Chapter XV: Part 2: and Dr. ~Cockburn~’s Essays on Faith, Part 1. Essay 5

[b] _Ad hanc providentiam Naturæ tam diligentera ~[of which he had been before speaking]~ tamque solertem adjungi multa possunt, è quibus intelligatur, quantæ res hominibus à Deo, quamque eximiæ tributæ sunt: qui primùm eos humo excitaros, celsos & erectos constituit, ut Deorum cognitionem, cœlum intuentes, capere possunt. Sunt enim è terra homines non ut incolæ, atque habitatores, sed quasi spectatores superarum rerum, atque cœlestium, quarum spectaculum ad nullum aliud genus animantium pertinet._ Cic. de Nat. Deor. L. 2. c. 56.

[c] _Ut autem sapientissimum animalium est Homo, sic & Manus sunt organa sapienti animali convenientia. Non enim quia Manus habuit, propterea est sapientissimum, ut Anaxagoras dicebat; sed quia sapientissimum erat, propter hoc Manus habuit, ut rectissimè censuit Aristoteles. Non enim Manus ipse hominem artes docuerunt, sed Ratio. Manus autem ipsa sunt artium organa, ~&c.~_ Galen. de Us. Part. L. 1. c. 3. After which, in the rest of this first Book, and part of the second, he considers the Particulars of the _Hand_, in order to enquire, as he saith, ch. 5. _Num eam omnino Constitutionem habeas ~[manus]~ quâ meliorem aliam habere non potuit._

Of this Part, (and indeed of the other Parts of human Bodies) he gives so good an Account, that I confess I could not but admire the Skill of that ingenious and famed Heathen. For an Example, (because it is a little out of the Way,) I shall pitch upon his Account of the different Length of the Fingers, _L. 1. 2. 24._ The Reason of this Mechanism, he saith, is, That the Tops of the Fingers may come to an Equality, _cùm magnas aliquas moles in circuitu comprehendunt, & cùm in seipsis humidum vel parvum corpus continere conantur.——Apparent verò in unam circuli circumferentiam convenire Digiti quinque in actionibus hujusmodi maximè quando exquisitè sphæricum corpus comprehendunt._ And this Evenness of the Fingers Ends, in grasping sphærical, and other round Bodies, he truly enough saith, makes the Hold the firmer. And it seems a noble and pious Design he had in so strictly surveying the Parts of Man’s Body, which take in his own translated Words, _Cùm multa namque esset apud veteres, tam Medicos, quàm Philosophos de utilitate particularum dissensio (quidam enim corpora nostra nullius gratiâ esse facta existimant, nullâque omnino arte; alii autem & alicujus gratiâ, & artificiosè,——) primum quidem tantæ hujus dissensionis κριτήριον invenire studui: deinde verò & unam aliquam universalem methodum constituere, quâ singularum partium corporis, & eorum quæ illis accidunt utilitatem invenire possemus._ Ibid. cap. 8.

[d]

_Pronaque cum spectant animalia cætera terram,_
_Os Homini sublime dedit, cœlumque tueri_
_Jussit, & erectos ad sidera tollere vultus._

Ovid. Metam. L. 1. car. 84.

[e] If any should be so curious, to desire to know how far a Man’s Prospect reacheth, by Means of the Height of his Eye, supposing the Earth was an uninterrupted Globe; the Method is a common Case of right-angled plain Triangles, where two Sides, and an opposite Angle are given: Thus in Fig. 4. _A H B_ is the Surface, or a great Circle of the terraqueous Globe; _C_ the Center, _H C_ its Semidiameter, _E_ the _Height_ of the Eye; and foreasmuch as _H E_ is a Tangent, therefore the Angle at _H_ is a right Angle: So that there are given _H C_ 398,386 Miles, or 21034781 _English_ Feet, (according to _Book II. Chap. 2. Note (a)_;) _C E_ the same Length with the Height of the Eye, on the Mast of a Ship, or at only a Man’s Height, _&c._ added to it; and _E H C_ the opposite right Angle. By which three Parts given, it is easy to find all the other Parts of the Triangle. And first, the Angle at _C_, in order to find the Side _H E_, the Proportion is, As the Side _C E_, to the Angle at _H_; so the Side _H C_, to the Angle at _E_, which being substracted out of 90 _gr._ the Remainder is the Angle at _C_. And then, As the Angle at _E_, is to its opposite Side _H C_, or else as the Angle at _H_ is to its opposite Side _C E_; so the Angle at _C_, to its opposite Side _E H_, the visible Horizon. Or the Labour may be shortned, by adding together the Logarithm of the Sum of the two given Sides, and the Logarithm of their Difference; the half of which two Logarithms, is the Logarithm of the Side requir’d, nearly. For an Example, We will take the two Sides in Yards, by Reason scarce any Table of Logarithms will serve us farther. The Semidiameter of the Earth is 7011594 Yards; the Height of the Eye is two Yards more, the Sum of both Sides, is 14023190.

