey, warm Clothes, lesser Doors and Windows, less +Physick and more Exercise. + +[f] The Proportions which Marriages bear to Births, and Births to +Burials, in divers Parts of Europe, may be seen at an easy View in this +Table: + + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + | Names of the Places. | Marriages to | Births to | + | | Births: As | Burials: as | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_England_ in general. | 1 to 4.63 | 1.12 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_London_. | 1 to 4. | 1 to 1.1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_Hantshire_, from 1569, to 1658. | 1 to 4. | 1.2 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_Tiverton_ in _Devon_, 1560, to 1649. | 1 to 3.7 | 1.26 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_Cranbrook_ in _Kent_, 1560, to 1649. | 1 to 3.9 | 1.6 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_Aynho_ in _Northamptonshire_ for 118 Y. | 1 to 6 | 1.6 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_Leeds_ in _Yorkshire_ for 122 Years. | 1 to 3.7 | 1.07 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_Harwood_ in _Yorkshire_ 57 Years. | 1 to 3.4 | 1.23 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_Upminster_ in _Essex_ 100 Years. | 1 to 4.6 | 1.08 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_Frankfort_ on the _Main_ in 1695. | 1 to 3.7 | 1.2 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + | Old middle and lower _Marck_ in 1698. | 1 to 3.7 | 1.9 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + | Domin. of the K. of _Prussia_ in 1698. | 1 to 3.7 | 1.5 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_Breslaw_ in _Silesia_ from 1687 to 1691.| | 1.6 to 1 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + |_Paris_ in 1670, 1671, 1672. | 1 to 4.7 | 1 to 1.6 | + +-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------+ + +Which Table I made from Major _Graunt_’s Observations on the Bills of +Mortality; Mr. _King_’s Observations in the first of Dr. _Davenant_’s +_Essays_; and what I find put together by my ingenious Friend Mr. +_Lowthorp_, in his _Abridgment_, Vol. 3. p. 668. and my own Register of +_Upminster_. That from _Aynho_ Register in _Northamptonshire_, I had +from the present Rector, the learned and ingenious Mr. _Wasse_: And I +was promised some Accounts from the North, and divers others Parts of +this Kingdom; but have not yet received them: Only those of _Leeds_ +and _Harwood_ in _Yorkshire_, from my curious and ingenious friend Mr. +_Thoresby_. + +[g] The preceding Table shews, that Marriages, one with another, do each +of them produce about four Births; not only in _England_, but in other +Parts of _Europe_ also. + +And by Mr. _King_’s Estimate, (the best Computations I imagine of any, +being derived from the best Accounts; such as the Marriage, Birth, +Burial-Act, the Poll Books, _&c._ by his Estimate, I say,) about 1 in +104 marry. For he judgeth the Number of the People in _England_, to be +about five Millions and a half; of which about 41000 annually marry. As +to what might be farther remarked concerning Marriages, in regard of the +Rights and Customs of several Nations, the Age to which divers Nations +limited Marriage, _&c._ it would be Endless, and too much out of the Way +to mention them: I shall only therefore, for the Reader’s Diversion, +take Notice of the Jeer of _Lactantias_, _Quare apud Poetas salacissimus +~Jupiter~ desiit liberos tollere? Utrum sexagenarius factus, & ei Lex +Papia fibulam imposuit?_ Lactant. Instit. l. 1. c. 16. By which _Lex +Papia_, Men were prohibited to marry after 60, and Women after 50 Years +of Age. + +[h] _Major Graunt_, (whose Conclusions seem to be well-grounded,) and Mr. +_King_, disagree in the Proportions they assign to Males and Females. +This latter makes in _London_, 10 Males to be to 13 Females; in other +Cities and Market-Towns, 8 to 9; and in the Villages and Hamlets, 100 +Males to 99 Females. But Major _Graunt_, both from the _London_, and +_Country_ Bills, saith, there are 14 Males to 13 Females: From whence he +justly infers, _That Christian Religion, prohibiting Polygamy, is more +agreeable to the Law of Nature than_ Mahumetism, _and others that allow +it_, Chap. 8. + +This Proportion of 14 to 13, I imagine is nearly just, it being agreeable +to the Bills I have met with, as well as those in Mr. _Graunt_. In the +100 Years, for Example, of my own Parish-Register, although the Burials +of Males and Females were nearly equal, being 636 Males, and 623 Females +in all that Time; yet there were baptized 709 Males, and but 675 Females, +which is 13 Females to 13.7 Males. Which Inequality shews, not only, +that one Man ought to have but one Wife; but also that every Woman may, +without Polygamy, have an Husband, if she doth not bar her self by the +want of Virtue, by Denial, _&c._ Also this Surplusage of Males is very +useful for the Supplies of War, the Seas, and other such Expences of the +Men above the Women. + +That this is a Work of the Divine Providence, and not a Matter of Chance, +is well made out by the very Laws of Chance, by a Person able to do it, +the ingenious and learned Dr. _Arbuthnot_. He supposeth _Thomas_ to lay +against _John_, that for eighty two Years running, more Males shall +be born than Females; and giving all Allowances in the Computation to +_Thomas_’s side, he makes the Odds against _Thomas_, that it doth not +happen so, to be near five Millions of Millions, of Millions, of Millions +to one; but for Ages of Ages (according to the World’s Age) to be near an +infinite Number to one against _Thomas_. _Vid._ _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 328. + +[i] The foregoing Table shews, that in _England_ in general fewer die +than are born, there being but 1 Death to 1¹²⁄₁₀₀ Births. But in _London_ +more die than are born. So by Dr. _Davenant_’s Table, the Cities likewise +and Market-Towns bury ⁷⁄₁₀₀ to one Birth. But in _Paris_ they out-do +_London_, their Deaths being 1½ to one Birth: The Reason of which I +conceive is, because their Houses are more crowded than in _London_. But +in the Villages of _England_, there are fewer die than are born, there +being but 1 Death to 1¹⁷⁄₁₀₀ Births. And yet Major _Graunt_, and Dr. +_Davenant_, both observe, that there are more Breeders in _London_, and +the Cities and Market-Towns, than are in the Country, notwithstanding the +_London_-Births are fewer than the Country; the Reason of which see in +_Graunt_, _Chap. 7._ and _Davenant ubi supr. p. 21._ + +The last Remark I shall make from the foregoing Table, shall be, that we +may from thence judge of the Healthfulness of the Places there mentioned. +If the Year 1698 was the mean Account of the three _Marcks_, those Places +bid the fairest for being most healthful; and next to them, _Aynho_ and +_Cranbrook_ for _English_ Towns. + +[k] _Quid loquar, quanta ratio in bestiis ad perpetuam conservationem +earum generis appareat? Nam primum aliæ Mares, aliæ Fœminæ sunt, quod +perpetuitatis causâ machinata natura est._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 51. + +[l] Altho’ _Aristotle_ held the Eternity of the World, yet he seems to +have retracted that Opinion, or to have had a different Opinion when he +wrote his _Metaphysicks_; for in his first Book he affirms, that _God +is the Cause and Beginning of all Things_; and in his Book _de Mundo_ +he saith, _There is no doubt, but God is the Maker and Conservator of +all Things in the World_. And the _Stoicks_ Opinion is well known, who +strenuously contended that the Contrivance and Beauty of the Heavens and +Earth, and all Creatures was owing to a wise, intelligent Agent. Of which +_Tully_ gives a large Account in his second Book _de Nat. Deor._ in the +Person of _Balbus_. + +[m] I have before in _Note (g)_, observed, that the ordinary rate of +the Doubling or Increase of Mankind is, that every Marriage, one with +another, produces about four Births; but some have much exceeded that. +_Babo_, Earl of _Abensperg_, had thirty two Sons and eight Daughters, +and being invited to hunt with the Emperor _Henry_ II. and bring but few +Servants, brought only one Servant, and his thirty two Sons. To these +many others might be added; but one of the most remarkable Instances +I have any where met with, is that of Mrs. _Honywood_, mentioned by +_Hakewill_, _Camden_, and other Authors; but having now before me the +Names, with some Remarks (which I received from a pious neighbouring +Descendant of the same Mrs. _Honywood_) I shall give a more particular +Account than they. Mrs. _Mary Honywood_ was Daughter, and one of the +Co-Heiresses of _Robert Atwaters_, Esq; of _Lenham_ in _Kent_. She was +born in 1527, married in _February_ 1543, at sixteen Years of Age, to her +only Husband _Robert Honywood_, of _Charing_ in _Kent_, Esq; She died in +the ninety third Year of her Age, in _May 1620_. She had sixteen Children +of her own Body, seven Sons and nine Daughters; of which one had no +issue, three died young, and the youngest was slain at _Newport Battle_, +_June 20, 1600_. Her Grand-Children in the second Generation, were one +hundred and fourteen; in the third two hundred and twenty eight; and nine +in the fourth Generation. So that she could say the same that the Distick +doth, made of one of the _Dalburg_’s Family of _Basil_: + + 1 2 3 4 + _Mater ait Natæ, dic Natæ, filia Natam_ + + 5 6 + _Ut moneat, Natæ, plangere Filiolam._ + + 1 2 3 + _Rise up Daughter, and go to thy Daughter,_ + + 4 5 6 + _for her Daughters Daughter hath a Daughter._ + +Mrs. _Honywood_ was a very pious Woman, afflicted, in her declining +Age, with Despair, in some measure; concerning which, some Divines once +discoursing with her, she in a Passion said, _She was as certainly damned +as this Glass is broken_, throwing a _Venice_-Glass against the Ground, +which she had then in her Hand. But the Glass escaped breaking, as +credible Witnesses attested. + + + + +CHAP. XI. + +_Of the Food of Animals._ + + +The preceding Reflection of the _Psalmist_, mindeth me of another Thing +in common to Animals, that pertinently falleth next under Consideration, +which is the _Appointment of Food_, mentioned in Verse 27, 28, of the +last cited _Psalm_ civ. _These ~[Creatures]~ wait all upon thee, that +thou may’st give them their Meat in due Season. That thou givest them, +they gather; thou openest thy Hand, they are filled with Good._ The same +is again asserted in _Psal_. cxlv. 15, 16. _The Eyes of all wait upon +thee, and thou givest them their Meat in due Season. Thou openest thy +Hand, and satisfiest the Desire of every living Thing._ + +What the _Psalmist_ here asserts, affords us a glorious Scene of the +divine Providence and Management. Which, (as I have shew’d it to concern +it self in other lesser Things;) so we may presume doth exert it self +particularly in so grand an Affair as that of Food, whereby the animal +World subsists: And this will be manifested, and the _Psalmist_’s +Observations exemplified, from these six following Particulars: + +I. From the subsisting and maintaining such a large Number of Animals, +throughout all Parts of the World. + +II. From the proportionate Quantity of Food to the Eaters. + +III. From the Variety of Food suited to the Variety of Animals: Or the +Delight which various Animals have in different Food. + +IV. From the peculiar Food which peculiar Places afford to the Creatures +suited to those Places. + +V. From the admirable and curious Apparatus made for the gathering, +preparing, and Digestion of the Food. And, + +VI. _and lastly_, From the great Sagacity of all Animals, in finding out +and providing their Food. + +I. It is a great Act of the divine Power and Wisdom, as well as Goodness, +to provide Food for such a World of Animals[a], as every where possess +the terraqueous Globe; on the dry Land; and in the Sea and Waters; in the +torrid and frozen Zones, as well as the temperate. That the temperate +Climates, or at least the fertile Valleys, and rich and plentiful Regions +of the Earth, should afford Subsistence to many Animals, may appear less +wonderful perhaps: But that in all other the most likely Places for +Supplies sufficient Food should be afforded to such a prodigious Number, +and so great Variety of Beasts, Birds, Fishes and Insects; is owing to +that Being, who hath as wisely adapted their Bodies to their Place and +Food, as well as carefully provided Food for their Subsistence there. + +But I shall leave this Consideration, because it will be illustrated +under the following Points; and proceed, + +II. To consider the Adjustment of the Quantity of Food, in Proportion +to the Eaters. In all Places there is generally enough; nay, such a +Sufficiency, as may be styled a Plenty; but not such a Superfluity, +as to waste and corrupt, and thereby annoy the World. But that which +is particularly remarkable here, is, that among the great Variety of +Foods, the most useful is the most plentiful, most universal, easiest +propagated, and most patient of Weather, and other Injuries. As the +herbaceous Eaters, (for Instance) are many, and devour much; so the +dryland Surface we find every where almost naturally carpeted over with +Grass, and other agreeable wholsome Plants; propagating themselves in a +Manner every where, and scarcely destroyable by the Weather, the Plough, +or any Art. So likewise for Grain, especially such as is most useful, +how easily is it cultivated, and what a large Increase doth it produce? +_Pliny_’s Example of Wheat[b], is a sufficient Instance in this Matter; +which (as that curious Heathen observes) being principally useful to the +Support of Man, is easily propagated, and in great Plenty: And an happy +Faculty that is of it, that it can bear either extreams of Heat or Cold, +so as scarce to refuse any Clime. + +III. Another wise Provision the Creator hath made relating to the Food +of Animals, is, that various Animals delight in various Food[c]; some +in Grass and Herbs; some in Grain and Seeds; some in Flesh; some in +Insects; some in this[d], some in that; some more delicate and nice; some +voracious and catching at any Thing. If all delighted in, or subsisted +only with one Sort of Food, there would not be sufficient for all; but +every Variety chusing various Food, and perhaps abhorring that which +others like, is a great and wise Means that every Kind hath enough, and +oftentimes somewhat to spare. + +It deserves to be reckoned as an Act of the divine Appointment, that what +is wholesome Food to one, is nauseous, and as a Poyson to another; what +is a sweet and delicate Smell and Taste to one, is fœtid and loathsome +to another: By which Means all the Provisions the Globe affords are +well dispos’d of. Not only every Creature is well provided for, but a +due Consumption is made of those Things that otherwise would encumber +the World, lie in the Way, corrupt, rot, stink and annoy, instead of +cherishing and refreshing it. For our most useful Plants, Grain and +Fruits, would mould and rot; those Beasts, Fowls and Fishes, which are +reckoned among the greatest Dainties, would turn to Carrion, and poyson +us: Nay, those Animals which are become Carrion, and many other Things +that are noysome, both on the Dry-land, and in the Waters, would be +great Annoyances, and breed Diseases, was it nor for the Provision which +the infinite Orderer of the World hath made, by causing these Things +to be sweet, pleasant, and wholsome Food to some Creature or other, in +the Place where those Things fall: To Dogs, Ravens, and other voracious +Animals, for Instance, on the Earth; and to rapacious Fishes, and other +Creatures inhabiting the Waters. + +Thus is the World in some Measure kept sweet and clean, and at the same +Time, divers Species of Animals supply’d with convenient Food. Which +Providence of God, particularly in the Supplies afforded the _Ravens_, is +divers Times taken Notice of in the Scriptures[e]; but whether for the +Reasons now hinted, or any other special Reasons, I shall not enquire. +Thus our Saviour, _Luke_ xii. 24. _Consider the Ravens; for they neither +sow nor reap, which neither have Storehouse, nor Barn, and God feedeth +them._ It is a manifest Argument of the divine Care and Providence, +in supplying the World with Food and Necessaries, that the _Ravens_, +accounted as unclean, and little regarded by Man, destitute of Stores, +and that live by Accidents, by what falleth here and there; that such a +Bird, I say, should be provided with sufficient Food; especially if that +be true, which _Aristotle_[f], _Pliny_[g], and _Ælian_[h], report of +their unnatural Affection and Cruelty to their Young: “That they expel +them their Nests as soon as they can fly, and then drive them out of the +Country”. + +Thus having considered the wise Appointment of the Creator, in suiting +the Variety of Food, to Variety of Animals: Let us in the + +IV. Place, Take a View of the peculiar Food, which particular Places +afford to the Creatures inhabiting therein. + +It hath been already observed[i], that every Place on the Surface of +the terraqueous Globe, is stocked with proper Animals, whose Organs of +Life and Action are curiously adapted to each respective Place. Now it +is an admirable Act of the divine Providence, that every Place affords a +proper Food to all the living Creatures therein. All the various Regions +of the World, the different Climates[k], the various Soils, the Seas, +the Waters, nay our very Putrefactions, and most nasty Places about the +Globe, as they are inhabited by some or other Animal, so they produce +some proper Food or other, affording a comfortable Subsistence to the +Creatures living there. I might for Instances[l] of this, bring the +great Variety of Herbs, Fruits and Grains on the Earth, the large Swarms +of Insects in the Air, with every other Food of the Creatures residing +in the Earth, or flying in the Air. But I shall stop at the _Waters_, +because the _Psalmist_, in the fore-cited civᵗʰ _Psalm_, speaks with +relation to the especial Provision for the Inhabitants of the Waters; and +also by reason that many Land Animals have their chief Maintenance from +thence. + +Now one would think, that the Waters were a very unlikely Element +to produce Food for so great a Number of Creatures, as have their +Subsistence from thence. But yet how rich a Promptuary is it, not only +to large multitudes of Fishes, but also to many amphibious Quadrupeds, +Insects, Reptiles, and Birds! From the largest _Leviathan_, which the +_Psalmist_ saith[m] _playeth in the Seas_, to the smallest Mite in the +Lakes and Ponds, all are plentifully provided for; as is manifest from +the Fatness of their Bodies, and the Gaiety of their Aspect and Actions. + +And the Provision which the Creator hath made for this Service in the +Waters is very observable; not only by the Germination of divers aquatick +Plants there, but particularly by appointing the Waters to be the Matrix +of many Animals, particularly of many of the Insect-Kind, not only of +such as are peculiar to the Waters, but also of many appertaining to the +Air and the Land, who, by their near Alliance to the Waters, delight to +be about them, and by that means become a Prey, and plentiful Food to the +Inhabitants of the Waters. And besides these, what prodigious Shoals do +we find of minute Animals, even sometimes discolouring the Waters[n]! Of +these (not only in the Water, but in the Air and on Land) I have always +thought there was some more than ordinary Use intended by the All-wise +Creator. And having bent many of my Observations that way, I have +evidently found it accordingly to be. For be they never so numberless or +minute, those Animals serve for Food to some Creatures or other. Even +those Animalcules in the Waters, discoverable only with good Microscopes, +are a Repast to others there, as I have often with no less Admiration +than Pleasure seen[o]. + +But now the usual Objection is, that Necessity maketh Use[p]. Animals +must be fed, and they make use of what they find: In the desolate +Regions, and in the Waters, for Instance, they feed upon what they can +come at; but, when in greater Plenty, they pick and chuse. + +But this Objection hath been already in some measure answered by what +hath been said; which plainly argues Design, and a super-intending +Wisdom, Power and Providence in this special Business of Food. +Particularly the different Delight of divers Animals in different Food, +so that what is nauseous to one, should be Dainties to another, is a +manifest Argument, that the Allotment of Food is not a Matter of mere +Chance, but entailed to the very Constitution and Nature of Animals; that +they chuse this, and refuse that, not by Accident, or Necessity, but +because the one is a proper Food, agreeable to their Constitution, and +so appointed by the infinite Contriver of their Bodies; and the other is +disagreeable and injurious to them. + +But all this Objection will be found frivolous, and the Wisdom and Design +of the great Creator will demonstratively appear, if we take a Survey, + +V. Of the admirable and curious Apparatus in all Animals, made for the +Gathering, Preparing and Digestion of their Food. From the very first +Entrance, to the utmost Exit of the Food, we find every Thing contrived, +made and disposed with the utmost Dexterity and Art, and curiously +adapted to the Place the Animal liveth in, and the Food it is to be +nourished with. + +Let us begin with the _Mouth_. And this we find, in every Species of +Animals, nicely conformable to the Use of such a Part; neatly sized and +shaped for the catching of Prey, for the gathering or receiving Food[q], +for the Formation of Speech, and every other such like Use[r]. In some +Creatures it is wide and large, in some little and narrow: in some with +a deep Incisure up into the Head[s], for the better catching and holding +of Prey, and more easy Comminution of hard, large and troublesome Food; +in others with a much shorter Incisure, for the gathering and holding of +herbaceous Food. + +In _Insects_ it is very notable. In some forcipated; to catch hold and +tear their Prey[t]. In some aculeated, to pierce and wound Animals[u], +and suck their Blood. And in others strongly rigged with Jaws and Teeth, +to gnaw and scrape out their Food, to carry Burdens[w] to perforate the +Earth, yea the hardest Wood, yea even Stones themselves, for Houses[x] +to themselves, and Nests for their young. + +And lastly, in _Birds_ it is no less remarkable. In the first Place, +it is neatly shaped for piercing the Air, and making Way for the Body +thro’ the airy Regions. In the next Place, it is hard and horny, which +is a good Supplement for the want of Teeth, and causeth the Bill to have +the Use and Service of the Hand. It’s hooked Form is of great Use to +the rapacious Kind[y], in catching and holding their Prey, and in the +Comminution thereof by tearing; to others it is no less serviceable to +their Climbing, as well as neat and nice Comminution of their Food[z]. +Its extraordinary Length and Slenderness is very useful to some, to +search and grope for their Food in moorish Places[aa]; as its Length +and Breadth is to others to hunt and search in muddy Places[bb]: And +the contrary Form, namely, a thick, short, and sharp-edg’d Bill, is as +useful to other Birds, who have occasion to husk and flay the Grains +they swallow. But it would be endless, and tedious, to reckon up all +the various Shapes, and commodious Mechanism of all; the Sharpness and +Strength of those who have Occasion to perforate Wood and Shells[cc]; the +Slenderness and Neatness of such as pick up small Insects; the Cross-form +of such as break up Fruits[dd]; the compressed Form of others[ee], with +many other curious and artificial Forms, all suited to the Way of Living, +and peculiar Occasions of the several Species of Birds. Thus much for the +Mouth. + +Let us next take a short View of the _Teeth_[ff], In which their +peculiar Hardness[gg] is remarkable, their Growth[hh] also, their firm +Insertion and Bandage in the Gums and Jaws, and their various Shape and +Strength, suited to their various Occasion and Use[ii]; the foremost +weak and farthest from the Center, as being only Preparers to the rest; +the others being to grind and mince, are accordingly made stronger, +and placed nearer the Center of Motion and Strength. Likewise their +various Form[kk], in various Animals is considerable, being all curiously +adapted to the peculiar Food[ll], and Occasions of the several Species +of Animals[mm]. And lastly, the temporary Defect of them[nn], is no less +observable in Children, and such young Creatures, where there is no +Occasion for them; but they would be rather an Annoyance to the tender +Nipples and Breasts. + +From the Teeth, the grand Instruments of Mastication; let us proceed +to the other ministerial Parts. And here the _Parotid_, _Sublingual_, +and _maxillary Glands_; together with those of the Cheeks and Lips, are +considerable; all lodged in the most convenient Places about the Mouth +and Throat to afford that noble digestive salival Liquor, to be mixed +with the Food in Mastication, and to moisten and lubricate the Passages, +to give an easie descent to the Food. The commodious Form also of the +Jaws, deserves our Notice; together with the strong Articulation of +the lowermost, and its Motion. And lastly, the curious Form, the great +Strength, the convenient Lodgment and Situation of the several Muscles +and Tendons[oo], all ministring to this so necessary an Act of Life, as +Mastication is; they are such Contrivances, such Works, as plainly set +forth the infinite Workman’s Care and Skill. + +Next to the Mouth, the _Gullet_ presenteth it self; in every Creature +well-siz’d to the Food it hath occasion to swallow; in some but narrow, +in others as large and extensive[pp]; in all exceedingly remarkable for +the curious Mechanism of its Muscles, and the artificial Decussation and +Position of their Fibres[qq]. + +And now we are arriv’d to the grand Receptacle of the Food, the +_Stomach_; for the most Part as various as the Food to be convey’d +therein. And here I might describe the admirable Mechanism of its +Tunicks, Muscles, Glands, the Nerves, Arteries and Veins[rr]; all +manifesting the super-eminent Contrivance and Art of the infinite +Workman[ss]; they being all nicely adjusted to their respective Place, +Occasion and Service. I might also insist upon that most necessary +Office of _Digestion_; and here consider that wonderful Faculty of the +Stomachs of all Creatures, to dissolve[tt] all the several Sorts of Food +appropriated to their Species; even sometimes Things of that Consistency +as seem insoluble[uu]; especially by such seemingly simple and weak +_Menstruums_ as we find in their Stomachs: But I shall only give these +Things a bare mention, and take more peculiar Notice of the Special +Provision made in the particular Species of Animals, for the Digestion of +that special Food appointed them. + +And in the first Place it is observable, that, in every Species of +Animals, the Strength and Size of their Stomach[ww] is conformable to +their Food. Such whose Food is more delicate, tender, and nutritive, have +commonly this Part thinner, weaker, and less bulky; whereas such whose +Aliment is less nutritive, or whose Bodies require larger Supplies to +answer their Bulk, their Labours, and waste of Strength and Spirits, in +them it is large and strong. + +Another very remarkable Thing in this Part, is, the Number of Ventricles +in divers Creatures. In many but one; in some two or more[xx]. In such as +make a sufficient Comminution of the Food in the Mouth, one suffices. But +where Teeth are wanting, and the Food dry and hard, (as in granivorous +Birds,) there the Defect is abundantly supply’d by one thin membranaceous +Ventricle, to receive and moisten the Food, and another thick, strong, +muscular one, to grind and tear[yy] it. But in such Birds, and other +Creatures, whose Food is not Grain, but Flesh, Fruits, Insects, or +partly one, partly the other, there their Stomachs are accordingly +conformable to their Food[zz], stronger or weaker, membranaceous or +muscular. + +But as remarkable a Thing, as any in this Part of Animals, is, the +curious Contrivance and Fabrick of the several Ventricles of ruminating +Creatures. The very Act it self of _Rumination_, is an excellent +Provision for the compleat Mastication of the Food, at the Resting, +leisure Times of the Animal. But the Apparatus for this Service, of +divers Ventricles for its various Uses and Purposes, together with their +curious Mechanism, deserves great Admiration[aaa]. + +Having thus far pursu’d the Food to the Place, where by its Reduction +into Chyle, it becomes a proper Aliment for the Body; I might next trace +it through the several Meanders of the _Guts_, the _Lacteals_, and so +into the _Blood_[bbb], and afterwards into the very Habit of the Body: +I might also take Notice of the Separation made in the _Intestines_, of +what is nutritive, (which is received,) and what is feculent, (being +ejected;) and the Impregnations there from the _Pancreas_ and the +_Gall_; and after it hath been strained through those curious Colanders, +the _lacteal Veins_, I might also observe its Impregnations from the +_Glands_ and _Lymphæducts_; and, to name no more, I might farther view +the exquisite Structure of the Parts ministring to all these delicate +Offices of Nature; particularly the artificial Conformation of the +Intestines might deserve a special Enquiry, their Tunicks, Glands, Fibres +traversing one another[ccc], and peristaltick Motion in all Creatures; +and their cochleous Passage[ddd] to retard the Motion of the Chyle, and +to make amends for the Shortness of the Intestines, in such Creatures who +have but one Gut; together with many other Accommodations of Nature in +particular Animals that might be mention’d. But it shall suffice to have +given only a general Hint of those curious and admirable Works of God. +From whence it is abundantly manifest how little weight there is in the +former atheistical Objection. Which will receive a further Confutation +from the + +VI. and last Thing relating to Food, that I shall speak of, namely, _The +great Sagacity of all Animals, in finding out and providing their Food._ +In Man perhaps we may not find any Thing very admirable, or remarkable in +this Kind, by Means of his Reason and Understanding, and his Supremacy +over the inferior Creatures; which answereth all his Occasions relating +to this Business: But then even here the Creator hath shewed his Skill, +in not over-doing the Matter; in not providing Man with an unnecessary +Apparatus, to effect over and over again what is feasible, by the Reach +of his Understanding, and the Power of his Authority. + +But for the inferior Creatures, who want Reason, the Power of that +natural Instinct, that Sagacity[eee] which the Creator hath imprinted +upon them, do amply compensate that Defect. And here we shall find a +glorious Scene of the divine Wisdom, Power, Providence and Care, if +we view the various Instincts of Beasts, great and small, or Birds, +Insects and Reptiles[fff]. For among every Species of them, we may find +notable Acts of Sagacity, or Instinct, proportional to their Occasions +for Food. Even among those whose Food is near at Hand, and easily come +at; as Grass and Herbs; and consequently have no great need of Art to +discover it; yet, that Faculty of their accurate Smell and Taste, so +ready at every turn, to distinguish between what is salutary, and what +pernicious[ggg], doth justly deserve Praise. But for such Animals, whose +Food is not so easily come at, a Variety of wonderful Instinct may be +met with, sufficient to entertain the most curious Observer. With what +entertaining Power, and Artifice do some Creatures hunt[hhh], and pursue +their Game and Prey! And others watch and way-lay theirs[iii]! With what +prodigious Sagacity do others grope for it under Ground, out of Sight, +in moorish Places, in Mud and Dirt[kkk]; and others dig and delve for it, +both above[lll], and under the Surface of the drier Lands[mmm]! And how +curious and well designed a Provision is it of particular large Nerves in +such Creatures, adapted to that especial Service! + +What an admirable Faculty is that of many Animals, to discover their +Prey at vast Distances; some by their Smell some Miles off[nnn]; and +some by their sharp and piercing Sight, aloft in the Air, or at other +great Distances[ooo]! An Instance of the latter of which GOD himself +giveth, (_Job_ xxxix. 27, 28, 29.) in the Instinct of the _Eagle_: +_Doth the Eagle mount up at thy Command, and make her Nest on high? She +dwelleth and abideth on the Rock, upon the Crag of the Rock, and the +strong Place[ppp]. From thence she seeketh her Prey, and her Eyes behold +afar off._ What a commodious Provision hath the Contriver of Nature made +for Animals, that are necessitated to climb for their Food; not only +in the Structure of their Legs and Feet, and in the Strength of their +Tendons and Muscles, acting in that particular Office[qqq]; but also in +the peculiar Structure of the principal Parts, acting in the Acquest of +their Food[rrr]! What a Provision also is that in nocturnal Birds and +Beasts, in the peculiar Structure of their Eye[sss], (and we may perhaps +add the Accuracy of their Smell too) whereby they are enabled to discover +their Food in the Dark? But among all the Instances we have of natural +Instinct, those Instincts, and especial Provisions made to supply the +Necessities of Helpless Animals, do in a particular Manner demonstrate +the great Creator’s Care. Of which I shall give two Instances. + +1. The Provision made for young Creatures. That Στοργὴ, that natural +Affection, so connatural to all, or most Creatures towards their +Young[ttt], what an admirable noble Principle is it, implanted in them +by the wise Creator? By Means of which, with what Alacrity do they +transact their parental Ministry? With what Care do they nurse up their +Young; think no Pains too great to be taken for them, no Dangers[uuu] too +great to be ventured upon for their Guard and Security? How carefully +will they lead them about in Places of Safety, carry them into Places +of Retreat and Security; yea, some of them admit them into their own +Bowels[www]? How will they caress them with their affectionate Notes, +lull and quiet them with their tender parental Voice, put Food into their +Mouths, suckle them, cherish and keep them warm, teach them to pick, and +eat, and gather Food for themselves; and, in a word, perform the whole +Part of so many Nurses, deputed by the Sovereign Lord and Preserver of +the World, to help such young and shiftless Creatures, till they are come +to that Maturity, as to be able to shift for themselves? + +And as for other Animals (particularly Insects, whose Sire is partly +the Sun, and whose numerous Off-spring would be too great for their +Parent-Animal’s Care and Provision) these are so generated, as to need +none of their Care, by Reason they arrive immediately to their Ἡλικία, +their perfect, adult State, and are able to shift for themselves. But +yet, thus far their parental Instinct (equivalent to the most rational +Care and Fore-sight) doth extend, that the old ones do not wildly drop +their Eggs and Sperm any where, at all Adventures, but so cautiously +reposit it in such commodious Places (some in the Waters, some on Flesh, +some on Plants proper and agreeable to their Species[xxx]; and some shut +up agreeable Food in their Nests, partly for Incubation, partly for +Food[yyy],) that their young in their _Aurelia_, or _Nympha_ State, may +find sufficient and agreeable Food to bring them up, till they arrive to +their Maturity. + +Thus far the Parental Instinct and Care. + +Next we may observe no less in the young themselves, especially in those +of the irrational Animals. Forasmuch as the Parent-Animal is not able to +bear them about, to cloath them, and to dandle them, as Man doth; how +admirably hath the Creator contrived their State, that those poor young +Creatures can soon walk about, and with the little Helps of their Dam, +shift for, and help themselves? How naturally do they hunt for their +Teat, suck, pick[zzz], and take in their proper Food? + +But for the young of Man, their Parents Reason, joined with natural +Affection, being sufficient to help, to nurse, to feed, and to cloath +them; therefore they are born helpless, and are more absolutely than +other Creatures, cast upon their Parents Care[aaaa]. A manifest Act and +Designation of the Divine Providence. + +2. The other Instance I promised, is the Provision made for the +Preservation of such Animals as are sometimes destitute of Food, or in +Danger of being so. The Winter is a very inconvenient, improper Season, +to afford either Food or Exercise to Insects, and many other Animals. +When the flowry Fields are divested of their Gaiety; when the fertile +Trees and Plants are stripp’d of their Fruits, and the Air, instead of +being warmed with the cherishing Beams of the Sun, is chilled with rigid +Frost; what would become of such Animals as are impatient of Cold? What +Food could be found by such as are subsisted by the Summer-Fruits? But +to obviate all this Evil, to stave off the Destruction and Extirpation +of divers Species of Animals, the infinitely wise Preserver of the World +hath as wisely ordered the matter; that, in the first Place, such as are +impatient of Cold, should have such a special Structure of their Body, +particularly of their Hearts, and Circulation of their Blood[bbbb], +as during that Season, not to suffer any waste of their Body, and +consequently not to need any Recruits; but that they should be able to +live in a kind of sleepy, middle State, in their Places of safe Retreat, +until the warm Sun revives both them and their Food together. + +The next Provision is for such as can bear the Cold, but would want +Food then; and that is in some by a long Patience of Hunger[cccc], in +others by their notable Instinct in laying up Food beforehand against +the approaching Winter[dddd]. Of this many entertaining Examples may +be given; particularly we may, at the proper Season, observe not only +the little Treasures and Holes well-stocked with timely Provisions, but +large Fields[eeee] here and there throughout bespread with considerable +Numbers of the Fruits of the neighbouring Trees, laid carefully up in +the Earth, and covered safe, by the provident little Animals inhabiting +thereabouts. And not without Pleasure have I seen and admired the +Sagacity of other Animals, hunting out those subterraneous Fruits, and +pillaging the Treasures of those little provident Creatures. + +And now from this bare transient View of this Branch of the Great +Creator’s Providence and Government, relating to the _Food_ of his +Creatures, we can conclude no less, than that since this grand Affair +hath such manifest Strokes of admirable and wise Management, that since +this is demonstrated throughout all Ages and Places, that therefore it is +God’s Handy-Work. For how is it possible that so vast a World of Animals +should be supported, such a great Variety equally and well supplied with +proper Food, in every Place fit for Habitation, without an especial +Superintendency and Management, equal to, at least, that of the most +prudent Steward and Housholder? How should the Creatures be able to find +out their Food when laid up in secret Places? And how should they be able +to gather even a great deal of the common Food, and at last to macerate +and digest it, without peculiar Organs adapted to the Service? And what +less than an infinitely Wise God could form such a Set of curious Organs, +as we find every Species endowed with, for this very Life? Organs so +artificially made, so exquisitely fitted up, that the more strictly we +survey them, the more accurately we view them (even the meanest of them +with our blest Glasses) the less Fault we find in them, and the more +we admire them: Whereas the best polished, and most exquisite Works, +made by human Art, appear through our Glasses, as rude and bungling, +deformed and monstrous; and yet we admire them, and call them Works of +Art and Reason. And lastly, What less than Rational and Wise could endow +irrational Animals with various Instincts, equivalent, in their special +Way, to Reason it self? Insomuch that some from thence have absolutely +concluded, that those Creatures had some Glimmerings of Reason. But +it is manifestly Instinct, not Reason they act by, because we find no +varying, but that every Species doth naturally pursue at all Times the +same Methods and Way, without any Tutorage or Learning: Whereas _Reason_, +without Instruction, would often vary, and do that by many Methods, which +_Instinct_ doth by one alone. But of this more hereafter. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Pastum animantibus largè & copiosè natura eum, qui cuique aptus +erat, comparavit._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 47. + +_Ille Deus est,——qui per totum orbem armenta dimisit, qui gregibus ubique +passim vagantibus pabulum præstat._ Senec. de Benef. l. 4. c. 6. + +[b] _Tritico nihil est fertilius: hoc ei natura tribuit, quoniam eo +maximè alat hominem; utpote cùm è modio, si sit aptum solum——150 modii +reddantur. Misit D. Augusto procurator—ex uno grano (vix credibile dictu) +400 paucis minùs germina. Misit & Neroni similiter 340 stipulas ex uno +grano._ Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 10. + +[c] _Sed illa quanta benignitas Natura, quòd tam multa ad vescendum, +tam varia, tam jucunda gignit: neque ea uno tempore anni, ut semper & +novitate delectemur & copiâ._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 53. + +[d] _Swammerdam_ observes of the _Ephemeron Worms_, that their Food is +Clay, and that they make their Cells of the same. Upon which occasion +he saith of _Moths_, that eat Wool and Fur, _There are two Things very +considerable, 1. That the Cells they make to themselves, wherein they +live, and with which (as their House, Tortoise-like) they move from Place +to Place, they make of the Matter next at hand. 2. That they feed also on +the same, therefore when you find their Cells, or rather Coats or Cases +to be made of yellow, green, blue or black Cloth, you will also find +their Dung of the same Colour._ Swammerd. Ephem. vita. Published by Dr. +_Tyson_, _Chap. 3._ + +[e] _Job_ xxxviii. 41. _Psal._ cxlvii. 9. + +[f] _Aristot. l. 9. c. 31. Hist. Animal._ + +[g] _Pliny_ affirms this of the _Crow_ as well as _Raven_: _Cæteræ omnes +~[i.e. Cornices]~ ex eodem genere pellunt nidis pullos, ac volare cogunt, +sicut & Corvi, qui——robustos suos fœtus fugant longiùs._ Nat. Hist. l. +10. c. 12. + +[h] _Var. Hist._ + +[i] _Chap. 9._ + +[k] _Admiranda Naturæ dispensatio est, ut aliter, alioque modo, tempore, +& industriâ colatur terra septentrionalis, aliter Æthiopia, ~&c.~ Quoad +Aquilonares, hoc certum est, in plerisque agris Vestrogothorum, parte +objectâ Meridionali plagæ, Hordeum spatio 36 Dierum à femine projecto +maturum colligi, hoc est à fine Junii usque medium Augusti, aliquando +celerius. Ea namque maturitas ex soli naturâ, aërisque clementiâ, +ac humore lapillorum fovente radices, Soleque torrente, necessariò +provenit, ut ita nascatur, ac maturetur, talesque spicæ sex ordines in +numero aristæ habent._ Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 15. c. 8. _Prata & pascua tantâ +luxuriant graminum ubertate ac diversitate, ut necessum sit inde arcere +jumenta, nè nimio herbarum esu crepent, ~&c.~_ Id. ib. l. 19. c. 36. + +[l] Among the many noble Contrivances for Food, I cannot but attribute +that universal Aliment, _Bread_, to the Revelation, or at least the +Inspiration of the Creator and Conservator of Mankind; not only because +it is a Food used in all, or most Parts of the World; but especially +because it is of incomparable Use in the great Work of Digestion, greatly +assisting the Ferment, or whatever causes the Digestion of the Stomach. +Of which take this Example from the noble Mr. _Boyle_. “He extracted a +_Menstruum_ from Bread alone, that would work on Bodies more Compact +than many hard Minerals, nay even on Glass it self, and do many Things +that _Aqua-fortis_ could not do——Yet by no means was this so corrosive +a Liquor as _Aq. fort._ or as the other _acid Menstruum_”. _Vid._ the +ingenious and learned Dr. _Harris_’s _Lex. Tech. verbo Menstruum_, where +the way of preparing it may be met with. + +[m] _Psal._ civ. 26. + +[n] The Insects that for the most part discolour the Waters, are the +small Insects of the _Shrimp-kind_, called by _Swammerdam_, _Pulex +aquaticus arborescens_. These I have often seen so numerous in stagnating +Waters in the Summer-Months, that they have changed the Colour of the +Waters to a pale or deep Red, sometimes a Yellow, according to the Colour +they were of. Of this _Swammerdam_ hath a pretty Story told him by Dr. +_Florence Schuyl_, viz. _Se aliquando Studiis intentum, magno quodam & +horrifico rumore fuisse turbatum, & simul ad causam ejus inquirendam +excitatum; verùm se vix eum in finem surrexisse, cùm Ancilla ejus pœne +exanimis adcurreret, & multo cum singultu referret, omnem Lugduni +~[Batavorum]~ aquam esse mutatam in sanguinem_. The Cause of which, +upon Examination he found to be only from the numerous Swarms of those +_Pulices_. V. Swamm. Hist. Insect. p. 70. + +The Cause of this great Concourse, and Appearance of those little +Insects, I have frequently observed to be to perform their Coït; which +is commonly about the latter end of _May_, and in _June_. At that Time +they are very venereous, frisking and catching at one another; and many +of them conjoined Tail to Tail, with their Bellies inclined one towards +another. + +At this Time also they change their Skin or _Slough_; which I conceive +their rubbing against one another mightily promoteth. And what if at this +Time they change their Quarters? _Vid._ _Book VIII. Chap. 4. Note (f)._ + +These small Insects, as they are very numerous, so are Food to many +Water-Animals. I have seen not only _Ducks_ shovel them up as they swim +along the Waters, but divers Insects also devour them, particularly some +of the middle-sized _Squillæ aquaticæ_, which are very voracious Insects. + +[o] Besides the _Pulices_ last mentioned, there are in the Waters other +Animalcules very numerous, which are scarce visible without a Microscope. +In _May_, and the Summer Months, the green Scum on the top of stagnating +Waters, is nothing else but prodigious Numbers of these Animalcules: So +is likewise the green Colour in them, when all the Water seems green. +Which Animalcules, in all Probability, serve for Food to the _Pulices +Aquatici_, and other the minuter Animals of the Waters. Of which I gave +a pregnant Instance in one of the _Nymphæ_ of _Gnats_, to my Friend the +late admirable Mr. _Ray_, which he was pleased to publish in the last +Edition of his _Wisdom of God in the Creation_, p. 430. + +[p] + + _Nil adeò quoniam natum’st in Corpore, ut uti_ + _Possemus, sed quod natum’st, id procreat usum._ + +And afterwards, + + _Propterea capitur Cibus, ut suffulciat artus,_ + _Et recreet vireis interdatus, atque patentem_ + _Per membra ac venas ut amorem obturet edendi._ + +And after the same manner he discourseth of Thirst, and divers other +Things. _Vid._ _Lucret. l. 4. v. 831, &c._ + +Against this Opinion of the _Epicureans_, _Galen_ ingeniously argues in +his Discourse about the Hand. _Non enim Manus ipsæ_ (saith he) _hominem +artes docuerunt, sed Ratio. Manus autem ipsæ sunt artium organa; sicut +Lyra musici——Lyra musicam non docuit, sed est ipsius artifex per eam, quâ +præditus est, Rationem: agere autem non potest ex arte absque organis, +ita & una quælibet anima facultates quasdam à suâ ipsius substantiâ +obtinet,——Quòd autem corporis particulæ animam non impellunt,——manifeste +videre licet, si animalia recèns nata confideres, quæ quidem priùs agere +conantur, quàm perfectas habeant particulas. Ego namque Bovis vitulum +cornibus petere conantem sæpenumero vidi, antequam ei nata essent +cornua; Et pullum Equi calcitrantem, ~&c.~ Omne enim animal suæ ipsius +Animæ facultates, ac in quos usus partes suæ polleant maximè, nullo +doctore, præsentit.——Quâ igitur ratione dici potest, animalia partium +usus à partibus doceri, cùm & antequam illas habeant, hoc cognoscere +videantur? Si igitur Ova tria acceperis, unum Aquilæ, alterum Anatis, +reliquum Serpentis, & calore modico foveris, animaliaque excluseris; illa +quidem alis volare conantia, antequàm volare possint; hoc autem revolvi +videbis, & serpere affectans, quamvis molle adhuc & invalidam fuerit. +Et si, dum perfecta erunt, in unâ eâdemque domo nutriveris, deinde ad +locum subdialem ducta emiseris, Aquila quidem ad sublime; Anas autem in +paludem;——Serpens verò sub terrâ irrepet——Animalia quidem mihi videntur +Naturâ magis quàm Ratione artem aliquam ~[τεχνικὰ artificiosa]~ exercere: +Apes fingere alveolos, ~&c.~_ Galen de usu. Part I. c. 3. + +[q] _Alia dentibus prædantur, alia unguibus, alia rostri aduncitate +carpunt, alia latitudine ~[ejusdem]~ ruunt, alia acumine excavant, alia +sugunt, alia lambunt, sorbent, mandunt, vorant. Nec minor varietas in +Pedum ministerio, ut rapiant, distrahant, teneant, premant, pendeant, +tellurem scabere non cessent._ Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 71. + +[r] Because it would be tedious to reckon up the Bones, Glands, Muscles, +and other Parts belonging to the Mouth, it shall suffice to observe, +that, for the various Services of Man’s Mouth, besides the Muscles in +common with other Parts, there are five Pair, and one single one proper +to the Lips only, as Dr. _Gibson_ reckons them: But my most diligent +and curious Friend the late Mr. _Cowper_, discovered a sixth Pair. And +accordingly Dr. _Drake_ reckons six Pair, and one single one proper to +the Lips, _l. 3._ c. 13. + +[s] _Galen_ deserves to be here consulted, who excellently argues against +the casual Concourse of the Atoms of _Epicurus_ and _Asclepiades_, from +the provident and wise Formation of the Mouths of Animals, and their +Teeth answerable thereto. In Man, his Mouth without a deep Incisure, +with only one canine Tooth on a side, and flat Nails, because, saith he, +_Hic Natura certò sciebat, se animal mansuetum ac civile effingere, cui +robur & vires essent ex sapientiâ, non ex corporis fortitudine_. But for +_Lions_, _Wolfs_ and _Dogs_, and all such as are called Καρχαρόδοντες, +(or having sharp, serrated Teeth) their Mouths are large, and deep cut; +Teeth strong and sharp, and their Nails sharp, large, strong and round, +accommodated to holding and tearing. _Vid._ _Galen. de Us. Part. l. 11. +c. 9._ + +[t] Among Insects the _Squillæ aquaticæ_, as they are very rapacious, +so are accordingly provided for it: Particularly the _Squilla aquatica +maxima recurva_ (as I call it) who hath somewhat terrible in its very +Aspect, and in its Posture in the Water, especially its Mouth, which is +armed with long, sharp Hooks, with which it boldly, and greedily catcheth +any thing in the Waters, even one’s Fingers. When they have seized their +Prey, they will so tenaciously hold it with their forcipated Mouth, that +they will not part therewith, even when they are taken out of the Waters, +and jumbled about in one’s Hand. I have admired at their peculiar way of +taking in their Food; which is done by piercing their Prey with their +_Forcipes_ (which are hollow) and sucking the Juice thereof through them. + +The _Squilla_ here mentioned, is the first and second in _Mouffet_’s +_Theat. Insect. l. 2. c. 37._ + +[u] For an Instance of Insects endued with a Spear, I shall, for its +Peculiarity, pitch upon one of the smallest, if not the very smallest of +all the _Gnat_-kind, which I call, _Culex minimus nigricans maculatus +sanguisuga_. Among us in _Essex_, they are called _Nidiots_, by _Mouffet +Midges_. It is about ⅒ of an Inch, or somewhat more long, with short +_Antennæ_, plain in the Female, in the Male feather’d, somewhat like a +Bottle-Brush. It is spotted with blackish Spots, especially on the Wings, +which extend a little beyond the Body. It comes from a little slender +Eel-like Worm, of a dirty white Colour, swimming in stagnating Waters by +a wrigling Motion; as in _Fig. 5._ + +Its _Aurelia_ is small, with a black Head, little short Horns, a spotted, +slender, rough Belly, _Vid._ _Fig. 6._ It lies quietly on the top of the +Water, now and then gently wagging it self this way and that. + +These _Gnats_ are greedy Blood-Suckers, and very troublesome, where +numerous, as they are in some Places near the _Thames_, particularly in +the Breach-Waters that have lately befallen near us, in the Parish of +_Dagenham_; where I found them so vexatious, that I was glad to get out +of those Marshes. Yea, I have seen Horses so stung with them, that they +have had Drops of Blood all over their Bodies, where they were wounded by +them. + +I have given a Figure (in _Fig. 7._) and more particular Description of +the _Gnats_, because, although it be common, it is no where taken notice +of by any Author I know, except _Mouffet_, who, I suppose, means these +_Gnats_, which he calls _Midges_, _c. 13. p. 82._ + +[w] _Hornets_ and _Wasps_ have strong Jaws, toothed, wherewith they can +dig into Fruits, for their Food; as also gnaw and scrape Wood, whole +Mouthfuls of which they carry away to make their Combs. _Vid._ _infr._ +_Chap. 13. Note (c)._ + +[x] _Monsieur de la Voye_ tells of an ancient Wall of Free-Stone in +the _Benedictines-Abby_ at _Caen_ in _Normandy_, so eaten with Worms, +that one may run ones Hand into most of the Cavities: That these Worms +are small and black, lodging in a greyish Shell, that they have large +flattish Heads, a large Mouth, with four black Jaws, _&c._ _Phil. Trans._ +Nᵒ. 18. + +[y] _Pro iis ~[Labris]~ cornea & acuta Volucribus Rostra. Eadem rapto +viventibus adunca: collecto, recta: herbas ruentibus limumque lata, ut +Suum generi. Jumentis vice manûs ad colligenda pabula: ora apertiora +laniatu viventibus._ Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37. + +[z] _Parrots_ have their Bills nicely adapted to these Services, being +hooked, for climbing and reaching what they have occasion for; and the +lower Jaw being compleatly fitted to the Hooks of the upper, they can as +minutely break their Food, as other Animals do with their Teeth. + +[aa] Thus in _Woodcocks_, _Snipes_, _&c._ who hunt for Worms in moorish +Ground, and, as Mr. _Willughby_ saith, live also on the fatty unctuous +Humour they suck out of the Earth. So also the Bills of _Curlews_, and +many other Sea-Fowl, are very long, to enable them to hunt for the Worms, +_&c._ in the Sands on the Sea-shore, which they frequent. + +[bb] _Ducks_, _Geese_, and divers others, have such long broad Bills, to +quaffer and hunt in Water and Mud; to which we may reckon the uncouth +Bill of the _Spoon-Bill_: but that which deserves particular Observation +in the Birds named in these two last Notes is, the Nerves going to the +end of their Bills, enabling them to discover their Food out of Sight; of +which see _Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (e)._ + +[cc] The _Picus viridis_, or _Green-Woodspite_, and all the +_Wood-Peckers_ have Bills, curiously made for digging Wood, strong, hard, +and sharp. A neat Ridge runs along the top of the green _Wood-Pecker_’s +Bill, as if an Artist had designed it for Strength and Neatness. + +[dd] The _Loxia_, or _Cross-Bill_, whose Bill is thick and strong, +with the Tips crossing one another; with great Readiness breaks open +Fir-cones, Apples, and other Fruit, to come at their Kernels, which are +its Food, as if the crossing of the Bill was designed for this Service. + +[ee] The _Sea-Pie_ hath a long, sharp, narrow Bill, compressed side-ways, +and every way so well adapted to the raising _Limpets_ from the Rocks +(which are its chief, if not only Food) that Nature (or rather the Author +of Nature) seems to have framed it purely for that Use. + +[ff] _Those animals which have Teeth on both Jaws, have but one Stomach; +but most of those which have no upper Teeth, or none at all, have three +Stomachs; as in Beasts, the Paunch, the Read, and the Feck; and in all +granivorous Birds, the Crop, the Echinus and the Gizard. For as chewing +is to an easie Digestion, so is swallowing whole to that which is more +laborious._ Dr. _Grew_’s Cosmol. Sacr. c. 5. §. 24. + +[gg] _J. Peyer_ saith, the Teeth are made of convolved Skins hardened; +and if we view the Grinders of _Deer_, _Horses_, _Sheep_, _&c._ we shall +find great Reason to be of his Mind. His Observations are, _Mirum autem +eos ~(_i.e._ Dentes)~ cùm primùm è pelliculis imbricatim convolutis & muco +viscido constarent, in tantam dirigescere soliditatem, quæ ossa cuncta +superet. Idem fit etiam in Ossiculis Ceraforum, ~&c.~——Separatione factâ, +per membranas conditur Magma locellis, quos formant laminæ tenues, +ac duriusculæ ad Dentis figuram anteà divinitùs compositæ._ J. Peyer +Merycol. l. 2. c. 8. + +[hh] _Qui autem ~(_i.e._ Dentes)~ renascuntur, minimè credendi sunt à +facultate aliquâ plasticâ Brutorum denuò formari, sed latentes tantummodo +in conspectum producuntur augmento molis ex effluente succo._ Id. ibid. + +[ii] From these, and other like Considerations of the Teeth, _Galen_ +infers, that they must needs be the Work of some wise, provident _Being_; +not _Chance_, nor a fortuitous Concourse of _Atoms_. For the Confirmation +of which he puts the Case, That suppose the order of the Teeth should +have been inverted, the _Grinders_ set in the room of the _Incisors_, +_&c._ (which might as well have been, had not the Teeth been placed by +a wise Agent) in this case, what Use would the Teeth have been of? What +Confusion by such a slight Error in their Disposal only? Upon which he +argues, _At siquis choream hominum 32_ (the Number of the Teeth) _ordine +disposuit, eum ut hominem industrium laudaremus; cùm verò Dentium choream +Natura tam bellè exornârit, nonne ipsam quoque laudabimus?_ And then +he goes on with the Argument, from the Sockets of the Teeth, and their +nice fitting in them, which being no less accurately done, than what is +done by a Carpenter, or Stone-Cutter, in fitting a Tenon into a Mortice, +doth as well infer the Art and Act of the wise _Maker_ of Animal Bodies, +as the other doth the Act and Art of Man. And so he goes on with other +Arguments to the same Effect. _Galen. de Us. Part. l. 11. c. 8._ + +[kk] A curious Account of this may be found in an _Extract of a Letter +concerning the Teeth of divers Animals_. Printed at _Paris_, in _M. +Vaugnion_’s Compleat Body of Chirurg. Oper. Chap. 53. + +[ll] As it hath been taken notice of, that various Animals delight +in various Food; so it constantly falls out, that their Teeth are +accordingly fitted to their Food; the rapacious to catching, holding +and tearing their Prey; the herbaceous to Gathering and Comminution +of Vegetables: And such as have no Teeth, as Birds, their Bill, Craw +and Gizard, are assisted with Stones, to supply the defect of Teeth. +But the most considerable Example of this Kind is in some Families of +the Insect-Tribes, as the _Papilio-Kind_, _&c._ who have Teeth, and +are voracious, and live on tender Vegetables in their _Nympha_, or +_Caterpillar-State_, when they can only creep; but in their mature +_Papilio-State_, they have no Teeth, but a _Proboscis_, or _Trunk_ to +suck up Honey, _&c._ their Parts for gathering Food, as well as their +Food being changed, as soon as they have Wings to enable them to fly to +it. + +[mm] It is remarkable in the Teeth of Fishes, that in some they are +sharp, as also jointed, so as to fall back, the better to catch and +hold their Prey, and to facilitate its Passage into the Stomach: So in +others they are broad and flat, made to break the Shells of Snails and +Shell-Fish devoured by them. These _Teeth_, or _Breakers_, are placed, in +some, in the Mouth; in some, in the Throat; and in _Lobsters_, _&c._ in +the Stomach it self; in the bottom of whose Stomachs are three of those +_Grinders_, with peculiar Muscles to move them. + +[nn] What is there in the World can be called an Act of Providence and +Design, if this temporary Defect of Teeth be not such; that Children, for +Instance, should have none whilst they are not able to use them, but to +hurt themselves; or the Mother; and that at the very Age when they can +take in more substantial Food, and live without the Breast, and begin to +need Teeth, for the sake of Speech; that then, I say, their Teeth should +begin to appear, and gradually grow, as they more and more stand in need +of ’em. + +[oo] It would be endless to particularize here, and therefore I shall +refer to the Anatomists; among the rest, particularly to _Galen_, for the +sake of his Descant upon this Subject. For having described the great +Accuracy of the Contrivance and Make of these Parts, he saith, _Haud +scio an hominum sit sobriorum ad Fortunam opificem id revocare: alioqui +quid tandem erit, quod cum Providentiâ atque Arte efficitur? Omnino enim +hoc ei contrariaum esse debet, quod casu ac fortuitè fit._ Galen. de Us. +Part. l. 11. c. 7. _ubi plura._ + +[pp] _The Bore of the Gullet is not in all Creatures alike answerable +to the Body or Stomach. As in the ~Fox~, which both feeds on Bones, and +swallows whole, or with little chewing; add next in a ~Dog~, and other +ossivorous Quadrupeds, ’tis very large, ~viz.~ to prevent a Contusion +therein. Next in a ~Horse~, which though he feeds on Grass, yet swallows +much at once, and so requires a more open Passage. But in a ~Sheep~, +~Rabbit~, or ~Ox~, which bite short, and swallow less at once, ’tis +smaller. But in a ~Squirrel~, still lesser, both because he eats fine, +and to keep him from disgorging his Meat upon his descending Leaps. And +so in ~Rats~ and ~Mice~, which often run along Walls with their Heads +downwards._ Dr. _Grew_’s Comp. Anat. of Stom. and Guts. _Chap. 5._ + +[qq] Of this see Dr. _Willis_’s _Pharm. Rat._ Part 1. Sect. 1. c. 2. +_Steno_ also, and _Peyer Mery_, l. 2. + +The Description these give of the muscular Part of the Gullet, the late +ingenious and learned Dr. _Drake_ saith is very exact in Ruminants, but +not in Men. _In Men, this Coat ~(the second of the Gullet)~ consists +of two fleshy ~Lamellæ~, like two distinct Muscles. The outward being +compared of strait longitudinal Fibres.——The inner Order of Fibres +is annular, without any observable Angles.——The Use of this Coat, +and these Orders of Fibres is to promote Deglutition; of which the +Longitudinal,——shorten the ~Oesophagus~, and so make its Capacity larger, +to admit of the Matter to be swallowed. The Annular, on the contrary, +contract the Capacity, and closing behind the descending Aliment, press +it downwards._ Drake’s Anat. vol. 1. l. 1. c. 9. + +[rr] See _Willis_, ibid. _Cowper_’s _Anat. Tab. 35._ and many other +Authors. + +[ss] _Promptuarium autem hoc, alimentum universum excipiens, ceu Divinum, +non Humanum sit opificium._ Galen. de Us. Part. l. 4. c. 1. + +[tt] _How great a Comprehension of the Nature of Things, did it require, +to make a ~Menstruum~, that should corrode all sorts of Flesh coming into +the Stomach, and yet not the Stomach it self, which is also Flesh?_ Dr. +_Grew_’s Cosmol. Sacr. c. 4. + +[uu] The Food of the _Castor_ being oftentimes, if not always, dry +Things, and hard of Digestion, such as the Roots and Bark of Trees, +’tis a wonderful Provision made in that Creature’s Stomach, by the +digestive Juice lodged in the curious little Cells there. A Description +of whose admirable Structure and Order may be found in _Blasius_ from +_Wepser_; concerning which he saith, _In quibus Mucus reconditus, non +secus ac Mel in Favis.——Nimiram quia Castoris alimentum exsuccum, & coctu +difficillimum est, sapientissimus & summè admirandus in suis operibus +rerum Conditor, D. O. M. ipsi pulcherrimâ istâ & affabrè factâ structurâ +benignissimè prospexit, ut nunquam deesset Fermentum, quod ad solvendum, +& comminuendum alimentum durum & asperum par foret._ Vid. Blas. Anat. +Animal. c. 10. _Confer etiam Act. Erud. Lips._ Ann. 1684. p. 360. + +Most of our modern Anatomists and Physicians attribute Digestion to +a dissolving _Menstruum_; but Dr. _Drake_ takes it to be rather from +fermentative, dissolving Principles in the Aliment it self, with the +Concurrence of the Air and Heat of the Body; as in Dr. _Papin_’s +_Digester_. _Vid._ _Dr. Anat. vol. 1. c. 14._ + +[ww] _All carnivorous Quadrupeds have the smallest Ventricles, Flesh +going farthest. Those that feed on Fruits, and Roots, have them of a +middle Size. Yet the ~Mole~, because it feeds unclean, hath a very great +one. ~Sheep~ and ~Oxen~, which feed on Grass, have the greatest. Yet +the ~Horse~ (and for the same Reason the ~Coney~ and ~Hare~) though +Graminivorous, yet comparatively have but little ones. For that a +~Horse~ is made for Labour, and both this, and the ~Hare~, for quick +and continued Motion; for which, the most easie Respiration, and so the +freest Motion of the Diaphragme is very requisite; which yet could not +be, should the Stomach lie big and cumbersome upon it, as in ~Sheep~ and +~Oxen~ it doth_, Grew, ib. Chap. 6. + +[xx] The _Dromedary_ hath four Stomachs, one whereof is peculiarly +endowed with about twenty Cavities, like Sacks, in all Probability for +the holding of Water. Concerning which, see _Book VI. Chap. 4. Note (a)._ + +[yy] To assist in which Office, they swallow small angular Stones, which +are to be met with in the Gizards of all granivorous Birds; but in the +Gizard of the _Iynx_, or _Wryneck_, which was full only of _Ants_, I +found not one Stone. So in that of the _Green Wood-Pecker_ (full of +_Ants_ and _Tree-maggots_) there were but few Stones. + +[zz] _In most carnivorous Birds, the third Ventricle is Membranous; where +the Meat is concocted, as in a Man: Or somewhat Tendinous, as in an +~Owl~; as if it were made indifferently for Flesh, or other Meat, as he +could meet with either. Or most thick and tendinous, called the Gizard; +wherein the Meat, as in a Mill, is ground to Pieces._ Grew, _ubi supra_, +Chap. 9. + +[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. + +[iii] There are many Stories told of the Craft of the _Fox_, to compass +his Prey; of which _Ol. Magnus_ hath many such, as, feigning the barking +of a _Dog_, to catch Prey near Houses; feigning himself dead, to catch +such Animals as come to feed upon him; laying his Tail on a Wasp-Nest, +and then rubbing it hard against a Tree, and then eating the _Wasps_ +so killed: Ridding himself of _Fleas_, by gradually going into Water, +with a Lock of Wool in his Mouth, and so driving the _Fleas_ up into +it, and then leaving it in the Water; By catching _Crab_-Fish with his +Tail, which he saith he himself was an Eye-Witness of; _Vidi & ego in +Scopulis Norvegia Vulpem, inter rupes immissâ caudâ in aquas, plures +educere Cancros, ac demum devorare._ Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 18. c. 39, 40. +But _Pliny_’s fabulous Story of the _Hyæna_ out-does these Relations of +the _Fox_, _Sermonem humanum inter pastorum stabula assimulare, nomenque +alicujus addiscere, quem evocatum foràs laceret. Item Vomitionem hominis +imitari ad sollicitandos Canes quos invadat._ Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. +30. + +[kkk] This do _Ducks_, _Woodcocks_, and many other Fowls, which seek +their Food in dirty, moorish Places. For which Service they have very +remarkable Nerves reaching to the end of their Bills. Of which see _Book +VII. Chap. 2. Note (e)._ + +[lll] _Swine_, and other Animals that dig, have their Noses made more +tendinous, callous, and strong for this Service, than others that do not +dig. They are also edged with a proper, tough Border, for penetrating and +lifting up the Earth; and their Nostrils are placed well, and their Smell +is very accurate, to discover whatsoever they pursue by digging. + +[mmm] The _Mole_, as its Habitation is different from that of other +Animals, so hath its Organs in every respect curiously adapted to that +way of Life; particularly its Nose made sharp, and slender, but withal +tendinous and strong, _&c._ But what is very remarkable, it hath such +Nerves reaching to the end of its Nose and Lips, as _Ducks_, _&c_. have, +mentioned above in _Note (kkk)._ Which Pair of Nerves I observed to be +much larger in this Animal than any other Nerves proceeding out of its +Brain. + +[nnn] Predacious Creatures, as _Wolfs_, _Foxes_, _&c._ will discover Prey +at great Distances; so will _Dogs_ and _Ravens_ discover Carrion a great +way off by their Smell. And if (as the Superstitious imagine) the latter +flying over and haunting Houses be a sign of Death, it is no doubt from +some cadaverous Smell, those Ravens discover in the Air by their accurate +Smell, which is emitted from those diseased Bodies, which have in them +the Principles of a speedy Death. + +[ooo] Thus _Hawks_ and _Kites_ on Land, and _Gulls_ and other Birds that +prey upon the Waters, can at a great Height in the Air see _Mice_, little +Birds and Insects on the Earth, and small Fishes, _Shrimps_, _&c._ in the +Waters, which they will dart down upon, and take. + +[ppp] Mr. Ray gives a good Account of the Nidification of the _Chrysaëtos +caudâ annulo albo cinctâ. Hujus Nidus Ann. 1668. in sylvosis prope +Derwentiam, ~&c.