as Bellows are because they are distended or whether as some of late contend they are dilated by the elastick Force of the Air rushing in and so upon their Extension follows the swelling of the Diaphragm and thereupon the Motion of the Thorax This is Inspiration And then in Expiration the Diaphragm is contracted and returns to its right Figure and the Air is expelled Neither will I question Whether it be a collateral End of Respiration to discharge and expel an excrementitious Fluid out of the Mass of Blood as the excellent Author whom I have formerly cited thinks he can sufficiently prove But this we are sure of laying aside all Disputes that the Lungs are the great Instrument of breathing and that they are absolutely requisite for the admiting of the Air in order to the rouzing of the vital Spirits and quickning and maintaining the Flame of Life for the sensitive Soul is fed by Air as the Body by Food And we are sure of this likewise that they are necessary Organs of Speech and Voice of articulate and significant Sounds And we have no reason to doubt of this that the great Architect and Framer of Man's Body hath particularly fitted and composed the Lungs for these Purposes for they are light spongy and flexible and full of hollow Places to hold the Air and convey it through hidden Passages to all the Body And they are wide and capacious that the Air may play in them and have its full Scope in the Cavity of the Thorax And moreover that they may be firm and steady and so perform their Operations with the greater Certainty and Accuracy they are on the Back of them fastened to the Spina and thereby become fixed This may convince us that they are the Work of a supreme and primary Cause who is Owner of infinite Understanding and doth all things with Skill and Counsel Wherefore that is an excellent Spark of Devotion in the Talmud At every Breath that a Man breatheth he ought to praise God his Creator The other rich Treasure in this Chest is the Heart the Fountain of natural Heat which it disperses over all the Body by vertue of its peculiar Office which is to make Blood and to distribute it by the Arteries into the Parts Whether the so deservedly admired Motion of the Blood be from an infinite Faculty as Galen thought or from Rarefaction which expands the Heart as Cartes determines or from the Air taken into the Lungs as Mr. Hobbes suggests or from the Quantity or Copiousness of the Blood falling into the Heart which labors to expel it thence by a Constriction of its Fibres whereby the Cone of it is brought nearer to the Basis as Dr. Charlton thinks I will not here dispute but this we are certain of that an intellectual Spirit was the first Cause and Efficient of it And any considerate Man that takes notice of the wonderful Make and Figure of the Heart and of all the Vessels subservient to it cannot but acknowledg as much Therefore a celebrated Anatomist of our own resolves the Motion of them and of the Blood into a divine and supernatural Principle not to be conceived and explained by us We know that when the Blood flows into the right Ventricle of the Heart this is dilated and when it is thrust out thence this is contracted but the true natural Spring of this double Motion is hid from us Whether the Motion of the Heart depend upon the Blood or the Motion of this depend on the Heart because if it be a great Muscle as not only Hippocrates and Galen but some modern Philosophers and Physitians have averred it seems of it self to be made for Motion being actuated by Spirits and drawn by Fibres it is not my Business here to enquire but this is the thing which ought to employ our Thoughts and excite our Devotion that whatever second and natural Causes may be assigned of this Phaenomenon the supreme Author and Contriver of it is some intelligent Substance and it is impossible it should be otherwise For the whole stupendous Contexture of the Heart and its double Ventricle with the four Vessels in them viz. two Veins in the right and two Arteries in the left Side the former to convey the Blood to the Heart the latter to carry it off together with the various Nerves Fibres c. is a Work of Understanding Prudence and Judgment for all these Parts have Relation to one another and are mutually helpful in their Operations and they all apparently conspire for the Good and Welfare of the Body Who can sufficiently admire the Circular Conveyance of that noble Liquor through the greatest Vein of the whole Body into which all the other Veins empty and disembogue their Blood into the right Ventricle of the Heart out of this into the Lungs through a capacious Artery falsly called a Vein which hath its Original from the Heart and is divided into many Branchâ—s which are dispersed through the Lungs out of this Parenchyma of the Lungs into the left Ventricle of the Heart through a remarkable Vein corruptly call'd an Artery which hath its Rise from the Lungs and is mixed with the Branches of the Aspera Arteria and the Arterious Vein And so when the Blood is digested and perfected in both those Ventricles of the Heart and Lungs it is carried out of the left Ventricle into the bigger Sort of Arteries through the great Artery which proceeding out of the Heart disperses its Branches through the whole Body and out of the lesser Arteries not by Anastomoses or Inosculations as some have thought but through the Substance of the Flesh into the lesser and then the greater Veins and thence thro' the Vena Cava into the right Ventricle of the Heart again and so the Circulation is made Or the short is that the Heart hath on one side of it the Vena Cava and on the other the Arteria magna both which great Trunks have Branches dispersed through all the Body even the extremest Parts and are continued to one another by capillary or small Vessels and so there is no Interruption of the circular Course of the Blood but it returns to the Place from whence it first set out These are the Journeys of the Blood these are its several Stages these are the distinct Chanels and Vessels it moves through Thus by the Heart and other Passages as 't were in a Water-engine it is carried in a constant Course round Which is a sufficient Evidence that these Machines were at first made and then set into Motion by an omnipotent and wise Being And the Speediness of this Motion is as remarkable as the Circulation it self For from the Pulses which are the sensible moving and beating of the Arteries and are made as often as the Blood rusheth out of the Heart into these Vessels we may gather the swift Career of this liquid Substance Primrose is singular in
