Idea the Mesentery as it 's called by Anatomists meaning a most curious Net-work of innumerable porous Strings which fasten the Entrails together in a Circle and with their gaping Orifices devour and drink up the spirituous Chyle throughout its Passage Thence being convey'd through those somenting Parts and spungy Kernels the Clandules the Supplement of Life is by the constant Motions of the Diaphragm forced and drawn upwards again but in a new way some into the Liver some into other Vessels but mostly into a common Receptacle like a little Lake whence it is carried on still further upwards Wâ—â—eus Ibid. towards the Neck there to be discharged into a great Vein or Canal of Blood This constant course of the Chyle prepared in the Stomach and conducted through so many Vessels was not discovered so exactly and particularly till some late Criticks in Anatomy made the strictest search And though it may seem to lie out of a Divines way yet because the Speculation is so useful and important in the Consequence as well as diverting in it self I shall for once venture upon it a little further That milky Substance the Chyle being now commixt and swimming with the Blood is instantly transmitted into the Right-Ventricle of the Heart there as some have thought to be turned into perfect Blood of the form of its Vehicle Thence it runs through a Chanel into the Lungs there to be enriched by impregnating Particles from the Air whence it takes a circuit back again into the Left-Ventricle of the Heart where being instantly Sublimated and made highly Spirituous it is ejected thence up into a great Artery which by innumerable Branches conveys it speedily over the whole Body there by the assistance and supply of more Spirits from the Nerves to warm and comfort to enliven and invigorate to feed and nourish the several Parts and so the remainder returns to be supplied with fresh Chyle to the Heart again through Veins which though they be numberless yet is the Circulation so quick that the Blood goes through the Heart as a very learned Physician hath Dr. Lower de Cordc computed it no less than thirty times within the compass of and Hour This I take to be the short account of Nutrition especially in Man wherein if there be any slight mistake I submit to the Judgment of those of the noble Faculty and Profession whose business it is to understand it much better And now considering the admirable usefulness of all those Parts which serve to these vital Purposes I would ask any reasonable Person Whether meer Chance or blind Matter or any thing else without the Skill and Providence of a most wise Being could contrive such artificial and wonderful Methods Conveyances Instruments and Vessels of such various Sorts and all so curiously Formed so orderly Disposed and so exquisitely Connected and Fitted to bring about such necessary and excellent Ends If it be said That all these things are done by Common Animal Nature 't is easily answered That Nature of its self is without all Understanding utterly uncapable of Forecast or Cogitation and therefore shews that there is an intelligent Being over it that erected and ordered the business of Nutrition which common Nature never knew either how to perfect and finish or how to begin nor indeed doth humane Reason it self help to carry it on As for instance A Man deliberates indeed what he shall eat and what he shall drink for these are Objects which fall under Consultation or at least Fancy But when once his Nutriment is cast down into the Stomach there is an end of all deliberation as to the manner of Digestion and of turning the digested Matter into Blood and Spirits In the whole Oeconomy of this Affair Reason hath not the least Hand nor did any Man ever yet consider how he should convert his Food into Chyle or convey it from the Stomach to the Mesentery or how he should there separate it and so carry it to the Heart The greatest Politician in the World never yet thought of managing this Intrigue Nature indeed does the thing to his Hand But because that Principle of Life which we call Nature is utterly void of all Policy and Thought we must rationally conclude that there is a Being of excellent Knowledge and Wisdom that is a Deity which hath contrived these Operations for Nature and hath directed and fixt the Methods of them If it be said again that Nature operates thus in a Mechanical way by forcing and thrusting on the Chyle and Blood like the Art and Method used in Water-works it may be very reasonably demanded Who invented this Art for Nature Who at first put that unintelligent and blind thing upon it And what Hand prepared that stupendious Course and Instruments it was to use in order to the Animal's Nutrition Nay who contrived the Animal it self and designed the Nourishment of it Or if these Questions be not enough we may very well ask the great Pretenders to Reason one more viz. How the Circulation of the Blood which is so Demonstrable is so constantly performed and so quickly finish'd in its periodical Course For here the greatest Artists