Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-08-27
SUNDAY READING.
FROM THE CONsID RATION OF
THE PHYSICAL AND MORAL MAN.
PHYSICAL MAN.
NO. I.

NO. I.
PHYSICAL MAN.
Mechanism supposes intellect intellect
being. Of all the works of creation. man
is unanimously pronounced the greatest.
Hear what the orator Cicero says in de-
scription of the human body. with respect
to the senses, by which exterior objects are
conveyed to the knowledge of the soul,
their structure corresponds wonderfully
with their destination, and they have their
seat in the head, as in fortified town. The
eyes, like sentinels, occupy the most eleva-
ted place, whence, on discovering objects,
they may give the alarm. An eminent pO-
stion was suited to the ears, because they
are destined to receive sounds, which nat
urally ascend. The nostrils require q sim
liar situation, because Odors likewise
ascend, and it Was necessary that they
should be near the mouth, because they
greatly assist Us in Judging of our meat
and drink. Taste, by winch we are ap-
prised of the quality of the food we take,
resides in that part Of the month through
which nature gives passage to solids and
liquids. AS for the touch, it is generally
dif1used over the whole body, that we
might neither receive any impression, nor
ing it. And as an architect will not place
| the sewer of house before the eyes or
under the noses of his employer, so nature
/ l.
| a similar kind III the human body
| But what other artist than nature
whose dexterity is incomparrable could
have formed our senses with such exquisite
skill She has covered the eyes with
very delicate tuniCs, transparent before,
that we mi ht see through them, and close
| in their texture, to keep the eyes in their
proper situation. She has made them
smooth and movable, to enable them to
avoid everything By which they might be
injured, and to look with facility to what
ever side they please. The pupil, in
which is united all that constitutes the
! faculty of sight, is SO small that it escapes
without difficulty from every object capa-
BILE of doing it mischief The eyelids have
a soft and polished surface, that they may
not hurt the eyes. Whether the fear of
some accident obliges us to shut them, Or
Il
formed in such a manner as to adapt
| themselves to either of these motions,
which are performed in an instant they
are, if We may 80 express it, fortified with
palisades of hair, which serve to repcl
whatever may attack the eyes when they
are open, and to envelope them that they
may repose in peace when sleep closes and
renders them useless to us. Our eyes
possess the additional advantage of being
concealed and defended by eminences
for, On the one hand, to stop the sweat
that trickles down from the head and fore
head. they have projecting eyebrows and
on the other, to preserve them from below,
they have cheeks which likewise advance
i little. The nose is placed between both
like wall Of partition.
with respect to the ear, it remains
| continually open, because we have occa-
sion for It's services. even when asleep
If any sound then strikes it, we are awaked.
1t has winding channels, lest, if they were
straight and level, some object might find
its way into them X And then
our hands, Show convenient are they, and
how useful in the arts The fingers ale
extended or contracted without the least
difficulty, SO extremely flexible are their
joints. With their assistance the hand
uses the pencil and the chiseI, and play on
the Tyre and the lutte; SO much for the
agreeable. AS to what is necessary, they
cultivate the earth, build houses, make
clothes, and work in copper and iron. The
imagination invents, the senses examine
the hand executes; 80 that if we are lodged.
clothed and sheltered-if we have cities
walls, habitations, temples-it is to our
hands that we are indebted for all these
1t must be allowed that matter alone
could no more have fashioned the human
body for so many admirable purposes than
this beautiful discourse of the Roman ora
tor could have beer composed by a writer
destitute of eloquence and of skill
Various authors, and Nieuwentyt in par
ticular, have proved that the bounds with
In which our senses are confined are the
very limits that are best adapted to them,
and that we should be exposed to great
number of Inconvenience and dangers
we're the senses in any degree enlarged.
Galen, struck with admiration in the midst
OF an anatomical analysis of a human
body, suddenly drops the scalpel and ex-
claims
ooh, Thou who hast made us in COM
posing discourse SO sacred, think that
l am chanting o hymn to thy glory Il
honor thee more by unfolding the beauty
Of thy works than by sacrificing to the
whole hecatombs of bulls or by burning
in thy temples the most precious incense.
True piety consists in first learning to
know myself, and then in teaching others
the greatness of thy bounty, thy power,
and thy wisdom. Thy bounty is conspicu-
Gus in the equal distribution of thy pres
ents, having allotted to each man the
organs which are necessary for him. Thy
wisdom is seen in the excellence of thy
gifts, and thy power is displayed in the
execution of thy designs.
Horses in Calcutta are wearing turbans
as a protection from the sun. They are
said to be very unsirhtly but very use-