Life the great Laboratory of Animal Spirits the Spring and Fountain of all Sense and Motion for these are caused by those nimble and active Spirits which are dispers'd through the whole Body and diffused into all the Members of it in order to Sensation and all the Functions and Exertments of Life These are those fine and exalted Particles of Matter that are the Medium by which the Soul acts on the Body that produce such great Wonders in Nature and work such excellent Effects and Operations in us Now the Almighty Operator hath made it the Office of the Brain to elaborate these Spirits and to send them thence by the Nerves into the several parts of the Body And that this Useful Agent may be always set on work for the good of the whole Body God hath appointed the Heart another Strange and Wonderful Engine in us which we shall distinctly speak of afterwards to yield a continual stock and supply of Subtile Vapours from its warm Blood exhaled through the Iugular Arteries into the midst of the Brain and the Vessels that environ the Conarion which when they are there sufficiently sublimated and refined are thence diffused with great force into the Nervous Chanels and the whole Body Thus there is a continual Correspondence and Conformity between the Brain and the Heart to which purpose it may be observ'd that when the spirituous parts of the Blood exhale up into the Brain by the Diastole of the Heart the Brain is heaved up and when they cool by the Hearts Systole and the taking in of fresh Air into the Nostrils it subsides So that the Brain hath its Pulsation and beats as the Heart and Arteries do as hath been observ'd by Physicians and Chirurgeons in Fractures of the Cranium who then had an opportunity of discerning this Motion And here by the by we might remark that the Sides of the fore-part of the Head are call'd Tempora i. e. Times in many Languages because they have a set and successive Motion like Time and the Hours may be reckon'd by these Temple-Pulses as by a Clock for there are about 3000 of them hourly in a Man of perfect Health Thus by the Contrivance of the Heavenly Artist the Brain and Heart keep time and so the Harmony of this Divine Machin to which they belong is preserv'd But that we may be convinced that there is nothing here but mighty Wonders we are to observe that the Brain which is as hath been said the Seat of Sense and Life and the Efficient of Animal i. e. the Finest Spirits is it self the most dull phlegmatick and coldest part of the Body The substance of it is lax spongy and porous and is but a Glandule saith Dr. Wharton It is made of soft Pith and Pulp which is liable to be shatter'd and displaced But the Divine Hand hath cast a Net over it and through it as 't were which holds the parts together and hinders their Dislocation Which strange Contexture of innumerable little Twisted Strings and Fibres as well as its Matter shews it to be framed for some special use and Design which no other part of the Body is made for and it calls upon us to admire and adore the Composer Next the Face or Countenance which is that fore-part of the Head which is always bare and expos'd to view is to be consider'd by us The Excellent Features of it are the greatest Discrimination between Man and Brutes for either they have no Face properly and strictly so call'd or it looks not forward as Man 's doth who hath a Body erect which no other Creature hath and consequently a Countenance of that posture Here the Supreme Creator's Image is most especiâ—lly discern'd this is a Transcript of the Heavenly Spirit this is the Mirror of that Divine Soul which is within And therefore this part of Man is the chief Subject of Physiognomy which so far as 't is natural and sober may contain some Reality in it and hath been approved of and practis'd by the Wisest among the Ancients as Pythagoras Aristotle Hippocrates Galen and others There are generally some external Signs and Marks in the Visage which demonstrate the Temper of the Mind From inspection of the constant and natural Lineaments in the Countenance we may sometimes guess at the Soul For God hath imprinted these Characters there that we may read the Dispositions and Inclinations of Men in them And the strange Diversity of Mens Countenances is no contemptible Argument of the Wisdom and Goodness of the Creator in making them so wonderfully Various It is to be admir'd that though all Men have the same shape and figure of their Faces yet there are different strokes and lines in every one of them Sic similes universi videmur inter se singuli dissimiles invenimur as Minutius Felix speaks If Men were alike in Face as Sheep and some other Animals what a strange Confusion would be in the World How many Evils and Mischiefs would follow upon it If the Visage significantly call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fashion of the Countenance Luke ix 29 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the particular appearance or form of the face Mat. xxviii 3 were alike in all Persons Parents could not know their Children Husbands their Wives Relations their Kindred Magistrates could not discern the Guilty Creditors could not know their Debtors So Injustice Fraud Murder Bloodshed Adultery Incest would reign among Men and yet there would be no way to discover and detect them This must needs happen if one person could not be discern'd from another which could not possibly be if they were all alike And thus the Society of Men would have been broken and there could have been no humane Converse It was therefore the work of Divine and Infinite Reason to make this great Variety of Faces which we see to give Men distinct Lineaments that so they might certainly be known one from another This different shaping of humane Countenances is a proof of an All-wise Being and one that had a regard to the good of Mankind But if we particularly survey the several Parts which constitute this Divine Form in Mens Faces we shall have yet a greater Sense of this Supreme Disposer The Forehead is a singular Ornament full of Grace and Majesty it is the Index of Joy or Sorrow of Severity or Mildness of Anger or being pleas'd of Shame or Impudence and in brief if the Roman Orator spoke good sense it is the door of the Soul The Protuberancy of this part is useful for it conveniently shades the Eyes it beats off the excess of Light which would be troublesome and offensive and be some hinderance to the sight The Nose or Nostrils were made not only to contribute toward the Beauty and Comeliness of the Countenance but to be of great Use and Necessity For their Offices are first to draw in and let out the Breath they are the proper Organ of Respiration
viz. the Stomach And though all is done here in a natural way yet it was caused at first by a supernatural Efficient the supreme divine Author of all things who framed this Vessel after this particular manner and most wisely designed and contrived the Operation and Office of it in order to the nourishing and sustaining of the whole Body Which will appear if we consider what becomes of the Chyle that milky Juice into which the Food is here dissolved It is sent through the lower Orifice or Mouth of the Stomach into the Guts which are fitted and prepared on purpose to receive it and to give it a farther and higher Digestion Properly there is but one Intestine which hath divers Names according to its divers Parts or Offices That which immediately adheres to the Bottom of the Stomach hath its Name from its being thought to be in its full Dimensions twelve Fingers in Length though the expertest Anatomists find it not half so long This hath no Windings but descends streight from the Pylorus that the Chyle may pass thence the better And it hath a narrow Cavity that it may pass by degrees and not all together The next for I will mention them all because they have some particular Service though not very distinctly known to us is the hungry one so call'd because it is often empty by reason of the abundance of lacteal Veins that are there which suck up the Chyle The third is much larger than these two before mentioned and is therefore capable of receiving more of the Faeces and of retaining them a longer time Here is the Iliack Passion Note that these three first Intestines are generally known by the Name of the small Guts The fourth