are divided Disp de Deo p. 462. in their Opinions whether the reduction of the Blood to the Heart through the Veins be by the inosculation of the Veins and Arteries an Opinion which seems to be out of Doors or by the porosities of the fleshy Parts or by the systaltick Motion as some call it in the Veins themselves As to this Men of the best Skill are yet to seek how to give a clear and satisfactory Account of the manner of the Circulation of the Blood though the Circulation it self be apparent which to me is an Argument that the whole Method of Nutrition in us was instituted and is still carried on by a Divine Being which hath made some things undiscoverable by humane Art that by the Mysteries we find in Nature we may be the more easily prevailed on to believe the sublimest Truths in Religion 2. Having thus observed the First thing which tends to the preservation of that Nature which is common to Man and Beast the work of Nutrition that is performed in the Bowels Let us in the next place consider briefly the Second thing or the Business of Sensation that is performed in the Head both inwardly in the Fancy and outwardly by the Instruments of Sensation as the Eye the Ear and the like which convey to the Fancy all sensible Objects from abroad And here I must not be so vain as to pretend to give a distinct accurate and full account of all the operations of Nature and of its hidden means and manner of Working No it is enough for one of my Profession to take such a summary notice of those things which serve for Sensation as may satisfie any reasonable Person that the whole Work of Sensation argues wonderful Wisdom and Contrivance and consequently the Existence of a God
intimately depending upon one another Good Lord what could have been more wisely more advantageously more artificially more divinely designed and ordered And to confirm this yet further it will not be amiss to consider transiently the wonderful Art of Nature in contriving the first principal Instruments of Nutrition and Sensation both All we see depends upon Nourishment and that is sought for by those Cravings in the Stomach which we call Hunger and Thirst Now here lyeth a Mystery how we come to be sensible of these great Wants below The immediate Causes of Appetite are allowed to be in the Stomach it self and suppose it to proceed from an Acid Humour there which agitates and frets the Fibres upon Emptiness yet the Enquiry is How the Head comes to be sensible of these Cravings Or How and by what means it is that the Fancy in the Brain is affected with these Cravings in the Stomach so that we feel and know the Necessities of Nature which must be answer'd or else the whole Fabrick will fall to the Ground Why the true Account is this That there are immediate Instruments between the Stomach and the Brain which convey to the Fancy the Sense of those Necessities which are below I mean little Nerves or porous Strings which by the help of Animal Spirits within them move the Fancy above as they themselves are moved by the Vellications or Twitchings of the Fibres beneath On these poor Instruments the whole Being and Welfare of every Sensitive Creature doth originally depend and so I would ask any Rational Creature Whether the Formation of those Instruments in every Animal could be the effect of blind Chance or is not rather an Argument of the most wonderful Reason and Wisdom that is a Deity directing and governing the Works of Nature after such a stupendious manner and to such providential Ends and Purposes for the preservation of every Animal's Nature 3. And this leads me to consider now the Third thing which tendeth thereunto and exposeth to our View the great Wisdom and Contrivances of a God namely the due perfection and Fitness which is in the Structure of a Sensitive Creature 's Body I mean still in order to its own Preservation or to the Support of the Individual And here it passeth my little Skill and perhaps the greatest Skill of all the most inquisitive Men upon Earth to give you a distinct particular View of every wise Work Therefore it will be enough for me to give you a rough Draught an imperfect Specimen and Idea And to speak first of the useful perfect and fit Fabrication of the Head that great Fort of Nature which is provided like a Citadel on high for the defence and safety of all the other Works There we find such Excellence in the Frame such Art in the Contrivance and such variety of Uses throughout the whole Building as plainly shews the Hand and Wisdom of a Divine Architect as an hairy Scalp to keep all the interiour Parts in due warmth a Skull to guard them from violence a tough Membrane over it to help the making of Reparation for acts of Battery another Membrane they call the Pia Mater within to Coat the Nerves to divide the Brain into Partitions and to keep the volatile Spirits at home to do their proper Offices for Sense Life and Motion There we find too innumerable Branches of Arteries to carry Blood all over for the Sustenance of every Part and for the extracting of Spirits as many