Chap. X.—Of the Outer Limbs of Man, and Their Use.

But let us return to the works of God. That the eyes, therefore, might be better protected from injury, He concealed them with the coverings of the eyelashes,62    Ciliorum. The word properly denotes the edge of the eyelid, in which the eyelash is fixed; said to be derived from “cilleo,” to move.   from which Varro thinks that the eyes63    Oculi, as though derived from “occulere,” to conceal.   derived their name. For even the eyelids themselves, in which there is the power of rapid motion, and to which throbbing64    Palpitatio. Hence “palpebræ,” the eyelids.   gives their name, being protected by hairs standing in order, afford a most becoming fence to the eyes; the continual motion of which, meeting with incomprehensible rapidity, does not impede the course of the sight, and relieves the eyes.65    Reficit obtutum.   For the pupil—that is, the transparent membrane—which ought not to be drained and to become dry, unless it is cleansed by continual moisture so that it shines clearly, loses its power.66    Obsolescit.   Why should I speak of the summits of the eyebrows themselves, furnished with short hair? Do they not, as it were by mounds, both afford protection to the eyes, so that nothing may fall into them from above,67    Xenophon, Memorabilia, i. 4.]   and at the same time ornament? And the nose, arising from the confines of these, and stretched out, as it were, with an equal ridge, at once serves to separate and to protect the two eyes. Below also, a not unbecoming swelling of the cheeks, gently rising after the similitude of hills, makes the eyes safer on every side; and it has been provided by the great Artificer, that if there shall happen to be a more violent blow, it may be repelled by the projecting parts. But the upper part of the nose as far as the middle has been made solid; but the lower part has been made with a softened cartilage annexed to it, that it may be pliant68    Tractabilis.   to the use of the fingers. Moreover, in this, though a single member, three offices are placed: one, that of drawing the breath; the second, that of smelling; the third, that the secretions of the brain may escape through its caverns. And in how wonderful, how divine a manner did God contrive these also, so that the very cavity of the nose should not deform the beauty of the face: which would certainly have been the case if one single aperture only were open. But He enclosed and divided that, as though by a wall drawn through the middle, and made it most beautiful by the very circumstance of its being double.69    Ipsa duplicitate.   From which we understand of how much weight the twofold number, made firm by one simple connection, is to the perfection of things.  

For though the body is one, yet the whole could not be made up of single members, unless it were that there should be parts on the right hand or on the left. Therefore, as the two feet and also hands not only avail to some utility and practice either of walking or of doing something, but also bestow an admirable character and comeliness; so in the head, which is, as it were, the crown of the divine work, the hearing has been divided by the great Artificer into two ears, and the sight into two eyes, and the smelling into two nostrils, because the brain, in which is contained the system of the sensation, although it is one, yet is divided into two parts by the intervening membrane. But the heart also, which appears to be the abode of wisdom, although it is one, yet has two recesses within, in which are contained the living fountains of blood, divided by an intervening barrier: that as in the world itself the chief control, being twofold from simple matter, or simple from a twofold matter, governs and keeps together the whole; so in the body, all the parts, being constructed of two, might present an inseparable unity. Also how useful and how becoming is the appearance and the opening of the mouth transversely cannot be expressed; the use of which consists in two offices, that of taking food and speaking.  

The tongue enclosed within, which by its motions divides the voice into words, and is the interpreter of the mind, cannot, however, by itself alone fulfil the office of speaking, unless it strikes its edge against the palate, unless aided by striking against the teeth or by the compression of the lips. The teeth, however, contribute more to speaking: for infants do not begin to speak before they have teeth; and old men, when they have lost their teeth, so lisp that they appear to have returned afresh to infancy. But these things relate to man alone, or to birds, in which the tongue, being pointed and vibrating with fixed motions, expresses innumerable inflexions of songs and various kinds of sounds. It has, moreover, another office also, which it exercises in all, and this alone in the dumb animals, that it collects the food when bruised and ground by the teeth, and by its force presses it down when collected into balls, and transmits it to the belly. Accordingly, Varro thinks that the name of tongue was given to it from binding70    Lingua, as though from “ligando.”   the food. It also assists the beasts in drinking: for with the tongue stretched out and hollowed they draw water; and when they have taken it in the hollow71    Linguæ sinu.   of the tongue, lest by slowness and delay it should flow away, they dash72    Complodunt.   it against the palate with swift rapidity. This, therefore, is covered by the concave part of the palate as by a shell,73    Testudine.   and God has surrounded it with the enclosure of the teeth as with a wall.  

