The hand : its mechanism and vital endowments, as evincing design.

  • Bell, Charles, Sir, 1774-1842.
Date:
1834
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The hand : its mechanism and vital endowments, as evincing design. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    38/376 (page 16)
    10 mode, strange and unexpected, such as may raise the wonder of the ignorant and vulgar ; or by an effort of the cultivated mind, we must rouse ourselves to observe things and actions, of which, as we have said, the sense has been lost by long familiarity. In the following pages, I shall treat the sub- ject comparatively, and exhibit a view of the bones of the arm, descending from the human hand to the fin of the fish. I shall in the next place review the actions of the muscles of the arm and hand ; then proceeding to the vital pro- perties, I shall advance to the subject of sensi- bility, leading to that of touch; afterwards, I shall show the necessity of combining the mus- cular action with the exercise of the senses, and especially with that of touch, to constitute in the hand what has been called the geometrical sense. I shall describe the organ of touch, the cuticle and skin, and arrange the nerves of the hand according to their functions. I shall then enquire into the correspondence between the capacities and endowments of the mind, and the external organs, and more especially the proper- ties of the hand ; and conclude by showing that animals have been created with a reference to the globe they inhabit; that all their endowments and various organization bear a relation to their state of existence, and to the elements around them ; that there is a plan universal, extending through