for supplying that nourishment which the perpetual waste of our bodies demands.

Our food undergoes two great preparations be-. fore it becomes nutritive to our bodies. The first is by mastication and moisture in the mouth. The second by the process of digestion in the stomach. The last is a surprising dissolution; for it converts the aliment into pulp, which, though lately consisting of perhaps ten different viands, is reduced to nearly an uniform substance, and to a state fitted for yielding its essence, which is called chyle, but which more nearly resembles milk than any other liquor with which it can be compared. For the straining off of this fluid from the digested aliment in the course of its long progress through the body, myriads of capillary tubes, or pipes as small as hairs, open their orifices into the cavity of every part of the intestines. These tubes, which are so fine and slender as not to be visible, unless when distended with chyle, soon unite into larger branches, which convey it into a common reservior, or receptacle, containing about two table spoonfulls. From this, a duct or main pipe, discharges it into a large vein, which soon conveys the chyle, now flowing along with the blood, to the heart. The action of the intestines pushes forward the grosser part of the aliment, at the same time that the more subtle parts, which we call chyle, are by a series of gentle compressions, squeezed into the narrow orifices of the lacteal veins. And animal digestion carries about it the marks of being a power and process completely distinct from every other, at least from every chymical process, with which we are acquainted. When we consider the process of digestion, its several connexions, relations, and purposes, we may well acknowledge with admiration, We are wonderfully made.

6thly. If a few appropriate remarks be made in regard to perspiration, our wonder will be justly excited.

Perspiration is the evacuation of the juices of the body through the pores of the skin. It has been calculated, that there are above three hundred thousand millions of pores in the glands of the skin which covers the body of a middle sized man. Through these pores, more than one half of what we eat and drink passes off by insensible perspiration. If we consume eight pounds of food in a day, five pounds of it are insensibly discharged by perspiration. During a night of seven hours' sleep, we perspire about forty ounces, or two pounds and a half. At an average, we may estimate the discharge from the surface of the body, by sensible and insensible perspiration, to be from half an ounce to four ounces an hour. This is a most wonderful part of the animal economy, and is ab-> solutely necessary to our health, and even to our very existence. When partially obstructed, colds, rheumatisms, fevers, and other inflammatory disorders, are produced; and were it completely obstructed, the vital functions would be clogged and impeded in their movements, and death would inevitably ensue. Perspiration is affected in consequence of the action and heat throughout the human system; and it is increased by external heat and bodily exercise. It may be impeded by various means, external and internal. Thus the nutritive portion of our food, which does not become incorporated into our bodies, is evacuted through the pores of the skin. How mysterious the mechanism of perspiration! How wonderfully are we made!

7thly. If we consider sensation, or perception, by means of the senses, we shall be furnished with another argument to convince us that we are wonderfully made.

The nerves are generally considered as the instruments of sensation. They are soft white cords, which proceed from the brain and spinal marrow. They come forth originally by pairs. Ten pairs proceed from the medullary substance of the brain,

which are distributed to all parts of the head and neck. Thirty pairs proceed from the spinal marrow, through the vertebræ, to all the other parts of the body, there being forty in all. These nerves, the ramifications of which are infinitely various and minute, are distributed upon the heart, lungs, blood-vessels, bowels, and muscles, till they terminate on the skin, or external covering of the body. Impressions of external objects are received by the brain from the adjacent organs of sense, and the brain exercises its commands over the muscles and limbs, by means of the nerves.

The impression of outward and material objects upon the organs of sense, excite within us ideas of themselves, accommodated to their respective natures, so far as it is the design of our Creator that we should understand them. The medium of sensation is admitted to be by the instrumentality of the nervous system, which may be regarded as an expansion of the brain, distributed in its fine and delicate filaments to every part of the body. But how the impression, or vibration, from external objects, reaches the sensitive and intellectual principles of our nature, and becomes the efficient cause of our ideas, is far removed from our comprehension. The action of matter upon spirit remains yet unexplained, and is perhaps inexplicable to the limited penetration of the human mind.

With regard to the various colouring of the external world, an important discovery has taught philosophers, since the days of the great Newton, that colour exists neither in the mind, nor in the objects themselves, which we contemplate, but in the rays of light, reflected from their surfaces. Hence the varied position, or changes, of the external particles of an object, produce the different colours which we behold.

I shall now conclude these descriptions, with the following summary of the parts of the body. The bones, by their joints and solidity, form the founda

tion of this fine machine. The ligaments are strings, which unite the parts together. The muscles are fleshy substances, which act as elastick springs, to put them in motion. The nerves, which are dispersed over the whole body, connect all the parts together.

The arteries and veins, like rivulets, convey life and health throughout. The heart, placed in the centre, is the focus, where the blood collects; or the acting power, by means of which it circulates, and is preserved. The lungs, by means of another power, draw in the external air, and expel hurtful vapours. The stomach and intestines are the ma gazines, where every thing that is required for the daily supply, is prepared. The brain, the seat of: perception, memory, and reason, is formed in a manner suitable to the dignity of its inhabitants. The senses, which are the soul's ministers, warn it of all that is necessary either for its pleasure or use. But the union of soul and body, so as to constitute but one being, is the wonder of wonders in regard to our existence. That natures so essentially different as matter and mind, should have the most intimate, mutual sympathies and influence over each other, is truly astonishing. The admirable mechanism of the various senses, should excite our wonder; and their dignified offices of administration to the soul, are marvellous indeed!

When we contemplate the mysterious union of our souls and bodies; their oneness in regard to being, that they are to be a long time separate in different worlds, and at last re-united, we cannot hesitate to adopt the language of the devout Psalmist, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. The various descriptions to which we have been attending, are but a few, and those very imperfect delincations of the divine wonders, exhibited in the existence of a human being. But these short sketches do naturally call forth the exclamation, Adorable Creator! with what skill hast thou formed us! Amen.

SERMON XV.

THE FEARFUL AND WONDERFUL FORMATION OF MAN.

PSALM CXXXIX. 14.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

THE subject which has been illustrated in the preceding discourse, suggests a variety of important reflections both intellectual and moral.

Ist. Man is an entirely dependant being.

As the economy of the human frame, when seriously contemplated, has a tendency to excite admiration and astonishment, so it ought to impress us with a sense of our continual dependance on a Supreme Power. What an immense multiplicity of machinery must be in action to enable us to breathe, to feel, and to walk! Hundreds of bones of diversified forms, connected together by various modes of articulation; hundreds of muscles to produce motion, each of them acting in at least ten different capacities; hundreds of tendons and ligaments to connect the bones and muscles; hundreds of arteries to convey the blood to the remotest part of the system; hundreds of veins to bring it back to its reservoir, the heart; thousands of glands, secreting humours of various kinds from the blood; thousands of lacteal and lymphatick tubes, absorbing and conveying nutriment to the circulating fluid; millions of pores through which the perspiration is continually issuing; an infinity of ramifications of nerves, diffusing sensation throughout all the parts of this exquisite machine; and the heart at every pulsation exerting a force of