ere the bones are most prominent, their whiteness is often
discernible. In a word, every part of the human frame seems to
contribute to its external grace; and this not merely by producing a
pleasing variety of tints, but by a peculiar kind of beauty which
belongs to each individual part. Thus it is to the solidity and
arrangement of the bones that the human figure owes the grandeur of its
stature, and its firm and dignified deportment. The muscles delineate
the form, and stamp it with energy and grace; and the soft substance
which is spread over them smooths their ruggedness, and gives to the
contours the gentle undulations of the line of beauty. Every organ of
sense is a peculiar and separate ornament; and the skin, which polishes
the surface, and gives it that charm of colouring so inimitable by art,
finally conspires to render the whole the fairest work of the creation.

But now that we have seen in what manner the animal frame is formed, let
us observe how it provides for its support, and how the several organs,
which form so complete a whole, are nourished and maintained.

This will lead us to a more particular explanation of the internal
organs: here we shall not meet with so much apparent beauty, because
these parts were not intended by nature to be exhibited to view; but the
beauty of design, in the internal organisation of the animal frame, is,
if possible, still more remarkable than that of the external parts.

We shall defer this subject till our next interview.

CONVERSATION XXV.

ON ANIMALISATION, NUTRITION, AND RESPIRATION.

MRS. B.

We have now learnt of what materials the animal system is composed, and
have formed some idea of the nature of its organisation. In order to
complete the subject, it remains for us to examine in what manner it is
nourished and supported.

Vegetables, we have observed, obtain their nourishment from various
substances, either in their elementary state, or in a very simple state
of combination; as carbon, water, and salts, which they pump up from the
soil; and carbonic acid and oxygen, which they absorb from the
atmosphere.

Animals, on the contrary, feed on substances of the most complicated
kind; for they derive their sustenance, some from the animal creation,
others from the vegetable kingdom, and some from both.

CAROLINE.

And there is one species of animals, which, not satisfied with enjoying
either kind of food in its simple state, has invented the ar