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the wire-gauze; and then the flame (being free) will set fire to the mine.

N.B. When the carburetted hydrogen gas takes fire from the miner's candle, the miner sometimes perishes in the blast of the flame, and sometimes suffers suffocation from the carbonic acid which is thus produced.

ANIMAL MECHANICS.-CONTRIVANCE GENERALLY EVIDENT IN ANIMAL STRUCTURES.1

To prepare us for perceiving design in the various internal structures of an animal body, we must first of all know that perfect security against accidents is not consistent with the scheme of nature. A liability to pain and injury only proves how entirely the human body is formed with reference to the mind; since, without the continued call to exertion, which danger and the uncertainty of life infer, the development of our faculties would be imperfect, and the mind would remain, as it were, uneducated.

The contrivances (as we should say of things of art) for protecting the vital organs are not absolute securities against accidents; but they afford protection in that exact measure or degree which is calculated to resist the shocks and pressure to which we are exposed in the common circumstances of life. A man can walk, run, leap, and swim, because the texture of his frame, the strength and power of his limbs, and the specific gravity of his body, are in relation with all around him. But, were the atmosphere lighter, the earth larger, or its attraction more—were he, in short, an inhabitant of another planet, there would be no correspondence between the strength, gravity, and muscular power of his body and the elements around him, and the balance in the chances of life would be destroyed.

Without such considerations, the reader would fall into the mistake, that weakness and liability to fracture imply imperfection in the frame of the body, whereas a deeper contemplation of the subject will convince him of the incomparable perfection both of the plan and of the execution. The body is intended to be subject to derangement and accident, and to become, in the course of life, more and more fragile, until,

1 From the Library of Useful Knowledge.

by some failure in the framework or vital actions, life terminates.

And this leads us to reflect on the best means of informing ourselves of the intention or design shown in this fabric. Can there be any better mode of raising our admiration than by comparing it with things of human invention? It must be allowed, that we shall not find a perfect analogy. If we compare it with the forms of architecture-the house or the bridge are not built for motion, but for solidity and firmness, on the principle of gravitation. The ship rests in equilibrium prepared for passive motion, and the contrivances of the shipbuilders are for resisting an external force; whilst in the animal body we perceive securities against the gravitation of the parts, provisions to withstand shocks and injuries from without, at the same time that the framework is also calculated to sustain an internal impulse from the muscular force which moves the bones as levers, or, like a hydraulic engine, propels the fluids through the body.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE SKULL.

It requires no disquisition to prove that the brain is the most essential organ of the animal system, and being so, we may presume that it must be especially protected. We are now to inquire how this main object is attained.

We must first understand that the brain may be hurt, not only by sharp bodies touching and entering it, but by a blow upon the head which shall vibrate through it, without the instrument piercing the skull. Indeed, a blow upon a man's head, by a body which shall cause a vibration through the substance of the brain, may more effectually deprive him of sense and motion, than if an axe or a sword penetrated into the substance of the brain itself.

Supposing that a man's ingenuity were to be exercised in contriving a protection to the brain, he must perceive that if the case were soft, it would be too easily pierced; that if it were of a glassy nature, it would be chipped and cracked; that if it were of a substance like metal, it would ring and vibrate, and communicate the concussion to the brain.

Further thoughts might suggest, that whilst the case should be made firm to resist a sharp point, the vibrations of that circular case might be prevented by lining it with a softer

material; no bell would vibrate with such an encumbrance; the sound would be stopped like the ringing of a glass by the touch of a finger.

If a soldier's head be covered with a steel cap, the blow of a sword which does not penetrate will yet bring him to the ground by the percussion which extends to the brain; therefore the helmet is lined with leather, and covered with hair; for, although the hair is made an ornament, it is an essential part of the protection: we may see it in the headpiece of the Roman soldier, where all useless ornament being despised as frivolous, was avoided as cumbrous.

We now perceive why the skull consists of two plates of bone, one external, which is fibrous and tough, and one internal, dense to such a degree that the anatomist calls it tabula vitrea, (the glassy table.)

Nobody can suppose this to be accidental. It has just been stated, that the brain may be injured in two ways: a stone or a hammer may break the skull, and the depressed part of the bone injure the brain; whilst, on the other hand, a mallet struck upon the head will, without penetrating, effectually deprive the brain of its functions, by causing a vibration which runs round the skull and extends to every portion of its contents.