is an obscure or blind Appendix whence perhaps it hath its Name of the Intestine last mentioned and of that which I shall name next for it rises out of the End of the one and the Entrance of the other It hath its peculiar Use in the Reception of the Excrements in preparing them for Ejection in correcting the Flatus that proceeds from them and in serving also as a Ligament to fasten and uphold the Peritonaeum The fifth is the largest and thickest of all and the chief Receptacle for the Faeces Here is the Scene of the Cholick Pains bred of Winds and Vapours which arise in this lower Region of the little World Lastly there is the streight one so nominated because it directly tends to the Anus And here for there are Wonders in every Part of the Body between the Podex and the Vesica is that so useful and excellently contrived Muscle whereby untimely Excretion is prevented and hindred the Benefit of which cannot sufficiently be expressed I may justly call it the Key of the Postern-Gate of the Body with which it is opened and shut as often as there is occasion which is a thing not only of singular Use and Convenience but of absolute Necessity And as for the more general Use of the Intestines it is very observable and worthy of their Author For first they were designed to retain the Nourishment a considerable time in order to its better Fermentation and Concoction To which purpose they are made of a round long and concave Figure that they may be more capacious and hold the Chyle the longer time and that they may be the fitter for Motion Secondly the Intention of them was to separate what is brought into them the useful Parts from those that are of no Use. Thirdly to convey and distribute the wholesome Portion of the Chyle into its proper Receptacle for the Nourishment of the Body Fourthly to expel the useless Parts and Sediment downwards And though the other Employments be more honourable yet this is as necessary and admirable as they To these Ends their peristaltick Motion was given them which is singular and peculiar and ordained for this very purpose and no other By this Motion which is compared usually to that of Earth-Worms which move the Parts of their Bodies successively and gradually the pure profitable and defecate Parts of the Chyle are separated from the Excrementitious and the Faeces are by degrees depressed and carried off That there should be this peculiar Contrivance of these Parts and that they should have spiral Fibres peculiarly fitted for the Employment they are designed to whilst other Parts have Fibres of a quite different Nature shews whose Workmanship it is And the many Turnings Foldings and crooked Windings of these Vessels were designedly framed by God for the promoting of these Ends. Hereby the Chyle hath time to digest sufficiently and to send laudable Nourishment to the Body Otherwise it would too soon be ejected and precipitated If the Intestines had not these Windings we should be always hungry because the Meat would slip out of the Stomach too soon Therefore when there hath been the contrary Make of the Guts a perpetual Appetite and Voracity have been observed of which see Instances in Riolan Anthrop l. 2. and Cabrol Observat. 10. Nature doth not perform its Work too fast but leisurely and sedately by Help of these Meanders and anfractuous Passages of the Entrails I have only this to observe further that all the Intestines are joyned together by the Mesentery that they may not be loose and they are also fastned to the Vertebrae of the Back But because both the Stomach and Intestines were primarily intended for conveying and dispersing the useful and nutritive Part of the Food into the several Parts of the Body I will proceed to shew you the manner of this particular Conveyance and Distribution one of the greatest Arguments of the divine Contrivance of Man's Body that we can desire The Food i. e. the major Part of it being converted into Chyle in the Stomach and afterwards by the Contraction of its Fibres detruded down into the Guts the more tenuious Parts of it are directly conveyed to the lacteal Veins which are dispersed through the small Guts and the Mesentery Here is the first Preparation of the chylous Matter after its Descent out of the Stomach Then from these milky Veins 't is carried to the common Receptacle which is of a membranous Substance and is placed at the Root of the Mesentery and above the Vertebrae of the Loins to which it is fastned though some have lately exploded this common Receptacle of Pecquet From thence it ascends to the Ductuâ— Thoracicus and thence into the subclavian Veins call'd so from the Claviculae or Chanel Bones by which they pass and thence it flows into the upper Trunck of the Vena Cava where 't is mixed with the Blood and thence it runs directly into the right Ventricle of the Heart in its Diastole where 't is turn'd into Blood And thence into the Lungs by the Heart's Systole Thence into the left Ventricle of the Heart whence passing through the Aorta or great Artery it is poured into the Arteries of
together and holds them in their right Places lest by the Motion of the Body they should be shaken and misplaced Thus the Care of the Almighty is every where seen None can observe these Parts but must confess that they were purposely framed by divine Providence There are other observable things yet behind in this Region but it was not my Design to treat of all And besides I may before I end this Discourse have occasion to speak of some of them I hope I have already in good measure performed the Task I undertook i. e. given Proof of the Existence of a Deity or divine Intellect from the Frame of humane Bodies by considering distinctly the three celebrated Regions of them The Brain the Heart the Stomach are the chief Wonders of these several Apartments The first elaborates the animal Spirits the second commutes the Chyle into Blood which the third had before prepared and fermented All things in the Body depend on the mutual Correspondence of these three We owe it to the Heart that the Spirits never fail in the Brain and we are beholding to the Brain that the Motion of the Heart never ceaseth For all that Force and Vigour which are in this latter are communicated to it by the brisk Spirits flowing from the Head But then again these must be made there and continually supplied by sending forth of Blood out of the Heart to the Brain If one of these be interrupted there follow Apoplexies Lethargies c. If the other be suppressed there are Syncopes and Lipothymies And both these great Operators the Heart and Brain are obliged to and even depend upon the grand Laboratory for the whole Body the Stomach the Kitchin where the Food is prepared and dressed for there can be no laudable Spirits or Blood without good Chyle and well concocted In these three chiefly consists our Life viz. that the Meat be prepared in the Stomach that the finer and choicer Part of it be transmitted to the Heart and neighbouring Vessels there to be assimilated into Blood and lastly that the purest and subtilest Part of the Blood be sent and extill'd to the Brain and there refined into animal Spirits These these are the Quintessence both of the Chyle and the Blood They are the ultimate Result of all the Concoctions they are the Perfection of Natures Operations By these volatile Parts of the Blood it is that both Motion and Sensation are performed in the Body and that after this wonderful manner those subtile Particles which by continual Pulsation of the Heart are hurried with the Blood by the carotidal Arteries up into the Brain are there by that laxe and boggy Substance imbibed and separated from the Blood and thence are transmitted to all the Parts of the Body Which is done by the Mediation of the Spinal Marrow i. e. the Pith of the Back Bone called the Silver Cord by Solomon Eccles. 