~ inventus est è bacillis seu virgis ligneis grandioribus +compositus, quorum altera extremitas rupis cujusdam eminentiæ, altera +duabus Betulis innitebatur,—Erat Nidus quadratus, duas ulnas latus.—In +eo pullus unicus, adjacentibus cadaveribus unius agni, unius leporis, & +trium Grygallorum pullorum._ Synops. Method. Avium, p. 6. And not only +_Lambs_, _Hares_, and _Grygalli_, but Sir _Robert Sibbald_ tells us, they +will seize _Kids_ and _Fawns_, yea, and Children too: Of which he hath +this Story of an _Eagle_ in one of the _Orcades_ Islands, _Quæ Infantulum +unius anni pannis involutum arripuit (quem Mater tessellas ustibiles pro +igne allatura momento temporis deposuerat in loco ~Houton-Hed~ dicto) +cumque deportâsse per 4 milliaria passuum ad ~Hoiam~; quâ re ex matris +ejulatibus cognitâ, quatuor viri illuc in naviculâ profecti sunt, & +scientes ubi Nidus esset, infantulum illæsum & intactum deprehenderunt._ +Prod. Nat. Hist. Scot. l. 3. p. 2. p. 14. + +[qqq] See in _Book VII. Chap. 1. Note (l)._ the Characteristicks of the +_Wood-Pecker-kind_. + +[rrr] _The Contrivance of the Legs, Feet and Nails [of the ~Opossum]~ +seems very advantagious to this Animal in climbing Trees (which it doth +very nimbly) for preying upon Birds._ But that which is most singular +in this Animal, is the Structure of its Tail, to enable it to hang on +Boughs. _The Spines, or Hooks——in the middle of the under side of the +~Vertebræ~ of the Tail; are a wonderful Piece of Nature’s Mechanism. The +first three ~Vertebræ~ had none of these Spines, but in all the rest they +were to be observed.——They were placed just at the Articulation of each +Joynt, and in the middle from the Sides.——For the performing this Office +~[of hanging by the Tail]~ nothing, I think, could be more advantagiously +contrived. For when the Tail is twirled or wound about a Stick, this Hook +of the ~Spinæ~ easily sustains the Weight, and there is but little labour +of the Muscles required, only enough for bowing or crooking the Tail._ +This, and more to the same purpose, see in Dr. _Tyson_’s _Anat._ of the +_Oposs._ in _Phil. Trans._ No. 239. + +[sss] See before _Chap. 2. Note (z), (aa), (bb)._ + +[ttt] _Quid dicam quantus amor bestiarum sit in educandis custodiendisque +iis, qua procreaverint, usque ad eum finem, dum possint seipsa +defendere?_ And having instanced in some Animals, where this Care is not +necessary, and accordingly is not employed, he goes on, _Jam Gallinæ, +avesque reliquæ, & quietum requirunt ad pariendum locum, & cubilia sibi, +nidosque construunt, eosque quàm possunt mollissimè substernunt, ut quàm +facillime ova serventur. Ex quibus pullos cùm excluserint, ita tuentur, +ut & pennis foveant, ne frigore lædantur, & si est calor, à sole se +opponant._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 51, 52. + +To this natural Care of Parent-Animals to their young, we may add the +Returns made by the young of some towards the old ones. _Pliny_ saith +of _Rats_, _Genitores suos fesses senectâ, alunt insigni pietate._ Nat. +Hist. l. 8. c. 57. So _Cranes_, he saith, _Genitricum senectam invicem +educant._ L. 10. c. 23. + +This St. _Ambrose_ takes Notice of in his _Hexameron_, and _Ol. Magnus_ +after him, _Depositi patris artus, per longævum senectutis plumis +nudatos circumstans soboles pennis propriis fovet,——collatitio cibo +pascit, quando etiam ipsa naturæ reparat dispendia, ut hinc inde senem +sublevantes, fulcro alarum suarum ad volandum exerceant, & in pristinos +usus desueta membra reducant._ For which Reason this Bird is denominated +_Pia. Vid. Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 19. c. 14._ + +Hereto may be added also the conjugal Στοργὴ of the little green +_Æthiopian Parrot_, which Mr. _Ray_ describes from _Clusius_. _Fœmellea +senescentes (quod valdè notabile) vix edere volebant, nisi cibum jam à +mare carptum, & aliquandiu in prolobo retentum, & quasi coctum rostro suo +exciperent, ut Columbarum pulli à matre ali solent._ Synops. Meth. Av. p. +32. + +[uuu] The most timid Animals, that at other Times abscond, or hastily +fly from the Face of Man, Dogs, _&c._ will, for the sake of their young, +expose themselves. Thus among Fowls, _Hens_ will assault, instead of fly +from such as meddle with their Brood. So _Partridges_, before their young +can fly, will drop frequently down, first at lesser, and then at greater +Distances, to dodge and draw off Dogs from pursuing their young. + +[www] The _Opossum_ hath a curious Bag on purpose for the securing and +carrying about her young. There are belonging to this Bag two Bones (not +to be met with in any other Skeleton) and four Pair of Muscles; and +some say Teats lie therein also. Dr. _Tyson_, _Anat._ of the _Oposs._ +in _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 239. where he also, from _Oppian_, mentions the +_Dog-Fish_, that upon any Storm or Danger, receives the young Ones into +her Belly, which come out again when the Fright is over. So also the +_Squatina_ and _Glaucus_, the same Author saith, have the same Care for +their young, but receive them into different Receptacles. + +[xxx] See _Book VIII. Chap. 6._ + +[yyy] See _Chap. 13. Note (c)._ + +[zzz] There is manifestly a superintending Providence in this Case, that +some Animals are able to suck as soon as ever they are born, and that +they will naturally hunt for the Teat before they are quite gotten out +of the Secundines, and parted from the Navel-String, as I have seen. But +for _Chickens_, and other young Birds, they not being able immediately +to pick till they are stronger, have a notable Provision made for such +a Time, by a part of the Yolk of the Egg being inclosed in their Belly, +a little before their Exclusion or Hatching, which serves for their +Nourishment, till they are grown strong enough to pick up Meat. _Vid._ +_Book VII. Chap. 4. Note (a)._ + +[aaaa] _Qui ~[Infantes]~ de ope nostrâ ac de divinâ misericordia plus +merentur, qui in primo statim nativitatis sua ortu plorantes ac stentes, +nil aliud faciunt quam deprecantur._ Cypr. Ep. ad Fid. + +[bbbb] I might name here some of the Species of Birds, the whole Tribe +almost of Insects, and some among other Tribes, that are able to subsist +for many Months without Food, and some without Respiration too, or very +little; But it may suffice to instance only in the _Land-Tortoise_, of +the Structure of whose Heart and Lungs: See _Book VI. Chap. 5. Note (b)._ + +[cccc] _Inediam diutissimè tolerat Lupus, ut & alia omnia carnivora, +licèt voracissima; magnâ utique naturæ providentiâ; quoniam esca non +semper in promptu est._ _~Ray~’s_ Synops. Quadr. p. 174. + +To the long Abstinence mentioned of Brute-Animals, I hope the Reader +will excuse me if I add one or two Instances of extraordinary Abstinence +among Men. One _Martha Taylor_, born in _Derbyshire_, by a Blow on the +Back fell into such a Prostration of Appetite, that she took little +Sustenance, but some Drops with a Feather, from _Christmas 1667._ +for thirteen Months, and slept but little too all the Time. See Dr. +_Sampson_’s Account thereof in _Ephem. Germ. T. 3. Obs. 173._ + +To this we may add the Case of _S. Chilton_, of _Tinsbury_, near _Bath_, +who in the Years 1693, 1696, and 97, slept divers Weeks together. And +although he would sometimes, in a very odd manner, take Sustenance, yet +would lie a long Time without any, or with very little, and all without +any considerable Decay. See _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 304. + +[dddd] They are admirable Instincts which the _Sieur de Beauplan_ +relates of his own Knowledge, of the little Animals called _Bohaques_ in +_Ukraine_. _They make Burroughs like ~Rabbets~, and in ~October~ shut +themselves up, and do not come out again till ~April~.——They spend all +the Winter under Ground, eating what they laid up in Summer.——Those that +are lazy among them, they lay on their Backs, then lay a great handful +of dry Herbage upon their Bodies, ~&c.~ then others drag those Drones to +the Mouths of their Burroughs, and so those Creatures serve instead of +Barrows, ~&c.~ I have often seen them practise this, and have had the +Curiosity to observe them whole Days together.——Their Holes are parted +like Chambers; some serve for Store-Houses, others for Burying-Places, +~&c.~ Their Government is nothing inferior to that of ~Bees~, ~&c.~ They +never go abroad without posting a Centinel upon some high Ground, to give +notice to the others whilst they are feeding. As soon as the Centinel +sees any Body, it stands upon his Hind-Legs and whistles._ Beauplan’s +_Description of ~Ukraine~_, _in_ Vol. I. _of the_ Collection of Voyages, +_&c._ + +A like Instance of the Northern _Galli Sylvestres_, see in _Chap. 13. +Note (g)._ + +As for the Scriptural Instance of the _Ant_, see hereafter _Book VIII. +Chap. 5. Note (d)._ + +[eeee] I have in _Autumn_, not without Pleasure observed, not only the +great Sagacity and Diligence of _Swine_, in hunting out the Stores of the +_Field-Mice_; but the wonderful Precaution also of those little Animals, +in hiding their Food beforehand against Winter. In the Time of Acorns +falling, I have, by means of the _Hogs_, discovered, that the Mice had, +all over the neighbouring fields, treasured up single Acorns in little +Holes they had scratched, and in which they had carefully covered up the +Acorn. These the _Hogs_ would, Day after Day, hunt out by their Smell. + + + + +CHAP. XII. + +_Of the Cloathing of Animals._ + + +Having in the foregoing Chapter somewhat largely taken a view of the +Infinite Creator’s Wisdom and Goodness towards his Creatures, in ordering +their Food, I shall be more brief in this Chapters in my View of their +_Cloathing_[a]; another necessary Appendage of Life, and in which +we have plain Tokens of the Creator’s Art, manifested in these two +Particulars; the _Suitableness of Animals Cloathing to their Place and +Occasions_; and the _Garniture and Beauty thereof_. + +I. The Cloathing of Animals is suited to their Place of Abode, and +Occasions there; a manifest Act of Design and Skill. For if there was +a Possibility, that Animals could have been accoutred any other Way, +than by God that made them, it must needs have come to pass, that their +Cloathing would have been at all Adventures, or all made the same Mode +and Way, or some of it, at least, inconvenient and unsuitable. But on the +contrary, we find all is curious and compleat, nothing too much, nothing +too little, nothing bungling, nothing but what will bear the Scrutiny of +the most exquisite Artist; yea, and so far out-do his best Skill, that +his most exquisite Imitations, even of the meanest Hair, Feather, Scale, +or Shell, will be found only as so many ugly, ill-made Blunders and +Botches, when strictly brought to the Test of good Glasses. But we shall +find an Example remarkable enough in the present Case, if we only compare +the best of Cloathing which Man makes for himself, with that given by the +Creator for the Covering of the irrational Creatures. Of which it may be +said, as our _Saviour_ doth of the Flowers of the Field, _Mat_. vi. 29. +_That even Solomon, in all his Glory, was not arrayed like one of these._ + +But let us come to Particulars, and consider the Suitableness of the +different Method the Creator hath taken in the Cloathing of Man, and of +the irrational Animals. This _Pliny_[b] pathetically laments, and says, +_It is hard to judge, whether Nature hath been a kinder Parent, or more +cruel Step-Mother to Man._ For, says he, _Of all Creatures, he alone is +covered with other’s Riches, whereas Nature hath given various Cloathing +to other Animals, Shells, Hides, Prickles, Shag, Bristles, Hair, Down, +Quills, Scales, Fleeces; and Trees she hath fenced with a Bark or two +against the Injuries of Cold and Heat. Only poor naked Man_, says he, _is +in the Day of his Birth cast into the wide World, to immediate crying and +squalling; and none of all Creatures besides, so soon to Tears in the +very beginning of their Life._ + +But here we have a manifest Demonstration of the Care and Wisdom of God +towards his Creatures; that such should come into the World with their +Bodies ready furnished and accommodated, who had neither Reason nor +Forecast to contrive, nor Parts adapted to the Artifices and Workmanship +of Cloathing; but for Man, he being endowed with the transcending Faculty +of Reason, and thereby made able to help himself, by having Thoughts +to contrive, and withal Hands to effect, and sufficient Materials[c] +afforded him from the Skins and Fleeces of Animals, and from various +Trees and Plants: Man, I say, having all this Provision made for him, +therefore the Creator hath wisely made him naked, and left him to shift +for himself, being so well able to help himself. + +And a notable Act this is of the Wisdom of God, not only as the more +setting forth his Care and Kindness to them that most needed his Help, +the helpless irrational Animals, and in his not over-doing his Work; but +also as it is most agreeable to the Nature and State of Man[d], both on +natural and political Accounts. That Man should cloath himself is most +agreeable to his Nature, particularly (among other Things,) as being +most salutary, and most suitable to his Affairs. For by this Means, Man +can adapt his Cloathing to all Seasons, to all Climates, to this, or to +any Business. He can hereby keep himself sweet and clean, fence off many +Injuries; but above all, by this Method of Cloathing, with the natural +Texture of his Skin adapted to it, it is that grand Means of Health, +namely, _insensible Perspiration_[e] is perform’d, at least greatly +promoted, without which an human Body would be soon over-run with Disease. + +In the next Place, there are good political Reasons for Man’s cloathing +himself, inasmuch as his Industry is hereby employ’d in the Exercises +of his Art and Ingenuity; his Diligence and Care are exerted in keeping +himself sweet, cleanly, and neat; many Callings and Ways of Life arise +from thence, and, (to name no more,) the Ranks and Degrees of Men are +hereby in some Measure render’d visible to others, in the several Nations +of the Earth. + +Thus it is manifestly best for Man that he should cloath himself. + +But for the poor shiftless Irrationals, it is a prodigious Act of the +great Creator’s Indulgence, that they are all ready furnished with such +Cloathing, as is proper to their Place and Business[f]. Some covered +with Hair[g], some with Feathers[h], some with Scales, some with +Shells[i], some only Skin, and some with firm and stout Armature; all +nicely accommodated to the Element in which the Creature liveth, and +its occasions there[k]. To _Quadrupeds_ Hair is a commodious Cloathing; +which, together with the apt Texture of their Skin, fitteth them for +all Weathers, to lie on the Ground, and to do the Offices of Man; and +the thick and warm Furs and Fleeces of others, are not only a good +Defensative against the Cold and Wet; but also a soft Bed to repose +themselves in; and to many of them, a comfortable covering, to nurse and +cherish their tender Young. + +And as Hair to Quadrupeds; so Feathers are as commodious a Dress to such +as fly in the Air, to Birds, and some Insects; not only a good Guard +against Wet and Cold, and a comfortable Covering to such as hatch and +brood their Young; but also most commodious for their Flight. To which +purpose they are nicely and neatly placed every where on the Body, to +give them an easie Passage through the Air[l], and to assist in the +wafting their Body through that thin Medium. For which Service, how +curious is their Texture for Lightness, and withal for Strength? Hollow +and thin for Lightness, but withal, context and firm for Strength. And +where ’tis necessary they should be filled, what a light and strong +medullary Substance is it they are filled with? By which curious +Contrivances, even the very heaviest Parts made for Strength, are so +far from being a Load to the Body, that they rather assist in making +it light and buoyant, and capacitate it for Flight. But for the Vanes, +the lightest part of the Feather, how curiously are they wrought with +capillary Filaments, neatly interwoven together[m], whereby they are +not only light, but also sufficiently close and strong, to keep the +Body warm, and guard it against the Injuries of Weather, and withal, to +impower the Wings, like so many Sails, to make strong Impulses upon the +Air in their Flight[n]. Thus curious, thus artificial, thus commodious +is the Cloathing of Beasts and Birds: Concerning which, more in proper +Place. + +And no less might I shew that of Reptiles and Fishes[o] to be, if it was +convenient to enlarge upon this Branch of the Creator’s Works. How well +adapted are the _Annuli_ of some Reptiles, and the Contortions of the +Skin of others, not only to fence the Body sufficiently against outward +Injuries; but to enable them to creep, to perforate the Earth[p], and in +a word, to perform all the Offices of their Reptile State, much better +than any other Tegument of the Body would do? And the same might be said +of the Covering of the Inhabitants of the Waters, particularly the Shells +of some, which are a strong Guard to the tender Body that is within, and +consistent enough with their slower Motion; and the Scales and Skins of +others, affording them an easie and swift Passage through the Waters. +But it may be sufficient to give only a Hint of these Things, which more +properly belong to another Place. + +Thus hath the indulgent Creator furnish’d the whole animal World with +convenient, suitable Cloathing. + +II. Let us in the next Place take a short View of the _Garniture_[q], +and _Beauty_ thereof. And here we shall thus far, at least, descry it to +be beautiful; that it is compleat and workman-like. Even the Cloathing +of the most sordid Animals, those that are the least beautified with +Colours, or rather whose Cloathing may regrate the Eye[r]; yet when we +come strictly to view them, and seriously consider the nice Mechanism of +one Part, the admirable Texture of another, and the exact Symmetry of the +Whole; we discern such Strokes of inimitable Skill, such incomparable +Curiosity, that we may say with _Solomon_, Eccl. iii. 11. [God] _hath +made every Thing beautiful in his Time_. + +But for a farther Demonstration, of the super-eminent Dexterity of his +almighty Hand, he hath been pleas’d, as it were on Purpose, to give +surprizing Beauties to divers Kinds of Animals. What radiant Colours are +many of them, particularly some Birds and Insects[s], bedeck’d with! +What a prodigious Combination is there often of these, yea, how nice +an Air frequently of meaner Colours[t], as to captivate the Eye of all +Beholders, and exceed the Dexterity of the most exquisite Pencil to copy? + +And now, when we thus find a whole World of Animals, cloathed in the +wisest Manner, the most suitable to the Element in which they live, +the Place in which they reside, and their State and Occasions there; +when those that are able to shift for themselves, are left to their own +Discretion and Diligence, but the Helpless well accouter’d and provided +for; when such incomparable Strokes of Art and Workmanship appear in all, +and such inimitable Glories and Beauties in the Cloathing of others; +who can, without the greatest Obstinacy and Prejudice, deny this to be +_GOD_’s Handy-work? The gaudy, or even the meanest Apparel which Man +provideth for himself, we readily enough own to be the Contrivance, the +Work of Man: And shall we deny the Cloathing of all the Animal World +betides (which infinitely surpasseth all the Robes of earthly Majesty; +shall we, dare we, deny that) to be the Work of any Thing less than of +an infinite, intelligent Being, whose Art and Power are equal to such +glorious Work! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] Concerning the Cloathing of Animals, _Aristotle_ observes, _That such +Animals have Hair as go on Feet and are viviparous; and that such are +covered with a Shell, as go on Feet, and are oviparous_, Hist. Anim. l. +3. c. 10. + +[b] _Cujus ~[Hominis]~ causâ videtur cuncta alia genuisse Natura, magnâ & +sævâ mercede contra tanta sua munera: ut non sit satìs æstimare, Parens +melior homini, an tristior Noverca fuerit. Ante omnia unum Animantium +cunctorum alienis velat opibus: cæteris variè tegumenta tribuit, testas, +cortices, coria, spinas, villos, setas, pilos, plumam, pennas, squamas, +vellera. Truncos etiam arboresque cortice, interdum gemino, à frigoribus, +& calore tutata est. Hominem tantum nudum, & in nudâ humo, natali die +abjicit ad vagitus statim & ploratum, nullumque tot animalium aliud ad +lacrymas, & has protinus vita principio._ Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 7. Proœm. + +Let _Seneca_ answer this Complaint of _Pliny_, although perhaps what +he saith might be more properly noted in another Place: _Quisquis es +iniquus æstimator fortis humana, cogita quanta nobis tribuerit Parens +noster, quanto valentiora animalia sub jugum miserimus, quanto velociora +assequamur, quàm nihil sit mortale non sub ictu nostro positum. Tot +virtutes accepimus, tot artes, animum denique cui nihil non eodem quo +intendit momento pervium est, Sideribus velociorem, ~&c.~_ Senec. de +Benef. l. 2. c. 29. + +[c] _Mirantur plurimi quomodo tutè, & sanè vivant homines in horrendis +frigoribus plagæ Septentrionalis; hancque levem quæstionem ultra 30 annos +audieram in Italia, præsertim ab Æthiopibus, & Indis, quibus onerosus +videtur vestitus sub Zonâ terridâ.——Quibus respondetur,——Gaudet Indus +multiplici plumarum genere, magìs forsan pro tegumento, quàm necessitate: +rursus Scytha villoso vestitu——Ita sub polo Arctico adversùs asperrimas +hyemes——opportuna remedia faciliter administrat ~[Natura]~. Ligna +videlicet in maxima copia, & levissimo pretio, & demum Pelles diversorum +animalium, tam sylvestrium quàm domesticorum._ Then he gives a Catalogue +of them, and saith, _Quarum omnium experti pellifices ita ingeniosè +noverunt mixturas componere, ut pulcherrimum decorum ostendat varietas, & +calidissimum fomentum adjuncta mollities._ Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 6. c. 20. + +To this Guard against the Cold, namely, of Fire and Cloathing; I hope +the Reader will excuse me, if I take this Opportunity of adding some +other Defensatives Nature, (or rather the great Author of Nature,) +hath afforded these northern Regions: Such are their high Mountains, +abounding, as _Ol. Magnus_ saith, through all Parts; also their numerous +Woods, which besides their Fire, do, with the Mountains, serve as +excellent Screens against the Cold, piercing Air and Winds. Their +prodigious Quantities of Minerals, and Metals, also afford Heat, and warm +Vapours, _Mineræ septentrionalium regionum satìs multæ, magnæ, diversæ, +& opulentæ sunt_, saith the same curious, and (for his Time,) learned +Archbishop, _l. 6. c. 1._ and in other Places. And for the Warmth they +afford, the _Volcano_’s of those Parts are in Evidence; as are also their +terrible Thunder and Lightning, which are observ’d to be the most severe +and mischievous in their metalline Mountains, in which large Herds of +Cattle are sometimes destroy’d; the Rocks so rent and shatter’d, that new +Veins of Silver are thereby discover’d; and a troublesome Kind of Quinsie +is produc’d in their Throats, by the stench, and poisonous Nature of +the sulphureous Vapours, which they dissolve, by drinking warm Beer and +Butter together, as _Olaus_ tells us in the same Book, _Chap. 11._ + +To all which Defensatives, I shall, in the last Place add, the warm +Vapours of their Lakes, (some of which are prodigiously large, of 130 +_Italian_ Miles in Length, and not much less in Breadth;) also of their +Rivers, especially the Vapours which arise from the Sea. Of which Guard +against severe Cold, we have lately had a convincing Proof in the _great +Frost_, in 1708, wherein, when _England_, _Germany_, _France_, _Denmark_; +yea, the more southerly Regions of _Italy_, _Switzerland_, and other +Parts suffer’d severely, _Ireland_ and _Scotland_ felt very little of +it, hardly more than in other Winters; of the Particulars of which, +having given an Account in the _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 324. I shall thither +refer the Reader. But it seems this is what doth ordinarily befal those +northern Parts; particularly the _Islands_ of _Orkney_, of which the +learned Dr. _Wallace_ gives this Account: _Here the Winters are generally +more subject to Rain than Snow; nor doth the Frost and Snow continue so +long here, as in other Parts of ~Scotland~; but the Wind in the mean +Time will often blow very boisterously; and it Rains sometimes, not by +Drops, but by spouts of Water, as if whole Clouds fell down at once. In +the Year 1680, in the Month of ~June~, after great Thunder, there fell +Flakes of Ice near a Foot thick._ _Wall._ Account of _Ork._ Chap. 1. _p. +4._ From which last Passage I observe; That although in those Parts, the +Atmosphere near the Earth be warm, it is excessively cold above; so as to +freeze some of those Spouts of Water in their Descent, into such great, +and almost incredible Masses of Hail. And whence can this Warmth proceed, +but from the Earth, or Sea, emitting Heat sufficient to stave off the +Cold above? Consult _Book II. Chap. 5. Note (c)._ + +[d] _Sicut enim si innata sibi ~[i.e. Homini]~ aliqua haberat arma, illa +ei sola semper adessent, ita & si artem aliquam Natura fortitus esset, +reliquas sanè non haberet. Quia verò ei melius erat omnibus armis, +omnibusque artibus uti, neutrum eorum à naturâ ipsi propterea datum est._ +Galen. de Us. Part. l. 1. c. 4. + +[e] Concerning _insensible Perspiration_, _Sanctorius_ observes, That it +much exceeds all the Sensible put together. _De Stat. Med. Aph. 4._ That +as much is evacuated by _insensible Perspiration_ in one Day, as is by +_Stool_ in fourteen Days. Particularly, that, in a Night’s Time, about +sixteen Ounces is commonly sent out by _Urine_, four Ounces by Stool; but +above forty Ounces by _insensible Perspiration_, Aphor. 59, 60. That if a +Man eats and drinks 8 _l._ in a Day, 5 _l._ of it is spent in _insensible +Perspiration_, §. 1. Aph. 6. And as to the Times, he saith, _Ab assumpto +cibo 5 horis 1 l. circiter perspirabilis——exhalare solet, à 5a ad 12am 3 +l. circiter; à 12a ad 16am vix selibram_, Aph. 56. + +And as to the wonderful Benefits of _insensible Perspiration_, they are +abundantly demonstrated by the same learned Person, _ubi supra_; as also +by _Borelli_ in his second Part, _De Mot. Animal_, Prop. 168. who saith, +_Necessaria est insensibilis Transpiratio, ut vita Animalis conservetur._ + +[f] _Animantium verò quanta varietas est? Quanta ad cam rem vis, ut in +suo quæque genere permaneant? Quaram aliæ coriis tectæ sunt, aliæ villis +vesticæ, aliæ spinis hirsutæ: plumâ alias, alias squamâ videmus obductas, +alias esse cornibus armatas, alias habere effugia pennarum._ Cic. de Nat. +Deor. l. 2. c. 47. + +[g] From _Malpighi_’s curious Observations of the _Hair_, I shall +note three Things. 1. Their Structure is fistulous, or tubular; which +hath long been a Doubt among the curious. _Fistulosum ~[esse Pilum]~ +demonstrant lustratio pilarum à caudâ & collo Equorum, ~&c.~——præcipuè +setarum Apri, quæ patentiorem ex fistulis compositionem exhibent. Est +autem dictus Apri pilus Cylindricum corpus quasi diaphanum——fistularum +aggere conflatum, & speciem columnæ striatæ præ se fert. Componentes +fistulæ in gyrum situatæ in apice patentiores redduntur; nam hians pilus +in geminas dividitur partes, & componentes minimæ fistulæ——libersores +redditæ manifestantur, ita ut enumerari possunt; has autem 20, & ultra +numeravi.——Expositæ fistulæ——tubulosæ sunt, & frequentibus tunicis +transversaliter situatis, veluti valvulis pollent. Et quoniam Spinæ, in +Erinaceis præcipui, ~&c.~ nil aliud sunt, quam duri & rigidi pili, ideo, +~&c.~_ And then he describes the _Hedgehog_’s Spines, in which those +Tubes manifestly appear; together, with medullary Valves and Cells; not +inelegant, which he hath figur’d in _Tab. 16._ at the End of his Works. + +That which this sagacious, and not enough to be commended Observer, took +notice of in the Structure of Hair, and its Parity to the Spines; I have +my self observ’d in some Measure to be true, in the Hair of _Cats_, +_Rats_, _Mice_, and divers other Animals; which look very prettily +when view’d with a good Microscope. The Hair of a _Mouse_, (the most +transparent of any I have view’d,) seems to be one single transparent +Tube, with a Pith made up of a fibrous Substance, running in dark Lines; +in some Hairs tranversly, in others spirally, as in _Fig. 14, 15, 16, +17._ These darker medullary Parts, or Lines, I have observ’d, are no +other than small Fibres convolved round, and lying closer together than +in other Parts of the Hair. They run from the Bottom, to the Top of +the Hair; and I imagine, serve to the gentle Evacuation of some Humour +out of the Body; perhaps the Hair serves as well for the _insensible +Perspiration_ of hairy Animals, as to fence against Cold and Wet. In +_Fig. 14, 16_, is represented the Hair of a _Mouse_, as it appears +through a small Magnifier; and in _Fig. 15, 17_, as it appears when +view’d with a larger Magnifier. + +Upon another Review, I imagine, That although in _Fig. 14, 15_, the dark +Parts of the Pith seem to be transverse; that they, as well as in the two +other Figures, run round in a screw-like Fashion. + +[h] See _Book VII. Chap. 1. Note (d) (e)._ + +[i] See _Chap. XIV. Note (c)._ + +[k] It is a Sign some wise Artist was a Contriver of the Cloathing of +Animals; not only as their Cloathing varies, as their Way of Living doth; +but also because every Part of their Bodies is furnish’d with proper +suitable Cloathing. Thus divers Animals, that have their Bodies cover’d +for the most Part with short, smooth Hair; have some Parts left naked, +where Hair would be an Annoyance: And some Parts beset with long Hair; +as the Mane and Tail; And some with stiff, strong Bristles; as about the +Nose; And sometimes within the Nostrils; to guard off, or give warning of +Annoyances. + +[l] The Feathers being placed from the Head towards the Tail, in close +and neat Order, and withal preened and dressed by the Contents of the +Oil-Bag, afford as easie a Passage through the Air, as a Boat new cleaned +and dressed finds in its Passage through the Waters. Whereas, were the +Feathers placed the contrary, or any other way (as they would have been, +had they been placed by Chance, or without Art) they would then have +gathered Air, and been a great Encumbrance to the Passage of the Body +through the Air. See _Book VII. Chap. 1. Note (b)._ + +[m] In _Book VII. Chap. 1. Note (e)._ there is a particular Account of +the Mechanism of their Vanes, from some nice Microscopical Observations, +and therefore I shall take no farther Notice of it here. + +[n] _Vid._ _Borell. de Mot. Animal._ Prop. 182. Vol. I. + +[o] See _Book IX._ + +[p] For a Sample of this Branch of my Survey, let us chuse the Tegument +of _Earth-Worms_, which we shall find compleatly adapted to their Way +or Life and Motion, being made in the most compleat Manner possible for +terebrating the Earth, and creeping where their Occasions lead them. +For their Body is made throughout of small Rings, and these Rings have +a curious _Apparatus_ of Muscles, enabling those Creatures with great +Strength to dilate, extend, or contract their _Annuli_, and whole Body; +those _Annuli_ also are each of them armed with small, stiff, sharp +_Beards_, or _Prickles_, which they can open, to lay hold on, or shut +up close to their Body: And lastly, Under the Skin there lies a _slimy +Juice_, that they emit, as Occasion is, at certain Perforations between +the _Annuli_, to lubricate the Body, and facilitate their Passage into +the Earth. By all which Means they are enabled with great Speed, Ease, +and Safety, to thrust and wedge themselves into the Earth; which they +could not do, had their Bodies been covered with Hair, Feathers, Scales, +or such like Cloathing of the other Creatures. See more concerning this +Animal, _Book IX. Chap. 1. Note (a)._ + +[q] _Aristotle_, in his _Hist. Anim. l. 3. c. 12._ names several Rivers, +that by being drank of, change the Colour of the Hair. + +[r] For an Example; Let us take the Cloathing of the _Tortoise_ and +_Viper_; because, by an incurious View, it rather regrateth, than +pleaseth the Eye: But yet, by an accurate Survey, we find the Shells +of the Former, and the Scales of the Latter, to be a curious Piece of +Mechanism, neatly made; and so compleatly, and well put, and tack’d +together, as to exceed any human Composures: Of the Latter see more in +_Book IX. Chap. 1. Note (c)._ + +[s] It would be endless to enter into the Particulars of the beautiful +_Birds_ and _Insects_ of our _European_ Parts; but especially those +inhabiting the Countries between the Tropicks, which are observed as much +to exceed our Birds in their Colours, as ours do theirs in their Singing. + +[t] The _Wryneck_, at a Distance, is a Bird of mean Colour; neither are +indeed its Colours radiant, or beautiful, singly considered: But when it +is in the Hand we see its light and darker Colours so curiously mixed +together, as to give the Bird a surprizing Beauty. The same is also +observable in many Insects, particularly of the _Phalæna kind_. + + + + +CHAP. XIII. + +_Of the Houses and Habitation of Animals._ + + +Having in the last Chapter, as briefly as well I could, surveyed the +_Cloathing_ of Animals, I shall in this take a View of their _Houses_, +_Nests_, their _Cells_ and _Habitations_; another Thing no less +necessary to their Well-being than the last; and in which the Great +Creator hath likewise signalized his Care and Skill, by giving Animals +an architectonick Faculty, to build themselves convenient Places of +Retirement, in which to repose and secure themselves, and to nurse up +their Young. + +And here, as before, we may consider the case of Man, and that of the +irrational Animals. Man having (as I said) the Gift of Reason and +Understanding, is able to shift for himself, to contrive and build, as +his Pleasure leads him, and his Abilities will admit of. From the meanest +Huts and Cottages, he can erect himself stately Buildings, bedeck them +with exquisite Arts of Architecture, Painting, and other Garniture, +ennoble them, and render them delightful with pleasant Gardens, +Fountains, Avenues, and what not? For Man therefore the Creator hath +abundantly provided in this respect, by giving him an Ability to help +himself. And a wise Provision this is, inasmuch as it is an excellent +Exercise of the Wit, the Ingenuity, the Industry and Care of Man. + +But since Ingenuity, without Materials, would be fruitless, the Materials +therefore which the Creator hath provided the World with, for this +very Service of Building, deserves our Notice. The great Varieties of +Trees[a], Earth, Stones and Plants, answering every Occasion and Purpose +of Man for this Use, in all Ages and Places all the World over, is a +great Act of the Creator’s Goodness; as manifesting, that since he has +left Man to shift for himself, it should not be without sufficient Help +to enable him to do so, if he would but make use of them, and the Sense +and Reason which God hath given him. + +Thus sufficient Provision is made for the Habitation of Man. + +And no less shall we find is made for the rest of the Creatures; who +although they want the Power of Reason to vary their Methods, and cannot +add to, or diminish from, or any way make Improvements upon their natural +Way; yet we find that natural Instinct, which the Creator’s infinite +Understanding hath imprinted in them, to be abundantly sufficient, nay, +in all Probability, the very best or only Method they can take, or that +can be invented for the respective Use and Purpose of each peculiar +Species of Animals[b]. If some Creatures make their Nests in Holes, some +in Trees, some in Shrubs, some in the Earth[c], some in Stone, some in +the Waters, some here, and some there, or have none at all; yet we find, +that that Place, that Method of Nidification doth abundantly answer the +Creatures Use and Occasions. They can there sufficiently and well repose, +and secure themselves, lay, and breed up their Young. We are so far from +discovering any Inconvenience in any of their respective Ways, from +perceiving any Loss befal the Species, any decay, any perishing of their +Young; that in all Probability, on the contrary, in that particular +Way they better thrive, are more secure, and better able to shift for, +and help themselves. If, for Instance, some Beasts make to themselves +no Habitation, but lie abroad in the open Air, and there produce their +Young; in this case we find there is no need it should be otherwise, by +Reason they are either taken care of by Man [d], or in no Danger, as +other Creatures, from Abroad. If others reposite their Young in Holes[e] +and Dens, and secure themselves also therein, it is, because such +Guard, such Security is wanting, their Lives being sought either by the +Hostility of Man, or to satisfie the Appetite of rapacious Creatures[f]. +If among Birds, some build their Nests close, some open, some with this, +some with another Material, some in Holes, some in Trees, some on the +Ground[g], some on Rocks and Crags on high (of which God himself hath +given an Instance in the _Eagle_, Job xxxix. 27, 28.) And so among the +Insect and Reptile Kinds, if some reposite their Eggs or Young in the +Earth, some in Wood, some in Stone, some on one Kind of Plant, some on +another, some in warm and dry Places, some in the Water and moist Places, +and some in their own Bodies only, as shall be shewn in proper Place; in +all these Cases it is in all Probability, the best or only Method the +Animal can take for the Hatching and Production of its Young, for their +Supplies, Safety, or some other main Point of their Being or Well-being. +This is manifest enough in many Cases, and therefore probable in all. +It is manifest that such Animals, for Instance, as breed in the Waters +(as not only Fish, but divers Insects, and other Land-Animals do) that +their Young cannot be hatched, fed, or nursed up in any other Element. It +is manifest also, that Insects, which lay their Eggs on this, and that, +and the other agreeable Tree, or Plant, or in Flesh, _&c._ that it is +by that Means their Young are fed and nursed up. And it is little to be +doubted also, but that these Matrixes may much conduce to the Maturation +and Production of the Young. And so in all other the like Cases of +Nidification, of Heat or Cold, Wet or Dry, Exposed or Open, in all +Probability this is the best Method for the Animal’s Good, most salutary +and agreeable to its Nature, most for its Fecundity, and the Continuance +and Increase of its Species; to which every Species of Animals is +naturally prompt and inclined. + +Thus admirable is the natural Sagacity and Instinct[h] of the irrational +Animals in the Convenience and Method of their Habitations. And no less +is it in the Fabrick of them. Their architectonick Skill, exerted in +the Curiosity and Dexterity of their Works, and exceeding the Skill of +Man to imitate; this, I say, deserves as much or more Admiration and +Praise, than that of the most exquisite Artist among Men. For with what +inimitable Art[i] do these poor untaught Creatures lay a parcel of rude +and ugly Sticks and Straws, Moss and Dirt together, and form them into +commodious Nests? With what Curiosity do they line them within, wind and +place every Hair, Feather, or Lock of Wool, to guard the tender Bodies of +themselves and their Young, and to keep them warm? And with what Art and +Craft do many of them thatch over, and coat their Nests without, to dodge +and deceive the Eye of Spectators, as well as to guard and fence against +the Injuries of Weather[k]? With what prodigious Subtilty do some +foreign Birds[l] not only plat and weave the fibrous Parts of Vegetables +together, and curiously tunnel them, and commodiously form them into +Nests, but also artificially suspend them on the tender Twigs of Trees, +to keep them out of the reach of rapacious Animals? + +And so for _Insects_, those little, weak, those tender Creatures; yet, +what admirable Artists are they in this Business of Nidification! With +what great Diligence doth the little _Bee_ gather its Combs from various +Trees[m] and Flowers, the _Wasp_ from solid[n] Timber! And with what +prodigious geometrical Subtilty do those little Animals work their deep +hexagonal Cells, the only proper Figure that the best Mathematician could +chuse for such a Combination of Houses[o]! With what Accuracy do other +Insects perforate the Earth[p], Wood, yea, Stone it self[q]! For which +Service, the compleat Apparatus of their Mouths[r], and Feet[s], deserves +particular Observation, as hath been, and will be hereafter observ’d. +And further yet; With what Care and Neatness do most of those little +sagacious Animals line those their Houses within, and seal them up, and +fence them without[t]! How artificially will others fold up the Leaves of +Trees and Plants[u]; others house themselves in Sticks and Straws; others +glue light and floating Bodies together[w], and by that Artifice make +themselves floating Houses in the Waters, to transport themselves at +Pleasure after their Food, or other necessary Occasions of Life! And for +a Close, let us take the scriptural Instance of the _Spider_, Prov. xxx. +28. which is one of the four little Things, which, v. 44. _Agur_ says, is +_exceeding Wise: The Spider taketh hold with her Hands, and is in Kings +Palaces_[x]. I will not dispute the Truth of our _English_ Translation +of this Text, but supposing the Animal mention’d to be that which is +meant; it is manifest, that the Art of that Species of Creatures, in +spinning their various Webs, and the Furniture their Bodies afford to +that Purpose, are an excellent Instinct, and Provision of Nature, setting +forth its glorious Author. + +And now from this short and transient View of the architectonick Faculty +of Animals, especially the Irrationals; we may easily perceive some +superiour and wise Being was certainly concern’d in their Creation or +Original. For, how is it possible that an irrational Creature should, +with ordinary and coarse, or indeed any Materials, be ever able to +perform such Works, as exceed even the Imitation of a rational Creature? +How could the Bodies of many of them, (particularly the last mention’d,) +be furnish’d with architective Materials? How could they ever discover +them to be in their Bodies, or know what Use to make of them? We must +therefore necessarily conclude, That the Irrationals either have Reason +and Judgment, not only Glimmerings thereof, but some of its superiour +Acts, as Wisdom and Foresight, Discretion, Art and Care; or else, that +they are only passive in the Case, and act by Instinct, or by the Reason +of some superiour Being imprinted in their Nature, or some Way or other, +(be it how it will,) congenial with them. That they are Rational, or +excel Man in Art and Wisdom, none surely will be so foolish as to say: +And therefore we must conclude, That those excellent Ends they pursue, +and that admirable Art they exert, is none of their own, but owing +to that infinitely wise and excellent Being, of whom it may be said, +with reference to the irrational, as well as rational Creatures, as it +is, _Prov_. ii. _6_. _The Lord giveth Wisdom; out of his Mouth cometh +Knowledge and Understanding._ + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] + + _——Dant utile lignum_ + _Navigiis Pinos, domibus Cedrosque, Cupressosque:_ + _Hinc radios trivere Rotis, hinc tympana plaustris_ + _Agricolæ, & pandas ratibus posuere carinas._ + _Viminibus Salices fœcundæ, frondibus Ulmi;_ + _At Myrtus validis hastilibus, & bona bello,_ + _Cornus; Ityræos Taxi torquentur in arcus._ + _Nec Tiliæ leves, aut torno rasile Buxum,_ + _Non formam accipiunt, ferroque cavantur acuto:_ + _Necnon & torrentum undam levis innatat Alnus_ + _Missa Pado: necnon & apes examina condunt_ + _Corticibusque cavis, vitiosæque Ilicis alveo._ + + Virg. Georg. l. 2. carm. 442. + +[b] See _Chap. 15._ and _Book VIII. Chap. 6._ + +[c] Many of the _Vespæ-Ichneumones_ are remarkable enough for their +Nidification and Provision for their Young. Those that build in Earth +(who commonly have golden and black Rings round their _Alvi_) having +lined the little Cells, they have perforated, lay therein their Eggs, +and then carry into them Maggots from the Leaves of Trees, and seal them +up close and neatly. And another _Ichneumon_, more of the _Vespa_ than +_Musca-Ichneumon_ Kind (having a little Sting in its Tail, of a black +Colour) gave me the Pleasure, one Summer, of seeing it build its Nest +in a little Hole in my Study-Window. This Cell was coated about with an +odoriferous, resinous Gum, collected, I suppose, from some Fir-Trees +near; after which it laid two Eggs (I think the Number was) and then +carried in divers Maggots, some bigger than it self. These it very +sagaciously sealed close up into the Nest, leaving them there doubtless, +partly to assist the Incubation; and especially for Food to the future +Young when hatched. + +Of this Artifice of these _Ichneumons_, _Aristotle_ himself takes Notice, +(but I believe he was scarce aware of the Eggs sealed up with the +Spiders). Ὁι δὲ Σφῆκες Ιχνεύμονες καλούμενοι, &c. _As to the ~Vespæ~, +called ~Ichneumones~, (less than others) they kill ~Spiders~, and carry +them into their Holes, and having sealed them up with Dirt, they therein +hatch, and produce those of the same Kind._ Hist. Anim. l. 5. c. 20. + +To what hath been said about these _Ichneumon Wasps_, I shall add one +Observation more, concerning the providential Structure of their Mouth in +every of their Tribes, _viz._ their Jaws are not only very strong, but +nicely sized, curved and placed for gnawing and scraping those compleat +little Holes they perforate in Earth, Wood, yea in Stone it self. + +[d] _Tully_ having spoken of the Care of some Animals towards their +Young, by which they are nursed and brought up, saith, _Accedit etiam ad +nonnulloram animantium, & earum rerum quas terra gignit, conservationem, +& salutem, hominum etiam solertia & diligentia. Nam multæ & pecudes, & +stirpes sunt, quæ fine procuratione hominum salvæ esse non possunt._ Cic. +de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 52. + +[e] Prov. xxx. 26. _The Conies are but a feeble Folk, yet make they their +Houses in the Rocks._ + +[f] See _Note (l)._ + +[g] It is a notable Instinct which _Ol. Magnus_ tells of the _Galli +Sylvestres_ in his Northern Country, to secure themselves against +the Cold and Storms of the Winter. _Cùm nives instar collium terræ +superficiem ubique cooperiunt, ramosque arborum diutiùs deprimunt & +condensant, certos fructus Betulæ arboris——in formâ longi Piperis +vorant, & glutiunt indigestos; idque tantâ aviditate, ac quantitate, ut +repletum guttur toto corpore majus appareat. Deinde partitis agminibus +sese inter medios nivium colles immergunt, præfortim in Jan. Febr. +Martio, quando nives ut turbines, typhones, vel tempestates gravissimæ +è nubibus descendunt. Cumque coopertæ sunt, certis hebdomadis cibo in +gutture collecto, egesto, & resumpto vivunt. Venatorum canibus non +produntur.——Quod si præsentiunt nivem imminere majorem, prædicto fructu, +iterum devorato, aliud domicilium captant, in eoque manent usque ad sinem +Martii, ~&c.~_ Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 19. c. 33. + +[h] It is a very odd Story (which I rather mention for the Reader’s +Diversion, than for its Truth) which Dr. _Lud. de Beaufort_ relates, +_Vir fide dignus narravit mihi, quod cùm semel, animi gratiâ, nidum +aviculæ ligno obturâsset, seque occultâsset, cupidus videndi, quid in +tali occasione præstaret; illa cùm frustra sæpiùs tentâsset rostro illud +auferre, casus admodum impatiens, abiit, & post aliquod temporis spatium +reversa est, rostro gerens plantulam, quâ obturamento applicatâ, paulò +post, illud veluti telum eripuit tantâ vi, ut dispersa impetu herbula, ac +occasionem ipsi, ab aviculâ ejus virtutem discendi, præripuerit._ Cosmop. +divina, Sect. 5. C. 1. Had he told us what the Plant was, we might have +given better Credit to this Story. + +[i] Of the Subtilty of Birds in Nidification, see _Plin. Nat. Hist. l. +10. c. 33._ + +[k] Among many Instances that might be given of this Subtilty of birds, +and other Creatures, that of the _long-tailed Titmouse_ deserves +Observation, who with great Art builds her Nest with Mosses, Hair, and +the Webs of _Spiders_, cast out from them when they take their Flight +(see _Book VIII. Chap. 4. Note (e)_) with which the other Materials are +strongly tied together. Having neatly built, and covered her Nest with +these Materials without; she thatcheth it on the top with the _Muscus +arboreus ramosus_, or such like broad, whitish Moss, to keep out Rain, +and to dodge the Spectator’s Eye; and within she lineth it with a great +Number of soft Feathers; so many, that I confess I could not but admire +how so small a Room could hold them, especially that they could be laid +so close and handsomely together, to afford sufficient Room for a Bird +with so long a Tail, and so numerous an Issue as this Bird commonly hath, +which Mr. _Ray_ saith (_Synops. Method. Avium_, p. 74.) _Ova inter omnes +aviculas numerosissima ponit._ See more of the Nest of this Bird, from +_Aldrovand._ in _Willugh. Ornith._ p. 243. + +[l] The Nest of the _Guira tangeima_, the _icterus minor_, and the +_Jupujuba_, or whatever other Name the _American Hang-Nests_ may be +called by, are of this Kind. Of which see _Willughby_’s _Ornith. Lib. 2. +Chap. 5. Sect. 12, 13._ Also Dr. _Grew_’s _Museum Reg. Soc. Part 1. Sect. +4. Chap. 4._ These Nests I have divers Times seen, particularly in great +Perfection in our _R. S._ Repository, and in the noble and well-furnished +_Museum_ of my often-commended Friend Sir _Hans Sloane_; and at the +same Time I could not but admire at the neat Mechanism of them, and the +Sagacity of the Bird, in hanging them on the Twigs of Trees, to secure +their Eggs and Young from the _Apes_. + +[m] I mention Trees, because I have seen _Bees_ gather the Gum of +Fir-Trees, which at the same Time gave me the Pleasure of seeing their +way of loading their Thighs therewith; performed with great Art and +Dexterity. + +[n] _Wasps_, at their first Coming, may be observ’d to frequent Posts, +Boards, and other Wood that is dry and sound; but never any that is +rotten. There they may be heard to scrape and gnaw; and what they so gnaw +off, they heap close together between their Chin and Fore-Legs, until +they have gotten enough for a Burden, which they then carry away in their +Mouths, to make their Cells with. + +[o] Circular Cells would have been the most capacious; but this would +by no Means have been a convenient Figure, by Reason much of the Room +would have been taken up by Vacancies between the Circles; therefore +it was necessary to make Use of some of the rectilinear Figures. Among +which only three could be of Use; of which _Pappus Alexandrin_. thus +discourseth; _Cùm igitur tres figuræ sunt, quæ per seipsas locum circa +idem punctum consistentem replere possunt, Triangulum seil. Quadratum +& Hexagonum, Apes illam quæ ex pluribus angulis constat sapienter +delegerunt, utpote suspicantes eam plus mellis capere quàm utramvis +reliquarum. At Apes quidem illud tantùm quod ipsis utile est cognoscunt, +viz. Hexagonum Quadrato & Triangulo esse majus & plus Mellis capere +posse, nimirum æquali materiâ in constructionem uniuscujusque consumptâ. +Nos verò qui plus sapientiæ quàm Apes habere profitemur, aliquid etiam +magìs insigne investigabimus._ Collect. Math. l. 5. + +[p] See before _Note (c)._ + +[q] See _Chap. 11. Note (x)._ + +[r] See _Chap. 11. Note (y)._ + +[s] Among many Examples, the Legs and Feet of the _Mole-Cricket_, +(_Gryllotalpa_,) are very remarkable. The Fore-Legs are very brawny and +strong; and the Feet armed each with four flat strong Claws, together +with a small Lamina, with two larger Claws, and a third with two little +Claws: Which Lamina is joynted to the Bottom of the Foot, to be extended, +to make the Foot wider, or withdrawn within the Foot. These Feet are +placed to scratch somewhat sideways as well as downward, after the Manner +of _Moles_ Feet; and they are very like them also in Figure. + +Somewhat of this Nature, _Swammerdam_ observes of the Worms of the +_Ephemeron_. _To this Purpose, ~[to dig their Cells,]~ the wise Creator +hath furnish’d them_, (saith he,) _with fit Members. For, besides that +their two Fore-Legs are formed somewhat like those of the ordinary +~Moles~, or ~Gryllotalpa~; he hath also furnish’d them with two toothy +Cheeks, somewhat like the Sheers of ~Lobsters~, which serve them more +readily to bore the Clay._ Swammerdam’s Ephem. Vit. Publish’d by Dr. +_Tyson_, Chap. 3. + +[t] See the before-cited _Note (c)._ + +[u] They are for the most Part, some of the _Phalænæ_-Tribe, which +inhabit the tunnelled, convolved Leaves, that we meet with on Vegetables +in the Spring and Summer. And it is a somewhat wonderful Artifice, how +so small and weak a Creature, as one of those newly-hatch’d Maggots, +(for doubtless it is they, not the Parent-Animal, because she emits no +Web, nor hath any tectrine Art,) can be able to convolve the stubborn +Leaf, and then bind it in that neat round Form, with the Thread or Web +it weaves from its own Body; with which it commonly lines the convolved +Leaf, and stops up the two Ends, to prevent its own falling out; and +_Earwigs_, and other noxious Animals getting in. + +[w] The several Sorts of _Phryganea_, or _Cadews_, in their _Nympha_, or +_Maggot-state_, thus house themselves; one Sort in Straws, call’d from +thence _Straw-Worms_; others in two or more Sticks, laid parallel to one +another, creeping at the Bottom of Brooks; others with a small Bundle of +Pieces of Rushes, Duck-weed, Sticks, _&c._ glu’d together, where-with +they float on the Top, and can row themselves therein about the Waters, +with the Help of their Feet: Both these are call’d _Cob-bait_. Divers +other Sorts there are, which the Reader _may_ see a Summary of, from +Mr _Willughby_, in _Raii Method. Insect._ p. 12. together with a good, +though very brief Description of the _Papilionaceous_ Fly, that comes +from the _Cod-bait Cadew_. It is a notable architectonick Faculty, +which all the Variety of these Animals have, to gather such Bodies as +are fittest for their Purpose, and then to glue them together; some to +be heavier than Water, that the Animal may remain at the Bottom, where +its Food is; (for which Purpose they use Stones, together with Sticks, +Rushes, _&c._) and some to be lighter than Water, to float on the Top, +and gather its Food from thence. These little Houses look coarse and shew +no great Artifice outwardly; but are well tunnelled, and made within with +a hard tough Paste; into which the hinder Part of the Maggot is so fix’d, +that it can draw its Cell after it any where, without Danger of leaving +it behind; as also thrust its Body out, to reach what it wanteth; or +withdraw it into its Cell, to guard it against Harms. + +[x] Having mention’d the _Spider_, I shall take this Occasion, (although +it be out of the Way,) to give an Instance of the Poyson of some of them. +_Scaliger Exerc. 186. relates, That in ~Gascony~, his Country, there are +~Spiders~ of that virulency, that if a Man treads upon them, to crush +them, their Poyson will pass through the very Soles of his Shoe._ Boyl. +Subtil. of Effluv. c. 4. + +Mr. _Leewenhoek_ put a _Frog_ and a _Spider_ together into a Glass, and +having made the _Spider_ sting the _Frog_ divers Times, the _Frog_ dy’d +in about an Hour’s Time. _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 272. + +In the same _Transaction_, is a curious Account of the Manner how +_Spiders_ lay, and guard their eggs, _viz._ they emit them not out of the +hindermost Part of the Body, but under the upper Part of her Belly, near +the Hind-Legs, _&c._ Also there is an Account of the Parts from which +they emit their Webs, and divers other Things worth Observation, with +Cuts illustrating the Whole. + +But in _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 22. Dr. _Nath. Fairfax_, from _S. Redi_, and +his own Observations, thinks _Spiders_ not venomous; several Persons, as +well as Birds, swallowing them without Hurt: Which I my self have known +in a Person of Learning, who was advis’d to take them medicinally at +first, and would at any Time swallow them, affirming them to be sweet, +and well tasted: And not only innocuous, but they are very salutiferous +too, in some of the most stubborn Diseases, if the pleasant Story in +_Mouffet_ be true; of a rich _London_ Matron, cur’d of a desperate +_Tympany_, by a certain Debauchee, that hearing of her Case, and that she +was given over by the Doctors, went to her, pretending to be a Physician, +and confidently affirming he would cure her; which she being willing to +believe, agrees with him for so much Money, one half to be paid down, the +other upon Cure. Upon which he gives her a _Spider_, promising her Cure +in three Days. Upon which, (not doubting but that he had poison’d her, +and fearing he might be call’d to account for it,) he gets out of Town +as fast as he could. But instead of being poison’d, she soon recover’d. +After some Months, the Quack gets privately to Town, when he thought the +Bustle might be over; and enquiring how his Patient did, was inform’d +of her Cure; and thereupon visiting her, and making an Excuse for his +Absence, he receiv’d his Pay with great Applause and Thanks. _Mouff. +Insect. l. 2. c. 15._ + +Having said so much of _Spiders_, I might here add their Flight: But of +this, see _Book VIII. Chap. 4. Note (e)._ + + + + +CHAP. XIV. + +_Of Animals Self-Preservation._ + + +Having thus consider’d the Food, Cloathing, and Houses of Animals; let us +in this Chapter take a Glance of another excellent Provision, the wise +Creator hath made for the Good of the animal World; and that is, the +Methods which all Animals naturally take for their _Self-Preservation_ +and _Safety_. And here it is remarkable, (as in the Cases before,) +that _Man_, who is endow’d with Reason, is born without Armature, and +is destitute of many Powers, which irrational Creatures have in a much +higher Degree than he, by Reason he can make himself Arms to defend +himself, can contrive Methods for his own Guard and Safety, can many Ways +annoy his Enemy, and stave off the Harms of noxious Creatures. + +But for others, who are destitute of this super-eminent Faculty; they are +some Way or other provided with sufficient Guard[a], proportionate to +their Place of Abode, the Dangers they are like to incur there[b]; and in +a Word, to their greatest Occasions, and Need of Security. Accordingly, +some are sufficiently guarded against all common Dangers, by their +natural Cloathing, by their Armature of Shells, or such like hard, and +impregnable Covering of their Body[c]. Others destitute of this Guard, +are armed, some with Horns[d], some with sharp Quills and Prickles[e], +some with Claws, some with Stings[f]; some can shift and change their +Colours[g]; some can make their Escape by the Help of their Wings, and +others by the Swiftness of their Feet; some can screen themselves by +diving in the Waters, others by tinging and disordering the Waters[h], +can make their Escape; and some can guard their Bodies, even in the very +Flames, by the Ejection of the Juice of their Bodies[i]; and some by +their accurate Smell, Sight or Hearing, can foresee Dangers[k]; others +by their natural Craft, can prevent or escape them[l]; others by their +Uncouth Noise[m]; by the horrid Aspect, and ugly Gesticulations of their +Body[n]; and some even by the Power of their Excrements, and their +Stink[o], can annoy their Enemy, and secure themselves; and against +some[p], the divine Providence it self hath provided a Guard. + +By such Shifts and Means as these, a sufficient Guard is ministred to +every Species of Animals, in its proper respective Place; abundantly +enough to secure the Species from Destruction, and to keep up that +Balance, which I have formerly shew’d, is in the World among every, and +all the Species of Animals; but yet not enough to secure Individuals, +from becoming a Prey to Man, or to other Creatures, as their Necessities +of Life require. To which Purpose, the natural Sagacity and Craft of the +one intrapping[q], and captivating, being in some Measure equivalent to +that of the other in evading, is as excellent a Means for the maintaining +the one, as preserving the other; and if well consider’d, argues the +Contrivance of the infinitely wise Creator and Preserver of the World. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Callent in hoc cuncta animalia, sciuntque non sua modò commoda, +verum & hostium adversa; nôrunt sua cela, nôrunt occasiones, partesque +dissidentium imbellis. In ventre mollis est tenuisque cutis Crocodilo: +ideoque se, ut territi, mergent Delphini, subcuntesque alvum illâ secant +spinâ._ Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 25. + +[b] _Omnibus aptum est Corpus Animæ moribus & facultatibus: Equo fortibus +ungulis & juba est ornatum (etenim velox & superbum & generosum est +animal.) Leoni autem, utpose animoso & feroci, dentibus & unguibus +validum. Ita autem & Tauro & Apro; illi enim Cornua, huic exerti +Dentes.—— Cervo autem & Lepori (timida enim animalia) velox corpus, sed +inerme. Timidis enim velocitas, arma audacibus conveniebant——Homini +autem (sapiens enim est——) manus dedit, instrumentum ad omnes artes +necessarium, paci non minùs quàm bello idoneum. Non igitur indiguit +Cornu sibi innato cùm meliora Cornibus arma manibus, quandocunque volet, +possit accipere: Etenim Ensis & Hasta majora sunt Arma, & ad incidendum +promptiora.——Neque Cornu, neque Ungulæ quicquam nisi cominùs agere +possunt; Hominum verò arma eminùs juxtà ac cominùs agunt: telum quidem +& sagitta magis quàm cornua.——Non igitur est nudus, neque inermis.——sed +ipsi est Thorax ferreus, quandocunque libet, omnibus Coriis difficilius +sauciatu organum.——Nec Thorax solùm sed & Domus, & Murus, & Turris, +~&c.~_ Galen. de Us. Part. l. 1. c. 2. + +[c] Shells deserve a Place in this Survey, upon the Account of their +great Variety; the curious and uncouth Make of some, and the beautiful +Colours, and pretty Ornaments of others; but it would be endless to +descend to Particulars. Omitting others, I shall therefore only take +Notice of the _Tortoiseshell_, by Reason a great deal of Dexterity +appears, even in the Simplicity of that Animal’s Skeleton. For, besides +that the Shell is a stout Guard to the Body, and affords a safe Retreat +to the Head, Legs and Tail, which it withdraws within the Shell upon +any Danger; besides this, I say, the Shell supplieth the Place of all +the Bones in the Body, except those of the extreme Parts, the Head and +Neck, and the four Legs and Tail. So that at first Sight, it is somewhat +surprizing to see a compleat Skeleton consisting of so small a Number of +Bones, and they abundantly sufficient for the Creature’s Use. + +[d] + + _Dente timentur Apri: defendunt cornua Tauros:_ + _Imbelles Dame quid nisi præda sumus!_ + + Martial. l. 13. Epigr. 94. + +[e] The _Hedgehog_ being an helpless, slow, patient Animal, is +accordingly guarded with Prickles, and a Power of rolling it self up in +them. _Clavis terebrari sibi pedes, & discindi viscera patientissimè +ferebat, omnes cultri ictus sine gemitu plusquam Spartanâ nobilitate +concoquens._ Borrichius in Blas. de Echino. _Panniculum carnosum +amplexabatur Musculus panè circularis, admirandæ fabricæ, lacinius suas +ad pedes, caudam, caput, variè exporrigens, cujus minsterio Echinus se ad +arbitrium in orbem contrahit._ Act. Dan. in Blasio. + + _Iste licèt digitos restudine pungat acutâ,_ + _Cortice deposito mollis Echinus erit._ + + Mart. l. 13. Epig. 86. + +[f] The _Sting_ of a _Wasp_, or _Bee_, &c. is so pretty a Piece of Work, +that it is worth taking Notice of, so far as I have not found others to +have spoken of it. Others have observ’d the Sting to be an hollow Tube, +with a Bag of sharp penetrating Juices, (its Poison,) joined to the End +of it, within the Body of the _Wasp_, which is, in Stinging, injected +into the Flesh through the Tube. But there are besides this, two small, +sharp, bearded Spears, lying within this Tube or Sting, as in a Sheath. +In a _Wasp_’s Sting, I counted eight Beards on the Side of each Spear, +somewhat like the Beards of Fish-hooks. These Spears in the Sting, or +Sheath, lie one with its Point a little before that of the other; as is +represented in _Fig. 21._ to be ready, (I conceive,) to be first darted +into the Flesh; which being once fix’d, by Means of its foremost Beard, +the other then strikes in too, and so they alternately pierce deeper and +deeper, their Beards taking more and more hold in the Flesh; after which +the Sheath or Sting follows, to convey the Poison into the Wound. Which, +that it may pierce the Better, it is drawn into a Point, with a small +Slit a little below that Point, for the two Spears to come out at. By +Means of this pretty Mechanism in the Sting, it is, that the Sting when +out of the Body, and parted from it, is able to pierce and sting us: +And by Means of the Beards being lodged deep in the Flesh, it comes to +pass that _Bees_ leave their Stings behind them, when they are disturbed +before they have Time to withdraw their Spears into their Scabbard. In +_Fig. 21._ is represented the two Spears as they lie in the Sting. In +_Fig. 22._ the two Spears are represented when squeez’d out of the Sting, +or the Scabbard; in which Latter, _Fig. A c b_, is the Sting, _c d_, and +_b e_, the two bearded Spears thrust out. + +[g] The _Camelion_ is sufficiently fam’d on this Account. Besides which, +_Pliny_ tells us of a Beast as big as an _Ox_, called the _Tarandus_, +that when he pleaseth, assumes the Colour of an _Ass_, and _Colorem +omnium fruticum, arborum, florum, locorumgue reddit, in quibus latet +metuens, ideoque rarò capitur._ Plin. l. 8. c. 34. + +How true this is, there may be some Reason to doubt; but if any Truth +be in the Story, it may be from the Animal’s chusing such Company, +or Places, as are agreeable to its Colour: As I have seen in divers +_Caterpillars_, and other Insects, who I believe were not able to change +their Colour, from one Colour to another; yet I have constantly observ’d, +do fix themselves to such Things as are of the same Colour; by which +Means they dodge the Spectator’s Eye. Thus the _Caterpillar_ that feeds +on _Elder_, I have more than once seen, so cunningly adhering to the +small Branches of the same Colour, that it might be easily mistaken for +a small Stick, even by a careful View. So a large green _Caterpillar_, +that feeds on _Buckthorn_, and divers others. To which I may add the +prodigious Sagacity of the _Ichneumon Flies_, that make the _Kermes_, +(for of that Tribe all the _Kermes_ I ever saw was;) how artificially +they not only inclose their Eggs within that gummy Skin, or Shell; but +also so well humour the Colour of the Wood they adhere to, by various +Streaks and Colours, that it is not easie to distinguish them from the +Wood it self. + +[h] _Contra metum & vim, suis se armis quæque defendit. Cornibus Tauri, +Apri dentibus, morsu Leones, aliæ fugâ se, aliæ occultatione tutantur: +atramenti effusione Sepia, torpore Topedines. Multa etiam insectantes +odoris intolerabili, fœditate depellunt._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 50. + +[i] A Knight call’d _Corvini_ at _Rome_, cast a _Salamander_ into the +Fire, which presently swell’d, and then vomited Store of thick slimy +Matter, which put out the Coals; to which the _Salamander_ presently +retir’d, putting them out again in the same Manner, as soon as they +re-kindled, and by this Means sav’d it self from the Force of the Fire +for the Space of two Hours: After which it liv’d nine Months. _Vid._ +_Philos. Transact._ Nᵒ. 21. in _Lowth. Abridg. Vol. 2._ p. 816. + +[k] _Pliny_ gives an Instance in each. _L. 10. c. 69._ _Aqullæ clariùs +cernunt ~[quàm homines;]~ Vultures sagaciùs odorantur: liquidiùs audiunt +Talpæ obrutæ terrâ, tam denso atque surdo naturæ elemento._ + +[l] The _Doubling_ of the _Hare_, before she goes to Form, thereby to +dodge and deceive the _Dogs_, although a vulgar Observation, is a notable +Instinct for an Animal, less fam’d for Cunning than the _Fox_, and some +others. + +[m] It is natural for many Quadrupeds, Birds and Serpents, not only to +put on a torvous angry Aspect, when in _Danger_; but also to snarl, hiss, +or by some other Noise deter their Adversary. + +[n] The _Iynx_, or _Wryneck_, although a Bird of very beautiful Feathers, +and consequently far enough off from being any way terrible; yet being +in Danger, hath such odd Contortions of its Neck, and Motions of its +Head, that I remember have scar’d me, when I was a Boy, from taking their +Nests, or touching the Bird; daring no more to venture my Hand into their +Holes, than if a Serpent had lodged in it. + +[o] _Bonasus tuetur se calcibus & stercore, quòd ab se quaternis passibus +~[trium jugerum longitudine. _Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 15._] ~ejaculatur, +quod sæpe comburit adeò ut deglabrentur canes._ Ray’s Synops. Quadr. p. +71. + +_Camelus Peruvianus Clama dictus neminem offendit, sed miro admodum +ingenio se ab iliatâ vindicat injuriâ, nimirum vomitæ vel cibi, vel +humoris in vexantem retrarsum cum impetu ejaculato, ob protensam colli +longitudinem._ Id. ib. p. 146. + +_Tzquiepatl_ (Anglicè _Squnck_ Præf. and one that I saw they call’d +a _Stonck_.) _Cùm quis eam insectatur, fundit cum ventris crepitu +halitum fœtidissimum: quin ipsa tota teterrimum exhalat odorem, & urina +stercusque est fœtidissimum, atque adeò pestilens, ut nihil sit reperire +in nostro orbe, cui in hâc re possit comparari: quo fit, ut in periculo +constituta, urinam & fæces ad 8 pluriumve passuum intervallum ejiciat, +hoc modo se ab omnibus vindicans injuriit, ac vestes inficiens maculis +luteis indelibilibus, & nunquam satis perspirante odore: aliàs innoxium +Animal eduleque, hæc solâ ratione horrendissimum._ Id. ib. p. 182. + +_Si Accipiter Ardeam in sublimi molestat, stercore immisso in pennas +ejus, eas putrescere facit: utì Solinus scribis de Bonaso, ~&c.