Branches of Veins also to carry off the phlegmatick Matter left that it may be invigorated anew Glandules like so many Spunges to drink up superfluous Moistures and to cast them into their respective Sinks besides an intricate Series of Nerves which I spake of before divaricated round about and laid like Pipes in their proper Cavities to help Sensation from abroad Of these if we take some notice of one only it will enable us to conceive something the better of the artificial Contrivance of the rest I mean the Nerve Optick that serves to convey the Species of all visible Objects into the Brain It is inserted into the Bulb of the Eye a little side-ways or in an oblique Posture as most convenient for clear Vision Thence it spreads it self into Ramifications infinite partly into those various Branches which assist the six Muscles of the Eye that it may move six several ways to receive Impressions from all Objects and partly into a vast variety of Fibres which make various Coats all of them transparent and without any Tincture outwardly of their own to let in Light and Colours in their proper Idea's that Vision may be the more distinct and clear and that the Fancy may not be deceived The exteriour or horny Coat is made of a Convex Figure to admit Rays from all parts round about In the second or Uveous Coat is the Pupil commonly called the Sight of the Eye a round and narrow part provided for the gathering of the Rays into a Concourse and about this Pupil is the Iris made up of Ciliary Processes like a Circle of the finest Hairs by the Motion of which Fibres the Sight of the Eye is sometimes contracted and at other times dilated according as the splendid Object is near or remote or as the Splendor it self is greater or lesser Besides these is that they stile the Retiform Coat because it resembles the most curious Net-work next to the Visionary Nerve somewhat capacious to give room for the necessary Proportions of the Idea and of a dark Colour round about within to prevent the Reflexion of the Light And within these various Coats are various Humours which serve so artificially to refract all the incident Rays and to transmit the Species of every visible Object to the Fancy in a regular Form that in all Ages the Structure of this little Member the Eye hath been to the Admiration and Astonishment of the best Anatomists Now by this we may guess at the wonderful Structure of those other Instruments which serve for Sensation in the Head And if we descend lower What a World of Wonders do we meet with there Were I to instance only in the Contexture of the Hand 't were enough to shew the Existence of a God How useful is this outward Member to defend the Senses and to preserve the very Life of Man it being employ'd about all Works and exercising all Arts that serve for our Necessities and Convenience and even for our Humour and Curiosity Galen and others have particularly observed the artificial Fabrication of the Hand and the wonderful fitness of all Things in it for their several Uses the fit Proportion and Disposition of it to lay hold on any Objects whether great or small the sit Division and Number of the Fingers the sit Magnitude Quantity Variety and the Figure of the Bones the fit Numbers and Filletings of the Joynts the fitness of the Muscles Tendons and Nerves for the moving and turning of the
stretch or shrink so does the whole Heart open or shut and so does that Vehicle of Life the Blood run Without these Fibres or Heart-strings 't were impossible for the Punctum Sanguineum or that first Rudiment of an Animal like to a drop of Blood to vibrate or move or exert its Faculty much less to fashion an Auricle which is a Fibrous Part also that opens and shuts to let in and force out the Blood as the Heart it self does which immediately receives the Blood from it And now to argue hence a little What do these artificial beginnings of Nature shew but the wonderful Wisdom Skill and Power of a Divine Mind and consequently the Existence of a God that does order all the least Tendencies to Life after such an exact exquisite and stupendious manner For though in all this Nature be the immediate Agent yet that is of it self a blind unthinking inartificial Thing Though it be an active vivisick formative Principle whatever the Substance of it be whether material or not yet it is without all Consciousness all Sagacity all Forecast and Knowledge and therefore cannot be supposed to contrive or project or to act by any Wisdom of its own And yet so wise are those Contrivances which are the Origen of every Animal's Life so admirably Designed so sitly and appositely Formed in order to their Ends that the whole Fabrication shews it to come from the Counsel Will and Direction of a most intelligent Being in whose Hand Nature is and under whom it Operates It requires no little Art to dissect an Heart after a proper manner to expose these Rudiments of Life to your view to shew you their Dependencies upon Tendons their Figures Positions and Intertextures and after all this Curiosity to