12.6 and accordingly in the Caldee chut is filum funiculus and also medulla spinae dorsi because this descends like a white Thread or Cord. This I may call a Label descending from the Brain and it is indeed an Appendix of it or the Brain at length And the Nerves or Sinews which are originally planted in the Brain and the foresaid Marrow of the Back Bone are spread through the Body on purpose to carry these fine subtile Spirits from the Brain into all the Parts and there are seven Pairs or Conjugations of them for that Use. Because the Parts belonging to the Head are the most considerable there are therefore six of these Pairs appropriated to them One Couple constitutes the optick Nerves another appertains to the Muscles of these Parts a third is proper to the Ears and three Couples go to the Tongue and its adjacent Parts The remaining Pair is divided into several small Nerves that are inserted into the Lungs Stomach and other Parts belonging to the second and third Ventricle Bartholine assignes three Pair more which have their Rise also within the Cranium And he as well as the Ancients reckons thirty Pair that proceed from that Part of the Medulla which is in the Vertebrae and are distributed over the whole Body These and the whole genus nervosum though they are useful for the fastning and linking of the Parts of the Body together which is no inconsiderable Use of them are more especially designed to be the Organs of Motion for this is caused by those active Spirits before mentioned in these Nerves in concurrence always with the Muscles which are purposely framed for the promoting of it For into these are inserted the Nerves which are the proper Vehicles of the Animal Spirits and bring them from the Brain hither and thereby produce Motion For the Muscle swells by an Influx of those Spirits into it and so moves the Part or Member This Action of the Muscles is performed not only by the Nerves but the Fibres and Tendons which are of most exquisite Contexture insomuch that an English Philosopher avoucheth that in the Muscles there seems to be more Geometry than in all the artificial Engins in the World All the Motion of the Body depends on these which are so set one against another that when one is contracted it draws with it that Part of the Body which it is joyned to so that the opposite Muscle at the same time is extended And at another time if this Muscle be contracted the other necessarily is shrunk up and draws to it the Part that is annexed And the only reason why this Muscle is thus affected rather than that which is opposed to it is because the same Quantity of Spirits flows not from the Brain to one that doth to the other The short then is that a Gale a Current a Blast of Animal Spirits is the Spring of all voluntary Motion and Progression for though the Limbs are moved by the Muscles which slip up and down and these by the Nerves yet both are originally moved by those agile Spirits And Sensation as well as Motion is performed by these for the feeling Power is then exerted when the Threads of the Nerves by occasion of the sensible Objects which make some Vibration on them affect the Brain To which purpose these Strings are spread over all the Body so that whenever any Object touches them either mediately or immediately the Brain presently discerns it just as a Spider feels the shaking of her Web if any Thread of it be touched Thus the Nerves and the Spirits in them which are continually diffused are the Cause and Principle of all Sense This is the Reason which perswades me to believe that the Brain the chief and principal Part of all the Body is the Seat of the Soul For where should we fix its Throne but in that Place where there is the original of all Sense and Motion And this is the Brain which as you have heard is the Source of all the Nerves and all Spirits conveyed in
the Phlegmatick Humours For though 't is probable that some of them as Dr. Glisson hath observed are for Nutrition as the Tâ—ymus or great Glandule of the Thorax the Glandules of the Mesentery yet 't is not to be questioned that others and those the greatest Part are for Secretion Such is the Pituitary Glandule in the Brain which receives the superfluous Humours and conveys them to the Palate Nostrils c. Such are the Kernels behind the Ears and those about the Throat and Jaws called both by the Learned and Vulgar the Almonds of the Ears because they resemble them in Figure the Kernels under the Arm-pits c. also the Seminal Kernels and more especially the Prostatae which are proper Emunctories for the Seed which is produced from a Part of the arterious Blood which is brought from the Heart out of the Arteria magna through the spermatick Arteries into the Parastatae and there prepared Some hold that it is made wholly in these Vessels but it is denied by others who assert that 't is the proper Office of the Testicles The middle Opinion seems to be truest viz. that this seminary Matter is elaborated and made in these and thence flows into the Parastatae which further prepare it by a particular Secretion Some have thought that this is not the Product of the Blood but of the Succus Nutritius which is carried in the Nerves and is derived from the Brain and Spinal Marrow And others reckon it to be a lacteous Excrement But still it is granted by these dissenting Parties that the Glandules before mentioned are made use of for the separating or preparing of this seminal Liquor There are also the Glandules belonging to the Paps where Milk is made of the Blood which is sent from the Heart by the Arteries into these Parts for the nourishing of young ones Though 't is true others are of opinion that this lacteous Excrement is not blanched Blood but Part of the Chyle conveyed to the Breasts But from what I shall immediately suggest it will plainly appear that the old Opinion is the most rational and eligible That of Plutarch is undeniable that the admirable Confection and dispensing of Milk are sufficient to demonstate a Providence and a divine Sollicitude and Concern for Mankind Who can be an Atheist i. e. deny an intelligent and provident Disposer of the World who observes that in the time of the Pregnancy of Women that Blood which had another Chanel before is now directed to nourish the Foetus and assoon as the Time of Gestation is over i. e. assoon as the Infant is born the Passage of the Nourishment is again on a sudden changed and it finds its way to the Breasts and Paps for Nutrition of the Infant the Pores of the Glandules which we are speaking of being then fitted to receive and alter the Blood conveyed to them which assoon as it ascends thither is turned into that white Juice called Milk This seems to be a clear Evidence of the Truth of the ancient Doctrin that Milk is the more immediate Product of Blood But yet I do not say this to exclude the Modern Opinion wholly for in some Persons perhaps who exceedingly abound with Blood and at some times when the Vessels are more peculiarly adapted and qualified the lacteous Liquor may be made both ways I take leave thus to interpose in the