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
them and to them Here then this great Queen resides as in her Palace and these pure refined Particles are her immediate Instruments in all her Functions and particularly they are the Means of Sense and Motion Wherefore we may infer as an ingenious Observer doth That the Fabrick of our Bodies was made in Subserviency to the Animal Spirits for the Extraction Separation and Depuration of which all the Parts of the Body were contrived and designed As the Chymical Laboratory and all its Furnaces Crucibles Stills Retorts Cucurbits c. were made by the Artist for the making of his Spirits and Quintessences And this is as much as if he had said All was made for the Soul for this acts wholly by these Spirits and can do nothing without them And 't is likely that there is a secret Parcel of these which are the Soul's Vehicle and whilst the other Spirits as well as the Blood circulate in the Body a certain Number of these remain in the Brain Or if they shift Place and circle with the rest the Soul supplies it self with fresh Spirits However this is evident and unquestionable that the Soul acts in the Body by Mediation of these Animal Spirits which are dispatched over all the Body by the Nerves And though we feel Pain or Ease in the most extreme Parts of our Bodies yet the Sensation is in the Brain properly Therefore Dr. Willis ranks the Gout which infests the Feet among the Diseases of the Head because the Pain is felt by the Nerves which are seated in the Head And upon this Ground we may most philosophically assert that in the Brain are situated all the five Senses and that all the Senses are feeling or touching because they are all exerted by Help of the Nerves which are originally seated in the Brain By the Spirits which are communicated to these the Soul affects the Body i. e. moves it and makes it sensible When these are dissipated and diminished the Body becomes languid and weary When they are intercepted it is stupid and senseless When they are wholly stifled it becomes dead And all this depends upon what had been said before concerning the Communication which is between the Heart and the Brain that is the former sends Arterial Blood to make these Spirits in the latter and this latter returns this Kindness to the former by transmitting those Spirits to it whereby it is enabled to thrust the Blood contained in it into the Arteries and so it doth it self a Kindness at the same time The serious Consideration of this Friendly Reciprocation of Motion between these two cannot be enough admired and the Contemplation of this and all the rest which hath been said on this Subject cannot but infuse into us a firm Belief of a God-head who hath thus wonderfully constituted the Body and hath rendred himself adorable from the Consideration of those many Excellencies which he hath furnished it with CHAP. V. The several Kinds of Flesh and how exactly fitted and placed in the Body according to their several ses and Purposes Why the hinder Part of the Cranium is so strong and thick The admirable Conformation and Contrivance of the Vertebrae of the Neck and Back The particular Structure of the Hip-Bones The Nature and Vse of the Ribs How smiting under the fifth Rib 2 Sam. 2.23 is to be understood The peculiar Configuration of the Bones of the Hands The general Vse of the Bones together with the Marrow of the whole Body They are numerous The Nature and Serviceableness of the Gristles A distinct Enumeration of the several Sinks and Dreins which are made to carry off excrementitious Humours What is the immediate Matter of the Seed What of the Milk The Author interposes his Opinion The Lymphatick Vessels The Pores of the Skin THere are some other things worth our notice which because they were not properly reducible to any one Region or Venter some of them belonging partly to one and partly to another and some appertaining to all I have left them to be spoken of in this Place I will therefore add a few Remarks concerning the Flesh and the Bones and the several Drains of the Body all which we shall find to be undeniable Testimonies of the singular Care and Goodness of God in framing our Bodies First It is not unworthy of Consideration that there is a fourfold Sort of Flesh. 