~ Ita & +Lupus urinam spargit in persequentem._ Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 19. c. 14. + +[p] Thus against the _Crocodile_, which can catch its Prey only before +it, not on one Side. So the _Shark_, of which take my often-commended +Friend Sir _Hans Sloane_’s Observation: _It hath this particular to it, +with some others of its own Tribe; that the Mouth is in its under Part, +so that it must turn the Belly upwards to Prey. And was it not for that +Time it is in turning, in which the pursu’d Fishes escape, there would +be nothing that could avoid it; for it is very quick in Swimming, and +hath a vast Strength, with the largest Swallow of any Fish, and is very +devouring._ Sloane’s _Voyage to_ Jamaica, p. 23. + +[q] See _Chap. 11. Note (iii)._ + + + + +CHAP. XV. + +_Of the Generation of Animals._ + + +There remains now only one Thing more of the ten Things in common +to Animals, and that is what relates to their Generation[a], and +Conservation of their Species[b], by that Means. It would not be +seemly to advance far in this admirable Work of God; neither shall I +at all insist upon that of Man for the same Reason. And as for the +Irrationals[c], I shall confine my self to these five Matters. + +I. Their natural Sagacity in chusing the fittest Places to reposite their +Eggs and Young. + +II. The fittest Times and Seasons they make use of for their Generation. + +III. The due and stated Number of their Young. + +IV. Their Diligence and earnest Concern in their Breeding up. + +V. Their Faculty of Feeding them, and their Art and Sagacity exerted +therein. + +I. The natural Sagacity of irrational Animals, in chusing the fittest +Places to reposite their Eggs and Young. Of this I have given larger +Hints already than I needed to have done, when I spake of the +Architecture[d] of Animals, intending then to have wholly pass’d by this +Business of Generation; I shall therefore now only superadd a few other +Instances, the more to illustrate this Matter. + +It hath been already shewn, and will hereafter[e] farther appear, that +the Places in which the several Species of Animals lay up their Eggs, +and Young, are the best for that Purpose; Waters[f] for one; Flesh +for another; Holes in Wood[g], Earth, or Stone[h], for others; and +Nests for others; and we shall find, that so ardent is the Propensity +of all Animals, even of the meanest Insects, to get a fit Place for +the Propagation of their Young; that, as will hereafter appear, there +is scarce any Thing that escapeth the Inquest of those little subtile +Creatures. But besides all this, there are two or three Things more +observable, which plainly argue the Instinct of some superior rational +Being. As, + +1. The compleat and neat Order which many Creatures observe in laying up +their Seed, or Eggs, in proper Repositories: Of which I shall speak in +another Place[i]. + +2. The suitable Apparatus in every Creature’s Body, for the laying-up its +Eggs, Seed, or Young, in their proper Place. It would be as endless as +needless to name all Particulars, and therefore an Instance or two of the +Insect-Tribe may serve for a Specimen in this Place, till I come to other +Particulars. Thus Insects, who have neither Feet adapted to scratch, nor +Noses to dig, nor can make artificial Nests to lay up their Young; yet +what abundant Amends is there made them, in the Power they have either to +extend the _Abdomen_[k], and thereby reach the commodious Places they +could not otherwise come at; or else they have some aculeous Part or +Instrument to terebrate, and make Way for their Eggs into the Root[l], +Trunk[m], Fruit[n], Leaves[o], and the tender Buds of Vegetables[p], or +some other such curious and secure Method they are never destitute of. To +which we may add, + +3. The natural Poison[q], (or what can I call it?) which many or most of +the Creatures, last intended, have, to cause the Germination of such +Balls, Cases, and other commodious Repositories, as are an admirable +Lodgment to the Eggs and Young; that particularly in the Incubation and +Hatching the Young, and then afford them sufficient Food and Nourishment +in all their _Nympha-State_, in which they need Food; and are afterwards +commodious Houses and Beds for them in their _Aurelia-State_, till they +are able to break Prison, fly abroad, and shift for themselves. But this +shall be taken Notice of, when I come to treat of Insects. + +II. As irrational Animals chuse the fittest Place, so also the fittest +Times and Seasons for their Generation. Some indeed are indifferent +to all Times, but others make use of peculiar Seasons[r]. Those, for +Instance, whose Provisions are ready at all Seasons, or who are under +the Tuition of Man, produce their Young without any great regard to Heat +or Cold, Wet or Dry, Summer or Winter. But others, whose Provisions +are peculiar, and only to be met with at certain Seasons of the Year, +or who, by their Migration and Change of Place, are tied up to certain +Seasons; these (as if endowed with a natural Care and Foresight of what +shall happen) do accordingly lay, hatch and nurse up their Young in the +most proper Seasons of all the Year for their Purpose; as in Spring, +or Summer, the Times of Plenty of Provisions, the Times of Warmth for +Incubation, and the most proper Seasons to breed up their Young, till +they are able to shift for themselves, and can range about for Food, and +seek Places of Retreat and Safety, by flying long Flights as well as +their Progenitors, and passing into far distant Regions, which (when +others fail) afford those helpless Creatures the Necessaries of Life. + +III. To the special Seasons, I may add the peculiar Number of Young +produced by the irrational Creatures. Of which I have already taken some +Notice, when I spake of the Balance of Animals[s]. Now, if there was not +a great deal more than Chance in this Matter, even a wise Government of +the Creation, it could never happen that every Species of Animals should +be tied up to a certain Rate and Proportion of its Increase; the most +useful would not be the most fruitful, and the most pernicious produce +the fewest Young, as I have observed it commonly is. Neither would every +Species produce such a certain Rote as it is only able to breed up: But +all would be in a confused, huddled State. Instead of which, on the +contrary, we find every Thing in compleat Order; the Balance of _Genera_, +Species and Individuals always proportionate and even; the Balance of +Sexes the same; most Creatures tied up to their due Stint and Number +of Young, without their own Power and Choice, and others (particularly +of the winged[t] Kind) producing their due Number at their Choice and +Pleasure; some large Numbers, but not more than they can cover, feed and +foster; others fewer, but as many as they can well nurse and breed up. +Which minds me, + +IV. Of the Diligence and earnest Concern which irrational Animals have of +the Production and Breeding up their Young. And here I have already taken +Notice of their Στοργὴ, or natural Affection, and with what Zeal they +feed and defend, their Young. To which may be added these two Things. + +1. The wonderful Instinct of Incubation. It is utterly impossible, +that ever unthinking, untaught Animals should take to that only Method +of hatching their Young, was it not implanted in their Nature by the +infinitely wise Creator. But so ardent is their Desire, so unwearied is +their Patience when they are ingaged in that Business, that they will +abide their Nests for several Weeks, deny themselves the Pleasures, and +even the Necessaries of Life; some of them even starving themselves +almost, rather than hazard their Eggs, to get Food, and others either +performing the Office by Turns[u], or else the one kindly seeking out, +and carrying Food to the other[w], engaged in the office of Incubation. +But of these Matters in a more proper Place[x]. + +2. When the young ones are produced, not only with what Care do they feed +and nurse them, but with what surprizing Courage do all or most Creatures +defend them! It is somewhat strange to see timid Creatures[y], who at +other Times are cowardly, to be full of Courage, and undaunted at that +Time; to see them furiously and boldly encounter their Enemy, instead +of flying from him, and expose themselves to every Danger, rather than +hazard and forsake their Young. + +With this earnest Concern of the irrational Animals for their Young, we +may join in the + +V. And last Place, Their Faculty and Sagacity of feeding them. About +which I shall take notice of three Things. + +1. The Faculty of suckling the Young, is an excellent Provision +the Creator hath made for those helpless Creatures. And here the +Agreeableness and Suitableness of that Food to young Creatures, deserves +particular Observation, as also their Delight in it, and Desire and +Endeavours after it, even as soon as born[z], together with the +Willingness of all, even the most savage and fierce Animals, to part +with it, and to administer it to their Young, yea, to teach and institute +them in the Art of taking it. + +And lastly, to name no more, the curious _Apparatus_ which is made +for this Service in the divers Species of Animals, by a due Number of +Breasts, proportionable to the Occasions of each Animal, by curious +Glands in those Breasts, to separate that nutritive Juice, the Milk, +by Arteries and Veins to convey it to them, and proper Rivulets and +Channels to convey it from them, with Dugs and Nipples, placed in the +most convenient Part of the Body[aa] of each Animal, to administer it to +their Young; all these Things, I say, do manifestly proclaim the Care and +Wisdom of the great Creator. + +2. As for such Animals as do in another manner breed up their Young, by +finding out Food, and putting it into their Mouth, the Provision made in +them for this Service, to strike, catch, to pouch and convey their Prey +and Food to their Young[bb], is very considerable. And so is also their +Sagacity in equally distributing it among them, that among many, all +shall be duly, equally, and in good Order, fed. + +3. There is yet another Instinct remaining, of such Animals as can +neither administer Suck to their Young, neither lay them in Places +affording Food, nor can convey and bring them Food, but do with their +Eggs, lay up Provisions for their future Young. Somewhat of this is +reported of some Birds[cc]; but I have my self with Pleasure, frequently +seen some of the Species of Insects to carry ample Provisions into +their dry and barren Cells, where they have seal’d them carefully and +cautiously up with their Eggs, partly, ’tis like, for Incubation sake, +and partly as an easy Bed to lodge their Young; but chiefly for future +Provision for their Young, in their _Nympha-State_, when they stand in +need of Food[dd]. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Spontaneous Generation_, is a Doctrine so generally exploded, that +I shall not undertake the Disproof of it. It is so evident, that all +Animals, yea, Vegetables too, owe their Production to Parent-Animals and +Vegetables; that I have often admir’d at the Sloath and Prejudices of the +ancient Philosophers, in so easily taking upon Trust the _Aristotelian_, +or rather, the _Ægyptian_ Doctrine of _equivocal Generation_; that +when they saw _Flies_, _Frogs_ and _Lice_, for Instance, to be Male +and Female, and accordingly to ingender, lay Eggs, _&c._ they could +ever imagine any of these Creatures should be spontaneously produc’d, +especially in so romantick a Manner, as in the Clouds: as they +particularly thought _Frogs_ were, and that they dropp’d down in Showers +of Rain. For an Answer to this Case of _Frogs_, I shall refer to a +Relation of my own, which my late most ingenious, and learned Friend, the +great Mr. _Ray_, requested of me, and was pleas’d to publish in his last +Edition of his _Wisdom of God manifested_, &c. _p. 365_. + +But some will yet assert the Raining of _Frogs_; among which the curious +Dr. _Plot_ is somewhat of this Opinion; telling us of _Frogs_ found on +the Leads of the Lord _Aston_’s Gatehouse, at _Tixal_ in _Staffordshire_, +which he thinks by some such Means came there; as also on the +Bowling-Green, frequently after a Shower of Rain. _Plot_’s _Hist. Staff._ +c. 1. §. 47. + +But we may take a Judgment of this, and an Hundred such like Reports, to +be met with in considerable Authors, from other the like Reports that +have been better inquir’d into. In a Scarcity in _Silesia_, a mighty +Rumour was spread of its _raining Millet-Seed_; but the Matter being +inquir’d into, ’twas found to be only the Seeds of the _Ivy-leaved +Speedwell_, or _small Henbit_, growing in the Place in great Plenty. +_Eph. Germ. An. 3. Obs. 40._ So in the _Archipelago_, it was thought +Ashes were rain’d, Ships being cover’d therewith at a hundred Leagues +Distance; but in all Probability, it was from an Eruption of _Vesuvius_, +that then happen’d. About _Warminster_ in _Wilts_, ’twas reported it +_rain’d Wheat_; but a curious Observer, Mr. _Cole_, found it to be only +_Ivy-Berries_, blown thither in a considerable Quantity by a Tempest. In +the Year 1696, at _Cranstead_ near _Wrotham_ in _Kent_, a Pasture-Field +was over-spread with little young _Whitings_, suppos’d to fall from the +Clouds, in a Tempest of Thunder and Rain; but doubtless they were brought +thither with Waters from the Sea by the Tempest. See the before-commended +Mr. _Lowth_. _Abridg. Philos. Trans. Vol. 2._ p. 143, 144. + +Neither needeth it seem strange, that _Ashes_, _Ivy-Berries_, small +_Fishes_, or young _Frogs_, (which yet may have some other Conveyance,) +should be thus transported by tempestuous Winds, considering to what +Distance, and in what Quantities the Sea-Waters were carry’d by the +_Great-Storm_, _Nov. 26. 1703_, of which an ingenious Friend sent +me these Accounts from _Lewes_ in _Sussex_, viz. _That a Physician +travelling soon after the Storm, to ~Tisehurst~, twenty Miles from the +Sea, as he rode along pluck’d some Tops of Hedges, and chewing them, +found them Salt: That some ~Grapes~ hanging on the Vines at ~Lewes~ were +so too. That Mr. ~Williamson~ Rector of ~Ripe~, found the Twigs in his +Gardens Salt the ~Monday~ after the Storm; and others observ’d the same +a Week after. That the Grass of the Downs about ~Lewes~, was so Salt, +that the Sheep would not feed till Hunger compell’d them: And that the +~Miller~ of ~Berwick~, (three Miles from the Sea,) attempting with his +Man to secure his Mill, were so wash’d with Flashes of Sea-Water, like +the Breakings of Waves against the Rocks, that they were almost strangled +therewith, and forced to give over their Attempt._ + +I call’d this Doctrine of _equivocal Generation_, an _Ægyptian Doctrine_; +because probably it had its Rise in _Ægypt_, to salve the Hypothesis, of +the Production of Men, and other Animals, out of the Earth, by the Help +of the Sun’s Heat. To prove which, the _Ægyptians_, (as _Diod. Sicul._ +saith,) _produce this Observation, That about ~Thebes~, when the Earth is +moistened by the ~Nile~, by the Intense Heat of the Sun, an innumerable +Number of ~Mice~ do spring out._ From whence he infers, That all Kinds of +Animals, might as well at first come likewise out of the Earth. And from +these the learned Bishop _Stillingfleet_ thinks other Writers, as _Ovid_, +_Mela_, _Pliny_, &c. have, without examining its Truth, taken up the same +Hypothesis. _V._ _Stillingfleet_’s _Orig. Sacr._ Part 2. Book 1. Chap. 1. + +The before-commended Dr. _Harris_, from the Observations of Dr. _Harvey_, +Sr. _Malpighi_, Dr. _de Graaf_, and Mr. _Leewenhoeck_, infers three +Things concerning _Generation_ as highly probable. _1. That Animals +are ~ex Animalculo~. 2. That the Animalcules are originally ~in femine +Marium, & non in Fœminis~. 3. That they can never come forward, or +be formed into Animals of the respective Kind, without the ~Ova in +Fœminis~._ His Proofs and Illustrations, see under the Word _Generation_, +in his _Lex. Techn. Vol. 2._ + +[b] _At certè Natura, si fieri potuisset, maximè optasset suum opificium +esse immortale: quod cùm per materiam non liceret (nam quod——ex carne +est compositum, incorruptibile esse non potest) subsidium quod potuit +ipsi ad immortalitatem est sacricata, sapientis cujusdam urbis conditoris +exemplo, ~&c.~ Nam mirabilem quondam rationem invenit, quomodo in +demortui animalis locum, novum aliud sufficiat._ Galen. de Usu. Part. l. +14. c. 22. + +[c] _Animantia Bruta Obstetricibus non indigent in edendo Partu, cùm +inditâ Naturæ vi Umbilicus seipsum occludat._ Ol. Rudbeck in Blasii Anat. +Felis. + +[d] _Chap. 13._ + +[e] _Book VIII. Chap. 6._ + +[f] The _Ephemeron_, as it is an unusual and special Instance of the +Brevity of Life; so I take to be a wonderful Instance of the special Care +and Providence of God, in the Conservation of the Species of that Animal. +For, 1. As an Animal, whose Life is determin’d in about five or six Hours +Time, (_viz._ from about six in the Evening, till about eleven a Clock +at Night,) needs no Food; so neither doth the _Ephemeron_ eat, after it +is become a _Fly_. 2. As to its Generation; in those five Hours of its +Life, it performs that, and all other necessary Offices of Life: For in +the Beginning of its Life, it sheds its Coat; and that being done, and +the poor little Animal thereby render’d light and agile, it spends the +rest of its short Time in striking over the Waters, and at the same Time +the Female droppeth her Egg on the Waters, and the Male his Sperm on them +to impregnate them. These Eggs are spread about by the Waters; descend +to the Bottom by their own Gravity; and are hatch’d by the Warmth of the +Sun, into little Worms, which make themselves Cases in the Clay, and feed +on the same without any Need of parental Care. _Vid._ _Ephem. vita_, +translated by Dr. _Tyson_ from _Swammerdam_. See also _Book VIII. Chap. +6. Note (r)._ + +[g] See _Chap. 13. Note (c)_, and _Book VIII. Chap. 6._ + +[h] The _Worms_ in _Chap. 11. Note (x)_, breed in the Holes they gnaw in +Stone, as manifest from their Eggs found therein. + +[i] See _Book VIII. Chap. 6. Note (q)._ + +[k] Many, if not most Flies, especially those of the _Flesh-Fly_-kind, +have a Faculty of extending their _Uropygia_, and thereby are enabled to +thrust their Eggs into convenient Holes, and Receptacles for their Young, +in Flesh, and whatever else they Fly-blow. But none more remarkable +than the _Horse-Fly_, called by _Pennius_, in _Mouffet_, (p. 62.) +Σκολιοῦρος, i.e. _Curvicauda_, and the _Whame_ or _Burrel-Fly_, which is +vexatious to Horses in Summer, not by stinging them, but only by their +bombylious Noise, or tickling them in sticking their Nits, or Eggs on the +Hair; which they do in a very dexterous Manner, by thrusting out their +_Uropygia_, bending them up, and by gentle, slight Touches, sticking the +Eggs to the Hair of the Legs, Shoulders, and Necks, commonly of Horses; +so that Horses which go abroad, and are seldom dressed, are somewhat +discoloured by the numerous Nits adhering to their Hair. + +Having mentioned so much of the Generation of this Insect, although it +be a little out of the Way, I hope I shall be excused for taking Notice +of the long-tailed Maggot, which is the Product of these Nits or Eggs, +called by Dr. _Plot_, _Eruca glabra_, [or rather _Eula Scabra_, it should +be] _caudata aquatico-arborea_, it being found by him in the Water of an +hollow Tree, but I have found it in Ditches, Saw-Pits, Holes of Water in +the High-way, and such-like Places where the Waters are most still and +foul. This Maggot I mention, as being a singular and remarkable Work of +God, not so much for its being so utterly unlike as it is to its Parent +_Bee_-like-Fly, as for the wise Provision made for it by its long Tail; +which is so joynted at certain Distances from the Body, as that it can +be withdrawn, or sheathed, one Part within another, to what Length the +Maggot pleaseth, so as to enable it to reach the Bottom of very shallow, +or deeper Waters, as it hath Occasion, for the gathering of Food. At the +end of this tapering is a Ramification of _Fibrillæ_, or small Hairs +representing, when spread, a Star; with the help of which, spread out on +the top of the Waters, it is enabled to hang making by that means a small +Depression or Concavity on the Surface of the Water. In the midst of this +Star, I imagine the Maggot takes in Air, there being a Perforation, which +with a Microscope I could perceive to be open, and by the Star to be +guarded against the Incursion of the Water. + +[l] The Excrescences on the Root of _Cabbages_, _Turneps_, and divers +other Plants, have always a Maggot in them; but what the Animal is +that thus makes its way to the Root under Ground, whether _Ichneumon_, +_Phalæna_, _Scarab_, or _Scolopendra_, I could never discover, being not +able to bring them to any thing in Boxes. + +[m] I presume they are only of the _Ichneumon-Fly-kind_, that have their +Generation in the Trunks of Vegetables. In _Malpighi de Gallis_, _Fig. +61._ is a good Cut of the gouty Excrescences, or rather Tumours of the +_Briar-stalk_: From which proceeds a small black _Ichneumon-Fly_, with +red _Legs_; black, smooth jointed _Antennæ_; pretty large _Thorax_; and +short, round _Belly_, of the Shape of an Heart. It leapeth as a _Flea_. +The _Male_, (as in other Insects,) is lesser than the _Female_, and very +venereous, in spite of Danger, getting upon the Female, whom they beat +and tickle with their Breeches and Horns, to excite them to a _Coït_. + +Another Example of the Generation in the Trunks of Vegetables, shall be +from the Papers of my often-commended Friend Mr. _Ray_, which are in my +Hands, and that is an Observation of the ingenious Dr. _Nath. Wood_: _I +have_ (said he) _lately observed many Eggs in the common Rush. One sort +are little transparent Eggs, in Shape somewhat like a Pear, or Retort, +lying within the Skin, upon, or in the ~Medulla~, just against a brownish +Spot on the out-side of the Rush; which is apparently the Creatrix of the +Wound made by the Fly, when she puts her Eggs there. Another Kind is much +longer, and not so transparent, of a long oval, or rather cylindrical +Form; six, eight, or more, lie commonly together, across the Rush, +parallel to each other, like the Teeth of a Comb, and are as long as the +Breadth of the Rush._ Letter from _Kilkenny_ in _Ireland_, Apr. 28. 1697. + +[n] See _Book VIII. Chap. 6. Note (d)._ + +[o] I have in _Chap. 13. Note (u)_, and _Book VIII. Chap. 6. Note (c), +(f)_, taken Notice of the Nidification and Generation of some Insects +on the Leaves of Vegetables, and shall therefore, for the Illustration +of this Place, chuse an uncommon Example out of the _Scarab-kind_ (the +Generation of which Tribe hath not been as yet mentioned) and that +is of a small _Scarab_ bred in the very Tips of _Elm-Leaves_. These +Leaves, in Summer, may be observed to be, many of them, dry and dead, as +also turgid; in which lieth a dirty, whitish, rough Maggot. From which +proceeds a _Beetle_ of the smallest kind, of a light, _Weesle_ Colour, +that leapeth like a _Grashopper_, although its Legs are but short. Its +Eyes are blackish, _Elytra_ thin, and prettily furrowed, with many +Concavities in them; small club-headed _Antennæ_, and a long _Rostrum_ +like a _Proboscis_. + +The same, or much like this, I have met with on Tips of _Oaken_ and +_Holly-Leaves_. How the _Scarab_ lays its Eggs in the Leaf, whether by +terebrating the Leaf, or whether the _Maggot_, when hatched, doth it, I +could never see. But with great Dexterity, it makes its Way between the +upper and under Membranes of the Leaf feeding upon the parenchymous Part +thereof. Its Head is slenderer and sharper than most of _Maggots_, as if +made on purpose for this Work; but yet I have often wondered at their +Artifice in so nicely separating the Membranes of the _Elm-Leaf_, without +breaking them, and endangering their own tumbling out of ’em, considering +how thin and very tender the Skins of that Leaf (particularly) are. + +[p] See _Book VIII. Chap. 6. Note (z)._ + +[q] See _Book VIII. Chap. 6._ to _Note (bb)_, &c. + +[r] Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐκτροφὰς τῶν τέκνων στοχαζέμενα, ποιοῦνται τὸν +συνδυασμὸν ἐν τῇ ἀπαρτιζούσῃ ὥρᾳ. Arist. Hist. An. l. 5. c. 8 ubi plura. + +[s] _Chap. 10._ + +[t] Mr. _Ray_ alledges good Reasons to conclude, that although Birds have +not an exact Power of numbering, yet, that they have of distinguishing +many from few, and knowing when they come near to a certain Number; and +that they have it in their Power to lay many or few Eggs. All which he +manifesteth from _Hens_, and other domestick Fowls, laying many more Eggs +when they are withdrawn, than when not. Which holds in wild as well as +domestick Birds, as appears from Dr. _Lister_’s Experiment in withdrawing +a _Swallow_’s Eggs, which by that Means laid nineteen Eggs successively +before she gave over. _V._ _~Ray~’s Wisdom of God_, &c. p. 137. + +[u] _Palumbes incubat fœmina post meridiana in matutinum, cætero mas. +Columbæ incubant ambo, interdiu Mas, noctu Fœmina. Plin._ Nat. Hist. l. +10. c. 58. + +[w] Of the common _Crow_, Mr. _Willughby_ saith, _The Females only sit, +and that diligently, the Males in the mean time bring them Victuals, as_ +Aristotle _saith. In most other Birds, which pair together, the Male +and Female sit by Turns._ Ornithol. l. 2. §. 1. c. 2. §. 2. And I have +observed the Female-Crows to be much fatter than the Males, in the Time +of Incubation, by Reason the Male, out of his conjugal Affection, almost +starves himself, to supply the Female with Plenty. + +[x] See _Book VII. Chap. 4._ + +[y] _Volucribus Natura novam quandam, Pullos educandi, rationem +excogitavit: ipsis enim præcipuum quendam amorem in ea quæ procrearent, +ingeneravit, quo impulsu bellum pro pullis cum ferocibus animalibus, quæ +ante declinârunt, intrepide suscipiunt, victúmque ipsis convenientem +suppeditant._ Galen. de Us. Part. l. 14. c. 4. + +[z] _In iis animanatibus quæ lacte aluntur, omnis ferè cibus matrum +lactescere incipit; eaque, quæ paulo antè nata sunt, sine magistro, +duce naturâ, mammas appetunt, earumque ubertate saturantur. Atque ut +intelligamus nihil horum esse fortutitum, & hæc omnia esse provida, +solertisque naturæ, quæ multiplices fœtus procreant, ut Sues, ut Canes, +his Mammarum data est multitudo; quas easdam paucas habent eæ bestiæ, quæ +pauca gignunt._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 51. _Consule quoque_ Galen de +Us. Part. l. 4. c. 4. _&_ l. 15. c. 7. + +[aa] _Animalia solidipeda, & ruminantia, vel cornigera, inter femora +Mammas habent, quorum Fœtus statim à partu pedibus insistunt, quòd matres +inter lactandum non decumbant, ut Equa, Asina, ~&c.~ Animalia digitata +& multipara in medio ventre, scil. spatio ab inguine ad pectus (in +Cuniculo usque ad jugulum) duplicem mammarum seriem fortita sunt, quæ +omnia decumbentia ubera fœtibus admovent, ut Ursa, Leæna, ~&c.~ Si verò +hæc in solo inguine Mammas gererent, propria cura inter decumbendum fœtus +accessum ad mammas nonnihil præpedirent. Mulieribus Mammæ binæ sunt, ut & +Papillæ, nimirum ut latus lateri conformitèr respondeat, & ut alternatim +infans à latere in latus inter sugendum tranferatur, ne corpus ejus uni +lateri nimis assuescens quoquo modo incurvetur. Simia, homo Sylvestris, +~&c.~_ Blas. Anat. Animal. Par. 1. Cap. 6. _de Cane ex Whartono_. See +here what _Pliny_ hath also, L. 11. _Cap. 40._ + +In the _Elephant_, the Nipples are near the Breast, by Reason the old one +is forced to suck her self, and by the help of her Trunk conveys the Milk +into the Mouth of her Young. _Vid._ _Phil. Trans._ No. 336. + +[bb] For an Exemplification, I might name many Animals, particularly +Birds, whole Parts are compleatly suited to this Service. They are +Characteristicks of rapacious Birds, to have aduncous Bills and Talons +to hold and tear, and strong brawny Thighs to strike and carry their +Prey, as well as a sharp piercing Sight to spy it afar off. _Raii Synops. +Method. Av._ p. 1. The _Pelecane_ also might be here named, for its +prodigious Bag under its Bill and Throat, big enough to contain thirty +Pints. _Id. ibid._ p. 122. And to name no more, the common _Heron_ hath +its most remarkable Parts adapted to thus Service; long Legs for wading, +and a long Neck answerable thereto to reach Prey, a wide, extensive +Throat to pouch it; long Toes, with strong hooked Talons, (one of which +is remarkably serrate on the Edge) the better to hold their Prey; a long +sharp Bill to strike their Prey, and serrate towards the Point, with +sharp hooked Beards standing backward, to hold their Prey fast when +struck; and lastly, large, broad, concave Wings (in Appearance much too +large, heavy and cumbersome for so small a Body, but) of greatest Use to +enable them to carry the greater Load to their Nests at several Miles +Distance; as I have seen them do from several Miles beyond me, to a large +Heronry above three Miles distant from me. In which I have seen _Plaise_, +and other Fish, some Inches long, lying under the high Trees in which +they build; and the curious and ingenious Owner thereof, _D’Acre Barret_, +Esq; hath seen a large Eel convey’d by them, notwithstanding the great +Annoyance it gave them in their Flight, by its twisting this Way and that +Way about their Bodies. + +[cc] This is reported of the _American Ostrich_, mentioned by _Acarette_, +in _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 89. Of which see _Book VII. Chap. 4. Note (e)._ + +[dd] _Hornets_, _Wasps_, and all the Kinds of _Bees_ provide Honey; and +many of the _Pseudosphecæ_, and _Ichneumon Wasps_ and _Flies_, carry +_Maggots_, _Spiders_, _&c._ into their Nests; of which see above, _Note +(c) Chap. 13._ + + + + +CHAP. XVI. + +_The Conclusion._ + + +Thus I have, as briefly as well I could (and much more briefly than the +Matters deserved) dispatched the Decad of Things I proposed in common +to the sensitive Creatures. And now let us pause a little, and reflect. +And upon the whole Matter, what less can be concluded than that there is +a Being infinitely Wise, Potent, and Kind, who is able to contrive and +make this glorious Scene of Things, which I have thus given only a Glance +of? For what less than Infinite, could stock so vast a Globe with such a +noble Set of Animals? All so Contrived, as to minister to one another’s +Help some Way or other, and most of them serviceable to Man peculiarly, +the Top of this lower World, and who was made, as it were, on purpose to +observe, and survey, and set forth the Glory of the infinite _Creator_, +manifested in his Works! Who! What but the Great _GOD_ could so admirably +provide for the whole Animal World every Thing serviceable to it, or that +can be wished for, either to conserve its Species, or to minister to +the Being or Well-being of Individuals! Particularly, who could _Feed_ +so spacious a World, who could please so large a Number of Palates, or +suit so many Palates to so great a Variety of Food, but the infinite +Conservator of the World! And who but the same great _HE_, could provide +such commodious _Cloathing_ for every Animal; such proper _Houses_, +_Nests_ and _Habitations_; such suitable _Armature_ and _Weapons_; such +_Subtilty_, _Artifice_ and _Sagacity_, as every Creature is more or less +armed and furnished with, to fence off the Injuries of the Weather, to +rescue it self from Dangers, to preserve it self from the Annoyances +of its Enemies; and, in a word, to conserve its Self, and its Species! +What but an infinite superintending Power could so equally _balance_ the +several Species of Animals, and conserve the _Numbers_ of the individuals +of every Species so even, as not to over or under-people the terraqueous +Globe! Who, but the infinite wise Lord of the World, could allot every +Creature its most suitable _Place_ to live in, the most suitable Element +to _breath_, and _move_, and _act_ in. And who but _HE_ could make so +admirable a Set of Organs, as those of Respiration are, both in Land and +Water-Animals! Who could contrive so curious a Set of Limbs, Joynts, +Bones, Muscles, and Nerves, to give to every Animal the most commodious +_Motion_ to its State and Occasions! And to name no more, what Anatomist, +Mathematician, Workman, yea Angel, could contrive and make so curious, +so commodious, and every way so exquisite a Set of Senses, as the _five +Senses_ of Animals are; whole Organs are so dexterously contrived, so +conveniently placed in the Body, so neatly adjusted, so firmly guarded, +and so compleatly suited to every Occasion, that they plainly set forth +the Agency of the infinite Creator and Conservator of the World. + +So that here, upon a transient View of the Animal World in general only, +we have such a Throng of Glories, such an enravishing Scene of Things as +may excite us to admire, praise, and adore the infinitely wise, powerful, +and kind _CREATOR_; to condemn all atheistical Principles; and with holy +_David_, _Psalm_ xiv. 1. to conclude that he is in good earnest a _Fool_, +that dares to say, _There is no God_, when we are every where surrounded +with such manifest Characters, and plain Demonstrations of that infinite +Being. + +But in the next Book we shall still find greater Tokens, if possible, +when I come to take a View of Animals in particular. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +A + +SURVEY + +Of the Particular + +Tribes of _ANIMALS_. + + +In the foregoing Book, having taken a View of the Things in common to +Animals, my Business in the next, will be to inspect the particular +Tribes, in order to give further Manifestations of the Infinite Creator’s +Wisdom, Power and Goodness towards the Animal World. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK V. + +_A SURVEY of MAN._ + + +The first _Genus_ of Animals that I shall take Notice of, shall be _Man_, +who may justly claim the Precedence in our Discourse, inasmuch as God +hath given him the Superiority in the Animal World; _Gen._ i. 26. _And +God said, Let us make Man in our Image, after our Likeness; and let them +have Dominion over the Fish of the Sea, and over the Fowl of the Air, and +over the Cattle, and over all the Earth, and over every creeping Thing +that creepeth upon the Earth._ + +And as to Man, we have so excellent a Piece of Workmanship, such a +Microcosm, such an Abridgment of the Creator’s Art in him, as is alone +sufficient to demonstrate the Being and Attributes of _GOD_. Which will +appear by considering the _Soul_ and the _Body_ of Man. + + + + +CHAP. I. + +_Of the SOUL of Man._ + + +My Survey of Man, I shall begin with the Soul of Man, by Reason it is +his most noble Part[a], the Copy of the Divine Image in us[b], in which +we have enough to fill us with Admiration of the Munisence, Power, +and Wisdom of the Infinite Creator[c], when we contemplate the noble +Faculties of this our superiour Part, the vast Reach and Compass of +its _Understanding_, the prodigious Quickness and Piercingness of its +_Thought_, the admirable Subtilty of its _Invention_, the commanding +Power of its _Wisdom_, the great Depth of its _Memory_[d], and in a word, +its Divine Nature and Operations. + +But I shall not dwell on this, tho’ the superiour Part of Man, because +it is the least known. Only there are two Things I can’t easily pass +by, because they manifest the especial Concurrence and Design of the +infinitely Wise Creator, as having a particular and necessary Tendency to +the Management and good Order of the World’s Affairs. The + +I. Of which is the various _Genii_, or _Inclinations of Men’s Minds_ +to this, and that, and the other Business[e]. We see how naturally +Men betake themselves to this and that Employment: Some delight most +in Learning and Books, some in Divinity, some in Physick, Anatomy and +Botany, some in Critical Learning and Philology, some in Mathematicks, +some in Metaphysicks, and deep Researches; and some have their Delight +chiefly in Mechanicks, Architecture, War, Navigation, Commerce, +Agriculture; and some have their Inclinations lie even to the servile +Offices of the World, and an hundred Things besides. + +Now all this is an admirably wise, as well as most necessary Provision, +for the easy and sure transacting the World’s Affairs; to answer every +End and Occasion of Man, yea, to make Man Helpful to the poor, helpless +Beasts, as far as his Help is needful to them; and all, without any great +Trouble, Fatigue, or great Inconvenience to Man; rather as a Pleasure, +and Diversion to him. For so far it is from being a Toil, that the +greatest Labours[f], Cares, yea, and Dangers too, become pleasant to him +who is pursuing his _Genius_; and whose Ardour of Inclination eggs him +forward, and buoys him up under all Opposition, and carrieth him through +every Obstacle, to the End of his Designs and Desires. + +II. The next is, The _inventive_ Power of the Soul[g]. Under which I +might speak of many Things; but I shall take Notice only of two, because +they manifest the particular Concern and Agency of the infinitely wise +Creator. The + +1. Is, That _Man’s Invention_ should reach to such a great Variety of +Matters; that it should hit upon every Thing, that may be of any Use, +either to himself, or to human Society; or that may any Ways promote, +(what in him lies,) the Benefit of this lower Part of the Creation. + +For the Illustration of this, I might take a View of all the Arts and +Sciences, the Trades, yea, the very Tools they perform their Labours, +and Contrivances with, as numerous as their Occasions and Contrivances +are various. Indeed, What is there that falleth under the Reach of +Man’s Senses, that he doth not employ to some Use and Purpose, for the +World’s Good? The celestial Bodies, the Sun, the Moon, with the other +Planets, and the fix’d Stars, he employs to the noble Uses of Astronomy, +Navigation and Geography. And, What a noble Acumen, what a vast Reach +must the Soul be endow’d with, to invent those curious Sciences of +Geometry and Arithmetick, both Specious, and in Numbers; and those nice +and various Instruments, made use of by the Geometrician, Astronomer, +Geographer and Sailor? And lastly, What a wonderful Sagacity is shewn in +the Business of Optics, and particularly in the late Invention of the +Telescope; wherewith new Wonders are discover’d among God’s Works, in +the Heavens, as there are here on Earth, with the Microscope, and other +Glasses. + +And as for this lower World, What Material is here to be found; what kind +of Earth, or Stone, or Metal; what Animal, Tree, or Plant, yea, even the +very Shrubs of the Field; in a Word, what of all the excellent Variety, +the Creator has furnish’d the World with, for all its Uses and Occasions, +in all Ages; what, I say, that Man’s Contrivance doth not extend unto, +and make some Way or other advantagious to himself, and useful for +Building, Cloathing, Food, Physick, or for Tools or Utensils, or for even +only Pleasure and Diversion? + +But now considering the great Power and Extent of human Invention. + +2. There is another Thing, that doth farther demonstrate the +Super-intendence of the great Creator, and Conservator of the World; and +that is, That Things of great, and absolutely necessary Use, have soon, +and easily occurr’d to the Invention of Man; but Things of little Use, or +very dangerous Use, are rarely and slowly discover’d, or still utterly +undiscover’d. We have as early as the _Mosaick_ History, an Account of +the Inventions of the more useful Crafts and Occupations: Thus _Gen._ +iii. 23. Adam _was sent forth from the Garden of ~Eden~, by God himself, +to till the Ground._ And in the next Chapter, his two Sons _Cain_ and +_Abel_; the one was of the same Occupation, a Tiller of the Ground, the +other a Keeper of Sheep[h]. And the Posterity of these, are in the latter +End of _Gen._ iv. recorded, _~Jabal~ to have been the Father of such as +dwell in Tents_[i]; _i.e._ He was the _Inventor of Tents_, and pitching +those moveable Houses in the Fields, for looking after, and depasturing +their Cattel in the Desarts, and uncultivated World. _~Tubal-Cain~ was an +Instructer of every Artificer in Brass and Iron_[k], or the First that +found out the Art of _melting, and malleating[l] Metals_, and making +them useful for Tools, and other necessary Implements. And his Sister +_Naamah_, whose Name is only mentioned, is by some thought to have been +the Inventor of _Spinning_ and _Cloathing_. Yea, the very Art of _Musick_ +is thus early ascribed to _Jubal_[m]; so indulgent was the Creator, to +find a Means to divert Melancholy, to cheer the Spirits, and to entertain +and please Mankind. But for Things of no Use, or but little Use, or of +pernicious Consequence; either they have been much later thought of, and +with great Difficulty, and perhaps Danger too, brought to pass; or else +they still are, and perhaps will always remain, Exercises of the Wit and +Invention of Men. + +Of this we might give divers Instances: In Mathematicks, about squaring +the Circle[n]; in Mechanicks[o], about the Art of Flying; and in +Navigation, about finding the Longitude. These Things, although some of +them in Appearance innocent, yea, perhaps very useful, yet remain for +the most Part secret; not because the Discovery of most of them is more +impossible, or difficult than of many other Things, which have met with a +Discovery; nor is it for want of Man’s Diligence therein, or his careful +Pursuit and Enquiry after them, (for perhaps, nothing already discover’d +hath been more eagerly sought after;) but with much better Reason, (I +am sure with greater Humility and Modesty,) we may conclude it is, +because the infinitely wise Creator, and Ruler of the World, hath been +pleas’d to lock up these Things from Man’s Understanding and Invention, +for some Reasons best known to himself, or because they might be of ill +Consequence, and dangerous amongst Men. + +As in all Probability the Art of Flying would particularly be: An +Art which in some Cases might be of good Use, as to the Geographer +and Philosopher; but in other Respects, might prove of dangerous and +fatal Consequence: As for instance, By putting it in Man’s Power to +discover the Secrets of Nations and Families, more than is consistent +with the Peace of the World, for Man to know; by giving ill Men greater +Opportunities to do Mischief, which it would not lie in the Power of +others to prevent; and, as one[p] observes, by making Men less sociable: +“For upon every true or false Ground of Fear, or Discontent, and other +Occasions, he would have been fluttering away to some other Place; and +Mankind, instead of cohabiting in Cities, would, like the Eagle, have +built their Nests upon Rocks”. + +That this is the true Reason of these Matters, is manifest enough from +holy Scripture, and Reason[q] also gives its Suffrage thereto. The +_Scripture_ expressly tells us, That _every good Gift, and every perfect +Gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights_, _S._ +James i. 17. _Solomon_, Prov. ii. 6. saith, _The Lord giveth Wisdom; out +of his Mouth cometh Knowledge and Understanding._ And _Elihu_ is very +express, Job xxxii. 8. _But there is a Spirit in Man, and the Inspiration +of the Almighty giveth them Understanding_, Πνοὴ παντοκράτορός ἐστιν ἡ +διδάσκουσα, as the LXX render it, _The Inspiratus, the Afflatus of the +Almighty, is their Instructor, Mistress or Teacher._ And in Scripture, +not only the more noble, superiour Acts of Wisdom or Science; but much +inferiour also, bear the Name of Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding, +and are ascrib’d unto GOD. ’Tis well known that _Solomon_’s Wisdom is +wholly ascrib’d unto GOD; and the Wisdom and Understanding which GOD is +said to have given him, 1 _Kings_ iv. 29. is particularly set forth in +the following Verses, by his great Skill in moral and natural Philosophy, +in Poetry, and probably in Astronomy, Geometry, and such other of the +politer Sciences, for which _Ægypt_, and the _eastern Nations_ were +celebrated of old[r]: _And ~Solomon~’s Wisdom excell’d the Wisdom of all +the Children of the east Country, and all the Wisdom of ~Ægypt~. For he +was wiser than all Men, than ~Ethan~, &c. And he spake 3000 Proverbs: +And his Songs were 1005. And he spake of Trees, from the Cedar to the +Hyssop of the Wall, ~(_i.e._ of all Sorts of Plants;)~ also of Beasts, +Fowl, creeping Things, and Fishes._ So likewise the Wisdom of _Daniel_, +and his three Companions, is ascrib’d unto GOD, _Dan._ i. 17. _As for +these four Children, God gave them Knowledge, and Skill in all Learning +and Wisdom; and ~Daniel~ had Understanding in all Visions and Dreams._ +And accordingly in the next Chapter, _Daniel_ acknowledgeth and praiseth +God. ℣. 20. 21. _~Daniel~ answered and said, Blessed be the Name of God +for ever and ever, for Wisdom and Might are his.——He giveth Wisdom unto +the Wise, and Knowledge to them that know Understanding._ But not only +Skill in the superiour Arts and Sciences; but even in the more inferiour +mechanick Art, is call’d by the same Names, and ascrib’d unto GOD: Thus +for the Workmanship of the Tabernacle, _Exod._ xxxi. 2. to ℣. 6. _See, +I have call’d ~Bezaleel~; and I have fill’d him with the Spirit of God, +in Wisdom, and in Understanding, and in all Manner of Workmanship: To +devise cunning Works, to work in Gold, Silver and Brass; and in cutting +of Stones, to set them; and in carving of Timber, to work in all Manner +of Workmanship._ So the _Spinsters_, _Weavers_, and other Crafts-people, +are call’d wise-hearted, _Exod._ xxxiv. 10. 25. and other Places. And +in _Exod._ xxxvi. 1. &c. the LORD is said to have put this Wisdom in +them, and Understanding to know how to work all these Manner of Works, +for the Service of the Sanctuary. And lastly, to name no more Instances, +_Hiram_ the chief Architect of _Solomon_’s _Temple_, is in 1 _Kings_ vii. +14. and 2 _Chron._ ii. 14. call’d _a cunning Man, fill’d with Wisdom +and Understanding, to work in Gold, Silver, Brass, Iron, Stone, Timber, +Purple, Blue, fine Linen, and Crimson; also to grave, and find out every +Device which should be put to him._ + +Thus doth the Word of _God_, ascribe the Contrivances and Crafts of +Men, to the Agency, or Influence of the _Spirit_ of _God_, upon that +of Man. And there is the same Reason for the Variety of _Genii_, or +_Inclinations_ of Men also; which from the same Scriptures, may be +concluded to be a Designation, and Transaction of the same almighty +Governour of the World’s Affairs. And who indeed but HE, could make +such a divine Substance, endow’d with those admirable Faculties, and +Powers, as the rational Soul hath; a Being to bear the great Creator’s +Vicegerency in this lower World; to employ the several Creatures; to make +Use of the various Materials; to manage the grand Businesses; and to +survey the Glories of all the visible Works of God? A Creature, without +which this lower World would have been a dull, uncouth, and desolate kind +of Globe. Who, I say, or what less than the _infinite GOD_, could make +such a rational Creature, such a divine Substance as the Soul? For if we +should allow the Atheist any of his nonsensical Schemes, the _Epicurean_ +his fortuitous Concourse of Atoms, or the _Cartesian_[s] his created +Matter put in Motion; yet with what tolerable Sense could he, in his Way, +produce such a divine, thinking, speaking, contriving Substance as the +Soul is; endow’d exactly with such Faculties, Power, and Dispositions +as the various Necessities and Occasions of the World require from such +a Creature? Why should not rather all the Acts, the Dispositions and +Contrivances of such a Creature as Man, (if made in a mechanical Way, +and not contriv’d by God,) have been the same? Particularly, Why should +he not have hit upon all Contrivances of equal Use, early as well as +many Ages since? Why not that Man have effected it, as well as this, +some thousands of Years after? Why also should not all Nations, and +all Ages[t], improve in every Thing, as well as this, or that Age, or +Nation[u] only? why should the _Greeks_, the _Arabians_, the _Persians_, +or the _Ægyptians_ of old, so far exceed those of the same Nations now? +Why the _Africans_ and _Americans_ so generally ignorant and barbarous, +and the _Europeans_, for the most part, polite and cultivated, addicted +to Arts and Learning? How could it come to pass that the Use of the +Magnet[w], Printing[x], Clocks[y], Telescopes[z], and all hundred Things +besides, should escape the Discovery of _Archimedes_, _Anaximander_, +_Anaximenes_, _Posidonius_, or other great Virtuoso’s of the early Ages, +whose Contrivances of various Engines, Spheres, Clepsydræ and other +curious Instruments are recorded[aa]? And why cannot the present or past +Age, so eminent for polite Literature, for Discoveries and Improvements +in all curious Arts and Businesses (perhaps beyond any known Age of the +World; why cannot it, I say) discover those hidden _Quæsita_, which +may probably be reserved for the Discovery of future and less learned +Generations? + +Of these Matters, no satisfactory Account can be given by any mechanical +Hypothesis, or any other Way, without taking in the Superintendence of +the great Creator and Ruler of the World; who oftentimes doth manifest +himself in some of the most considerable of those Works of Men, by some +remarkable Transactions of his Providence, or by some great Revolution +or other happening in the World thereupon. Of this I might instance in +the Invention of Printing[bb], succeeded first by a train of Learned Men, +and the Revival of Learning, and soon after that by the Reformation, +and the much greater Improvements of Learning at this Day. But the most +considerable Instance I can give is, the Progress of Christianity, by +means of the civilized Disposition, and large Extent of the _Roman +Empire_. The latter of which, as it made way for human Power; so the +former made way for our most excellent Religion into the Minds of Men. +And so I hope, and earnestly pray, that the Omnipotent and All-wise +Ruler of the World will transact the Affairs of our most Holy Religion, +e’er it be long, in the Heathen World; that the great Improvements made +in the last, and present Age, in Arts and Sciences, in Navigation and +Commerce, may be a Means to transport our Religion, as well as Name, +through all the Nations of the Earth. For we find that our Culture of the +more polite and curious Sciences, and our great Improvements in even the +Mechanick Arts, have already made a Way for us into some of the largest +and farthest distant Nations of the Earth; particularly into the great +Empire of _China_[cc]. + +And now, before I quit this Subject, I cannot but make one Remark, by way +of practical Inference, from what has been last said; and that is, Since +it appears that the Souls of Men are ordered, disposed and actuated by +God, even in secular, as well as spiritual Christian Acts; a Duty ariseth +thence on every Man, to pursue the Ends, and answer all the Designs of +the divine Providence, in bestowing his Gifts and Graces upon him. Men +are ready to imagine their Wit, Learning, Genius, Riches, Authority, and +such like, to be Works of Nature, Things of Course, or owing to their own +Diligence, Subtilty, or some Secondary Causes; that they are Masters of +them, and at Liberty to use them as they please, to gratifie their Lust +or Humour, and satsifie their depraved Appetites. But it is evident, that +these Things are the Gifts of God, they are so many Talents entrusted +with us by the infinite Lord of the World, a Stewardship, a Trust +reposed in us; for which we must give an Account at the Day when our Lord +shall call; according to the parabolical Representation of this Matter by +our Blessed Saviour, _Matt._ xxv. 14. + +Our Duty then is not to abuse these Gifts of God, _not to neglect the +Gift that is in us_, not to _hide our Talent in the Earth_; but as St. +_Paul_ exhorteth _Timothy_, _2 Tim._ i. _6._ we must _stir up the Gift +of God which is in us_, and not let it lie idle, concealed or dead; but +we must ἀναζωπυρεῖν τὸ χάρισμα, _blow it up, and enkindle it_, as the +Original imports; we must improve and employ our Gift to the Glory of the +Giver; or in that Ministration, that Use and Service of the World, for +which he gave it. Our Stewardship, our Craft, our Calling, be it that +of Ambassadors of Heaven, committed to us, as ’twas to _Timothy_,[dd] +by the laying on of Hands; or be it the more secular Business of the +Gentleman, Tradesman, Mechanick, or only Servant; nay, our good Genius, +our Propensity to any Good, as suppose to History, Mathematicks, Botany, +Natural Philosophy, Mechanicks, _&c._ I say all these Occupations, in +which the Providence of God hath engaged Men, all the Inclinations to +which his Spirit hath disposed them, ought to be discharged with that +Diligence, that Care and Fidelity, that our great Lord and Master may not +say to us, as He said to the unfaithful Steward, _Luke_ xvi. 2. _Give an +Account of thy Stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer Steward_; but +that he may say, as ’tis in the Parable before cited, _Mat._ xxv. 21. +_Well done thou good and faithful Servant, thou hast been faithful over +a few Things, I will make thee Ruler over many Things, enter thou into +the Joy of thy Lord_. Since now the Case is thus, let us be persuaded +to follow _Solomon_’s Advice, _Eccles._ ix. 10. _Whatsoever thy Hand +findeth to do, do it with thy Might_[ee]: “Lay hold on every Occasion +that presents it self, and improve it with the utmost Diligence; because +now is the Time of Action, both in the Employments of the Body, and of +the Mind; now is the Season of studying either Arts and Sciences, or +Wisdom and Virtue, for which thou wilt have no Opportunities in the Place +whither thou art going in the other World. _For there is no Work, nor +Device, nor Knowledge, nor Wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest._” + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Fam verò, Animum ipsum, Mentemque homines, Rationem, Consilium, +Prudentiam, qui non divinâ curá perfecta esse perspicit, is his ipsis +rebus mihi videtur carere._ Cic. de Nat, Deor. l. 2. c. 59. + +[b] + + _Sensum à Cælesti demissum traximus arce,_ + _Cujus egent prona, & terram spectantia: mundi_ + _Principio indulsit communis Conditur, illis_ + _Tantùm Animas; nobis Animum quoque._ + + Juven. Sat. xv. v. 144. + + _Es cum non aliter possent mortalia singi._ + _Adjunxit geminas, illæ cum corpore lapsæ_ + _Intereunt: hæc sola manet, bustoque superstes_ + _Evolat._ + + Claud. de 4 Consul. Hon. + +[c] _Nam siquis nulli sectæ addictus, sed liberâ sententiâ rerum +considerationem inierit, conspicatus in tantâ carnium ac succorum +colluvie tantam mentem habitare; conspicatus item & cujusvis animalis +constructionem (omnia enim declarans Opisicis Sapientiam) Mentis, quæ +homini inest, excellentiam intelliget, tum opus de partium utilitate, +quod prius exiguum esse sibi videbatur, perfectissimæ Theologiæ verum +principium constituet; quæ Theologia multò est major atque præstantior +totâ Medicinâ._ Galen. de usu Part. L. 17. c. 1. + +[d] Among many Examples that I could give of Persons famous for +_Memory_, _Seneca_’s Account of himself may be one, _Hanc [Memoriam] +aliquando in me floruisse, ut non tantùm ad usum sufficeret, sed in +miraculum usque procederet, non nego. Nam & 2000 nominum recitata, quo +ordine erant dicta, reddebam: & ab his qui ad audiendum præceptorem +nostrum convenerunt, singulos versus à singulis datos, cùm plures quàm +200 efficerentur, ab ultimo incipiens usque ad primum recitabam._ +After which, mention is made of the great Memory of _Latro Porcius_ +(_charissimi mihi sodalis_, _Seneca_ calls him) who retained in his +Memory all the Declamations he had ever spoken, and never had his Memory +fail him, not so much as in one single Word. Also he takes Notice of +_Cyneas_, Ambassador to the _Romans_ from King _Pyrrhus_, who in one Day +had so well learnt the Names of his Spectators, that _postero die novus +homo & Senatum, & omnem urbanam circumfusam Senatui plebem, nominibus +suis persalutavit_. Senec. controvers. L. 1. init. Vid. quoque Plin. L. +7. c. 24. where he also adds other Examples, viz. _Cyrus rex omnibus in +exercitu suo militibus nomina reddidit; L. Scipio populo Rom. Mithidrates +22 gentium rex, totidem linguis jura dedit, pro concione singulas sine +interprete affatus. Charmidas (seu potiùs Carneades)——quæ quis exegerat +volumina in bibliothecis, legentis modo repræsentavit._ + +[e] + + _Diversis etenim gaudet natura ministris,_ + _Ut fieri diversa queant ornantia terras._ + _Nec patitur cunctos ad eandem currere metam,_ + _Sed varias jubet ire vias, variosque labores_ + _Suscipere, ut vario cultu sit pulchrior orbis._ + + Paling. in Scorp. + +Οἵτως ὀυ παντεπι Θεὸς χαρίεντα δίδωσι Ἀνδράσιν, &c. _Ita non omnibus +hominibus sua dona dat Deus, neque bonam indolem, neque prudentiam, +nec eloquentiam: alius namque vultum habet deformem; sed Deus formam +eloquentiâ ornat, ~&c.~_ Homer. Odys. 8. The like also in _Iliad. L. 13._ + +[f] Although _Solomon_ declares, _Eccles._ xii. 12. _That much Study is a +Weariness to the Flesh_; yet we see with what Pleasure and Assiduity many +apply themselves to it. Thus _Cicero_ tells of _Cato_, whom he casually +found in _Lucullus_’s Library, _M. Catonem vidi in Bibliothecâ sedentem, +multis circumfusum Stoicorum libris. Erat enim, ut scis, in eo inexhausta +aviditas legendi, nec satiari poterat: quippe ne reprehensionem quidem +vulgi inanem reformidans, in ipsa curiâ soleret legere sæpe, dum senatus +cogeretur——ut Heluo librorum——videbatur._ Cicer. de finib. L. 3. c. 2. + +[g] _Mentem hominis, quamvis eam non videas, ut Deum non vides, tamen +ut Deum agnoscis ex operibus ejus, sic ex memoriâ rerum, & Inventione, +& celeritate motûs, omnique pulchritudine virtutis vim divinam mentis +agnoscito._ Cicer. Tusc. Quæst. L. 1. c. 29. + +[h] _Gen._ iv. 2. + +[i] ℣. 20. + +[k] ℣. 22. + +[l] Σφυροκόπος, the LXX call him, _i.e._ A Worker with an Hammer. + +[m] ℣. 21. + +[n] Although the _Quadrature of the Circle_, hath in former Ages +exercis’d some of the greatest mathematical Wits; yet nothing has been +done in that Way so considerable, as in, and since the Middle of the +last Century; when in the Year 1657, those very ingenious and great Men, +Mr _William Neile_, and my Lord _Brounker_, and Sir _Christopher Wren_ +afterwards, in the same Year, geometrically demonstrated the Equality +of some Curves to a strait Line. Soon after which, others at Home, and +Abroad, did the like in other Curves. And not long afterwards, this was +brought under an _analytical Calculus_: The first Specimen whereof, that +was ever publish’d. Mr. _Mercator_ gave in 1688, in a Demonstration of +my Lord _Brounker_’s Quadrature of the _Hyperbola_, by Dr _Wallis_’s +Reduction of a Fraction, into an infinite Series by Division. But +the penetrating Genius of Sir _Isaac Newton_, had discover’d a Way +of attaining the Quantity of all quadrible Curves analytically, by +his Method of _Fluxions_, some Time before the Year 1668, as I find +very probable from an historical Account, in a long Letter of Mr. +_Collins_, written in his own Hand, and sent to _Richard Townley_, Esq; +of _Lancashire_, whose Papers are in my Hands. In that Letter, Mr. +_Collins_ saith, That _in ~September 1668~, Mr. ~Mercator~ publish’d +his ~Logarithmotechnia~, one of which he soon sent to Dr. ~Barrow~, who +thereupon sent him up some Papers of Mr. ~Newton~’s, ~[now Sir _Isaac_;]~ +by which, and former Communications made thereof by the Author, to the +Doctor; it appears that the said Method was invented some Years before, +by the said Mr. ~Newton~, and generally apply’d._ And then he goes on +to give some Account of the Method; what it performs in the Circle, +_&c._ what Mr. _Gregory_ had done in that kind, _who intended to publish +somewhat in ~Latin~ about it, but would not anticipate Mr. ~Newton~, the +first Inventor thereof_; with much more of this Nature. The Design, I +find, of that indefatigable Promoter of Mathematicks, Mr. _Collins_, was +to acquaint Mr. _Townley_, in his Letter, with what had been done; and to +get the Assistance of that ingenious Gentleman, towards the compleating a +Body of _Algebra_. + +[o] I do not mention here the _perpetual Motion_, which hath exercis’d +the mechanical Wits for many Ages; because it is a Thing impossible, if +not a Contradiction: As the before-commended Dr. _Clarke_ asserts in +_Rohaul. Phys._ p. 133. + +[p] _~Grew~’s Cosmol. Sacr. l. 1. c. 5. §. 25._ + +[q] _Nemo igitur vir magnus sine aliquo afflatu divino unquam fuit._ Cic. +de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 66. + +[r] _Ægypt_, and some of the _eastern_ Nations, are celebrated for their +Skill in polite Literature: both in Scripture and profane story: _Job_ +was of those Parts; so were the Σοφοὶ and Μάγοι, the _Brachmans_ and +_Gymnosophists_. _Moses_ and _Daniel_ had their Education in these Parts: +And _Pythagoras_, _Democritus_, and others, travell’d into these Parts +for the Sake of their Learning. + +[s] As we are not to _accuse_ any _falsly_; so far be it from me to +detract from so great a Man as _Monsieur Cartes_ was: Whose Principles, +although many have perverted to atheistical Purposes, and whose Notions +have, some of them, but an ill Aspect; yet I am unwilling to believe +he was an Atheist; since in his _Principia Philosiphiæ_, and other +of his Works, he vindicates himself from this Charge; and frequently +shews seemingly a great Respect for Religion: Besides, That many of +his suspicious Opinions are capable of a favourable Interpretation, +which will make them appear in a better Form: Thus when he discardeth +_final Causes_ from his Philosophy, it is not a Denial of them; but only +excluding the Consideration of them, for the Sake of free philosophising; +it being the Business of a Divine, rather than a Philosopher, to treat of +them. + +[t] For Ages of _Learning_ and _Ignorance_, we may compare the present, +and some of the Ages before the Reformation. The last Century, and the +few Years of this, have had the Happiness to be able to vie with any Age +for the Number of learned Men of all Professions, and the Improvement +made in all Arts and Sciences; too many, and too well known to need a +Specification. + +But for Ignorance, we may take the ninth Age, and so down to the +Reformation; even as low as Queen _Elizabeth_, although Learning +began to flourish; yet we may guess how Matters stood, even among the +Clergy, by her 53 _Injunct._ Nᵒ. 1559, _Such as are but mean Readers, +shall peruse over before, once or twice, the Chapters and Homilies, to +the Intent they may read to the better Understanding of the People, +the more Encouragement of Godliness._ Spar. Collect. p. 82. But this +is nothing, in comparison to the Ages before, when the Monk said, +_Græcum non est legi_; or as _Espencæus_ more elegantly hath it, +_Gracè nôsse suspectum, Hebraicè prope Hæreticum_. Which Suspicion, +(said the learned _Hakewill_,) _Rhemigius_ surely was not guilty of, +in commenting upon _diffamatus_, 1 _Thes._ i. 8. who saith, that St. +_Paul_ somewhat improperly put that for _divulgatus_, not being aware +that St. _Paul_ wrote in _Greek_, and not in _Latin_. Nay, so great was +their Ignorance, not only of _Greek_, but of _Latin_ too, that a Priest +baptiz’d _in nomine Patria, & Filia, & Spiritua sancta_. Another suing +his Parishioners for not paving his Church, prov’d it from _Jer._ xvii. +18. _Paveant illi, non paveam ego_. Some Divines in _Erasmus_’s Time, +undertook to prove Hereticks ought to be burnt, because the Apostle said, +_Hæreticum devita_. Two Fryars disputing about a Plurality of Worlds, one +prov’d it from _Annon decem sunt facti mundi?_ The other reply’d, _Sed +ubi sunt novem?_ And notwithstanding their Service was read in _Latin_, +yet so little was that understood, that an old Priest in _Hen._ VIII. +read _Mumpsimus Domine_, for _Sumpsimus_: And being admonish’d of it, +he said, he had done so for thirty Years, and would not leave his old +_Mumpsimus_ for their new _Sumpsimus_. Vid. _Hakew. Apol._ L. 3. c. 7. +_Sect. 2._ + +[u] _There is (it seems) in Wits and Arts, as in all Things beside, a +kind of circular Progress: They have their Birth, their Growth, their +Flourishing, their Failing, their Fading; and within a while after, +their Resurrection, and Reflourishing again. The Arts flourished for a +long Time among the ~Persians~, the ~Chaldæans~, the ~Ægyptians~.——But +afterwards the ~Grecians~ got the start of them, ~and are now become as +barbarous themselves, as formerly they esteemed all besides themselves +to be~._ About the Birth of _Christ_, Learning began to flourish in +_Italy_, and spread all over _Christendom_; till the _Goths_, _Huns_, and +_Vandals_ ransacked the Libraries, and defaced almost all the Monuments +of Antiquity: so that the Lamp of Learning seemed to be put out for near +the Space of 1000 Years, till the first _Mansor_, king of _Africa_ and +_Spain_, raised up, and spurred forward the _Arabian_ Wits, by great +Rewards and Encouragement. Afterwards _Petrarch_ opened such Libraries as +were undemolished. He was seconded by _Boccace_, and _John_ of _Ravenna_, +and soon after by _Aretine_, _Philelphus_, _Valla_, &c. And those were +followed by _Æneas Sylvius_, _Angelus Politianus_, _Hermolaus Barbarus_, +_Marsilius Ficinus_, and _Joh. Picus_, of _Mirandula_. These were backed +by _Rud. Agricola_, _Reucline_, _Melancthon_, _Joach. Camerarius_, +_Wolphlazius_, _Beat. Rhenanus_, Almaines; By _Erasmus_ of _Rotterdam_; +_Vives_ a _Spaniard_; _Bembus_, _Sadoletus_, _Eugubinus_, Italians: +_Turnebus_, _Muretus_, _Ramus_, _Pithæus_, _Budæus_, _Amiot_, _Scaliger_, +Frenchmen; Sir _Tho. More_ and _Linaker_, Englishmen. And about this +Time, even those Northern Nations yielded their great Men; _Denmark_ +yielded _Olaus Magnus_, _Holster_, _Tycho Brahe_, and _Hemingius_; and +_Poland_, _Hosius_, _Frixius_, and _Crumerus_. But to name the Worthies +that followed these, down to the present Time, would be endless, and next +to impossible. See therefore _Hakewill_’s _Apolog._ L. 3. c. 6. §. 