Controversie and to compromise it because I observe that Nature delights to vary in her Operations and to do her Work more ways than one I only here add that Milk is of a peculiar Substance or rather contains three kinds of liquid Substance in it serous creamy caseous and hath a great nutritive Vertue in it and consequently is not properly an Excrement though it be reckoned to be such by Physicians in the laxer way of speaking And so is that other which I last mentioned but in a strict Sense they are both of them above the Nature of Excrements i. e superfluous and useless Humours of the Body For the one is for Procreation the other for Nourishing the Fruit of the Womb. Next some late Anatomists tell us of certain Pellucid Vessels which carry a limpid Liquor in them and perhaps have their Rise out of the Glandules of which I spoke before that are every where dispersed about the Body Bartholine the first Discoverer of them thought they were designed to convey that thin transparent Liquor to the Chyle-bearing Vessels and some have believed them to be spread up and down every where to moisten and cool the Body But as I have suggested before that there are several Uses of the same Parts these lymphatick Vessels may be likewise intended to be Receptacles of superfluous serous Excrements and to be of the Nature of common Sewers to the Body Besides all these there are the Pores of the Skin which are universal Emunctories for Sweat and Perspiration The Skin is a kind of Net-work as the excellent Malpighius represents it who often view'd it in a Microscope and tells us that it appears in the Form of a Net full of Holes by means of which our Bodies are perspirable Perpetual Exhalations and Steams issue forth thence from the Mass of Blood and thereby ill and offensive Humours are thrown off and evacuated which if they were kept in would be very destructive to the Body and become the Fuel of most Diseases Or if this be not performed with Freedom and Ease Diaphoreticks are seasonable to provoke this Evaporation which could not be done unless there were these little invisible Passages in the Skin these Eyelet-holes and Perforations as 't were all over it Sanctorius was the first that found out the exact Weight of insensibâ—â— Transpirations and made and used a weighing Chair for that purpose He first discovered that more than half of what we eat and drink exhales by these imperceptible Emanations These vaporous Excrements though not seen exceed in abundance all the other sensible Excretions and Purgations which I have been speaking of Lastly The Intestines and the various Foldings of them are and were designed to be Vents and Evacuatories for the grosser and more offensive Excrements which are separated from the alimental Parts of the Chyle and are thrust out of the Body by Siege Which as sordid as it seems to be is as necessary for the Welfare yea I may add the Being of Mankind as any of the Offices and Functions of the Body that have been named in this Discourse Thus you see how by these divers Sinks and Conveyances the useless Parts are carried off the ill Humours are separated and drained more especially the Blood is percolated and refined and the whole Body is scoured cleared and purified This cannot be the Result of Chance but argues Design and Contrivance It was a divine Director that disposed the several excrementitious Faeces into their proper and peculiar Receptacles in order to the good Plight and Health of the
changes the Nature of that Water which is salt and makes it fresh for the Water that is by the Heat of the Sun exhaled from the Sea and turn'd into Showers as was intimated before is not Salt Therefore the Heat of the Sun is not the Cause of the Salsitude of the Waters I am then of Varenius's mind in this that these salt Particles are coetaneous with the Ocean it self and therefore we ought no more to inquire into the Original of them than into the Original and Generation of the Sea it self or of the whole Earth But we may with some Satisfaction rest in the Final Cause of this Property which is that it may be serviceable to the same end that the Motion of this Element is viz. to preserve it from Putrefaction If the Ocean were either stagnated or had lost its saline Quality we should soon feel the dire Effects of it Fishes would die Navigation would be impossible because of the Corruption of that Element and the Inhabitants of the whole Earth would in a short time be infected and stifled with the noxious Steams of it Here then we cannot but own and with Reverence admire the Power Goodness and Wisdom of the Great Founder of the World that he was pleas'd thus to contrive the Ocean for the Good of Mankind and the Service of the Inhabitants of this lower World And these Divine Attributes are no less observable in the Bounding of this Vast Element For though it is true it is lodg'd in the more depress'd Parts of the Earth yet by its rapid and vehement Motion it is naturally apt to fly out of its proper Receptacles and Channels and in many Places it hath advanced it self and gained ground and is now in a Tendency to spread it self yet further and to enlarge its Dominions But the Overruling Arm of Heaven puts a stop to its Career and checks its enraged Waves and permits them to pass no further This that Pious Sufferer acknowledg'd when he was describing the infinite and unsearchable Power of God He hath compass'd the Waters with Bounds The Hebrew Verb here used is by Buxtorf rendred Circinavit and then the Elegancy of the Expression is very considerable He hath as with a pair of Compasses exactly described the Bounds of the Sea he hath with Divine Art and the most Accurate Skill and Wisdom terminated the boisterous Waves and raging Billows of the Ocean he has shut it in with Mountains Rocks and Commodious Shores This is taken notice of by another Inspired Author Thou hast set a Bound that they may not pass over that they turn not again to cover the Earth and to overwhelm the Inhabitants of it Especially those of the Islands of which We are a Part are concern'd to mention this with most thankful and hearty Resentments The Lord reigneth therefore as the same Devout Man saith let the Multitude of the Isles be glad thereof If He were not Lord and King if he did not rule and govern the World and particularly this Impetuous Element if he did not mercifully restrain and confine it it would unavoidably break in upon us and devour us It was unsufferable Presumption in Xerxes to attempt to fetter the Hellespont it was saucy Arrogance in King Canuâ—e to charge the Sea not to come in upon him And it is but a fond Superstition in the Venetian to think to espouse the Sea and marry the Adriatick on Holy Thursdays It is the Almighty Providence of Heaven only that can give Laws and Rules to the Roaring Waves It is this only that can allay and moderate the Deep when it boils like a Pot it is this alone that can curb and master its Fury So the Almighty himself informs us He hath shut up the Sea with Doors and again He brake up for it his decreed Place and set Bars and Doors and said Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shall thy proud Waves be stayed And farther Proofs of this Divine Power we may take notice of in the Deep if we consider that God hath made this both the Source or Origine and also the Common Receptacle of Waters Fountains and Springs arise not only from the Great Abyss of Waters in the Center of the Earth as a late Worthy Writer