Nature's revelations of character, or, The mental, moral and volitive dispositions of mankind, as manifested in the human form and countenance / by Joseph Simms.

Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Nature's revelations of character, or, The mental, moral and volitive dispositions of mankind, as manifested in the human form and countenance / by Joseph Simms. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    73/632 (page 45)
    THE ABDOMINAL FORM. One of the most important lessons which an observant, thinking: man can learn is, that there are certain boundaries to human knowledge beyond which he cannot step, without involving himself in the fogs of superstition. The How of a natural law we may define and explain, but the Why sometimes evades our efforts. We cannot tell why platinum is eighteen times heavier than water. Why chloride of sodium (common salt) always crystallizes in the form of a cube, no matter how often it is dissolved in water. We perceive that the com- bustion of a tallow candle is caused by the oxygen of the atmosphere uniting with the carbon or tallow of which it is formed, by what we term chemical action, producing carbonic acid gas. But Why this takes place has never been answered. Why the sun is so much larger than the planets, or why they revolve around him within certain limits, are matters entirely beyond the reach of our reasoning powers. Wo observe only the facts, and from those facts deduce what we call natural law. The same rule pertains to our knowledge of humanity. We cannot tell why men and animals with large build in the abdomen are more fond of eating and ease than those of less prominence in this region, and yet from practical