2. + +[w] Dr. _Gilbert_, the most learned and accurate Writer on the _Magnet_, +shews, that its _Attractive_ Virtue was known as early as _Plato_ and +_Aristotle_: but its _Direction_ was a Discovery of later Ages. He saith, +_Superiori ævo 300 aut 400 labentibus annis, Motus Magneticus in Boream +& Austrum repertus, aut ab hominibus rursus recognitus fuit._ De Mag. +L. 1. c. 1. But who the happy Inventer of this lucky Discovery was, +is not known. There is some, not inconsiderable, Reason, to think our +famous Country-man, _Rog. Bacon_, either discovered, or at least knew +of it. But for its Use in Navigation, Dr. _Gilbert_ saith, _in regno +Neapolitano Melphitani omnium primi (utì ferunt) pyxidem instruebant +nauticam.——edocti à cive quodam Jol. Goia_ A. D. 1300. ibid. If the +Reader hath a mind to see the Arguments for the Invention, being as old +as _Solomon_’s or _Plautus_’s Time, or of much younger Date, he may +consult _Hakewill._ ib. c. 10. §. 4. or _Purchas Pilgr._ L. 1. c. 1. §. 1. + +As to the Magnetick Variation, Dr. _Gilbert_ attributes the Discovery +of it to _Sebastian Cabott_. And the Inclination, or Dipping of the +Needle, was the Discovery of our ingenious _Rob. Norman_. And lastly, The +Variation of the Variation was first found out by the ingenious Mr. _H. +Gellibrand_. Astr. Prof. of _Gresham-Col._ about 1634. _Vid._ _Gellibr. +Disc. Math. on the Variat. of the Mag. Need. and its Variat._ Anno 1635. + +But since that, the before commended Dr. _Halley_, having formerly, in +_Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 148, and 195, given a probable Hypothesis of the +Variation of the Compass, did in the Year 1700, undertake a long and +hazardous Voyage, as far as the Ice near the South Pole, in order to +examine his said Hypothesis, and to make a System of the Magnetical +Variations: Which being soon after published, has been since abundantly +confirmed by the _French_, as may be seen in several of the late _Memoirs +de Physique & de Mathematique_, publish’d by the French _Academie des +Sciences_. + +To these Discoveries, I hope the Reader will excuse me, if I add one of +my own, which I deduced some Years ago, from some magnetical Experiments +and Observations I made; which Discovery I also acquainted our Royal +Society with some time since, _viz._ That as the common, horizontal +Needle is continually varying up and down, towards the E. and W. so +is the Dipping-Needle varying up and down, towards or fromwards the +Zenith, with its Magnetick Tendency, describing a Circle round the Pole +of the World, as I conceive, or some other Point. So that if we could +procure a Needle so nicely made, as to point exactly according to its +Magnetick Direction, it would, in some certain Number of Years, describe +a Circle, of about 13 _gr._ Radius round the Magnetick Poles Northerly +and Southerly. This I have for several Years suspected, and have had +some Reason for it too, which I mentioned three or four Years ago at a +Meeting of our Royal Society, but I have not yet been so happy to procure +a tolerable good Dipping-Needle, or other proper one to my Mind, to bring +the Thing to sufficient Test of Experience; as in a short Time I hope to +do, having lately hit upon a Contrivance that may do the Thing. + +[x] It is uncertain who was the Inventer of the Art of _Printing_, every +Historian ascribing the Honour thereof to his own City or Country. +Accordingly some ascribe the Invention of it to _John Guttenburg_, a +_Knight_ of _Argentine_, about 1440, and say, that _Faustus_ was only +his Assistant. _Bertius_ ascribes it to _Laurence John_, of _Harlem_, +and saith, _Fust_ or _Faust_, stole from him both his Art and Tools. +And to name no more, some attribute it to _John Fust_ or _Faust_, and +_Peter Schoeffer_ (called by _Fust_ in some of his _Imprimaturs_, _Pet. +de Gerneshem puer meus_.) But there is now to be seen at _Haerlem_, a +Book or two printed by _Lau. Kofter_, before any of these, _viz._ in +1430, and 1432. (_See Mr. ~Ellis~’s Letter to Dr. ~Tyson~_, in _Phil. +Trans._ Nᵒ. 286.) But be the first Inventer who it will, there is however +great Reason to believe, the Art receiv’d great improvements from +_Faust_ and his Son-in-Law _Schoeffer_, the latter being the Inventer of +metalline Types, which were cut in Wood before, first in whole Blocks, +and afterwards in single Types or Letters. See my learned Friend Mr. +_Wanley_’s Observations, in _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 288, and 310. + +[y] Concerning the Antiquity and Invention of _Clocks_ and _Clock Work_, +I refer the Reader to a little Book, called _the Artificial Clock-maker_, +chap. 6. Where there is some Account of the Ancients Inventions in +Clock-Work, as _Archimedes_’s _Sphere_, _Cresibius_’s _Clock_, _&c._ + +[z] The Invention of _Telescopes_, _Hieron. Syrturus_ gives this +Account of, _Prodiit_ Anno 1609, _Seu Genius, seu alter vir adhuc +incognitus, Hollandi specie, qui Middelburgi in Zelandiâ convenit Job. +Lippersein——Jussit perspicilla plura tam cava quam convexa, confeci. +Condicto die rediit, absolutum opus cupiens, atque ut statim habuit +præ manibus, bina suscipiens, cavum scil. & convexum, unum & alterum +oculo admovebat, & sensim dimovebat sive ut punctum concursûs, sive ut +artificis opus probaret, postea abiit. Artifex, ingenii minimè expers, & +novitatis curiosus cœpit idem facere & imitari, ~&c.~_ Vid. Mus. Worm. L. +4. c. 7. + +[aa] Among the curious Inventions of the Ancients _Archytas_’s _Dove_ +was much famed; of which _Aul. Gellius_ gives this Account: _Scripserunt +Simulachrum Columbæ è ligno ab Archytâ ratione quâdam disciplinâque +mechanicâ factum, volâsse: Ita erat scilicet libramentis suspensum, & +aurâ spiritûs inclusâ atque occultâ concitum._ Noct. Attic. L. 10. c. 12. +The same eminent _Pythagoræan_ Philosopher (as _Favorinus_ in _Gellius_ +calls him) is by _Horace_ accounted a noble Geometrician too, _Te maris +& terræ, numeroque carentis arenæ Mensorum Archyta._ Among the rest of +his Inventions, _Children’s Rattles_ are ascribed to him. _Aristotle_ +calls them Ἀρχύτου πλαταγὴ, _Polit._ 8. i.e. _Archytas_’s _Rattle_. And +_Diogenianus_ the Grammarian, gives the Reason of his Invention, Ἀρχύτου +πλαταγὴ ἐπὶ τῶν, &c. _That ~Archytas’s Rattle~ was to quiet Children; for +he having Children, contrived the Rattle, which he gave them to prevent +their [tumbling, διασαλεύσωσι] other Things about the House._ + +To these Contrivances of _Archytas_, we may add _Regiomontanus’s Wooden +Eagle, which flew forth of the City aloft in the Air, met the Emperor a +good Way off, coming towards it, and having saluted him, return’d again, +waiting on him to the City Gates_. Also his _Iron-fly_, which at a Feast +_flew forth off his Hands, and taking a Round, returned thither again_. +Vid. Hakewill ub. supr. c. 10. §. 1. + +As to other Inventions of the Ancients, such as of Letters, Brick and +Tiles, and building Houses, with the Saw, Rule, and Plumber, the Lath, +Augre, Glue, _&c._ also the making Brass, Gold, and other Metals; the +use of Shields, Swords, Bows and Arrows, Boots, and other Instruments of +War; the Pipe, Harp, and other Musical Instruments; the building of Ships +and Navigation, and many other Things besides; the Inventors of these +(as reported by ancient Heathen Authors) may be plentifully met with in +_Plin. Nat. Hist._, L. 7. c. 56. + +But in this Account of _Pliny_, we may observe whence the Ancients (even +the _Romans_ themselves in some measure) had their Accounts of these +Matters, _viz._ from the fabulous _Greeks_, who were fond of ascribing +every Thing to themselves. _The Truth is_ (saith the most learned Bishop +_Stillingfleet_) _there is nothing in the World useful or beneficial +to Mankind, but they have made a shift to find the Author of it among +themselves. If we enquire after the Original of Agriculture, we are +told of ~Ceres~ and ~Triptolemus~; if of Pasturage, we are told of an +~Arcadian Pan~; if of Wine, we presently hear of a ~Liber Pater~; if +of iron Instruments, then who but ~Vulcan~? if of Musick, none like to +~Apollo~. If we press them then with the History of other Nations, they +are as well provided here; if we enquire an Account of ~Europe~, ~Asia~, +or ~Libya~; for the first we are told a fine Story of ~Cadmus~’s Sister; +for the second of ~Prometheus~’s Mother of that Name; and for the third +of a Daughter of ~Epaphus~._ And so the learned Author goes on with other +particular Nations, which they boasted themselves to be the Founders of. +_Only the grave ~Athenians~ thought Scorn to have any Father assigned +them, their only Ambition was to be accounted ~Aborigines & genuini +Terræ~._ But the Ignorance and Vanity of the _Greek_ History, that +learned Author hath sufficiently refuted. _Vid._ _Stilling. Orig. Sacr._ +Part. 1. B. 1. c. 4. + +[bb] Whether _Printing_ was invented in 1440, as many imagine, or was +sooner practised, in 1430, or 1432, as Mr. _Ellis_’s Account of the +_Dutch_ Inscription in _Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 286. doth import; it is however +manifest, how great an Influence (as it was natural) this Invention had +in the promoting of Learning soon afterwards, mentioned before in _Note +(x)._ After which followed the Reformation about the Year 1517. + +[cc] The _Chinese_ being much addicted to Judicial Astrology, are great +Observers of the Heavens, and the Appearances in them. For which Purpose +they have an _Observatory_ at _Pekin_, and five Mathematicians appointed +to watch every Night; four towards the four Quarters of the World, and +one towards the Zenith, that nothing may escape their Observation. +Which Observations are the next Morning brought to an Office to be +registred. But notwithstanding this their Diligence for many Ages, and +that the Emperor hath kept in his Service above 100 Persons to regulate +the Kalendar, yet are they such mean Astronomers, that they owe the +Regulation of their Kalendar, the Exactness in calculating Eclipses, +_&c._ to the _Europeans_; which renders the _European_ Mathematicians so +acceptable to the Emperor, that Father _Verbiest_ and divers others, were +not only made Principals in the Observatory, but put into Places of great +Trust in the Empire, and had the greatest Honours paid them at their +Deaths. _Vid._ _La Comte Mem. of China._ Letter 2d. _&c._ + +[dd] 1 Tim. iv. 14. 2 Tim. i. 6. + +[ee] Bishop _Patrick_ in loc. + + + + +CHAP. II. + +_Of Man’s BODY, particularly its POSTURE._ + + +Having thus, as briefly as well I could, surveyed the _Soul_, let us next +take a View of _Man’s Body_. Now here we have such a Multiplicity of +the most exquisite Workmanship, and of the best Contrivance, that if we +should strictly survey the Body from Head to Foot, and search only into +the known Parts (and many more lie undiscovered) we should find too large +and tedious a Task to be dispatched. I shall therefore have Time only to +take a transient and general Kind of View of this admirable Machine, and +that somewhat briefly too, being prevented by others, particularly two +excellent Authors of our own[a], who have done it on the same Account as +my self. And the + +I. Thing that presents itself to our View, is the _Erect Posture_[b] of +Man’s Body; which is far the most, if not the only commodious Posture for +a rational Creature, for him that hath Dominion over the other Creatures, +for one that can invent useful Things, and practise curious Arts. For +without this erect Posture, he could not have readily turned himself to +every Business, and on every Occasion. His Hand[c] particularly could +not have been in so great a Readiness to execute the Commands of the +Will, and Dictates of the Soul. His Eyes would have been the most prone, +and incommodiously situated of all Animals; but by this Situation, he +can cast his Eyes upwards, downwards, and round about him; he hath a +glorious Hemisphere of the Heavens[d], and an ample Horizon on Earth[e], +to entertain his Eye. + +And as this Erection of Man’s Body is the most compleat Posture for +him; so if we survey the Provision made for it, we find all done with +manifest Design, the utmost Art and Skill being employ’d therein. To pass +by the particular Conformation of many of the Parts, the Ligaments and +Fastnings to answer this Posture; as the Fastning, for Instance, of the +_Pericardium_ to the _Diaphragm_, (which is peculiar to Man[f]; I say, +passing by a deal of this Nature, manifesting this Posture to be an Act +of Design,) let us stop a little at the curious Fabrick of the Bones, +those Pillars of the Body. And how artificially do we find them made, +how curiously plac’d from the Head to Foot! The _Vertebræ_ of the Neck +and Back-bone[g], made short and complanated, and firmly braced with +Muscles and Tendons, for easy Incurvations of the Body; but withal for +greater Strength, to support the Body’s own Weight, together with other +additional Weights it may have Occasion to bear. The _Thigh-bones_ and +Legs long, and strong, and every Way well fitted for the Motion of the +Body. The _Feet_ accommodated with a great Number of Bones, curiously +and firmly tack’d together, to which must be added the Ministry of the +Muscles[h], to answer all the Motions of the Legs and Thighs, and at the +same Time to keep the Body upright, and prevent its falling, by readily +assisting against every Vacillation thereof, and with easy and ready +Touches keeping the _Line of Innixion_, and _Center of Gravity_ in due +Place and Posture[i]. + +And as the Bones are admirably adapted to prop; so all the Parts of the +Body are as incomparably plac’d to poise it. Not one Side too heavy for +the other; but all in nice Æquipoise: The Shoulders, Arms, and Side +æquilibrated on one Part; on the other Part the _Viscera_ of the Belly +counterpois’d with the Weight of the scapular Part, and that useful +Cushion of Flesh behind. + +And lastly, To all this we may add the wonderful Concurrence, and +Ministry of the prodigious Number and Variety of Muscles, plac’d +throughout the Body for this Service; that they should so readily answer +to every Posture; and comply with every Motion thereof, without any +previous Thought or Reflex act, so that (as the excellent _Borelli_[k] +saith), “It is worthy of Admiration, that in so great a Variety of +Motions, as running, leaping, and dancing, Nature’s Laws of Æquilibration +should always be observed; and when neglected, or wilfully transgressed, +that the Body must necessarily and immediately tumble down.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Mr. ~Ray~ in his Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of Creation_, +Part 2. and _Dr. ~Cockburn~’s Essays on Faith_, Part 1. Essay 5. + +[b] _Ad hanc providentiam Naturæ tam diligentera ~[of which he had +been before speaking]~ tamque solertem adjungi multa possunt, è quibus +intelligatur, quantæ res hominibus à Deo, quamque eximiæ tributæ sunt: +qui primùm eos humo excitaros, celsos & erectos constituit, ut Deorum +cognitionem, cœlum intuentes, capere possunt. Sunt enim è terra homines +non ut incolæ, atque habitatores, sed quasi spectatores superarum rerum, +atque cœlestium, quarum spectaculum ad nullum aliud genus animantium +pertinet._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. L. 2. c. 56. + +[c] _Ut autem sapientissimum animalium est Homo, sic & Manus sunt organa +sapienti animali convenientia. Non enim quia Manus habuit, propterea est +sapientissimum, ut Anaxagoras dicebat; sed quia sapientissimum erat, +propter hoc Manus habuit, ut rectissimè censuit Aristoteles. Non enim +Manus ipse hominem artes docuerunt, sed Ratio. Manus autem ipsa sunt +artium organa, ~&c.~_ Galen. de Us. Part. L. 1. c. 3. After which, in +the rest of this first Book, and part of the second, he considers the +Particulars of the _Hand_, in order to enquire, as he saith, ch. 5. _Num +eam omnino Constitutionem habeas ~[manus]~ quâ meliorem aliam habere non +potuit._ + +Of this Part, (and indeed of the other Parts of human Bodies) he gives +so good an Account, that I confess I could not but admire the Skill +of that ingenious and famed Heathen. For an Example, (because it is a +little out of the Way,) I shall pitch upon his Account of the different +Length of the Fingers, _L. 1. 2. 24._ The Reason of this Mechanism, he +saith, is, That the Tops of the Fingers may come to an Equality, _cùm +magnas aliquas moles in circuitu comprehendunt, & cùm in seipsis humidum +vel parvum corpus continere conantur.——Apparent verò in unam circuli +circumferentiam convenire Digiti quinque in actionibus hujusmodi maximè +quando exquisitè sphæricum corpus comprehendunt._ And this Evenness of +the Fingers Ends, in grasping sphærical, and other round Bodies, he truly +enough saith, makes the Hold the firmer. And it seems a noble and pious +Design he had in so strictly surveying the Parts of Man’s Body, which +take in his own translated Words, _Cùm multa namque esset apud veteres, +tam Medicos, quàm Philosophos de utilitate particularum dissensio (quidam +enim corpora nostra nullius gratiâ esse facta existimant, nullâque omnino +arte; alii autem & alicujus gratiâ, & artificiosè,——) primum quidem tantæ +hujus dissensionis κριτήριον invenire studui: deinde verò & unam aliquam +universalem methodum constituere, quâ singularum partium corporis, & +eorum quæ illis accidunt utilitatem invenire possemus._ Ibid. cap. 8. + +[d] + + _Pronaque cum spectant animalia cætera terram,_ + _Os Homini sublime dedit, cœlumque tueri_ + _Jussit, & erectos ad sidera tollere vultus._ + + Ovid. Metam. L. 1. car. 84. + +[e] If any should be so curious, to desire to know how far a Man’s +Prospect reacheth, by Means of the Height of his Eye, supposing the Earth +was an uninterrupted Globe; the Method is a common Case of right-angled +plain Triangles, where two Sides, and an opposite Angle are given: Thus +in Fig. 4. _A H B_ is the Surface, or a great Circle of the terraqueous +Globe; _C_ the Center, _H C_ its Semidiameter, _E_ the _Height_ of the +Eye; and foreasmuch as _H E_ is a Tangent, therefore the Angle at _H_ is +a right Angle: So that there are given _H C_ 398,386 Miles, or 21034781 +_English_ Feet, (according to _Book II. Chap. 2. Note (a)_;) _C E_ the +same Length with the Height of the Eye, on the Mast of a Ship, or at only +a Man’s Height, _&c._ added to it; and _E H C_ the opposite right Angle. +By which three Parts given, it is easy to find all the other Parts of +the Triangle. And first, the Angle at _C_, in order to find the Side _H +E_, the Proportion is, As the Side _C E_, to the Angle at _H_; so the +Side _H C_, to the Angle at _E_, which being substracted out of 90 _gr._ +the Remainder is the Angle at _C_. And then, As the Angle at _E_, is to +its opposite Side _H C_, or else as the Angle at _H_ is to its opposite +Side _C E_; so the Angle at _C_, to its opposite Side _E H_, the visible +Horizon. Or the Labour may be shortned, by adding together the Logarithm +of the Sum of the two given Sides, and the Logarithm of their Difference; +the half of which two Logarithms, is the Logarithm of the Side requir’d, +nearly. For an Example, We will take the two Sides in Yards, by Reason +scarce any Table of Logarithms will serve us farther. The Semidiameter of +the Earth is 7011594 Yards; the Height of the Eye is two Yards more, the +Sum of both Sides, is 14023190. + + Logar. of which Sum is, 7,1468468 + Logar. of two Yards (the Differ.) is, 0,3010300 + --------- + Sum of both Logar. 7,4478768 + --------- + The half Sum, 3,7239384 + +is the Logar. of 5296 Yards = three Miles, which is the Length of the +Line _E H_, or Distance the Eye can reach at six Feet Height. + +This would be the Distance, on a perfect Globe, did the visual Rays come +to the Eye in a strait Line; but by Means of the Refractions of the +Atmosphere, distant Objects on the Horizon, appear higher than really +they are, and may be seen at a greater Distance, especially on the +Sea; which is a Matter of great Use, especially to discover at Sea the +Land, Rocks, _&c._ and it is a great Act of the divine Providence, in +the Contrivance and Convenience of the Atmosphere, which by this Means +enlargeth the visible Horizon, and is all one, as if the terraqueous +Globe was much larger than really it is. As to the Height of the Apparent +above the true Level, or how much distant Objects are rais’d by the +Refractions, the ingenious and accurate Gentlemen of the _French Academy +Royal_, have given us a Table in their _Measure of the Earth_, Art. 12. + +[f] See _Book VI. Chap. 5. Note (g)._ + +[g] See _Book IV. Chap. 8. Note (c)._ + +[h] The Mechanism of the Foot, would appear to be wonderful, if I should +descend to a Description of all its Parts; but that would be too long +for these Notes; therefore a brief Account, (most of which I owe to +the before-commended Mr. _Cheselden_,) may serve for a Sample: In the +first Place, It is necessary the Foot should be concave, to enable us +to stand firm, and that the Nerves and Blood-Vessels may be free from +Compression when we stand or walk. In order hereunto, the long _Flexors_ +of the Toes cross one another at the Bottom of the Foot, in the Form of a +St. _Andrew_’s Cross, to incline the lesser Toes towards the great One, +and the great One towards the lesser. The _short Flexors_ are chiefly +concern’d in drawing the Toes towards the Heel. The _transversalis Pedis_ +draws the Outsides of the Foot towards each other; and by being inserted +into one of the _sesamoid_ Bones, of the great Toe, diverts the Power +of the _abductor Muscle_, (falsly so call’d,) and makes it become a +_Flexor_. And lastly, the _peronæus Longus_ runs round the outer Ankle, +and obliquely forwards cross the Bottom of the Foot, and at once helps +to extend the _Tarsus_, to constrict the Foot, and to direct the Power +of the other _Extensors_ towards the Ball of the great Toe: Hence the +Loss of the _great Toe_, is more than of all the other Toes. See also Mr. +_Cowper_’s _Anat._ Tab. 28. _&c._ + +[i] It is very well worth while to compare here what _Borelli_ saith, _de +motu Animal._ Par. 1. cap. 18. _De statione Animal._ Prop. 132, _&c._ To +which I refer the Reader, it being too long to recite here. + +[k] Borel. ibid. Prop. 142. + + + + +CHAP. III. + +_Of the FIGURE and SHAPE of Man’s BODY._ + + +The Figure and Shape of Man’s Body, is the most commodious that could +possibly be invented for such an Animal; the most agreeable to his +Motion, to his Labours, and all his Occasions. For had he been a rational +Reptile, he could not have moved from Place to Place fast enough for +his Business, nor indeed have done any almost. Had he been a rational +Quadrupede, among other Things, he had lost the Benefit of his Hands, +those noble Instruments of the most useful Performances of the Body. +Had he been made a Bird, besides many other great Incoveniencies, those +before-mentioned of his Flying would have been some. In a word, any other +Shape of Body, but that which the All-wise Creator hath given Man, would +have been as incommodious, as any Posture but that of erect; it would +have rendered him more helpless, or have put it in his Power to have been +more pernicious, or deprived him of Ten thousand Benefits, or Pleasures, +or Conveniences, which his present Figure capacitates him for. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +_Of the STATURE and SIZE of Man’s BODY._ + + +As in the Figure, so in the Stature and Size of Man’s Body, we have +another manifest Indication of excellent Design. Not too Pygmean[a], +nor too Gigantick[b], either of which Sizes would in some particular +or other, have been incommodious to Himself, or to his Business, or +to the rest of his Fellow-Creatures. Too Pygmean would have rendered +him too puny a Lord of the Creation; too impotent and unfit to manage +the inferiour Creatures, would have exposed him to the Assaults of the +weakest Animals, to the ravening Appetite of voracious Birds, and have +put him in the Way, and endangered his being trodden in the Dirt by the +larger Animals. He would have been also too weak for his Business, unable +to carry Burdens, and in a word, to transact the greater part of his +Labours and Concerns. + +And on the other hand, had Man’s Body been made too monstrously strong, +too enormously Gigantick[c], it would have rendered him a dangerous +Tyrant in the World, too strong[d] in some Respects, even for his own +Kind, as well as the other Creatures. Locks and Doors might perhaps +have been made of sufficient Strength to have barricaded our Houses; and +Walls, and Ramparts might perhaps have been made strong enough to have +fenced our Cities. But these Things could not have been without a great +and inconvenient Expence of Room, Materials, and such Necessaries, as +such vast Structures and Uses would have occasioned; more perhaps than +the World could have afforded to all Ages and Places. But let us take the +Descant of a good Naturalist and Physician on the Case[e]. “Had Man been +a Dwarf (said he) he had scarce been a reasonable Creature. For he must +then have had a Jolt Head; so there would not have been Body and Blood +enough to supply his Brain with Spirits; or he must have had a small +Head, answerable to his Body, and so there would not have been Brain +enough for his Business—Or had the Species of Mankind been Gigantick, he +could not have been so commodiously supplied with Food. For there would +not have been Flesh enough of the best edible Beasts, to serve his Turn. +And if Beasts had been made answerably bigger, there would not have been +Grass enough.” And so he goeth on. And a little after, “There would not +have been the same Use and Discovery of his Reason; in that he would have +done many Things by mere Strength, for which he is now put to invent +innumerable Engines—. Neither could he have used an Horse, nor divers +other Creatures. But being of a middle Bulk, he is fitted to manage and +use them all. For (saith he) no other cause can be aligned why a Man was +not made five or ten Times bigger, but his Relation to the rest of the +Universe.” Thus far our curious Author. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] What is here urged about the Size of Man’s Body, may answer one of +_Lucretius_’s Reasons why _Nil ex nihilo gignitur_. His Argument is + + _Denique cur Homines ramos natura parare_ + _Non potuit, pedibus qui pontum per vada possent_ + _Transire, & magnos manibus divellere monteis?_ + + Lucret. _L. 1. Carm. 200._ + +[b] _Haud facile fit ut quisquam & ingentes corporis vires, & ingenium +subtile habeat._ Diodor. Sic. L. 17. + +[c] Altho’ we read of _Giants_ before _Noah_’s Flood, _Gen._ vi. 4. and +more plainly afterwards in _Numb._ xiii. 33. Yet there is great Reason to +think the Size of Man was always the same from the Creation. For as to +the _Nephilim_ or _Giants_, in _Gen._ vi. the Ancients vary about them; +some taking them for great Atheists, and Monsters of Impiety, Rapine, +Tyranny, and all Wickedness, as well as of monstrous Stature, according +as indeed the _Hebrew_ Signification allows. + +And as for the _Nephilim_ in _Numb._ xiii. which were evidently Men of +a Gigantick Size, it must be considered, that it is very probable, the +Fears and Discontentments of the Spies might add somewhat thereunto. + +But be the Matter as it will, it is very manifest, that in both these +Places, _Giants_ are spoken of as Rarities, and Wonders of the Age, +not of the common Stature. And such Instances we have had in all +Ages; excepting some fabulous Relations; such as I take to be that of +_Theutobotchus_, who is said to have been dug up, _Anno_ 1613, and to +have been higher than the Trophies, and 26 Feet long; and no better I +suppose the Giants to have been, that _Ol. Magnus_ gives an Account +of in his 5ᵗʰ Book, such as _Harthen_, and _Starchater_, among the +Men; and among the Women, _reperta est_ (saith he) _puella——in capite +vulnerata, ac mortua, induta chlamyde purpureâ, longitudinis cubitorum +50, latitudinis inter humeros quatuor._ Ol. Mag. Hist. L. 5. c. 2. + +But as for the more credible Relations of _Goliath_ (_whose height was 6 +Cubits and a Span_, 1 Sam. xvii. 4. which according to the late curious +and learned _Lord Bishop of ~Peterborough~_ is somewhat above 11 Feet +_English_, _vid._ Bishop _Cumberland of Jewish Weights and Measures_) of +_Maximinus_ the Emperor, who was 9 Feet high, and others in _Augustus_, +and other Reigns, of about the same Height: To which we may add the +Dimensions of a _Skeleton_, dug up lately in the Place of a _Roman_ Camp +near St. _Albans_, by an Urn inscribed, _Marcus Antoninus_; of which an +Account is given by Mr. _Cheselden_, who judgeth by the Dimensions of the +Bones, that the Person was 8 Foot high, _vid._ _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 333. +These antique Examples and Relations, I say, we can match, yea, out-do, +with modern Examples; of which we have divers in _J. Ludolph. Comment. in +Hist. Æthiop._ L. 1. c. 2. §. 22. _Magus_, _Conringius_, Dr. _Hakewill_, +and others. Which later relates from _Nannez_, of Porters and Archers +belonging to the Emperor of _China_, of 15 Feet high; and others from +_Purchas_, of 10 and 12 Feet high, and more. See the learned Author’s +_Apolog._ p. 208. + +These indeed exceed what I have seen in _England_; but in 1684, I my self +measur’d an _Irish_ Youth, said to be not 19 Years old, who was 7 Feet +near 8 Inches, and in 1697, a Woman who was 7 Feet 3 inches in Height. + +But for the ordinary size of Mankind, in all Probability, it was always +(as I said) the same, as may appear from the Monuments, Mummies, and +other ancient Evidences to be seen at this Day. The most ancient Monument +at this Day, I presume is that of _Cheops_, in the first and fairest +Pyramid of _Ægypt_; which was, no doubt, made of Capacity every Way +sufficient to hold the Body of so great a Person as was intended to be +laid up in it. But this we find by the nice Measures of our curious Mr. +_Greaves_, hardly to exceed our common Coffins. _The hollow Part within_ +(saith he) _is in Length ~only~ 6,488 Feet, ~and~ in Breadth ~but~ 2,218 +Feet: The Depth 2,860 Feet. A narrow space, yet large enough to contain a +most potent and dreadful Monarch, being dead; to whom living, all ~Ægypt~ +was too streight and narrow a Circuit. By these Dimensions, and by such +other Observations, as have been taken by me from several embalmed Bodies +in ~Ægypt~, we may conclude there is no decay in Nature (though the +Question is as old as ~Homer~) but that the Men of this Age are of the +same Stature they were near 3000 Years ago_, vid. _Greaves_ of the Pyr. +in 1638, in Ray’s Collect. of _Trav._ Tom. 1. pag. 118. + +To this more ancient, we may add others of a later Date. Of which take +these, among others, from the curious and learned _Hakewill_. The Tombs +at _Pisa_, that are some thousand Years old, are not longer than ours; so +is _Athelstane_’s in _Malmesbury_-Church; so _Sehba_’s in St. _Paul_’s, +of the Year 693; so _Etheldred_’s, &c. Apol. 216, _&c._ + +The same Evidence we have also from the Armour, Shields, Vessels, and +other Utensils dug up at this Day. The Brass Helmet dug up at _Metaurum_, +which was not doubted to have been left there at the _Overthrow of +Asdrubal_, will fit one of our Men at this Day. + +Nay, besides all this, probably we have some more certain Evidence. +_Augustus_ was 5 Foot 9 Inches high, which was the just Measure of our +famous Queen _Elizabeth_, who exceeded his Height 2 Inches, if proper +Allowance be made for the Difference between the _Roman_ and our Foot. +_Vid._ _Hakew. ib. p. 215._ + +[d] To the Stature of Men in the foregoing Note, we may add some Remarks +about their unusual _Strength_. That of _Sampson_ (who is not said to +have exceeded other Men in Stature as he did in Strength) is well known. +So of old, _Hector_, _Diomedes_, _Hercules_, and _Ajax_ are famed; and +since them many others; for which I shall seek no farther than the +before commended _Hakewill_, who by his great and curious Learning, hath +often most of the Examples that are to be met with on all his Subjects +he undertakes. Of the After-Ages he names _C. Marius_, _Maximinus_, +_Aurelian_, _Scanderberge_, _Bardesin_, _Tamerlane_, _Siska_, and +_Hunniades_. Anno 1529, _Klunher_, Provost of the great Church at +_Misnia_, carry’d a Pipe of Wine out of the Cellar, and laid it in the +Cart. _Mayolus_ saw one hold a Marble Pillar in his Hand 3 Foot long, and +1 Foot diameter, which he toss’d up in the Air, and catched again, as if +it were a Ball. Another of _Mantua_, and a little Man, named _Rodamas_, +could break a Cable, _&c._ _Ernando Burg_, fetched up Stairs an Ass laden +with Wood, and threw both into the Fire. At _Constantinople_, _Anno +1582_, one lifted a Piece of Wood, that twelve Men could scarce raise: +then lying along, he bare a Stone that ten Men could but just roll to +him. _G._ of _Fronsberge_, Baron _Mindlehaim_, could raise a Man off his +Seat, with only his middle Finger; stop an Horse in his full Career; and +shove a Cannon out of its Place. _Cardan_ saw a Man dance with two Men in +his Arms, two on his Shoulders, and one on his Neck. _Patacoua_, Captain +of the _Cossacks_, could tear an Horse-Shoe (and if I mistake not, the +same is reported of the present King _Augustus_ of _Poland_.) A Gigantick +Woman of the _Netherlands_ could lift a Barrel of _Hamburgh_ Beer. Mr. +_Carew_ had a Tenant that could carry a But’s Length, 6 Bushel of Wheaten +Meal (of 15 Gallon Measure) with the Lubber, the Miller of 24 Years of +Age, on the top of it. And _J. Roman_ of the same County, could carry the +Carcass of an Ox. Vid. _Hakewill_, ib. p. 238. + +_Viros aliquot moderna memoria tam à mineralibus, quàm aliis Seuthia +& Gothia provinciis adducere congruis, tantâ fortitudine præditos, ut +quisque eorum in humeros sublevatum Equum, vel Bovem maximum, imò vas +ferri 600, 800, aut 1000 librarum (quale & alique Puellæ levare possunt) +ad plura stadia portaret._ Ol. Mag. ubi supr. + +[e] Grew’s _Cosmol. Sacr._ B. 1. ch. 5. §. 25. + + + + +CHAP. V. + +_Of the STRUCTURE of the PARTS of Man’s Body._ + + +Having thus taken a View of the Posture, Shape, and Size of Man’s Body, +let us in this Chapter survey the Structure of its Parts. But here we +have so large a Prospect, that it would be endless to proceed upon +Particulars. It must suffice therefore to take Notice, in general only, +how artificially every Part of our Body is made. No Botch, no Blunder, +no unnecessary _Apparatus_ (or in other Words) no Signs of Chance[a]; +but every Thing curious, orderly, and performed in the shortest and best +Method, and adapted to the most compendious Use. What one Part is there +throughout the whole Body, but what is composed of the fittest Matter +for that Part; made of the most proper Strength and Texture; shaped +in the compleatest Form; and in a word, accouter’d with every Thing +necessary for its Motion, Office, Nourishment, Guard, and what not! +What so commodious a Structure and Texture could have been given to the +Bones, for Instance, to make them firm and strong, and withal light, as +that which every Bone in the Body hath? Who could have shaped them so +nicely to every Use, and adapted them to every Part, made them of such +just Lengths, given them such due Sizes and Shapes, chanelled, hollowed, +headed, lubricated, and every other Thing ministring, in the best and +most compendious manner to their several Places and Uses? What a glorious +Collection and Combination have we also of the most exquisite Workmanship +and Contrivance in the Eye, in the Ear, in the Hand[b], in the Foot[c], +in the Lungs, and other Parts already mention’d? What an Abridgment of +Art, what a Variety of Uses[d], hath Nature laid upon that one Member +of the Tongue, the grand Instrument of Taste, the faithful Judge, the +Centinel, the Watchman of all our Nourishment, the artful Modulator of +our Voice, the necessary Servant of Mastication, Swallowing, Sucking, and +a great deal besides? But I must desist from proceeding upon Particulars, +finding I am fallen upon what I propos’d to avoid. + +And therefore for a Close of this Chapter, I shall only add Part of a +Letter I receiv’d from the before-commended very curious and ingenious +Physician Dr. _Tancred Robinson_, _What_, (saith he,) _can possibly be +better contriv’d for animal Motion and Life, than the quick Circulation +of the Blood and Fluids, which run out of Sight in capillary Vessels, and +very minute Ducts, without Impediment, (except in some Diseases,) being +all directed to their peculiar Glands and Chanels, for the different +Secretion, sensible and insensible; whereof the last is far the greatest +in Quantity and Effects, as to Health and Sickness, acute Distempers +frequently arising from a Diminution of Transpiration, through the +cutaneous Chimneys, and some chronical Ones from an Augmentation: Whereas +Obstructions in the Liver, Pancreas, and other Glands, may only cause a +Schirrus, a Jaundice, an Ague, a Dropsy, or other slow Diseases. So an +Increase of that Secretion may accompany the general Colliquations, as +in Fluxes, hectick Sweats and Coughs, Diabetes, and other Consumptions. +What a mighty Contrivance is there to preserve these due Secretions from +the Blood, (on which Life so much depends,) by frequent Attritions, and +Communications of the Fluids in their Passage through the Heart, the +Lungs, and the whole System of the Muscles? What Mæanders and Contortions +of Vessels, in the Organs of Separation? And, What a Concourse of +elastick Bodies from the Air, to supply the Springs, and continual +Motions of some Parts, not only in Sleep, and Rest; but in long violent +Exercises of the Muscles? Whose Force drive the Fluids round in a +wonderful rapid Circulation through the minutest Tubes, assisted by the +constant Pabulum of the Atmosphere, and their own elastick Fibres, which +impress that Velocity on the Fluids._ + +_Now I have mention’d some Uses of the Air, in carrying on several +Functions in animal Bodies; I may add the Share it hath in all the +Digestions of the solid and fluid Parts. For when this System of Air +comes, by divine Permittance, to be corrupted with poysonous, acrimonious +Steams, either from the Earth, from Merchandise, or infected Bodies, +What Havock is made in all the Operations of living Creatures? The Parts +gangrene, and mortify under Carbuncles, and other Tokens: Indeed, the +whole animal Oeconomy is ruin’d; of such Importance is the Air to all the +parts of it._ Thus my learned Friend. + +[Illustration] + + +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._ + +[b] _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[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 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. + +[Illustration] + + +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] _Galen_ well 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] See _Book 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 in _Cic. +ubi supr._ c. 60. + +[e] See _Book 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 here _Galen_’s Observations _de Us. Part._ L. 11. c. 15. Also +_L. 2. c. 6._ See also _Cowper. 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 the _papillæ Pyramidales_, the _sudoriferous Glands_ +and Vessels, the _Hairs_, &c. + + + + +CHAP. VII. + +_Of the PROVISION in Man’s Body against EVILS._ + + +Having taking a transient View of the Structure, and Lodgment of the +Parts of human Bodies; let us next consider the admirable Provision that +is made throughout Man’s Body, to stave off Evils, and to discharge[a] +them when befallen. For the Prevention of Evils, we may take the +Instances already given, of the Situation of those faithful Sentinels, +the Eye, the Ear, and Tongue, in the superiour Part of the Body, the +better to descry Dangers at a Distance, and to call out presently for +Help. And how well situated is the Hand to be a sure and ready Guard to +the Body, as well as the faithful Performer of most of its Services? +The Brain, the Nerves, the Arteries, the Heart[b], the Lungs; and in a +Word, all the principal Parts, how well are they barricaded, either with +strong Bones, or deep Lodgments in the Flesh, or some such the wisest, +and fittest Method, most agreeable to the Office and Action of the Part? +Besides which, for greater Precaution, and a farther Security, what an +incomparable Provision hath the infinite Contriver of Man’s Body made for +the Loss of, or any Defect in some of the Parts we can least spare, by +doubling them? By giving us two Eyes, two Ears, two Hands, two Kidneys, +two Lobes of the Lungs, Pairs of the Nerves, and many Ramifications of +the Arteries and Veins in the fleshy Parts, that there may not be a +Defect of Nourishment of the Parts, in Cases of Amputation, or Wounds, or +Ruptures of any of the Vessels. + +And as Man’s Body is admirably contriv’d, and made to prevent Evils; so +no less Art and Caution hath been us’d to get rid of them, when they do +happen. When by any Misfortune, Wounds or Hurts do befal; or when by +our own wicked Fooleries and Vices, we pull down Diseases and Mischiefs +upon our selves, what Emunctories[c], what admirable Passages[d], are +dispers’d throughout the Body; what incomparable Methods doth Nature +take[e]; what vigorous Efforts is she enabled to make, to discharge the +peccant Humours, to correct the morbifick Matter; and in a Word, to set +all Things right again? But here we had best take the Advice of a learned +Physician in the Case: “The Body, (saith he,) is so contriv’d, as to be +well enough secur’d against the Mutations in the Air, and the lesser +Errors we daily run upon; did we not in the Excesses of Eating, Drinking, +Thinking, Loving, Hating, or some other Folly, let in the Enemy, or lay +violent Hands upon our selves. Nor is the Body fitted only to prevent; +but also to cure, or mitigate Diseases, when by these Follies brought +upon us. In most Wounds, if kept clean, and from the Air,——the Flesh +will glew together, with its own native Balm. Broken Bones are cemented +with the _Callus_, which themselves help to make”. And so he goes on +with ample Instances in this Matter, too many to be here specify’d[f]. +Among which he instanceth in the Distempers of our Bodies, shewing that +even many of them are highly serviceable to the Discharge of malignant +Humours, and preventing greater Evils. + +And no less kind than admirable is this Contrivance of Man’s Body, +that even its Distempers should many Times be its Cure[g]; that when +the Enemy lies lurking within to destroy us, there should be such a +Reluctancy, and all Nature excited with its utmost Vigour to expel him +thence. To which Purpose, even Pain it self is of great and excellent +Use, not only in giving us Notice of the Presence of the Enemy, but +by exciting us to use our utmost Diligence and Skill to root out so +troublesome and destructive a Companion. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] One of Nature’s most constant Methods here, is by the _Glands_, and +the _Secretions_ made by them; the Particulars of which being too long +for these Notes, I shall refer to the modern Anatomists, who have written +on these Subjects; and indeed, who are the only Men that have done it +tolerably: Particularly, our learned Drs. _Cockburn_, _Keil_, _Morland_, +and others at Home and Abroad: An Abridgment of whose Opinions and +Observations, for the Reader’s Ease, may be met with in Dr. _Harris_’s +_Lex. Tech._ Vol. 2. under the Words _Glands_, and _Animal Secretion_. + +[b] In Man, and most other Animals, the Heart hath the Guard of Bones; +but in the _Lamprey_, which hath no Bones, (no not so much as a +Back-bone,) _the Heart is very strangely secur’d, and lies immur’d, or +capsulated in a Cartilage, or grisly Substance, which includes the Heart, +and its Auricle, as the Skull——doth the Brain in other Animals_. _Powers_ +Micros. Obser. 22. + +[c] _Here ~[from the Pustules he observ’d in Monomotapa]~ were Grounds +to admire the Contrivance of our Blood, which on some Occasions, so +soon as any Thing destructive to the Constitution of it, comes into it, +immediately by an intestine Commotion, endeavoureth to thrust it forth, +and is not only freed from the new Guest; but sometimes what likewise +may have lain lurking therein——for a great while. And from hence it +comes to pass, that most Part of Medicines, when duly administred, are +not only sent out of the body themselves; but likewise great Quantities +of morbifick Matter: As in Salivation_, &c. Dr. _Sloane_’s Voy. to +_Jamaica_, p. 25. + +[d] _Valsalva_ discover’d some Passages into the Region of the +_Ear-drum_, of mighty Use, (among others,) to make Discharges of Bruises, +Imposthumes, or any purulent, or morbifick Matter from the Brain, and +Parts of the Head. Of which he gives two Examples: One, a Person, who +from a Blow on his Head, had dismal Pains therein, grew Speechless, and +lay under an absolute Suppression and Decay of his Strength; but found +certain Relief, whenever he had a Flux of Blood, or purulent Matter out +of his Ear; which after his Death _Valsalva_ discover’d, was through +those Passages. + +The other was an _apoplectical Case_, wherein he found a large Quantity +of extravasated Blood, making Way from the Ventricles of the Brain, +through those same Passages. _Valsal. de Aure hum._ c. 2. §. 14. and c. +5. §. 8. + +[e] _Hippocrates Lib. de Alimentis_, takes notice of the Sagacity of +Nature, in finding out Methods and Passages for the discharging Things +offensive to the Body, of which the late learned and ingenious Bishop +of _Clogher_, in _Ireland_, (_Boyle_,) gave this remarkable Instance, +to my very curious and ingenious Neighbour and Friend, _D’Acre Barret_, +Esq; _viz._ That in the Plague Year, a Gentleman at the University, had +a large Plague Sore gather’d under his Arm, which, when they expected +it would have broken, discharg’d it self by a more than ordinary large +and fœtid Stool; the Sore having no other Vent for it, and immediately +becoming sound and well thereon. + +Like to which, is the Story of _Jos. Lazonius_, of a Soldier of thirty +five Years of Age, who had a Swelling in his right Hip, accompany’d with +great Pain, _&c._ By the Use of emollient Medicines, having ripen’d the +Sore, the Surgeon intended the next Day to have open’d it; but about +Midnight, the Patient having great Provocations to stool, disburthen’d +himself three Times; immediately upon which, both the Tumor and Pain +ceas’d, and thereby disappointed the Surgeon’s Intentions. _Ephem. +Germ._ Anno 1690. Obs. 49. More such Instances we find of Mr. _Tonges_ +in _Philos. Transact._ Nᵒ. 323. But indeed there are so many Examples +of this Nature in our _Phil. Trans._ in the _Ephem. German. Tho. +Bartholine_, _Rhodius_, _Sennertus_, _Hildanus_, &c. that it would be +endless to recount them. Some have swallow’d Knives, Bodkins, Needles +and Pins, Bullets, Pebbles, and twenty other such Things as could not +find a Passage the ordinary Way, but have met with an _Exit_ through the +Bladder, or some other Way of Nature’s own providing. But passing over +many Particulars, I shall only give one instance more, because it may +be a good Caution to some Persons, that these Papers may probably fall +into the Hands of; and that is, The Danger of swallowing _Plum-stones_, +_Prune-stones_, &c. Sir _Francis Butler_’s Lady had many _Prune-stones_ +that made Way through an Abscess near her Navel. _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. +165. where are other such like Examples. More also may be found in Nᵒ. +282, 304, _&c._ And at this Day, a young Man, living not far off me, +laboureth under very troublesome and dangerous Symptoms, from the Stones +of _Sloes_ and _Bullace_, which he swallow’d eight or ten Years ago. + +[f] _~Grew~’s Cosmol._ §. 28. 29. + +[g] _Nor are Diseases themselves useless: For the Blood in a Fever, +if well govern’d, like Wine upon the Fret, dischargeth it self of all +heterogeneous Mixtures; and Nature, the Disease, and Remedies, clean all +the Rooms of the House; whereby that which threatens Death, tends, in +Conclusion, to the prolonging of Life._ Grew ubi supr. §. 52. + +And as Diseases minister sometimes to Health; so to other good Uses in +the Body, such as quickning the Senses: Of which take these Instances +relating to the Hearing and Sight. + +_A very ingenious Physician falling into an odd Kind of Fever, had his +Sense of Hearing thereby made so very nice and tender, that he very +plainly heard soft Whispers, that were made at a considerable Distance +off, and which were not in the least perceiv’d by the Bystanders, nor +would have been by him before his Sickness._ + +_A Gentleman of eminent Parts and Note, during a Distemper he had in his +Eyes, had his Organs of Sight brought to be so tender, that both his +Friends, and himself have assur’d me, that when he wak’d in the Night, he +could for a while plainly see and distinguish Colours, as well as other +Objects, discernible by the Eye, as was more than once try’d._ Boyl. +deter. nat. of Effluv. ch. 4. + +_~Daniel Fraser~——continu’d Deaf and Dumb from his Birth, till the 17ᵗʰ +Year of his Age——After his Recovery from a Fever, he perceiv’d a Motion +in his Brain, which was very uneasy to him; and afterwards he began to +hear, and in Process of Time, to understand Speech, ~&c.~_ Vid. Philos. +Trans. Nᵒ. 312. + + + + +CHAP. VIII. + +_Of the ~Consent~ between the PARTS of Man’s Body._ + + +It is an admirable Provision the merciful Creator hath made for the Good +of Man’s Body, by the Consent and Harmony between the Parts thereof: Of +which let us take St. _Paul_’s Description, in 1 _Cor._ xii. 8. _But +now hath God set the Members, every one of them in the Body, as it hath +pleas’d him._ And (℣. 21) _The Eye cannot say unto the Hand, I have no +need of thee: Nor again, the Head to the Feet, I have no need of you._ +But such is the Consent of all the Parts, or as the Apostle wordeth it, +_God hath so temper’d the Body together, that the Members should have the +same Care one for another_, ℣. 25. So that _whether one Member suffer, +all the Members suffer with it; or one Member be honoured_, (or affected +with any Good,) _all the Members rejoyce_, [and sympathize] _with it_, ℣. +26. + +This mutual Accord, Consent and Sympathy of the Members, there is no +Reason to doubt[a], is made by the Commerce of the Nerves[b], and their +artificial Positions, and curious Ramifications throughout the whole +Body, which is admirable and incomparable, and might deserve a Place in +this Survey, as greatly, and manifestly setting forth the Wisdom and +Benignity of the great Creator; but that to give a Description thereof +from the Origin of the Nerves, in the _Brain_, the _Cerebellum_ and +_Spine_, and so through every Part of the Body, would be tedious, and +intrench too much upon the Anatomist’s Province: And therefore one +Instance shall suffice for a Sample of the Whole; and that shall be, +(what was promis’d before[c]), the great Sympathy occasion’d by the +_fifth Pair_ of Nerves; which I chuse to instance in, rather than the +_Par vagum_, or any other of the Nerves; because although we may have +less variety of noble Contrivance and Art, than in that Pair; yet we +shall find enough for our Purpose, and which may be dispatch’d in fewer +Words. Now this _fifth Conjugation_ of _Nerves_, is branch’d to the Ball, +the Muscles, and Glands of the Eye; to the Ear; to the Jaws, the Gums, +and Teeth; to the Muscles of the Lips[d]; to the Tonsils, the Palate, +the Tongue, and the Parts of the Mouth; to the _Præcordia_ also, in some +Measure, by inosculating with one of its Nerves; and lastly, to the +Muscles of the Face, particularly the Cheeks, whose sanguiferous Vessels +it twists about. + +From hence it comes to pass, that there is a great Consent and +Sympathy[e] between these Parts; so that a gustable Thing seen or smelt, +excites the Appetite, and affects the Glands and Parts of the Mouth; +that a Thing seen or heard, that is shameful, affects the Cheeks with +modest Blushes; but on the contrary, if it pleases and tickles the +Fancy, that it affects the _Præcordia_, and Muscles of the Mouth and +Face with Laughter; but a Thing causing Sadness and Melancholy, doth +accordingly exert it self upon the _Præcordia_, and demonstrate it self +by causing the Glands of the Eyes to emit Tears[f], and the Muscles +of the Face to put on the sorrowful Aspect of Crying. Hence also that +torvous sour Look produc’d by Anger and Hatred: And that gay and pleasing +Countenance accompanying Love and Hope. And in short, it is by Means of +this Communication of the Nerves, that whatever affects the Soul, is +demonstrated, (whether we will or no,) by a consentaneous Disposition +of the _Præcordia_ within, and a suitable Configuration of the Muscles +and Parts of the Face without. And an admirable Contrivance of the +great GOD of _Nature_ this is; That as a Face is given to Man, and as +_Pliny_ saith[g], to Man alone of all Creatures; so it should be, (as +he observes,) _the Index of Sorrow and Chearfulness, of Compassion and +Severity. In its ascending Part is the Brow, and therein a Part of the +Mind too. Therewith we deny, therewith we consent. With this it is we +shew our Pride, which hath its Source in another Place; but here its +Seat: In the Heart it hath its Birth; but here it abides and dwells; and +that because it could find no other Part throughout the Body higher, or +more craggy[h], where it might reside alone._ + +Thus I have dispatch’d what I shall remark concerning the Soul and Body +of Man. There are divers other Things, which well deserve a Place in +this Survey; and these that I have taken Notice of, deserv’d to have +been enlarg’d upon: But what hath been said, may suffice for a Taste and +Sample of this admirable Piece of God’s Handy-work; at least serve as a +Supplement to what others have said before me. For which Reason I have +endeavour’d to say as little wittingly as I could, of what they have +taken Notice of, except where the Thread of my Discourse laid a Necessity +upon me. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] See _Book 4. Chap. 8._ + +[b] _Tria proposita ipsi Naturæ in Nervorum distributione fuerunt. 1. +Ut sensoriis instrumentis Sensum impertiret. 2. Ut motoriis Motum. +3. Ut omnibus aliis [partibus] daret, ut quæ si dolorem adferrent, +dignoscerent._ And afterwards, _Si quis in dissectionibus spectavit, +consideravitque justéne, an secus Natura Nervos non eâdem mensurâ omnibus +partibus distribuerit, sed aliis quidem liberaliùs, aliis verò parciùs, +eadem cum Hippocrate, velit nolit, de Naturâ omnino pronunciabit, quod ea +scilicet sagax, justa, artificiosa, animaliumque provida est._ Galen. de +Us. Part. L. 5. c. 9. + +[c] _Book 4. Chap. 5._ + +[d] Dr. _Willis_ gives the Reason, _cur mutua Amasiorum oscula labiis +impressa, tum præcordia, tum genitalia afficiendo, amorem ac libidinem +tam facilè irritant_, to be from the Consent of those Parts, by the +Branches of this fifth Pair. _Nerv. Deser. c. 22._ + +And Dr. _Sachs_ judges it to be from the Consent of the _Labia Oris cum +Labiis Uteri_, that in _April 1669_, a certain breeding Lady, being +affrighted with seeing one that had scabby Lips, which they told her were +occasion’d by a pestilential Fever, had such like Pustules brake out in +the _Labia Uteri_. Ephem. Germ. T. 1. Obs. 20. + +[e] Consult _Willis ubi suprà_. + +[f] Tears serve not only to moisten the Eye, to clean and brighten the +_Cornea_, and to express our Grief; but also to alleviate it, according +to that of _Ulysses_ to _Andromache_, in _Seneca_’s _Troas_, ℣. 762. + + _Tempus moramque dabimus, arbitrio tuo_ + _Implere lacrymis: Fletus ærumnas levat._ + +[g] _Plin._ Nat. Hist. L. 11. c. 37. + +[h] _Nihil altius simul abruptiusque invenit._ + + + + +CHAP. IX. + +_Of the Variety of Mens FACES, VOICES, and HAND-WRITING._ + + +Here I would have put an End to my Observations relating to Man; but +that there are three Things so expressly declaring the Divine Management +and Concurrence, that I shall just mention them, although taken Notice +of more amply by others; and that is, The great Variety throughout the +World of Mens Faces[a], Voices[b], and Hand-writing. Had Man’s Body been +made according to any of the atheistical Schemes, or any other Method +than that of the infinite Lord of the World, this wise Variety would +never have been: But Mens Faces would have been cast in the same, or +not a very different Mould, their Organs of Speech would have sounded +the same, or not so great a Variety of Notes; and the same Structure +of Muscles and Nerves, would have given the Hand the same Direction +in Writing. And in this Case, what Confusion, what Disturbance, what +Mischiefs would the World eternally have lain under? No Security +could have been to our Persons; no Certainty, no Enjoyment of our +Possessions[c]; no Justice between Man and Man; no Distinction between +Good and Bad, between Friends and Foes, between Father and Child, Husband +and Wife, Male or Female; but all would have been turn’d topsey-turvey, +by being expos’d to the Malice of the Envious and Ill-natur’d, to the +Fraud and Violence of Knaves and Robbers, to the Forgeries of the +crafty Cheat, to the Lusts of the Effeminate and Debauch’d, and what +not! Our Courts of Justice[d], can abundantly testify the dire Effects +of mistaking Men’s Faces, of counterfeiting their Hands, and forging +Writings. But now, as the infinitely wise Creator and Ruler hath order’d +the Matter, every Man’s Face can distinguish him in the Light, and his +Voice in the Dark; his Hand-writing can speak for him though absent, +and be his Witness, and secure his Contracts in future Generations. A +manifest, as well as admirable Indication of the divine Super-intendence +and Management[e]. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] If the Reader hath a Mind to see Examples of Men’s Likeness, he may +consult _Valer. Maximus_, (L. 9. c. 14.) concerning the Likeness of +_Pompey_ the Great, and _Vibius_ and _Publicius Libertinus_; as also +of _Pompey_ the Father, who got the Name of _Coquus_, he being like +_Menogenes_ the Cook; with divers others. + +[b] As the Difference of Tone makes a Difference between every Man’s +Voice, of the same Country, yea, Family; so a different Dialect and +Pronunciation, differs Persons of divers Countries; yea, Persons of one +and the same Country, speaking the same Language: Thus in _Greece_, +there were the _Ionick_, _Dorick_, _Attick_, and _Æolick_ Dialects. +So in _Great-Britain_, besides the grand Diversity of _English_, and +_Scotch_, the different Counties vary very much in their Pronunciation, +Accent and Tone, although all one and the same Language. And the Way +of the _Gileadites_ proving the _Ephraimites_, Judg. xii. 6. by the +Pronunciation of _Shibboleth_, with a _Schin_, or _Sibboleth_ with a +_Samech_, is well known. So _à Lapide_ saith, the _Flemings_ prove +whether a Man be a _Frenchman_ or not, by bidding him pronounce, _Act en +tachtentich_; which they pronounce, _Acht en tactentic_, by Reason they +can’t pronounce the Aspirate _h_. + +[c] _Regi Antiocho unus ex æqualibus——nomine Artemon, perquam similis +fuisse traditur. Quem Laodice, uxor Antiochi, interfecto viro, +dissimulandi sceleris gratiâ, in lectulo perinde quasi ipsum Regem +ægrum collocavit. Admissumq; universum populum, & sermone ejus & vultu +consimili fefellit: credideruntque homines ab Antiocho moriente Laodicen +& natos ejus sibi commendari._ Valer. Max. ib. + +[d] _Quid Trebellius Calca! quàm asseveranter se Clodium tulit! & quidem +dum de bonis ejus contendit, in centumvirale judicium adeò favorabilis +descendit, ut vix justis & æquis sententiis consternatio populi ullum +relinqueret locum. In illâ tamen quæstione neque calumniæ petitoris, +neque violentiæ plebis judicantium religio cessit._ Val. Max. ib. c. 15. + +[e] To the foregoing Instances of divine Management, with relation to +the political State of Man, I shall add another Thing, that I confess +hath always seem’d to me somewhat odd, but very providential; and that +is, the Value that Mankind, at least the civiliz’d Part of them, have +in all Ages put upon Gems, and the purer finer Metals, Gold and Silver; +so as to think them equivalent unto, and exchange them for Things of +the greatest Use for Food, Cloathing, and all other Necessaries and +Conveniences of Life. Whereas those Things themselves are of very little, +if any Use in Physick, Food, Building or Cloathing, otherwise than for +Ornament, or to minister to Luxury; as _Suetonius_ tells us of _Nero_, +who fish’d with a Net gilt with Gold, and shod his Mules with Silver; +but his Wife _Poppæa_, shod her Horses with Gold. _Vit. Ner._ c. 30. +Plin. N. H. L. 33. c. 11. So the same _Suetonius_ tells us, _Jul. Cæsar_ +lay in a Bed of Gold, and rode in a silver Chariot. But _Heliogabalus_ +rode in one of Gold, and had his Close-stool Pans of the same Metal. And +_Pliny_ saith, _Vasa Coquinaria ex argento Calvus Orator fieri queritur._ +_Ibid._ Neither are those precious Things of greater Use to the making of +Vessels, and Utensils, (unless some little Niceties and Curiosities,) by +Means of their Beauty, Imperdibility, and Ductility. Of which last, the +great Mr. _Boyle_ hath among others, there two Instances, in his _Essay +about are Subtilty of Effluviums_. Chap. 2. _Silver, whose Ductility, +and Tractility, are very much inferior to those of Gold, was, by my +procuring, drawn out to so slender a Wire, that——a single Grain of it +amounted to twenty seven Feet._ As to Gold, he demonstrates it possible +to extend an Ounce thereof, to reach to 777600 Feet, or 155 Miles and an +half, yea, to an incredibly greater Length. + +And as to Gems, the very Stories that are told of their prodigious +Virtues, are an Argument, that they have very little, or none more than +other hard Stones. That a _Diamond_ should discover whether a Woman be +true or false to her Husband’s Bed; cause Love between Man and Wife; +secure against Witchcraft, Plague and Poisons; that the _Ruby_ should +dispose to Cheerfulness, cause pleasant Dreams, change its Colour against +a Misfortune befalling, _&c._ that the _Sapphire_ should grow foul, and +lose its Beauty, when worn by one that is Leacherous; that the _Emerald_ +should fly to pieces, if it touch the Skin of any unchaste Person in the +Act of Uncleanness: That the _Chrysolite_ should lose its Colour, if +Poyson be on the Table, and recover it again when the Poyson is off: And +to name no more, that the _Turcoise_, (and the same is said of a gold +Ring,) should strike the Hour when hung over a drinking Glass, and much +more the same Purpose: All these, and many other such fabulous Stories, I +say, of Gems, are no great Arguments, that their Virtue is equivalent to +their Value. Of these, and other Virtues, consult _Worm_ in his _Museum_, +L. 1. §. 2. c. 17, _&c._ + +But as to _Gems_ changing their Colour, there may be somewhat of Truth in +that, particularly in the _Turcoise_ last mention’d. Mr. _Boyle_ observ’d +the Spots in a _Turcoise_, to shift their Place from one Part to another, +by gentle Degrees. So did the Cloud in an _Agate_-handle of a Knife. +A _Diamond_ he wore on his Finger, he observ’d to be more illustrious +at some Times than others: Which a curious Lady told him she had also +observ’d in hers. So likewise a rich _Ruby_ did the same. _Boyle_ of +_Absol. Rest in Bodies_. + + + + +CHAP. X. + +_The ~Conclusion~ of the ~Survey~ of MAN._ + + +And now having taken a View of _Man_, and finding every Part of him, +every Thing relating to him contriv’d, and made in the very best Manner; +his Body fitted up with the utmost Foresight, Art and Care; and this +Body, (to the great Honour, Privilege, and Benefit of Man,) possess’d +by a divine Part, the _Soul_, a Substance made as ’twere on Purpose to +contemplate the Works of God, and glorify the great Creator; and since +this Soul can discern, think, reason, and speak; What can we conclude +upon the whole Matter, but that we lie under all the Obligations of Duty +and Gratitude, to be thankful and obedient to, and to set forth the +Glories of our great Creator, and noble Benefactor? And what ungrateful +Wretches are we, how much worse than the poor Irrationals, if we do not +employ the utmost Power of our Tongue, and all our Members, and all the +Faculties of our Souls in the Praises of God! But above all, should we, +who have the Benefit of those glorious Acts and Contrivances of the +Creator, be such wicked, such base, such worse than brutal Fools, to deny +the Creator[a], in some of his noblest Works? Should we so abuse our +Reason, yea, our very Senses; should we be so besotted by the Devil, and +blinded by our Lusts, as to attribute one of the best contriv’d Pieces of +Workmanship to blind Chance, or unguided Matter and Motion, or any other +such sottish, wretched, atheistical Stuff; which we never saw, nor ever +heard made any one Being[b] in any Age since the Creation? No, No! But +like wise and unprejudic’d Men, let us with _David_ say, _Psalm_ cxxxix. +14. (with which I conclude,) _I will praise thee, for I am fearfully +and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy Works, and that my Soul knoweth +right well._ + +Having thus made what (considering the Copiousness and Excellence of +the Subject,) may be called a very brief Survey of _Man_, and seen +such admirable Marks of the divine Design and Art; let us next take +a transient View of the other inferiour Creatures; and begin with +QUADRUPEDS. + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] It was a pious, as well as just Conclusion, the ingenious _Laurence +Bellini_ makes of his _Opusculum de Motu Cordis_, in these Words: _De +Motu Cordis isthæc. Quæ equidem omnia, si à rudi intelligentiâ Hominis +tantum consilii, tantum ratiocinii, tantum peritiæ mille rerum, tantum +scientiarum exigunt, ad hoc, ut inveniantur, seu ad hoc, ut percipiantur +postquam facta sunt; illum, cujus operâ, fabrefacta sunt hæc singula, +tam vani erimus atque inanes, ut existimemus esse consilii impotem, +rationis expertem, imperitum, aut ignarum omnium rerum? Quantum ad me +attinet, nolim esse Rationis compos, si tantum insudandum mihi esset +ad consequendam intelligentiam earum rerum, quas fabrefaceret nescio +quæ Vis, quæ nihil intelligeret eorum quæ fabrefaceret; mihi etenim +viderer esse vile quiddam, atque ridiculum, qui vellem totam ætatem meam, +sanitatem, & quicquid humanum est deterere, nihil curare quicquid est +jucunditatum, quicquid latitiarum, quicquid commodorum; non divitias, +non dignitates; non pœnas etiam, & vitam, ipsam, ut gloriari possem +postremo invenisse unum, aut alterum, & fortasse me invenisse quidem +ex iis innumeris, quæ produxisset, nescio quis ille, qui sine labore, +sine curâ, nihil cogitans, nihil cognoscens, non unam aut alteram rem, +neque dubiè, sed certò produxisset innumeras innumerabilitates rerum in +hoc tam immenso spatio corporum, ex quibus totus Mundus compingitur. +Ab Deum immortalem! Video præsens numen tuum in hisce tam prodigiosis +Generationis initiis, & in altissimâ eorum contemplatione defixus, nescio +quo œstro admirationis conciter, & quasi divinè furens cohiberi me minimè +possum quin exclamem._ + +_Magnus Dominus! Magnus Fabricator Hominum Deus! Magnus atque +Admirabilis! Conditor rerum Deus quàm Magnus es!_ Bellin. de Mot. Cord. +fin. + +[b] _Hoc ~[_i.e._ mundum effici ornatissimum, & pulcherrimum ex +concursione fortuita]~ qui existimat fieri potuisse, non intelligo +cur non idem putet, si innumerabiles unius, & viginti formæ literarum, +vel aureæ, vel qualeslibet, aliquo conficiantur, posse ex his in terram +excussis annales Ennii ut deinceps legi possint, effici, ~&c.~——Quod si +Mundum efficere potest concursus Atomorum, cur porticum, cur templum, +cur domum, cur urbem non potest? Quæ sunt minus operosa, & multo quidem +faciliora._ Cicero de Nat. Deor. L. 2. c. 37. