regular and admirably directed; every thing is in its place in the most perfect harmony; nothing is discordant, nothing clashes, nothing impedes, and nothing precipitates its

course.

The same admirable circulation that we observe in animals obtains throughout nature. The sun, the moon, and the stars, perform their appointed revolutions with a determinate and uniform motion. There is even a continual circulation in the elements; the air is not only in perpetual motion, since it never ceases to circulate round the earth, but water also continues its course without cessation. The rivers pour their streams into the sea, and from the vast surface of the ocean vapours arise which form clouds; these are precipitated in showers, which penetrating the mountains, form springs of water that insensibly increase till they swell into rivers, and again return to the parent

ocean.

The earth, ever fertile, annually produces flowers and fruits, and yet is never exhausted, because the continual circulation of the nutritive juices repairs its losses, and restores to it again what it has given to us. All these revolutions of nature bring us to a first cause, which has so arranged the world, that all beings are continually in action, circulate, move, and act in an insensible labyrinth of changes, till they return to their original place, and commence again the course which was prescribed to them.

OCTOBER XX.

Proportion of various Parts of the Human Body. GOD has formed the human body according to the wisest rules, and he has established the most exact proportion even in the minutest parts. To be convinced of this, we have only to calculate the height and the bulk of the human body from certain specific measures. The height of the body is generally divided into ten equal parts, which in technical language are called faces, because the human face was the first model of these measures. The first face comprehends the whole of the visage, beginning at the root of the hair on the forehead; from which point to the summit

of the head there is still one-third of the face in height, or what is the same thing, a space equal to the length of the nose: so that, from the crown of the head to the point of the chin, there is the length of one face and a third. Between the bottom of the chin and the hollow of the clavicles, just above the breast, there are two-thirds of a face: thus the length from above the breast to the crown of the head is twice that of the face, which is the fifth part of the whole length of the body. From the hollow between the collar-bones to the bottom of the breast is reckoned one face. Below the breast begins the fourth face, which ends at the navel; and the fifth extends to the pubis, which makes altogether half the length of the body. Two faces are reckoned from the beginning of the thigh to the knee, which last makes half a face. There are two faces in the length of the leg, from below the knee to the instep, which in the whole makes nine faces and a half; and from the instep to the sole of the foot there is half a face, which completes the ten faces, into which the height of the human body has been divided.

This division has been made for men in general, but in those who are of greater stature than usual, about half a face more is found in that part of the body which is between the chest and the pubis; and it is the superior length in this place which constitutes a proper size.

When the arms are extended, so as to form a straight ho rizontal line, the distance between the extremities of the middle fingers of each hand is equal to the length of the whole body. From the hollow between the collar-bones to the joint that unites the shoulder-bone to the arm is one face length. When the arm depends all its length, it is computed at four faces; two between the shoulder and the extremity of the elbow, and two more from the elbow to the tip of the little finger, which makes five faces for each arm; consequently, the length of both equals that of the whole body. The hand is one face long; the thumb the third of a face, which is also the length of the great toe; the length of the sole of the foot is equal to a sixth part of the height of the whole body. The bulk of the body and of the limbs have also their measures. The thickness of the finger is generally the thirty-sixth part of its length; that of the little finger is the forty-eighth part; three times the thickness of the

thumb gives that of the hand, and six times the thickness of the hand equals that of the whole body.

The height of the human body varies considerably. The most perfect stature is from five feet five to five feet nine inches: the middle size is from five feet and an inch to five feet four, and the little size is below five feet. Women are generally two or three inches shorter than men. Their breast is more prominent and elevated, so that generally the capacity of the chest formed by the ribs is deeper in women, and broader in men, in proportion to the rest of the body. The hips of women are much wider than those of men, the bones which form the pelvis being much larger.

Man has a greater proportion of brain than any animal of the same dimensions, even more than the horse or the ox. A man that weighs a hundred pounds has usually four pounds of brain. Infants born at their proper time generally weigh at the most eight pounds, and at the least five pounds; their greatest length is one foot eleven inches, and the least one foot six inches.

