the right Ventricle of the heart where the blood is hottest and most boiling not onely because the Liver which is the Source of blood is neerer unto it not onely because the veins of all the right parts are more full according to Hippocrates but also because it is placed on the Right side where Motion ought alwayes to begin For as the Spirits are the principal Organs of all the Actions of the body and that Nature send them more abundantly where they ought to be strongest and most painfull we need not doubt but motion being to begin on the right side and all those preparatives which are necessary for it and the principal effect it requires being to be done in that place there must needs be a greater quantity of spirits flowing thither which heat and fortifie it by the heat it carrieth along with it and by those secret influences of those principles of life which she communicates unto it whence it comes that the parts themselves which serve nothing at all to motion and are on that side resent that force and that vigor which was destined for that onely action for the right eye is stronger and more exact then the left and the rectitude of the sight which is made by both together depends absolutely from it all those Organs which serve for generation and are on that side form males and those on the left females and speaking generally sickness most commonly assaults the left parts as those which have least heat and consequently are weakest Article V. NOw that Motion naturally begins on the right side is a truth which connot be contested if we consider what is done in all Animals for the four-footed begin to go with the right foot forwards others which have but two alwayes lift up the right first a man can better bear a burthen on his left then on the right shoulder because the principle of motion must be free and undisturbed And Painters never forget in the posture they place their Figures in to make them keep their left foot foremost as commonly we do when we stand upright forasmuch as it is that posture which brings the body to a condition to move when it would march There are even Creature to be found who by reason of their figure could not have those differences of Right and Left as Purple-shel fish and all the rest whose shels are in form of a Snails yet are they not deprived of Right because when they ought to move they must necessarily have the principle of motion All these truths being thus therefore established to wit that there are places and parts in the body which are more and less noble that the most noble are destined there to place the most excellent parts that the excellency of the parts is deduced from the profit they afford and that consequently the hands who for several services which they render are placed on high as in the most noble place ought to be more excellent then the Feet It remains now that we should shew that they receive a most considerable assistance from the principles of life and that all the noble parts communicate unto them some greater vertue then to any other whatsoever Article VI. TO which purpose we must first observe that Nature hath more care of those parts which are the most excellent that she commonly forms them first and that she useth more art in making them and more foresight in preserving them then she doth in the rest This appears in the order she keeps at their first conformation For after the Heart and the Brain which she first rudely forms the eyes which without doubt are the most delicate and the most noble Organs appear before all the rest of the parts even before there is any sign of the Liver Spleen or Reins The Mouth in all Creatures is also one of the first formed after the eyes the Organs of the progressive Motion are afterwards seen and then we observe the Liver the Spleen and the rest of the bowels as the last and most exact observations on Anatomy witness Besides we see that the higher parts are sooner finished and that in Children they are greater and stronger then the lower whence it is that they have all the same proportion which is in the stature of Dwarfs and that they cannot go by reason their legs are too short and too weak Now its certain that all the care which Nature takes either in forming them first or in advancing their perfection depends from the natural heat which she communicates in greater abundance for it is the general instrument of all her actions and the true subject wherein all her faculties recide So that if there are parts which are first formed it must needs be that the first portion of this heat which is alwayes most pure and of most efficacy in its Scource must have been dispenced unto them and if they perfect themselves before the rest it must be by a particular application of this quality which acts therein more strongly then in any other part and which for that cause is continually supplyed by the influence of the Spirits which augment and fortifie it whence it follows that the hands which are formed before so many parts and which are sooner found perfect and compleat then the feet have also had a more advantageous share of natural heat and a more ample distribution of the Spirits then they have had Article VII BUt if we will consider these parts in a more perfect condition and in a time when they are able to perform the principal functions which they are destined unto its certain that the Heart the Liver and the Brain do communicate them some greater vertue then they do to the rest of the parts for besides the actions of a natural and sensitive life which they have in common with them