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK VI. + +_A ~Survey~ of QUADRUPEDS._ + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAP. I. + +_Of their Prone ~Posture~._ + + +In taking a View of this Part of the Animal World, so far as the +Structure of their Bodies is conformable to that of Man, I shall pass +them by, and only take notice of some Peculiarities in them, which +are plain Indications of Design, and the Divine Super-intendence and +Management. And, 1. The most visible apparent Variation is the _Prone +Posture of their Body_: Concerning which, I shall take notice only of two +Things, the Parts ministring thereto, and the Use and Benefit thereof. + +I. As for the Parts, ’tis observable, that in all these Creatures, the +_Legs_ are made exactly conformable to this Posture, as those in Man are +to his erect Posture: And what is farther observable also, is, that the +Legs and Feet are always admirably suited to the Motion and Exercises of +each Animal: In some they are made for Strength only, to support a vast, +unwieldy Body[a]; in others they are made for Agility and Swiftness[b], +in some they are made for only Walking and Running, in others for that, +and Swimming too[c]; in others for Walking and Digging[d]; and in others +for Walking and Flying[e]: In some they are made more lax and weak, for +the plainer Lands; in others rigid, stiff, and less flexible[f], for +traversing the Ice, and dangerous Precipices of the high Mountains[g]; +in some they are shod with tough and hard Hoofs, some whole, some cleft; +in others with only a callous Skin. In which latter, ’tis observable that +the Feet are composed of Toes, some short for bare-going; some long to +supply the Place of a Hand[h]; some armed with long and strong Talons, +to catch, hold, and tear the Prey; some fenced only with short Nails, to +confirm the Steps in Running and Walking. + +II. As the Posture of Man’s Body is the fittest for a rational Animal, so +is the Prone Posture of _Quadrupeds_ the most useful and beneficial to +themselves, as also most serviceable to Man. For they are hereby better +made for their gathering their Food, to pursue their Prey, to leap, to +climb, to swim, to guard themselves against their Enemies, and in a word, +to do whatever may be of principal Use to themselves; as also they are +hereby rendered more useful and serviceable to Man, for carrying his +Burdens, for tilling his Ground, yea, even for his Sports and Diversions. + +And now I might here add a Survey of the excellent Contrivances of +the Parts ministring to this Posture of the four-footed Animals, the +admirable Structure of the Bones[i], the Joints and Muscles; their +various Sizes and Strength; their commodious Lodgment and Situation, the +nice Æquipoise of the Body, with a great deal more to the same purpose. +But I should be tedious to insist minutely upon such Particulars, and +besides, I have given a Touch upon these Kinds of Things, when I spake of +Man. + +Passing by therefore many Things of this Kind, that might deserve Remark, +I shall only consider some of the Parts of _Quadrupeds_, differing from +what is found in Man[k], and which are manifest Works of Design. + + +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. + +[b] 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. + +[i] 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[b]. 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. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] Thus _Swine_, for Instance, who dig in the Earth for Roots and other +Food, have their Neck, and all Parts of their Head very well adapted to +that Service. Their Neck short, brawny, and strong; their Eyes set pretty +high out of the Way; their Snout long; their Nose callous and strong; +and their Sense of Smelling very accurate, to hunt out and distinguish +their Food in Mud, under Ground, and other the like Places where it lies +concealed. + +[b] What hath been said of _Swine_ is no less, rather more remarkable in +the _Mole_, whose Neck, Nose, Eyes and Ears, are all fitted in the nicest +Manner to its subterraneous Way of Life. + +[c] _Willis Cereb. Anat._ cap. 6. _Cumque huic Deus os sublime dederit, +~&c.~_ + +[d] Id. paulo post. _In capite humano Cerebri & Cerebelli, ~&c.~_ + +[e] See _Book IV. Ch. 2. Note (kk)._ + +[f] _Arteria Carotis Aliquanto posterius in homine quàm in alio quovis +animali, Calvariam ingreditur, scil. juxta illud foramen, per quod +sinus lateralis in Venam jugularem desiturus cranio elabitur; nam in +cæteris hæc arteria sub extremitate, seu processu acuto ossis petrosi, +inter cranium emergit: verùm in capite humano, eadem, ambage longiori +circumducta (ut sanguinis torrens, priusquam ad cerebri oram appellit, +fracto impetu, leniùs & placidiùs fluat) prope specum ab ingressu sinûs +lateralis factum, Calvariæ basin attingit;——& in majorem cautelam, tunicâ +insuper ascititiâ crassiore investitur._ And so he goes on to shew the +Conveniency of this Guard the Artery hath, and its Passage to the Brain, +and then saith, _Si hujusmodi conformationis ratio inquiritur, facilè +occurrit, in capite humano, ubi generosi affectus & magni animorum +impetus ac ardores excitantur, sanguinis in Cerebri oras appulsum debere +esse liberum & expeditum, ~&c.~ Atque hoc quidem respectu differt Homo à +plerisque Brutis, quibus, Arteria in mille surculos divisa, ne sanguinem +pleniore alveo, aut citatiore, quàm par est, cursu, ad cerebrum evehat, +Plexus Retiformes constituit, quibus nempe efficitur, ut sanguis tardo +admodum, lenique & æquabili fere stillicidio, in cerebrum illabatur._ And +then he goes on to give a farther Account of this _Artery_, and the _Rete +mirabile_ in divers Creatures. _Willis_, ibid. cap. 8. + +[g] _Galen_ thinks the _Rete mirabile_ is for concocting and elaborating +the Animal Spirits, as the _Epididymides_, [the Convolutions κιρσοειδοῦς +ἕλικος] are for elaborating the Seed. _De Us. Part._ L. 9. c. 4. This +_Rete_ is much more conspicuous in Beasts than Man; and as Dr. _Willis_ +well judges, serves, 1. To bridle the too rapid Incursion of the Blood +into the Brain of those Creatures, whose Heads hang down much. 2. To +separate some of the superfluous serous Parts of the Blood, and send +them to the Salival Glands, before the Blood enters the Brain of those +Animals, whose Blood is naturally of a watery Constitution. 3. To obviate +any Obstructions that may happen in the Arteries, by giving a free +Passage through other Vessels, when some are stopped. + +In _Quadrupeds_, as the _Carotid Arteries_ are branched into the _Rete +Mirabile_, for the bridling the too rapid Current of Blood into the +Brain; so the _Vertebral Arteries_, are, near their Entrance into the +Skull, bent into an acuter Angle than in Man, which is a wise Provision +for the same Purpose. + + + + +CHAP. III. + +_Of the Necks of QUADRUPEDS._ + + +From the Head pass we to the Neck, no principal Part of the Body, but yet +a good Instance of the Creator’s Wisdom and Design, inasmuch as in Man it +is short, agreeable to the Erection of his Body; but in the Four-footed +Tribe it is long, answerable to the Length of the Legs[a], and in some +of these long, and less strong, serving to carry the Mouth to the Ground; +in others shorter, brawny and strong, serving to dig, and heave up great +Burdens[b]. + +But that which deserves especial Remark, is that peculiar Provision made +in the Necks of all, or most granivorous _Quadrupeds_, for the perpetual +holding down their Head in gathering their Food, by that strong, +tendinous and insensible _Aponeurosis_, or Ligament[c] braced from the +Head to the middle of the Back. By which means the Head, although heavy, +may be long held down without any Labour, Pain, or Uneasiness to the +Muscles of the Neck, that would otherwise be wearied by being so long +put upon the Stretch. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] It is very remarkable, that in all the Species of _Quadrupeds_, this +Equality holds, except only the _Elephant_; and that there should be a +sufficient special Provision made for that Creature, by its _Proboscis_ +or _Trunk_. A Member so admirably contrived, so curiously wrought, and +with so great Agility and Readiness, applied by that unwieldy Creature to +all its several Occasions, that I take it to be a manifest Instance of +the Creator’s Workmanship. See its Anatomy to Dr. _A. Moulen_’s _Anat. +of the ~Elephant~_, p. 33. As also in Mr. _Blair_’s Account in _Phil. +Trans._ Nᵒ. 326. + +_Aliorum ea est humilitas ut cibum terrestrem rostris facilè contingant. +Quæ autem altiora sunt, ut Anseres, ut Cygni, ut Grues, ut Cameli, +adjuvantur proceritate collorum. Manus etiam data Elephantis, qui propter +magnitudinem corporis difficiles aditus habebant ad pastum._ Cic. de N. +D. L. 2. c. 47. + +_Quod iis animalibus quæ pedes habent fissos in digitos, Collum brevius +sit factum, quàm ut per ipsum Cibum ori admovere queant: iis verò quæ +ungulas habent solidas, aut bifidas, longius, ut prona atque inclinantia +pasci queant. Qui id etiam opus non sit Artificis utilitatis memoris? Ad +hæc quòd Grues at Ciconiæ, cùm crura haberent longiora, ob eam causam +Rostrum etiam magnum, & Collum longius habuerint. Pisces autem neque +Collum penitus habuere, utpote qui neque Crura habent. Quo pacto non id +etiam est admirandum?_ Galen. de Us. part. L. 11. c. 8. + +[b] As in _Moles_ and _Swine_, in _Ch. 2. Note (a)._ + +[c] Called the _Whiteleather_, _Packwax_, _Taxwax_, and _Fixfax_. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +_Of the STOMACHS of QUADRUPEDS._ + + +From the Neck, let us descend to the _Stomach_, a Part as of absolute +Necessity to the Being and Well-being of Animals, so is in the several +Species of _Quadrupeds_, sized, contrived, and made with the utmost +Variety and Art.[a] What Artist, what Being, but the infinite Conservator +of the World, could so well adapt every Food to all the several Kinds +of those grand Devourers of it! Who could so well sute their Stomachs +to the Reception and Digestion thereof; one kind of Stomach to the +Carnivorous, another to the Herbaceous Animals; one fitted to digest by +bare Mastication; and a whole set of Stomachs in others, to digest with +the Help of _Rumination_! Which last Act, together with the _Apparatus_ +for that Service, is so peculiar, and withal so curious an Artifice of +Nature, that it might justly deserve a more particular Enquiry; but +having formerly mention’d it[b], and least I should be too tedious, I +shall pass it by. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] The peculiar Contrivance and Make of the _Dromedary_’s or _Camel_’s +Stomach, is very remarkable, which I will give from the _Parisian +Anatomists_: _At the top of the Second ~[of the 4 Ventricles]~ there +were several square Holes, which were the Orifices of about 30 Cavities, +made like Sacks placed between the two Membranes, which do compose +the Substance of this Ventricle. The View of these Sacks made us to +think that they might well be the Reservatories, where ~Pliny~ saith, +that Camels do a long Time keep the Water, which they drink in great +Abundance——to supply the Wants thereof in the dry Desarts, ~&c.~_ Vid. +Memoirs, _&c._ Anat. of Dromedary, p. 39. See also _Peyer_, _Merycol._ L. +2. c. 3. + +[b] _Book IV. ch. 11._ + + + + +CHAP. V. + +_Of the HEART of QUADRUPEDS._ + + +In this Part there is a notable Difference found between the Heart of Man +and that of Beasts, concerning the latter, of which I might take notice +of the remarkable Confirmation of the Hearts of Amphibious _Quadrupeds_, +and their Difference from those of Land-Animals, some having but one +Ventricle[a], some three[b], and some but two (like Land-Animals) but +then the _Foramen Ovale_ therewith[c]. All which may be justly esteemed +as wonderful, as they are excellent Provisions for the Manner of those +Animals living. But I shall content my self with bare Hints of these +Things, and speak only of two Peculiars more, and that but briefly. + +One is the Situation of the Heart, which in Beasts is near the middle of +the whole Body; in Man, nearer the Head[d]. The Reasons of which I shall +give from one of the most curious Anatomists of that Part[e]. “Seeing, +saith he, the Trajection and Distribution of the Blood depends wholly on +the Systole of the Heart, and that its Liquor is not driven of its own +Nature so readily into the upper Parts as into Vessels even with it, or +downwards into those under it: If the Situation of the Heart had been +further from the Head, it must needs either have been made stronger to +cast out its Liquor with greater Force; or else the Head would want its +due Proportion of Blood. But in Animals that have a longer Neck, and +which is extended towards their Food as it were, the Heart is seated as +far from the other Parts; and they find no Inconvenience from it, because +they feed with their Head for the most part hanging down; and so the +Blood, as it hath farther to go to their Head than in others, so it goes +a plainer and often a steep Way[f].” + +The other peculiar Matter is, the fastning (I formerly mentioned) which +the Cone of the _Pericardium_ hath in Man to the _Diaphragm_[g], whereas +in all _Quadrupeds_ it is loose. By which Means the Motion of the +_Midriff_, in that necessary Act of Respiration, is assisted both in the +upright Posture of Man, as also in the prone Posture of _Quadrupeds_[h]; +which would be hindred, or rendred more difficult, if the Case was +otherwise: “Which must needs be the Effect of Wisdom and Design, and +that Man was intended by Nature to walk erect, and not upon all-four, as +_Quadrupeds_ do:” To express it in the Words of a great Judge in such +Matters [i]. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Frogs_ are generally thought to have but one Ventricle in their +Hearts. + +[b] The _Tortoise_ hath three Ventricles, as the _Parisian Academists_ +in their _Memoirs_ affirm. _Besides these two Ventricles ~[before spoken +of]~ which were in the hinder Part of the Heart, which faceth the Spine; +there was_, say they, _a third in the Fore-part, inclining a little +towards the Right-side, ~&c.~_ Memoirs, _&c._ p. 259. But Mr. _Bussiere_ +charges this as a Mistake in those ingenious Gentlemen, and asserts there +is but one Ventricle in the _Tortoise_’s Heart. See his Description of +the Heart of the _Land Tortoise_, in _Philos. Transact._ Nᵒ. 328. + +[c] The _Sea-Calf_ is said by the _French Academists_, to have this +Provision, and their Account of it is this: _Its Heart was round +and flat. Its Ventricles appeared very large, and its Auricles +small.——Underneath the great Aperture, through which the Trunk of the +~Vena Cava~ conveyed the Blood into the right Ventricle of the Heart, +there was another, which penetrated into the ~Arteria Venosa~, and from +thence into the left Ventricle, and afterwards into the ~Aorta~. This +Hole called the ~Foramen Ovale~ in the ~Fœtus~, make the ~Anastomisis~, +by the Means of which, the Blood goes from the ~Cava~ into the ~Aorta~, +without passing through the Lungs._ French Anatomists, p. 124. + +[d] Τὴν τε Καρδίαν περὶ τὸ μέσον πλὴν ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ, &c. Arist. Hist. An. L. +2. c. 17. + +[e] Dr. _Lower_, _de Corde_, c. 1. + +[f] I might have mentioned another wise Provision from the same Author, +which take in his own Words: _In Vitulu & Equis, imò plerique aliis +animalibus majoribus, non solas propagines à Nervo sexti paris ut in +Homine, sed etiam plurimas à Nervo intercostali, ubi rectà cor transit, +cor accedere, imò in parenchyma ejus dimitti: & hoc ideo à Naturâ quasi +subsidium Brutis comparatum, ne capita quæ terram prona spectant, non +satis facilè aut copiosè Spiritus Animales impertirent._ Blasii Anat. +Animal. Par. 1. c. 4. ex Lowero. de Corde. + +[g] _Diaphragmatis circulo nerveo firmiter adheret ~[Pericardium]~ quod +Homini singulare; nam ab eo in Canibus & Simiis distat, item in aliis +animalibus omnibus._ Bartholm. Anat. L. 2. c. 5. + +[h] _Finalem causam quod atrinet,——cùm erectus sit Hominis incessus atque +figura, eoque facilius abdominis viscera suo pondere descendant, minore +Diaphragmatis nixu atque Systole ad Inspirationem opus est; porro, cùm in +Exspiratione pariter necessarium sit Diaphragma relaxari,——cùm capsula +cordis omnino connectendum fuit, in Homine, ne fortè, quamdiu erectus +incedit, ab Hepatis aliorumque viscerum appensorum pondere deorsum adeò +deprimeretur, ut neque Pulmo satis concidere, neque Expiratio debito +modo peragi potuerit. Quocirea in Quadrupedibus, ubi abdominis viscera +in ipsum Diaphragma incumbunt, ipsumque in pectoris cavitatem suo +pondere impellant, ista partium accretio Exspirationi quidem inutilis, +Inspirationi autem debitam Diaphragmatis tensionem impediendo, prorsus +incommoda fuisset._ Lower, ib. p. 8. + +[i] _Dr. ~Tyson~’s Anat. of the Orang-Outang, in ~Ray~’s Wisd. of God_, +p. 262. + + + + +CHAP. VI. + +_Of the Difference between MAN and QUADRUPEDS in the ~Nervous~ Kind._ + + +There is only one Difference more between _Man_ and _Quadrupeds_ that I +shall take notice of, and that is the Nervous Kind: And because it would +be tedious to insist upon many Particulars[a], I shall, for a Sample, +insist chiefly upon one, and that is, of Nature’s prodigious Care for a +due Communication and Correspondence between the Head and Heart of Man, +more than what is in the four-footed Tribe. For this Purpose, besides +the Correspondence, those Parts have by Means of the Nerves of the _Par +Vagum_ (common both to Man and Beast) there is a farther and more special +Communication and Correspondence occasioned by the Branches[b] of the +_intercostal Pair_ sent from the _Cervical Plexus_ to the Heart, and +_Præcordia_. By which Means the Heart and Brain of Man have a mutual +and very intimate Correspondence and Concern with each other, more than +is in other Creatures; or as one of the most curious Anatomists and +Observers of these Things saith[c], “Brutes are as ’twere Machines made +with a simpler, and less operose _Apparatus_, and endowed therefore +with only one and the same Kind of Motion, or determined to do the same +Thing: Whereas in Man, there is a great Variety of Motions and Actions. +For by the Commerce of the aforesaid _Cervical Plexus_[d] he saith, The +Conceptions of the Brain presently affect the Heart, and agitate its +Vessels and whole Appendage, together with the _Diaphragm_. From whence +the Alteration in the Motion of the Blood, the Pulse and Respiration. So +also on the contrary, when any Thing affects or alters the Heart, those +Impressions are not only retorted to the Brain by the same Duct of the +Nerves, but also the Blood it self (its Course being once changed) flies +to the Brain with a different and unusual Course, and there agitating +the animal Spirits with divers Impulses, produceth various Conceptions +and Thoughts in the Mind.” And he tells us, “That hence it was that the +ancient Divines and Philosophers too, made the Heart the Seat of Wisdom; +and certainly (saith he) the Works of Wisdom and Virtue do very much +depend upon this Commerce which is between the Heart and Brain:” And +so he goeth on with more to the same purpose. Upon the Account of this +_Intercostal Commerce_ with the Heart, being wanting in Brutes, there +is another singularly careful and wise Provision the infinite Creator +hath made in them, and that is, That by Reason both the _Par Vagum_ and +the _Intercostal_ too, do not send their Branches to the Heart, and +its Appendage in Brutes, therefore, lest their Heart should want a due +Proportion of Nervous Vessels, the _Par Vagum_ sends more Branches to +their Heart than to that of Man. This as it is a remarkable Difference +between Rational and Irrational Creatures; so it is as remarkable an +Argument of the Creator’s Art and Care; who altho’ he hath denied +Brute-Animals Reason, and the Nerves ministring thereto, yet hath another +Way supplied what is necessary to their Life and State. But let us hear +the same great Author’s Descant upon the Point[e]; “Inasmuch saith he, +as Beasts are void of Discretion, and but little subject to various and +different Passions, therefore there was no need that the Spirits that +were to be convey’d from the Brain to the _Præcordia_, should pass two +different Ways, namely, one for the Service of the vital Functions, and +another for the reciprocal Impressions of the Affections; but it was +sufficient that all their Spirits, whatever Use they were designed for, +should be conveyed one and the same Way.” + +Here now in the _Nervous Kind_ we have manifest Acts of the Creator’s +Design and Wisdom, in this so manifest and distinct a Provision for +Rational and Irrational Creatures; and that _Man_ was evidently intended +to be the one, as the _Genus_ of _Quadrupeds_ was the other. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] Amongst these, I might name the Site of the Nerves proceeding from +the _Medulla Spinalis_, which Dr. _Lower_ takes notice of. In Beasts, +whose Spine is above the rest of the Body, the Nerves tend directly +downwards; but in Man, it being erect, the Nerves spring out of the +Spine, not at Right, but in Oblique Angles downwards, and pass also in +the Body the same Way. _Ibid._ p. 16. + +[b] _In plerisq; Brutis tantùm hâc viâ ~(i.e. by the _Par vagum_)~ & vix +omnino per ullos Paris Intercostalis nervos, aditus ad cor aut Appendicem +ejus patescit. Verùm in Homine, Nervus Intercostalis, præter officia ejus +in imo ventre huic cum cæteris animalibus communia, etiam ante pectoris +claustra internuncii specialis loco est, qui Cerebri & Cordis sensa mutua +ultra citraque refert._ Willis Nervor. descr. & usus, Cap. 26. + +[c] Id. ib. _Dum hanc utriusque speciei differentiam perpendo, succurrit +animo, Bruta esse velut machinas, ~&c.~_ + +[d] That our great Man was not mistaken, there is great Reason to +imagine, from what he observed in dissecting a _Fool_. Besides, the Brain +being but small, he saith, _Præcipua autem discriminis nota quam inter +illius & viri cordati partes advertimus, bæcce erat; nempe quòd prædictus +Nervi Intercacostalis Plexus, quem Cerebri & Cordis internuncium & +Hominis proprium diximus, in Stulto hoc valde exilis, & minori Nervorum +satellitio stipatus fuerit._ Ibid. + +[e] Id. ib. cap. 29. _In quantum Bestiæ prudentiâ carent, & variis +diversisque passionibus, ~&c.~_ + + + + +CHAP. VII. + +_The CONCLUSION._ + + +And now ’tis Time to pause a while, and reflect upon the whole. And as +from the Confederations in the preceding Book, we have especial Reason to +be thankful to our infinitely merciful Maker, for his no less kind than +wonderful Contrivances of our Body; so we have Reason from this brief +View I have taken of this last Tribe of the Creation, to acknowledge and +admire the same Creator’s Work and Contrivances in them. For we have +here a large Family of Animals, in every particular Respect, curiously +contrived and made, for that especial Posture, Place, Food, and Office +or Business which they obtain in the World. So that if we consider their +own particular Happiness and Good, or Man’s Use and Service; or if we +view them throughout, and consider the Parts wherein they agree with Man, +or those especially wherein they differ, we shall find all to be so far +from being Things fortuitous, undesigned, or any way accidental, that +every Thing is done for the best; all wisely contrived, and incomparably +fitted up, and every way worthy of the great Creator. And he that will +shut his Eyes, and not see God[a] in these his Works, even of the poor +Beasts of the Earth, that will not say (as _Elihu_ hath it, Job xxxv. 10, +11.) _Where is God my Maker, who teacheth us more than the Beasts of the +Earth, and maketh us wiser than the Fowls of the Heaven?_ Of such an one +we may use the Psalmist’s Expression, _Psal_. xlxix. 12. That _he is like +the Beasts[b] that perish_. + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] + + _——Deum namque ire per omnes_ + _Terrasque tractusque Maris, Cœlumque profundum,_ + _Hinc Pecudes, Armenta, viros, genus omne Ferarum._ + + Virgil Georg. L. 4. + +[b] _Illos qui nullum omnino Deum esse dixerunt, non modò non +Philosophos, sed ne homines quidem fuisse dixerim; qui, mutis simillimi, +ex solo corpore constiterunt, nihil videntes animo._ Lactant. L. 7. c. 9. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK VII. + +_A ~Survey~ of BIRDS._ + + +Having briefly, as well as I could, dispatch’d the Tribe of _Quadrupeds_, +I shall next take as brief and transient a View of the _feather’d Tribe_. + +And here we have another large Province to expatiate in, if we should +descend to every Thing wherein the Workmanship of the Almighty appears. +But I must contract my Survey as much as may be; and shall therefore give +only such Hints and Touches upon this curious Family of Animals, as may +serve for Samples of the rest of what might be observ’d. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAP. I. + +_Of the MOTION of Birds, and the PARTS ministring thereto._ + + +As this Tribe hath a different Motion from that of other Animals, and +an amphibious Way of Life; partly in the Air, and partly on the Land +and Waters; so is their Body accordingly shap’d, and all their Parts +incomparably fitted for that Way of Life and Motion; as will be found by +a cursory View of some of the Particulars. And the + +I. And most visible Thing, is the Shape and Make of their Body, not thick +and clumsy, but incomparably adapted to their Flight: Sharp before, to +pierce and make Way through the Air, and then by gentle Degrees rising to +its full Bulk. To which we may add, + +II. The neat Position of the _Feathers_ throughout the Body; not ruffled, +or discompos’d, or plac’d some this, some a contrary Way, according to +the Method of Chance; but all artificially plac’d[a], for facilitating +the Motion of the Body, and its Security at the same Time, by way of +Cloathing: And for that End, most of the Feathers tend backward, and +are laid over one another in exact and regular Method, armed with warm +and soft Down next the Body, and more strongly made, and curiously +clos’d next the Air and Weather, to fence off the Injuries thereof. To +which Purpose, as also for the more easy and nimble gliding of the Body +through the Air, the Provision Nature hath made, and the Instinct of +these Animals to _preen_ and _dress_ their Feathers, is admirable; both +in respect of their Art and Curiosity in doing it, and the _Oyl-bag_[b], +Glands, and whole Apparatus for that Service. + +III. And now having said thus much relating to the Body’s Motion, let +us survey the grand Instrument thereof, the _Wings_. Which as they are +principal Parts, so are made with great Skill, and plac’d in the most +commodious Point of the Body[c], to give it an exact Equipoise in that +subtile Medium, the Air. + +And here it is observable, with what incomparable Curiosity every Feather +is made; the _Shaft_ exceeding strong, but hollow below, for Strength +and Lightness sake; and above, not much less strong, and fill’d with a +_Parenchyma_ or _Pith_, both strong and light too. The _Vanes_ as nicely +gaug’d on each Side as made; broad on one Side, and narrower on the +other; both which incomparably minister to the progressive Motion of the +Bird, as also to the Union and Closeness of the Wing[d]. + +And no less exquisite is the textrine Art of the _Plumage_[e] also; which +is so curiously wrought, and so artificially interwoven, that it cannot +be viewed without Admiration, especially when the Eye is assisted with +Glasses. + +And as curiously made, so no less curiously are the Feathers placed in +the Wing, exactly according to their several Lengths and Strength: The +_Principals_ set for Stay and Strength, and these again well lined, +faced, and guarded with the _Covert_ and _Secondary Feathers_, to keep +the Air from passing through, whereby the stronger Impulses are made +thereupon. + +And lastly, To say no more of this Part, that deserves more to be said +of it, what an admirable _Apparatus_ is there of _Bones_, very strong, +but withal light and incomparably wrought? of _Joynts_, which open, shut, +and every way move, according to the Occasions either of extending it +in Flight, or withdrawing the Wing again to the Body? And of various +_Muscles_; among which the peculiar Strength of the _Pectoral Muscles_ +deserves especial Remark, by Reason they are much stronger[f] in Birds +than in Man, or any other Animal, not made for Flying. + +IV. Next the Wings, the Tail is in Flight considerable; greatly assisting +in all Ascents and Descents in the Air, as also serving to steady[g] +Flight, by keeping the Body upright in that subtile and yielding +_Medium_, by its readily turning and answering every Vacillation of the +Body. + +And now to the Parts serving to Flight, let us add the nice and compleat +Manner of its Performance; all done according to the strictest Rules of +Mechanism[h]. What Rower on the Waters, what Artist on the Land, what +acutest Mathematician could give a more agreeable and exact Motion to the +Wings, than these untaught flying Artists do theirs! Serving not only to +bear their Bodies up in the Air, but also to waft them along therein, +with a speedy progressive Motion, as also to steer and turn them this Way +and that Way, up and down, faster or slower, as their Occasions require, +or their Pleasure leads them. + +V. Next to the Parts for Flight, let us view the _Feet_ and _Legs_ +ministering to their other Motion: Both made light, for easier +Transportation through the Air; and the former spread, some with +Membranes for Swimming[i], some without, for steady Going, for Perching, +for Catching and Holding of Prey[k], or for Hanging by the Heels to +gather their Food[l], or to fix themselves in their Places of Retreat +and Safety. And the latter, namely the _Legs_, all curved for their easy +Perching, Roosting, and Rest, as also to help them upon their Wings in +taking their Flight, and to be therein commodiously tucked up to the +Body, so as not to obstruct their Flight. In some long, for Wading and +Searching the Waters; in some of a moderate Length, answerable to their +vulgar Occasions; and in others as remarkably short, to answer their +especial Occasions and Manner of Life[m]. To all which let us add the +placing these last mentioned Parts in the Body. In all somewhat out of +the Center of the Body’s Gravity[n], but in such as swim, more than in +others, for the better rowing their Bodies through the Waters, or to help +them in that Diving[o] too. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] See before _Book IV. Chap. 12. Note (l)._ + +[b] Mr. _Willughby_ saith, there are two Glands for the Secretion of the +unctuous Matter in the _Oyl-bag_. And so they appear to be in Geese. But +upon Examination, I find, that in most other Birds, (such at least as I +have enquir’d into,) there is only one Gland: In which are divers little +Cells, ending in two or three larger Cells, lying under the Nipple of the +_Oyl-bag_. This _Nipple_ is perforated, and being pressed, or drawn by +the Bird’s Bill, or Head, emits the liquid Oyl, as it is in some Birds, +or thicker unctuous Grease, as it is in others. The whole _Oyl-bag_ is +in its structure somewhat conformable to the Breasts of such Animals as +afford Milk. + +[c] In all Birds that fly much, or that have the most occasion for their +Wings, it is manifest that their Wings are plac’d in the very best Part, +to balance their Body in the Air, and to give as swift a Progression, as +their Wings and Body are capable of: For otherwise we should perceive +them to reel, and fly unsteadily; as we see them to do, if we alter their +Æquipoise, by cutting the End of one of the Wings, or hanging a Weight at +any of the extreme Parts of the Body. But as for such Birds as have as +much occasion for Swimming as Flying, and whole Wings are therefore set +a little out of the Center of the Bodies Gravity. See _Book IV. Chap. 8. +Note (q)._ And for such as have more occasion for Diving than Flying, and +whose Legs are for that Reason set more backward, and their Wings more +forward. _Chap. 4. Note (k)_ of this _Book_. + +[d] The wise Author of Nature hath afforded an Example of the great +Nicety in the Formation of Birds, by the Nicely observ’d in a Part no +more considerable than the Vanes of the Flag-feathers of the Wing. Among +others, these two Things are observable: 1. The Edges of the exterior or +narrow Vanes bend downwards, but of the interior or wider Vanes upwards; +by which Means they catch, hold, and lie close to one another, when the +Wing is spread; so that not one Feather may miss its full Force and +Impulse upon the Air. 2. A yet lesser Nicety is observ’d, and that is, in +the very sloping the Tips of the Flag-feathers: The interiour Vanes being +neatly slop’d away to a Point, towards the outward Part of the Wing; and +the exteriour Vanes slop’d towards the Body, at least in many Birds; and +in the Middle of the Wing, the Vanes being equal, are but little slop’d. +So that the Wing, whether extended or shut, is as neatly slop’d and +form’d, as if constantly trimm’d with a Pair of Scissors. + +[e] Since no exact Account that I know of, hath been given of the +Mechanism of the _Vanes_, or _Webs_ of the Feathers, my Observations may +not be unacceptable. The _Vane_ consists not of one continu’d Membrane; +because if one broken, it would hardly be reparable: But of many +_Laminæ_, which are thin, stiff, and somewhat of the Nature of a thin +Quill. Towards the Shaft of the Feather, (especially in the Flag-feathers +of the Wing,) those _Laminæ_ are broad, _&c._ of a semicircular Form; +which serve for Strength, and for the closer shutting of the _Laminæ_ +to one another, when Impulses are made upon the Air. Towards the outer +Part of the Vane, those _Laminæ_ grow slender and taper: On their under +Side they are thin and smooth, but their upper outer Edge is parted into +two hairy Edges, each Side having a different Sort of Hairs, laminated +or broad at Bottom, and slender and bearded above the other half. I +have, as well as I could, represented the uppermost Edge of one of these +_Laminæ_ in Fig. 18. with some of the Hairs on each Side, magnify’d with +a Microscope. These bearded Bristles, or Hairs, on one Side the _Laminæ_, +have strait Beards, as in Fig. 19. those on the other Side, have hook’d +Beards on one Side the slender Part of the Bristle, and strait ones on +the other, as in Fig. 20. Both these Sorts of Bristles magnify’d, (only +scattering, and not close,) are represented as they grow upon the upper +Edge of the _Lamina s. t._ in Fig. 18. And in the Vane, the hook’d Beards +of one _Lamina_, always lie next the strait Beards of the next _Lamina_; +and by that Means lock and hold each other; and by a pretty Mechanism, +brace the _Laminæ_ close to one another. And if at any Time the Vane +happens to be ruffled and discompos’d, it can by this pretty easy +Mechanism, be reduc’d and repair’d. Vid. _Book IV. Chap. 12. Note (m)._ + +[f] _Pectorales Musculi Hominis flectentes humeros, parvi & parum carnosi +sunt; non æquant 50am aut 70am partem omnium Musculorum Hominis. E contra +in Avibus, Pectorales Musculi vastissimi sunt, & aquant, imò excedunt, +& magìs pendent, quàm reliqui omnes Musculi ejusdem Avis simul sumpti._ +Borell. de Mot. Animal. Vol. I. Prop. 184. + +Mr. _Willughby_ having made the like Observation, hath this Reflection on +it, _whence, if it be possible for Man to fly, it is thought by them who +have curiously weighed and considered the matter, that he would attempt +such a Thing with Hopes of Success, must so contrive and adapt his Wings, +that he may make use of his Legs, and not his Arms in managing them_: +(because the Muscles of the Legs are stronger, as he observes.) Willugh. +Ornith. L. 1. c. 1. §. 19. + +[g] Mr. _Willughby_, _Ray_, and many others, imagine the principal use +of the Tail to be to steer, and turn the Body in the Air, as a Rudder. +But _Borelli_ hath put it beyond all doubt, that this is the least use of +it, and that it is chiefly to assist the Bird in its Ascents and Descents +in the Air, and to obviate the Vacillations of the Body and Wings. For +as for turning to this or that Side, it is performed by the Wings and +Inclination of the Body, and but very little by the help of the Tail. + +[h] See _Borelli ubi supr._ Prop. 182, _&c._ + +[i] It is considerable in all Water-Fowl, how exactly their Legs and +Feet correspond to that way of Life. For either their Legs are long, to +enable them to wade in the Waters: In which case, their Legs are bare +of Feathers a good way above the Knees, the more conveniently for this +Purpose. Their Toes also are all abroad; and in such as bear the Name +of _Mudsuckers_, two of the Toes are somewhat joined, that they may +not easily sink in walking upon boggy Places. And as for such as are +whole-footed, or whose Toes are webbed together (excepting some few) +their Legs are generally short, which is the most convenient Size for +Swimming. And ’tis pretty enough to see how artificially they gather up +their Toes and Feet when they withdraw their Legs, or go to take their +Stroke; and as artificially again extend or open their whole Foot, when +they press upon, or drive themselves forward in the Waters. + +[k] Some of the Characteristicks of Rapacious Birds, are, _to have +hooked, strong, and sharp-pointed Beaks and Talons, fitted for Rapine, +and tearing of Flesh; and strong and brawny Thighs, for striking down +their Prey._ Willughby Ornith. L. 2. c. 1. Raii Synops. Av. Method. p. 1. + +[l] Such Birds as climb, particularly those of the _Wood-pecker_ Kind, +have for this Purpose (as Mr. _Willughby_ observes, L. 2. c. 4.) 1. +Strong and musculous Thighs. 2. Short Legs and very strong. 3. Toes +standing two forwards and two backwards. Their Toes also are close joined +together, that they may more strongly and firmly lay hold on the Tree +they climb upon. 4. All of them——have a hard stiff Tail bending also +downwards, on which they lean, and so bear up themselves in climbing. + +[m] _Swifts_ and _Swallows_ have remarkably short Legs, especially the +former, and their Toes grasp any Thing very strongly. All which is useful +to them in building their Nests, and other such Occasions as necessitate +them to hang frequently by their Heels. But there is far greater use of +this Structure of their Legs and Feet, if the Reports be true of their +hanging by the Heels in great Clusters (after the manner of Bees) in +Mines and Grotto’s, and on the Rocks by the Sea, all the Winter. Of +which latter, I remember the late learned Dr. _Fry_ told this Story at +the University, and confirmed it to me since, _viz._ That an ancient +Fisherman, accounted an honest Man, being near some Rocks on the Coast of +_Cornwal_, saw at a very low Ebb, a black List of something adhering to +the Rock, which when he came to examine, he found it was a great Number +of _Swallows_, and, if I misremember not, of _Swifts_ also, hanging by +the Feet to one Another, as Bees do; which were covered commonly by the +Sea-Waters, but revived in his warm Hand, and by the Fire. All this the +Fisherman himself assured the Doctor of. Of this, see more, _Chap. 3. +Note (d)_ of this Book. + +[n] In Birds that frequent not the Waters, the Wings are in the Center +of Gravity, when the Bird lies along, as in Flying; but when it stands +or walks, the Erection of the Body throws the Center of Gravity upon the +Thighs and Feet. + +[o] See _Chap. 4. Note (k)._ + + + + +CHAP. II. + +_Of the HEAD, STOMACH, and other Parts of Birds._ + + +Thus having dispatched the Parts principally concerned in the Motion +of the _Feather’d Tribe_, let us proceed to some other Parts not yet +animadverted upon. And we will begin with the _Head_, concerning which +I have already taken notice of its Shape for making way through the +Air; of the make of the _Bill_, for gathering Food, and other Uses; the +commodious Situation of the _Eye_; and I might add that of the _Ear_ +too, which would be in the way, and obstruct Flight, if ’twas like that +of most other Animals: Also I might say a great deal of the Conformation +of the _Brain_, and of the Parts therein wanting, and of others added, +like to what is observable in Fishes; whose Posture in the Waters +resembles that of Birds in the Air[a], and both very different from Man +and Beasts; and lastly, to hint at no more, I might survey the peculiar +Structure of the _Larynx_[b], the _Tongue_[c], the inner _Ear_[d], and +many Matters besides; but for a Sample, I shall only insist upon the +wonderful Provision in the Bill for the judging of the Food, and that +is by peculiar Nerves lodged therein for that Purpose; small and less +numerous in such as have the Assistance of another Sense, the Eye; but +large, more numerous, and thickly branched about, to the very End of the +Beak, in such as hunt for their Food out of Sight in the Waters, in Mud, +or under Ground[e]. + +And now from the Head and Mouth, pass we to its near Ally, the Stomach, +another no less notable than useful Part; whether we consider the +Elegancy of its Fibres and Muscles, or its Multiplicity; one to soften +and macerate, another to digest; or its Variety, suited to various Foods, +some membraneous, agreeable to the frugivorous, or carnivorous Kind; same +musculous and strong[f], suited to the Comminution, and grinding of Corn +and Grain, and so to supply the Defect of Teeth. + +And now to this Specimen of the Parts, I might add many other Things, +no less curiously contriv’d, made and suited to the Occasions of these +Volatiles; as particularly the Stratum and Lodgment of the _Lungs_[g]; +the Configuration of the _Breast_, and its Bone, made like a Keel, for +commodious Passage through the Air, to bear the large and strong Muscles, +which move the Wings, and to counterpoise the Body, and support and rest +it upon at roost. The _Neck_ also might deserve our Notice, always either +exactly proportion’d to the Length of the Legs, or else longer, to hunt +out Food, to search in the Waters[h]; as also to counterpoise the Body +in Flight[i]. And lastly, I might here take Notice of the Defect of the +Diaphragm, so necessary in other Animals to Respiration; and also of +divers other Parts redundant, defective, or varying from other Animals. +But it would be tedious to insist upon all; and therefore to the Examples +already given, I would rather recommend a nice Inspection[k], of those +curious Works of God, which would be manifest Demonstrations of the +admirable Contrivance and Oeconomy of the Bodies of those Creatures. + +From the Fabrick therefore of their Bodies, I shall pass to a Glance of +one or two Things, relating to their _State_; and so conclude this Genus +of the animal World. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Cerebra Hominum & Quadrupedum in plerisque similia +existunt——Capitibus Volucrum & Piscium contenta, ab utrisque prioribus +longè diversa, tamen inter se, quoad præcipuas ἐγκεφάλου partes, Symbola +reperiuntur._ The Particulars wherein the Brains of Birds and Fishes +agree with one another, and wherein they differ from the Brain of Man and +Beasts, see in the same justly famous Author, _Willis Cereb. Anat._ c. 5. + +[b] _Circa bifurcationem Asperæ Arteriæ, elegans Artificis liberè agentis +indicium detegitur ex Avium comparatione cum Quadrupedibus: cùm Vocis +gratia in diversis Avibus diversam musculorum fabricam bifurcationi +Asperæ Arteriæ dederit, quorum nullum vestigium extat in Homine & +Quadrupedibus mihi visis, ubi omnes vocis musculos capiti Arteriæ junxit. +In Aquilâ, ~&c.~ supra bifurcationem, ~&c.~_ Steno in Blas. Anat. Animal. +P. 2. c. 4. + +The _Aspera Arteria_ is very remarkable in the _Swan_, which is thus +described by _T. Bartholin_, viz. _Aspera Arteria admirandæ satìs +structuræ. Nam pro Colli longitudine deorsum Oesophagi comes protenditur +donec ad sternum perveniat, in cujus capsulam se incurvo flexu insinuat +& recondit, velut in tuto loco & thecâ, moxque ad fundum ejusdem +cavitatis delata sursum reflectitur, egrediturque angustias Sterni, & +Claviculis mediis concensis, quibus ut fulcro nititur, ad Thoracem se +flectit——Miranda hercle modis omnibus constitutio & Respriationi inservit +& Voci. Nam cùm in stagnorum fundo edulia pro victu quærat, longissimo +indiguis collo, ne longa mora suffocationis incurreret periculum. Et +certè dum dimidiam fere horam toto Capite & Collo pronis vado immergitur, +pedibus in altum elatis cœloque obversis, ex eâ Arteriæ quæ pectoris +dictæ vaginæ reclusa est portione, tanquam ex condo promo spiritum +haurit._ Blas. ib. c. 10. + +[c] The Structure of the _Tongue_ of the _Wood-Pecker_ is very singular +and remarkable, whether we look at its great Length, its Bones and +Muscles, its encompassing part of the Neck and Head, the better to exert +it self in Length; and again, to retract it into its Cell; and lastly, +whether we look at its sharp, horny, bearded Point, and the glewy Matter +at the end of it, the better to stab, to stick unto, and draw out little +Maggots out of Wood. _Utilis enim Picis_ (saith _Coiter_) _ad Vermiculos, +Formicas, aliaque Insectæ venanda talis Lingua foret. Siquidem Picus, +innata suâ sagacitate cùm deprehendit alibi in arboribus, vel carie, +vel aliâ de causâ cavatis, Vermes insectaque delitescere, ad illas +volitat, seseque digitis, ungulisque posterioribus robustissimis, & Caudæ +pennis rigidissimis sustentat, donec valido ac peracuto Rostro arborent +pertundat; arbore pertusâ, foramini rostrum immittit, ac quo animacula +stridore excitet percellatque, magnam in arboris cavo emittit vocem, +insecta vociferatione hâc concitata huc illucque repunt; Picus v. linguam +suam exerit, atque aculeis, hamisque animalia infigit, infixa attrahit & +devorat._ Vid. Blasii ubi supra. P. 2. c. 24. + +[d] I have before, in _Book IV. Chap. 3. Note (u)_, taken notice of what +others have observed concerning the _inner Ear_ of _Birds_, reserving my +own Observations for this Place: Which I hope may be acceptable, not only +for being some of them new, but also shewing the Mechanism of Hearing in +general. + +In this Organ of Birds, I shall take notice only of three Parts, the +_Membranes_ and _Cartilages_; the _Columella_; and the _Conclave_: The +_Drum_, as some call it, or _Membrana Tympani_, as others, consists of +two Membranes, the Outer, which covers the whole _Meatus_, Bason or +_Drum_, (as some call it) and the inner Membrane. To support, distend +and relax the outermost, there is one single Cartilage, reaching from +the Side of the _Meatus_, to near the middle of the Membrane. On the top +of the _Columella_ is another Cartilage, consisting of three Branches, +_a.b.c._ in Fig. 23. The longest middle Branch _a_. is joined to the +top of the single upper Cartilage before spoken of, and assists it to +bear up the upper outer Membrane: The two Branches, _b.c._ are joined to +the _Os Petrosum_, at some distance from the outer Membrane: Upon this +inner Cartilage, is the inner Membrane fixed, the two outer Sides of +which, _a.b._ and _a.c._ are joined to the outer Membrane, and make a +kind of three-square Bag. The Design of the two Branches or Legs of the +Cartilage, _b.c._ are I conceive to keep the _Cartilage_ and _Columella_ +from wavering side-ways, and to hinder them from flying too much back: +There is a very fine slender Ligament extended from the opposite side, +quite cross the _Meatus_ or Bason, to the Bottom of the _Cartilage_, near +its joining to the _Columella_. Thus much for the _Membranæ Tympani_, and +their _Cartilages_. + +The next Part is the _Columella_ (as _Schelhammer_ calls it.) This is a +very fine, thin, light, bony Tube; the Bottom of which spreads about, +and gives it the Resemblance of a wooden Pot-lid, such as I have seen +in Country-Houses. It exactly shuts into, and covers a _Foramen_ of +the _Conclave_, to which it is braced all round, with a fine subtile +Membrane, composed of the tender Auditory Nerve. This Bottom or Base of +the _Columella_, I call the _Operculum_. + +The last Part, which some call the _Labyrinth_ and _Cochlea_, consisting +of Branches more like the _Canalos Semicirculares_ in Man, than the +_Cochlea_, I call the _Conclave Auditûs_. It is (at in most other +Animals) made of hard context Bone. In most of the Birds I have opened, +there are _circular Canals_, some larger, some lesser, crossing one +another at right Angles, which open into the _Conclave_. But in the +_Goose_ it is otherwise, there being cochleous Canals, but not like +those of other Birds. In the _Conclave_, at the Side opposite to the +_Operculum_, the tender Part of the _Auditory Nerve_ enters, and lineth +all those inner retired Parts, _viz._ the _Conclave_ and _Canals_. + +As to the _Passages_, _Columnæ_, and other Parts observable in the Ear +of Birds, I shall pass them by, it being sufficient to my Purpose, to +have described the Parts principally concerned in the Act of Hearing. +And as the Ear is in Birds the most simple and incomplex of any Animals +Ear; so we may from it make an easy and rational Judgment, how _Hearing_ +is performed, _viz._ _Sound_ being a _Tremor_, or _Undulation_ in the +Air, caused by the Collision of Bodies, doth as it moves along, strike +upon the _Drum_, or _Membrana Tympani_ of the Ear: Which Motion, whether +strong or languid, shrill or soft, tuneful or not, is at the same Instant +impressed upon the _Cartilages_, _Columella_, and _Operculum_, and so +communicated to the _Auditory Nerve_ in the _Conclave_. + +And now if we compare the Organ and Act of Hearing, with those of Sight, +we shall find, that the _Conclave_ is to Hearing, as the _Retina_ is +to Sight; that sonorous Bodies make their Impressions thereby on the +Brain, as visible Objects do by the _Retina_. Also, that as there is an +_Apparatus_ in the Eye, by the opening and shutting of the Pupil, to make +it correspond to all the Degrees of Light, so there is in the Ear to +make it conformable to all the Degrees of Sound, a noble Train of little +Bones and Muscles in Man, _&c._ to strain and relax the Membrane, and +at the same Time to open and shut the _Basis_ of the _Stapes_ (the same +as what I call the _Operculum_ in Birds:) But in Birds, there is a more +simple, but sufficient _Apparatus_ for this Purpose, tender Cartilages, +instead of Bones and Joints, to correspond to the various Impressions of +Sounds, and to open and shut the _Operculum_. Besides which, I suspect +the Ligament I mentioned, is only the Tendon of a Muscle, reaching to the +inner _Membrana Tympani_, and joined thereto (as I find by a stricter +Scrutiny) and not to the Cartilage, as I imagined. By this Muscle, the +inner Membrane, and by Means of that the Outer also can be distended or +relaxed, as it is in Man, by the _Malleus_ and its Muscle, _&c._ + +[e] _Flat-billed Birds, that grope for their Meat, have three Pair of +Nerves, that come into their Bills, whereby they have that Accuracy to +distinguish what is proper for Food, and what to be rejected by their +Taste, when they do not see it. This was most evident in a Duck’s Bill +and Head; a Duck having larger Nerves that come into their Bills than +Geese, or any other Bird that I have seen; and therefore quaffer and +grope out their Meat the most. But then I discovered none of these Nerves +in round-bill’d Birds. But since, in my Anatomies in the Country, in a +Rook, I first observed two Nerves that came down betwixt the Eyes into +the upper Bill, but considerably smaller than any of the three Pair of +Nerves, in the Bills of Ducks, but larger than the Nerves in any other +round-bill’d Birds. And ’tis remarkable that these Birds, more than any +other round-bill’d Birds, seem to grope for their Meat in Cow-dung, +~&c.~_ _Mr._ J. Clayton, _in_ Philos. Transact. Nᵒ. 206. + +_I observ’d three Pair of Nerves in all the broad-bill’d Birds that I +could meet with, and in all such at feel for their Food out of Sight, +as Snipes, Woodcocks, Curlews, Geese, Ducks, Teals, Widgeons, ~&c.~ +These Nerves are very large, equalling almost the Optic Nerve in +Thickness.——Two are distributed nigh the End of the upper Bill, and are +there very much expanded, passing through the Bone into the Membrane, +lining the Roof of the Mouth._ Dr. _A. Moulen_. Ibid. Nᵒ. 199. Or both in +Mr. _Lowthorp_’s Abridg. V. 2. p. 861, 862. + +[f] The _Gizzard_ is not only made very strong, especially in the +Granivorous; but hath also a Faculty of Grinding what is therein. For +which Purpose, the Bird swalloweth rough Stones down, which, when grown +smooth, are rejected and cast out of the Stomach, as useless. This +Grinding may be heard in Falcons, Eagles, _&c._ by laying the Ear close +to them, when their Stomachs are empty, as the famous Dr. _Harvey_ saith. +_De Generat. Exer._ 7. + +As to the Strength of the _Gizzard_, and the Use of Stones to the +Digestion of Fowls, divers curious Experiments may be met with, try’d by +_Seigneur Redi_, with glass Bubbles, solid Glass, Diamonds, and other +hard Bodies. See his _Exp. Nat._ + +[g] It is no less remarkable in Birds, that their _Lungs_ adhere to the +_Thorax_, and have but little play, than that to other Animals they +are loose, and play much, which is a good Provision for their steady +Flight. Also they want the _Diaphragm_, and instead thereof, have divers +large Bladders made of thin transparent Membranes, with pretty large +Holes out of one into the other. These Membranes seem to me to serve +for _Ligaments_, or _Braces_ to the _Viscera_, as well as to contain +Air. Towards the upper Part, each Lobe of the Lungs is perforated in two +Places, with large Perforations; whereof one is towards the outer, the +other towards the inner Part of the Lobe. Through these Perforations, the +Air hath a Passage into the Belly, (as in _Book I. Chap. 1. Note (b)_;) +that is, into the foremention’d Bladders; so that by blowing into the +_aspera Arteria_, the Lungs will be a little rais’d, and the whole Belly +blown up, so as to be very turgid. Which doubtless is a Means to make +their Bodies more or less buoyant, according as they take in more or less +Air, to facilitate thereby, their Ascents, and Descents: Like as it is in +the _Air-bladders_ of Fishes, in the last cited Place. _Note (i)._ + +[h] _Such Birds as have long Legs, have also a long Neck; for that +otherwise they could not commodiously gather up their Food, either on +Land, or in the Water. But on the other Side, those which have long +Necks, have not always long Legs, as in Swans——whose Necks serve them to +reach to the Bottom of Rivers, ~&c.~_ Willughby’s Ornithol. L. 1. c. 1. +§. 7. + +[i] We have sufficient Instances of this in _Geese_, _Ducks_, &c. whose +Wings, (their Bodies being made for the Convenience of Swimming,) are +plac’d out of the Center of Gravity, nearer the Head. But the extending +the Neck and Heads in Flight, causeth a due Æquipoise and Libration of +the Body upon the Wing. Which is another excellent Use of the long Necks +of these Birds, besides that of reaching and searching in the Waters for +their Food. + +But in the _Heron_, whose Head and long Neck, (although tuck’d up in +Flight,) over-balance the hinder Part of the Body; the long Legs are +extended in Flight, to counterpoise the Body, as well as to supply what +is wanting in the Tail, from the Shortness of it. + +[k] _Steno_ thus Concludes his Myology of the Eagle, _Imperfecta +hæc Musculorum descriptio, non minùs arida est Legentibus, quàm +Inspectantibus fuerit jucunda eorundem præparatio. Elegantissima enim +Mechanices artificia, creberrimè in illis obvia, verbis non nisi +obscure exprimuntur, carnium autem ductu, tendinum colore, insertionum +proportione, & trochlearam distributione oculis exposita omnem superant +admirationem._ Steno in Blas. Anat. Animal. P. 2. c. 4. + + + + +CHAP. III. + +_Of the MIGRATION of Birds._ + + +Concerning the _State_ of this Tribe of _Animals_, the first Thing I +shall speak of, (by Reason God himself instanceth in it,) shall be their +Migration, mention’d, _Jer._ viii. 7. _Yea, the Stork in the Heaven +knoweth her appointed Times, and the Turtle, and the Crane, and the +Swallow observe the Time of their Coming; but my People, ~&c.~_ + +In which Act of Migration, there are two Things to me, exceedingly +notable. One is what the Text speaks of, their knowing their proper Times +for their _Passage_, when to come[a], when to go; as also that some +should come when others go; and some others go when these come. There is +no doubt but the Temperature of the Air, as to Heat and Cold, and their +natural Propensity to breed their Young; may be great Incentives to those +Creatures to change their Habitation: But yet it is a very odd Instinct, +that they should at all shift their Habitation: That some certain +Place is not to be found in all the terraqueous Globe, affording them +convenient Food and Habitation all the Year, either in the colder Climes, +for such as Delight in the colder Regions, or the hotter, for such _Birds +of Passage_ as fly to us in Summer. + +Also it is somewhat strange, that those untaught, unthinking Creatures, +should so exactly know the best and only proper Seasons to go and +come. This gives us good Reason to interpret the מועדיה _appointed +times_[b], in the Text, to be such Times as the Creator hath appointed +those Animals, and hath accordingly, for this End, imprinted upon their +Natures such an Instinct, as exciteth and moveth them thus, at proper +Times, to fly from a Place that would obstruct their Generation, or not +afford convenient Food for them, and their Young, and betake themselves +to another Place, affording all that is wanting for Food or Incubation. + +And this leads me to another Thing remarkable in this Act of Migration; +and that is, That those unthinking Creatures should know what Way to +steer their Course[c] and whither to go. What but the great Creator’s +Instinct should ever move a poor foolish Bird, to venture over vast +Tracts of Land, but especially over large Seas? If it should be said, +That by their high Ascents up into the Air, they can see cross the Seas; +yet what should teach or persuade them, that that Land is more proper for +their Purpose, than this? That _Britain_, (for Instance,) should afford +them better Accommodations than _Ægypt_[d], than the _Canaries_, than +_Spain_, or any of those many intermediate Places over which some of +them probably fly. + +And lastly, to all this, let us briefly add the Accommodations these +_Birds of Passage have_, to enable them to take such long Flights, _viz._ +the Length of their Wings, or their more than ordinary Strength[e] for +Flight. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Curiosa res est, scire, quàm exacte hoc genus avium, ~[Gruum]~ +quontannis observet tempora sui reditûs ad nos. Anno 1667. primæ Grues +comparuerunt in campestribus Pisæ 20 Feb. ~&c.~_ F. Redi Exp. Nat. p. +100. ubi plura. + +[b] From יעד _indixit_, _constituit_, _scil locum, vel tempus, ubi +vel quando aliquid fieri debet_. Buxt. in verb. + +_De voluntate suâ certiorem reddidit._ Con. Kircher concordant. Pars. +1. Col. 1846. מועד _Generaliter pro re aliguâ certà, artestatâ, & +definitâ accipitur. 1. Pro tempore certo & constituto. 2. Deinde pro +sesto seu Solennitate, quæ certo & stato tempore celebratur. 3. Pro loco +certo constituto._ Id. ibid. Col. 1847. + +[c] _Quis non cum admiratione videat ordinem & politiam peregrinantium +Avium, in itinere, turmatim volantium, per longos terrarum & maris +tractus absque Acu marinâ?——Quis eas certum iter in aëris mutabili +regione docuit? Quis præteritæ signa, & futuræ viæ indicia; quis eas +ducit, nutrit, & vitæ necessaria ministrat? Quis insulas & hospitia, +illa, in quibus victum reperiant, indicavat; modumque ejusmodi loca in +peregrinationibus suis inveniendi? Hæc sanè superant hominum captum & +industriam, qui non nisi longis experientiis, multis itinerariis, chartis +geographicis,——& acûs magneticæ beneficio,——ejusmodi marium & terrarum +tractus conficere tentant & audent._ Lud. de Beaufort. Cosmop. divina +Sect. 5. c. 1. + +[d] I instance particularly in _Ægypt_, because Mr. _Willughby_ thinks +_Swallows_ fly thither, and into _Æthiopia_, &c. and that they do +nor lurk in Holes, or under Water, as _Olaus Magnus_ Reports. _Vid._ +_Ornith._ L. 2. c. 3. But _Etmuller_ puts the Matter out of doubt; who +saith, _Memini me plures, quàm quas Medimnus caperit, Hirundines arcte +coacervatas intra Piscinæ cannas, sub glacie prorsus ad sensum exanimes +pulsantes tamen, reperiisse._ Etmuller Dissert. 2. c. 10. §. 5. This +as it is like what _Ol. Magnus_ saith, so is a Confirmation of it. +The Archbishop’s Account is, _In Septentrionalibus aquis sæpius casu +Piscatoris extrahuntur Hirundines, in modum conglemeratæ massæ, quæ +ore ad os, & alâ ad alam, & pede ad pedem post principium autumni sese +inter cannas descensuræ colligârunt.——Massa autem illa per imperitos +adolescentes——extracta, atque in æstuaria portata, caloris accessu +Hirundines resolutæ, volare quidem incipiunt, sed exiguo tempore durant._ +Ol. Mag. Hist. L. 19. c. 20. + +Since my penning this Note, we had, at a Meeting of the Royal-Society, +_Feb. 12. 1712-13._ a farther Confirmation of _Swallows_ retiring under +Water in Winter, from Dr. _Golas_, a Person very curious in these +Matters; who speaking of their Way of Fishing in the northern Parts, by +breaking Holes, and drawing their Nets under the Ice, saith, that he saw +sixteen Swallows so drawn out of the _Lake of Samrodt_, and about Thirty +out of the King’s great Pond in _Rosineilen_; and that at _Schlebitten_, +near an House of the Earl of _Dohna_, he saw two Swallows just come out +of the Waters, that could scarce stand, being very wet and weak, with +their Wings hanging on the Ground: And that he hath observ’d the Swallows +to be often weak for some Days after their Appearance. + +[e] As _Swallows_ are well accommodated for long Flights, by their long +Wings, so are _Quails_ by the Strength of their _pectoral Muscles_, by +the Breadth of their Wings, _&c._ For Quails have but short Wings for the +Weight of their Body; and yet they fly from us into warmer Parts, against +Winter, and to us in Spring, crossing our Seas. So divers Travellers tell +us they cross the _Mediterranean_ twice a Year, flying from _Europe_ to +_Africa_, and back again: Thus _Bellonius_ in Mr. _Willughby_, saith, +When we sail’d from _Rhodes_ to _Alexandria_ of _Ægypt_, many Quails +flying from the North towards the South, were taken in our Ship; _whence +I am verily persuaded, that they shift Places: For formerly also, when +I sail’d out of the Isle of ~Zant~ to ~Morea~, or ~Negropont~, in the +Spring Time, I had observ’d ~Quails~ flying the contrary Way, from +~South~ to ~North~, that they might abide there all Summer. At which Time +also, there were a great many taken in our Ship._ Ornith. p. 170. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +_Of the INCUBATION of Birds._ + + +Another Thing relating to the State of this Tribe of Animals, is their +_Incubation_. + +And first, the _Egg_ it self deserves our Notice. Its Parts within, and +its crusty Coat without, are admirably well fitted for the Business of +Incubation. That there should be one Part provided for the Formation +of the Body[a], before its Exit into the World, and another for its +Nourishment, after it is come into the World, till the Bird is able to +shift for, and help it self; and that these Parts should be so accurately +brac’d, and kept in due Place[b], is certainly a design’d, as well as +curious Piece of Workmanship. + +And then as to the Act it self, of _Incubation_, What a prodigious +Instinct is it in all, or almost all the several Species of Birds, that +they, and only they, of all Creatures, should betake themselves to this +very Way of Generation? How should they be aware that their Eggs contain +their Young, and that their Production is in their Power[c]? What should +move them to betake themselves to their Nests, and there with Delight and +Patience to abide the due Number of Days? And when their Young are gotten +into the World, I have already shewn how admirable their Art, their Care, +and Στοργὴ is in bringing them up until, and only until, they are able to +shift for themselves. + +And lastly, when almost the whole Tribe of Birds, do thus by Incubation, +produce their Young, it is a wonderful Deviation, that some few Families +only, should do it in a more novercal Way[d], without any Care or +Trouble at all, only by laying their Eggs in the Sand, exposed to the +Heat and Incubation of the Sun. Of this the Holy Scripture it self +gives us an Instance in the Ostrich: Of which we have an Hint, _Lam._ +iv. 3. _The Daughter of my People is become cruel, like the Ostriches +in the Wilderness._ This is more plainly expressed in _Job_ xxxix. 14, +15, 16, 17. _~[The Ostrich]~ leaveth her Eggs in the Earth, and warmeth +them in the Dust, and forgetteth that the Foot may crush them, or that +the Wild-Beast may break them. She is hardened against her Young ones, +as though they were not hers: Her Labour is in vain, without Fear. +Because God hath deprived her of Wisdom, neither hath he imparted unto +her Understanding._ In which Words I shall take notice of three Things, +1. Of this anomalous Way of Generation. It is not very strange, that +no other Incubation but that of the Sun, should produce the Young; +but ’tis very odd and wonderful that any one Species should vary from +all the rest of the Tribe. But above all, 2. The singular Care of the +Creator, in this Case, is very remarkable, in supplying some other Way +the Want of the Parent-Animals Care and Στοργὴ[e], so that the Young +should notwithstanding be bred up in those large and barren Desarts of +_Arabia_ and _Africa_, and such like Places where those Birds dwell, +the most unlikely and unfitting (in all human Opinion) to afford +Sustenance to young helpless Creatures; but the fittest therefore to +give Demonstrations of the Wisdom, Care, and especial Providence of the +infinite Creator and Conservator of the World. 3. The last Thing I shall +remark is, That the Instincts of Irrational Animals, at least of this +specified in the Text, is attributed to GOD. For the Reason the Text +gives why the _Ostrich is hardened against her young Ones, as though they +were not hers, is, Because _GOD_ hath deprived her of Wisdom, and not +imparted Understanding to her_; _i.e._ he hath denied her that Wisdom, he +hath not imparted that Understanding, that Στοργὴ, that natural Instinct +to provide for, and nurse up her Young, that most other Creatures of the +same, and other Tribes are endowed with. + +Thus I have dispatched what I intend to insist upon concerning the State +of this Set of Animals; of which, as also of their admirable Instincts, +a great deal more might deserve our especial Observation; particularly +the admirable Curiosity, Art, and Variety of Nidification[f], used among +the various Species of Birds; the great Sagacity, and many Artifices +used by them in the Investigation and Capture of their Prey[g], the due +Proportion of the more and less useful, the Scarcity of the Voracious +and Pernicious, and the Plenty of the Mansuete and Useful[h]. Also the +Variety of their Motion and Flight might deserve Consideration, the +Swiftness of such whose Food is to be sought in far distant Places, and +different Seasons[i]; the slower Motion and short Flights of others more +domestick; and even the Aukwardness of some others to Flight, whose +Food is near at hand, and to be gotten without any great Occasion of +Flight[k]. These and divers other such like Things as these, I say, I +might have spoken more largely unto; but I shall pass them by with only a +bare Mention, having already taken notice of them in the Company of other +Matters of the like Nature, and manifested them to be Acts of excellent +Design, Wisdom, and Providence, in the great Creator. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _The Chicken is form’d out of, and nourish’d by the White alone, +till it be grown great. The Yolk serves for the Chicken’s Nourishment, +after it is well grown, and partly also after it is hatch’d. For a +good Part of the Yolk remains after Exclusion, being receiv’d into the +Chicken’s Belly; and being there reserv’d, as in a Store-house, is by the +~Appendicula~, or ~Ductus intestinalis~, as by a Funnel, convey’d into +the Guts, and serves instead of Milk, ~&c.