Logar. of which Sum is, 7,1468468
Logar. of two Yards (the Differ.) is, 0,3010300
---------
Sum of both Logar. 7,4478768
---------
The half Sum, 3,7239384

is the Logar. of 5296 Yards = three Miles, which is the Length of the Line _E H_, or Distance the Eye can reach at six Feet Height.

This would be the Distance, on a perfect Globe, did the visual Rays come to the Eye in a strait Line; but by Means of the Refractions of the Atmosphere, distant Objects on the Horizon, appear higher than really they are, and may be seen at a greater Distance, especially on the Sea; which is a Matter of great Use, especially to discover at Sea the Land, Rocks, _&c._ and it is a great Act of the divine Providence, in the Contrivance and Convenience of the Atmosphere, which by this Means enlargeth the visible Horizon, and is all one, as if the terraqueous Globe was much larger than really it is. As to the Height of the Apparent above the true Level, or how much distant Objects are rais’d by the Refractions, the ingenious and accurate Gentlemen of the _French Academy Royal_, have given us a Table in their _Measure of the Earth_, Art. 12.

[f] See _Book VI. Chap. 5. Note (g)._

[g] See _Book IV. Chap. 8. Note (c)._

[h] The Mechanism of the Foot, would appear to be wonderful, if I should descend to a Description of all its Parts; but that would be too long for these Notes; therefore a brief Account, (most of which I owe to the before-commended Mr. _Cheselden_,) may serve for a Sample: In the first Place, It is necessary the Foot should be concave, to enable us to stand firm, and that the Nerves and Blood-Vessels may be free from Compression when we stand or walk. In order hereunto, the long _Flexors_ of the Toes cross one another at the Bottom of the Foot, in the Form of a St. _Andrew_’s Cross, to incline the lesser Toes towards the great One, and the great One towards the lesser. The _short Flexors_ are chiefly concern’d in drawing the Toes towards the Heel. The _transversalis Pedis_ draws the Outsides of the Foot towards each other; and by being inserted into one of the _sesamoid_ Bones, of the great Toe, diverts the Power of the _abductor Muscle_, (falsly so call’d,) and makes it become a _Flexor_. And lastly, the _peronæus Longus_ runs round the outer Ankle, and obliquely forwards cross the Bottom of the Foot, and at once helps to extend the _Tarsus_, to constrict the Foot, and to direct the Power of the other _Extensors_ towards the Ball of the great Toe: Hence the Loss of the _great Toe_, is more than of all the other Toes. See also Mr. _Cowper_’s _Anat._ Tab. 28. _&c._

[i] It is very well worth while to compare here what _Borelli_ saith, _de motu Animal._ Par. 1. cap. 18. _De statione Animal._ Prop. 132, _&c._ To which I refer the Reader, it being too long to recite here.

[k] Borel. ibid. Prop. 142.

CHAP. III.

_Of the FIGURE and SHAPE of Man’s BODY._

The Figure and Shape of Man’s Body, is the most commodious that could possibly be invented for such an Animal; the most agreeable to his Motion, to his Labours, and all his Occasions. For had he been a rational Reptile, he could not have moved from Place to Place fast enough for his Business, nor indeed have done any almost. Had he been a rational Quadrupede, among other Things, he had lost the Benefit of his Hands, those noble Instruments of the most useful Performances of the Body. Had he been made a Bird, besides many other great Incoveniencies, those before-mentioned of his Flying would have been some. In a word, any other Shape of Body, but that which the All-wise Creator hath given Man, would have been as incommodious, as any Posture but that of erect; it would have rendered him more helpless, or have put it in his Power to have been more pernicious, or deprived him of Ten thousand Benefits, or Pleasures, or Conveniences, which his present Figure capacitates him for.