hath rendred very probable but from the Ocean i. e. from condens'd Vapours or Waters themselves sent up from the Sea through the Earth and by the Subterraneous Fires exhaled up to Hills and Mountains and thereby the Cold condens'd into Waters which supply Rivers and are at last carried back to the Sea This admirable Contrivance is as I conceive meant in Psal. 104.8 They i. e. the Waters go up by the Mountains by advantage of Rise they climb up through secret Passages of the Earth they go down by the Valleys they thence fall by their natural Weight into those Places where they are most profitable for the Use of Men and so at last into the Place which thou hast founded for them they return to the Ocean their Great Repository There is a Continual Circulation of Water in the Earth as of Blood in the Bodies of Animals it constantly flows from Place to Place and never stands still From the Sea it passes to Spring-heads through Subterraneous Channels and sometimes Fish as well as Water is convey'd in these Passages if they be of any considerable largeness whence by the way I think may be given an account of Shell-fish and Bones of other Fish which are sometimes found in digging deep in the Ground it is probable they came from the Sea in these Pipes under ground from those Spring-heads the Water is derived to Rivers tho I grant these are partly supplied by Rains and Snows as when sudden Inundations happen and from the Rivers there is a Passage into the Sea again and thus the Waters run round as Blood in the Veins and Arteries of Living Creatures And the circular Motion of one is as necessary for the Good of the World in general as the other is for that of Animals in particular There is indeed a Late Ingenious Writer that fancies the Sea is a Blemish to the World and therefore he tells us that the First Earth was without any such thing But it is no wonder that he that dreams of an Earth without Clouds makes it wholly void of Seas Yet this is to be wondred at that any Man should aver with Confidence that the Antediluvian Earth was without Sea when we read in Gen. 1.21 that God created great Whales they must be Whales on the dry Land according to this Author for he allows no Sea for them nay when we expresly read that God gave Adam Dominion over the Fish of the Sea Gen. 1.26 28. Only here again our wonder must cease when we remember what the Author hath since divulged to the World viz. that the first Chapters of Genesis are not to be understood in a Literal but an
the whole Body and thence returns again by the Veins For the lesser Veins bring it to the Vena Cava and from thence as was said before into the right Ventricle of the Heart Or briefer thus the prepared Chyle which is the nutritive Part of the Food is carried to the Heart by the Veins sent about by Arteries and goes back again by Veins This is the Passage of it this is its constant Circuit However though we may be mistaken in some of the chyliferous Passages yet as to the main the Progress is rightly stated and we cannot but acknowledge as the learnedest Enquirers have done that the Motion of this liquid Matter from one Place to another is surprizing and amazing The various Stages of it its sudden mounting and climbing up even from the Intestines to the Thorax its making way through so many different Chanels is all of it divine and heavenly Mechanism None can see and observe these things but they must be confirmed in the Belief of a God And now I should say something particularly of the Liver and Spleen though I had occasion to mention them before and observed they were a Guard to the Stomach and on that account were of use The former of these was said by the Ancients to be the Blood-making Vessel but now 't is otherwise agreed by the learned viz. that the Blood is made in the Heart Wherefore they assign that Part other Offices which yet are of no mean Advantage to the Body Dr. Glisson is of opinion that the Liver is of the Nature of a Streiner i. e. the Blood and other Humours are defecated as they pass through it And moreover he thinks that it promotes the Fermentation of the Blood running through it But those who are perswaded that no Chyle or Blood is carried to the Liver because Anatomists do not find any Passage from the lacteal Veins thither assert that the chief Employment of this Part is to separate and prepare Choler for the use of other Parts of the Body and that the grosser Part of it is derived by the Gall-Bladder and Bilary Passage which are in the hollow Part of this Viscus into the Intestines to promote and facilitate the Evacuation of the Excrements out of those Parts which are thereby rendred fluid and so fitter for Motion But the better and milder Part of this Juice is sent into the Blood continually and is very serviceable to augment its Fermentation I will not interpose here to examine or judge which of these Opinions is most probable but any Man of rational Thoughts will determine that a Part of the Body which is of that Bigness and Consistency that the Liver is of was not placed there without good reason and for some considerable End Then as to the Spleen it was thought by the Ancients that its Employment was to separate the melancholick Part of the Chyle and to contain it in its particular Cavity as the Gall-Bladder is the Receptacle of the yellow Choler and after Concoction of it to transmit some of it to the Entrails some to the Veins and some to the Stomach Others lately assign other Offices of the Spleen but cannot well agree what they are Dr. Glisson will have it to be useful for the preparing of his succus nutritius Others think it is serviceable for the gathering and dreining of a certain acid excrementitious Juice But the most probable Function of it is to help and further the Ferment of the Blood and to advance its due Concoction in the Body It is certainly a necessary Vessel in humane Bodies and cannot be taken out of them without real Damage to them though some other Animals may make a shift to live without it after 't is cut out Or that a Man may live without it perhaps may not wholly be denied but yet 't is useful to the Health of the Body for a thing may be useful though not absolutely necessary Hear therefore what a Person of Understanding and Judgment in these things hath said The great Architect saith he never made any thing in our Bodies to no purpose What Man therefore in his right Senses can believe that so eminent and large a Bowel as the Spleen is should be given in vain to Men and Beasts without any Necessity or Use in order to Life And so I doubt not but the Pancreas or Sweet-bread which is a glandulous Substance seated under the back Part of the Stomach at the Bottom of it and so is as it were its Cushion to lean upon is of considerable Use in the Body It is said by some to send a Juice to the Stomach in order to the Concoction By others it is thought to afford a Liquor to the Guts for fermenting the Chyle there It is concluded by others to be a Dreyner viz. of some useless excrementitious Humour that passes that way Thus Physicians and Anatomists disagree about it some asserting one thing some another And here let me say this with relation not only to this Part but to those immediately before spoken of that though we have not a particular or full Knowledge of the Use of them yet we ought not to conclude thence that they are useless But rather as one of the Ancients said of Heraclitus's Writings that what he understood of them was