תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

ward Coverings. Why there fhould be fuch copious Fat gathered about the Reins to enclofe them, is not so easy to discern: But furély there is a great and conftant Heat required there for the Separation of the Urine from the Blood the conftant Separation and Excretion whereof, is neceffary for the Preservation of Life. And we fee, if the Blood be in any Degree chill'd, the Secretion of Urine is in a great Measure ftopt, and the Serum caft upon the Glandules of the Mouth and Throat, And if the Blood be extraordinarily heated by Exercise, or otherwife, it cafts off its Serum plentifully by Sweat, which may be effected by the fwift Motion of the Blood through the Glandules of the Skin, where its plentiful Streams being ftrengthen'd and constipated into a Liquor, force their Way through thofe Emunctories, which at other Times tranfmit only infenfible Vapors. Some fuch Effect may be wrought upon the Blood, by the Heat of the Kidneys. Certain it is, that the Humours, excerned by Sweat and Urine, are near a-kin, if not the fame; and therefore it is worthy the Confideration, whether there might not be fome Ufe made of Sweating in a Suppreffion of Urine. But I digrefs too far.

I fhall only add to this Particular, That because the Defign of Nature in collecting Fat in thefe Places, is for the forementioned Ufe; it hath, for the effecting thereof, fitted the Veffels there with Pores or Paffages proper for the Se paration and Transmission of it,

I fhould

I fhould now proceed to treat of the Generation and Formation of the Fatus in the Womb; but that is a Subject too difficult for me to handle; the Body of Man and other Animals being formed in the dark Receffes of the Matrix, or as the Pfalmift phrafes it, Pfal. cxxxix. 14. made in fecret, and curiously wrought in the lowest Parts of the Earth. This Work is fo admirable and unaccountable, that neither the Atheists nor Mechanick Philofophers have attempted to declare the Manner and Process of it; but have (as I noted before) very cautiously and prudently broke off their Syftems of Natural Philofophy here, and left this Point untouch'd; and thofe Accounts which fome of them have attempted to give of the Formation of a few of the Parts, are fo exceffively abfurd and ridiculous, that they need no other Confutation than ha, ha, he. And I have already farther fhewn, that to me it seems impoffible, that Matter divided into as minute and fubtle Parts as you will, or can imagine, and those moved according to what Catholick Laws foever can be devifed, fhould without the Presidency and Direction of fome intelligent Agent, by the meer Agitation of a gentle Heat, run itself into fuch a curious Machine, as the Body of Man is.

Yet must it be confefs'd, that the Seed of Animals is admirably qualified to be fashioned and formed by the Plaftick Nature into an Organical Body, containing the Principles or component Particles of all the feveral homo

U 4

geneous

geneous Parts thereof; for indeed every Part of the Body feems to club and contribute to the Seed, elfe why should Parents that are born Blind or Deaf, or that want a Finger, or any other Part, or have one fuperfluous, fometimes generate Children that have the fame Defects or Imperfections; and yet (which is wonderful) nothing of the Body or groffer Matter of the Seed comes near the first Principle of the Fatus, or in fome fo much as enters the Womb, but only fome contagious Vapour, or fubtle Effluviums thereof; which feems to animate the Gemma or Cicatricula of the Egg contain'd in the Female Ovary, before it paffes through the Tubes, or Cornua, into the Uterus. How far the Animalcules obferv'd in the Seed of Males, may contribute to Generation, I leave to the more fagacious Philofophers to enquire, and fhall here content myself with referring the Reader to the feveral Letters publifh'd by Mr. Lewenhoeck.

But to what fhall we attribute the Fatus its Likeness to the Parents, or omitting them to the precedent Progenitors, as I have obferv'd fome Parents that have been both black Hair'd, to have generated moft red Hair'd Children, because their Anceftor's Hair hath been of that Colour; or why are Twins fo often extremely alike? Whether is this owing to the Efficient, or to the Matter?

Thofe Effluvia we fpake of in the Male Seed, as fubtle as they are, yet have they a great, if not the greatest Stroke in Generation, as is clearly

[ocr errors]

clearly demonftrable in a Mule, which doth more refemble the Male Parent, that is the Afs, than the Female or Horfe. But now, why fuch different Species fhould not only mingle together, but alfo generate an Animal, and yet that that hybridous Production fhould not again generate, and fo a new Race be carried on, but Nature fhould ftop here, and proceed no farther, is to me a Mystery, and unaccountable.

[ocr errors]

One thing relating to Generation I cannot omit; that is, the Conftruction of a Sett of Temporary Parts, (like Scaffolds in a Building) to ferve a prefent End, which are afterwards laid afide, afford a ftrong Argument of Counfel and Defign. Now for the Ufe of the Young, during its Enclosure in the Womb, there are feveral Parts formed, as the Membranes inveloping it, called the Secundines, the Umbilical Veifels, one Vein and two Arteries; the Urachus, to convey the Urine out of the Bladder, and the placenta Uterina; Part whereof fall away at the Birth, as the Secundines and Placenta; others degenerate into Ligaments, as the Urachus, and Part of the Umbilical Vein: Befides which, because the Fatus, during its Abode in the Womb, hath no Use of Refpiration by the Lungs, the Blood doth not all, I may fay not the greatest Part of it, flow through them; but there are two Paffages or Channels contrived, one called the Foramen Ovale, by which Part of the Blood brought by the Vena Cava, paffeth immediately into the

Left

[ocr errors]

Part II. Left Ventricle of the Heart, without entring the Right at all; the other is a large Arterial Channel paffing from the pulmonary Artery immediately into the Aorta, or great Artery, which likewise derives Part of the Blood thi ther, without running at all into the Lungs : These two are closed up foon after the Child is born, when it breathes no more (as I may fo fay) by the Placenta Uterina, but Refpiration by the Lungs is needful for it. It is here to be noted, that though the Lungs be formed fo foon as the other Parts, yet during the Abode of the Fatus in the Womb, they lie by as useless. In like manner I have obferved, that in ruminating Creatures, the three foremoft Stomachs, not only during the Continuance of the Young in the Womb, but fo long as it is fed with Milk, are unemployed and useless, the Milk paffing immediately into the fourth.

Another Obfervation I fhall add concerning Generation, which is of fome moment, because it takes away fome Conceffions of Naturalifts, that give countenance to the Atheists fictitious and ridiculous Account of the first Production of Mankind, and other Animals, viz. That all forts of Infects, yea, and fome Quadrupeds too, as Frogs and Mice, are produced fpontaneouf ly. My Obfervation and Affirmation is, that there is no fuch thing in Nature, as Equivocal or Spontaneous Generation, but that all Animals, as well fmall as great, not excluding the vileft and most contemptible Infect, are ge

nerated

« הקודםהמשך »