CHAP. IV.

_Of the STATURE and SIZE of Man’s BODY._

As in the Figure, so in the Stature and Size of Man’s Body, we have another manifest Indication of excellent Design. Not too Pygmean[a], nor too Gigantick[b], either of which Sizes would in some particular or other, have been incommodious to Himself, or to his Business, or to the rest of his Fellow-Creatures. Too Pygmean would have rendered him too puny a Lord of the Creation; too impotent and unfit to manage the inferiour Creatures, would have exposed him to the Assaults of the weakest Animals, to the ravening Appetite of voracious Birds, and have put him in the Way, and endangered his being trodden in the Dirt by the larger Animals. He would have been also too weak for his Business, unable to carry Burdens, and in a word, to transact the greater part of his Labours and Concerns.

And on the other hand, had Man’s Body been made too monstrously strong, too enormously Gigantick[c], it would have rendered him a dangerous Tyrant in the World, too strong[d] in some Respects, even for his own Kind, as well as the other Creatures. Locks and Doors might perhaps have been made of sufficient Strength to have barricaded our Houses; and Walls, and Ramparts might perhaps have been made strong enough to have fenced our Cities. But these Things could not have been without a great and inconvenient Expence of Room, Materials, and such Necessaries, as such vast Structures and Uses would have occasioned; more perhaps than the World could have afforded to all Ages and Places. But let us take the Descant of a good Naturalist and Physician on the Case[e]. “Had Man been a Dwarf (said he) he had scarce been a reasonable Creature. For he must then have had a Jolt Head; so there would not have been Body and Blood enough to supply his Brain with Spirits; or he must have had a small Head, answerable to his Body, and so there would not have been Brain enough for his Business—Or had the Species of Mankind been Gigantick, he could not have been so commodiously supplied with Food. For there would not have been Flesh enough of the best edible Beasts, to serve his Turn. And if Beasts had been made answerably bigger, there would not have been Grass enough.” And so he goeth on. And a little after, “There would not have been the same Use and Discovery of his Reason; in that he would have done many Things by mere Strength, for which he is now put to invent innumerable Engines—. Neither could he have used an Horse, nor divers other Creatures. But being of a middle Bulk, he is fitted to manage and use them all. For (saith he) no other cause can be aligned why a Man was not made five or ten Times bigger, but his Relation to the rest of the Universe.” Thus far our curious Author.

FOOTNOTES:

[a] What is here urged about the Size of Man’s Body, may answer one of _Lucretius_’s Reasons why _Nil ex nihilo gignitur_. His Argument is

_Denique cur Homines ramos natura parare_
_Non potuit, pedibus qui pontum per vada possent_
_Transire, & magnos manibus divellere monteis?_

Lucret. _L. 1. Carm. 200._

[b] _Haud facile fit ut quisquam & ingentes corporis vires, & ingenium subtile habeat._ Diodor. Sic. L. 17.

[c] Altho’ we read of _Giants_ before _Noah_’s Flood, _Gen._ vi. 4. and more plainly afterwards in _Numb._ xiii. 33. Yet there is great Reason to think the Size of Man was always the same from the Creation. For as to the _Nephilim_ or _Giants_, in _Gen._ vi. the Ancients vary about them; some taking them for great Atheists, and Monsters of Impiety, Rapine, Tyranny, and all Wickedness, as well as of monstrous Stature, according as indeed the _Hebrew_ Signification allows.

And as for the _Nephilim_ in _Numb._ xiii. which were evidently Men of a Gigantick Size, it must be considered, that it is very probable, the Fears and Discontentments of the Spies might add somewhat thereunto.

But be the Matter as it will, it is very manifest, that in both these Places, _Giants_ are spoken of as Rarities, and Wonders of the Age, not of the common Stature. And such Instances we have had in all Ages; excepting some fabulous Relations; such as I take to be that of _Theutobotchus_, who is said to have been dug up, _Anno_ 1613, and to have been higher than the Trophies, and 26 Feet long; and no better I suppose the Giants to have been, that _Ol. Magnus_ gives an Account of in his 5ᵗʰ Book, such as _Harthen_, and _Starchater_, among the Men; and among the Women, _reperta est_ (saith he) _puella——in capite vulnerata, ac mortua, induta chlamyde purpureâ, longitudinis cubitorum 50, latitudinis inter humeros quatuor._ Ol. Mag. Hist. L. 5. c. 2.