good and he thence gathered that what he understood not was so too the like we may in a resembling manner say of the Parts of the Body we have a full Proof concerning most of them that they are very useful and there is reason to infer thence that the rest are of the like Nature though we cannot give a particular and distinct Account of them And now I will shut up all that I have to say concerning this last and lowest Region of the Body when I have observed to you that this being the only Partition that is not guarded with Bones for the Ribbs came no farther before than the Diaphragm there is other Provision made for it for it is in a special manner fenced and secured though not with Bones yet with several other Coverings As first there is that Skin which is called the Rim of the Belly This covers all the Entrails and not only defends them but keeps them warm and likewise keeps them together and thereby prevents a Rupture There is another Skin or Membrane which wraps up the Intestines and that is the Cawl or Kell This is under the Rim and is not so large as that but it is useful for the foresaid purposes and also to keep the Bowels glib by its Fatness and Moisture not to speak here of its Serviceableness to Concoction which might have been mentioned before for when this Part is corrupted and defective Digestion fails of which see an Example in the Philosophical Transactions Aug. 20. 1684. Furthermore there is the Mesentery in the middle of the Entrails which is another Tye and Security to these Parts for it laps them close
the several Plates of which they consist lying one over another their superficial Cavities their Blood-Vessels c. all which have their special Uses and Ends. That which is most obvious and which none can doubt of is that the Bones were made by the all-wise Being to sustain and support to fasten and corroborate the whole Body And that they might do this the more effectually their Number is very great There are in Human Bodies if we reckon great and little moveable and immoveable Bones no fewer of them than 248 according to Hippocrates and Galen's Arithmetick And it seems this very Number was receiv'd among the Iews for their Rabins aver that there are 248 affirmative Precepts in the Law just so many say they as there are Bones in the Body of Man Riolanus will have us bate one of this Number but Albertus magnus adds considerably to it and reckons 276. some have fancifully reduced them to the Number of the Days in the Year But I find that the most skillful Anatomists of late count above three hundred Leaving others to compute the precise Number of them we are certain of this that it is very considerable and that they were all designed to render the Body more stable firm and steady These are the Posts and Studs or rather these are the Pillars of this House of our Bodies These are Props and Supports of our fleshly Tabernacle These are the Upholders and Sustainers of this Corporeal Building And that this was the main End of them appears from this that most Fishes because they live in another sort of Element which is soft and liquid and hath no Resistances made to it at any time have no Parts of such hard Substance as Bones properly so called but rather Cartilages or Gristles which are more convenient and proper for the Use of that sort of Animals which still convinces us of the universal Wisdom and Providence of God towards all his Creatures And further as to this Cartilagineous Substance which I last mentioned we may take notice how fitly it is made use of in Human Bodies that is in those Parts where it is most useful Thus because it is serviceable for shaping and fashioning those Places which are hollow or which have a Prominency above the rest we see that the Ears the Nose the Larynx Epiglottis c. are made of it For this is not so stiff and hard as Bone but gives way and therefore is not easily broken or hurt Because it is an useful Medium for uniting of hard and soft Parts together it being it self of a middle Nature between them we continually find it among the Ioints and the Articulations of the Members and Limbs We may observe that the Ribs are at both Ends of them tipp'd with this And the Breast-bone it self to which the greatest Part of the Ribs are joyned hath a Mixture of this Substance Yea the lower Part of it which reaches to the Diaphragm and the Mouth of the Stomach and defends them is a perfect Cartilage of a Sword-fashion whence it hath its Name i. e. it is sharp and pointed at the End like that Weapon If some great Coward should chance to read this perhaps it will make him tremble to think that there is a Sword or Dagger so near his Heart To proceed it was necessary that the Body which is daily contracting superfluous and noxious Humours should have some Vessels and Chanels on purpose to drain them away And accordingly the divine Wisdom when it erected this House of Flesh made several Sinks and Drains to carry these off and thereby to purge and clear the Body And yet this must be said that some of them serve not chiefly to this End but only by the by as may be gathered from what was said when I had occasion to speak of them before The Nostrils are for the Evacuation of a particular pituitous Excrement that flows from the Brain The Palate and Mouth are for receiving and ejecting the Spittle Though here I make a Difference between the insipid Spittle I mean that superfluous and viscid Humour which troubles the Mouth and is useless and proceeds from Catarrhs and Corruption of the Saliva and the Saliva it self which properly is not an Excrement for 't is of great Use. It moistens the Jaws and Oesophagus and the Organs of Speech and makes them slippery and thereby serviceable It is useful to quench the Thirst it mixes it self with the Food when it is masticated and by its Moisture fetches out the Sapor of it This Salival Humour promotes and facilitates the swallowing down of the Meat and it is a necessary Preparation and an initial Fermentation in Order to Concoction In the Eyes the Carunculae lachrymales are for the serous Defluxion of Tears which come from the Arteries of the Head into these Places And as Weeping is contrary to Laughter so it is produced in a contrary way for it is caused by the Compression and contracting of the Vessels as the other by the Dilatation of them The Ears are the Evacuators of the bilious Excrement that flows thither That learned Person whom I have so often mentioned is of opinion that the Lungs are the grand Emunctory of the Body And he promises to prove by several Experiments that there passes out of the Body a greater Quantity of fluid matter this way i. e. upwards and through the Lungs than there doth of Urine by the Kidneys downwards The Gall-Bladder in the hollow Part of the Liver is the Dreiner for Choler and the Spleen is the proper Sink for Melancholy or black Choler The Reins or Kidnies are for the Reception and Excretion of the Vrine the watry Part of the Meat and Drink which is conveyed to them together with the Blood from the emulgent Arteries but is here separated from the Blood and then conveyed from these Parts to the Vreters and thence to the Bladder which is of singular Use to receive contain and hold it till it be replenished and then it dischargeth it by the Vrinary Passage Though truly there may be some doubt whether all the Vrine be an Excrement of the Blood For it may be conceived improbable that all the Liquor a Man drinks goes through his Heart If he takes down Mineral Waters in great abundance he evacuates them so speedily that one can scarcely imagine that they went about that way And when he drinks vast Quantities of the strongest and hottest Wines one would think there should be a greater Inflammation and Commotion in that Part viz. by a mighty Increase of the Quantity of the Blood than is usually felt This may prompt us to believe that Liquor hath some other way to the Reins that some of it goes into the Blood and that other Parts of it go more directly to the Reins by some Passage which is not yet discovered The Use also of the Glandules or Kernels which are dispersed up and down the Body is to separate and strain
