and so arrive at the knowledge of the Gods; for men are not simply to
dwell here as inhabitants of the earth, but to be, as it were,
spectators of the heavens and the stars, which is a privilege not
granted to any other kind of animated beings. The senses, which are the
interpreters and messengers of things, are placed in the head, as in a
tower, and wonderfully situated for their proper uses; for the eyes,
being in the highest part, have the office of sentinels, in discovering
to us objects; and the ears are conveniently placed in a high part of
the person, being appointed to receive sound, which naturally ascends.
The nostrils have the like situation, because all scent likewise
ascends; and they have, with great reason, a near vicinity to the
mouth, because they assist us in judging of meat and drink. The taste,
which is to distinguish the quality of what we take; is in that part of
the mouth where nature has laid open a passage for what we eat and
drink. But the touch is equally diffused through the whole body, that
we may not receive any blows, or the too rigid attacks of cold and
heat, without feeling them. And as in building the architect averts
from the eyes and nose of the master those things which must
necessarily be offensive, so has nature removed far from our senses
what is of the same kind in the human body.

LVII. What artificer but nature, whose direction is incomparable, could
have exhibited so much ingenuity in the formation of the senses? In the
first place, she has covered and invested the eyes with the finest
membranes, which she hath made transparent, that we may see through
them, and firm in their texture, to preserve the eyes. She has made
them slippery and movable, that they might avoid what would offend
them, and easily direct the sight wherever they will. The actual organ
of sight, which is called the pupil, is so small that it can easily
shun whatever might be hurtful to it. The eyelids, which are their
coverings, are soft and smooth, that they may not injure the eyes; and
are made to shut at the apprehension of any accident, or to open at
pleasure; and these movements nature has ordained to be made in an
instant: they are fortified with a sort of palisade of hairs, to keep
off what may be noxious to them when open, and to be a fence to their
repose when sleep closes them, and allows them to rest as if they were
wrapped up in a case. Besides, they are commodiously hidden and
defended by emine