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reference to those laws, and so to act upon rays of light in obedience to them, that a vivid representation of an extensive landscape, complete in all its parts, plains and streams in front, hills in the distance, here a grove of trees, there a village church and spire, sheep upon the uplands, and cattle in the pastures, all in their true relative positions and all in their proper colours, shall be depicted, accurately and faithfully, on the small expansion of the Optic Nerve! Have you thought on these things well O Reader? If so, what say you? Light being in existence, and possessed of the properties just enumerated, was not the Eye made for it? And in that adaptation have we not Design and Contrivance? and do these not necessarily refer to a Designer and Contriver? to an intelligent and active God? If not; Lord Rosse's Telescope was never planned by a human mind nor fabricated by human hands; and all other Optical Instruments were the casual results of some mechanical or chemical affinities!

Similar remarks of course apply to the other senses, and the adaptation of their organs to the bodies which severally act upon them, so that they exhibit like proofs that they had a Creator, who was not only most wise, but also most beneficent. But more is necessary to vision than the mere formation on the Retina of a picture of the scene without, however minute and perfect; for that picture might exist, and if the Optic Nerve were severed, no intimation of the external view would be conveyed to the brain. The same is true of the nerves which connect the other organs of sense with the great central habitation of feeling, and, if what some philosophers have told us be correct, that the nerves are pervaded by a species of galvanic fluid, how wonderful does the whole process of Sensation appear! What can we liken it to so truly, as the Brain to the Central Railway Telegraph Office in London; the different organs of Sense to various minor offices in sundry parts of the kingdom; and the Nerves to the Electric Wires that bear the separate tidings from the Provinces to the Metropolis? Rays of light, vibrations of air, odours, sapid particles, the tangible properties of bodies, run continually with their peculiar portions of intelligence to the organs of Sight, of Hearing, of Smell, of Taste, and of Touch; these receive each his chosen set of impressions; and at once the Optic, Auditory, Olfactory, Gustatory, and Tactual Nerves speed the messages along their delicate lines directly to the Brain. Science the sublimest, and not Chance blind and uncertain, must have devised these exquisite arrangements.

Admitting the conclusion arrived at by the keenest analysts of the Human Mind, that all our knowledge has its origin in Sensation; that Ideas are but remembered Sensations; and all mental exercises but processes of Associations of Ideas according to ascertained laws, such as resemblance or dissimilarity, antecedence and consequence, and contiguity in time or place, how much are our wonder and admiration increased! All the reveries of the Sage, the calculations of the Mathematician, the reasonings of the Philosopher, the dreams of the Poet, the plans of the Philanthropist, the fire of the Orator, yea the hope of the Christian, might be traced back, back, back, to the five Senses. Yea, if the properties of Light, and of vibrating air, and of the other things which affect the senses had been other than what they are; or if the senses had not been constituted with a constant reference to these properties, the world might have wanted a Newton, a Milton, a Washington, a Howard, and a Channing. It was not only Design but Wisdom, yea, and Wisdom Infinite, that out of means so simple elaborated Intellects so sublime.

After this brief digression, let us turn to the bony framework of the human body, and see if we cannot there also detect marks of contrivance. Where all is corroborative of our argument, we know not any portion of our osseous structure, which for beautiful and varied mechanism, is more striking than the Spine or Back Bone. As it is the great central pillar of support, it required to possess considerable strength; as we find it needful to bend not only backward and forward, but also to each side, great flexibility was a second requisite; and as it was not only to support the head, but to contain within its cavity that prolongation of the brain, known as the spinal cord, or spinal marrow, from which many important nerves proceed, and an injury to which would be as fatal, as one to the brain itself, it was essential that great elasticity should be another of its qualities. It does unite in itself these apparent incompatibilities. The spine consists of twenty-four distinct pieces, called vertebrae; these are connected together by smooth substances, so as readily to admit of motion in all directions; and what might be considered a trifling amount of motion between any two of the vertebrae, becomes really considerable when extended along the entire column. By this division into so many pieces, and by the smoothness of the inter-jacent material, a great amount of flexibility has been secured. The material interposed between each pair of vertebrae, may be compared for use, if not in appearance, to so many layers of India Rub

ber, almost half the thickness of each single vertebrae. By its yielding with alacrity to any sudden shock, it prevents any evil accruing to the spinal cord, and in the same way it preserves the brain from injury. Indeed, located as it is in the scull, situate on the top of the column, the brain is saved from all sudden jolts, much as is a traveller in a carriage well poised on elastic springs. Various circumstances contribute to promote the strength of the spine. First, it increases in size in the exactest proportion as it has more weight to bear, toward the lower part of the column; and next, the joining surfaces are so many, they are so precisely fitted to each other, and they are connected by such a number of ligaments, that the column of twenty-four bones is really stronger, than one of the same dimensions would be if formed of a single bone.

Another beautiful contrivance is to be seen in the Ribs. The problem for solution, and one of no small difficulty, was to make for the lodgment of those important organs, the Heart and the Lungs, a cavity, with an exterior so solid, that it would prove an effectual safeguard, yet so yielding, that it would dilate and contract with their incessant motion. From the Back-bone, therefore, proceed twelve pairs of bony hoops, each of these hoops is attached behind, first to the two adjoining vertebrae, and also to a projection from the lower of the two vertebrae; this double junction constituting a strong, yet perfect hinge, which permits a short motion. The seven upper pairs of these hoops, are united by cartilages with the breast bone, while the five lower pairs are united by cartilages in front to each other. The hinges behind, and the elastic bands before, permit the hoops, or ribs, to swell outwards at each inspiration made by the lungs, and to resume their original position at each expiration.

