The priests, when they bring forth the images of their gods, cause the girls to dance before the images. It is said, that then they are selected for their beauty, and their bodies prostituted for hire, which of course goes into the pockets of the clergy. The priests in all countries are found to bear a close resemblance to each other.

EXTRACTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BONES.

"IF we set ourselves to examine with an unbiassed judgment the process of nature in forming the bones, as in the chick, or in restoring them, as in broken limbs, a succession of phenomena present themselves, the most orderly, beautiful, and simple of any that are recorded in the philosophy of the animal body: for if bones were but condensed, gluten, coagulated blood, or a mere deposition from the periosteum, they were then inorganized and out of the system, not subject to change, nor open to disease; liable, indeed, to be broken, but without any means of being healed again; while they are, in truth, as fully organized, as permeable to the blood, as easily hurt and as easily healed, as sensible to pain in some cases and as regularly changed, as the softer parts are. We are not to refer the generation and growth of bone to any one part. It is not formed by that jelly in which the bone is laid, nor by the blood which is circulating in it, nor by the periosteum which covers it, nor by the medullary membrane with which it is lined; but the whole system of the bone, of which these are parts only, is designed and planned, is laid out in the very elements of the body, and goes on to ripeness by the concurring action of all its parts. The arteries, by a determined action, deposit the bone, which is formed commonly in a bed of cartilage, as the bones of the leg or arm are; sometimes betwixt two layers of membrane, like the bones of the skull, where true cartilage

is never seen. Often the secretion of the bony matter is performed in a distinct bag, and there it grows into form, as in the teeth; for each tooth is formed in its little bag, which, by injection, can be filled and covered with vessels; the bone of the tooth being formed in a different manner from common bone. Any artery of the body may assume this action and deposit bone, which is formed also where it should not be, in the tendons and in the joints, in the great arteries and in their valves, in the flesh of the heart itself, or even in the soft and pulpy substance of the brain."

When

such bony concretions are found in the vessels or membranes of the body, they may be styled preternatural, and their structure is different from that of true and natural bone.

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"In the human foetus, and in other animals before the time of birth, instead of bones there are only cartilages of the form of the future bone. The whole fœtus appears to the eye like a mere jelly: the bones are a pure, almost transparent and tremulous jelly; they are flexible, so that a long bone can be bended into a complete ring; and no opacity nor spot of ossification is seen. This cartilage is never hardened into bone; but from the first, is in itself an organized mass. It has its vessels, which are at first transparent, but which soon dilate; and whenever the red colour of the blood begins to appear in them, ossification very quickly follows, the arteries being so far enlarged as to carry the coarser parts of the blood. The first mark of ossification is an artery, which is seen running into the centre of the jelly, in which the bone is to be formed. Other arteries soon appear, overtake the first, mix with it, and form a net work of vessels; then a centre of ossification begins stretching its rays according to the length of the bone, and then the cartilage begins to grow opaque, yellow, brittle; it will no longer bend, and the small nucleus of ossification is felt in the centre of the bone, and when touched with a sharp point is easily known by its gritty feel. Other points of ossification are successively formed; always the ossification is foretold by the spreading of the artery, and by the arrival of red blood. Every point of ossification has its little arteries,

and each ossifying nucleus has so little dependence on the cartilage in which it is formed, that it is held to it by vessels only; and when the ossifying cartilage is cut into thin slices, and steeped in water till its arteries rot, the nucleus of ossification drops spontaneously from the cartilage, leaving the cartilage like a ring, with a smooth and regular hole where the bone lay."Bell's Anatomy, vol. i., c. i., p. 6.

Composition of Bone.