But as for the more credible Relations of _Goliath_ (_whose height was 6 Cubits and a Span_, 1 Sam. xvii. 4. which according to the late curious and learned _Lord Bishop of ~Peterborough~_ is somewhat above 11 Feet _English_, _vid._ Bishop _Cumberland of Jewish Weights and Measures_) of _Maximinus_ the Emperor, who was 9 Feet high, and others in _Augustus_, and other Reigns, of about the same Height: To which we may add the Dimensions of a _Skeleton_, dug up lately in the Place of a _Roman_ Camp near St. _Albans_, by an Urn inscribed, _Marcus Antoninus_; of which an Account is given by Mr. _Cheselden_, who judgeth by the Dimensions of the Bones, that the Person was 8 Foot high, _vid._ _Philos. Trans._ Nᵒ. 333. These antique Examples and Relations, I say, we can match, yea, out-do, with modern Examples; of which we have divers in _J. Ludolph. Comment. in Hist. Æthiop._ L. 1. c. 2. §. 22. _Magus_, _Conringius_, Dr. _Hakewill_, and others. Which later relates from _Nannez_, of Porters and Archers belonging to the Emperor of _China_, of 15 Feet high; and others from _Purchas_, of 10 and 12 Feet high, and more. See the learned Author’s _Apolog._ p. 208.

These indeed exceed what I have seen in _England_; but in 1684, I my self measur’d an _Irish_ Youth, said to be not 19 Years old, who was 7 Feet near 8 Inches, and in 1697, a Woman who was 7 Feet 3 inches in Height.

But for the ordinary size of Mankind, in all Probability, it was always (as I said) the same, as may appear from the Monuments, Mummies, and other ancient Evidences to be seen at this Day. The most ancient Monument at this Day, I presume is that of _Cheops_, in the first and fairest Pyramid of _Ægypt_; which was, no doubt, made of Capacity every Way sufficient to hold the Body of so great a Person as was intended to be laid up in it. But this we find by the nice Measures of our curious Mr. _Greaves_, hardly to exceed our common Coffins. _The hollow Part within_ (saith he) _is in Length ~only~ 6,488 Feet, ~and~ in Breadth ~but~ 2,218 Feet: The Depth 2,860 Feet. A narrow space, yet large enough to contain a most potent and dreadful Monarch, being dead; to whom living, all ~Ægypt~ was too streight and narrow a Circuit. By these Dimensions, and by such other Observations, as have been taken by me from several embalmed Bodies in ~Ægypt~, we may conclude there is no decay in Nature (though the Question is as old as ~Homer~) but that the Men of this Age are of the same Stature they were near 3000 Years ago_, vid. _Greaves_ of the Pyr. in 1638, in Ray’s Collect. of _Trav._ Tom. 1. pag. 118.

To this more ancient, we may add others of a later Date. Of which take these, among others, from the curious and learned _Hakewill_. The Tombs at _Pisa_, that are some thousand Years old, are not longer than ours; so is _Athelstane_’s in _Malmesbury_-Church; so _Sehba_’s in St. _Paul_’s, of the Year 693; so _Etheldred_’s, &c. Apol. 216, _&c._

The same Evidence we have also from the Armour, Shields, Vessels, and other Utensils dug up at this Day. The Brass Helmet dug up at _Metaurum_, which was not doubted to have been left there at the _Overthrow of Asdrubal_, will fit one of our Men at this Day.

Nay, besides all this, probably we have some more certain Evidence. _Augustus_ was 5 Foot 9 Inches high, which was the just Measure of our famous Queen _Elizabeth_, who exceeded his Height 2 Inches, if proper Allowance be made for the Difference between the _Roman_ and our Foot. _Vid._ _Hakew. ib. p. 215._