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Were the skull, in its perfect or mature state, softer than it is, it would be like the skull of a child; were it harder than we find it is, it would be like that of an old man. other words, as in the former it would be too easily pierced, so in the latter, it would vibrate too sharply, and produce concussion. The skull of an infant is a single layer of elastic bone; on the approach to manhood it separates into two tables; and in old age it again becomes consolidated. During the active years of man's life the skull is perfect: it then consists of two layers, united by a softer substance; the inner layer is brittle as glass, and calculated to resist anything penetrating; the outer table is tough, to give consistence, and to stifle the vibration which would take place if the whole texture were uniform and like the inner table.

The alteration in the substance of the bones, and more particularly in the skull, is marvellously ordered to follow the changes in the mind of the creature, from the heedlessness of childhood to the caution of age, and even the helplessness of superannuation.

The skull is soft and yielding at birth; during childhood

it is elastic, and little liable to injury from concussion; and during youth, and up to the period of maturity, the parts which come in contact with the ground, are thicker, whilst the shock is dispersed towards the sutures, (the seams or joinings of the pieces,) which are still loose. But when, with advancing years, something tells us to give up feats of activity, and falls are less frequent, the bones lose that nature which would render concussion harmless, and at length the timidity of age teaches man that his structure is no longer adapted to active life.

MECHANISM OF THE SPINE.

The spinal column, as it is called, serves three purposes: it is the great bond of union betwixt all the parts of the skeleton; it forms a tube for the lodgement of the spinal marrow, a part of the nervous system as important to life as the brain itself; and lastly, it is a column to sustain the head.

We now see the importance of the spine, and we shall next explain how the various offices are provided for.

If the protection of the spinal marrow had been the only object of this structure, it is natural to infer that it would have been a strong and unyielding tube of bone; but, as it must yield to the inflexions of the body, it cannot be constituted in so strict an analogy with the skull. It must, therefore, bend; but it must have no abrupt or considerable bending at one part; for the spinal marrow within would in this way suffer.

By this consideration we perceive why there are twentyfour bones in the spine, each bending a little; each articulated or making a joint with its fellow; all yielding in a slight degree, and, consequently, permitting in the whole spine that flexibility necessary to the motions of the body. It is next to be observed that, whilst the spine by this provision moves in every direction, it gains a property which it belongs more to our present purpose to understand. The bones of the spine are called vertebræ; at each interstice between these bones, there is a peculiar gristly substance, which is squeezed out from betwixt the bones, and, therefore, permits them to approach and play a little in the motions of the body. This gristly substance is inclosed in an elastic binding,

or membrane of great strength, which passes from the edge or border of one vertebra, to the border of the one next it. When a weight is upon the body, the soft gristle is pressed out, and the membrane yields: the moment the weight is removed, the membranes recoil by their elasticity, the gristle is pressed into its place, and the bones resume their position.

We can readily understand how great the influence of these twenty-four joinings must be in giving elasticity to the whole. column; and how much this must tend to the protection of the brain. Were it not for this interposition of elastic material, every motion of the body would produce a jar to the delicate texture of the brain, and we should suffer almost as much in alighting on our feet, as in falling on our head. It is, as we have already remarked, necessary to interpose thin plates of lead or slate between the different pieces of a column to prevent the edges (technically called arrises) of the cylinders from coming in contact, as they would in that case chip or split off.

But there is another very curious provision for the protection of the brain: we mean the curved form of the spine. If a steel spring, perfectly straight, be pressed betwixt the hands from its extremities, it will resist, notwithstanding its elasticity, and when it does give way, it will be with a jerk.

Such would be the effect on the spine if it stood upright, one bone perpendicular to another; for then the weight would bear equally; the spine would yield neither to one side nor to the other; and, consequently, there would be a resistance from the pressure on all sides being balanced. We therefore see the great advantage resulting from the spine being in the form of an italic f. It is prepared to yield in the direction of its curves; the pressure is of necessity more upon one side of the column than on the other; and its elasticity is immediately in operation without a jerk. It yields, recoils, and so forms the most perfect spring; admirably calculated to carry the head without jar or injury of any kind.

The most unhappy illustration of all this is the condition of old age. The tables of the skull are then consolidated, and the spine is rigid: if an old man should fall with his head upon the carpet, the blow, which would be of no consequence to the elastic frame of a child, may to him prove fatal; and the rigidity of the spine makes every step which

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