The Religion of Geology and Its Connected SciencesHitchcock, Edward
Religion
The Religion of Geology and Its Connected Sciences
Hitchcock, Edward
Bible and geology; Religion and science
"In order that the teeth of a carnivorous animal may be able to cut the
flesh, they require to be sharp, more or less so in proportion to the
greater or less quantity of flesh which they have to cut. It is requisite
that their roots should be solid and strong, in proportion to the greater
quantity and size of the bones which they have to break to pieces. The
whole of these circumstances must necessarily influence the development
and form of all the parts which contribute to move the jaws.
"To enable the claws of a carnivorous animal to seize its prey, a
considerable degree of mobility is necessary in their paws and toes, and a
considerable strength in the claws themselves. From these circumstances,
there necessarily result certain determinate forms in all the bones of
their paws, and in the distribution of the muscles and tendons by which
they are moved. The fore arm must possess a certain facility of moving in
various directions, and consequently requires certain determinate forms in
the bones of which it is composed. As the bones of the fore arm are
articulated with the arm bone, or humerus, no change can take place in the
form or structure of the former, without occasioning correspondent changes
in the form of the latter. The shoulder-blade, also, or scapula, requires
a correspondent degree of strength in all animals destined for catching
prey, by which it likewise must necessarily have an appropriate form. The
play and action of all these parts require certain proportions in the
muscles which set them in motion, and the impressions formed by these
muscles must still farther determine the form of all these bones.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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