as by these so by the Muscles and Tendons furnished with Blood by Veins and Arteries whether greater or capillary joyned together with Ligaments another sort of Substance of a middle Nature between a Membrane and a Cartilage wherewith the Joynts of Bones and the Gristles are bound together Thus as the Apostle speaks like a natural Philosopher expressing the admirable Dependence of one Part of the Body on another for his Words are a plain Allusion to this the whole Body being fitly joyned together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and compacted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by that which every Ioint supplieth according to the effectual working in the Measure of every Part maketh Increase of the Body Eph. 4.16 And again with Reference to the natural Head and Body he saith and that most significantly the Head from which all the Body by Ioynts and Bands having Nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth Col. 2.19 which is a brief and summary Account not only of the sovereign Influence of the Head the Fountain of Spirits on the whole Body but of the harmonious Connection of the several Parts of the close Conjunction and Agreement among themselves By those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as this holy Writer truly and properly stiles them those several Iunctures and Bands the Body is compacted made fast and firm and cannot be disordered easily by a violent Motion And yet at the same time it is by means of these rendred pliant and flexible Such is the various Work of the divine and wise Contriver such are the mighty Wonders that are interspersed through all the Operations of the Body This therefore is the thing I urge that in the Make of all these Parts of the Body there is observable a Design an acting for some End And this infallibly leads us to a God It was madly and sottishly said by Lucretius Lumina nè facias Oculorum clara creata Prospicere ut possimus and much more to that purpose the sum of which is this that the Eyes were not made to see nor the Ears to hear nor the Tongue to speak nor the Legs and Feet to walk but Men having Eyes Ears c. make use of them for seeing hearing c. It were to be wish'd that this Poet had not been englished by so fine a Hand as he is for by the extraordinary Goodness of the Verse the Badness of this Epicurean's Notions is I fear unhappily instilled into the Minds of young Gentlemen Though it is true also that the Extravagancy and Absurdity of them are their own Antidote where there is a considerate Reader So that it may be said the ingenious Gentleman who hath done this Author into our Language hath exposed him as well as translated him Certainly no Man can have the Face to deny that the Bodily Parts have a Correspondence with one another and are mutually helpful in their Offices which could never have been unless they had been with Wisdom fitted and accommodated for it No Man of tolerable Understanding can deny that the Eyes Ears Lungs Heart Stomach c. were made for those individual Purposes of seeing hearing breathing sanguification Concoction c. He that considers that the Veins have certain Valvulae of a peculiar Texture proper for promoting the Course of the Blood and that the Arteries have their convenient Filaments for dispersing the spirituous Parts of it cannot but own that they were appointed for these very Purposes All this shews wise Forecast and Design and consequently proves a supreme Intelligence that actuates the World Say that I have not exactly and punctually explained the Design and Intent of Providence in all the Parts and Vessels of the Body which I have mentioned say that there be various and different Opinions concerning the Use of some of them as will easily be granted yet we cannot possibly err as to this that the most of them were designed for those very particular purposes which we have named And as to the rest there is some great and noble Use for which they were made and this is promoted and effected whether we know it or no. Suppose some of those Hypotheses I have proceeded on should be false as Anatomy and Physick are improved daily and new Discoveries are made yet this will no ways invalidate the Design of my Discourse because though some of these things in the Body of Man be solv'd by other Principles and Maxims the things themselves will still be serviceable to shew the Wisdom and Providence of God Nay perhaps they will be more strange and wonderful according to other Hypotheses or Principles than in that way which I have offered for the Solution of them Whether Bartholine's or Sylvius's or Willis's Hypothesis be truest it is not requisite to be â—ully satisfied It is not necessary for us to know whether Pecquet or Des Cartes or Malpighius or our own Harvey Glisson Wharton or Needham have given the best Account of some Functions of the Body for however they may differ they agree in acknowledging the admirable Contrivance of them And from the things themselves which we have propounded it is apparent that the Body hath animal vital and natural Powers in it and that it is extremely fitted for the Discharge of the several Offices belonging to these and that there are different Vessels and Parts made use of in order to it And we see that all things are plainly contrived for the best and for promoting the Welfare of the Body This is that which I have been evincing and this is enough to prove the great Hand of God in the Make and Constitution of the whole And as for the exact Symmetry of all the Parts taken and considered together it hath been the Subject of many wise Heads and will yet further conduce to my present Design which is to assert a Deity from the Configuration of Man's Body They agree in this that the Proportions and Dimensions of it are extraordinarily accurate and harmonious and that the Parts exactly answer to one another both as to the Longitude and Latitude It is so excellently proportioned that if we may credit Vitruvius who was a good Judg in this Case the Measures of Temples Ships and Engines were taken from it And in another Place he saith that every well-built House must be according to the Proportion of the Members of a well-figured Man It was long since observed by two eminent Writers of the Church that there were the same Proportions in the Fabrick of the Ark that there are in the Body of Man So a curious Person of this latter Age takes notice that this ancient Structure was accommodated to the Dimensions of Humane Bodies that is its Longitude was sixfold to its Latitude and tenfold to its Profundity And hereupon he takes occasion to declare that there is such a Harmony and Symmetry of the Members that they all have an exact Reference to one another Whence he infers and that rightly that there is something