[d] To the Stature of Men in the foregoing Note, we may add some Remarks about their unusual _Strength_. That of _Sampson_ (who is not said to have exceeded other Men in Stature as he did in Strength) is well known. So of old, _Hector_, _Diomedes_, _Hercules_, and _Ajax_ are famed; and since them many others; for which I shall seek no farther than the before commended _Hakewill_, who by his great and curious Learning, hath often most of the Examples that are to be met with on all his Subjects he undertakes. Of the After-Ages he names _C. Marius_, _Maximinus_, _Aurelian_, _Scanderberge_, _Bardesin_, _Tamerlane_, _Siska_, and _Hunniades_. Anno 1529, _Klunher_, Provost of the great Church at _Misnia_, carry’d a Pipe of Wine out of the Cellar, and laid it in the Cart. _Mayolus_ saw one hold a Marble Pillar in his Hand 3 Foot long, and 1 Foot diameter, which he toss’d up in the Air, and catched again, as if it were a Ball. Another of _Mantua_, and a little Man, named _Rodamas_, could break a Cable, _&c._ _Ernando Burg_, fetched up Stairs an Ass laden with Wood, and threw both into the Fire. At _Constantinople_, _Anno 1582_, one lifted a Piece of Wood, that twelve Men could scarce raise: then lying along, he bare a Stone that ten Men could but just roll to him. _G._ of _Fronsberge_, Baron _Mindlehaim_, could raise a Man off his Seat, with only his middle Finger; stop an Horse in his full Career; and shove a Cannon out of its Place. _Cardan_ saw a Man dance with two Men in his Arms, two on his Shoulders, and one on his Neck. _Patacoua_, Captain of the _Cossacks_, could tear an Horse-Shoe (and if I mistake not, the same is reported of the present King _Augustus_ of _Poland_.) A Gigantick Woman of the _Netherlands_ could lift a Barrel of _Hamburgh_ Beer. Mr. _Carew_ had a Tenant that could carry a But’s Length, 6 Bushel of Wheaten Meal (of 15 Gallon Measure) with the Lubber, the Miller of 24 Years of Age, on the top of it. And _J. Roman_ of the same County, could carry the Carcass of an Ox. Vid. _Hakewill_, ib. p. 238.

_Viros aliquot moderna memoria tam à mineralibus, quàm aliis Seuthia & Gothia provinciis adducere congruis, tantâ fortitudine præditos, ut quisque eorum in humeros sublevatum Equum, vel Bovem maximum, imò vas ferri 600, 800, aut 1000 librarum (quale & alique Puellæ levare possunt) ad plura stadia portaret._ Ol. Mag. ubi supr.

[e] Grew’s _Cosmol. Sacr._ B. 1. ch. 5. §. 25.

CHAP. V.

_Of the STRUCTURE of the PARTS of Man’s Body._

Having thus taken a View of the Posture, Shape, and Size of Man’s Body, let us in this Chapter survey the Structure of its Parts. But here we have so large a Prospect, that it would be endless to proceed upon Particulars. It must suffice therefore to take Notice, in general only, how artificially every Part of our Body is made. No Botch, no Blunder, no unnecessary _Apparatus_ (or in other Words) no Signs of Chance[a]; but every Thing curious, orderly, and performed in the shortest and best Method, and adapted to the most compendious Use. What one Part is there throughout the whole Body, but what is composed of the fittest Matter for that Part; made of the most proper Strength and Texture; shaped in the compleatest Form; and in a word, accouter’d with every Thing necessary for its Motion, Office, Nourishment, Guard, and what not! What so commodious a Structure and Texture could have been given to the Bones, for Instance, to make them firm and strong, and withal light, as that which every Bone in the Body hath? Who could have shaped them so nicely to every Use, and adapted them to every Part, made them of such just Lengths, given them such due Sizes and Shapes, chanelled, hollowed, headed, lubricated, and every other Thing ministring, in the best and most compendious manner to their several Places and Uses? What a glorious Collection and Combination have we also of the most exquisite Workmanship and Contrivance in the Eye, in the Ear, in the Hand[b], in the Foot[c], in the Lungs, and other Parts already mention’d? What an Abridgment of Art, what a Variety of Uses[d], hath Nature laid upon that one Member of the Tongue, the grand Instrument of Taste, the faithful Judge, the Centinel, the Watchman of all our Nourishment, the artful Modulator of our Voice, the necessary Servant of Mastication, Swallowing, Sucking, and a great deal besides? But I must desist from proceeding upon Particulars, finding I am fallen upon what I propos’d to avoid.

And therefore for a Close of this Chapter, I shall only add Part of a