~_ Willugh. Ornith. L. 1. c. 3. +_Ipsum animal ex albo liquore Ovi corporatur. Cibus ejus in lutco est._ +Plin. L. 10. c. 53. + +_Aristotle_ saith, _The long sharp Eggs bring Females; the round ones, +with a larger Compass at the sharper End, Males._ Hist. An. L. 6. c. +2. After which, he tells of a Sott at _Syracuse_, that sate drinking +so long, till Eggs were hatch’d; as also of the Custom of _Ægypt_, of +hatching Eggs in Dunghills. + +[b] As the Shell and Skin keep the Yolk and two Whites together; so +each of the Parts, (the Yolk and inner White at least,) are separated +by Membranes, involving them. At each End of the Egg is a Treddle, so +call’d, because it was formerly thought to be the Sperm of the Cock. +_But the Use of these_, (saith Dr. _Harvey_ in _Willugh. Ornith._ c. 3.) +_is to be as ’twere, the Poles of this Microcosm, and the Connections +of all the Membranes twisted and knit together, by which the Liquors +are not only conserv’d, each in its Place, but do also retain their due +Position one to another._ This, although in a great Measure true, yet +doth not come up to what I have my self observ’d; for I find, that these +_Chalazæ_, or _Treddles_, serve not barely to keep the Liquors in their +Place, and Position to one another; but also to keep one and the same +Part of the Yolk uppermost, let the Egg be turn’d nearly which way it +will; which is done by this Mechanism: The _Chalazæ_ are specifically +lighter than the Whites, in which they swim; and being brac’d to the +Membrane of the Yolk, not exactly in the _Axis_ of the Yolk, but somewhat +out of it; causeth one Side of the Yolk to be heavier than the other; so +that the Yolk being by the _Chalazæ_ made buoyant, and kept swimming in +the Midst of two Whites, is by its own heavy Side kept with the same Side +always uppermost; which uppermost Side I have some Reason to think, is +that on which the _Cicatricula_ lies; that being commonly uppermost in +the Shell, especially in some Species of Eggs more I think than others. + +[c] All Birds lay a certain Number of Eggs, or nearly that Number, +and then betake themselves to their Incubation; but if their Eggs be +withdrawn, they will lay more. Of which, see Mr. _Ray_’s Wis. of God, p. +137. + +[d] The _Tabon_ is a Bird no bigger than a Chicken, but is said to lay an +Egg larger than a Goose’s Egg, and bigger than the Bird it self. These +they lay a Yard deep in the Sand, where they are hatch’d by the Warmth +of the Sun; after which they creep out, and get to Sea for Provisions. +_Navarett_’s _Account of China in Collect. of Voyages_, Vol. 1. This +Account is in all Probability borrow’d from _Nieremberg_, or _Hernandez_, +(that copy’d from him,) who call this Bird by the Name of _Daie_, and its +Eggs _Tapun_, not the Bird it self, as _Navarette_ doth. But my Friend +Mr. _Ray_ saith of it, _Historia isthæc proculdubio fabulosa & falsa est. +Quamvis enim Aves nonnulla maxima ova pariunt, ut v.g. ~Alkæ~, ~Lomwiæ~, +~Anates~, ~Arcticæ~, &c. hujusmodi tamen unum duntaxat, non plura ova +ponunt antequam incubent: nec ullam in rerum naturâ avem dari existimo +cujus ova albumine careant. Cum Albumen præcipua ovi pars sit, quodque +primum fœtus alimentum subministrat._ Raii Synop. Av. Method. p. 155. + +[e] _The Eggs of the Ostrich being buried in the Sand, are cherished only +by the Heat of the Sun, till the Young be excluded. For the Writers of +Natural History do generally agree, that the old Birds, after they have +laid and covered their Eggs in the Sand, forsake them, and take no more +Care of them._ Willugh. Ornith. L. 2. c. 8. §. 1. + +But there is another _Ostrich_ [of _America_] which _Acaret_ tells us of, +that takes more Care of her Young, by carrying four of her Eggs, a little +before she hatcheth, to four Parts of her Nest, there to breed Worms for +Food for her Young. _Acaret’s Disc. in Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 89. + +[f] See _Book IV. ch. 13._ + +[g] See _Book IV. ch. 11. and 14._ + +[h] See _Book IV. ch. 10._ beginn. + +[i] See _Book IV. ch. 8._ + +[k] The _Colymbi_, or _Douckers_, having their Food near at hand in +the Waters, are remarkably made for Diving therein. Their Heads are +small, Bills sharp-pointed, Wings small, Legs flat and broad, and placed +backward, and nearer the Tail than in Other Birds; and lastly, their +Feet; some are whole-footed, some cloven-footed, but withal fin-toed. +_Vid._ _Willugh. Ornith._ L. 3. §. 5. + + + + +CHAP. V. + +_The CONCLUSION._ + + +And now, if we reflect upon the whole Matter, we shall here find another +large Tribe of the Creation, abundantly setting forth the Wisdom and +Glory of their great Creator. We praise the Ingenuity and Invention of +Man, for the Contrivance of various pneumatick Engines; we think them +witty, even for their unsuccessful Attempts to swim in, and sail through +that subtle Element the Air; and the curious Mechanism of that Artist +is had in Remembrance, and praised to this Day, who made a Dove, or an +_Eagle_[a] to fly but a short Space. And is not therefore all imaginable +Honour and Praise due to that infinite Artist, that hath so admirably +contrived and made, all the noble Variety of Birds; that hath with such +incomparable Curiosity and Art, formed their Bodies from Head to Tail, +without and within, that not so much as any Muscle, or Bone, no, not even +a Feather[b] is unartificially made, misplaced, redundant, or defective, +in all the several Families of this large Tribe? But every Thing is so +incomparably performed, so nicely fitted up for Flight, as to surpass +even the Imitation of the most ingenious Artificer among mortal rational +Beings. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Vid._ _Book V. ch. 1. Note (aa)._ + +[b] _Deus non solùm Angelum, & Hominem, sed nec exigui & contemptibilis +animantis viscera, nec Avis pennulam, nec Herbæ flosculum, nec Arboris +folium sine suarum partium convenientiâ dereliquit._ Augustin. de Civ. +Dei, L. 5. c. 11. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK VIII. + +_Of INSECTS and REPTILES._ + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAP. I. + +_Of INSECTS in general._ + + +Having dispatch’d that Part of the animal World, which used to be +accounted the more perfect, those Animals styled less perfect or +imperfect, will next deserve a Place in our Survey, because when strictly +enquired into, we shall find them to be so far from deserving to be +accounted mean and despicable Parts of the Creation, owing their Original +and Production to Putrefactions, _&c._ as some have thought, that we +shall find them, I say, noble, and most admirable Works of _GOD_. For, +as the famous Natural Historian, _Pliny_[a], prefaceth his Treatise of +_Insects_, to prevent the Reproach of condescending (as might be thought) +to so mean a Subject: _In great Bodies_, saith he, _Nature had a large +and easy Shop to work upon obsequious Matter. Whereas_, saith he, _in +these so small, and as it were no Bodies, what Footsteps of Reason, what +Power, what great Perfection is there?_ Of this having given an Instance +or two of the exquisite Senses, and curious Make of some Insects[b], he +then goes on, _We admire_, saith he, _turrigerous Shoulders of Elephants, +the lofty Necks and Crests of others; but_, saith he, _the Nature of +Things is never more compleat than in the least Things._ For which Reason +he intreats his Readers (as I do mine) _that because they slighted +many of the Things themselves which he took notice of, they would not +therefore disdainfully condemn his Accounts of them, since, saith he, in +the Contemplation of Nature, nothing ought to seem superfluous._ + +Thus that eminent Naturalist hath made his own, and my Excuse too; the +Force and Verity whereof will farther appear, by what I shall say of +these Animals which (as despicable as they have been, or perhaps may +be thought) we shall find as exquisitely contrived, and curiously made +for that Place and Station they bear in the World, as any other Part of +the Animal World. For if we consider the innumerable Variety of their +Species, the prodigious Numbers of Individuals, the Shape and Make +of their little Bodies, and every Part thereof, their Motion, their +Instincts, their regular Generation and Production; and, to name no more, +the incomparable Beauty and Lustre of the Colours of many of them, what +more admirable and more manifest Demonstration of the infinite Creator, +than even this little contemned Branch of the Animal World? But let us +take a short View of Particulars. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _In magnis siquidem corporibus, ~&c.~_ Plin. Nat. Hist. L. 11. c. 2. + +[b] _Ubi tot sensus collocavit in Culice? Et sunt alla dictu minora. +Sed ubi Visum in eo prætendit: Ubi Gustatum applicavit? Ubi Odoratum +inferuit? Ubi verò truculentam illam & portione maximam vocem +ingeneravit? Quâ subtilitate Pennas adnexuit? prælongavit Pedum crura? +Desposuit jejunam Caveam, utì Alvum? Avidam Sanguinis, & potissimum +humani, sitim, accendit? Telum verò perfodiendo tergori, quo spiculavit +ingenio? Atque ut capaci, cùm cerni non possit exilitas, ita reciprocâ +geminavit arte, ut fodiendo acuminatum pariter sorbendoque fistulosum +esset. Quos Teredini ad perforanda Robora cum sono teste dentes affixit? +Potissimumque è ligno cibatum fecit: Sed turrigeros Elephantorum miramur +humeros, Taurorumque colla, & truces in sublime jactus, Tigrium rapinas, +Leonum jubas, cùm rerum natura nusquam magìs quàm in minimis, tota sit._ +Plin. ibid. + + + + +CHAP. II. + +_Of the ~Shape~ and ~Structure~ of INSECTS._ + + +Let us begin with the Shape and Fabrick of their Bodies. Which although +it be somewhat different from that of Birds, being particularly, for the +most part, not so sharp before, to cut and make way through the Air, yet +is better adapted to their manner of Life. For considering that there is +little Necessity of long Flights, and that the Strength and Activity of +their Wings doth much surpass the Resistance their Bodies meet with from +the Air, there was no great Occasion their Bodies should be so sharpened +before. But the Condition of their Food, and the Manner of gathering it, +together with the great Necessity of accurate Vision by that admirable +Provision made for them by the reticulated _Cornea_ of their Eyes; these +Things, I say, as they required a larger Room, so were a good Occasion +for the Largeness of the Head, and its Amplitude before. But for the rest +of their Body, all is well made, and nicely poised for their Flight, and +every other of their Occasions. + +And as their _Shape_; so the _Fabrick_ and _Make_ of their Bodies is no +less accurate, admirable, and singular; not built throughout with Bones, +and cover’d with Flesh and Skin, as in most other Animals; but cover’d +with a curious Mail of a middle Nature[a], serving both as Skin and Bone +too, for the Shape, as well as Strength and Guard of the Body, and as it +were on Purpose to shew that the great Contriver of Nature is not bound +up to one Way only. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Insecta non videntur Nervos habere, nec Ossa, nec Spinas, nec +Cartilaginem, nec Pinguia, nec Carnes, ne crustam quidem fragilem, ut +quædam marina, nec quæ jure dicatur Curis: sed media cujusdam inter omnia +hæc naturæ corpus, ~&c.~_ Plin. N. H. L. 11. c. 4. + + + + +CHAP. III. + +_Of the ~Eyes~ and ~Antennæ~ of INSECTS._ + + +To this last-mention’d Guard, we may add, that farther Guard provided in +the _Eyes_ and _Antennæ_. The Structure of the Eye, is, in all Creatures, +an admirable Piece of Mechanism; but that observable in the Eyes of +Insects so peculiar, that it must needs excite our Admiration: Fenced +with its own Hardness, yea, even its own accurate Vision, is a good Guard +against external Injuries; and its _Cornea_, or outward Coat, all over +beset with curious, transparent, lenticular[a] Inlets, enabling those +Creatures to see, (no doubt,) very accurately every Way, without any +Interval of Time or Trouble to move the Eye towards Objects. + +And as for the other Part, the _Antennæ_, or _Feelers_, whatever their +Use may be in cleaning the Eyes, or other such like use; they are, in all +Probability, a good Guard to the Eyes and Head, in their Walk and Flight, +enabling them, by the Sense of Feeling, to discover such Annoyances, +which by their Proximity may perhaps escape the Reach of the Eyes and +Sight[b]. Besides which, they are a curious Piece of Workmanship, and in +many, a very beautiful Piece of[c] Garniture to the Body. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] The _Cornea_ of Flies, Wasps, _&c._ are so common an Entertainment +with the Microscope, that every body knows it is a curious Piece of +Lattice-work. In which this is remarkable, that every _Foramen_ is of a +lenticular Nature; so that we see Objects through them topsey-turvey, +as through so many convex Glasses: Yea, they become a small Telescope, +when there is a due focal Distance between them and the _Lens_ of the +Microscope. + +This lenticular Power of the _Cornea_, supplies, (as I imagine,) the +Place of the Crystalline, if not of the vitreous Humour too, there being +neither of those Humours that I could ever find, (although for Truth +Sake, I confess I have not been so diligent as I might in this Enquiry;) +but instead of _Humours_ and _Tunicks_, I imagine that every _Lens_ of +the _Cornea_, hath a distinct Branch of the _optick Nerve_ ministring to +it, and rendring it as so many distinct Eyes. So that as most Animals +are binocular, Spiders for the most Part octonocular, and some, (as Mr. +_Willughby_ thought, _Raii Hist. Insect._ p. 12.) senocular; so Flies, +_&c._ are multocular, having as many Eyes as there are Perforations in +their _Cornea_. By which Means, as other Creatures are oblig’d to turn +their Eyes to Objects, these have some or other of their Eyes ready +plac’d towards Objects, nearly all round them: Thus particularly it is +in the _Dragon-Fly_, (_Libella_,) the greatest Part of whose Head is +possess’d by its Eyes: Which is of excellent Use to that predatious +Insect, for the ready seeing and darting at small Flies all round it, on +which it preys. + +[b] It is manifest, that Insects clean their Eyes with their Fore-legs, +as well as _Antennæ_. And considering, that as they walk along, they are +perpetually feeling, and searching before them, with their _Feelers_, or +_Antennæ_; therefore I am apt to think, that besides wiping and cleaning +the Eyes, the Uses here nam’d may be admitted. For as their Eyes are +immoveable, so that no Time is requir’d for the turning their Eyes to +Objects; so there is no Necessity of the _Retina_, or _optick Nerve_ +being brought nigher unto, or set farther off from the _Cornea_, (which +would require Time,) as it is in other Animals: But their _Cornea_ and +_optick Nerve_, being always at one and the same Distance, are fitted +only to see distantial Objects, but not such as are very nigh: Which +Inconvenience the _Feelers_ obviate, lest it should be prejudicial, in +occasioning the Insect to run its Head against any Thing. + +And that this, rather than the wiping the Eyes, is the chief Use of the +_Feelers_, is farther manifest from the _Antennæ_ of the _Flesh-Fly_, +and many other Insects, which are short, and strait, and incapable +of being bent unto, or extended over the Eyes: As also from others +enormously long, such as those of the _Capricorni_, or _Goat-chasers_, +the _Cadew-Fly_, and divers others, both Beetles and Flies. + +[c] The lamellated _Antennæ_ of some, the clavellated of others, the +neatly articulated of others, the feather’d and divers other Forms of +others, of the _Scarab_, _Papilionaceous Gnat_, and other Kinds; are +surprizingly beautiful, when view’d through a Microscope. And in some, +those _Antennæ_ distinguish the Sexes: As in the _Gnat-kind_, all those +with Tufts, Feathers, and Brush-horns, are Males; those with short, +single shafted _Antennæ_, are Females. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +_Of the ~Parts~ and ~Motion~ of INSECTS._ + + +From the Head, pass we to the Members, concern’d in their Motion. +And here we have a copious Subject, if I was minded to expatiate. I +might take Notice of the admirable Mechanism in those that creep; the +curious Oars in those amphibious Insects that swim and walk[a]; the +incomparable Provision made in the Feet of such as walk, or hang upon +smooth Surfaces[b]; the great Strength and Spring in the Legs of such as +leap[c]; the strong and well-made Feet and Talons of such as dig[d]: And +to name no more, the admirable Faculty of such as cannot fly, to convey +themselves with Speed and Safety, by the Help of their Webs[e], or some +other Artifice to make their Bodies lighter than the Air[f]: These, and +a Multitude of other such like Things as these, I might, I say, take +Notice of, as great Evidences of the infinite Creator’s Wisdom: But lest +I should be too tedious, I will confine my Observations to the Legs and +Wings only. And these, at first View, we find to be incomparably fitted +up for their intended Service, not to over-load the body, not in the +least to retard it; but to give it the most proper and convenient Motion. +What, for Example, can be better contriv’d, and made for this Service, +than the Wings? Distended and strengthen’d by the finest Bones, and these +cover’d with the finest and lightest Membranes, some of them adorn’d with +neat and beautiful Feathers[g]; and many of them provided with the finest +Articulations, and Foldings, for the Wings to be withdrawn, and neatly +laid up in their _Vaginæ_, and Cases, and again readily extended for +Flight[h]. + +And then for the Poising of the Body, and keeping it upright, and steady +in Flight, it is an admirable Artifice and Provision for this Purpose; +in some, by four Wings[i]; and in such as have but two, by Pointels, and +Poises plac’d under the Wings, on each Side the Body. + +And lastly, It is an amazing Thing to reflect upon the surprizing +Minuteness, Art, and Curiosity of the[k] Joynts, the Muscles, the +Tendons, the Nerves, necessary to perform all the Motions of the Legs, +the Wings, and every other Part. I have already mention’d this in +the larger Animals; but to consider, that all these Things concur in +minute Animals, even in the smallest Mite; yea, the Animalcules, that, +(without good Microscopes,) escape our Sight; to consider, I say, that +those minutest Animals have all the Joynts, Bones, Muscles, Tendons +and Nerves, necessary to that brisk and swift Motion that many of them +have, is so stupendous a Piece of curious Art[l], as plainly manifesteth +the Power and Wisdom of the infinite Contriver of those inimitable +Fineries. But having nam’d those minute Animals, Why should I mention +only any one Part of their Bodies, when we have, in that little Compass, +a whole and compleat Body, as exquisitely form’d, and, (as far as our +Scrutiny can possibly reach,) as neatly adorn’d as the largest Animal? +Let us consider, that there we have Eyes, a Brain, a Mouth, a Stomach, +Entrails, and every other Part of an animal Body, as well as Legs +and Feet; and that all those Parts have each of them their necessary +_Apparatus_ of Nerves, of various Muscles, and every other Part that +other Insects have; and that all is cover’d and guarded with a well-made +Tegument, beset with Bristles, adorn’d with neat Imbrications, and many +other Fineries. And lastly, Let us consider in how little Compass all Art +and Curiosity may lie, even in a Body many Times less than a small Grain +of Sand[m]; so that the least Drop of Water can contain many of them, and +afford them also sufficient Room to dance and frisk about in[n]. + +Having survey’d as many of the Parts of Insects as I care to take +Notice of; I shall in the next Place say somewhat of their State, and +Circumstances of Life. And here I shall take Notice only of two Things, +which have been only hinted at before; but will deserve more particular +Consideration here, as being Acts of a wonderful Instinct; namely, +Their Security of themselves against Winter; and their special Care of +preserving their Species. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] All the Families of _Hydrocanthari_, _Notonecti_, &c. have their +hindmost Legs made very nicely, with commodious Joynts flat, and Bristles +on each Sides towards the End, serving for Oars to swim; and then, nearer +the Body, are two stiff Spikes, to enable them to walk when Occasion is. + +[b] I might here name divers Flies, and other Insects, who, besides their +sharp hook’d Nails, have alto skinny Palms to their Feet, to enable them +to stick on Glass, and other smooth Bodies, by Means of the Pressure of +the Atmosphere. But because the Example will illustrate another Work of +Nature, as well as this, I shall chuse a singular Piece of Mechanism, in +one of the largest Sorts of _Hydrocanthari_. Of these large ones there +are two Sorts, one largest, all black, with _Antennæ_ handsomely emboss’d +at the Ends. The other somewhat lesser, hardly so black, with capillary +_Antennæ_; the Forehead, Edges of the _Vaginæ_, and two Rings on the +_Thorax_, of a tawney Colour. The Female hath _Vaginæ_ prettily furrow’d, +the Male smooth. But that which is most to our Purpose in this Male, is a +Flap, or hollowish Cap near the middle Joynt of the Fore-legs; which when +clap’d on the Shoulders of the Female _in Coitu_, sticks firmly thereon: +After the Manner as I have seen Boys carry heavy Stones, with only a wet +Piece of Leather clap’d on the Top of the Stone. + +[c] Thus, _Grasshoppers_ and _Crickets_ have brawny strong Thighs, with +long, slender, but strong Legs, which enable them to leap with great +Agility and Strength. + +[d] I have wonder’d to see with what great Quickness, Art and Strength, +many _Vespæ-Ichneumons_, _Wild-Bees_, and _Beetles_, perforate the Earth; +yea, even Wood it self: But the most remarkable Animal to this Way, is +the _Mole-Cricket_ in _Book IV. Chap. 13. Note (s)._ + +[e] I have with Pleasure often seen Spiders dart out their Webs, and +sail away by the Help thereof. For the Manner of which, see Mr. _Lowth_, +Abridg. _Vol. 2. p. 794._ from Dr. _Lister_ and Dr. _Hulse_, who both +claim’d the Discovery thereof. And do both seem to have hit thereupon, +without any Foreknowledge of what each other hath discover’d, as is said +in the last cited Place, and as I more particularly find by Mr. _Ray_’s +_Philos._ Letters, Printed _Ann. 1718_. p. 95, _&c._ By which also I find +the two ingenious Doctors were very modest in their Claims, and very +amicable in the Matter. In one of Dr. _Lister_’s to Mr. _Ray_, he thinks +there is a fair Hint of the Darting of Spiders in _Arist. Hist. An._ L. +9. c. 39. And in _Pliny_, L. 11. c. 24. But for their Sailing, that the +Ancients are silent of, and he thinks it was seen first by him. And in +another Letter, _Jan. 20, 1670_, speaking of the Height Spiders are able +to fly, he saith, _The last ~October~, &c. I took Notice, that the Air +was very full of Webs, I forthwith mounted to the Top of the highest +Steeple on the Minster, ~[in York,]~ and could thence discern them yet +exceeding high above me. Some that fell, and were intangled upon the +Pinacles, I took and found them to be ~Lupi~: which Kind seldom or never +enter Houses, and cannot be suppos’d to have taken their Flight from the +Steeple._ + +[f] There are, (I imagine,) divers Animals, as well as Spiders, that +have some Way of Conveyance, as little known to us, as that of Spiders +formerly was. Thus the _Squillulæ_, _pulices Arborescentes_, and +_microscopical Animalcules_ of the stagnating Waters, so numerous in +them, as to discolour sometimes the Water, and make them look as if they +were tinged Red, Yellow or Green, or cover’d with a thick green Scum; all +which is nothing but Animalcules of that Colour. That these Creatures +have some Way of Conveyance, I conclude: because most stagnating Waters +are stock’d with them; new Pits and Ponds, yea, Holes and Gutters on the +Tops of Houses and Steeples. That they are not bred there by æquivocal +Generation, every ingenious, considering Philosopher will grant; that +they have not Legs for travelling so far, is manifest from Inspection: +And therefore I am apt to think, that they have some Faculty of inflating +their Bodies, or darting out Webs, and making their Bodies buoyant, +and lighter than Air; or their Bodies, when dry, may be lighter than +Air, and so they can swim from Place to Place; or the Eggs of such as +are oviparous, may be light enough to float in the Air. But then the +Viviparous, (as my late ingenious Friend, Mr. _Charles King_, shew’d +me the _Pulices aquat. arbores._ are; these I say,) can’t be this Way +accounted for. The Cause of these latter Suspicions was, that in the +Summer Months, I have seen the _Pulices arbores._ and the green Scum on +the Waters, (nothing but Animalcules, as I said,) lie in a Manner dry on +the Surface of the Waters; at which Time, (as I have shewn in _Book IV. +Chap. 11. Note (n)_,) those Animalcules copulate; and perhaps, they may +at the same Time change their Quarters, and seek out new Habitations for +their numerous Offspring, as well as themselves. + +[g] It is well known to all Persons any Way conversant in microscopical +Observations, that these elegant Colours of _Moths_, and _Butterflies_, +are owing to neat and well-made Feathers, set with great Curiosity and +Exactness in Rows, and good Order. + +[h] All that have _Elytra_, _Scarabs_ (who have whole _Elytra_, or +reaching to the _Podex_,) or the Ἡμικουλεόπτεροι, such as _Earwigs_, and +_Staphylini_ of all Sorts, do, by a very curious Mechanism, extend and +withdraw their membranaceous Wings, (wherewith they chiefly fly;) and it +is very pretty to see them prepare themselves for Flight, by thrusting +out, and unfolding their Wings; and again withdraw those Joynts, and +neatly fold in the Membranes, to be laid up safely in their _Elytra_ +or Cases. For which Service the Bones are well plac’d, and the Joynts +ministring thereunto are accurately contriv’d, for the most compendious, +and commodious folding up the Wings. + +[i] For the keeping the Body steady and upright in Flight, it generally +holds true, (if I mistake not,) that all bipennated Insects have _Poises_ +joyn’d to the Body, under the hinder Part of their Wings; but such as +have four Wings, or Wings with _Elytra_, none. If one of the Poises, or +one of the lesser auxiliary Wings be cut off, the Insect will fly as if +one Side overbalanc’d the other, until it falleth on the Ground; so if +both be cut of, they will fly aukwardly, and unsteadily, manifesting the +Defect of some very necessary Part. These _Poises_, or _Pointells_ are, +for the most Part, little Balls, set at the Top of a slender Stalk, which +they can move every Way at Pleasure. In some they stand alone, in others, +(as in the whole _Flesh-Fly_ Tribe,) they have little Covers or Shields, +under which they lie and move. The Use, no doubt, of these _Poises_, and +_secondary_ lesser Wings, is to poise the Body, and to obviate all the +Vacillations thereof in flight; serving to the Insect, as the long Pole, +laden at the Ends with Lead, doth the _Ropedancer_. + +[k] As all the Parts of Animals are mov’d by the Help of these; so there +is, no doubt, but the minutest Animals have such like Parts: But the +Muscles and Tendons of some of the larger Insects, and some of the lesser +too, may be seen with a Microscope. + +[l] The minute Curiosities, and inimitable Fineries, observable in those +lesser Animals, in which our best Microscopes discover no Botch, no rude +ill-made Work, (contrary to what is in all artificial Works of Man,) Do +they not far more deserve our Admiration, than those celebrated Pieces of +humane Art? Such as the Cup made of a Pepper-Corn, by _Oswald Nerlinger_, +that held 1200 ivory Cups, all gilt on the Edges, and having each of them +a Foot, and yet affording Room for 400 more, in the _Ephem. Germ._ T. +1. Addend. ad Obs. 13. Such also was _Phaëton_ in a Ring, which _Galen_ +thus reflects upon, when he speaks of the Art and Wisdom of the Maker +of Animals, particularly such as are small, _Quanto_, saith he, _ipsum +minus fuerit, tanto majorem admirationem tibi excitabit; quod declarant +Opifices cùm in corporibus parvis aliquid insculpant: cujus generis est +quòd nuper quidam in Annulo Phaëtonta quatuor equis invectum sculpsit. +Omnes enim æqui frænum, os, & dentes anteriores habebant, ~&c.~_ And +then having taken Notice, that the Legs were no bigger than those of a +_Gnat_, he shews that their Make did not come up to those of the _Gnat_; +as also, saith he, _Major adhuc alia quædam esse videtur artis ejus, qui +Pulicem condidit, Vis atque Sapientia, quod, ~&c.~ Cùm igitur Ars tanta +in tam abjectis animalibus appareat,——quantam ejus Vim ac Sapientiam in +præstantioribus inesse putabimus?_ Galen. de Us. Part. L. 17. c. 1. fin. + +[m] It will in some Measure appear, how wonderfully minute some +microscopical Animalcules are, by what follows in the next Note. But +because more particular Examples would be endless, I shall refer to the +Observations of Mr. _Leuwenhoeck_, and others, in the _Philos. Trans._ +and elsewhere. + +[n] It is almost impossible, by Reason of their perpetual Motion, and +changing Places, to count the Number of the Animalcules, in only a Drop +of the green Scum upon Water; but I guess I have sometimes seen not fewer +than 100 frisking about in a Drop no bigger than a Pin’s Head. But in +such a Drop of Pepper-water, a far greater Number; these being much less +than those. + + + + +CHAP. V. + +_The ~Sagacity~ of INSECTS to secure themselves against Winter._ + + +It is an extraordinary Act of Instinct and Sagacity, observable in +the generality of the Insect-Tribe, that they all take Care to secure +themselves, and provide against the Necessities of Winter. That when the +Distresses of Cold and Wet force them, they should retire to warm and +dry Places of Safety, is not strange; but it is a prodigious Act of the +infinite Conservator’s Care to enable some to live in a different Kind +of Insect-State; others to live, as without Action, so without Food; +and others that act and eat, to lay up in Summer sufficient Provisions +against the approaching Winter. Some, I say, live in a different State. +For having sufficiently fed, nourished, and bred up themselves to the +Perfection of their _Vermicular_, _Nympha-State_, in the Summer-Months, +they then retire to Places of Safety, and there throw off their _Nympha_, +and put on their _Aurelia_ or _Chrysalis-State_ for all the Winter, in +which there are no Occasions for Food. This is the constant Method of +many Families of the Insect-Tribe[a]. + +But there are others, and some of them in their most perfect State too, +that are able to subsist in a kind of Torpitude or Sleeping State, +without any Food at all; by Reason as there is no Action so no Waste of +Body, no Expence of Spirits, and therefore no need of Food[b]. + +But for others that move and act, and need Food, it is a prodigious +Instinct and Foresight the Creator hath imprinted on them, to lay up +sufficient Food in Summer for the Winter’s[c] Necessities and Occasions. +And it is very pretty to see with what unwearied Diligence all Hands +are at work for that Purpose, all the warmer Months. Of this the Holy +Scripture it self gives us an Instance in the _Ant_, calling that little +Animal _exceeding wise_, Prov. xxx. 24. And the Reason is, ℣. 25. _The +Ants are a People not strong, yet they prepare their Meat in the Summer._ +And therefore _Solomon_ sends the Sluggard to this little contemptible +Creature, to learn Wisdom, Foresight, Care and Diligence, Prov. vi. 6, 7, +8. _Go to the Ant, thou Sluggard, consider her Ways, and be wise: which +having no Guide, Overseer, or Ruler, provideth her Meat in the Summer, +and gathereth her Food in the Harvest._ + +To this Scriptural Example, give me leave to anticipate, and subjoin an +Observation of the farther great Wisdom of this little Creature; and that +is their unparallelled Στοργὴ, their Tenderness, Sagacity, and Diligence +about their Young[d]. ’Tis very diverting, as well as admirable to +see, with what Affection and Care they carry about their Young in their +Mouths, how they expose themselves to the greatest Dangers, rather than +leave their Young exposed or forsaken; how they remove them from Place +to Place in their little Hills, sometimes to this Part, sometimes to +that, for the Benefit of convenient Warmth, and proper Moisture; and +then again withdraw, and guard them against Rain and Cold. Now that this +great Wisdom which the Scriptures attribute unto, and is discernible in +this little Animal, is owing only to the Instinct, or Infusions of the +great Conservator of the World, is evident, because either this Wisdom, +Thought, and Forecast, is an Act of the Animal it self, or of some other +Being that hath Wisdom. But the Animal being irrational, ’tis impossible +it can be its own Act, but must be derived, or received from some wise +Being. And who? What can that be, but the infinite Lord, Conservator and +Governour of all the World? + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] It would be endless to enter into Particulars here, because all the +_Papilionaceous_, _Flesh_, and _Ichneumon-Fly_ Tribes, and all others +that undergo the _Nympha_ and _Aurelia_-State, between that of the Egg +and _Mature_-State, (which are very numerous) appertain to this Note. For +a Sample therefore only, I shall take what some may think a mean one, but +if considered, deserves our Admiration, and that is the Sagacity of the +_White Butter-fly Caterpiller_, which having fed it self its due Time, +then retires to Places of Security. I have seen great Trains of them +creeping up the Walls and Posts of the next Houses, where, with the help +of some Cobweb-like Filaments, they hang themselves to the Cielings, and +other commodious Places, and then become _Aureliæ_; in which State and +Places they hang secure from Wet and Cold, till the Spring and warmer +Months, when they are transmuted into Butter-Flies. + +[b] I shall not name any of the particular Species of Insects which +live in this State, because they are very numerous, but only remark two +Things observable in their Sagacity in this Matter: 1. That they are not +driven by Stress of Weather to their Retirement, but seem as naturally +to betake themselves thereto, as other Animals do to Rest and Sleep. For +before the Approach of cold Weather, towards the End of Summer, we may +see some Kinds of them flocking together in great Numbers within Doors +(as _Swallows_ do a little before they leave us) as if they were making +ready for their Winter’s Rest. 2. That every Species betakes it self to +a proper convenient Receptacle; some under the Waters to the Bottoms of +Ponds; some under the Earth, below the Frosts; some under Timber, Stone, +&c. lying on the Ground; some into hollow Trees, or under the Bark, or in +the Wood; some into warm and dry Places; and some into dry alone. + +[c] There are not many Kinds that thus provide their Food before-hand. +The most remarkable, are the _Ant_ and the _Bee_; concerning the first +of which, _Origen_ hath this Remark, _viz._ _De solertiâ Formicarum, +venturæ hyemi maturè prospiciontium, sibique invicem sub onere sessis +succurrentium; quódque fruges arrosas condunt, ne rursus enascantur, sed +per annum alimento sint, non ratiocinationem Formicarum in causâ debemus +credere, sed almam matrem Naturam bruta quoque sic ornantem, ut etiam +minimis addat sua quædam ingenia._ Orig. cont. Cels. L. 4. + +But as for _Wasps_, _Hornets_, _Humble Bees_, and other _Wild-Bees_, +_Vespæ Ichneumons_, and divers others that carry in Materials for Nests +and Food; this is only for the Service of their Generation, for hatching +their Eggs, and nourishing their Young, not for Supplies in Winter; +for they all forsake their Nests towards Winter, and retire to other +Quarters, living (I conceive) without Food all that Time. + +[d] _Hos vermiculos ~[Formicarum Ova vulgò vocatos]~ incredibili Στοργὴ +& curâ Formicæ educant, summamque dant operam, ne vel tantillum, quod +spectet eorum vermiculorum educationem atque nutritionem, omittant; +quem in finem fere semper eosdem ore circumportant secum, ne ulla eos +lædet injuria. In museo meo nonnullas istius generis formicas, vitro +terrâ repleto, conclusas cum Vermiculis istis adservabam; ibi non +sine jucunditate spectabam, quo terra fieret in superficie siccior, +eo profundiùs Formicas cum fœtibus suis prorepere: cùm verò aquam +adfunderem, visu mirificum erat, quanto affectu, quanta solicitudine, +quanta Στοργὴ omnem in eo collacarent operam, ut fœtus suos sicciore & +tuto loco reponerent. Sæpiùs vidi, cùm aliquot diebus aquâ caruissent, +atque cùm affuso tantillo aquæ terram illam humectarem, è vestigio +à Formicis fœtus suos eo loci fuisse allatos, quos ibi distinctè +conspiciebam moveri atque fugere humorem. Multoties fui conatus, ut eos +Vermiculos ipse educarem, at semper conatum fefellit eventus: neque ipsas +Formicarum Nymphas alimenti jam non indigas unquam sine ipsis Formicis +potui fotu artificiali excludere._ J. Swammerd. Epilog. ad Hist. Insect. +p. 153. + +Sir _Edward King_, who was very curious in examining the Generation of +_Ants_, observes their great Care and Diligence, 1. About their Sperm, +or true Eggs, which is a fine white Substance, like Sugar, which they +diligently gather together into a Heap, when scattered; and on which they +lie in Multitudes. (I suppose, by way of Incubation.) 2. I have observed, +saith he, in Summer, that in the Morning they bring up those of their +Young (call’d Ant-Eggs) towards the Top of the Bank: So that you may from +10 in the Morning, until 5 or 6 Afternoon, find them near the Top——for +the most Part on the South-side the Bank. But towards 7 or 8 at Night, +if it be cool, or likely to rain, you may dig a Foot deep before you can +find them. _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 23. or _Lowthorp_’s _Abridg._ V. 2. p. 7. +and 9. + + + + +CHAP. VI. + +_Of the Care of INSECTS about their ~Young~._ + + +The other notable Instinct I am to treat of, is the peculiar Art and +Care of the Insect-Tribe, about the Preservation of their Species. +Here I might speak of many Things, but I have occasionally mentioned +divers of them before, under some or other of the general Heads, and +therefore shall fix only upon two Things relating to their special Art +and Care about the Production[a] of their Young, which have not been so +particularly spoken to as they deserve. + +One Thing is their singular Providence for their Young, in making or +finding out such proper Receptacles and Places for their Eggs and Seed, +as that they may receive the Advantage of a sufficient Incubation, +and that the Young, when produced, may have the Benefit of proper and +sufficient Food for their Nurture and Education, till they are able to +shift for themselves. It is admirable to see with what Diligence and +Care the several Species of Insects lay up their Eggs or Sperm in their +several proper Places; not all in the Waters, in Wood, or on Vegetables; +but those whose Subsistence is in the Waters[b], in the Water; those to +whom Flesh is a proper Food; in Flesh[c]; those to whom the Fruits[d] or +Leaves of Vegetables are Food, are accordingly reposited, some in this +Fruit, some on this Tree[e], some on that Plant[f], some on another, and +another; but constantly the same Family on the same Tree or Plant, the +most agreeable to that Family. And as for others that require a constant +and greater Degree of Warmth, they are accordingly provided by the +Parent-Animal with some Place in or about the Body of other Animals; some +in the Feathers of Birds[g]; some in the Hair of Beasts[h]; some in the +very Scales of Fishes[i]; some in the Nose[k]; some in the Flesh[l]; yea, +some in the very Bowels[m]; and inmost Recesses of the Bodies of Man +and other Creatures[n]: And as for others to whom none of these Methods +are proper, but make themselves Nests by Perforations in the Earth, in +Wood, or Combs they build, or such like Ways; ’tis admirable to see +with what Labour and Care they carry in, and seal up Provisions, that +serve both for the Production of their Young, as also for their Food and +Nurture when produc’d[o]. + +The other Piece of remarkable Art and Care about the Production of their +Young, is their Curiosity and Neatness in repositing their Eggs, and in +their Nidification. + +As to the first of which, we may observe that great Curiosity, and nice +Order is generally observ’d by them in this Matter. You shall always see +their Eggs laid carefully and commodiously up[p]. When upon the Leaves of +Vegetables, or other Material on Land, always glu’d thereon with Care, +with one certain End lowermost, and with handsom juxta-Positions[q]. +Or if in the Waters, in neat and beautiful Rows oftentimes, in that +spermatick, gelatine Matter, in which they are reposited, and that Matter +carefully ty’d and fastned in the Waters, to prevent its Dissipation[r], +or if made to float, so carefully spread and poised, as to swim about +with all possible Artifice. + +And as to their other Faculty, that of Nidification, whether it be +exerted by boring the Earth or Wood, or building themselves Cells[s], +or spinning and weaving themselves Cases and Webs, it is all a wonderful +Faculty of those poor little Animals, whether we consider their Parts +wherewith they work, or their Work it self. Thus those who perforate the +Earth, Wood, or such like, they have their Legs, Feet, Mouth, yea, and +whole Body accommodated to that Service; their Mouth exactly formed to +gnaw those handsome round Holes, their Feet as well made to scratch and +bore[t], and their Body handsomely turned and fitted to follow. But for +such as build or spin themselves Nests, their Art justly bids Defiance +to the most ingenious Artist among Men, so much as tolerably to copy the +nice Geometrical Combs of some[u], the Earthen Cells of others, or the +Webs, Nets and Cases[w] woven by others. And here that natural Glue[x] +which their Bodies afford some of them to consolidate their Work, and +combine its Materials together, and which in others can be darted out +at Pleasure, and spun and woven by them into silken Balls[y] or Webs. +I say, this so peculiar, so serviceable a Material, together with the +curious Structure of all Parts ministring to this textrine Power, as mean +a Business as it may seem, is such as may justly be accounted among the +noble Designs and Works of the infinite Creator and Conservator of the +World. + +In the last Place, there is another prodigious Faculty, Art, Cunning, or +what shall I call it? that others of those little Animals have, to make +even Nature it self serviceable to their Purpose; and that is the making +the Vegetation and Growth of Trees and Plants, the very Means of the +building of their little Nests and Cells[z]; such, as are the Galls and +Balls found on the Leaves and Branches of divers Vegetables, such as the +Oak, the Willow[aa], the Briar, and some others. + +Now this is so peculiar an Artifice, and so far out of the Reach of any +mortal Understanding, Wit, or Power, that if we consider the Matter, with +some of its Circumstances, we must needs perceive manifest Design, and +that there is the Concurrence of some great and wise Being, that hath, +from the Beginning, taken Care of, and provided for the Animal’s Good: +For which Reason, as mean as the Instance may seem, I might be excused, +if I should enlarge upon its Particulars. But two or three Hints shall +suffice. + +In the first Place, ’tis certain that the Formation of those _Cases_ and +_Balls_ quite exceeds the Cunning of the Animal it self; but it is the +Act partly of the Vegetable, and partly of some Virulency (or what shall +I call it?) in the Juyce, or Egg, or both, reposited on the Vegetable +by the Parent Animal[bb]. And as this Virulency is various, according +to the Difference of its Animal, so is the Form and Texture of the +Cases and Balls excited thereby; some being hard Shells[cc], some tender +Balls[dd], some scaly[ee], some smooth[ff], some Hairy[gg], some Long, +some Round, some Conical, _&c._[hh]. And in the last Place, let us add, +That those Species of Insects are all endowed with peculiar and exactly +made Parts for this Service, to bore and pierce the Vegetable, and to +reach and inject their Eggs and Juice into the tender Parts thereof. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] The Doctrine of Æquivocal Generation, is at this Day so sufficiently +exploded by all learned Philosophers, that I shall not enter the +Dispute, but take it for granted, that all Animals spring from other +Parent-Animals. If the Reader hath any doubt about it, I refer him to +_Seigneur Redi de Gen. Insect._ and M. _Ray_’s _Wisd. of God_, &c. p. +344. See also before, _Book IV. Ch. 15. Note (a)._ + +[b] It would be endless to specify the various Species of Insects, that +have their Generation in the Waters. And therefore I shall only observe +of them, 1. That their Eggs are always laid up with great Care, and in +good Order. And also, 2. Where proper and sufficient Food is. 3. That in +their _Nympha_-State in the Waters, they have Parts proper for Food and +Motion; and in many, or most of them, very different from what they have +in their _Mature_-State, a manifest Argument of the Creator’s Wisdom and +Providence. For an Instance, see _Note (r)._ + +[c] As _Seigneur Redi_ was one of the first that made it his Business to +discard Anomalous Generation, so he tried more Experiments relating to +the Vermination of Serpents, Flesh, Fish, putrified Vegetables; and in +short, whatever was commonly known to be the Nursery of Maggots, more I +say probably, than any one hath done since. And in all his Observations, +he constantly found the Maggots to turn to _Aureliæ_, and these into +_Flies_. But then, saith he, _Dubitare cœpi, utrùm omne hoc vermium in +carne genus, ex solo Muscarum semine, an ex ipsis putrefactis carnibus +oriretur, tantoque magis confirmabar in hoc meo dubio, quanto in +omnibus generationibus——sapiùs videram, in carnibus, antequàm verminare +inciperent, resedisse ejusdem speciei Muscas, cujus propago postea +nascebatur._ Upon this he tells us, he put Fish, Flesh, _&c._ into Pots, +which he covered close from the Flies with Paper, and afterwards (for the +free Air sake) with Lawn, whilst other Pots were left open, with such +like Flesh, _&c._ in them; that the Flies were very eager to get into the +covered Pots; and that they produced not one Maggot, when the open ones +had many. _Fr. Redi de Gener._ _Insect._ + +Among the Insects that come from the Maggots he mentions, he names +_Culices_. Now from the most critical Observations I have made, I never +observed any sort of _Gnat_ to come from putrified Flesh, Vegetables, or +any other Thing he taxeth with them. So that either he means by _Culex_, +some Fly that we call not by the Name of _Gnat_; or else their _Gnats_ in +_Italy_, vary in their Generation from ours in _England_. For among above +30, near 40 distinct Species of _Gnats_ that I have observed about the +Place where I live, I never found any to lay their Eggs in Flesh, Filth, +_&c._ but the largest Sort, called by _Aldrovand_, _Culices maximi_, by +_Swammerdam_, _Tipulæ terrestres_, lay their Eggs in Meadows, _&c._ under +the Grass; one of the larger middle Sort, in dead Beer, Yeast, _&c._ +lying on the Tops, or in the Leaks of Beer-Barrels, _&c._ and all the +rest (as far as ever I have observed) lay and hatch in the Waters, as in +_Note (r)._ + +The Generation of the Second of these being akin to some of the foregoing +instances, and a little out of the way, may deserve a Place here. This +_Gnat_ lays its Eggs commonly in dead Beer, _&c._ as I said, and probably +in Vinegar, and other such Liquors. Some Time after which, the Maggots +are so numerous, that the whole Liquor stirreth as if it was alive; +being full of Maggots, some larger, some smaller; the larger are the +off-spring of our _Gnat_, the smaller, of a small dark coloured Fly, +tending to reddish; frequent in Cellars, and such obscure Places. All +these _Maggots_ turn to _Aurelia_, the larger of which, of a Tan-Colour, +such as our _Gnat_. This _Gnat_ is of the unarmed Kind, having no Spear +in its Mouth. Its Head is larger than of the common _Gnats_, a longer +Neck, short jointed _Antennæ_, spotted Wings, reaching beyond its slender +_Alvus_; it is throughout of a brown Colour, tending to red, especially +in the Female: The chief Difference between the Male and Female, is (as +in other _Gnats_, yea, most Insects) the Male is less than the Female, +and hath a slenderer Belly, and its _Podex_ not so sharp as the Female’s +is. + +[d] The Insects that infest Fruits, are either of the _Ichneumon-Fly_ +Kind, or _Phalænæ_. Plums, Pease, Nuts, _&c._ produce some or other +_Ichneumon-Fly_. That generated in the _Plum_ is black, of a middle Size, +its _Body_ near ³⁄₁₀ Inch long, its Tail not much less, consisting of +three Bristles, wherewith it conveys its Eggs into Fruits: Its _Antennæ_, +or Horns, long, slender, recurved; its Belly longish, tapering, small +towards the _Thorax_; _Legs_ reddish; _Wings_ membranaceous, thin and +transparent, in Number 4, which is one Characteristic of the _Ichneumon +Fly_. + +The _Pease Ichneumon-Fly_, is very small, Wings large, reaching beyond +the _Podex_; _Antennæ_ long; _Alvus_ short, shaped like an Heart, with +the Point towards the _Anus_; it walketh and flieth slowly. No Tail +appears as in the former; but they have one lieth hidden under the Belly, +which they can at Pleasure bend back to pierce Pease when they are young +and tender, and other Things also, as I have Reason to suspect, having +met with this (as indeed the former two) in divers Vegetables. + +_Pears_ and _Apples_ I could never discover any Thing to breed in, but +only the lesser _Phalæna_, about ⁴⁄₁₀ Inch long, whitish underneath; +greyish brown above (dappled with brown Spots, inclining to a dirty Red) +all but about a third Part at the End of the Wings, which is not grey, +but brown, elegantly striped with wavey Lines, of a Gold Colour, as if +gilt; its Head is small, with a Tuft of whitish brown in the Forehead; +_Antennæ_ smooth, moderately long. The _Aurelia_ of this Moth is small, +of a yellowish brown. I know not what Time they require for their +Generation out of Boxes; but those I laid up in _August_, did not become +Moths before _June_ following. + +[e] There are many of the _Phalænæ_ and _Ichneumon-Fly_ Tribes, that +have their Generation on the Leaves or other Parts of Trees and Shrubs, +too many to be here reckoned up. The _Oak_ hath many very beautiful +_Phalænæ_, bred in its convolved Leaves, white, green, yellow, brown +spotted prettily, and neatly dappled, and many more besides; and its +Buds afford a Place for Cases, and Balls of various Sorts, as shall be +shewn hereafter; its Leaves expanded, minister to the Germination of +globular, and other sphæroidal Balls, and flat _Thecæ_, some like Hats, +some like Buttons excavated in the Middle, and divers others such like +Repositories, all belonging to the _Ichneumon-Fly_ Kind. And not only the +_Oak_, but the _Maple_ also, the _White-Thorn_, the _Briar_, _Privet_, +and indeed almost every Tree and Shrub. + +[f] And as Trees and Shrubs, so Plants have their peculiar Insects. The +_White-Butterfly_ lays its voracious Offspring on Cabbage-Leaves; a very +beautiful reddish ocellated one, its no less voracious black Off-spring +of an horrid Aspect, on the Leaves of Nettles; as also doth a very +beautiful, small, greenish _Ichneumon-Fly_, in Cases on the Leaves of +the same Plant: And to name no more (because it would be endless) the +beautiful _Ragwort-Moth_, whose upper Wings are brown, elegantly spotted +with red and underwings edged with brown; these, I say, provide for their +golden ring’d _Eruce_ upon the _Ragwort-Plant_. + +[g] Many, if not most Sort of Birds, are infested with a distinct Kind of +Lice, very different from one another in Shape, Size, _&c._ For Figures +and Descriptions of them, I shall refer to _Signieur Redi of Insects_. +See also _Moufet_, L. 2. _c. 23._ These Lice lay their Nits among the +Feathers of the respective Birds, where they are hatched and nourished; +and as _Aristotle_ saith, would destroy the Birds, particularly +_Pheasants_, if they did not dust their Feathers. _Loco infr. citat._ + +[h] And as Birds, so the several Sorts of Beasts have their peculiar +Sorts of Lice; all distinct from the two Sorts infesting Man: Only the +_Ass_, they say, is free, because our _Saviour_ rode upon one, as some +think; but I presume it is rather from the Passage in _Pliny_, L. 11. +c. 33. or rather _Arist. Hist. Animal_. L. 3. c. 31. who saith, _Quibus +pilus est, non carent eodem ~[Pediculo]~ excepto Asino, qui non Pediculo +tantùm, verùm etiam Redivio immunis est._ And a little before, speaking +of those in Men, he shews what Constitutions are most subject to them, +and instanceth in _Alcman_ the Poet, and _Pherecydes Syrius_ that died +of the _Pthiriasis_, or Lowly Disease. For which foul Distemper, if +Medicines are desired, _Moufet de Insect._ p. 261. may be consulted. Who +in the same Page hath this Observation, _Animadverterunt nostrates——ubi +Asores insulas à tergo reliquerint, Pediculos confestim omnes tabascere: +atque ubi eas reviserint, iterum innumeros alios subitò oriri._ Which +Observation is confirmed by Dr. _Stubs._ Vid. _Lowth. Abridg._ V. 3. p. +558. And many Seamen have told me the same. + +[i] Fishes, one would think, should be free from Lice, by Reason they +live in the Waters, and are perpetually moving in, and brushing through +them; but yet have their Sorts too. + +Besides which, I have frequently found great Numbers of long slender +Worms in the Stomachs, and other Parts of Fish, particularly _Codfish_, +especially such as are poor; which Worms have work’d themselves deeply +into the Coats and Flesh, so that they could nor easily be gotten out: +So _Aristotle_, saith of some Fishes, _Ballero & Tilloni Lumbricus, +innascitur, qui debilitat, ~&c.~ Chalcis vitio infestatur diro, ut +Pediculi sub Branchiis innati quàm multi interimant._ Hist. An. L. 8. c. +20. + +[k] Of Insects bred in the Nose of Animals, those in the Nostrils of +_Sheep_ are remarkable. I have my self taken out not fewer at a Time than +twenty or thirty rough Maggots, lying among the _Laminæ_ of the Nostrils. +But I could never hatch any of them, and so know not what Animal they +proceed from: But I have no great doubt, they are of the _Ichneumon-Fly_ +Kind; and not improbably of that with a long Tail, call’d _Triseta_, +whose three Bristles seem very commodious for conveying its Eggs into +deep Places. + +I have also seen a rough whitish Maggot, above two Inches within the +_Intestinum rectum_ of Horses, firmly adhering thereto, that the hard +Dung did not rub off. I never could bring them to Perfection, but suspect +the _Side-Fly_ proceeds from it. + +[l] In the Backs of _Cows_, in the Summer-Months, there are Maggots +generated, which in _Essex_ we call _Wornils_; which are first only a +small Knot in the Skin; and I suppose no other than an Egg laid there by +some Insect. By Degrees these Knots grow bigger, and contain in them a +Maggot lying in a purulent Matter: They grow to be as large as the End of +one’s Finger, and may be squeez’d out at a Hole they have always open: +They are round and rough, and of a dirty White. With my utmost Endeavour +and Vigilance, I could never discover the Animal they turn into; but as +they are somewhat like, so may be the same as those in the Note before. + +In _Persia_ there are very long slender Worms, bred in the Legs, and +other Parts of Men’s Bodies, 6 or 7 Yards long. In _Philos. Trans._ Mr. +_Dent_, and Mr. _Lewis_, relate divers Examples of _Worms_ taken out of +the Tongue, Gums, Nose, and other Parts, by a Woman at _Leicester_, which +they were Eye-witnesses of. These, and divers others mention’d in the +_Transactions_, may be seen together in Mr. _Lowthorp_’s _Abridg._ Vol. +3. p. 132. + +_Narrat mihi vir fide dignus——Casp. Wendlandt——se in Poloniâ, +puero cuidam rustico duorum annorum, Vermiculum album è palbebrâ +extraxisse,——magnitudinis Erucæ.——Similem fere huic casum mihi +~[Schulzio]~ & D. Segero narravit hoc. Anno 1676. chirurgus noster Ant. +Statlender, qui cuidam puero, ex Aure, extraxit Vermiculum talem, qualis +in nucibus avellanis perforatis latitare solet, sed paulò majorem, +coloris albissimi; alteri minores 5 ejusdem generis similiter ex Aure: +Omnes aliquot horas supervixerunt——Vermiculos adhuc viventes oculis +nostris vidimus._ Ephem. Germ. T. 2. Obs. 24. ubi Vermiculi Icon. Many +other Instances may be met with in the same Tome. Obs. 147, 148, 154. + +The Worms in _Deer_ are mention’d often among ancient Writers. +_Aristotle_ saith, Σκώληκας μεν τοι πάντες ἔχουσιν, ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ ζῶντας, +&c. _They ~[Deer]~ all have Live Worms in their Heads; bred under the +Tongue, in a Cavity near the ~Vertebra~, on which the Head is plac’d; +their Size not less than of the largest Maggots; they are bred all +together, in number about twenty._ Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 15. + +To these Examples may be added the Generation of the _Ichneumon-Fly_ +in the Bodies of Caterpillars, and other _Nymphæ_ of Insects. In many +of which, that I have laid up to be hatch’d in Boxes, instead of +_Papilios_, &c. as I expected, I have found a great Number of small +_Ichneumon-Flies_, whose Parent-Animal had wounded those _Nymphæ_, and +darted its Eggs into them, and so made them the Foster-Mother of its +Young. More Particulars of this Way of Generation may be seen in the +great Mr. _Willughby_’s Observations in _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 76. But +concerning the farther Generation of this Insect, I have taken Notice of +other Particulars in other places of these Notes. + +[m] The Animals ordinarily bred in the Stomach and Guts, are the three +Sorts of Worms call’d _Lati_, _Teretes_, and _Ascarides_; concerning +which, it would be irksome to speak in Particular, and therefore I shall +refer to _Moufet_, L. 2. c. 31, 32, 33. Dr. _Tyson_’s Anatomy of them in +Mr. _Lowthorp_’s _Abridg._ V. 3. p. 121. _Seignior Redi_’s _Obs_. and +others that have written of them. + +And not only _Worms_, but other Creatures also are said to be found in +the Stomach; Instances of which are so innumerable, that I shall only +select a few related by Persons of the best Credit. And first of all, by +some of our own Countrymen. Dr. _Lister_, (whose Credit and Judgment will +hastily be question’d,) gives an Account of true _Caterpillars_, vomited +up by a Boy of nine Years old; and another odd Animal by a poor Man. Mr. +_Jessop_, (another very judicious, curious and ingenious Gentleman,) saw +_Hexapods_ vomited up by a Girl; which _Hexapods_ liv’d and fed for five +Weeks. See _Lowth._ ib. p. 135. + +And to Foreigners, it is a very strange Story (but attested by Persons +of great Repute,) of _Catharina Geileria_, that dy’d in _Feb_. 1662, in +the Hospital of _Altenburg_, in _Germany_, who for twenty Years voided by +Vomit and Stool, _Toads_ and _Lizzards_, &c. _Ephemer. Germ._ T. 1. Obs. +103. See also the 109. Observation of a Kitten bred in the Stomach, and +vomited up; of Whelps also, and other Animals, bred in like Manner. But +I fear a Stretch of Fancy might help in some of those last Instances, in +those Days when spontaneous Generation was held, when the Philosophers +seem to have more slightly examined such Appearances than now they do. +But for the breeding of _Frogs_ or _Toads_, or _Lacertæ Aquaticæ_ in the +Stomach, when their Spawn happeneth to be drank, there is a Story in the +second _Tome_ of the _Ephem. Germ._ Obs. 56. that favours it, _viz._ _In +the Year 1667, a ~Butcher’s~ Man going to buy some Lambs in the Spring, +being thirsty, drank greedily of some standing Water, which a while +after, caus’d great Pains in his Stomach, which grew worse and worse, and +ended in dangerous Symptoms. At last he thought somewhat was alive in his +Stomach, and after that, vomited up three live Toads; and so recover’d +his former Health._ + +Such another Story Dr. _Sorbait_ tells, and avoucheth it seen with his +own Eyes, of one that had a Toad came out of an Abscess, which came upon +drinking foul Water. _Obs._ 103. + +[n] Not only in the Guts, and in the Flesh; but in many other Parts of +the Body, Worms have been discover’d. One was voided by Urine, by Mr. +_Mat. Milford_, suppos’d to have come from the Kidneys. _Lowth._ ib. +p. 135. More such Examples _Moufet_ tells of. _Ibid._ So the _Vermes +Cucurbitini_ are very common in the Vessels in Sheeps Livers: And Dr. +_Lister_ tells of them, found in the Kidney of a Dog, and thinks that +the Snakes and Toads, _&c._ said to be found in Animals Bodies, may be +nothing else. _Lowth._ ib. p. 120. Nay, more than all this: In Dr. _Bern. +Verzascha_’s sixth Observation, there are divers Instances of Worms bred +in the _Brain_ of Man. One, a patient of his, troubled with a violent +Headach, and an itching about the Nostrils, and frequent Sneezing; who, +with the Use of a Sneezing-Powder, voided a Worm, with a great deal of +Snot from his Nose. A like Instance he gives from _Bartholine_, of a Worm +voided from the Nose of _O. W._ which he guesseth was the famous _Olaus +Wormius_: Another, from a Country Woman of _Dietmarsh_; and others in +_Tulpius_, _F. Hildanus_, _Schenchius_, &c. These Worms he thinks are +undoubtedly bred in the Brain: But what way they can come from thence, +I can’t tell. Wherefore I rather think, they are such Worms as are +mentioned in _Note (k)_, and even that Worm that was actually found in +the Brain of the _Paris Girl_ (when opened) I guess might be laid in the +_Laminæ_ of the Nostrils, by some of the _Ichneumon_, or other Insect +Kind, and might gnaw its way into the Brain, through the _Os cribiforme_. +Of this he tells us from _Bartholine_, _Tandem cùm tabida obiisset, +statim aperto cranio præsentes Medici totam cerebelli substantiam, quæ ad +dexterum vergit, à reliquo corpore sejunctam, nigrâque tunicâ involutam +deprehenderunt: hæc tunica ruptæ, latentem Vermem vivum, & pilosum, +duobus punctis splendidis loco oculorum prodidit, ejusdem fere molis +cum reliquâ Cerebri portione, qui duarum horaram spacio supervixit._ B. +Verzas. Obs. Medicæ, p. 16. + +_Hildanus_ tells us such another Story, _viz._ _Filius Theod. aust +der Roulen, Avunculi mei, diuturno vexabatur dolore capitis.——Deinde +febriculâ & sternutatione exortâ, ruptus est Abscessus circa os +cribrosum——& Vermis prorepsit._ By his Figure of it, the Maggot was an +Inch long, and full of Bristles. _Fabri Hildan. Cent._ 1. Obs. + +_Galenus Wierus_ (Physician to the _Princ. Jul. & Cleve_) he saith, told +him, that he had, at divers Times, found Worms in the _Gall-bladder_ in +Persons he had opened at _Dusseldorp_. Id. ib. Obs. 60. + +[o] See before _Book IV. Chap. 13. Note (c)._ + +[p] Some Insects lay up their Eggs in Clusters, as in Holes of Flesh, +and such Places, where it is necessary they should be crowded together; +which, no question, prevents their being too much dried up in dry Places, +and promotes their hatching. But, + +[q] As for such as are not to be clustered up, great Order is used. +I have seen upon the Posts and Sides of Windows, little round Eggs, +resembling small Pearl, which produced small hairy Caterpillars, that +were very neatly and orderly laid. And to name no more, the _White +Butterfly_ lays its neat Eggs on the Cabbage Leaves in good Order, +always gluing one certain End of the Egg to the Leaf. I call them neat +Eggs, because if we view them in a Microscope, we shall find them very +curiously furrowed, and handsomely made and adorned. + +[r] By Reason it would be endless to specify the various Generation of +Insects in the Water, I shall therefore (because it is little observed) +raise _Pliny_’s Instance of the _Gnat_, a mean and contemned Animal, but +a notable Instance of Nature’s Work, as he saith. + +The first Thing considerable in the Generation of this Insect is (for +the Size of the Animal) its vast _Spawn_, being some of them above an +Inch long, and half a quarter Diameter; made to float in the Waters, +and tied to some Stick, Stone, or other fix’d Thing in the Waters, by +a small Stem, or Stalk. In this gelatine, transparent Spawn, the Eggs +are neatly laid; in some Spawns in a single, in some in a double spiral +Line, running round from end to end, as in Fig. 9, and 10; and in some +transversly, as Fig. 8. + +When the Eggs are by the Heat of the Sun, and Warmth of the Season +hatched into small Maggots, these Maggots descend to the bottom, and +by means of some of the gelatine Matter of the Spawn (which they take +along with them) they stick to Stones, and other Bodies at the bottom, +and there make themselves little Cases or Cells, which they creep +into, and out of at Pleasure, until they are arrived to a more mature +_Nympha-State_, and can swim about here and there, to seek for what Food +they have occasion; at which Time, they are a kind of Red-worms, above +half an Inch long, as in Fig. 11. + +Thus far this mean Insect is a good Instance of the divine Providence +towards it. But if we farther consider, and compare the three States +it undergoes after it is hatched, we shall find yet greater Signals of +the Creator’s Management, even in these meanest of Creatures. The three +States I mean, are its _Nympha-Vermicular_ State, its _Aurelia_, and +_Mature_-State, all as different as to Shape and Accoutrements, as if +the Insect was three different Animals. In its _Vermicular_-State, it is +a Red-Maggot, as I said, and hath a Mouth and other Parts accommodated +to Food: In its _Aurelia_-State it hath no such Parts, because it then +subsists without Food; but in its _Mature_, _Gnat_-State, it hath a +curious well-made Spear, to wound and suck the Blood of other Animals. +In its _Vermicular_-State, it hath a long Worm-like Body, and something +analogous to Fins or Feathers, standing erect near its Tail, and running +parallel with the Body, by means of which resisting the Waters, it is +enabled to swim about by Curvations, or flapping its Body, side-ways, +this way and that, as in Fig. 12. + +But in its _Aurelia_-State, it hath a quite different Body, with a +_Club-Head_ (in which the Head, _Thorax_, and Wings of the _Gnat_ are +inclosed) a slender _Alvus_, and a neat _finny Tail_, standing at right +Angles with the Body, quite contrary to what it was before; by which +means, instead of easy flapping side-ways, it swims by rapid, brisk +Jirks, the quite contrary way; as is in some measure represented in Fig. +13. But when it becomes a _Gnat_, no finny Tail, no Club-Head, but all +is made in the most accurate manner for Flight and Motion in the Air, as +before it was for the Waters. + +[s] See _Book IV. Chap. 13. Notes (n), (o)._ + +[t] Thus the Mouths and other Parts of the _Ichneumon-Wasps_ in _Book IV. +Chap. 13. Note (t)._ So the Feet of the _Gryllotalpa_, _ibid._ _Note (s)._ + +[u] See the last cited Places, _Note (o)._ + +[w] Of the textrine Art of the _Spider_, and its Parts serving to that +Purpose, see the last cited Place, _Note (x)._ + +Besides these, _Caterpillars_, and divers other Insects, can emit +Threads, or Webs for their Use. In this their _Nympha-State_, they secure +themselves from falling, and let themselves down from the Boughs of +Trees, and other high Places, with one of these Threads. And in the Cases +they weave, they secure themselves in their _Aurelia-State_. + +And not only the Off-spring of the _Phalæna-Tribe_, but there are some +of the _Ichneumon-Fly_ Kind also, endowed with this textrine Art. Of +these I have met with two Sorts; one that spun a Milk-white, long, round, +silken Web, as big as the top of ones Fingers, not hollow within, as +many are, but filled throughout with Silk. These are woven round Bents, +Stalks of Ribwort, &c. in Meadows. The other is a lump of many yellow, +silken Cases, sticking confusedly together on Posts, under Cole-worts, +_&c._ These Webs contain in them, small, whitish Maggots; which turn +to a small, black, _Ichneumon-Fly_, with long, capillary _Antennæ_; +Tan-coloured Legs; long Wings reaching beyond their Body, with a black +Spot near the middle; the _Alvus_, like an Heart; and in some, a small +setaceous Tail. Some of these Flies were of a shining, beautiful green +Colour. I could not perceive any Difference, at least, not specifical, +between the Flies coming from those two Productions. + +[x] I have often admired how _Wasps_, _Hornets_, _Ichneumon-Wasps_, and +other Insects that gather dry Materials for building their Nests, have +found a proper matter to cement and glue their Combs, and line their +Cells; which we find always sufficiently context and firm. But in all +Probability, this useful Material is in their own Bodies; as ’tis in +the _Tinea vestivora_, the _Cadew Worm_, and divers others. _Goedart_ +observes of his _Eruca_, _Num._ xx. 6. that fed upon _Sallow-Leaves_, +that it made its Cell of the comminuted Leaves, glued together with its +own Spittle, _hæc pulveris aut arenæ instar comminuit, ac pituitoso +quodam sui corporis succo ita maceravit, ut inde accommodatum subeundæ +mutationi instanti locum sibi extruxerit. Domuncula hæc à communi Salicum +ligno nihil differre videbatur, nisi quòd longè esset durior, adeò ut +cultro vix disrumpi posset._ + +[y] _An ingenious Gentlewoman of my Acquaintance, Wife to a learned +Physician, taking much Pleasure to keep Silk-Worms, had once the +Curiosity to draw out one of the oval Cases, which the Silk-Worm +spins——into all the Silken Wire it was made up of, which, to the great +Wonder as well of her Husband, as her self,——appeared to be, by measure, +a great deal above 300 Yards, and yet weighed but two Grains and an +half._ Boyl Subtil. of Effluv. ch. 2. + +[z] Since my penning this, I have met with the most sagacious +_Malpighi_’s Account of _Galls_, &c. and find his Descriptions to +be exceedingly accurate and true, having traced my self many of the +Productions he hath mentioned. But I find _Italy_ and _Sicily_ (his +Book _de Gallis_ being published long after he was made Professor +of _Messina_) more luxuriant in such Productions than _England_, at +least, than the Parts about _Upminster_ (where I live) are. For many, +if not most of those about us, are taken Notice of by him, and several +others besides that I never met with; although I have for many Years as +critically observed all the Excrescences, and other morbid Tumors of +Vegetables, as is almost possible, and do believe that few of them have +escaped me. + +As to the Method how those _Galls_ and _Balls_ are produced, the most +simple, and consequently the most easy to be accounted for, is that in +the Gems of Oak, which may be called _Squamous-Oak-Cones_, _Capitula +squamata_, in _Malpighi_: Whose Description not exactly answering our +_English-Cones_ in divers Respects, I shall therefore pass his by, and +shew only what I have observed my self concerning them. + +These _Cones_ are, in outward Appearance, perfectly like the Gems, only +vastly bigger; and indeed they are no other than the Gems, encreased in +Bigness, which naturally ought to be pushed out in Length: The Cause of +which Obstruction of the Vegetation is this: Into the very Heart of the +young tender Gem or Bud (which begins to be turgid in _June_, and to +shoot towards the latter end of that Month, or beginning of the next; +into this, I say) the Parent-Insect thrusts one or more Eggs, and not +perhaps without some venomous Ichor therewith. This Egg soon becomes +a Maggot, which eats it self a little Cell in the very Heart or Pith +of the Gem, which is the Rudiment of the Branch, together with its +Leaves and Fruit, as shall be hereafter shewn. The Branch being thus +wholly destroyed, or at least its Vegetation being obstructed, the Sap +that was to nourish it, is diverted to the remaining Parts of the Bud, +which are only the scaly Teguments; which by these Means grow large and +flourishing, and become a Covering to the Insect-Case, as before they +were to the tender Branch and its Appendage. + +The _Case_ lying within this Cone, is at first but small, as the Maggot +included in it is, but by degrees, as the Maggot increaseth, so it +grows bigger, to about the Size of a large white Pease, long and round, +resembling the Shape of a small Acorn. + +The _Insect_ it self, is (according to the modern Insectologers) of the +_Ichneumon-Fly_ Kind; with four Membranaceous _Wings_, reaching a little +beyond the Body, articulated _Horns_, a large _Thorax_, bigger than the +Belly; the _Belly_ short and conical; much like the Heart of Animals: The +_Legs_ partly whitish, partly black. The _Length_ of the Body from Head +to Tail, about ²⁄₁₀ of an Inch; its _Colour_, a very beautiful shining +Green, in some tending to a dark Copper-Colour. Figures both of the +Cones, Cases, and Insects, may be seen among _Malpighi_’s Cuts of Galls, +Tab. 13. and Tab. 20. Fig. 72. which Fig. 72. exhibits well enough some +others of the _Gall-Insects_, but its _Thorax_ is somewhat too short for +ours. + +[aa] Not only the Willow, and some other Trees, but Plants also, as +_Nettles_, _Ground-Ivy_, &c. have Cases produced on their Leaves, by +the Injection of the Eggs of an _Ichneumon-Fly_. I have observed those +Cases always to grow in, or adjoining to some Rib of the Leaf, and their +Production I conceive to be thus, _viz._ The Parent-Insect, with its +stiff setaceous Tail, terebrates the Rib of the Leaf, when tender, and +makes Way for its Egg into the very Pith or Heart thereof, and probably +lays in therewith, some proper Juice of its Body, to pervert the regular +Vegetation of it. From this Wound arises a small Excrescence, which (when +the Egg is hatched into a Maggot) grows bigger and bigger, as the Maggot +increases, swelling on each Side the Leaf between the two Membranes, and +extending it self into the parenchymous Part thereof, until it is grown +as big as two Grains of Wheat. In this Case lies a small, white, rough +Maggot, which turns to an _Aurelia_, and afterwards to a very beautiful +green, small _Ichneumon-Fly_. + +[bb] What I suspected my self, I find confirmed by _Malpighi_, who in his +exact and true Description of the Fly bred in the _Oaken Galls_, saith, +_Non sat fuit naturæ tam miro artificio Terebram seu Limam condidisse; +sed inflicto vulnere, vel excitato foramine infundendum exinde liquorem +intra Terebram condidit: quare fractâ per transversam muscarum terebrâ +frequentissimè, vivente animali, guttæ aliquot diaphani humoris +effluunt._ And a little after, he confirms, by ocular Observation, +what he imagin’d before, viz. _Semel prope Junii finem vidi Muscam, +qualem superiùs delineavi, insidentum quercinæ gemmæ, adhuc germinanti; +hærebat etenim foliola stabili ab apice hiantis gemmæ erumpenti; +& convulso in arcum corpore, terebram evaginabat, ipsamque sensam +immittebat; & tumefacto ventre circa terebræ radicem tumorem excitabat, +quem interpolatis vicibus remittebat. In folio igitur, avulsà Muscâ, +minima & diaphana reperii ejecta ova, simillima iis, quæ adhuc in tubis +supererant. Non licuit iterum idem admirari spectaculum, ~&c.