delineate them upon Paper and to give you with a Pen a little Resemblance and Idea of them this is enough to exercise and shew the Skill of the wisest Artist upon Earth And then How great must the Wisdom and Skill of that intelligent Agent be who so admirably contrived the Original Formation and Structure of them 2. As to subsequent Operations of Nature for the perfecting of the Heart with all its Parts and meer Appendages we are told that by the first Pulsations of the springing Heart the Parts of an Animal being now laid out and formed gradually that prime Vessel of Life increaseth and comes to discharge its Office to the full being now well furnished with all Necessaries for it so that as one Ear receives the Blood out of a great Vein and then by its Constriction sends it out into the Right-Bosom of the Heart so that Heart by its own Constriction forceth it thence into the Lungs whence it is agitated round into the Left and so transmitted into the other Bosom thence to cast by a new constriction into an Artery they call the Aorta which like a great Pipe laid into a Fountain conveys it into many others by which means every Particle over the whole Body is fed irrigated and refreshed All which wonderful Works of Nature are perfomed immediately by the Fibres those Instruments of Motion I spake of before which the Heart being now grown corpulent act with violence and are strong and visible some lying in direct Lines from the tip of the Heart to the Crown others cross wise in the form of a Circle others in Oblique or winding Lines All meeting within the tip as in a knot or center and fastned above to round Tendons like Strings tied to an Hoop So that the Heart being full of Blood as the tip makes its efforts upwards so all the Fibres conspire from every Part by a joynt Compressure to throw the Blood out and then dilate themselves again for the Reception of a new Supplement and by this alternate Motion of these Fibres every Minute is the Life of Man preserved I cannot well omit one very material Observation more concerning these artificial Contrivances which argue the Existence of a most wise Being the Author and Director of Nature and it is this That in all the innumerable Canals of Blood which transmit it to and from the Heart there are as indeed in the several Conveyances of the Chyle muscular Membranes or Valves provided I cannot compare them better than to Sluce-doors which open always before the Current to let it pass forward but upon occasion shut to hinder it from returning the same way And this is especially observable in those Vessels which are in and about the Heart where the Constrictions and Pulsations being so violent would cause the vital Stream to slow back did not the shutting of these Valves prevent it before every Pulsation Hence it is that the Blood is forced onwards and is circulating every Moment these Sluce-doors stopping all Reflux and a Flood behind them still pressing on till the Heart by its Constrictions evacuates it self and drives the Current forward still somewhat like an Engine in Water works which together with the other remarkable effects of Nature shews that every the least Part within us is most wisely sitted for its proper Use and that the whole Structure is so congruously ordered that nothing is vain impertinent or superfluous nothing that can be spared without disturbance damage and danger to the Fabrick and consequently that there is nothing but what is an Evidence of Counsel Foresight and astonishing Skill in a superior Agent framing and directing Nature after a most excellent manner that is a Deity I have taken the Liberty to venture upon these Anatomical Speculations though some may think them a little too much out of my way partly to raise in Peoples Minds the greater Sense of God by the stupendious Operations of his Hands which they carry about with them and which they find at home in their own Bodies partly to excite them to all Acts of Praise and Thankfulness for such Miracles of God's Providence and partly to move them to all Sobricty and Regularity of Life Intemperance and Debaucheries are quite distant from the Ends of our Formation and utterly inconsistent with the Reasons of it nay destructive of them And therefore People should be very careful not to abuse so excellent a piece of Workmanship on which such Elegance of Art and Care has been bestowed especially considering how weak the Stamina Vitoe all the Threads are on which our Lives depend how frail as well as curious the whole Web of Nature is and how soon we may be forced away to the Divine Tribunal should but a few Fibres break But to evade the force of this whole Argument for the Existence of a God lewd Scepticks are ready to tell us from that old Epicurean and Atheist Lucretius That though many good Uses of things have been sound out and the things are sitly apply'd to those uses yet these uses were never design'd but fell out casually and consequently are no proof of an understanding intending Cause or a Deity And to this purpose a learned Writer gives