1. That which is Musculous and is most properly Flesh. This being solid and nervous is made use of to cloth the Bones and to guard and secure the internal Parts This is a Fence to keep them from being exposed to Danger And being flexible and soft is further serviceable to shape the Limbs and Members and give them a Proportion and Comeliness It was given to plump and fill up the Skin and thereby to adorn and beautifie the Body And especially to prevent or cure the Disorders of a Meager Countenance an Hippocratick Face And it is not only for Ornament but Ease and Repose This is a soft Bed of it self and makes Discumbiture a delightful Posture and conciliates Rest and Sleep And in the Day-time as well as in the Night it is commodious and easie because it facilitates our Sitting Where by the way I could observe that the hinder Parts of Man's Body which are for sitting are covered with this Sort of Flesh more than any other Part of the Body and more than the like Parts are in any other Animals whatsover Which was designedly done without doubt because these Parts are fitted for the Posture of sitting which no other Creatures are capable of in that way It is Man only that sitteth i. e. resteth his Body upon the Ischias Beasts having four Legs can stand upon them the better and so support their Bodies a long time without being wearied But Man wanting these Supporters requires Rest and these Parts are excellently fitted for this end i. e. they are round fleshy and very prominent that they may be the fitter Cushion for the Body The God of Nature hath herein provided for our Ease 2. There is another sort of Flesh called Parenchyma Though 't is but improperly said to be Flesh because it hath no Muscles Yet this Viscerose sort of Flesh is most suitable which is the thing I would observe to those Vessels and Parts of the Body which are composed of it as the Lungs the Liver Spleen Reins It is a Substance proper to these and no other Parts by reason of its Laxness 3. A Membranous Flesh or fleshy Skin which is as agreeable to its Kind as the rest are it being adapted to a particular Use and Service in the Body which no other sort of fleshy Substance could fit because being clammy and glutinous and sticking close it is a suitable Covering to wrap up other Parts of the Body in Of this therefore are composed the Coats of the Eye the Gullet the Guts the Bladder the Pleura or inward Lining of the Ribs the
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
Organ of Sight But these Liquors which are found here and which are as Glasses and Spectacles to the Brain in order to Seeing would be wholly useless to this purpose if their Transparency were not qualified and check'd if there were not something like the Foil in a Looking-glass to unite and retain the visive forms in the Eye This therefore is done by certain Membranes or Tunicles which more powerfully refract the Rays of Light and are serviceable for the farther shaping and retaining the images of things and besides they are serviceable to separate one Humour from another and to keep and preserve them in their proper places and particular Apartments so that these Liquid Substances are steady and fixed The first and outer most of all these Coats is that Common one which covers all the Eye unless it be where a perforation is left for the Ball or Pupil This is that Skin which makes the White of the Eye The second hath its name from its Hardness for as the Learned Dr. Willis observes this being one of the upper Coats of the Eye it was to be strong and as a Fence against Injuries And it is also called the Horny Tunicle because it is of the colour of a thin bright piece of Horn viz. in the fore-part of it but it is opacous behind Strictly speaking as another Learned Physician notes it is the foremost part of this Skin which hath the Epithet of Corneous and the hinder is properly the Sclerotick This Membrane enfolds the whole Eye as the other before mention'd doth only there is an Aperture reserv'd for the Pupil The third is that which is call'd by Anatomists the Grapy and also the Choroides or to be exact the Anterior part only is that which should be call'd Grapy It is generally black in Man and therefore hath its Name because it resembles the skin of a Black Grape when 't is press'd However the inward Superficies of this Membrane is black to determine and fix the Rays It encloses the Eye on all parts the Ball excepted where 't is full of Holes to let in the Light Out of this Coat are formed and produced the Pupil known by the name of the Ball or Black of the Eye and the Iris both which are very Remarkable Curiosities The former is a Round Hole in the middle and fore-part of this Vveous Membrane and it is so commodiously framed that it is capable of being contracted or dilated and consequently of being lesser or bigger as occasion is i. e. according to the difference of Objects or rather the difference of Light which the Eye receives into it when it beholds Objects In this Apple of the Eye for so also 't is most vulgarly call'd appears the Little Image of the person who looks upon it whence 't is call'd by the Hebrews Ishon Deut. xxxii 10 a Diminutive of Ish Virunculus because the Pourtraiture of a Little Man is seen here and with the Greeks it hath the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Puella for the like Reason because one of the other Sex may as well be seen in this Looking-glass Accordingly it is likewise in Hebrew call'd Bath gnajin the daughter of the Eye Psal. xvii 8 and among the Latins Pupilla i. e. Parva puella Though some Criticks think they give it this name because it is a part that is tender and delicate Whence in the fore-named place 't is said Keep me as