~_ + +Somewhat like this, which _Malpighi_ saw, I had the good Fortune to +see my self once some Years ago: And that was, the beautiful, shining +_Oak-Ball Ichneumon_ strike its _Terebræ_ into an Oak-Apple divers Times, +no doubt to lay its Eggs therein. And hence I apprehend we see many +_Vermicules_ towards the Outside of many of the Oak-Apples, which I guess +were not what the Primitive Insects laid up in the Gem, from which the +Oak-Apple had its Rise, but some other supervenient, additional Insects, +laid in after the Apple was grown, and whilst it was tender and soft. + +[cc] The _Aleppo-Galls_, wherewith we make Ink, may be reckoned of this +Number, being hard, and no other than Cases of Insects which are bred in +them; who when come to Maturity, gnaw their Way out of them; which is +the Cause of those little Holes observable in them. Of the Insects bred +in them, see _Philos. Transact._ Nᵒ. 245. Of this Number also are those +little smooth Cases, as big as large Pepper-Corns, growing close to the +Ribs under Oaken-Leaves, globous, but flattish; at first touched with +a blushing red, afterwards growing brown; hollow within, and an hard +thin Shell without. In this lieth commonly a rough, white Maggot, which +becomes a little long winged, black _Ichneumon-Fly_, that eats a little +Hole in the Side of the Gall, and so gets out. + +[dd] For a Sample of the tender Balls, I shall choose the globous Ball, +as round, and some as big as small Musket-Bullets, growing close to the +Ribs, under Oaken-Leaves, of a greenish yellowish Colour, with a blush +of red; their Skin smooth, with frequent Risings therein. Inwardly +they are very soft and spongy; and in the very Center is a Case with a +white Maggot therein, which becomes an _Ichneumon-Fly_, not much unlike +the last. As to this Gall, there is one Thing I have observed somewhat +peculiar, and I may say providential, and that is, that the Fly lies +all the Winter in these Balls in its Infantile-State, and comes not +to its Maturity till the following Spring. In the Autumn, and Winter, +these Balls fall down with their Leaves to the Ground, and the Insect +inclosed in them is there fenced against the Winter Frosts, partly by +other Leaves falling pretty thick upon them, and especially by the thick, +parenchymous, spongy Walls, afforded by the _Galls_ themselves. + +Another Sample shall be the large _Oak-Balls_, called _Oak-Apples_, +growing in the Place of the Buds, whose Generation, Vegetation and +Figure, may be seen in _Malpig. de Gallis_, p. 24. and Tab. 10. Fig. 33, +_&c._ Out of these Galls, he saith various Species of Flies come, but he +names only two, and they are the only two I ever saw come out of them: +_Frequenter_ (saith he) _subnigræ sunt muscæ brevi munitæ terebrâ. Inter +has aliquæ observantur aureæ, levi viridis tincturâ suffusæ, oblongâ +pollentes terebrâ._ These two differently coloured Flies, I take to be no +other than Male and Female of the same Species. I have not observed Tails +(which are their _Terebræ_) in all, as _Malpighi_ seems to intimate: +Perhaps they were hid in their _Thecæ_, and I could not discover them: +But I rather think there were none, and that those were the Males: But in +others, I have observed long, recurvous Tails, longer than their whole +Bodies. And these I take to be the Females. And in the _Oak-Apples_ +themselves, I have seen the _Aureliæ_, some with, some without Tails. And +I must confess, ’twas not without Admiration as well as Pleasure, that +I have seen with what exact Neatness and Artifice, the Tail hath been +wrapt about the _Aurelia_, whereby it is secured from either annoying the +Insect, or being hurt it self. + +[ee] See before _Note (z)._ + +[ff] As in the preceding Note. + +[gg] Of the rough or hairy Excrescences, those on the _Briar_, or +_Dog-Rose_, are a good Instance. These _Spongiolæ villosæ_, as Mr. _Ray_, +_Gallæ rumosæ_, as Dr. _Malpighi_ calls them, are thus accounted for by +the latter; _Ex copiosis relictis ovis ita turbatur affluens ~[Rubi]~ +succus, ut strumosa fiant complura tubercula simul confusè congesta, +quæ utriculorum seriebus, & fibrarum implicatione contexta, ramosas +propagines germinant, ita ut minima quasi sylva appareat. Qualibet +propago ramos, hinc inde villosos edit. Hinc inde pili pariter crumpunt, +~&c.~_ + +These Balls are a safe Repository to the Insect all the Winter in its +Vermicular-State. For the Eggs laid up, and hatched the Summer before, +do not come to mature Insects until the Spring following, as Mr. _Ray_ +rightly observes in _Cat. Cantab._ + +As to the _Insects_ themselves, they are manifestly _Ichneumon-Flies_, +having four Wings, their _Alvus_ thick and large towards the Tail; +and tapering up till it is small and slender at its setting on to +the _Thorax_. But the _Alvi_ or Bellies are not alike in all, though +coloured alike. In some they are as is now described, and longer, without +_Terebræ_, or Tails; in some shorter with Tails: And in some yet shorter, +and thick, like the Belly of the _Ant_, or the Heart of Animals, as in +those before, _Note (z)._ But for a farther Description of them, I shall +refer to Mr. _Ray_, _Cat. Plant. circa Cantab._ under _Rosa Sylvest._ + +[hh] It being an Instance somewhat out of the Way, I shall pitch upon +it for an Example here, _viz._ The _gouty Swellings_ in the Body, and +the Branches of the _Blackberry-Bush_; of which _Malpighi_ hath given us +two good Cuts in Tab. 17. Fig. 62. The Cause of these is manifestly from +the Eggs of Insects laid in (whilst the Shoot is young and tender) as +far as the Pith, and in some Places not so deep; Which for the Reasons +before-mentioned, makes the young Shoots tumify, and grow knotty and +gouty. + +The Insect that comes from hence is of the former Tribe, a small, shining +black _Ichneumon-Fly_, about a tenth of an Inch long; with jointed, red, +capillary Horns, four long Wings, reaching beyond the Body, a large +_Thorax_, red Legs, and a short, heart-like Belly. They hop like Fleas. +The Males are less than the Females; are very venereous, endeavouring +a _Coït_ in the very Box in which they are hatch’d; getting up on the +Females, and tickling and thumping them with their Breeches and Horns, to +excite them to Venery. + + + + +_The CONCLUSION._ + + +And now these Things being seriously considered, what less can be +concluded, than that there is manifest Design and Forecast in this Case, +and that there must needs be some wise Artist, some careful, prudent +Conservator, that from the very Beginning of the Existence of this +Species of Animals, hath with great Dexterity and Forecast, provided for +its Preservation and Good? For what else could contrive and make such a +Set of curious Parts, exactly fitted up for that special Purpose: And +withal implant in the Body such peculiar Impregnations, as should have +such a strange uncouth Power on a quite different Rank of Creatures? And +lastly, what should make the Insect aware of this its strange Faculty and +Power, and teach it so cunningly and dextrously to employ it for its own +Service and Good? + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK IX. + +_Of REPTILES, and the Inhabitants of the WATERS._ + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAP. I. + +_Of REPTILES._ + + +Having dispatch’d the insect Tribe, there is but one _Genus_ of +the Land-Animals remaining to be survey’d; and that is, that of +_Reptiles_[a]. Which I shall dispatch in a little Compass, by Reason I +have somewhat amply treated of others, and many of the Things may be +apply’d here. But there are some Things in which this Tribe is somewhat +singular, which I shall therefore take Notice of briefly in this Place. +One is their Motion, which I have in another Place[b] taken Notice of to +be not less curious, than it is different from that of other Animals, +whether we consider the Manner of it, as vermicular, or sinuous[c], or +like that of the Snail[d], or the Caterpillar[e], or the Multipedous[f] +or any other Way, or the Parts ministring to it, particularly the +Spine[g], and the Muscles co-operating with the Spine, in such as have +Bone, and the annular and other Muscles, in such as have none, all +incomparably made for those curious, and I may say, geometrical Windings +and Turnings, Undulations, and all the various Motions to be met with in +the reptile Kind. + +Another Thing that will deserve our Notice, is, the Poyson[h] that many +of this Tribe are stock’d with. Which I the rather mention, because some +make it an Objection against the divine Superintendence and Providence, +as being a Thing so far from useful, (they think,) that ’tis rather +mischievous and destructive of God’s Creatures. But the Answer is easy, +_viz._ That as to Man, those Creatures are not without their great Uses, +particularly in the Cure of[i] some of the most stubborn Diseases; +however, if they were not, there would be no Injustice for God to make +a Set of such noxious Creatures, as Rods and Scourges, to execute the +divine Chastisements upon ungrateful and sinful Men. And I am apt to +think that the Nations which know not God, are the most annoy’d with +those noxious Reptiles, and other pernicious Creatures. As to the Animals +themselves, their Poyson is no doubt of some great and especial Use to +themselves, serving to the more easy Conquest, and sure Capture of their +Prey, which might otherwise be too resty and strong, and if once escap’d, +would hardly be again recover’d, by Reason of their swifter Motion, and +the Help of their Legs; besides all which, this their Poyson may be +probably of very great Use to the Digestion of their Food. + +And as to the innocuous Part of the Reptile-Kind, they as well deserve +our Notice for their Harmlesness, as the others did for their Poyson. For +as those are endow’d with Poyson, because they are predaceous; so these +need it not, because their Food is near at hand, and may be obtain’d +without Strife and Contest, the next Earth[k] affording Food to such as +can terebrate, and make Way into it by their Vermicular Faculty; and the +next Vegetable being Food to others that can climb and reach[l], or but +crawl to it. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] Notwithstanding I have before, in _Book IV. Chap. 12. Note (p)_, +taken Notice of the _Earth-Worm_; yet it being a good Example of the +Creator’s wise and curious Workmanship, in even this meanest Branch of +the Creation, I shall superadd a few farther Remarks from Drs. _Willis_ +and _Tyson_. Saith _Willis_, _Lumbricus terrestris, licet vile & +contemptibile habetur, Organa vitalia, necnon & alia viscera, & membra +divino artificio admirabiliter fabrefacta sortitur: totius corporis +compages musculorum annularium catena est, quorum fibræ orbiculares +contractæ quemque annulum, prius amplum, & dilatum, angustiorem & +longiorem reddunt._ [This Muscle in Earth-Worms, I find is spiral, as +in a good Measure is their Motion likewise; _so that by this Means they +can, (like the Worm of an Augre,) the better bore their Passage into the +Earth. Their reptile Motion also, may be explain’d by a Wire wound on a +Cylinder, which when slipp’d off, and one End extended and held fast, +will bring the other nearer it. So the Earth-Worm, having shot out, or +extended its Body, (which is with a Wreathing,) it takes hold by those +small Feet it hath, and so contracts the hinder Part of its Body._ Thus +the curious and learned Dr. _Tyson_, Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 147.] _Nam proinde +cùm portio corporis superior elongata, & exporrecta, ad spatium alterius +extenditur, ibidemque plano affigitur, ad ipsum quasi ad centrum portio +corporis inferior relaxata, & abbreviata facile pertrabitur. Pedunculi +serie quadruplici, per totam longitudinem Lumbrici disponuntur; his +quasi totidem uncis, partem modò hanc, modò istam, plano affigit, dum +alteram exporrigit, aut post se ducit. Supra oris hiatum, Proboscide, quâ +terram perforat & elevat, donatur._ And then he goes on with the other +Parts that fall under View, the _Brain_, the _Gullet_, the _Heart_, the +_spermatick Vessels_, the _Stomachs_ and _Intestines_, the _Foramina_ +on the Top of the Back, adjoyning to each Ring, supplying the Place of +Lungs, and other Parts. _Willis de Anim. Brut._ P. 1. c. 3. + +[b] In _Book IV. Chap. 8._ + +[c] There is a great Deal of geometrical Neatness and Nicety, in the +sinuous Motion of Snakes, and other Serpents. For the assisting in which +Action, the annular Scales under their Body are very remarkable, lying +cross the Belly, contrary to what those in the Back, and rest of the +Body do; also as the Edges of the foremost Scales lye over the Edges +of their following Scales, from Head to Tail; so those Edges run out +a little beyond, or over their following Scales; so as that when each +Scale is drawn back, or set a little upright by its Muscle, the outer +Edge thereof, (or Foot it may be call’d,) is rais’d also a little from +the Body, to lay hold on the Earth, and so promote and facilitate the +Serpent’s Motion. This is what may be easily seen in the Slough, or Belly +of the Serpent-kind. But there is another admirable Piece of Mechanism, +that my Antipathy to those Animals hath prevented my prying into; and +that is, that every Scale hath a distinct Muscle, one End of which is +tack’d to the Middle of its Scale; the other, to the upper Edge of its +following Scale. This Dr. _Tyson_ found in the _Rattle-Snake_, and I +doubt not is in the whole Tribe. + +[d] The wise Author of Nature, having deny’d Feet and Claws to enable +Snails to creep and climb, hath made them amends in a Way more commodious +for their State of Life, by the broad Skin along each Side of the +Belly, and the undulating Motion observable there. By this latter ’tis +they creep; by the former, afflicted with the glutinous Slime emitted +from the Snail’s Body, they adhere firmly and securely to all Kinds of +Superficies, partly by the Tenacity of their Slime, and partly by the +Pressure of the Atmosphere. Concerning this Part, (which he calls the +_Snail’s Feet_,) and their Undulation, See Dr. _Lister_’s _Exercit. +Anat._ 1. §. 1. and 37. + +[e] The motive Parts, and Motion of Caterpillars, are useful, not only +to their Progression and Conveyance from Place to Place; but also their +more certain, easy and commodious gathering of Food. For having Feet +before and behind, they are not only enabled to go by a kind of Steps +made by their fore and hind Parts; but also to climb up Vegetables, and +to reach from their Boughs and Stalks for Food at a Distance; for which +Services, their Feet are very nicely made both before and behind. Behind, +they have broad Palms for sticking too, and these beset almost round +with small sharp Nails, to hold and grasp what they are upon: Before, +their Feet are sharp and hook’d, to draw Leaves, _&c._ to them, and to +hold the fore-part of the Body, whilst the hinder-parts are brought up +thereto. But nothing is more remarkable in these Reptiles, than that +these Parts and Morton are only temporary, and incomparably adapted only +to their present _Nympha-State_; whereas in their _Aurelia-State_, they +have neither Feet nor Motion, only a little in their hinder parts: And in +their _Mature-State_, they have the Parts and Motion of a flying Insect, +made for Flight. + +[f] It is a wonderful pretty Mechanism, observable in the going of +_Multipedes_, as the _Juli_, _Scolopendræ_, &c. that on each Side the +Body, every Leg hath its Motion, one very regularly following the other +from one End of the Body to the other in a Way not easy to be describ’d +in Words; so that their Legs in going, make a kind of Undulation, and +give the Body a swifter Progression than one would imagine it should +have, where so many Feet are to take so many short Steps. + +[g] _Vertebrarum Apophysos breviores sunt, præcipuè juxta caput, cujus +propterea flexus in aversum, & latera, facilis Viperis est: secus +Leonibus, ~&c.~——Incumbit his Ossibus ingens Musculorum minutorum +præsidium, tum spinas tendinum exilium magno apparatu diducentium, tum +vertebras potissimum in diversa flectentium, atque erigentium. Adeoque +illam corporis miram agilitatem, non tantùm (ut Aristot.) ὅτι ἐπικαμπεῖς +καὶ χονδρώδεις ὁι σπόνδυλοι quoniam faciles ad flexum, & cartilagineas +produxit vertebras, sed quia etiam multiplicia motûs localis instrumenta +musculos fabrefecit provida rerum Parens Natura, consecuta fuit._ Blas. +Anat. Anim. P. 1. c. 39. de Viperâ è Veslingio. + +_That which is most remarkable in the ~Vertebræ~ ~[of the _Rattle-Snake_, +besides the other curious Articulations,]~ is, that the round Ball in +the lower Part of the upper ~Vertebra~, enters a Socket of the upper +Part of the lower ~Vertebra~, like as the Head of the ~Os Femoris~ doth +the ~Acetabulum~ of the ~Os Ischii~; by which Contrivance, as also the +Articulation with one another, they have that free Motion of winding +their Bodies any Way._ Dr. _Tyson_’s Anat. of the _Rattle-Snake_ in +_Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 144. What is here observ’d of the _Vertebræ_ of this +_Snake_, is common to this whole _Genus_ of Reptiles. + +[h] My ingenious and learned Friend, Dr. _Mead_, examined with his +Microscope, the Texture of a _Viper_’s _Poyson_, and found therein at +first only _a Parcel of small Salts nimbly floating in the Liquor; but +in a short Time the Appearance was chang’d, and these saline Particles +were shot out into Crystals, of an incredible Tenuity and Sharpness, with +something like Knots here and there, from which they seem’d to proceed; +so that the whole Texture did in a Manner represent a Spider’s Web, +though infinitely finer._ Mead of Poysons, p. 9. + +As to the Nature and Operation of this _Poyson_, see the same ingenious +Author’s Hypothesis, in his following Pages. + +This _Poyson_ of the _Viper_, lieth in a Bag in the Gums, at +the Upper-end of the Teeth. It is separated from the Blood by a +_conglomerated Gland_, lying in the anterior lateral Part of the _Os +Sincipitis_; just behind the Orbit of the Eye: From which Gland lieth a +Duct, that conveys the Poyson to the Bags at the Teeth. + +The Teeth are tubulated, for the Conveyance, or Emission of the Poyson +into the Wound, the Teeth make; but their Hollowness doth not reach to +the _Apex_, or Top of the Tooth, (that being solid and sharp, the better +to pierce;) but it ends in a long slit below the Point, out of which the +Poyson is emitted. These Perforations of the Teeth, _Galen_ saith, the +Mountebanks us’d to stop with some kind of Paste, before they suffer’d +the Vipers to bite them before their Spectators. Cuts of these Parts, +_&c._ may be seen in the last cited Book of Dr. _Mead_. Also Dr. _Tyson’s +Anat. of the Rattle-Snake_, in _Philos. Transact._ Nᵒ. 144. + +[i] That Vipers have their great Uses in Physick, is manifest from their +bearing a great Share in some of our best Antidotes, such as _Theriaca +Andromachi_, and others; also in the Cure of the _Elephantiasis_, and +others the like stubborn Maladies, for which I shall refer to the medical +Writers. But there is so singular a Case in the curious Collection of Dr. +_Ol. Worm._ related from _Kircher_, that I shall entertain the Reader +with it. Near the Village of _Sassa_, about eight Miles from the City +_Bracciano_ in _Italy_, saith he, _Specus feu caverna (vulgò La Grotta +delli Serpi) duorum hominum capax, fistulosis quibusdam foraminibus in +formam cribri perforata cernitur, ex quibus ingens quædam, principio +veris, diversicolorum Serpentum, nullâ tamen, ut dicitur, singulari +veneni qualitate imbutorum progenies quotannis pullulare solet. In hæc +speluncâ Elephantiacos, Leprosos, Paralyticos, Arabriticos, Podagricos, +~&c.~ nudos exponere solent, qui mox halituum subterraneorum calore +in sudorem resoluti, Serpentum propullulantium, totum corpus infirmi +implicantium, suctu linctuque ita omni vitioso virulentoque humore +privare dicuntur, ut repetito hoc per aliquod tempus medicamento, tandem +perfecta sanitati restituantur._ This Cave _Kircher_ visited himself, +found it warm, and every Way agreeable to the Description he had of it; +he saw their Holes, heard a murmuring hissing Noise in them; but although +he missed seeing the Serpents (it being not the Season of their creeping +out) yet he saw great Numbers of their _Exuviæ_, or _Sloughs_, and an Elm +growing hard by laden with them. + +The Discovery of this Cave, was by the Cure of a _Leper_ going from +_Rome_ to some Baths near this Place; who losing his Way, and being +benighted, happened upon this Cave; and finding it very warm, pull’d off +his Cloaths, and being weary and sleepy, had the good Fortune not to feel +the Serpents about him, till they had wrought his Cure. _Vid._ _Museum +Worm._ L. 3. c. 9. + +The before-commended Dr. _Mead_, thinks our Physicians deal too +cautiously and sparingly, in their prescribing only small Quantities +of the Viper’s Flesh, _&c._ in the _Elephantiasis_, and stubborn +_Leprosies_: But he recommendeth rather the Gelly or Broth of Vipers; or, +as the ancient Manner was, to boil Vipers, and eat them like Fish; or at +least to drink Wine, in which they have been long infused. _Vid._ _Mead. +ubi supr._ p. 34. + +[k] That _Earth-worms_ live upon Earth, is manifest from the little +curled Heaps of their Dung ejected out of their Holes. But in _Philos. +Transact._ Nᵒ. 291, I have said, it is in all Probability Earth made of +rotted Roots and Plants, and such like nutritive Things, not pure Earth. +And there is farther Reason for it, because Worms will drag the Leaves of +Trees into their Holes. + +[l] _Snails_ might be in Danger of wanting Food, if they were to live +only upon such tender Plants as are near the Ground, within their Reach +only; to impower them therefore to extend their Pursuits farther, they +are enabled by the Means mentioned in _Note (d)_, to stick unto, and +creep up Walls and Vegetables at their Pleasure. + + + + +CHAP. II. + +_Of the Inhabitants of the WATERS._ + + +I have now gone through that Part of the Animal World, which I proposed +to survey, the Animals inhabiting the Land. + +As to the other Part of the Terraqueous Globe, the Waters, and the +Inhabitants thereof, not having Time to finish what I have begun, on +that large Subject, I shall be forced to quit it for the present, altho’ +we have there as ample and glorious a Scene of the Infinite Creator’s +Power and Art, as hath been already set forth on the dry Land. For the +Waters themselves are an admirable Work of God[a], and of infinite +Use[b] to that Part of the Globe already surveyed; and the prodigious +Variety[c], and Multitudes of curious and wonderful Things observable in +its Inhabitants of all Sorts, are an inexhaustible Scene of the Creator’s +Wisdom and Power. The vast Bulk of some[d], and prodigious Minuteness of +others[e], together with the incomparable Contrivance and Structure of +the Bodies[f] of all; the Provisions and Supplies of Food afforded to +such an innumerable Company of Eaters, and that in an Element, unlikely +one would think, to afford any great Store of Supplies[g]; the Business +of Respiration perform’d in a Way so different from, but equivalent to +what is in Land Animals[h]; the Adjustment of the Organs of Vision[i] to +that Element in which the Animal liveth; the Poise[k], the Support[l], +the Motion of the Body[m], forwards with great Swiftness, and upwards +and downwards with great Readiness and Agility, and all without Feet and +Hands, and ten thousand Things besides; all these Things, I say, do lay +before us so various, so glorious, and withal so inexhaustible a Scene of +the divine Power, Wisdom and Goodness, that it would be in vain to engage +my self in so large a Province, without allotting as much Time and Pains +to it, as the preceding Survey hath cost me. Passing by therefore that +Part of our Globe, I shall only say somewhat very briefly concerning the +_insensitive_ Creatures, particularly those of the _vegetable Kingdom_, +and so conclude this Survey. + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] Besides their absolute Necessity, and great Use to the World, there +are several Topics, from whence the Waters may be demonstrated to be +God’s Work; as, the creating so vast a Part of our Globe; the placing it +commodiously therein, and giving it Bounds; the Methods keeping it sweet +and clean, by its Saltness, by the Tides, and Agitations by the Winds; +the making the Waters useful to the Vegetation of Plants, and for Food to +Animals, by the noble Methods of sweetning them; and many other Things +besides, which are insisted on in that Part of my Survey. + +[b] _Pliny_ having named divers _Mirabilia Aquarum_, to shew their Power; +then proceeds to their Uses, viz. _Eædem cadentes omnium terrâ nascentium +causa fiunt, prorsus mirabili naturâ, siquis velit reputare, ut fruges +gignantur, arbores fruticesque vivant, in cœlum migrare aquas, animamque +etiam herbis vitalem inde deferre: justâ confessione, omnes terra quoque +vires aquarum esse beneficii. Quapropter ante omnia ipsarum potentia +exempla ponemus: Cunctas enim quis mortalium enamerare queat?_ And then +he goes on with an Enumeration of some Waters famed for being medicinal, +or some other unusual Quality. _Plin._ L. 31. c. 1. & 2. + +[c] _Pliny_ reckons 176 Kinds in the Waters, whose Names may be met with +in his L. 32. c. 11. but he is short in his Account. + +[d] _Pliny_, L. 9. c. 3. saith, that in the _Indian_ Sea there are +_Balenæ quaternûm jugerum_ (i.e. 960 Feet) _Pristes 200 cubitorum_ (i.e. +300 Feet.) And L. 32. c. 1. he mentions _Whales_ 600 Foot long, and 360 +broad, that came into a River of _Arabia_. If the Reader hath a mind, he +may see his Reason why the largest Animals are bred in the Sea, L. 9. c. +2. + +[e] As the largest, so the most minute Animals are bred in the Waters, as +those in Pepper-water; and such as make the green Scum on the Waters, or +make them seem as if green, and many others. See _Book IV. Chap. 11. Note +(n), (v)._ + +[f] It might be here shewn, that the Bodies of all the several +Inhabitants of the Waters are the best contrived and suited to that Place +and Business in the Waters, which is proper for them; that particularly +their Bodies are cloathed and guarded, in the best Manner, with Scales, +or Shells, _&c._ suitable to the Place they are to reside in, the Dangers +they may there be exposed unto, and the Motion and Business they are +there to perform: That the Center of Gravity (of great Consideration in +that fluid Element,) is always plac’d in the fittest Part of the Body: +That the Shape of their Bodies, (especially the more swift,) is the +most commodious for making Way through the Water, and most agreeable to +geometrical Rules; and many other Matters besides would deserve a Place +here, were they not too long for Notes, and that I shall anticipate what +will be more proper for another Place, and more accurately treated of +there. + +[g] See before _Book IV. Chap. 11._ + +[h] _Galen_ was aware of the Respiration of Fishes by their _Branchiæ_. +For having said, that Fishes have no Occasion of a Voice, neither +respire through the Mouth as Land Animals do, he saith, _Sed earum, quas +Branchias nuncupamus, constructio, ipsis vice Pulmonis est. Cùm enim +crebris ac tenuibus foraminibus sint Branchiæ hæ interceptæ, aëri quidem +& vapori perviis, subtilioribus tamen quàm pro mole aquæ; hanc quidem +extra repellunt, illa autem promptè intromittunt._ Galen de Us. Part. +L. 6. c. 9. So also _Pliny_ held, that Fishes respired by their Gills; +but he saith _Aristotle_ was of a different Opinion. _Plin._ L. 9. c. 7. +And so _Aristotle_ seems to be in his _Hist. Animal._ L. 8. c. 2. and in +other Places. And I may add our famous Dr. _Needham_. See his _De form. +Fœtu_, Chap. 6. and _Answer to ~Severinus~_. + +[i] A protuberant Eye would have been inconvenient for Fishes, by +hindring their Motion in so dense a Medium as Water is; or else their +brushing through so thick a Medium would have been apt to wear, and +prejudice their Eyes; therefore their _Cornea_ is flat. To make amends +for which, as also for the Refraction of Water, different from that of +the Air, the wise Contriver of the Eye, hath made the _Crystalline_ +spherical in Fishes, which in Animals, living in the Air, is +_lenticular_, and more flat. + +[k] As I have shew’d before, that the Bodies of Birds are nicely pois’d +to swim in the Air; so are those of Fishes for the Water, every Part +of the Body being duly balanc’d, and the Center of Gravity, (as I said +in _Note (f)_), accurately fix’d. And to prevent Vacillation, some of +the Fins serve, particularly those of the Belly; as _Borelli_ prov’d by +cutting off the Belly-fins, which caus’d the Fish to reel to the right +and left Hand, and render’d it unable to stand steadily in an upright +Posture. + +[l] To enable the Fish to abide at the Top, or Bottom, or any other Part +of the Waters, the Air-Bladder is given to most Fishes, which as ’tis +more full or empty, makes the Body more or less buoyant. + +[m] The _Tail_ is the grand Instrument of the Motion of the Body; not the +Fins, as some imagine. For which Reason, Fishes are more musculous and +strong in that Part, than in all the rest of their Body, according as it +is in the motive Parts of all Animals, in the pectoral Muscles of Birds, +the Thighs of Man, _&c._ + +If the Reader hath a Mind to see the admirable Method, how Fishes row +themselves by their Tail, and other Curiosities relating to their +Swimming; I shall refer him to _Borelli_ _de mot. Anim._ Part. 1. Chap. +23. particularly to Prop. 213. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK X. + +_Of VEGETABLES._ + + +The Vegetable Kingdom, although an inferiour Branch of the Creation, +exhibits to us such an ample Scene of the Creator’s Contrivance, +Curiosity, and Art, that I much rather chuse to shew what might be +said, than engage too far in Particulars. I might insist upon the great +Variety there is, both of Trees and Plants provided for all Ages, and +for every Use and Occasion of the World[a]; some for Building, for Tools +and Utensils of every Kind; some hard, some soft; some tough and strong, +some brittle; some long and tall, some short and low; some thick and +large, some small and tender; some for Physick[b], some for Food, some +for Pleasure; yea, the most abject[c] Shrubs, and the very Bushes and +Brambles themselves, the Husbandman can testify the Use of. + +I might also survey here the curious Anatomy and Structure of their +Bodies[d], and shew the admirable Provision made for the Conveyance +of the lymphatick and essential Juices, for communicating the Air, as +necessary to Vegetable, as Animal Life[e]: I might also speak of, even +the very Covering they are provided with, because it is a curious Work +in Reality, although less so in Appearance: And much more therefore +might I survey the neat Variety and Texture of their Leaves[f], the +admirable Finery, Gaiety, and Fragrancy of their Flowers[g]. I might +also inquire into the wonderful Generation and Make of the Seed[h], and +the great Usefulness of their Fruit: I might shew that the Rudiments and +Lineaments of the Parent-Vegetable, though never so large and spacious, +is locked up in the little Compass of their Fruit or Seed, though some +of those Seeds are scarce visible to the naked Eye[i]. And forasmuch as +the Perpetuity and Safety of the Species depends upon the Safety of the +Seed and Fruit in a great measure, I might therefore take notice of the +peculiar Care the great God of Nature hath taken for the Conservation and +Safety hereof: As particularly in such as dare to shew their Heads all +the Year, how securely their Flower, Seed or Fruit is locked up all the +Winter, together with their Leaves and Branches, in their Gems[k] and +well fenced and covered there with neat and close Tunicks. And for such +as dare not so to expose themselves, with what Safety are they preserved +under the Coverture of the Earth, in their Root [l], Seed [m], or Fruit, +till invited out by the kindly Warmth of the Spring! And when the whole +Vegetable Race is thus called out, it is very pretty to observe the +Methods of Nature in guarding those insensitive Creatures against Harms +and Inconveniencies, by making some (for Instance) to lie down prostrate, +and others, to close themselves up [n] upon the Touch of Animals, and +the most to shut up their Flowers, their Down [o], or other their like +Guard, upon the Close and Cool of the Evening, by Means of Rain, or other +Matters that may be prejudicial to the tender Seed. + +And now to these Considerations relating to the Seed, I might add the +various Ways of Nature in dissipating and sowing it, some being for this +end, winged with light Down, or Wings, to be conveyed about by the Winds; +others being laid in elastick, springy Cases, that when they burst and +crack, dart their Seed at convenient Distances, performing thereby the +Part of a good Husbandman[p]; others by their agreeable Taste and Smell, +and salutary Nature, inviting themselves to be swallow’d, and carry’d +about by the Birds, and thereby also fertiliz’d by passing through their +Bodies[q]; and others not thus taken Care of, do many of them by their +Usefulness in human Life, invite the Husbandman and Gardiner carefully to +sow and nurse them up. + +To this so singular a Care about the Propagation and Conservation of +the Species of Vegetables, I might add the nice Provision that is made +for their Support and Aid, in standing and growing, that they may keep +their Heads above Ground, and not be rotted and spoil’d in the Earth +themselves, nor thereby annoy us; but on the contrary, minister to +all their Ends, and our Uses; to afford us Houses, Utensils, Food[r], +Physick, Cloathing, yea, Diversion too, by the Beauty of their Looks, by +the Fragrancy of their Smell, by creating us pleasant Shades against the +scorching Beams of Summer, and skreening us against the piercing Winds, +and Cold of Winter[s]. + +And it is very observable what admirable Provisions are made for this +Purpose of their Support and Standing, both in such as stand by their +own Strength, and such as need the Help of others. In such as stand by +their own Strength, it is, by Means of the stronger and more ligneous +Parts, (equivalent to the Bones in Animals,) being made not inflexible, +as Bones; because they would then be apt to break; but of a yielding +elastick Nature, to escape and dodge the Violence of the Winds; and by +Means also of the Branches spreading handsomely and commodiously about, +at an Angle of about 45 gr. by which Means they equally fill up, and at +the same Time make an Æquilibration of the Top[t]. + +And as for such Vegetables as are weak, and not able to support +themselves, ’tis a wonderful Faculty they have, so readily and naturally +to make Use of the Help of their Neighbours, embracing and climbing up +upon them[u], and using them as Crutches to their feeble Bodies: Some +by their odd convolving Faculty, by twisting themselves like a Screw +about others; some advancing themselves, by catching and holding with +their curious _Claspers_ and _Tendrels_, equivalent to the Hands; some +by striking in their rooty Feet; and others by the Emission of a natural +Glue, closely and firmly adhering to something or other that administers +sufficient Support unto them. All which various Methods being so nicely +accommodated to the Indigencies of those helpless Vegetables, and not to +be met with in any besides, is a manifest Indication of their being the +Contrivance and Work of the Creator, and that his infinite Wisdom and +Care condescends, even to the Service, and well-being of the meanest, +most weak, and helpless insensitive Parts of the Creation. + +In the last Place, to the Uses already hinted at, I might add a large +Catalogue of such among Vegetables, as are of peculiar Use and Service +to the World, and seem to be design’d as ’twere on Purpose, by the most +merciful Creator, for the Good of Man, or other Creatures[w]. Among +_Grain_, I might name the great Fertility[x] of such as serves for Bread, +the easy Culture and Propagation thereof, and the Agreement of every +Soil and Climate to it. Among Trees, and Plants, I might instance in +some that seem to be design’d, as ’twere on Purpose, for almost every +Life[y], and Convenience; some to heal the most stubborn and dangerous +Distempers[z], to alleviate and ease the Pains[aa] of our poor infirm +Bodies, all the World over: And some designed for the peculiar Service +and Good of particular Places, either to cure such Distempers as are +peculiar to them, by growing more plentifully there than elsewhere[bb]; +or else to obviate some Inconvenience there, or to supply some constant +Necessity, or Occasion, not possible, or at least not easy, to be +supplied any other Way[cc]. ’Tis, for Instance, an admirable Provision +made for some Countries subject to Drought, that when the Waters every +where fail, there are Vegetables which contain not only Moisture enough +to supply their own Vegetation and Wants, but afford Drink also both to +Man and other Creatures, in their great Extremities[dd]; and a great +deal more might be instanced in of a like Nature, and Things that bear +such plain Impresses of the Divine Wisdom and Care, that they manifest +the Super-intendence of the infinite Creator. + +Thus I have given a Sketch of another Branch of the Creation, which +(although one of the meanest, yet) if it was accurately viewed, would +abundantly manifest it self to be the Work of God. But because I have +been so long upon the other Parts, although less than they deserve, I +must therefore content my self with those general Hints I have given; +which may however serve as Specimens of what might have been more largely +said about this inferiour Part of the animated Creation. + +As to the _Inanimate Part_, such as Stones, Minerals, Earths, and +such-like, that which I have already said in the Beginning shall suffice. + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] The fifth Book of _Theophrastus_’s _Hist. Plant._ may be here +consulted: Where he gives ample instances of the various Constitutions +and Uses of Trees, in various Works, _&c._ See also before _Book IV. +Chap. 13. Note (a)._ + +[b] _Invisis quoque herbis inseruit ~[Natura]~ remedia: quippe cùm +medicinas dederit etiam aculeatis——in quibus ipsis providentiam Naturæ +satis admirari amplectique non est.——Inde excogitavit aliquas aspectu +hispidas, tactu truces, ut tantùm non vocem ipsius fingentis illas, +rationemque reddentis exaudire videamur, ne se depascat avida Quadrupes, +ne procaces manus rapiant, ne neglecta vestigia obterant, ne insidens +Ales infringat: his muniendo Aculeis, telisque armando, remediis ut +tuta ac salva sint. Ita hoc quoque quod in iis odimus, hominum causa +excogitatum est._ Plin. N. H. L. 22 c. 6. + +_Are some of the Species of Nature noxious? They are also useful——Doth +a Nettle sting? It is to secure so good a Medicine from the Rapes of +Children and Cattle. Doth the Bramble cumber a Garden? It makes the +better Hedge; where if it chanceth to prick the Owner, it will tear the +Thief._ Grew Cosmolog. L. 3. c. 2. §. 47. + +[c] That the most abject Vegetables, _&c._ have their Use, and are +beneficial to the World, may in some measure appear from the Use +the Northern People put rotten Wood, _&c._ unto. _Satis ingeniosum +modum habent populi septentrionales in nemoribus nocturno tempore +pertranseuntes, imo & diurno, quando in remotioribus Aquilonis partibus +ante, & post Solstitium hyemale continuæ noctes habentur. Quique his +remediis indigent, Cortices quercinos inquirunt putres, easque collocant +certo interstitio itineris instituti, ut eorum splendore, quò voluerint, +perficiant iter. Nec solùm hoc præstat Cortex, sed & Truncus putrefactus, +ac fungus ipse Agaricus appellatus, ~&c.~_ Ol. Mag. Hist. L. 2. c. 16. + +To this we may add _Thistles_ in making Glass, whose Ashes Dr. _Merret_ +saith, are the best, _viz._ the Ashes of the _Common-way Thistle_, +though all _Thistles_ serve to this Purpose. Next to _Thistles_ are +_Hop-strings_, cut after the Flowers are gathered. Plants that are Thorny +and Prickly, seem to afford the best and most Salt. _Merret_’s _Observ. +on Anton. Ner._ p. 265. + + _Quid majora sequar? Salices, humilesque Genistæ._ + _Aut illæ pecori frondem, aut pastoribus umbram_ + _Sufficiunt, Sepemque satis, & pabula melli._ + + Virg. Georg. L. 2. ℣. 434. + +[d] Dr. _Beal_ (who was very curious, and tried many Experiments upon +Vegetables) gives some good Reasons to imagine, that there is a direct +Communication between the Parts of the Tree and the Fruit, so that the +same Fibres which constitute the Root, Trunk, and Boughs, are extended +into the very Fruit. And in old _Horn-beams_, I have observed something +very like this; in many of which, there are divers great and small Ribs +(almost like Ivy, only united to the Body) running from the Root up along +the outside of the Body, and terminating in one single, or a few Boughs: +Which Bough or Boughs spread again into Branches, Leaves and Fruit. See +what Dr. _Beal_ hath in _Lowth. Abr._ V. 2. p. 710. + +But as to the particular Canals, and other Parts relating to the Anatomy +of Vegetables, it is too long a Subject for this Place, and therefore I +shall refer to _Seigneur Malpighi_’s and Dr. _Grew_’s Labours in this +kind. + +[e] _Tanta est Respirationis necessitas, & usus, ut Natura in singulis +viventium ordinibus varia, sed analoga, paraverit instrumenta, quæ +Pulmones vocamus_ [and so he goes on with observing the _Apparatus_ made +in the various _Genera_ of Animals, and then saith] _In Plantis verò, +quæ infirmum animalium attingunt ordinem, tantam Trachearum copiam & +productionem extare par est, ut his minimæ Vegetantium partes præter +corticem irrigentur.——Plantæ igitur (ut conjectari fas est) cum sint +viventia, visceribus infixa terræ, ab hac, seu potius ab aquâ & aëre, +commixtis & percolatis à terrâ, Respirationis suæ materiam recipiunt, +ipsarumque Tracheæ ab halitu terræ, extremas radices subingresso, +replentur._ Malpig. Op. Anat. Plant. p. 15. + +These _Tracheæ_ or _Air-Vessels_, are visible, and appear very pretty +in the Leaf of _Scabious_, or the Vine, by pulling asunder some of its +principal Ribs, or great Fibres; between which, may be seen the Spiral +_Air-Vessels_ (like Threads of Cob-web) a little uncoyled: A Figure +whereof, Dr. _Grew_ hath given us in his _Anat. Plant._ Tab. 51. 52. + +As to the curious coyling, and other Things relating to the Structure +of those _Air-Vessels_. I refer to _Malpig._ p. 14. and Dr. _Grew_, ib. +L. 3. c. 3. §. 16 _&c._ and L. 4. c. 4. §. 19. of Mr. _Ray_, from them +succinctly, _Hist. Plant._ L. 1. c. 4. + +[f] Concerning the _Leaves_, I shall note only two or three Things. 1. As +to the _Fibres of the Leaf_, they stand not in the _Stalk_, in an even +Line, but always in an Angular, or Circular Posture, and their vascular +Fibres or Threads, are 3, 5, or 7. The Reason of their Position thus, +is for the more erect Growth and greater Strength of the Leaf, as also +for the Security of its Sap. Of all which see, Dr. _Grew_, L. 1. c. 4. +§. 8. _&c._ and L. 4. Par. 1. c. 3. also Tab. 4. Fig. 2. to 11. Another +Observable in the Fibres of the Leaf, is their orderly Position, so as to +take in an eighth Part of a Circle, as in _Mallows_; in some a tenth, but +in most a twelfth, as in _Holy-Oak_; or a sixth, as in _Sirynga_. Id. ib. +Tab. 46, 47. + +2. The Art in _Folding up the Leaves_ before their Eruption out of their +Gems, _&c._ is incomparable, both for its Elegancy and Security, _viz._ +_In taking up (so as their Forms will bear) the least room; and in being +so conveniently couched as to be capable of receiving Protection from +other Parts, or of giving it to one another, ~e.g.~ First, there is +the Bow-lap, where the Leaves are all laid somewhat convexly one over +another, but not plaited——but where the Leaves are not so thick set, as +to stand in the Bow-lap, there we have the Plicature, or the Flat-lap; +as in Rose-tree, ~&c.~_ And so that curious Observer goes on shewing +the various Foldings, to which he gives the Names of the _Duplicature_, +_Multiplicature_, the _Fore-rowl_, _Back-rowl_, and _Tre-rowl_, or +_Treble-rowl_. Grew. ib. L. 1. c. 4. §. 14, _&c._ To these he adds some +others, L. 4. P. 1. c. 1. §. 9. Consult also _Malpig. de Gemmis_, p. 22. +&c. + +To these curious Foldings, we may add another noble Guard by the +Interposition of _Films_, _&c._ of which Dr. _Grew_ saith, there are +about six Ways, _viz._ _Leaves_, _Surfoyls_, _Ingerfoyls_, _Stalks_, +_Hoods_, and _Mantlings_. Grew. ib. and Tab. 41, 42. Malpig. ibid. + +[g] In the _Flower_ may be considered the _Empalement_, as Dr. _Grew_; +the _Calix_, or _Perianthium_, as Mr. _Ray_ and others, call it, designed +to be a Security, and Bands, to the other Parts of the Flower. _Floris +velut basis & fulcimentum est._ Ray Hist. L. 1. c. 10. Flowers, whose +_Petala_ are strong (as Tulips) have no _Calix_. _Carnations_, whose +_Petala_ are long and slender, have an Empalement of one Piece: And +others, such as the _Knap-weeds_, have it consisting of several Pieces, +and in divers Rounds, and all with a counterchangeable Respect to each +other, for the greater Strength and Security of themselves, and the +_Petala_, &c. they include. + +The next is the _Foliation_, as Dr. _Grew_, the _Petala_, or _Folia_, +as Mr. _Ray_, and others. In these, not only the admirable Beauty, and +luxuriant Colours are observable, but also their curious _Foldings_ in +the _Calix_, before their Expansion. Of which Dr. _Grew_ hath these +Varieties, _viz._ The _Close-Couch_, as in _Roses_; the _Concave-Couch_, +as in _Blattaria flore albo_; the _Single-Plait_, as in _Pease-Blossoms_; +the _Double-Plait_, as in _Blue-Bottles_, &c. the _Couch_ and _Plait_ +together, as in _Marigolds_, &c. the _Rowl_, as in _Ladies Bower_; the +_Spire_, as in _Mallows_; and lastly, the _Plait_ and _Spire_ together, +as in _Convolvulus Doronici folio_. L. 1. c. 5. §. 6. and Tab. 54. + +As to the _Stamina_ with their _Apices_, and the _Stylus_, (called the +_Attire_ by Dr. _Grew_) they are admirable, whether we consider their +Colours, or their Make, especially their Use, if it be as Dr. _Grew_, +Mr. _Ray_, and others imagine, namely, as a _Male Sperm_, to impregnate +and fructify the Seed. Which Opinion is corroborated by the ingenious +Observations of Mr. _Sam. Morland_, in _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 287. + +_Reliqua usus alimentique gratiâ genuit ~[Natura]~ ideoque secula +annosque tribuit iis. Flores verò odoresque in diem gignit: magnâ (ut +palam est) admonitione hominum, quæ spectatissimè floreant, celerrimè +marcescere._ Plin. N. H. L. 21. c. 1. + +[h] As to the curious and gradual Process of Nature in the Formation of +the Seed or Fruit of Vegetables, Cuts being necessary, I shall refer to +Dr. _Grew_, p. 45, and 209, and _Malpig._ p. 57. + +[i] _Vetus est Empedoclis dogma, Plantarum semina Ova esse, ab iisdem +decidua——Inest in eo ~[Ovo vel Semine]~ velut in cicatrice, non sola +viventis carina, sed cum minimo trunco assurgentes partes, Gemma +scilicet, & insignis radicis Conus, ~&c.~_ Malpig. ib. p. 81. vid. plura +in tract. _de Seminum veget._ p. 14. & passim. + +In _Malpighi_’s Life, a Debate may be seen between him and _Seign. +Triumphetti_, the Provost of the Garden at _Rome_, whether the whole +Plant be actually in the Seed. The Affirmative is maintained by +_Malpighi_, with cogent Arguments; among which, this is one; _Non +præoccupatâ mente, oculis microscopio armatis, lustret quæso Phaseolorum, +seminalem plantulam nondum satam, in quâ folia stabilia, hæcque ampla +evidenter observabit; in eâdem pariter gemmam, nodos, seu implantationes +varias foliorum caulis deprehendet. Caulem insignem fibris ligneis, & +utriculorum seriebus constantem conspicuè attinget._ And whereas _S. +Triumphetti_ had objected, that _vegetatione, metamorphosi, inediâ +plantas in alias degenerare, ut exemplo plurium ~[constat]~ præcipuè +tritici in lolium, & lolii in triticum versi._ In answer to this, (which +is one of the strongest Arguments against _Malpighi_’s Assertion) +_Malpighi_ replies, _Nondum certum est de integritate, & successu +experimenti, nam facienti mihi, & amicis, tritici metamorphosis non +cessit. Admissa tamen metamorphosi, quoniam hæc neglecta cultura, aut +vitio soli, aut aëris contingit——ideo ex morboso & monstruoso affectu +non licet inferre permanentem statum à Naturâ intentum. Observo plantas +sylvestres culturâ varias reddi, ~&c.~_ I have more largely taken notice +of _Malpighi_’s Answer, because he therein shews his Opinion about the +Transmutation of Vegetables. _Vid._ _Malpig. Vit._ p. 67. + +So Mr. _Lewenhoeck_, after his nice Observations of an _Orange-Kernel_, +which he made to germinate in his Pocket, _&c._ concludes, _Thus we see, +how small a Particle, no bigger than a course Sand ~(as the Plant is +represented)~ is increased, ~&c.~ A plain Demonstration, that the Plant, +and all belonging to it, was actually in the Seed, in the young Plant, +its Body, Root, ~&c.~_ Philos. Trans. Nᵒ. 287. See also _Raii Cat. Cant._ +in _Acer maj._ from Dr. _Highmore_. But in all the Seeds which I have +viewed, except the _Maple_, the Plant appears the plainest to the naked +Eye, and also very elegant, in the _Nux Vomica_. _Natura non observat +magnitudinis proportionem inter semina & plantas ab iisdem ortas, ita ut +majus semen majorem semper producat plantam, minus minorem. Sunt enim in +genere herbarum non pauca, quarum semina arborum nonnullarum seminibus +non dico æqualia sunt, sed multo majora. Sic ~v.g.~ Semina Fabæ, ~&c.~ +semina Ulmi, ~&c.~ multis vicibus magnitudine superant._ Raii ubi suprà, +L. 1. c. 13. + +_Filicem reliquasque Capillares herbas Semine carere Veteres +plerique——prodidere; quos etiam secuti sunt è Recentioribus nonnulli, +Dodonæus, ~&c.~——Alii è contrà, Bauhinus, ~&c.~ Filices & congeneres +spermatophoras esse contendunt: Partim quia Historia Creationis_, Genes. +ii. 12. &c.——_Hanc sententiam verissimam esse——autopsia convincit._ +_Fredericus Cæsius_, he saith, was the first that discovered these Seeds +with the Help of a Microscope. And since him, Mr. _W. C._ hath more +critically observed them. Among other Things observed by that ingenious +Gent. are these, _Pixidulæ seu capsulæ semina continentes in plerisque +hoc genus plantis perquam exili granulo arenæ vulgaris cinereæ plus +duplo minores sunt; imò in nonnullis speciebus vix tertiam quartamve +arenulæ partem magnitudine æquant, vesicularum quarundam annulis aut +fasciolis vermiformibus obvolutarum speciem exhibentes. Nonnulle ex his +vesiculis 100 circiter semina continere deprehendebantur.——adeò eximiâ +parvitate ut nudo oculo prorsus essent invisibilia, nec nisi microscopii +interventu detegi possent.——Osmunda Regalis, quæ aliis omnibus Filicis +speciebus mole——antecellit——vascula seminalia obtinet æquè cum reliquis +congeneribus magnitudinis——quorum immensa & visum fugiens parvitas cum +magnitudine plantæ collata——adeò nullam gerere proportionem invenietur, +ut tantam plantam è tantillo semine produci attentum observatarem meritò +in admirationem rapiat._ Ray, ibid. L. 3. pag. 132. This _W. C._ was Mr. +_Wil. Cole_, as he owneth in a Letter I have now in my Hands of his to +Mr. _Ray_, of _Octob. 18, 1684._ + +[k] _Vegetantium genus, ut debitam magnitudinem sortiatur, & suæ +mortalitatis jacturam sucessivâ prolis eductione reparet, statis +temporibus novas promit partes, ut tandem emergentes Uteri, recentes +edant Soboles. Emanantes igitur a caule, caudice, ramis, & radicibus +novellæ hujusmodi partes, non illico laxatæ extenduntur, sed compendio +quodam coagmentatæ intra folii axillam cubantes, non parum subsistunst, +Gemmæ appellantur, ~&c.~_ And then that great Man goes on to shew the +admirable various Methods of Nature, in repositing in that little +Compass, so large a Part of a Tree or Plant, the curious Structure of the +Gems, the admirable Guard afforded them, and the Leaves, Flowers and Seed +contained in them, _&c._ Of which having taken Notice before, I pass over +it now, and only refer to our Author _Malpighi_, and Dr. _Grew_, in the +Places cited in _Note (f) and (g)._ + +[l] Of _Bulbous_, and a great many more, probably of the far greater +Number of _Perennial Roots_ of Herbs, as _Arum_, _Rape-Crowfoot_, &c. it +is very observable, that their Root is annually renewed, or repaired out +of the Trunk or Stalk it self. That is to say, the _Basis_ of the _Stalk_ +continually, and by insensible Degrees descending below the Surface of +the Earth, and hiding it self therein, is thus both in Nature, Place +and Office, changed into a true Root.——So in _Brownwort_, the Basis of +the Stalk sinking down by Degrees, till it lies under Ground, becomes +the upper Part of the Root; and continuing still to sink, the next +Year becomes the lower Part: And the next after that, rots away; a new +Addition being still yearly made out of the Stalk, as the elder Parts +yearly rot away. _Grew._ _ibid._ L. 2. pag. 59. _ubi plura vid._ + +[m] How safe and agreeable a Conservatory the Earth is to Vegetables, +more than any other, is manifest from their rotting, drying, or being +rendred infecund in the Waters, or the Air; but in the Earth their +Vigour is long preserved. Thus Seeds particularly, Mr. _Ray_ thinks +some, may probably retain their Fecundity for ten Years, and others lose +it in five; but, saith he, _In terræ gremio latitantia, quamvis tot +caloris, frigoris, humoris & siccitatis varietatibus ibidem obnoxia, +diutiùs tamen (ut puto) fertilitatem suam tuentur quàm ab hominibus +diligentissimè custodita; nam & ego & alii ante me multi observârunt +Sinapeos vim magnam enatam in aggeribus fossarum recèns factis inque +areis gramineis effossis, ubi post hominum memoriam nulla unquam Sinapeos +seges succreverat. Quam tamen non spontè ortam suspicor, sed è seminibus +in terra per tot annos resuduis etiam prolificis._ Ray. Hist. Pl. L. 1. +C. 13. + +[n] _Plantæ nonnullæ Æschynomenæ Veteribus dictæ, Recentioribus Vivæ, & +Sensitivæ, & Mimosæ, haud obscura sensus indicia produnt; siquidem folia +earnum manu aut baculo tacta, & paululum compressa, pleno etiam meridie, +splendente Sole, illico se contrahunt; in nonnullis etiam speciebus +cauliculi teneriores concidunt & velut marcescunt; quod idem ab aëre +frigidiore admissa patiuntur._ Ray. Hist. Pl. T. 1. L. 18. App. S. 2. c. +2. p. 978. + +[o] I have observed that many, if not most Vegetables, do expand their +Flowers, Down, _&c._ in warm, Sun-shiny Weather, and again close them +towards Evening, or in Rain, _&c._ especially at the Beginning of +Flowering, when the Seed is young and tender; as is manifest in the +Down of _Dandelion_, and other Downs; and eminently in the Flowers of +_Pimpernel_; the opening and shutting of which, are the Country-Man’s +Weather-wiser; whereby _Gerard_ saith, he foretelleth what Weather shall +follow the next Day; for saith he, _if the Flowers be close shut up, it +betokeneth Rain and foul Weather; contrarywise, if they be spread abroad, +fair Weather._ Ger. Herb. B. 2. c. 183. + +_Est & alia ~[arbor in Tylis]~ similis, foliosior tamen, roseique floris; +quem noctu comprimens, aperire incipit Solis exortu, meridie expandit. +Incolæ dormiræ eam dicunt._ Plin. Nat. Hist. L. 12. c. 11. + +[p] _So soon as the Seed is ripe, Nature taketh several Methods for +its being duly Sown; not only in the opening of the ~Uterus~, but also +in the make of the Seed it self. For, First, The Seeds of many Plants, +which affect a peculiar Soil or Seat, as of ~Arum~, ~Poppy~, ~&c.~ are +heavy and small enough, without further Care, to fall directly down into +the Ground——But if they are so large and light, as to be expos’d to the +Wind, they are often furnish’d with one or more Hooks, to stay them from +straying too far from their proper Place——So the Seeds of ~Avens~ have +one single Hook; those of ~Agrimony~ and ~Goose-grass~, many; both the +former loving a warm Bank; the latter, an Hedge for its Support. On the +contrary, many Seeds are furnish’d with Wings or Feathers; partly with +the Help of the Wind to carry them, when ripe, from off the Plant, as +of ~Ash~, ~&c.~——and partly to enable them to make their Flight more +or less abroad, that so they may not, by falling together, come up too +thick; and that if one should miss a good Soil or Bed, another may hit. +So the Kernels of ~Pine~ have Wings——yet short——whereby they fly not +into the Air, but only flutter upon the Ground. But those of ~Typha~, +~Dandelion~, and most of the pappous Kind——have long numerous Feathers, +by which they are wafted every Way.——Again, there are Seeds which are +scatter’d not by flying abroad, but by being either spirted or flung +away. The first of those are Wood sorrel, which having a running Root, +Nature sees fit to sow the Seeds at some Distance. The doing of which is +effected by a white sturdy Cover, of a tendinous or springy Nature.——This +Cover, so soon as it begins to dry, bursts open on one Side, in an +instant, and is violently turn’d Inside outward——and so smartly throws +off the Seed. The Seeds of ~Hart’s-tongue~, is flung or shot away——by +the curious Contrivance of the Seed-case, as in ~Codded-Asmart~, only +there the spring moves and curls inward, but here outward, ~viz.~ Every +Seed-case——is of a spherick Figure, and girded about with a Sturdy +Spring.——The Surface of the Spring resembles a fine Screw.——So soon +as——this Spring is become stark enough, it suddenly breaks the Case into +two Halfs, like two little Cups, and so flings the Seed._ Grew. ib. +p. 199. and in Tab. 72. all these admirable Artifices are handsomely +represented. + +_Quin si quantitas modica seminum ~(Filicis Phyiltitidis quoque)~ à +foliis in subjectam charte mundæ——schedam decutiatur, detergatúrve, +& deinde in acervum converratur, vesicularum seminalium plurimis unà +dissilientibus, & sibi invicem allisis, acervulus variè moveri per partes +videbitur, non secus ac si Syronibus aut istiusmodi bestiolis repletus +esset——quin si locus tranquillus sit, aura proximè admotâ crepitantium +inter rumpendum vasculorum sonitus——percipietur; & si microscopio chartam +oculis oberres, semina per eam undique sparsa, & ad notabilem ab acervo +distantiam projecta comperies._ _Ray_ ibid. p. 132. + +_The admirable Contrivance of Nature, in this Plant is most plain. For +the Seed-Vessels being the best Preserver of the Seed, ’tis there kept +from the Injuries of Air and Earth, ’till it be rainy, when it is a +proper Time for it to grow, and then it is thrown round the Earth, as +Grain by a skilful Sower.——When any Wet touches the End of the Seed +Vessels, with a smart Noise and sudden Leap it opens it self, and with a +Spring scatters its Seed to a pretty Distance round it, where it grows._ +Dr. Sloane Voy. to Jamaica, p. 150. of the _Gentianella flore cœruleo_, +&c. or _Spirit-Leaf_. + +The Plants of the _Cardamine-Family_, and many others, may be added +here, whose Cods fly open, and dart out their Seed, upon a small Touch +of the Hand. But the most remarkable Instance is in the _Cardamine +impatiens, cujus Siliquæ_ (saith Mr. _Ray_) _vel leviter tactæ, actutùm +ejaculantur ~[Semina]~ imò, quod longè mirabilius videtur, etsi filiquas +non tetigeris, si tamen manum velut tacturus proximè admoveas, semina +in approprinquantem evibrabunt; quod tum Morisonus se sæpiùs expertum +scribit, tum Johnstonus apud Gerardum verum esse affirmat._ Hist. Plant. +L. 16. c. 20. + +Neither is this Provision made only for Land Vegetables, but for such +also as grow in the Sea. Of which I shall give an Instance from my before +commended Friend Dr. _Sloane_. _As to the Fuci,——their Seed hath been +discover’d, (and shew’d me first,) by the Industry of the ingenious +Herbarist, Mr. ~Sam. Doody~, who found on many of this Kind, solid +Tubercules, or Risings in some Seasons, wherein were lodg’d several round +Seeds, as big as Mustard-Seed, which, when ripe, the outward Membrane of +the Tubercule breaking, leaveth the seed to float up and down with the +Waves. The Seed coming near Stones, or any solid Foundation, by Means of +a Mucilage it carries with it, sticks to them, and shoots forth ~Ligulæ~ +with Branches, and in Time comes to its Perfection and Magnitude._ Sloan +Voy. Jamaica, p. 50. + +But although Mr. _Doody_ had hinted, and conjectur’d at the Thing; yet +the first that discover’d the Seeds in _Fuci_, was the before commended +Dr. _Tancred Robinson_; as may be seen by comparing what Mr. Ray saith +in his _Synops. Stirp. Brit._ p. 6. with his _Append. Hist._ p. 1849. +Besides which _Fuci_, the Dr. tells me, he observ’d Vessels and Seed in +_Coralloid Shrubs_, as also in several _Fungi_, not only in the Species +of _Crepitus Lupi_, but also between the _Lamellæ_ of other Species, and +in that subterraneous Kind call’d _Truffles_, whose Seed and Vessels open +in the Cortex, at some Seasons he saith, like that of Mallows in Shape. + +As to the _Crepitus Lupi_, I have more than once examin’d their Powder, +with those excellent Microscopes of Mr. _Wilson_’s Make: But the most +satisfactory View Mr. _Wilson_ himself gave me; by which I found the +Seeds to be so many exceeding small _Puff-Balls_, with round Heads, and +longer than ordinary sharp-pointed Stalks, as if made on purpose to +prick easily into the Ground. These Seeds are intermix’d with much dusty +Matter, and become hurtful to the Eyes, probably by their sharp Stalks +pricking and wounding that tender Organ. + +[q] The ancient Naturalists do generally agree, that _Misseltoe_ is +propagated by its Seeds carried about by, and passing through the Body +of Birds. Thus _Theophrastus de Caus. Plant._ L. 2. c. 24. τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ +σῆς ὀρνίθων, &c. _Initium verò à pastu avium:——Quippe Visco detracto +confectóque in alveïs, quod frigidissimum est, semen cum excremento +purum dimittitur, & factâ mutatione aliquâ in arbore Stercoris causâ +pullulat, erumpitque, ~&c.