But He has adorned the teeth themselves, which are arranged in order in a wonderful manner, lest, being bare and exposed,74    Restricti.   they should be a terror rather than an ornament, with soft gums, which are so named from producing teeth, and then with the coverings of the lips; and the hardness of the teeth, as in a millstone, is greater and rougher than in the other bones, that they might be sufficient for bruising the food and pasture. But how befittingly has He divided75    Intercidit.   the lips themselves, which as it were before were united! the upper of which, under the very middle of the nostrils, He has marked with a kind of slight cavity, as with a valley: He has gracefully spread out76    Foras molliter explicavit.   the lower for the sake of beauty. For, as far as relates to the receiving of flavour, he is deceived, whoever he is, who thinks that this sense resides in the palate; for it is the tongue by which flavours are perceived, and not the whole of it: for the parts of it which are more tender on either side, draw in the flavour with the most delicate perceptions. And though nothing is diminished from that which is eaten or drunk, yet the flavour in an indescribable manner penetrates to the sense, in the same way in which the taking of the smell detracts nothing from any material.  

And how beautiful the other parts are can scarcely be expressed. The chin, gently drawn down from the cheeks, and the lower part of it so closed that the lightly imprinted division appears to mark its extreme point: the neck stiff and well rounded: the shoulders let down as though by gentle ridges from the neck: the fore-arms77    Brachia. The fore-arms, from the hand to the elbow.   powerful, and braced78    Substricta.   by sinews for firmness: the great strength of the upper-arms79    Lacerti, The arm from the elbow to the shoulder.   standing out with remarkable muscles: the useful and becoming bending of the elbows. What shall I say of the hands, the ministers of reason and wisdom? Which the most skilful Creator made with a flat and moderately concave bend, that if anything was to be held, it might conveniently rest upon them, and terminated them in the fingers; in which it is difficult to explain whether the appearance or the usefulness is greater. For the perfection and completeness of their number, and the comeliness of their order and gradation, and the flexible bending of the equal joints, and the round form of the nails, comprising and strengthening the tips of the fingers with concave coverings, lest the softness of the flesh should yield in holding any object, afford great adornment. But this is convenient for use, in wonderful ways, that one separated from the rest rises together with the hand itself, and is enlarged80    Maturius funditur.   in a different direction, which, offering itself as though to meet the others, possesses all the power of holding and doing either alone, or in a special manner, as the guide and director of them all; from which also it received the name of thumb,81    i.e., pollex, as though from “polleo,” to prevail.   because it prevails among the others by force and power. It has two joints standing out, not as the others, three; but one is annexed by flesh to the hand for the sake of beauty: for if it had been with three joints, and itself separate, the foul and unbecoming appearance would have deprived the hand of all grace.  

Again, the breadth of the breast, being elevated, and exposed to the eyes, displays a wonderful dignity of its condition; of which this is the cause, that God appears to have made man only, as it were, reclining with his face upward: for scarcely any other animal is able to lie upon its back. But He appears to have formed the dumb animals as though lying on one side, and to have pressed them to the earth. For this reason He gave them a narrow breast, and removed from sight, and prostrate82    Abjectum.   towards the earth. But He made that of man open and erect, because, being full of reason given from heaven, it was not befitting that it should be humble or unbecoming. The nipples also gently rising, and crowned with darker and small orbs, add something of beauty; being given to females for the nourishment of their young, to males for grace only, that the breast might not appear misshapen, and, as it were, mutilated. Below this is placed the fiat surface of the belly, about the middle of which the navel distinguishes by a not unbecoming mark, being made for this purpose, that through it the young, while it is in the womb, may be nourished.  