the Apple of the Eye for this is a very choice part and must be preserved and guarded with great Care and Circumspection And behold yet farther the wonderful Contrivance of that Omniscient Mind who framed this excellent part In this sable and dark Spot of the Eye is the Sight placed whence 't is call'd the Sight or here at least the Visive Faculty is first exerted though as you shall hear anon 't is perfected in the next Membrane This little Obscure Hole is the inlet to all our Light This indeed is worthy of the Great Creator who in the first Production of the World brought Light out of Darkness This I may call Nature's Window in the Body at which the Visive Rays enter and strike upon the Crystalline Humour and from thence are refracted to the bottom of the Eye where the Vision is consummated This Black Circle which I am now speaking of is environ'd with a Bright Iris or Rainbow so call'd because 't is of divers Colours though 't is true that in some Creatures it is black in some grey in others blue according as this Uveous Membrane is colour'd This distinct Part of the Eye is of a peculiar Make it consisting of certain Nervous Fibres which like small Hairs issue from the Pupil like Rayes from a light Body all in a Circle These as D. Willis rationally conjectures are instrumental in the Contraction or Dilatation of the Ball of the Eye and as he adds the main Vigour and Briskness of the Eye are seated here The fourth and last Membrane for though some Ophthalmists have talk'd of a Fifth viz. the Aranea yet our late Anatomists who have been more exact in their Enquiry assure us this is not to be found is the Retina so named because 't is fashioned like a Net Though there were some Preparations and Initiations of Sight in the Pupil yet this Part must be judged the chief Organ of it For here the Images of Objects are pourtraied and thence by the Optick Nerve represented to the Brain to be examined and judged of by the Soul All the other Coats as well as the Humours were but serviceable to this This is the Principal Seat as well as Instrument of actual and compleat Vision And the particular Situation and Make of it were designed for this very Purpose for this is the farthest and inmost Membrane and is nearest of all to the Optick Nerve and Brain Yea 't is made out of the innumerable Filaments of this very Nerve so that there is an immediate Commerce with the Brain Besides all Parts in the Eye are convex but the Retina which is concave and that purposely that it may be fitter to receive and retain the visive Rays or rather the Forms of them and then transmit them to the common Receptacle of Sense This is the curious Frame and Contexture of the Eye in respect of the several Humours and Tunicles with which it is furnished And who espies not the Deity through them It is granted that the Antients and Moderns agree not as to the particular solving the manner of Sight An ingenious Man who hath been curious in anatomizing the Eye confesses ingenuously that it is by unknown Ways that this Exactness of Sight is effected by these several Organs and Parts But they all agree to admire the excellent and wonderful Structure of the Eye They jointly acknowledge the Aptitude of the several Parts to reflect and refract the Rays and the Fitness of the Retina especially to receive the
of Needlework suppos'd to be fashion'd with diversity of Figures and variety of Colours and therefore is rendred by the Septuagint sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ◠and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the V. Latin Varietates and Vestes diversorum colorum So that this very fully sets forth the Wonderful and Various Formation of the Foetus this emphatically expresses that Diversity of Art which is observable in the different Members and Parts of it The Body is the Soul's Vest but it is of no ordinary Make and Contexture it is admirably wrought and shaped with divers Colours and in various Lineaments and Proportions Symmachus comes nearest to the Hebrew Word who renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 variegatus fui I was artificially wrought with Variety of curious Work Skin Flesh Bones Nerves Arteries c. And the Womb is here call'd the lowest parts of the Earth it being a modest Expression used by the Holy Ghost to denote those secret and remote Passages which are appropriated to Conception and Pregnation And 't is very proper too because the Earth was as it were the Womb out of which Man was taken at first and ever since among the Writers of all Ages the Earth is stiled a Mother In these lower parts of the Earth in these dark and hidden Recesses I was by the Divine Care and Wisdom curiously wrought saith the Psalmist Which he farther expresses in the next Verse Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect when I was but a mis-shapen Embrio and in thy book all my members were written Thou by thy infinite Wisdom hadst determin'd the particular Configuration of all my Parts even before they