~_ So also _Pliny_ saith, viz. _Omnino +autem satum ~[Viscum]~ nullo modo nascitur, nec nisi per alvum Avium +reddittum, maximè Palumbis ac Turdi. Hæc est natura, ut nisi maturatum +in ventre Avium, non proveniat._ Plin. N. H. L. 16. c. 44. Whether what +_Theophrastus_ and _Pliny_ affirm, be conducive to the better fertilizing +the Seeds of _Misseltoe_, I know not; but that it is not of absolute +Necessity, I can affirm upon mine own Experience, having seen the Seeds +germinate, even in the Bark of Oak. But although they shot above an +Inch, and seem’d to root in the Tree, yet they came to nothing, whether +destroy’d by Ants, _&c._ which I suspected, or whether disagreeing with +the Oak, I know not. But I since find the Matter put out of doubt by Mr. +_Doody_, which see in Mr. _Ray_’s _Hist. Plant. App._ p. 1918. + +_Nutmegs_ are said to be fertiliz’d after the same Manner, as _Tavernier_ +saith was confirm’d to him by Persons that lived many Years in those +Parts; whose Relation was, The _Nutmeg_ being ripe, several Birds come +from the Islands toward the South, and devour it whole, but are forced +to throw it up again, before it be digested: And that the _Nutmeg_, then +besmear’d with a viscous Matter, falling to the Ground, takes Root, and +produces a Tree, which would never thrive, was it planted. _Tavern. of +the Commod. of the ~G. Mogul~._ And _Monsieur Thevenot_, in his Travels +to the _Indies_, gives this Account; The Tree is produc’d after this +Manner; there is a kind of Birds in the Island, that having pick’d off +the green Husk, swallow the Nuts, which having been some Time in their +Stomach, they void by the ordinary Way; and they fail not to take rooting +in the Place where they fall, and in Time to grow up to a Tree. This Bird +is shap’d like a _Cuckow_, and the _Dutch_ prohibit their Subjects under +Pain of Death, to kill any of them. _Vid._ _Sir T. Pope Blunt_’s _Nat. +Hist._ + +But Mr. _Ray_ gives a somewhat different Account: _Hunc fructum ~[Nucem +Moschatam]~ variæ quidem aves depascuntur, sed maximè Columbæ genus album +& parvum, quæ dehiscente nucamento, illectæ suavitate Macis, hunc cum +Nuce eripiunt & devorant, nec nisi repletâ ingluvie capacissimâ saginam +deserunt. Nostrates ibi mercatores Columbis istis ~Nut-eaters~ sive +Nucivoris nomen imposuerunt. Quas autem vorant Nuces, post integras per +alvum reddunt. Redditæ citiùs deinde germinant utpote præmaceratæ fervore +Ventriculi. Arbores inde natæ ceu præcociores, facilè sunt corruptioni +obnoxiæ fructumque ferunt cæteris multo viliorem, & hâc causa neglectum +incolis contemptumque, prater Macin, quem ad adulterandum meliorem +adhibent._ Ray H. P. L. 27. c. 4. + +[r] _Arbores blandioribus fruge succis hominem mitigavere. Ex iis +recreans membra Olei liquor, viresque potus Vini: tot denique sapores +annui sponte venientes: & mensa depugnetur licet earum causa cum feris, & +pasti naufragorum corporibus pisces expetantur, etiamnum tamen secundæ. +Mille præterea sunt usus earum, sine quibus vita degi non possit. Arbore +sulcamus maria, terrasque admovemus, arbore exædificamus tecta._ Plin. N. +H. L. 12. c. 1. + +[s] _Plantaram Usus latissime patet, & in omni vita parte occurrit. Sine +illis laute, sine illis commode non vivitur, at nec vivitur omnino: +Quæcunque ad victum necessaria sunt, quæcunque ad delicias faciunt, +e locupletissimo suo penu abunde subministrant. Quanto ex iis mensa +innocentior, mundior, salubrior quam ex Animalium cæde & laniena? Homo +certe natura Animal carnivorum non est; nullis ad prædam & rapinam armis +instructum, non dentibus exertis & serratis, non unguibus aduncis. Manus +ad fructus colligendos, dentes ad mandendas comparati. Non legimus ei +ante Diluvium carnes ad esum concessas. At non victum tantum nobis +suppeditant, sed & Vestitum, & Medicinam & Domicilia aliaque, ædificia, +& Navigia, & Supellectilem, & Focum, & Oblectamenta Sensuum Animique: Ex +his naribus odoramenta & sussumigiæ parantur. Horum flores inenarrabili +colorum & Schematum varietate, & elegantia, oculos exhilarant, suavissima +odorum quos expirant fragantia spiritus recreant. Horum fructus gule +illecebra mensas secundas instruunt, & languentem appetitum excitant. +Taceo virorem amiœnissimum oculis amicum, quem per prata paseua agros, +sylvas spatiantibus objiciunt & umbras quas contra æstum & solis ardores +præbent._ Ray. ib. L. 1. c. 24. p. 46. + +[t] All Vegetables of a tall and spreading Growth, seem to have a +natural Tendency to a hemispherical Dilation, but generally confine +their Spreading within an Angle of 90 _gr._ as being the most becoming +and useful Disposition of its Parts and Branches. Now the shortest Way +to give a most graceful and useful filling to that Space of dilating and +spreading out, is to proceed in strait Lines, and to dispose of those +Lines, in a Variety of Parallels, _&c._ And to do that in a quadrantal +Space, _&c._ there appears but one way possible, and that is, to form +all the Intersections which the Shoots and Branches make, with Angles +of 45 _gr._ only. And I dare appeal to all if it be not in this Manner, +almost to a Nicety observ’d by Nature, _&c._ A visible Argument that the +plastic Capacities of Matter are govern’d and dispos’d by an all-wise and +infinite Agent, the native Strictnesses and Regularities of them plainly +shewing from whose Hand they come. _Account of the Origine and Format. of +Foss. Shells, ~&c.~_ _Print._ Lond. 1705. pag. 38. 41. + +[u] _In Hederâ, sui culi & rami hinc inde claviculos, quasi radiculas +emittunt, quæ parietibus, vel occurrentibus arboribus veluti digitis +firmantur, & in altum suspenduntur. Hujusmodi radiculæ subrotundæ sunt, +& pilis cooperiuntur: & quad mirum est, glutinosum fundunt humorem, +seu Terebinthinam, quâ arcte lapidibus nectuntur & agglutinantur.——Non +minori industriâ Natura utitur in Vite Canadensi, ~&c.~_ The admirable +and curious Make of whose Tendrels and their Feet, see in the illustrious +Author, _Malpig. de Capreolis_, &c. p. 48. + +Claspers are of a compound Nature, between that of a Root and a Trunk. +Their Use is sometimes for Support only; as in the Claspers of Vines, +Briony, _&c._ whose Branches being long, slender and fragile, would +fall by their own Weight, and that of their Fruit; but these Claspers +taking hold of any Thing that is at Hand: Which they do by a natural +Circumvolution which they have; (those of Briony have a retrograde Motion +about every third Circle, in the Form of a double Clasp; so that if they +miss one Way, they may catch the other.) Sometimes the Use of Claspers is +also for a Supply, as in the Trunk Roots of Ivy; which being a Plant that +mounts very high, and being of a closer and more compact Substance than +that of Vines, the Sap would not be sufficiently supply’d to the upper +Sprouts, unless these assisted the Mother Root; but these serve also for +Support too. Sometimes also they serve for Stabiliment, Propagation and +Shade; for the first of these serve the Claspers of Cucumers; for the +second, those, or rather the Trunk-Roots of _Chamomil_; and for all three +the Trunk-Roots of _Strawberries_. Harris _Lex. Tech. in verb._ Claspers. + +[w] Vegetables afford not only Food to Irrationals, but also Physick, +if it be true which _Aristotle_ saith, and after him _Pliny_; which +latter in his 8th Book, Chap. 27. specifies divers Plants made use of as +Specificks, by divers, both Beasts and Birds: As _Dittany_ by wounded +_Deer_, _Celandine_ by _Swallows_, to cure the sore Eyes of their Young, +_&c._ And if the Reader hath a Mind to see more Instances of this Nature, +(many of them fanciful enough,) he may consult _Mersenne in Genes._ pag. +933. + +[x] See before _Book IV. Chap. 11. Note (b)._ + +[y] _Planta hæc unica ~[Aloe Americana]~ inquit Fr. Hernandez, quicquid +vitæ esse potest necessarium præstare facilè potest, si esset rebus +humanis modus. Tota enim illa lignorum sæpiendorumque agrorum usum +præstat, caules tignorum, folia verò tecta regendi imbricum, lancium: +eorundem nervuli, & fibra eundem habent usum ad linteamina, calceos, & +vestimenta conficienda quem apud nos Linum, Cannabis, Gossipium, ~&c.~ +E mucronibus siunt clavi, aculei, subula, quibus perforandis auribus, +macerandi corporis gratiâ, Indis uti mos erat cùm Dæmonum vacarent +cultui; item aciculæ, acus, tribuli militares & rastilla idonea pectendis +subtegminibus. Præterea è succo mananti, cujus evulsis germinibus +internis foliisve tenerioribus cultis ~[Yztlinis]~ in mediam cavitatem, +stillat planta, unica ad 50 interdum amphoras (quod dictu est mirabile) +Vina, Mel, Acetum ac Saccharum parantur ~[The Methods of which he +tells]~. Idem succus menses ciet, alvum lenit, Urinam evocat, Renes & +Vesicam emundat. E radice quoque Restes fiunt firmissimæ. Crassiores +foliorum partes, truncusque, decocta sub terrâ, edendo sunt apta, +sapiuntque Citrea frusta saccharo condita: quin & vulnera recentia mirè +conglutinant.——Folia quoque assa & affecto loco imposita convulsionem +curant, ac dolores leniunt (præcipuè si succus ipse calens bibatur) +quamvis ab Indicâ proficiscantur lue, sensum hebetant, atque torporem +inducunt. Radicis succus luem Veneream curat apud Indos ut Dr. ~Palmer~._ +Ray. ib. L. 21. c. 7. See also Dr. _Sloane_ _Voy. to ~Jamaica~_, _p. 247_. + +There are also two Sorts of _Aloe_ besides, mentioned by the same Dr. +_Sloane_, one of which is made use of for Fishing-Lines, Bow-Strings, +Stockings, and Hammocks. Another hath Leaves that hold Rain-Water, to +which Travellers, _&c._ resort to quench their Thirst, in Scarcity of +Wells, or Waters, in those dry Countries. _Ibid._ p. 249. + +[z] For an Instance here, I shall name the _Cortex Peruvianus_, which Dr. +_Morton_ calls _Antidotus in levamen crumnarum vitæ humanæ plurimarum +divinitus concessa._ De Febr. Exer. v. c. 3. _In Sanitatem Gentium +proculdubio à Deo O. M. conditus. Cujus gratiâ, Arbor vitæ, siqua alia, +jure meritò appellari potest._ Id. ib. c. 7. _Eheu! quot convitiis +Herculea & divina hæc Antidotus jactabatur?_ Ibid. + +To this (if we may believe the _Ephemer. German._ Ann. 12. Obser. 74. and +some other Authors) we may add _Trifolium paludosum_, which is become the +_Panacea_ of the _German_ and Northern Nations. + +[aa] _Pro doloribus quibuscunque sedandis præstantissimi semper usus +Opium habetur; quamobrem meritò ~Nepenthe~ appellari solet, & remedium +verè divinum existit. Et quidem satìs mirari vix possumus, quomodo +urgente viscerit aut membri cujuspiam torturâ insigni, & intolerabili +cruciatu, pharmacum hoc, incantamenti instar, levamen & ἀναλγησίαν +subitam, immò interdum absque somno, aut saltem priùs quàm advenerit, +concedit. Porrò adhuc magìs stupendum est, quod donec particulæ Opiaticæ +operari, & potentiam suam narcoticam exerere continuant, immò etiam +aliquamdiu postquam somnus finitur, summa aleviatio, & indolentia in +parte affectâ persisti._ Willis, Phar. rat. par. 1. S. 7. c. 1. §. 15. + +[bb] _Tales Plantarum species in quacunque regione, à Deo creantur +quales hominibus & animalibus ibidem natis maximè conveniunt; imò ex +plantarum nascentium frequentiâ se fere animadvertere posse quibus morbis +~[endemiis]~ quælibet regio subjecta sit, scribit Solenander. Sic apud +Danos, Frisios, Hollandos, quibus, Scorbutus frequens, Cochlearia copiose +provenit._ Ray. H. Pl. L. 16. c. 3. + +To this may be added _Elsner_’s Observations concerning the Virtues of +divers Things in his Observations _de Vincetoxico Scrophularum remedio_. +F. Germ. T. 1. Obs. 57. + +_John Benerovinus_, a Physician of _Dort_, may be here consulted, who +wrote a Book on purpose to shew, that every Country hath every Thing +serving to its Occasions, and particularly Remedies afforded to all the +Distempers it is subjected unto. V. _Bener._ Ἀυτάρκεια, _Batav. sive +Introd. ad Medic. indigenam._ + +[cc] The Description Dr. _Sloane_ gives of the _Wild-Pine_ is, that +its Leaves are chanelled fit to catch and convey Water down into their +Reservatories, that these Reservatories are so made, as to hold much +Water, and close at Top when full, to hinder its Evaporation; that these +Plants grow on the Arms of the Trees in the Woods every where [in those +Parts] as also on the Barks of their Trunks. And one Contrivance of +Nature in this Vegetable, he saith, is very admirable. The Seed hath +long and many Threads of _Tomentum_, not only that it may be carried +every where by the Wind——but also that it may by those Threads, when +driven through the Boughs, be held fast, and stick to the Arms, and +extant Parts of the Barks of Trees. So soon as it sprouts or germinates, +although it be on the under Part of a Bough,——its Leaves and Stalk rise +perpendicular, or strait up, because if it had any other Position, the +Cistern (before-mentioned, by which it is chiefly nourished——) made of +the hollow Leaves, could not hold Water, which is necessary for the +Nourishment and Life of the Plant——In Scarcity of Water, this Reservatory +is necessary and sufficient, not only for the Plant it self, but likewise +is very useful to Men, Birds, and all Sorts of Insects, whither they come +in Troops, and seldom go away without Refreshment. _Id. ib. p. 188._ and +_Phil. Trans._ Nᵒ. 251, where a Figure is of this notable Plant, as also +in _Lowthorp’s Abridg. V. 2. p. 669._ + +The _Wild-Pine_, so called, _&c._ hath Leaves that will hold a Pint and +a half, or Quart of Rain-Water; And this Water refreshes the Leaves, +and nourishes the Root. When we find these Pines, we stick our Knives +into the Leaves, just above the Root, and that lets out the Water, which +we catch in our Hats, as I have done many Times to my great Relief. +_Dampier_’s _Voy. to Campeachy_, _c. 2. p. 56._ + +[dd] _Navarette_ tells us of a Tree called the _Bejuco_, which twines +about other Trees, with its End hanging downwards; and that Travellers +cut the Nib off it, and presently a Spout of Water runs out from it, as +clear as Crystal, enough and to spare for six or eight Men. I drank, +saith he, to my Satisfaction of it, found it cool and sweet, and would +drink it as often as I found it in my Way. It is a Juice and natural +Water. It is the common Relief of the Herds men on the Mountains. When +they are thirsty, they lay hold on the _Bejuco_, and drink their Fill. +_Collect. of Voy. and Trav. Vol. 1. in the Suppl. to ~Navarette~’s +Account of ~China~, p. 355._ + +The _Waterwith_ of _Jamaica_ hath the same Uses, concerning which, my +before-commended Friend, Dr. _Sloane_, favoured me with this Account from +his Original Papers: _This Vine growing on dry Hills, in the Woods, where +no Water is to be met with, its Trunk, if cut into Pieces two or three +Yards long, and held by either End to the Mouth, affords so plentifully a +limpid, innocent, and refreshing Water, or Sap, as gives new Life to the +droughty Traveller or Hunter. Whence this is very much celebrated by all +the Inhabitants of these Islands, as an immediate Gift of Providence to +their distressed Condition._ + +To this we may add what Mr. _Ray_ takes notice of concerning the +_Birch-Tree_. _In initiis Veris antequam folia prodiere, vulnerata dulcem +succum copiosè effundit, quem siti pressi Pastores in sylvis sæpenumerò +potare solent. Nos etiam non semel eo liquore recreati sumus, cùm +herbarum gratiâ vastas peragravimus sylvas, inquit Tragus._ Raii Cat. +Plant. circa. Cantab. in Betula. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +BOOK XI. + +_Practical INFERENCES from the foregoing SURVEY._ + + +Having in the preceding Books carried my Survey as far as I care at +present to engage my self, all that remaineth, is to draw some Inferences +from the foregoing Scene of the great Creator’s Works, and so conclude +this Part of my intended Work. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAP. I. + +_That GOD’s Works are Great and Excellent._ + + +The first Inference I shall make, shall be by way of Confirmation of the +Text, That the _Works of the Lord are great_[a]. And this is necessary +to be observed, not against the Atheist only, but all other careless, +incurious Observers of God’s Works. Many of our useful Labours, and +some of our best modern Books shall be condemned with only this Note +of Reproach, That they are about trivial Matters[b], when in Truth +they are ingenious and noble Discoveries of the Works of _GOD_. And how +often will many own the World in general to be a Manifestation of the +Infinite Creator, but look upon the several Parts thereof as only Toys +and Trifles, scarce deserving their Regard? But in the foregoing (I may +call it) transient View I have given of this lower, and most slighted +Part of the Creation, I have, I hope, abundantly made out, that all the +Works of the Lord, from the most regarded, admired, and praised, to the +meanest and most slighted, are great and glorious Works, incomparably +contrived, and as admirably made, fitted up, and placed in the World. So +far then are any of the Works of the _LORD_, (even those esteemed the +meanest) from deserving to be disregarded, or contemned by us[c], that on +the contrary they deserve (as shall be shewn in the next Chapter) to be +_sought out, enquired after_, and _curiously_ and _diligently pryed into_ +by us; as I have shewed the Word in the Text implies. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Equidem ne laudare quidem satìs pro merito possum ejus Sapientiam ac +Potentiam, qui animalia fabricatus est. Nam ejusmodi opera non Laudibus +modò, verùm etiam Hymnis sunt majora, quæ priusquam inspexissemus, fieri +non posse persuasum habeamus, conspicati verò, falsos nos opinione fuisse +comperimus._ Galen. de Us. Part. L. 7. c. 15. + +[b] _Non tamen pigere debet Lectores, ea intelligere, quemadmodum ne +Naturam quidem piguit ea reipsà efficere._ Galen. ibid. L. 11. fin. + +[c] _An igitur etiamsi quemadmodum Natura hæc, & ejusmodi, summâ ratione +ac providentiâ agere potuit, ita & nos imitari aliquando possemus? Ego +verò existimo multis nostrum ne id quidem posse, neque enim artem Naturæ +exponunt: Eo enim modo omnino eam admirarentur, Sin minùs, eam saltem non +vitaperarent._ Galen. ib. L. 10. c. 3. + + + + +CHAP. II. + +_That GOD’s Works ought to be enquir’d into, and that such Enquiries are +commendable._ + + +The _Creator_ doubtless did not bestow so much Curiosity, and exquisite +Workmanship and Skill upon his Creatures, to be looked upon with a +careless, incurious Eye, especially to have them slighted or contemned; +but to be admired by the rational Part of the World, to magnify his +own Power, Wisdom and Goodness throughout all the World, and the Ages +thereof. And therefore we may look upon it as a great Error, not to +answer those Ends of the infinite _Creator_, but rather to oppose and +affront them. On the contrary, my Text commends _GOD_’s Works, not +only for being great, but also approves of those curious and ingenious +Enquirers, that _seek them out_, or _pry into them_. And the more we pry +into, and discover of them, the greater and more glorious we find them to +be, the more worthy of, and the more expressly to proclaim their great +_Creator_. + +Commendable then are the Researches, which many amongst us have, of late +Years, made into the Works of Nature, more than hath been done in some +Ages before. And therefore when we are asked, _Cui Bono?_ To what Purpose +such Enquiries, such Pains, such Expense? The Answer is easy, It is to +answer the Ends for which _GOD_ bestowed so much Art, Wisdom and Power +about them, as well as given us Senses to view and survey them; and an +Understanding and Curiosity to search into them: It is to follow and +trace him, when and whither he leads us, that we may see and admire his +Handy-work our selves, and set it forth to others, that they may see, +admire and praise it also. I shall then conclude this Inference with what +_Elihu_ recommends, Job xxxvi. 24, 25. _Remember that thou magnify his +Work, which Men behold. Every Man may see it, Men may behold it afar off._ + + + + +CHAP. III. + +_That GOD’s Works are manifest to all: Whence the Unreasonableness of +Infidelity._ + + +The concluding Words of the preceding Chapter suggests a third Inference, +that the Works of GOD are so visible to all the World, and withal such +manifest Indications of the Being, and Attributes of the infinite +Creator, that they plainly argue the Vileness and Perversness of the +Atheist, and leave him inexcusable. For it is a sign a Man is a wilful, +perverse Atheist, that will impute so glorious a Work, as the Creation +is, to any Thing, yea, a mere _Nothing_ (as Chance is) rather than to +_GOD_[a]. ’Tis a sign the Man is wilfully blind, that he is under the +Power of the Devil, under the Government of Prejudice, Lust, and Passion, +not right Reason, that will not discern what _every one can see, what +every Man may behold afar off_, even the Existence and Attributes of the +_CREATOR_ from his Works. For as _there is no Speech or Language where +their Voice is not heard, their Line is gone out through all the Earth, +and their Words to the End of the World_: So all, even the barbarous +Nations, that never heard of GOD, have from these his Works inferred the +Existence of a Deity, and paid their Homages to some Deity, although they +have been under great Mistakes in their Notions and Conclusions about +him. But however, this shews how naturally and universally all Mankind +agree, in deducing their Belief of a God from the Contemplation of his +Works, or as even _Epicurus_ himself, in _Tully_[b] saith, from _a Notion +that Nature it self hath imprinted upon the Minds of Men. For_, saith he, +_what Nation is there, or what kind of Men, that without any Teaching or +Instructions, have not a kind of Anticipation, or preconceived Notion of +a Deity?_ + +An Atheist therefore (if ever there was any such) may justly be esteemed +a Monster among rational Beings; a Thing hard to be met with in the +whole Tribe of Mankind; an Opposer of all the World[c]; a Rebel against +human Nature and Reason, as well as against his _GOD_. + +But above all, monstrous is this, or would be, in such as have heard +of _GOD_, who have had the Benefit of the clear Gospel-Revelation. And +still more monstrous this would be, in one born and baptized in the +Christian Church, that hath studied Nature, and pried farther than others +into God’s Works. For such an one (if it be possible for such to be) to +deny the Existence, or any of the Attributes of _GOD_, would be a great +Argument of the infinite Inconvenience of those Sins of Intemperance, +Lust, and Riot, that have made the Man abandon his Reason, his Senses, +yea, I had almost said his very human Nature[d], to engage him thus to +deny the Being of _GOD_. + +So also it is much the same monstrous Infidelity, at least betrays the +same atheistical Mind, to deny _GOD_’s Providence, Care and Government of +the World, or (which is a Spawn of the same _Epicurean Principles_) to +deny _Final Causes_[e] in God’s Works of Creation; or with the Profane in +_Psal._ lxxiii. 11. to say, _How doth God know? And is there Knowledge +in the most High?_ For as the witty and eloquent _Salvian_ saith[f], +_They that affirm nothing is seen by _GOD_, will, ~in all Probability~, +take away the Substance, as well as Sight of God.——But what so great +Madness_, saith he, _as that when a Man doth not deny _GOD_ to be the +Creator of all Things, he should deny him to be the Governour of them? Or +when he confesseth him to be the Maker, he should say, _GOD_ neglecteth +what he hath so made?_ + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Galen_ having taken notice of the neat Distribution of the Nerves +to the _Muscles_, and other Parts of the Face, cries out, _Hæc enim +fortunæ sunt opera! Cæterùm tum omnibus ~[partibus]~ immitti, tantosque +esse singulos [nervos] magnitudine, quanta particulæ erat necesse; haud +scio an hominum sit sobriorum ad Fortunam opisicem id revocare. Alioqui +quid tandem erit, quod cum Providentiâ & Arte efficitur? Omnino enim hoc +ei contrarium esse debet, quod Casu ac Fortuitò fit_. And afterwards, +_Hæc quidem atque ejusmodi Artis scil. ac Sapientiæ opera esse dicemus, +si modò Fortunæ tribuenda sunt quæ sunt contraria; fietque jam quod +in proverbiis——Fluvii sursum fluent; si opera quæ nullum habent neque +ornamentum neque rationem, neque modum Artis esse; contraria verò Fortunæ +duxerimus, ~&c.~_ Galen. ubi supra. L. 11. c. 7. + +[b] _Primùm esse Deos, quod in omnium animis, ~&c.~_ And a little after, +_Cùm enim non instituto aliquo, aut more, aut lege sit opinio constituta, +maneatque ad unum omnium firma consensio, intelligi necesse est, esse +Deos, quoniam insitas eorum vel potiùs innatas cognitiones habemus. De +quo autem omnium Natura consentit, id verum esse necesse est. Esse igitur +Deos confitendum est._ Cicer. de Nat. Deor. L. 1. c. 16. 17. + +[c] The Atheist in denying a God, doth, as _Plutarch_ saith, +endeavour——_immobilia movere, & bellum inferre non tantùm longo tempori, +sed & multis hominibus, gentibus, & familiis, quas religiosus Deorum +cultus, quasi divino furore correptas, tenuit._ Plutar. de Iside. + +[d] See before _Note (b)._ + +[e] _Galen_ having substantially refuted the _Epicurean_ Principles +of _Asclepiades_, by shewing his Ignorance in Anatomy and Philosophy, +and by Demonstrating all the _Causes_ to be evidently in the Works of +_Nature_, viz. _Final_, _Efficient_, _Instrumental_, _Material_ and +_Formal Causes_, concludes thus against his fortuitous Atoms, _ex quibus +intelligi potest: Conditorem nostrum in formandis particulis unum hunc +sequi scopum, nempe ut quod melius est eligat._ Galen. de Us. Part. L. 6. +c. 13. + +[f] _De Gubern. Dei._ L. 4. p. 124. _meo Libro_; also L. 7. c. 14. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +_That GOD’s Works ought to excite us to Fear and Obedience to GOD._ + + +Since the Works of the Creation are all of them so many Demonstrations +of the infinite Wisdom and Power of God, they may serve to us as so many +Arguments exciting us to the constant _Fear of God_, and to a steady, +hearty _Obedience_ to all his Laws. And thus we may make these Works as +serviceable to our spiritual Interest, as they all are to our Life, and +temporal Interest. For if whenever we see them, we would consider that +these are the Works of our infinite _Lord_ and _Master_, to whom we are +to be accountable for all our Thoughts, Words and Works, and that in +these we may see his infinite Power and Wisdom; this would check us in +Sinning, and excite us to serve and please him who is above all Controul, +and who hath our Life and whole Happiness in his Power. After this +manner _GOD_ himself argues with his own _foolish People, and without +Understanding, who had Eyes, and saw not, and had Ears, and heard not_, +Jer. v. 21, 22. _Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at +my Presence, which have placed the Sand for the Bound of the Sea, by a +perpetual Decree, that it cannot pass it; and though the Waves thereof +toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they +not pass over it?_ + +This was an Argument that the most ignorant, stupid Wretches could not +but apprehend; that a Being that had so vast and unruly an Element, as +the Sea, absolutely at his Command, ought to be feared and obeyed; and +that he ought to be considered as the Sovereign Lord of the World, on +whom the World’s Prosperity and Happiness did wholly depend; v. 24. +_Neither say they in their Heart, let us now fear the Lord our God, that +giveth Rain, both the former and the latter in his Season: He reserveth +unto us the appointed Weeks of the Harvest._ + + + + +CHAP. V. + +_That GOD’s Works ought to excite us to Thankfulness._ + + +As the Demonstrations which _GOD_ hath given of his infinite _Power_ and +_Wisdom_ should excite us to Fear and Obedience; so I shall shew in this +Chapter, that the Demonstrations which he hath given of his infinite +_Goodness_ in his Works, may excite us to due Thankfulness and Praise. +It appears throughout the foregoing Survey, what Kindness _GOD_ hath +shewn to his Creatures in providing every Thing conducing to their Life, +Prosperity, and Happiness[a]; how they are all contrived and made in +the best Manner, placed in the fittest Places of the World for their +Habitation and Comfort; accoutered in the best Manner, and accommodated +with every, even all the minutest Things that may minister to their +Health, Happiness, Office, Occasions, and Business in the World. + +Upon which Account, Thankfulness and Praise is so reasonable, so just a +Debt to the _Creator_, that the _Psalmist_ calleth upon all the Creatures +to praise God, in _Psalm_ cxlviii. _Praise him all his Angels, Praise him +all his Hosts; Sun, Moon, Stars of Light, Heavens of Heavens, and Waters +above the Heavens._ The Reason given for which is, ℣. 5, 6. _For he +commanded, and they were created; he hath also established them for ever +and ever; he hath made a Decree which they shall not pass._ And not these +Celestials alone, but the Creatures of the Earth and Waters too, even the +Meteors, _Fire and Hail, Snow and Vapours, stormy Winds fulfilling his +Word._ Yea, the very _Mountains and Hills, Trees, Beasts, and all Cattle, +creeping Things, and flying Fowl._ But in a particular manner, all the +Ranks and Orders, all the Ages and Sexes of Mankind are charged with +this Duty; _Let them praise the Name of the Lord, for his Name alone is +excellent; his Glory is above the Earth and Heavens_, ℣. 13. + +And great Reason there is we should be excited to true and unfeigned +Thankfulness and Praise[b] to this our great Benefactor, if we reflect +upon what hath been shewn in the preceding Survey, that the _Creator_ +hath done for Man alone, without any regard to the rest of the Creatures, +which some have held were made for the Sake of Man. Let us but reflect +upon the Excellence and Immortality of our Soul; the incomparable +Contrivance, and curious Structure of our Body; and the Care and Caution +taken for the Security and Happiness of our State, and we shall find, +that among the whole Race of Beings, Man hath especial Reason to magnify +the Creator’s Goodness, and with suitable ardent Affections to be +thankful unto him. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] _Si pauca quis tibi donâsset jugera, accepisse te diceres beneficium: +immensa terrarum latè patentium spatia negas esse beneficium? Si pecuniam +tibi aliquis donaverit,——beneficium vocabis: tot metalla defodit, tot +flumina emisit in æra, super quæ decurrunt sola aurum vehentia: argenti, +æris, ferri immane pondus omnibus locis obrutum, cujus investigandi tibi +facultatem dedit,—negas te accepisse beneficium? Si domus tibi donetur, +in quâ marmoris aliquid resplendeat, ~&c.~ Nam mediocre munus vocabis? +Ingens tibi domicilium, sine ullo incendii, aut ruinæ metu struxit, +in quo vides non tenues crustas——sed integras lapidis pretiosissimi +moles, ~&c.~ negas te ullum munus accepisse? Et cùm ista quæ habes magno +æstimes, quod est ingrati hominis, nulli debere te judicas? Unde tibi +istum quem trahis spiritum? Unde istam, per quam ductus vitæ tuæ disponis +atque ordinas, lucem? ~&c.~_ Senec. de Benef. L. 4. c. 6. + +[b] _Tempestivum tibi jam fuerit, qui in hisce libris versaris +considerare, in utram Familiam recipi malis, ~Platonicamne~ ac +~Hippocraticam~, & aliorum virorum, qui Naturæ opera mirantur; an eorum +qui ea insectantur, quod non per Pedes natura constituit effluere +Excrementa._ Of which having told a Story of an Acquaintance of his +that blamed Nature on this Account, he then goes on, _At verò si de +hujusmodi pecudibus plura verba focero, melioris mentis homines meritò +mihi forte succenseant, dicantque me polluere sacrum sermonem, quem +ego _CONDITORIS_ nostri verum Hymnum compono, existimoque in eo veram +esse pietatem,——ut si noverim ipse primus, deinde & aliis exposuerim, +quænam sit ipsius Sapientia, quæ Virtus, quæ Bonitas. Quod enim cultu +conveniente exornaverit omnia, nullique bona inviderit, id perfectissimæ +Bonitatis specimen esse statuo; & hæc quidem ratione ejus Bonitas Hymnis +nobis est celebranda. Hoc autem omne invenisse quo pacto omnia potissimùm +adornarentur, summa Sapientia est: effecisse autem omnia, qua voluit, +Virtutis est invicta._ Galen. de Us. Part. L. 3. c. 10. + + + + +CHAP. VI. + +_That we ought to pay GOD all due Homage and Worship, particularly that +of the Lord’s Day._ + + +For a Conclusion of these Lectures, the last Thing I shall infer, from +the foregoing Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of _GOD_, shall +be, that we ought to pay _GOD_ all that _Homage_ and _Worship_ which his +Right of Creation and Dominion entitle him unto, and his great Mercies +call for from us. And forasmuch as the _Creator_ appointed, from the +very Creation, one Day in seven to his Service, it will not therefore be +improper to say something upon that Subject: And if I insist somewhat +particularly and largely thereon, the Congruity thereof to the Design of +these Lectures, and the foregoing Demonstration, together with the too +great Inadvertency about, and Neglect of this ancient, universal, and +most reasonable and necessary Duty, will, I hope, plead my Excuse. But +that I may say no more than is necessary on this Point, I shall confine +my self to two things, the _Time_ God hath taken, and the _Business_ then +to be performed. + +I. The _Time_ is one Day in seven, and one of the ancientest Appointments +it is which _GOD_ gave to the World. For as soon as _GOD_ had finished +his six Days Works of Creation, it is said, _Gen._ ii. 2, 3. _he rested +on the seventh Day from all his Work which he had made. And _GOD_ blessed +the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from +all his Work._ This Sanctification[a], and blessing the Seventh Day, was +setting it apart, as a Day of Distinction from the rest of the Week-Days, +and appropriating it to holy Uses and Purposes, namely, the Commemoration +of that great Work of the Creation, and paying Homage and Worship to that +infinite Being, who was the Effector of it. + +This Day, thus consecrated from the Beginning, for the Celebration of the +τοῦ κόσμου γενέσιον the _World’s Birth-Day_, as _Philo_ calls it, was +probably in some measure forgotten in the following wicked Ages, which +God complains of, _Gen._ vi. 5. and so after the Flood likewise. But +after the Return out of _Ægypt_, when _GOD_ settled the _Jewish_ Polity, +he was pleased to renew this Day, and to establish it for a perpetual +standing Law. And accordingly it was observed down to our blessed +_SAVIOUR_’s Time, countenanced, and strictly observed by our great _LORD_ +and Master himself, and his Apostles and Disciples in, and after his +Time; and although for good Reasons the Day was changed by them, yet a +seventh Day hath been constantly observed in all Ages of Christianity, +down to our present Time. + +Thus we have a Day appointed by _GOD_ himself, and observed throughout +all Ages, except some few perhaps, which deserve not to be brought into +Example. + +And a wise Designation of Time this is, well becoming the divine Care +and Precaution; serving for the recruiting our Bodies, and dispatching +our Affairs, and at the same Time to keep up a Spiritual Temper of Mind. +For by allowing six Days to labour, the Poor hath Time to earn his +Bread, the Man of Business Time to dispatch his Affairs, and every Man +Time for the Work of his respective Calling. But had there been more, +or all our Time allotted to Labour and Business, and none to rest and +recruit, our Bodies and Spirits would have been too much fatigued and +wasted, and our Minds have been too long engaged about worldly Matters, +so as to have forgotten divine Things. But the infinitely wise Ruler of +the World, having taken the seventh Part of our Time to his own Service, +hath prevented these Inconveniencies; hath given a Relaxation to our +selves; and Ease and Refreshment to our wearied Beasts, to poor fatigued +Slaves, and such as are under the Bondage of avaritious, cruel Masters. +And this is one Reason _Moses_ gives of the Reservation and Rest on the +Seventh Day, _Deut._ v. 13, 14, 15. _Six Days shalt thou labour, and do +all thy Work; but the Seventh is the Sabbath of the _LORD_ thy _GOD_; in +it thou shalt not do any Work, thou, ~nor thy Children, Servants, Cattel, +or Stranger~, that thy Man Servant and Maid Servant may rest as well as +thou. And remember, that thou wast a Servant, ~&c.~ therefore the Lord +thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath Day._ That carnal, greedy +People, so bent upon Gain, without such a Precept, would have scarce +favoured their own Bodies, much less have had Mercy upon their poor +Bonds-men and Beasts, but by this wise Provision, this great Burden was +taken off. But on the other hand, as a longer Liberty would too much have +robbed the Master’s Time, and bred Idleness, so by this wise Provision, +of only one Day of Rest, to six of Labour, that inconvenience was also +prevented. + +Thus the wise Governour of the World, hath taken Care for the Dispatch of +Business. But then as too long Engagement about worldly Matters, would +take off Mens Minds from God and divine Matters, so by this Reservation +of every Seventh Day, that great Inconvenience is prevented also; all +being then bound to worship their great Lord and Master, to pay their +Homages, and Acknowledgments to their infinitely kind Benefactor; and +in a word, to exercise themselves in divine, religious Business, and so +keep up that spiritual Temper of Mind, that a perpetual, or too long +Application to the World would destroy. + +This, as it was a good Reason for the Order of a Sabbath to the _Jews_; +so is as good it Reason for our Saviour’s Continuance of the like Time in +the Christian Church. + +And a Law this is, becoming the infinitely wise Creator and Conservator +of the World, a Law, not only of great Use to the perpetuating the +Remembrance of those greatest of God’s Mercies then commemorated, but +also exactly adapted to the Life, Occasions, and State of Man; of Man +living in this, and a-kin to another World: A Law well calculated to +the Dispatch of our Affairs, without hurting our Bodies or Minds. And +since the Law is so wise and good, we have great Reason then to practise +carefully the Duties incumbent upon us; which will fall under the +Consideration of the + +II. Thing I proposed, the _Business_ of the Day, which God hath reserved +to himself. And there are two Things enjoyned in the Commandment, a +_Cessation_ from Labour and worldly Business, and that we _remember to +keep_ the Day holy. + +1. There must be a Cessation from worldly Business, or a Rest from +Labour, as the Word _Sabbath_[b] signifies. _Six Days thou shalt do all +thy Work, but the Seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy _GOD_ ~(not thy +Day but his)~ in which neither thou, nor any belonging to thee, shall +do any Work._ In which Injunction it is observable, how express and +particular this Commandment is, more than others, in ordering all Sorts +of Persons to cease from Work. + +2. We must _remember to keep the Day holy_. Which _Remembrance_ is +another Thing also in this, more than in the other Commandments, and +implies, + +_1st_, That there is great Danger of our forgetting, neglecting, or being +hindred from keeping the Day holy, either by the Infirmity and Carnality +of our own Nature, or from the Avocations of the World. + +_2ly_, That the keeping it holy, is a Duty of more than ordinary +Consequence and Necessity. And of greatest Consequence this is, + +_First_, To perpetuate the Remembrance of those grand Works of _GOD_ +commemorated on that Day; in the first Ages of the World, the Creation; +in the middle Ages, the Creation and Delivery from _Ægypt_; and under +Christianity, the Creation and Redemption by Christ. Which Mercies, +without such frequent Occasions, would be ready to be forgotten, or +disregarded, in so long a Tract of Time, as the World hath already stood, +and may, by God’s Mercy still stand. + +_Secondly_, To keep up a spiritual Temper of Mind, by those frequent +weekly Exercises of Religion, as hath been already mention’d. + +_Thirdly_, To procure _GOD_’s Blessing upon the Labours and Business of +our six Days, which we can never expect should be prosperous, if we are +negligent of _GOD_’s Time. For how can we expect _GOD_’s Blessing upon +a Week so ill begun, with a Neglect, or Abuse of _GOD_’s first Day? And +therefore if we become unprosperous in the World; if Losses, Troubles or +Dangers befall us, let us reflect how we have spent the _Lord’s_ Day; +whether we have not wholly neglected it, or abused it in Riot, or made it +a Day for taking Journeys, for more private Business, and less scandalous +Labour, as the Custom of too many is. + +Thus having shewn what Reason there is to _remember_ to keep holy the +Day dedicated to _GOD_, I shall consider how we are to keep it holy, +and so conclude. Now the Way to keep it holy, is not by bare resting +from Work; for that, as a Father saith, is _Sabbatum Boum & Asinorum, a +Sabbath of Beasts_: But holy Acts are the proper Business for a holy Day, +celebrated by rational Beings. Among all which, the grand, principal, +and most universally practis’d, is the _Publick Worship of _GOD_, the +assembling at the _publick Place_ of his _Worship_, to pay (with our +Fellow-Creatures) our Homages, Thanks, and Praises to the infinite +_Creator_ and _Redeemer_ of the World. This as it is the most reasonable +Service, and proper Business for this Day, so is what hath been the +Practice of all Ages. It was as early as _Cain_ and _Abel_’s Days, _Gen._ +iv. 3. what was practis’d by religious Persons in the following Ages, +till the giving of the Law; and at the giving of that, God was pleas’d +to order Places, and his particular Worship, as well as the seventh +Day. The Tabernacle and Temple were appointed by God’s express Command; +besides which, there were Synagogues all over the Nation; so that in our +Saviour’s Time, every great Town or Village had one, or more in it, and +_Jerusalem_ 460, or more[c]. + +The Worship of these Places, our blessed SAVIOUR was a constant and +diligent frequenter of. ’Tis said, _He went about all the Cities and +Villages, Teaching in their Synagogues, and Preaching, and Healing, +~&c.~_ _Mat._ ix. 35. And St. _Luke_ reporteth it as his constant Custom +or Practice, _Luke_ iv. 16. _And as his Custom was, he went into the +Synagogue on the Sabbath-Day._ + +Having thus mention’d the Practice of CHRIST, it is not necessary I +should say much of the Practice of his _Apostles_, and the following +purer Ages of Christianity, who, in short, as their Duty was, diligently +follow’d their great Master’s Example. _They did not think it enough +to read and pray, and praise God at Home, but made Conscience of +appearing in the publick Assemblies, from which nothing but Sickness and +absolute Necessity did detain them; and if Sick, or in Prison, or under +Banishment, nothing troubled them more, than that they could not come to +Church, and joyn their Devotions to the common Services. If Persecution +at any Time forc’d them to keep a little Close; yet no sooner was there +the least Mitigation, but they presently return’d to their open Duty, and +publickly met all together. No trivial Pretences, no light Excuses were +then admitted for any ones Absence from the Congregation, but according +to the Merit of the Cause, severe Censures were pass’d upon them, ~&c.~_ +to express it in the Words of one of our best Antiquaries[d]. + +The _publick Worship_ of GOD then, is not a Matter of Indifference, which +Men have in their own Power to do, or omit as they please; neither is +it enough to read, pray, or praise God at Home, (unless some inevitable +Necessity hindereth;) because the appearing in GOD’s Home, on _his_ +Day, is an Act of _Homage_ and _Fealty_, due to the CREATOR, a _Right +of Sovereignty_ we pay him. And the with-holding those Rights and Dues +from GOD, is a kind of rejecting GOD, a disowning his Sovereignty, and +a withdrawing our Obedience and Service. And this was the very Reason +why the Profanation of the Sabbath was punish’d with Death among the +_Jews_, the Sabbath being a Sign, or Badge of the _GOD_ they own’d and +worshipp’d.[e] Thus _Exod._ xxii. 13. _My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for +it is a SIGN between me and you, throughout your Generations; that ye +may know that I am the LORD, that doth sanctify you_; or as the Original +may be render’d, _a Sign to acknowledge, that I ~Jehovah~ am your +Sanctifier_, or _your God_: For as our learned _Mede_ observes, _to be +the Sanctifier of a People, and to be their God, is all one_. So likewise +very expressly in _Ezek._ xx. 20. _Hallow my Sabbaths, and they shall +be a Sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your +GOD_; or rather as before, _to acknowledge that I JEHOVAH am your GOD_. + +The Sabbath being thus a Sign, a Mark, or Badge, to acknowledge God +to be their God, it follows, that a Neglect or Contempt of that Day, +redounded to GOD; to slight that, was slighting God; to profane that, was +to affront God; for the Punishment of which, What more equitable Penalty +than Death? And although under Christianity, the Punishment is not made +Capital, yet have we no less Reason for the strict Observance of this +holy Day, than the _Jews_, but rather greater Reasons. For the GOD we +worship, is the same: If after six Days Labour, he was, by the Seventh, +own’d to be _GOD_, the _Creator_; no less is he by our Christian Lord’s +Day: If by the Celebration of the Sabbath, the Remembrance of their +Deliverance from the _Ægyptian_ Bondage was kept up, and GOD acknowledged +to be the Effecter thereof; we Christians have a greater Deliverance, we +own our Deliverance from Sin and Satan, wrought by a greater Redeemer +than _Moses_, even the blessed JESUS, whose Resurrection, and the +Completion of our Redemption thereby, was perform’d on the Christian +Lord’s-Day. + +And now to sum up, and conclude these Inferences, and so put an End to +this Part of my Survey: Since it appears, that the Works of the LORD +are so great, so wisely contriv’d, so accurately made, as to deserve +to be enquired into; since they are also so manifest Demonstrations +of the Creator’s Being and Attributes, that all the World is sensible +thereof, to the great Reproach of Atheism: What remaineth? But that we +fear and obey so great and tremendous a Being; that we be truly thankful +for, and magnify and praise his infinite Mercy, manifested to us in +his Works. And forasmuch as he hath appointed a Day on Purpose, from +the Beginning, for these Services, that we may weekly meet together, +commemorate and celebrate the great Work of Creation, that we may pay +our Acts of Devotion, Worship, Homage and Fealty to him; and since this +is a wise and excellent Distribution of our Time, What should we do, but +conscientiously and faithfully pay GOD these his Rights and Dues? And as +carefully and diligently manage GOD’s Time and Discharge his Business +then, as we do our own upon our six Days; particularly that with the +pious _Psalmist_, _We love the Habitation of God’s House, and the Place +where his Honour dwelleth_; and therefore take up his good Resolution in +_Psal._ v. 7. with which I shall conclude; _But as for me, I will come +into thine House in the Multitude of thy Mercy, and in thy Fear will I +worship towards thy holy Temple._ + +Now to the same infinite _GOD_, the omnipotent Creator and Preserver +of the World, the most gracious Redeemer, Sanctifier, and Inspirer of +Mankind, be all Honour, Praise and Thanks, now and ever. _Amen._ + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[a] קדש _Usibus divinis accommodavit, à communi & profano usu +segregavit, in usum sacrum ad cultum Dei destinavit._ Kirch. Concord. p. +1336. _Destinari ad aliquid, Sacrari, ~&c.~_ Buxtorf. in Verbo. + +[b] שבת _Cessatio_, _Requies_. + +[c] Vid. _Lightfoot_’s Works, Vol. 2. p. 35. _and_ 646. + +[d] Dr. _Cave_’s _Prim. Christ._ Par. 1. c. 7. + +[e] At this Day it is customary for Servants to wear the Livery of their +Masters, and others to bear Badges of their Order, Profession, Servility, +_&c._ So in former Ages, and divers Countries, it was usual to bear +Badges, Marks and Signs on divers Occasions. In _Ezek._ ix. 4. _A Mark +was to be set on the Forehead of those that lamented the Abominations +of the City_. The like was to be done upon them in _Rev._ vii. 3. and +ix. 4. So the Worshippers of the Beast, _Rev._ xiii. 16. were to receive +a χάραγμα, _A Mark in their right Hind, on their Foreheads_. Those +χαράγματα, Σφραγίδες, _Badges_, &c. were very common. Soldiers and Slaves +bare them in their Arms or Foreheads; such as were matriculated in the +_Heteriæ_, or Companies, bare the Badge or Mark of their Company; and +whoever listed himself into the Society of any of the several _Gods_, +received a χάραγμα, or a Mark in his Body, (commonly made with red-hot +Needles, or some burning in the Flesh,) of the God he had listed himself +under. And after Christianity was planted, the Christians had also +their _Sign of the Cross_. And not only Marks in their Flesh, Badges +on their Cloaths, _&c._ were usual; but also the Dedication of Days to +their imaginary Deities. Not to speak of their Festivals, _&c._ the +Days of the Week were all dedicated to some of their Deities. Among +the _Romans_, Sunday and Monday, to the _Sun_ and _Moon_; Tuesday to +_Mars_, Wednesday to _Mercury_, &c. So our _Saxon_ Ancestors did the +same; Sunday and Monday, (as the _Romans_ did,) to the _Sun_ and _Moon_; +Tuesday to _Tuysco_; Wednesday to _Woden_; Thursday to _Thor_; Friday to +_Friga_; and Saturday to _Seater_: An Account of which Deities, with the +Figures under which they were worshipp’d, may be met with in our learned +_Verstegan_, Chap. 3. p. 68. + + + + +[Illustration: Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 4. + +Fig. 3. Cornu Alexand. Mag. quo Exercit. ad 100 Stad. coegit Fig. 5. Fig. +6. Fig. 7. + +Fig. 8. Fig. 9. + +Fig. 10. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Fig. 13. + +Fig. 14. Fig. 15. + +Fig. 16. Fig. 17. + +Fig. 18. Fig. 23. Fig. 19. + +Fig. 20. + +Fig. 21. Fig. 22. + +Place this to fold out at the End fronting the left hand.] + + + + +A + +TABLE + +OF THE + +Principal Matters contain’d in this + +BOOK. + + + A + + Abstinence unusual, 211 + + Age of Man in all Ages of the World, 172 + + Aged Persons, 173 + + Ages of Learning and Ignorance, 272 + + Air, 4 + Innate, 121 + Necessary to Vegetable-Life, 9 + Vessels in Vegetables, 406 + Bladder of Fishes, 402 + Pump, Experiments in it, 5 + Use in enlightning the World, 12 + Heat under the Line, and in Lat. 81., 13 + + Alce and Machlis, 317 + + Aloe Americana, 420 + + Amphibious Creatures, 157 + + Anatomy comparative , 318 + + Anger, 307 + + Animals in general, 84 + In Particular, 260 + Places destroy’d by vile ones, 56 + + Animalcules of the Waters, 186, 187, 401 + In Pepper-Water, 368 + + Ant, 212, 371 + + Antipathy, 135 + + Aqueous Humour of the Eye repair’d, 106 + + Arabians, 273 + + Archytas’s Dove, 256, 276 + + Art and Nature compar’d, 426 + + Armature of Animals, 238 + + Arteries, 301 + + Arts, by whom invented, 276 + + Ascent of Liquors, 52 + + Asclepiades, 160, 190, 430 + + Aspera Arteria in Birds, 341 + + Ass free from Lice, 377 + + Atmosphere, 4 + + Attraction, 32, 40, 52 + + Auditory Nerves, 128 + + Augustus Cæsar’s Height, 209 + + Augustus King of Poland, 291 + + Austrian-Wells, how made, 76 + + Ἀυτάρκεια, 422 + + + B + + Back-bone, 160 + + Badges, their Antiquity, 442 + + Balance of Animals, 168 + + Balls on Vegetables, 234, 387 + + Bat, 8, 316 + + Beaver, 316 + + Bees, 232, 240 + + Beetles, 363 + + Bejuco-Tree, 423 + + Bembsbury-Camp, 64 + + Birch-Tree, 223 + + Birds, 333 + Bills, 192, 341, 344 + Boyancy, 9, 346 + Ears, 124, 342 + Incubation, 352 + A wonderful Instinct of one, 232 + Migration, 347 + Motion, 164 + Necks and Legs, 165, 346 + Rapacious, 256 + Stomachs, 345 + + Births, Burials, &c., 174 + + Blood, its Contrivance, 201, 329 + + Blood-Hound, 204 + + Blushing, how caused, 307 + + Bohaques, 212 + + Bonasus, 242 + + Bones structure, &c., 159, 294, 300 + + Brachmans, 269 + + Brain, 319 + + Branches of Vegetables, 418 + + Bread, 185 + + Breasts, 255 + + Breath short on high Mountains, 6 + + Bredon-hill, 64 + + Breezes, Sea and Land, 18, 19 + + Briar-Balls, 390 + + Brutes out-do Man in some Things, 80, 85 + + Bulbous Plants, 411 + + Butterflies Colours, 365 + White ones, 370, 376 + + + C + + Cabbage Excrescences, 249 + + Cadews, 234 + + Camel, 324 + + Canales Semicirculares, 127 + + Capillary Plants have Seed, 410 + + Cardamine, 414 + + Carotid Arteries, 321 + + Carps, 7 + + Cartes vindicated, 271 + + Cassada Plant, 58 + + Cases on Willow and other Vegetables, 387 + + Castor, 198, 316 + + Caterpillars, 241, 395 + + Caves bellowing, 130 + Goutieres and others, 64, 67 + + Celandine, 420 + + Chamæleon, 91, 240 + + Chance, 189, 194, 313, 435 + + Cheop’s Height, 290 + + Chickens, 210 + + Children numerous, 178 + + China, 279 + + Chyle, 200 + + Circulation of the Blood restor’d, 146 + + Claspers, 419 + + Clocks Variation under the Æquinoctial, 39 + + Clock-work, its Invention, 235 + + Cloathing of Animals, 214 + + Clouds, 20, 49, 74 + + Cold, how provided against in the northern Regions, 217 + + Colours felt, 143 + + Colymbi, 355 + + Combs of Bees, &c., 232 + + Coneys, 229 + + Consent of Parts, whence, 305 + + Cormorants Eye, 104 + + Cortex Peruvianus, 421 + + Countenance, whence its variation arises, 308 + + Cranes, 208 + + Cricket, 365 + Mole, 233, 365 + + Crocodile, 238, 243 + + Cross-Bill, 193 + + Crow, 307 + + Crystalline Humour, 104 + + Cuntur of Peru, 169 + + Cup of a Pepper Corn, 367 + + + D + + Dandelion, 412 + + Dangerous Things not easily discover’d, 266 + + Daniel, 270 + + Day and Night, 45 + + Days of the Week, 436 + + Dead Persons found in the same Posture as alive, 24 + + Deaf Persons cured by a Fever, 304 + Understand by the Motion of the Lips, 113 + Hear by the Help of a Noise, 126 + + Death-Watch, 59 + + Deer, Worms in their Heads, 379 + + Degree, its Measure, 43 + + Descent of heavy Bodies, 32 + + Destruction of Places by vile Animals, 55 + + Dialects, 309 + + Diamonds grow, 64 + + Diastole of the Heart, 147 + + Digestion, 189 + + Diseases sometimes useful, 304 + + Distribution of the Earth and Waters is well, 47 + + Dittany, 420 + + Divers, 132 + + Dog-Fish, 209 + + Dogs, 197, 204 + + Dolphin, 238 + + Douckers, 355 + + _Drebell’s_ submarine Ship, 5 + + Drink afforded by Plants, 422 + + Dromedary, 199, 324 + + Drowned Persons reviving, 155 + + Ducklings naturally run to the Water, 168, 188 + + Ducks Bills, 193, 205 + + Dugs, 255 + + Dung a guard to Animals, 242 + + + E + + Eagle, 206, 230, 347 + Wooden one of _Regiomontanus_, 276, 356 + + Ear, outer in divers Animals, 115, 117 + inward, 120 + in the Womb, 120 + Consent with other Parts, 128 + Effects of its Loss, 118 + Muscles, 119 + Wax, 121 + + Earth-worm, 223, 393, 399 + + Earwig, 365 + + Eels, 203 + + Eggs, 351 + Cicatricula and Treddles, 352 + Of Insects well laid up, 382 + due Number laid, 252 + + Egypt famed for Art, 269 + + Elephant, 256, 316, 323 + + Elephantiasis, 398 + + Queen _Elizabeth_’s Height, 290 + + Elk, 316 + + Elm Leaves, a Scarab bred therein, 250 + + Ephemeron, 182, 234, 247 + + Epicurus, 160, 190 + + Erect Vision, 111 + + Evaporations, 35 + how caused, 48 + + Excellence of God’s Works, 425 + + Eye, 87 + of Birds and Fishes, 103 + Monocular, 93 + Shining or Feline, 101 + Wounds of it cured, 106 + + Eye-lids, Structure, &c., 107 + + + F + + Face, 308, 309 + + Farcy cured, 58 + + Fearful Animals couragious when they have Young, 208, 254 + + Feathers, 221, 334, 336 + + Feeding the Young, 255 + + Feeling, 142 + + Fern-seed, 410, 414 + + Feet, 163, 206, 233, 338 + + Figure of Man’s Body, 288 + + Fingers, 283 + + Fishes Agreement with Birds, 103, 341, 402 + Boyancy whence, 10 + Lowsy, 378 + Motion, _&c._, 402 + Teeth, 195 + + Flowers, 407 + + Flesh-fly, _&c._, 248 + + Fly of Iron, 276 + + Flying, 338 + Of Man, 267, 337 + + Fœtus, Blood’s Circulation in it, 153 + + Folding of Leaves and Flowers, 407 + + Food of Animals, 179, 254 + + Fool, Observables in one opened, 329 + + Foot, 285, 316 + + Foramen Ovale, 154, 157, 326 + + Fossiles, 63 + + Fountains where found, 65 + Origine, 23, 25, 51, 75 + + Fox, 204 + + Frœdlicius’s Observations on Mount _Carpathus_, 131 + + Frogs, 163, 325 + Rain, 245 + + The great Frost, 218 + + Fruits, where Insects hatch, 375 + communicate with the Root, 405 + + Fuci, Fungi, _&c._ and their Seed, 414 + + + G + + _Galen_’s Arguments against Chance, 26, 428, 430 + his Hymns to God, 425, 434 + + Galli Sylvestres, 212, 229 + + Galls, 388 + + Gascoigne Knight, 134 + + Gems, and Stories of them, 311 + of Vegetables, 407 + + Generation, 244, 245 + Æquivocal, 244, 380 + Of Insects, 374 + + Genius of Man, 264 + + Giants, 289 + + Gifts of Man are of God, 263, 268 + to be improved, 281 + + Gills of Fishes, 402 + + Gizzard, 199, 345 + + Glama, 242 + + Glands, 196 + + Glasses broken with the Voice, 135 + + Glaucus, 209 + + Gnat, 191, 367 + Generation, 375, 383 + + Goat tame and wild, 317 + + Grashoppers, 363 + + Gratitude from _Seneca_, 432 + + Gravity, 31 + + _Green, Anne_, revived after being hanged, 156 + + Green Scum on the Waters, 187 + + Grotta delli Serpi, 398 + + Grottos, 67 + Podpetschio, 68 + + Growth of Grain speedy in the frigid Zone, 184 + + Gryllotalpa, 233, 365 + + Guira Tangelma, 232 + + Gullet, 196 + + Guns heard afar off, 133 + Shot, its Velocity, 28 + + Guts, 200 + + Gymnosophists, 269 + + + H + + Habitations of Animals, 226 + + Hair, 220 + + Hand, 282, 298 + Writing, 308 + + Hanged Persons reviving, 146 + + Hang-Nest, 232 + + Hare, 241 + + Hawks, 206 + + Head of Birds, 340 + + Headless People, 89 + + Hearing, 113 + How perform’d, 124, 342 + + Heart, 298, 325 + Of the Lamprey, 300 + Situation in Quadrupeds, 326 + + Heat Subterraneous, 49 + Of the torrid Zone, 17, 50 + Of our Bodies, 17 + And Cold not Effects, but Causes of the Variations of the Winds, 15 + + Heavy Bodies descent, 32 + + Hedge-hog, 239 + + Hemlock, 58 + + Heron, 256, 347 + + Hills run East and West, 74 + + Hollanders saw the Sun sooner than ordinary near the Pole, 13 + + Homer ascribes Men’s Endowments to God, 263 + + Honeywood, Mrs. Mary, 275 + + Hop-strings Use, 405 + + Visible Horizon, 283 + + Hornets, 191, 257 + + Horse-Fly, 248 + + Hurtful Creatures few, 170, 252 + + Hyæna, 205 + + Hydrocanthari, 363 + + + I + + Jaws, 194 + + Ichneumon-Fly, 375, 379, 385, 388 + Wasp, 371, 384, 385 + + _Henry Jenkin_’s Age, 173 + + Ignorant Ages, 272 + + Imposthume unusually discharged, 302 + + Incubation, 253, 351 + + Inclinations of Men, 263 + + Incus Auris, 123 + + Infant’s Ear in the Womb, 120 + + Inferiour Creatures cared for, 58, 213, 258 + + Insects, 359 + Antennæ, 361, 362 + Care of their Young, 207, 229, 373 + Conveyance from Place to Place singular, 364 + Cornea and Eyes, 359 + Male and Female how known, 363 + Mouth, 189, 193, 233 + Nidification, 383 + Poises, 366 + Sagacity, 369 + Shape, 359 + + Instinct, 203, 214, 229, 231, 237 + + Intercostal Muscles, 152 + Nerves, 328, 330 + + Invention, 265 + of the Ancients, 276 + + _Job_, 269 + + Joints, 161 + + Iron in the Forest of Dean, 63 + + Islands, why warmer than the Continents, 49 + + Issue numerous, 178 + + July, 396 + + Ivy, 418 + + + K + + Kissing, whence it affects, 306 + + Knives, _&c._ swallowed and discharged, 302 + + + L + + Labyrinth of the Ear, 127 + + Lacteals, 200 + + Lakes, 217 + + Larynx, 148 + + Laughter, how caused, 306 + + Learned Men, 273 + Ages, 272 + + Leaves of Vegetables, 250 + Insects bred in them, 250, 376 + + Legs, 206, 298, 316, 338 + + Levity, 35 + + Lice, 377 + + Life in Vacuo, 8 + in compressed Air, 5 + its Length, 172 + Cause of long Life, 173 + Proportion to Death, 176 + + Light, 12, 26 + its Velocity, 28, 29 + Expansion and Extent, 30 + + Likeness of Men, 308 + + Lion’s Bones, 318 + + Listning, what it doth, 126 + + Long-tail’d Titmouse, 231 + + Lord’s-Day, 435 + Why Capital among the Jews to prophane it, 443 + + Lungs, 145, 150 + Full of Dust, 151 + of Birds, 346 + + Luxury, 310 + + + M + + Maggots in Sheeps Noses, Cows Back, _&c._, 378 + + Magnet, 274 + + Magnus Orbis, 33 + + Males and Females Proportions, 175 + + Malleus auris, by whom discovered, 123 + + Man, 270 + Whether all Things made for him, 55 + + _Mandeville_, Sir _John_, 89 + + Mansor, 278 + + Marsh-Trefoil, 421 + + Marriages, Births and Burials, 174 + + Mastication, 196 + + Medicine, 57, 420 + Local, 421 + + Memory, 262 + + Metallick Trades, by whom invented, 266 + + Mice, 212, 220 + + Migration of Birds, 347 + + Milk, 255 + + Minerals and Metals grow, 63 + + Misseltoe, 415 + + Mole, 8, 92, 199, 205, 319 + Ear, 116 + + Money, 311 + + Moths Colours, 365 + + Motion of Animals, 158 + of the Terraqueous Globe, 43 + + Motory-Nerves of the Eye, 106 + + Mountains and Valleys, 70 + Their Riches and Poverty, 75 + + Mouth, 189 + Whence affected by the Sight, 307 + + Muscles, 158, 294, 298 + Æquilibrations of those of the Eye, 96 + Triangular, 153 + + Musick, by whom invented, 266 + Effects, 134 + + Mustard Seed, 411 + + + N + + Neck of Beasts, 322 + + Nerves in Birds Bills, 205, 344 + Different in Man and Beasts, 328, 330 + Fifth Pair, 306 + + Water-Newt, 163 + + Nictitating Membrane, 109 + + Nidification, 232 + + Nidiots or Niditts, 191 + + Nocturnal Animals Eyes, 100 + + Northern Nations, speedy Growth of Vegetables there, 184 + Provisions against their Cold, 217 + + Nostrils, 137 + + Noxious Creatures, 56, 82, 252 + Remedies against them, 57 + + Nutmegs, 416 + + + O + + Oak-Apples and Galls, 388 + + Objects, how painted on the Retina, 111 + + Observatory at _Pekin_ in _China_, 279 + + Odours, 137 + + Old Persons, 172 + + Opium, 421 + + Opossum, 206, 208 + + Original of Nations and Arts, 276 + + Orkney Islands, 218 + + Os Orbiculare, by whom discovered, 124 + + Ostrich, 259, 353, 354 + + Ottele’s Age and Beard, 173 + + Otter, 316 + + Oyl-Bag, 334 + + + P + + Parrots, 192 + Æthiopian, 208 + + Par Vagum, 328 + + Passions and Affections, 330 + + Pectinated Work in Birds Eyes, 103 + + Pectoral Muscles, 337 + + Pendulums Variation under the Line, 39 + + Pericardium in Man and Beasts, 285, 327 + + Perpetual Motion, 267 + + Perspiration insensible, 219 + + Phaeton in a Ring, 367 + + Phalænæ, Generation of some of them, 225, 376 + + Pharmacy, 57 + + Phryganeæ, 234 + + Pigeons Incubation, 253 + + Pimpernel Flowers, 412 + + Place of Animals, 166 + + Plague, its Cause, 16 + Prevented or cured by the Winds, _ibid._ + Sore discharged unusually, 302 + + Planets Motion round their Axes, 33 + Figure, 39 + + Plants, no Transmutation of them, 409 + Poysonous, 58 + + Plexus Cervicalis, 328 + + Plumb-Stones, the Danger of swallowing them, 302 + + Poising of the Body, 281 + + Polygamy unnatural, 175 + + Posture of Man, 281 + + Poyson, 397 + + Preening and Dressing of Birds, 334 + + Printing, its Invention, 275, 278 + + Pronunciation, 309 + + Propagation of Mankind, 174 + + Providence divine, Objections against it answer’d, 55 + + Pulices Aquatici, 186 + + Pumps, cause why Water riseth in them, 11 + + Pupil of the Eye, 99, 100 + + Pythagoras, 269 + + + Q + + Quadrupeds, 315 + + Quail Migration and Strength, 350 + + + R + + Rain, how made, 20 + Its Use, ibid. + Most about the Æquinoxes, 22 + More in the Hills than Vales, 78 + Bloody, and other preternatural, 23, 245 + Of divers Places, 23, 79 + + Rapacious Birds, 339 + + Rattles, Inventions of them, 276 + + Rattle-Snake, 57, 396 + + Rats, 208, 220 + + Raven, 183, 205 + + Refractions, 13, 284 + + The Reformation, 278 + + Reptiles, 393 + + Respiration, 145 + Of watery Animals, 7 + In Vegetables, 406 + In compressed Air, 5 + In rarify’d Air, 6 + Uses, 145 + + Rete mirabile, 322 + + Ribs, 152, 161 + + Rivers Origin, 75 + Changing the Hair, 224 + Long Tract of some, 52 + + Rotten-Wood, its use to the northern People, 405 + + Royal Society vindicated, 416 + + Rumination, 200, 324 + + Rushes, Animals bred in them, 349 + + + S + + Sagacity of Animals about Food, 202 + + Salamander, 241 + + Saltness of the Sea, 400 + + Skeleton of Sexes different, 160 + + Scolopendra, 396 + + Sea-Calf, 157, 325 + + Sea-Pie, 193 + + Secretion, 300 + + Security of the Body against Evils, ibid. + + Seed of Vegetables, 407, &c. + + Self-Preservation, 238 + + Semination, 412 + + The five Senses, 85 + + Sensitive Plants, 412 + + Serpents, 394 + + Shark, 57, 243 + + Shells, 239 + + Sight, its Accuracy in some, 87 + Actuated by Disease, 304 + Why not double with two Eyes, 94 + + Silk-Worms, 385 + + Skin, 299 + + Sky, why azure, 12 + + Sleep procur’d, 58 + Prejudicial after Sun-rising, 46 + + Smellen Cave, 130 + + Smelling, 137, 204 + + Smoak emitted through the Ears, 123 + + Snails, 91, 110, 395, 399 + + Snakes, 394 + + Snipes, 192 + + Snow, its Use, 24 + + Soils and Moulds, 61 + + Sound in Air rarify’d and condens’d, 130 + In Italy, and other Places, 133 + On the Tops of high Mountains, 131 + Velocity, 28, 133 + + Soul, 261 + + Speaking-Trumpet, 119 + + Specifick Medicines, 422 + + Spiders Eyes, 90 + Darting their Webs, 364 + Textrine Art, 235, 384 + Poyson, 236 + + Spinning, by whom invented, 266 + + Springs Origins, 23, 51, 76 + Where found, 65, 77 + + Squaring the Circle, 266 + + Squatina, 209 + + Squillulæ Aquaticæ, 190, 364 + + Squnck or Stonck, 242 + + Stalactites, 64 + + Stapes Auris, by whom found out, 123 + + Stature, Size, and Shape of Man, 288, 290 + + Sting of Bees, &c., 240 + + Stoicks Arguments for a Deity in _Tully_, 2, 37, 44, 54, 99, 108, + 120, 137, 144, 159, 167, 177, 180, 182, 203, 207, 220, 241, + 264, 282, 297, 298 + + Stomach, 197, 324 + Of Birds, 345 + Animals found in it, 379 + + Stones eaten by Worms, 192, 247 + + Storm in 1703, 245 + + Strata of the Earth, 63 + + Straw-Worms, 234 + + Strong Men, 291 + + Subterraneous Trees, &c., 11 + + Sucking, 209, 255 + + Summer if cold, why wet, 22 + + Sun’s Distance from the Earth, 29, 30 + Motion round its own Axis, 33 + Standing still, &c., 44, 45 + + Swallows and Swifts, 339, 349 + + Swans Aspera Arteria, 341 + + Swine, 205, 212, 254, 319 + + Sword-Fishes Eye, 105 + + Sycophantick-Plants, 415 + + Syracusian Sot, 351 + + + T + + Tabon or Tapun Bird, 353 + + Tadpole, 163 + + Tail of Birds, 337 + + Tarantula’s Bite, 135 + + Taste, 140 + Consent with the Smell, 141 + + Tears, 108, 307 + + Teeth, 193 + + Telescopes, Invention of them, 275 + Long ones, 39 + + Tents, their Inventer, 266 + + Terraqueous Globe balanced, 48 + Bulk and Motions, 43 + Figure, 39 + Situation and Distribution, 46, 47 + Objections against its Structure answer’d, 47, 70, 80 + Cause of its Sphæricity, 40 + + Thankfulness to God from Seneca, 54, 81, 216, 433 + + Thistles useful in making Glass, 405 + + Thornback, 202 + + Tides, 400 + + Tongue, 149, 295 + Its Loss, 149 + + Tortoise, 158, 211, 224, 239, 325 + + Trades, Inventors of them, &c., 266 + + Transmutation of Plants, 409 + + Trees delight in various Soils, 61 + how nourished, ibid. + + Tronningholm Gardiner, 155 + + Tuba Eustachiana, 122 + + The hot Tuesday, 17 + + Tunicks of the Eye, why lin’d with black, 96 + + Turnep Excrescences, 249 + + Tympanum of the Ear, 123 + + + V + + Valleys and Mountains, 70 + + Vapours what, and how rais’d, 20, 48 + Quantity rais’d, 35 + How precipitated, 22 + + Variety of Things for the World’s Use, 53, 181, 404, 420 + + Vegetables, 404 + + Vegetation, 61 + + Veins, 298 + + Ventriloquous Persons, 149 + + Vertue, its great Use and Benefit, 83 + + Vesiculæ of the Lungs whether musculous, 151 + + Vespæ-Ichneumons, 228, 363, 371, 385 + + Vipers, 394, 397 + Cloathing, 224 + + Viscera, 298 + + Vision double, 95 + Erect, 111 + + Unisons, 135 + + Voice, 308 + + Volcano’s, 68 + + Upminster Register, 174 + how much above the Sea, 51 + + Useful Creatures most plentiful, 169 + Things soonest discover’d, 266 + + + W + + Wandering Jew, 173 + + Wasps Nidification, 191, 233, 257, 385 + + Waters, 400 + Forcible Eruptions of them, 77 + + Waterwith of Jamaica, 423 + + Weather heavy and dark, 20 + Presages of it, 50, 412 + + Wells how dug in Austria, &c., 76 + + Whales, 401 + + Wheat, 181 + Raining it, 244 + + Whispering-Places, 119 + + Wild-Fire, 422 + + Dr. Willis’s Representation of Respiration, 145 + + Winds, 14 + Healthful, 15, 16 + The Author’s Observations, 19 + Trade Winds, 42 + The Product, not cause of Heat and Cold, 15 + + Wind-Pipe in divers Animals, 149 + + Wings of Birds, 335 + Of Insects, 365 + + Winter, the Preservation of Animals therein, 211 + + Wisdom, where seated, 329 + + Wood, 227 + + Woodcocks, 192, 205 + + Wood-Peckers, 193, 339, 342 + + Works of Nature and Art compar’d, 38, 361 + + World visible and invisible, 41 + Beginning asserted by Aristotle, 177 + Kept clean, 183 + + Worms in the Flesh, 378 + In the Guts, 380 + In other Parts, ibid. + + Wornils, 378 + + Worship of God, 441 + + Wry-Neck, 225, 241 + + + Y + + Yolk of the Egg its Use, 351 + + Young taken Care of, 207 + In a certain Number, 168, 252 + + + Z + + Zirchnitzer Sea, 68 + +[Illustration] + + +_FINIS._ + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75254 *** |