Similar observations to these may be made upon every part of our osseous system; for innumerable are the proofs of design the bones exhibit, they are exquisitely adapted every where to the size of the muscles which are to be attached to them, and to the strains which they are required to bear. By many of them being hollowed, they combine in a beautiful manner, the two qualities of strength and lightness. In some places they are hard as iron, in others tough, in others spongy, and still with the wisest consideration of the different purposes they are to serve. Before leaving this branch of the subject, however, it is important to notice that the bones, like all other parts of the body, are provided with blood vessels, with nerves, with facilities for casting aside the ir

used up particles, and appropriating new matter when requisite. Were they deprived of all these powers, the new-born infant could never increase in stature; nor could the man of three-score years and ten get rid, as by a merciful provision he now does, of a portion of the weight of skeleton he bore without difficulty in the prime of life. Had they not been penetrated by arteries, conveying to them that rich fluid, out of which every part takes the element which it requires; if one of them had been fractured, the parts must have remained asunder till death, a source not only of constant debility but of constant suffering. Did not fine nervous filaments traverse their structure, they could not suffer pain when injured in their texture, or absolutely broken; and thus they would be incapable either of calling our attention to the calamity we had sustained, or of compelling us to allow them that repose which was essential to their recovery.

The circulatory, the digestive, and the respiratory systems, we have no space to consider: each of them deserves, and will amply repay, the minutest scrutiny of the Student of Natural Religion; for each teems with examples of the most beneficent ends, secured by the wisest means. In fact, man need not wander beyond the confines of his own body to seek a Creator. Every action he performs, even to the raising of an arm, or the bending of a finger; every sensation he experiences, whether of sounds, or odours, or tastes, or sights, or feelings; every pulse of his wrist, every beat of his heart, every play of his lungs, proclaims, with a voice still, but solemn, gentle, yet most eloquent, THERE IS A GOD,

SANITARY REFORM.

C. Y. M.

THE important movement for improving the health and physical condition, not of the Poor only but of the People generally, which has now for several years engaged the sympathies of a portion of the British public, and which achieved its first great victory in the last Session of Parliament in the enactment of the measure for the improvement of the Public Health, merits the thoughtful consideration, and the earnest co-operation of every well-wisher to his race. To excite greater interest in this important subject, it may be useful to present a very brief sketch of the Sanitary movement, as it has proceeded in this country. By the kind permission of Dr. Robinson, who has been indefatigable in his labours we give that sketch in the words of his recent pamphlet :

On the appearance of any disease of extraordinary malignity, it has, in this as in other countries, been usual for those inhabitants distinguished for their wealth, influence, or knowledge, to meet together and consult for the common safety. And the temporary committees thus spontaneously formed, have with a few trifling exceptions, hitherto constituted the sole guardians of the public health.

With such an utter absence of Sanitary supervision, it will not appear extraordinary that the metropolis and provincial towns, to which the agricultural poor have for many years been attracted in large numbers by the high wages offered in manufactories, should exhibit the most fearful scenes of misery, profligacy, and disease. For the details of these horrors we must refer to the evidence appended to the reports of the Health of Towns Commission, and to other similar sources of information; suffice it here to state, that from the neglect of the authorities, and the short-sighted selfishness of the proprietors of tenemented houses, filth of the most disgusting and noxious nature has been allowed to accumulate in enormous masses, in and near the dwellings of the poor; that no provision has been made for the removal of refuse, or for the supply of water; that from the excessive crowding of adults of both sexes in small unwholesome lodging rooms, the preservation of decency has been rendered as impracticable as indulgence in habits of cleanliness; and that shamelessness and demoralization have advanced with giant strides among the unfortunate beings, thus exposed from their very childhood to the most deadening and polluting influences. Whilst typhus has in these regions of wretchedness become an indigenous and constant scourge, all other diseases of the zymotic class have found there a hot-bed for their propagation; and, from the operation of these various sources of moral and physical disorder upon the industrious poor inhabiting our large towns, the duration of life has been gradually shortened, until at Liverpool the average age at death of the labouring class did not exceed fifteen years, while the gentry and professional persons attained on an average thirty-five years.

Now the connection between excessive mortality and the neglect of certain natural essentials to health, such as pure air, water, &c., is no new discovery. To say nothing of the ample treatises on these subjects in the old medical classics, we find in the works of our own countrymen frequent reference made to the importance of diminishing the mortality among the poor, by greater attention to their physical comforts. And some time after the benevolent exertions of Howard had been crowned with success, and Cook and Lind had demonstrated the practicability of preventing scurvy, and other diseases of seamen, by ventilation and a judicious choice of food, a Society for improving the condition of the poor was formed in London under the auspices of Wilberforce, Davy, and other persons equally eminent for philanthropy and science. These isolated efforts were not, however, productive of much permanent benefit, and it was not until the advent of cholera in 1831, that any general steps were taken for removing the Augean accumulations from the courts and bye-streets of our large towns. The instinct of self-preservation operating in the minds of the wealthier classes, based upon the fear that the terrible epidemic, once attracted by the fetid squalor of crowded lanes, might subsequently extend its visitation to more spacious and refined residences, produced at that time an unwonted zeal for purifying the habitations of the poor. But this zeal was from its very nature destined to expire with the occasion which induced its manifestation; and typhus, and other diseases which had for the moment been threatened with extinction, rapidly resumed their sway over their favourite localities. With the disappearance of the cholera, boards of health vanished, the regular inspection of the houses of the poor was discontinued; the Gov ernment ceased to interest itself in the health of the community, local authorities followed the example of the central administration; poorrates, often the consequence of unnecessary widowhood and orphanage,

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