It is an admirable Provision the merciful Creator hath made for the Good of Man’s Body, by the Consent and Harmony between the Parts thereof: Of which let us take St. Paul’s Description, in 1 Cor. xii. 8. But now hath God set the Members, every one of them in the Body, as it hath pleas’d him. And (℣. 21) The Eye cannot say unto the Hand, I have no need of thee: Nor again, the Head to the Feet, I have no need of you. But such is the Consent of all the Parts, or as the Apostle wordeth it, God hath so temper’d the Body together, that the Members should have the same Care one for another, ℣. 25. So that whether one Member suffer, all the Members suffer with it; or one Member be honoured, (or affected with any Good,) all the Members rejoyce, [and sympathize] with it, ℣. 26.
This mutual Accord, Consent and Sympathy of the Members, there is no Reason to doubt[a], is made by the Commerce of the Nerves[b], and their artificial Positions, and curious Ramifications throughout the whole Body, which is admirable and incomparable, and might deserve a Place in this Survey, as greatly, and manifestly setting forth the Wisdom and Benignity of the great Creator; but that to give a Description thereof from the Origin of the Nerves, in the Brain, the Cerebellum and Spine, and so through every Part of the Body, would be tedious, and intrench too much upon the Anatomist’s Province: And therefore one Instance shall suffice for a Sample of the Whole; and that shall be, (what was promis’d before[c]), the great Sympathy occasion’d by the fifth Pair of Nerves; which I chuse to instance in, rather than the Par vagum, or any other of the Nerves; because although we may have less variety of noble Contrivance and Art, than in that Pair; yet we shall find enough for our Purpose, and which may be dispatch’d in fewer Words. Now this fifth Conjugation of Nerves, is branch’d to the Ball, the Muscles, and Glands of the Eye; to the Ear; to the Jaws, the Gums, and Teeth; to the Muscles of the Lips[d]; to the Tonsils, the Palate, the Tongue, and the Parts of the Mouth; to the Præcordia also, in some Measure, by inosculating with one of its Nerves; and lastly, to the Muscles of the Face, particularly the Cheeks, whose sanguiferous Vessels it twists about.
From hence it comes to pass, that there is a great Consent and Sympathy[e] between these Parts; so that a gustable Thing seen or smelt, excites the Appetite, and affects the Glands and Parts of the Mouth; that a Thing seen or heard, that is shameful, affects the Cheeks with modest Blushes; but on the contrary, if it pleases and tickles the Fancy, that it affects the Præcordia, and Muscles of the Mouth and Face with Laughter; but a Thing causing Sadness and Melancholy, doth accordingly exert it self upon the Præcordia, and demonstrate it self by causing the Glands of the Eyes to emit Tears[f], and the Muscles of the Face to put on the sorrowful Aspect of Crying. Hence also that torvous sour Look produc’d by Anger and Hatred: And that gay and pleasing Countenance accompanying Love and Hope. And in short, it is by Means of this Communication of the Nerves, that whatever affects the Soul, is demonstrated, (whether we will or no,) by a consentaneous Disposition of the Præcordia within, and a suitable Configuration of the Muscles and Parts of the Face without. And an admirable Contrivance of the great GOD of Nature this is; That as a Face is given to Man, and as Pliny saith[g], to Man alone of all Creatures; so it should be, (as he observes,) the Index of Sorrow and Chearfulness, of Compassion and Severity. In its ascending Part is the Brow, and therein a Part of the Mind too. Therewith we deny, therewith we consent. With this it is we shew our Pride, which hath its Source in another Place; but here its Seat: In the Heart it hath its Birth; but here it abides and dwells; and that because it could find no other Part throughout the Body higher, or more craggy[h], where it might reside alone.
Thus I have dispatch’d what I shall remark concerning the Soul and Body of Man. There are divers other Things, which well deserve a Place in this Survey; and these that I have taken Notice of, deserv’d to have been enlarg’d upon: But what hath been said, may suffice for a Taste and Sample of this admirable Piece of God’s Handy-work; at least serve as a Supplement to what others have said before me. For which Reason I have endeavour’d to say as little wittingly as I could, of what they have taken Notice of, except where the Thread of my Discourse laid a Necessity upon me.
FOOTNOTES:
[a] See Book 4. Chap. 8.
[b] Tria proposita ipsi Naturæ in Nervorum distributione fuerunt. 1. Ut sensoriis instrumentis Sensum impertiret. 2. Ut motoriis Motum. 3. Ut omnibus aliis [partibus] daret, ut quæ si dolorem adferrent, dignoscerent. And afterwards, Si quis in dissectionibus spectavit, consideravitque justéne, an secus Natura Nervos non eâdem mensurâ omnibus partibus distribuerit, sed aliis quidem liberaliùs, aliis verò parciùs, eadem cum Hippocrate, velit nolit, de Naturâ omnino pronunciabit, quod ea scilicet sagax, justa, artificiosa, animaliumque provida est. Galen. de Us. Part. L. 5. c. 9.
[d] Dr. Willis gives the Reason, cur mutua Amasiorum oscula labiis impressa, tum præcordia, tum genitalia afficiendo, amorem ac libidinem tam facilè irritant, to be from the Consent of those Parts, by the Branches of this fifth Pair. Nerv. Deser. c. 22.
And Dr. Sachs judges it to be from the Consent of the Labia Oris cum Labiis Uteri, that in April 1669, a certain breeding Lady, being affrighted with seeing one that had scabby Lips, which they told her were occasion’d by a pestilential Fever, had such like Pustules brake out in the Labia Uteri. Ephem. Germ. T. 1. Obs. 20.
[e] Consult Willis ubi suprà.
[f] Tears serve not only to moisten the Eye, to clean and brighten the Cornea, and to express our Grief; but also to alleviate it, according to that of Ulysses to Andromache, in Seneca’s Troas, ℣. 762.
[g] Plin. Nat. Hist. L. 11. c. 37.
[h] Nihil altius simul abruptiusque invenit.