The hand, its mechanism and vital endowments, as evincing design. / by Sir Charles Bell.

  • Bell, Charles, Sir, 1774-1842.
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The hand, its mechanism and vital endowments, as evincing design. / by Sir Charles Bell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    food, and its internal economy. This, to one unacquainted with the subject, must appear wonderful; but it is after the follow- ing manner that the anatomist proceeds. Let us suppose that he has taken up that portion of bone, in the limb of a quadru- ped, which corresponds to the upper part of the human radius; and that he finds that the form of the end of the bone, where it enters into the joint, does not admit of the free motion, iii various directions, possessed by the paw of the carnivorous creature. It is obvious, on that view of the structure alone, that the office of the limb must have been for supporting the animal, and for progression, not for seizing prey. That leads him to the fact, that the bones corresponding to those of the hand and fingers, must have difiered from the bones of the paw of the tiger; for the motions which that conformation permits, would be useless without rotation of the wrist: and he con- cludes, therefore, that the hand and finger-bones were each formed in one mass, like the cannon, pastern, and coffin bones of the horse's foot* Now, the motion of the foot of a hoofed animal being limited to flexion and extension, it implies re- strained motion at the shoulder-joint, and absence of a collar- bone. And thus, from the broken specimen in his hand, the naturalist acquires a perfect notion of the bones of both extre- mities. But the motion of the extremities implies a particular construction of the vertebral column which unites them; each bone of the spine will be of that form which corresponds to the bounding of the stag, or galloping of the horse; but will not have the kind of articulation which admits of the turning or writhing of the body, as in the leopard or tiger. Next he comes to the head :—and he argues Hiat the pointed, cutting teeth, Avith which a carnivorous animal is provided to rend its prey, Avould be useless, unless there were mobility of the extremities, lilce that of the hand, for grasping it, and claws for securing it. He considers, therefore, that the front teeth must have been for browsing, and the back teeth for grinding. But the socketing of the teeth requires a peculiar shape of the jaw-bones, and the muscles which move these bones must also be peculiar. In short, from the shape and functions of the * These are solid bones, in which it is difficult to recognise any resem- blance to the bones of the hand and fingers ; yet comparative anatomy proves that they are analogous.