were completely finish'd which in continuance were fashion'd when as yet there were none of them i. e. they were by a continued gradual and successive Formation brought to this admirable Shape which at first they had nothing of Thus this Divine Philosopher and Prophet acknowledges that the Formation and Structure of his Body was a strange and amazing Work such as none but God could be the Author of and therefore if he should go no farther than his own Original and Primitive Fashioning in the Womb he had sufficient ground to own and revere the stupendous Wisdom of the Almighty Man's Body is a Curious Piece of Workmanship or in the Stile of this Divine Writer of matchless Tapestry of unimitable Embroidery of most ravishing Beauty and Elegancy the Contemplation of which alone is able to lead us to a Deity an infinitely Wise Being who gave it this exquisite Shape And this now I will particularly demonstrate to you beginning with the Highest and Noblest Region the Heaven of this Lesser World the Head for it was Aristotle's Notion that this answers to the Heavens in the Greater World This is the most sublime and exalted the most eminent and perspicuous part of this Humane Fabrick the chiefest of all in use and first in make for if we may argue from the Formation of a Chick to that of other Animals the Head and Eyes are according to the famous Dr. Harvey the first Rudiments that appear and have any Resemblance of the Parts of a living Body In this Noble Cavity is lodg'd a most Divine Treasure the Brain which because it is so choice a Viscus and of so great worth and use is safely enclos'd in a Pan or Skull This Tegument is call'd Gulgoleth by the Hebrews from Galgil Sphaera Rotunditas because of its round figure which is most convenient for defence The Brain is as it were the Kernel and this is the Shell that enwraps it whence the French Word Teste which signifies the Head or Skull is perhaps from the Latin Testa because this is as it were Cerebri Testa Cortex Putamen And it may be I do not conjecture amiss if I say Shell is the same with Skull only this is a Corruption of that That I may here display the Wisdom of the infinitely Wise Artist in the Contrivance of this Globose and Concave Covering of the Head this Habitation of the Brain or rather Nature's Helmet to defend it from all Injuries it is observable that it is at first somewhat Softish and Spungy that it might not by its Hardness be offensive to the Vterus in its passage but might rather on occasion yield to Compression And again it is remarkable that it is joyn'd together by Sutures which are requisite at first that the redundant Humidity of the Brain which is so copious in Infants may evaporate by those passages and afterwards it hardens by degrees and hath the firmness and solidity of other Bones but yet so as these Dented Fissures still remain and thereby the parts of the Cranium when there is occasion do more or less recede from one another Which is of great and singular advantage to it for first by this means the Cranium doth somewhat give way to Blows and Falls and by not resisting them is the safer Secondly It is for the more easie Emission and Dissipation of superfluous Vapours and vicious Humours through those Seams Thirdly Hereby this hard Covering is so qualified that it is not too close and pressing upon the Substance of the Brain Fourthly By reason of this it is that outward Medicaments applied to the Head become more effectual because the vertue of them is convey'd through these Chinks For these Reasons this Head-piece which was made to secure that Noble part was fastned together by these yielding Toothings And besides it was the Work of the infinitely Wise Framer to compose this Covering of several Bones this being for the Safety and Security of it for if it had been One Bone it would have been liable to be split and broken by a violent Stroke or Fall and the Brain thereby would have been the more injured whereas now the Fracture may happen to one Bone and proceed no farther because it is stopp'd by the neighbouring Suture which secures the next part Nor is the Brain compass'd and guarded only with this Strong Cap of Bone but under this it is cloathed with two Coats or Membranes one somewhat hard and thick to keep it from being touched and hurt by the Skull the other thinner and finer because it is the inmost Caul and next to the Brain Such is the Divine Care and Goodness in preserving and sheltering this First and Choicest part of Man with a Triple Vestment or as I may call it a Cap with a double Lining not to speak of the Proper Skin which encompasses the Cranium or of the Hair which defends that which are yet other Coverings This shews the Great Concernedness of Heaven for us and this acquaints us that the Brain is a very Noble Part and is of special and singular Use. Which is the next thing I am to treat of and thereby to discover farther the Divine Founder of this Humane Structure The Brain is the Seat of the Soul and the Source of