progressive motion is particularly reserved unto them So that to perform this action wherein is more pains and whereto more strength is required they need have a greater help and a stronger influence from those principal Members then is necessary for the rest of the actions of life So they must have more blood more heat and more spirits more blood to render their consistence more firm more natural heat to inspire more strength in them and more animal spirits to give them beyond Sence the motive faculty for without those conditions those Organs were useless and no motions could be made In a word since the instruments are no instruments but by the vertue which they draw from the cause which imploys them it must needs be that those parts which are instruments of motion must receive also from the principles of motion that vertue which make them act consequently they must have this vertue more then the rest they have more spirits to afford in them they have therefore also more communication with those noble parts which are the Sources of the spirits and of this vertue This reason is indeed common
are born by day But the advantages which the Hands have above the Feet clearly show that the inspection of these is altogether useless and that there is to be seen in the Hands all what can be expected from this kinde of knowledge Moreover the right Hand being more noble then the left in what sense soever it be and at what time soever we are born ought to be more considered then this principally for what concerns the Heart the Liver and the Brain which have most communication with it but the left carries it beyond the other in respect of the Spleen and the other parts which are on the same side by reason of that power which rectitude hath in those encounters Finally what we have said of the length breadth and depth affords causes for that diversity which is to be found in the lines for those which are simple shew that the vertue is weak the length being the first essay it makes those which are crossed witness that its stronger being extended in breadth and that it hath performed its last endeavour in those which are deep But I am not awares that I insensibly enter into the particularities of those things which I intended to avoid I fear even least I have too much explicated my self on the generals and lest I should make some beleeve by the certainty I which find in them that I give the same credit to particulars yet am I very far from that thought I do indeed lay the foundation of a Science which seems to me sufficiently solid but I do not finde materials to finish the building for the greatest part of these Rules and Preceps whereof the structure is to be made are not well established the experiences which maintain them are not sufficiently verified and we had need of a new provision of observations which ought to be made with all necessary exactness and certainty to give it such a form and solidity as Art and Science require But whence should this be expected since that those who could do it would not employ themselves therein and when should we hope for it since there is so much to be done and so much difficulty in the well doing thereof Yet were there any who would employ themselves therein and who might not despair but that they were able sufficiently to provide for the expence of so great an edifice they will in my opinion be obliged to you for having engaged me in maintaining their work and designing for them the foundation which they were to build upon and even I dare tell you you are also obliged to me For if you consider my employments and my ordinary studies you may easily perceive how far I have swerved from them to follow your inclinations and that I could not render you a more assured proof of the friendship I have for you then by exposing my self to censure to satisfie your curiosity I ought not apprehend yours because I know it will be favourable towards me but I fear that of the Publick from whom we must never expect favour and whose judgements are always most severe and sometimes unjust make me not therefore appear before that rude Tribunal unless you are very well assured that I shall avoid the punishment of timorous writers and hazard not without a great precaution that little esteem which good fortune hath acquired for me and for the preservation whereof in my opinion you ought to interest your self since you know that I am SIR Your most humble and most affectionate Servant LA. CHAMBRE From Paris this first of January 1653. FINIS
and determinate by the vertues and operations of the Soul And thus much concerning the kindes of situation compared amongst themselves But he that should consider the terms and differences of which they are all composed will alwayes finde that there is one which is more noble then the rest because it s the Principle and the Principle is more excellent then what depends on it for the Upper is principle of the Lower the Right of the Left as the Fore is of the Hinder-part In effect the beginning is a kinde of principle and the beginnings of the three principal operations of the Soul are made in these three different situations for Nutrition begins from Above Motion from the Right and Sense from before And of a truth the Mouth which is the first door of those aliments whence they are afterwards distributed through the whole body is the Upper-part of all creatures as the Root is that of Plants whence it is that the Latin Tongue calls those Roots which are deep high And it hath been said that Man was a Tree reversed not because his hairs are