CAPUT X. De exterioribus hominis membris, eorumque usu.

Sed nos ad Dei opera revertamur. Ut igitur oculi munitiores essent ab injuria, eos ciliorum tegminibus occuluit; unde oculos dictos esse, Varroni placet. Nam et ipsae palpebrae, quibus mobilitas inest, et palpitatio vocabulum tribuit, pilis in ordine stantibus 0041A vallatae, septum oculis decentissimum praebent. Quarum motus assiduus incomprehensibili celeritate concurrens, et videndi tenorem non impedit, et reficit obtutum. Acies enim, id est membrana illa perlucens, quam siccari et obarescere non oportet, nisi humore assiduo tersa pure niteat, obsolescit. Quid ipsa superciliorum fastigia pilis brevibus adornata? nonne, quasi aggeribus, et munimentum oculis, ne quid superne incidat, et speciem simul praestant? Ex quorum confinio nasus exoriens, et veluti aequali porrectus jugo, utramque aciem simul et discernit et munit. Inferius quoque genarum non indecens tumor, in similitudinem collium leniter exurgens, ab omni parte oculos efficit tutiores; provisumque est ab artifice summo, ut si quis forte vehementior ictus extiterit, eminentibus repellatur. Nasi vero pars superior 0041B usque ad medium solida formata est, inferior autem cartilagine adhaerente mollita, ut ad usum digitorum possit esse tractabilis. In hoc autem, quamvis simplici membro, tria sunt officia constituta; unum ducendi spiritus; alterum capiendi odoris; tertium ut per ejus cavernas purgamenta cerebri defluant: quas ipsas Deus quam mirabili, quam divina 0042A ratione molitus est, ut tamen hiatus ipse nasi oris speciem non deformaret. Quod erat plane futurum, si unum ac simplex foramen pateret. At id velut pariete per medium ducto intersepsit atque divisit, fecitque ipsa duplicitate pulcherrimum. Ex quo intelligimus quantum dualis numerus, una et simplici compage solidatus, ad rerum valeat perfectionem.

Nam cum sit corpus unum, tamen totum ex simplicibus membris constare non poterat, nisi ut essent partes vel dextrae, vel sinistrae. Itaque ut pedes duo, et item manus, non tantum ad utilitatem aliquam usumque, vel gradiendi, vel faciendi valent, sed et habitum, decoremque admirabilem conferunt: sic in capite, quod totius divini operis quasi culmen est, et auditus, in duas aures, et visus in duas acies, et odoratio 0042B in duas nares a summo artifice divisa est: quia cerebrum, in quo sentiendi ratio est, quamvis sit unum, tamen in duas partes membrana interveniente discretum est. Sed et cor, quod sapientiae domicilium videtur, licet sit unum, duos tamen intrinsecus sinus habet, quibus fontes vivi sanguinis continentur, septo intercedente divisi; ut sicut in ipso mundo summa 0043A rerum vel de simplici duplex, vel de duplici simplex, et gubernat, et continet totum: ita in corpore de duobus universa compacta, indissociabilem praetenderent unitatem. Oris quoque species, et rictus ex transverso patefactus, quam utilis, quam decens sit, enarrari non potest: cujus usus in duobus constat officiis, sumendi victus, et loquendi.

Lingua intus inclusa, quae vocem motibus suis in verba discernit, et est interpres animi; nec tamen sola potest per se loquendi munus implere, nisi acumen suum palato illiserit, nisi juta vel offensione dentium, vel compressione labiorum: dentes tamen plus conferunt ad loquendum; nam et infantes non ante incipiunt fari, quam dentes habuerint, et senes amissis dentibus ita balbutiunt, ut ad infantiam re 0043B voluti denuo esse videantur. Sed haec ad hominem solum pertinent, aut ad aves, in quibus acuminata et vibrata certis motibus lingua, innumerabiles cantuum flexiones, et sonorum varios modos exprimit. Habet praeterea et aliud officium, quo in omnibus, sed tamen solo in mutis utitur, quod contritos et commolitos dentibus cibos colligit, et conglobatos vi sua deprimit, 0044A et transmittit ad ventrem. Itaque Varro a ligando cibo putat linguae nomen impositum. Bestias etiam potu adjuvat; protenta enim cavataque hauriunt aquam, eamque comprehensam linguae sinu, ne tarditate ac mora effluat, ad palatum celeri mobilitate complodunt. Haec itaque palati concavo tanquam testudine tegitur; eamque dentium septis Deus quasi muro circumvallavit.