The human body, considered as a whole, or in its parts separately, will appear to be formed in the exactest proportion. Every thing in it is regular, and arranged with the greatest harmony, both with respect to its size and figure; and the situation of the parts themselves, not one of which is greater or less than the connections it has with the other parts, and the general utility of the machine, require. No form or situation can be imagined more suitable to each part, or more advantageous to the whole of the members. Though some varieties and irregularities may appear, such as monsters and deformed men, they do not at all destroy the principal design of the body. But if certain disproportions in the size, figure, and position of the parts be consonant with the great end for which the body was formed, they certainly diminish the beauty and elegance of the form, and the graces of the exterior. How grateful, then, ought well-formed persons to be, and those whose limbs are moulded in just and beautiful symmetry!

OCTOBER XXI.

Navigation.

To reflecting minds, the subject of navigation may give rise At the same to very important and pleasing meditations. time that our curiosity is interested and gratified, we gain a new source of pleasure. We ought not only to regard navigation on account of the advantages which it procures us, but we ought also to regard the mechanical part and the motion of ships.

Is it not truly astonishing that so huge and heavy a mass as a ship can float upon the water? The weight of a ship is very great, and little attention is requisite to convince us that its pressure on the water must be prodigious. A man of war, whose complement of men is eight hundred, generally carries provisions enough to supply them with nourishment for the space of three months, and mounts from seventy to a hundred guns. Now allowing each man to weigh one hundred pounds weight, and each gun nine hundred, (though some weigh more than 4000lbs.) and supposing that each man consumes only three pounds weight of provisions in the course of the day, this very moderate calculation will, however, make a totality of more than three hundred thousand pounds. Besides this, we should reckon the weight of the vessel itself, the rigging, and a great store of materials necessary to keep the ship in repair, and powder and ball for the guns; all which equal, if not exceed, the preceding amount. Yet this enormous mass, of upwards of six hundred thousand pounds weight, is put in motion by a gentle breeze. Does not this appear inconceivable, and contrary to the laws of nature? It is, however, perfectly natural, and should the contrary happen it would be very extraordinary. It is not altogether the wind that drives along this mass; the ship, with its whole cargo, swims in the water. But how does so heavy a body float? How can the water, whose particles do not adhere together, have force enough to support such a mass? It is the effect of a proper balance: the vessel sinks till the volume of water which it displaces is equal to it in bulk. Suppose the ship is one hundred and twenty feet long and fifteen broad, and that it sinks to the depth of two feet, that is, three thousand

and six hundred feet of water, or so much cargo, since one takes the place of the other. Thus the river is not more burthened with the vessel than it was with the water which she displaced.

Formerly navigation was much more dangerous and laborious than it is at present. The most hardy sailors had not confidence sufficient to venture far out in the open sea, but confined themselves to coasting along the shore. Since the invention of the compass, they cross the seas with more certainty and security. Before this happy discovery, to make a short sea voyage was considered as very wonderful. In the time of Homer it required great preparation and frequent deliberation, before his heroes could determine upon crossing the Egean sea. The expedition of Jason and the Argonautes, to the island of Colchis, was regarded with wonder, as an exploit that would crown the achievers of it with immortal honour. But what where all these in comparison of our sea voyages? The compass enables us to perform the longest voyages; the magnetic needle always turning towards the north, informs the navigator of the regions where he is, and of the countries to which he directs his course. In the gloom of night, in cloudy days, in the middle of the ocean, this instrument serves him as a guide, and leads him from one region of the globe to another.

The advantages of navigation are very great, and deserve our utmost gratitude: we are indebted to it for many of the necessaries of life. Without it we could not procure, or at least not without great difficulty, those spices and me. dicines which we receive from different countries. It would be extremely inconvenient to have all our necessaries brought by land. The following calculation will sufficiently prove this assertion. The freight of a ship is reckoned by tons, and many ships are of six hundred tons burthen: now a ton is equal to two thousand pounds weight. Supposing it to be carried by land in waggons with four horses, and that each horse would draw one thousand pounds weight, three hundred four-horse waggons would be required, with at least as many men, to transport this load. How dearly then should we purchase riches from distant parts of the world, and even some of the most necessary things of life! We ought also to regard navigation as a signal blessing, in being instrumental in the hands of God to the pro