upmost which have some resemblance with Moss and 〈◊〉 downwards But because that his Mouth is directly opposite to that of Trees for it is without doubt that the Root is the Mouth of Plants since they thereby take their nourishment and that from thence it s carried to all its other parts Sence also begins Before for besides the Sence of touching whose right it is to be dispersed over all the parts of an Animal all the rest of the Sences are placed Before because the Sences are to conduct and regulate Motion which is ever made forward and which commenceth on the right side as we shall shew hereafter whence it follows the Upper Right and Fore-side are the Principles of the rest and consequently more noble then they Article II. NOw Nature alwayes holds this Maxime that it placeth the most excellent things in those places which are most noble as may be seen in that order wherein she hath disposed all the principal parts of the Universe therefore it must needs be that in Man who is the Epitomy and Abridgement of the World the parts must also have a rank conformable to their dignity And we may say not onely that the most excellent have the most noble situation but also that those which have the most noble situation are the most excellent For from thence it follows that the Hands which are the highest are more excellent then the Feet which are the lowest and that Hand which is on the right side then that on the left But as the excellency of the parts is drawn from the profit which they afford the Creature we must enquire according to the Design which we have undertaken to what use the hands are wherein they are of more use then the Feet and what use there is made of the right more then of left Article III. FIrst its certain that all Creatures which are composed of blood and which for that reason are called perfect have been provided with some organs to remove themselves from place to place which answer those four first differences of situation which we observed to wit upwards and downwards to the right and left For these were no instruments which answer the two latter to wit Before and Behinde there being no beast which naturally moves backward and the rest of the Organs are sufficient to satisfie that motion which is made forwards as experience witnesseth This truth appears in all kinds of perfect Animals since most part of those which are Terrestial are four-footed Birds have two with two wings Fishes have four to smim withal and Serpents make four several plights as they crawle And all these parts are so necessary unto them for that progressive motion which is natural unto them that if they wanted any one of them they could not perform it without pain for Birds cannot well flye when their legs are broken nor Fishes smim when they have lost a fin nor Serpents creep if you cut off those parts of their bodies which make the last plights of their motions Whence we must conclude that the Hands which are in the rank of those four instruments which are destined for progressive motion serve to that of Man and were he deprived of them he could never perform this motion with so much facility Indeed a Man cannot run without a great deal of trouble when his Hands are tied we shut and clinch our fists when we would jump and in our ordinary walk the arm alwayes retires back when the foot of the same side advanceth whereto may be added that in Infancy they serve the feet that when we fall we cannot rise up our selves without them or if we must rise or defend difficult places they are no less usefull then our feet which are evident signs that these parts contribute to the progressive motion of Man But as Nature is a great House-wife of those things which she makes and that she gets all the services she can from them she contents her self not with this employment which she gives the Hands she hath also destined them to so many other purposes that it s almost impossible to reckon or remark them so that we have been constrained to bring them in parallel with the understanding and to say that as that was the form of forms having them all in its power the Hands also were the instrument of instruments having alone the vertues of all the rest for it s by them that man takes and keeps those things which are necessary and pleasant it s by them that he defends himself and overcomes those which are hurtfull or mischievous To conclude they are the principle workers of all Arts and the general instruments which the minde useth to bring forth its fashion and most profitable inventions and without doubt they give Man so great an advantage above all other Creatures that if we cannot say as that ancient Philosopher did that he is wise because he hath hands yet may we assure it that he appears wise because he hath hands And now we need not wonder that they have been placed in the highest place as being the most honorable place and that Nature hath brought them as neer as she could to the seat of Reason and of the Sences with which they have so much commerce and so great a tye Article IV. BUt although she hath placed them in the same rank in that respect yet are they not therefore of the same consideration She treats the Right as the elder and the first in dignity For if the most active are the most excellent and most considerable things the Right Hand being stronger and more agile then the Left must also be more excellent Now it hath more strength and agility because it hath more heat which is the Source of those qualities and it hath more heat Aristotle 3. de part not onely because it is of the same side with