with the least resistance, all its vital organs have been collected into a small compass, and the body has been reduced into the shape of a compact oval, compressed laterally, and tapering to a thin edge both before and behind, for the purpose of readily cleaving the water, as the fish darts forward, and also of obviating the retardation which might arise from the reflux of the water collected behind. With the view to diminish friction as much as possible, the surface of the body has been rendered smooth, and the skin has been impregnated with oil, which, while it lubricates the animal, defends it from injurious impressions, and, at the same time, prevents the water from penetrating into its substance. The body of a fish is nearly of the same specific gravity as the water which it inhabits, and the effect of gravity is therefore almost counterbalanced by the buoyant force of that fluid. This is not, however, precisely the case, and as the body of a fish is generally a little heavier than the fluid medium, especially if that medium be fresh water, it is necessary for the animal to keep itself in some degree of motion in order to prevent its sinking. But there is here a very peculiar structure, which has justly been remarked as one of the most singular instances that is met with of an express contrivance for a specific purpose, and of the employment of an agency of a class different from that of the mechanical powers usually resorted to for effecting the same object. Were the animal to acquire the faculty of altering at pleasure its specific gravity, it would then possess the means of rising or sinking without calling into action either the fins or the tail. Such is precisely the object of a peculiar mechanism which the Creator has provided in the interior of the body. A large bladder, filled with air, has been placed immediately under the spine, in the middle of the back, and above the centre of gravity. This is known by the name of the air-bladder, and is various in its form and structure in different fishes. When distended with air, it renders the whole fish specifically lighter than the surrounding water, and the animal is thus buoyed up, and remains at the surface without any effort of its own. On compressing the bladder by the action mal, from its greater flexibility and the number of its motive organs, is more graceful and elegant than those of the aerial. The feathers of the one are analogous to the scales of the other; the wings to the pectoral fins ; and the tail of both acts the part of a rudder, by which each steers itself through the waves of its own element."'* TWELFTH WEEK-TUESDAY. MAN. HIS EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. CICERO, who not only joined the qualities of a profound philosopher to those of an accomplished orator, but who is entitled to the still higher praise of cherishing, so far as his opportunities admitted, enlightened and deep-felt views of religion in the midst of heathenism and profligacy, gives a striking description of the human body, which, although in the present day, when his statements have become familiar, it may appear less original and striking than it must have been when first published, proves that he was nobly alive to the wonders of Creative Intelligence. The passage is as follows: "To what has been said of the incessant and ingenious foresight with which Nature acts, many things may be added, to show how abundant and how valuable are the bounties which have been bestowed on men by the Deity; who, first of all, has formed them elevated above the earth, lofty and erect, that, with an eye directed to heaven, they might aspire to the knowledge of the Divine character. For men are placed upon earth, not as mere * Kirby's Bridgewater Treatise, vol. ii. pp. 375, 376. +Ovid expresses the same sentiment in a wellknown passage of his Metamorphoses : Pronaque dum spectant animalia cætera terram. Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus. Met. Lib. i. v. 84. [Which may be thus rendered into plain prose by the Editor :-" While inhabitants and possessors of the soil, but as spectators of spiritual and heavenly things, a power which no other animal possesses. * * * * * * "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 a citadel. The eyes, like sentinels, occupy the most elevated place, whence, on discovering objects, they may give the alarm. An eminent station was suitable to the ears, because they are destined to receive sounds, which naturally ascend. The nostrils required a similar situation, because odors likewise ascend, and it was necessary that they should be near the mouth, through which Nature gives a passage to solids and to liquids. As for touch, it is diffused generally over the whole body, that we might neither receive any impression, nor be attacked by cold or heat, without feeling it. "But what other artist than Nature, whose dexterity is incomparable, could have formed our senses with such exquisite skill? She has covered the eyes with very delicate tunics, transparent before, that we might see through them, and close in their texture, to keep these organs of vision in their proper situation. She has made them smooth and movable, to enable them to avoid every thing by which they might be injured, and to look with facility to whatever side may be necessary. The pupil, through which the impressions that constitute the faculty of sight are received, is so small, that it readily escapes from every object capable of doing it mischief. The eyelids, which serve as coverings to the eye, have a soft and polished surface, that they may pass over them without pain. Whether the fear of some injury obliges us to shut them, or we choose to open them, the eyelids are formed in such a manner, as to adapt themselves to either of these motions, which is performed instantaneously. They are, if we may so express it, fortified with other animals look downward on the ground, He gave to man an upward countenance, bade him behold the heavens, and raise his elevated regards to the stars."] palisades of hair, which serve to repel whatever would attack the eyes when they are open, and to defend the place where the eyelids join, when sleep has closed them and rendered them of no use to us. Our eyes possess the additional advantage of being surrounded and defended by eminences; for, on the one hand, to stop the perspiration that trickles down from the head and forehead, they have projecting eyebrows; and, on the other, to preserve them from below, they have cheek-bones, which likewise advance a little. The nose is placed between both, like a partition-wall. "With respect to the ear, it remains continually open, because we have occasion for its services, even when asleep. If any harsh sound then strikes it, we are awaked. It has winding channels, lest, if they were straight and level, any object might introduce itself into them. "And then our hands,-how convenient are they, and how useful to the arts! The fingers are extended or contracted without the least difficulty, so extremely flexible are their joints. With their assistance the hands use the pencil and the chisel; they play on the lyre and on the lute. So much for the elegant accomplishments; and as to the necessary arts, they cultivate the earth, build houses, manufacture stuffs, make clothes, and utensils of copper and iron. The imagination invents, the senses examine, the hand executes. So 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."** Modern science has greatly increased the force of the Roman orator's reasoning by its anatomical and philosophical discoveries; for the deeper we penetrate into the secrets of Nature, the more wonderful are the evidences we find of the Divine perfections; but it is pleas * De Natura Deorum, lib. ii. Cicero is not singular among the ancients, in adducing the construction of the human body, as a proof of Divine skill. Aristotle, in combating the philosophy of Anaxagoras, says, that man is not superior to the brutes because he has hands, but that he has hands because he is superior to the brutes; and Plato speaks of the structure of the human frame as an evidence of Creative Wisdom. ing to observe an accomplished mind emerging from surrounding darkness, and employing its enlarged faculties in contemplating, with becoming gratitude, the wisdom and beneficence of the Creator. The structure of the human body has been a subject of admiration to all who have even cursorily examined it, and nothing seems better calculated to silence atheism, than the labors of the anatomist. The anecdote of the ancient skeptic, on whose mind conviction flashed while examining the construction of the human heel, is well known. In modern times, Nieuwentyt, Ray, Paley, and others, have drawn many unanswerable arguments from this source; and Galen, at a more distant period, in the midst of an anatomical analysis of the human frame, gave vent to his admiration in words, which, though those of a heathen, would have done honor to the piety of a Christian : "O Thou who hast made us! in composing a discourse so sacred, I think I am chanting a hymn to thy glory. I honor Thee more by unfolding the beauty of thy works, than by sacrificing to Thee whole hecatombs of bulls, or by burning in thy temples the most precious incense. True piety consists in first learning, myself, to know, and then in teaching others, the greatness of thy bounty, thy power, and thy wisdom. Thy bounty is manifested in the equal distribution of thy presents, 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."* TWELFTH WEEK-WEDNESDAY. MAN. HIS INTELLECTUAL POWERS. THE mental powers of man are suitable to his physical condition. He has instincts, but these are not equal in |