the body, of being strengthened by exercise and cultivation: and, further, that not only do the mental faculties gradually manifest themselves from the moment of birth onwards; but that the physical developement of the brain advances proportionally up to a certain period. But on this point it will be desirable to make a few more particular remarks.

SECT. V.

The Developement of the Human Brain, compared with that of other Animals.

THE brain of all vertebral animals, including even man, is nearly identical in structure in the early period of the embryo state of those animals. But at the period of birth there is a very remarkable difference between the degree of developement of the human brain, and of that of the inferior animals. In quadrupeds, for instance, the brain, according to Wenzel, is fully developed at the moment of the birth of the individual; contains, that is, at that time, all the parts in as perfect a state as they are in the adult animal of the same species (Wenzel, p. 246): while, with respect to the human species, it is asserted by Wenzel, and his statement is confirmed by the observations of others, that although the brain makes continual and rapid advances to its ultimate magnitude and perfect state, from the period of conception to

the seventh year after birth, yet all the parts have not attained their full size till the age of seven years (p. 254). And this difference is exactly what might be antecedently expected, from the comparatively greater degree of intelligence manifested by the young of other animals, of the higher orders at least, than by the human infant.

But it is very worthy of observation, that those parts of the human brain, which are formed subsequently to birth, are entirely wanting in all other animals, including even quadrupeds, which Wenzel has examined (p. 246): and that during the evolution of the parts peculiar to the human brain, the peculiar faculties of the human intellect are proportionally developed : and finally, that, till those parts are developed, those faculties are not clearly perceptible (Wenzel, p. 247). But at the age of seven years the human being essentially possesses, although not yet matured by exercise and education, all those intellectual faculties which are thenceforward observable and at that age the brain is perfect in all its parts. And, from the age of seven years to the age of eighty, the changes of the human brain with respect to size, either collectively or in its several parts, are so trifling as hardly to be worth notice (p. 247–266).

In comparing either individual actions or the complicated operations of man, with those of

other animals, it is observable, that the actions and operations of the adult human being as much excel in design and method the actions and operations of all other adult animals, as those of the infant are excelled in precision and adroitness by the young of all other animals (p. 247) and both these facts correspond with the relative constitution of the brain at the respective periods; the brain of other animals being perfect at birth, which is not the case with the infant; while the brain of the adult human being manifests a higher degree of organization than that of any other animal, and is therefore physically fitted for functions of a higher order.

It appears then highly probable, both from the intuitive conviction of mankind at large, and from a comparative examination of the structure and developement of the brain in man and other animals, that the intellectual superiority of man, physically considered, depends on the peculiarities of the human brain: and with respect to the rest of his body, it is certain that the hand is the instrument which gives him that decidedly physical superiority which he possesses over all other animals. In all other respects there is no physiological difference, of any importance at least to the present argument, between man and the higher orders of animals and the peculiarities of his physical

condition, with reference to the form and general powers of his body, rest therefore on those two organs, the hand and the brain. And as the adaptation of the external world to the physical condition of man must have a special reference to those peculiarities in his structure which distinguish him essentially from other animals, it has therefore been thought important to dedicate a considerable portion of this treatise to the investigation of the characters of the two organs above mentioned.

SECT. VI.

Cursory View of the Extent of Human Power over the Objects of the external World.

HAVING examined, as far as is necessary for the purpose of this treatise, the animal character of man, both with respect to the points in which he partakes of the nature of other species, and those in which he is elevated above them; let us proceed to consider the adaptation of the external world to the physical condition of that being to whom the Creator has given dominion over all his other works; whom alone, of all the living tenants of the earth, he has endued with a mind capable of conceiving, and corporeal powers capable of executing those wonderful combinations, which make him lord of the world which he inhabits; which enable him to compel the properties of inert matter to bend to his

behests; and to direct not only the energies of the inferior animals, but even those of his fellow creatures, to the purposes which he may have in view.

In contemplating, for instance, as in all the pride of its appointments it advances through the waves, the majestic movements of a man-ofwar, let us trace its whole history, and thence admire the extent of human power over the material world. Look at the rude canoe of the New Zealander, or call to mind the nearly as rude coracle of our own forefathers, and compare those simple and puny products of an infant art with the complicated and gigantic triumph of naval architecture now before you; and no wonder if, observing the ease and precision of its movements, the unlettered savages of the islands of the Pacific conceived the stupendous machine to be some form of animated matter; whose fierce nature and awful power were announced by the tremendous roar and destructive effects of its artillery.

Or, passing from inert matter to living and intellectual agents, let us in imagination first view the tumultuary and predatory incursions of the aboriginal borderers of the Ohio, or even of the more civilized tribes of modern Arabia; revenge or booty their sole object, without any plan of civil government or national aggrandizement; and then let us contemplate the profound