Before we can

to institutions, we must first know them. know the organic constitution of our body, we must study it, and the study of the human constitution is anatomy and physiology. Before we can become acquainted with its relations to external objects, we must learn the existence and qualities of these objects, (unfolded by chemistry, natural history, and natural philosophy), and compare them with the constitution of the human body. When we have fulfilled these conditions, we shall be better able to discover the laws which the Creator has instituted in regard to our organic system.

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It will be said, however, that such studies are impracticable to the great bulk of mankind, and, besides, do not appear much to benefit those who pursue them. They are impracticable only while mankind prefer founding their public and private institutions on the basis of the propensities, instead of on that of the moral sentiments. I have mentioned, that exercise of the nervous and muscular systems is required of all the race by the creator's fiat; that if all who are capable would obey this law, a moderate amount of exertion agreeable and salubrious in itself, would suffice to supply our wants, and to surround us with every beneficial luxury; and that a large portion of unemployed time would remain. The Creator has bestowed on us Knowing Faculties, fitted to explore the facts of these sciences, Reflecting Faculties to trace their relations, and Moral Sentiments calculated to feel interest in such investigations, and to lead us to reverence and obey the laws which they unfold; and, finally, He has made this occupation, when entered upon with the view of tracing His power and wisdom in the subjects of our studies, and of discovering and obeying His institutions, the most delightful and invigorating of all vocations. Instead, then, of such a course of education being impracticable, every arrangement of the Creator appears to be prepared in direct anticipation of its actual accomplishment.

The second objection, that those who study these sciences are not more healthy and happy, as organized beings, than

In "Physiology applied to Health and Education," by Dr A. Combe, to which I refer, the organic laws are expounded in detail, and many striking examples are given of the infringement of these laws, and of its injurious consequences.

those who neglect them, admits of an easy answer. They may have inherited feeble frames from their parents. Besides, only parts of these sciences have been taught to a few individuals, whose main design in studying them has been to apply them as means of acquiring wealth and fame; but they have nowhere been taught as connected parts of a great system of natural arrangements, fraught with the highest influences on human enjoyment; and in almost no instance have the intellect and moral sentiments been systematically directed to the natural laws, as the grand fountains of happiness and misery to the race, and trained to observe and obey them as the institutions of the Creator. In cases where physiology, natural history, and natural philosophy have been properly studied, the objection alluded to is at variance with experience and fact.

A third organic law is, that all our functions shall be duly exercised; and is this law observed by mankind? Many persons are able, from experience, to attest the severity of the punishment that follows neglect to exercise the muscular system, in the lassitude, indigestion, irritability, debility, and general uneasiness that attend a sedentary and inactive life: But the penalties that attach to neglect of exercising the brain are much less known, and therefore I shall notice them more at length. The following is the description of the brain given by Dr A. Combe, in his work on Physiology applied to Health and Education already al

luded to.

"The brain is that large organized mass which, along with its enveloping membranes, completely fills the cavity of the skull. It is the seat of thought, of feeling, and of consciousness, and the centre towards which all impressions made on the nerves distributed through the body are conveyed, and from which the commands of the will are transmitted to put the various parts in motion.

"The structure of the brain is so complicated, that less is known of its true nature than of that of almost any other organ. It would therefore be entirely out of place to attempt to describe it here, farther than by stating generally its principal divisions. On sawing off the top of the skull, and removing the firm tough membrane called dura mater (hard mother), which adheres closely to its concave surface, the cerebrum or brain proper presents itself, marked on

the surface with a great variety of undulating windings or convolutions, and extending from the fore to the back part of the head, somewhat in the form of an ellipse. The an

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nexed cut Fig. 1. represents the convolutions as seen on the upper surface of the brain. In the middle line, from A to B, a deep cleft or fissure is perceived, separating the brain, in its whole length, into two halves, or hemispheres, as they are called. Into this cleft dips a tight stiff membrane, resembling a scythe in shape, and hence called the falx (scythe), or sometimes, from its being a mere fold of the dura mater, the falciform (scythe-like) process of the dura mater. From its dipping down between the two halves of the brain, the chief purpose of this membrane seems to be to relieve the one side from the pressure of the other, when we are asleep, for example, or have the head reclining to either side. The membrane does not descend to the bottom of the brain, except in a small part, at the front and back, G G in Fig. 2. It descends about twothirds of the depth of the whole brain. At the point where it terminates, a mass of fibres, named the corpus callosum, passes between and connects the two hemispheres. The convolutions represented in Fig. 1. belong chiefly to the coronal region, and manifest the moral sentiments."

The cut Fig. 2. represents the convolutions lying at the base of the brain.

"Each half or hemisphere of the brain is, in its turn, divided, but in a less marked way, as the divisions are observable only on its inferior surface,-into three portions, called, from their situations, the anterior, middle, and posterior lobes, each occupying nearly a third of the whole length of the brain. The anterior lobe, being the portion lying before the dotted line E E, occupies the forehead; the middle is all the portion lying between the two transverse lines E E and F F, above and a little in front of the ears; and the posterior lobe is that portion lying behind the transverse line F F, and corresponding to the back part of the head.

"Beneath the posterior lobe, a strong fold of the dura mater, called the tentorium, is extended horizontally to support and separate it from the cerebellum A A, or little brain, lying below it. The cerebellum forms the last great division of the contents of the skull. Its surface is marked

K

by convolutions, differing, however, in size and appearance from those observed in the brain.

Adhering to the surface of the convolutions, and consequently dipping down into, and lining the sulci or furrows between them, another membrane, of a finer texture, and greater vascularity, called pia mater, is found. The bloodvessels going to the brain branch out so extensively on the pia mater, that, when a little inflamed, it seems to constitute a perfect vascular net-work. This minute subdivision is of use in preventing the blood from being impelled with too great force against the delicate tissue of the brain.

"A third covering, called the arachnoid membrane, from its fineness resembling that of a spider's web, is interposed between the other two, and is frequently the seat of disease.

"On examining the convolutions in different brains, they are found to vary a good deal in size, depth, and general appearance. In the various regions of the same brain they are also different, but preserve the same general aspect. Thus they are always small and numerous in the anterior lobe, larger and deeper in the middle, and still larger in the posterior lobe. The thick cord or root C, springing from the base of the brain, is named the medulla oblongata, or oblong portion of the spinal marrow, which is continued downwards, and fills the cavity of the spine or back-bone. At one time the brain has been regarded as proceeding from, and at another as giving rise to, the spinal marrow; but, in reality, the two are merely connected, and neither grows from the other. The false analogy of a stem growing from a root has led to this abuse of language.

"The small round filaments or cords seen to proceed from the sides of the medulla oblongata, and from near the base of the brain, are various nerves of sensation and motion, some of them going to the organs of sense, and others to the skin and muscles of the face, head, and other more distant parts. The long flat-looking nerve a a, lying on the surface of the anterior lobe, is the olfactory, or nerve of smell, going to the nose. The round thick nerve 4 4, near the roots of the former, is the optic, or nerve of vision, going to the eye. That marked b is the motor nerve which supplies the muscles of the eyeball. A little farther