"Bone consists of animal and of earthy particles, which, according to some physiologists, are supplied by two distinct sets of vessels: the former, or animal particles, being secreted by the blood vessels, which supply the internal or medullary membrane of the bone; whilst the latter, or earthy particles, are deposited by those of the periosteum or external investing membrane of bone. These two distinct constituents of bony substance may be easily demonstrated. For this purpose, if a portion of bone be exposed to a great heat, its animal particles will be consumed, leaving only an earthy residium; whilst, on the other hand, if a bone be submitted to the action of dilute (nitric) acid, its earthy particles will be removed, and with them the hardness and density of the bone, although the remaining animal matter will be sufficient to retain the original form of the bone. Of course it is according to the preponderance of the earthy over the animal particles, that constitutes the relative hardness of bones; whilst their deficiency proves a cause of morbid softness. It ought, however, to be observed, that the bones of the foetus are naturally soft, from a preponderance of animal matter. The following is the analysis of bone as given by Berzelius:

Cartilage

Fluate of lime.

Phosphate of lime

34.17

2.00

51.04

11.30

1.16

Carbonate of lime...

Phosphate of magnesia.....

Soda, muriate of soda, and water 1.20

Messrs. Fourcroy and Vanquelin state, that phosphate of magnesia, which is found in the bones of the lower animals, does not exist in the bones of the human subject; whilst, on the other hand, this salt is found in human urine, but not in that of brutes."-Lectures on Anatomy, by B. B. Cooper, F.R.S., vol. i., part 1, lect. 1, p. 13.

FORMATION OF CHARACTER.

short but full

He that has and he that

"A SOUND mind in a sound body, is a description of a happy state in this life. these two, has little more to wish for; wants either of them, will be little the better for anything else. Men's happiness or misery is most part of their own making. He whose mind directs not wisely, will never take the right way; and he whose mind is crazy and feeble, will never be able to advance in it. I confess there are some men's constitutions of body and mind so vigorous and well-framed by nature, that they need not much assistance from others, but by the strength of their natural genius they are from their cradles carried towards what is excellent, and by the privilege of their happy constitutions are able to do wonders. But examples of this kind are but few; and I think I may say that, of all the men we meet with, nine parts of ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by education. 'Tis that which makes the great difference in mankind. The little or almost insensible impressions on our tender infancies have very important and lasting consequences: and there 'tis as in the fountains of some rivers, where a gentle application of the hand turns the flexible waters into channels, that make them take quite contrary courses; and by this little direction given them at first in the source, they receive different tendencies, and arrive at last in very remote and distant places. I imagine the minds of children as easily turned this or that way as water itself; and though this be the principal

part, and our main care should be about the inside, yet the clay cottage is not to be neglected."-Locke on Education, s. 1, 2, p. 1.

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The opponents of socialism frequently adduce the authority of Locke in favour of their peculiar systems of faith and mysticism. Gregory, in his historical and moral essays, observes, If Socrates, if Plato, if Zeno, or if Tully had been educated under the influence of Christianity, would they, can we suppose, have rejected its truths for the blindness of Paganism? Would they have ranked with the Bolingbrokes and Voltaires, with that nameless herd of triflers who affect to despise or ridicule revelation? Would they not rather have embraced the philosophy and imitated the conduct of a Milton, a Newton, an Addison, and a Locke ?"

Here we perceive the name and authority of Locke dragged forward to counteract the authority of Voltaire. His name is also often bandied about by the opponents of social missionaries-the pseudo-philosophers of the day, as if the authority of Locke could make that which is true more true, or that which is false become genuine philosophy. This adducing of names, this leaning to authority, in some cases is the result of defective mental powers, and in others is a mere artifice ad captandum vulgus, a veil flung over a system to hide its deformity from observation. Indeed, it has been easy for the preisthood to collect the testimonies of great men in favour of Christianity, or what is called Christianity; for I apprehend no philosopher would object to religion when it is properly explained. But this term Christianity has been made a watchword, a bugbear amongst the priests, wherewith to frighten people into a compliance with their ghostly wishes. They have built a system of doctrine of their own, and dubbed and dignified it with the name of Christianity; whereas it is essentially opposed to the spirit and precepts of Christ. In past ages, philosophers knew very well that if they did not subscribe to the popular theology of the time, they would feel the malevolence of superstition. The rack, the gibbet,

Witness, the Inquisition.

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