Dentes autem ipsos mirabili modo per ordinem fixos, ne nudi ac restricti magis horrori quam ornamento essent, gingivis mollibus, quae a gignendis dentibus nominantur, ac deinde labiorum tegminibus honestavit, quorum durities, sicut in molari lapide, major est et asperior, quam in caeteris ossibus, ut ad conterendos cibos pabulumque sufficerent. Labra 0044B ipsa, quae quasi antea cohaerebant, quam decenter intercidit; quorum superius sub ipsa medietate narium lacuna quadam levi, quasi valle signavit, inferius honestatis gratia foras molliter explicavit. Nam quod attinet ad saporem capiendum, fallitur, quisquis hunc sensum palato inesse arbitratur; lingua est enim, qua sapores sentiuntur: nec tamen tota; nam partes 0045A ejus, quae sunt ab utroque latere teneriores, saporem subtilissimis sensibus trahunt. Et cum neque ex cibo quidquam, neque ex potione minuatur; tamen inenarrabili modo penetrat ad sensum sapor, eadem ratione, qua nihil de quaque materia odoris capio decerpit.

Caetera quam decora sint, vix exprimi potest. Deductum clementer a genis mentum, et ita inferius conclusum, ut acumen ejus extremum signare videatur leviter impressa divisio; rigidum ac teres collum; scapulae velut mollibus jugis a cervice demissae; valida et substricta nervis ad fortitudinem brachia; insignibus toris extantium lacertorum vigens robur; utilis ac decens flexura cubitorum. Quid dicam de manibus, rationis ac sapientiae ministris? quas solertissimus 0045B artifex plano ac modice concavo sinu fictas, ut si quid tenendum sit, apte possit insidere, in digitos terminavit: in quibus difficile est expedire, utrumne 0046A species, an utilitas major sit. Nam et numerus perfectus, ac plenus, et ordo ac gradus decentissimus, et articulorum parium curvatura flexibilis, et forma unguium rotunda, concavis tegminibus digitorum fastigia comprehendens atque firmans, ne mollitudo carnis in tenendo cederet, magnum praebet ornatum. Illud vero ad usum miris modis habile, quod unus a caeteris separatus cum ipsa manu oritur, et in diversum maturius funditur: qui se velut obvium caeteris praebens, omnem tenendi faciendique rationem vel solus, vel praecipue possidet, tamquam rector omnium atque moderator; unde etiam pollicis nomen accepit, quod vi et potestate inter caeteros polleat. Duos quidem articulos extantes habet, non ut alii ternos, sed unus ad manum carne connectitur pulchritudinis 0046B gratia. Si enim fuisset tribus articulis et ipse discretus, foeda et indecora species ademisset manibus honestatem.

0047A Jam pectoris latitudo sublimis, et exposita oculis, mirabilem prae se fert habitus sui dignitatem. Cujus haec causa est, quod videtur hominem solum Deus veluti supinum formasse (nam fere nullum aliud animal jacere in tergum potest), mutas autem animantes quasi alterno latere jacentes finxisse, atque ad terram compressisse. Idcirco illis angustum pectus, et ab aspectu remotum, et ad terram versus abjectum: homini autem patens et erectum; quia plenum rationis a coelo datae, humile, aut indecens esse non debuit. Papillae quoque leviter eminentes, et fuscioribus ac parvis orbibus coronatae, non nihil addunt venustatis, foeminis ad alendos foetus datae, maribus ad solum decus, ne informe pectus, et quasi mutilum videretur. Huic subdita est planities ventris, quam 0047B mediam fere umbilicus non indecenti nota signat, ad hoc factus, ut per eum foetus, dum est in utero, nutriatur.