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The Hand: its mechanism and vital endowments, as evincing design, and illustrating the power, wisdom, and goodness of God
This Elibron Classics edition is a facsimile reprint of a 1837 edition by William Pickering, London.
- GenresScience
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1833
27 people want to read
About the author
Charles Bell
96 books3 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
After Sir Charles Bell, Scottish anatomist, Bell's Law, an axiom, states the motor anterior or ventral and the sensory posterior or dorsal roots of the spinal nerves; accordingly, any reflex arc conducts impulses in only one direction.
After Sir Charles Bell, Scottish anatomist, trauma, compression, or infection of the facial nerve results in sudden onset of muscle weakness and a distorted expression, which characterizes Bell's palsy, a unilateral paralysis.
This man served as surgeon, physiologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He discovered the noted difference in the cord. He also described Bell's palsy.
In Edinburgh, Bell lived, studied, and got his medical degree in 1799. Extraordinary talents of his brother together drew, taught, illustrated, and published two volumes of A System of Dissection Explaining the Anatomy of the Human Body .
After graduation, the royal college of surgeons quickly admitted Charles Bell, who operated and taught. He and his brother published two additional volumes of their treatise in 1802 and 1804. His success, however, led to jealous opposition of local physicians, and from practice, the royal infirmary of Edinburgh barred him. He then moved to London in 1804 and held a private surgery and school.
William Hunter founded the great school on windmill street; from 1812, Charles Bell ran it with his brother to 1825. He also served as a military surgeon and famously documented his experiences at Waterloo in words and drawings.
Charles Bell in 1824 served as the first professor of the college of surgeons in London. The royal society made him a fellow in 1826, and people bestowed him with honors and international recognition. In 1829, the new college of the king in London incorporated the school on windmill street. It invited Bell as first professor of physiology, but he resigned shortly afterwards.
The king knighted Charles Bell in 1831. In 1835, Charles Bell instrumentally created the hospital medical school of Middlesex. He in 1836 accepted the position of professor of surgery at the University of Edinburgh.
The royal Swedish academy of sciences elected Charles bell as a foreign member in 1841, be he wished to return. He died in his homeland.
After Sir Charles Bell, Scottish anatomist, Bell's Law, an axiom, states the motor anterior or ventral and the sensory posterior or dorsal roots of the spinal nerves; accordingly, any reflex arc conducts impulses in only one direction.
After Sir Charles Bell, Scottish anatomist, trauma, compression, or infection of the facial nerve results in sudden onset of muscle weakness and a distorted expression, which characterizes Bell's palsy, a unilateral paralysis.
This man served as surgeon, physiologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He discovered the noted difference in the cord. He also described Bell's palsy.
In Edinburgh, Bell lived, studied, and got his medical degree in 1799. Extraordinary talents of his brother together drew, taught, illustrated, and published two volumes of A System of Dissection Explaining the Anatomy of the Human Body .
After graduation, the royal college of surgeons quickly admitted Charles Bell, who operated and taught. He and his brother published two additional volumes of their treatise in 1802 and 1804. His success, however, led to jealous opposition of local physicians, and from practice, the royal infirmary of Edinburgh barred him. He then moved to London in 1804 and held a private surgery and school.
William Hunter founded the great school on windmill street; from 1812, Charles Bell ran it with his brother to 1825. He also served as a military surgeon and famously documented his experiences at Waterloo in words and drawings.
Charles Bell in 1824 served as the first professor of the college of surgeons in London. The royal society made him a fellow in 1826, and people bestowed him with honors and international recognition. In 1829, the new college of the king in London incorporated the school on windmill street. It invited Bell as first professor of physiology, but he resigned shortly afterwards.
The king knighted Charles Bell in 1831. In 1835, Charles Bell instrumentally created the hospital medical school of Middlesex. He in 1836 accepted the position of professor of surgery at the University of Edinburgh.
The royal Swedish academy of sciences elected Charles bell as a foreign member in 1841, be he wished to return. He died in his homeland.
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March 17, 2025
THE FOURTH BRIDGEWATER TREATISE
Anatomist Charles Bell (1774-1842) wrote in the Preface to this 1833 book, “The author cannot conceal from himself the disadvantages to which he is exposed in coming before the public, not only with a work in some measure extra-professional, but with associates distinguished by classical elegance of style, as well as by science. He must entreat the reader to remember that he was, early and long, devoted to the study of anatomy; and with a feeling (right or wrong) that it surpassed all others in interest and usefulness.” (Pg. vii)
He begins the book, “If we select any object from the whole extent of animateth nature, and contemplate it fully and in all its bearings, we shall certainly come to this conclusion; that there is Design in the mechanical construction, Benevolence in the endowments of the living properties, and that Good on the whole is the result. We shall perceive that the Sensibilities of the body have a relation to the qualities of things external, and that delicacy of texture is, therefore, a necessary part of its constitution: that wonderful, and exquisitely constructed as the mechanical appliances are for the protection of those delicate structures, they are altogether insufficient; that a protection of a very different kind, which shall animate the body to the utmost exertion, is requisite for safety: and that Pain, whilst it is a necessary contrast to its opposite pleasure, is the great safeguard of the frame. Finally, as to Man, we shall be led to infer that the pains and pleasures of mere bodily sense (with yet more benevolent design) carry him onward, through the development and improvement of the Mind, to higher aspirations.” (Pg. 1)
He outlines, “In the following pages, I shall treat the subject comparatively, and exhibit a view of the bones of the arm, descending from the human Hand to the Fin of the fish. I shall… review the actions of the Muscles of the arm and the hand. Then proceeding to the vital properties, I shall advance to the subject of Sensibility, leading to that of Touch; afterwards, I shall show the necessity of combining the Muscular Action with the expertise of the senses, and especially with that of touch, to constitute the hand, what it has been called, the geometrical sense. I shall describe the organ of touch, the cuticle and skin, and arrange the nerves of the hand according to their functions. I shall then inquire into the correspondence between the capacities or endowments of the mind, and the external organs, and more especially the properties of the hand. And I shall conclude by showing that animals have been created with a reference to the globe they inhabit; that all their endowments and various organization bear a relation to their state of existence, and to elements around them; that there is a plan universal, extending through all animated nature, and which has prevailed in the earliest condition of the world; and finally, that on the most minute, or the most comprehensive, study of those subjects, we everywhere behold Prospective Design.” (Pg. 10-11)
He observes, “The phenomena visible in the heavens, on the earth, and within it, are of a nature, taken by themselves, to overwhelm the inquirer’s mind. To learn his own value, man must consider himself, his physical endowments and capacities, and compare them with the elements around. Without a true conception of his positions and relations, the whole range of natural science is barren of consolation; the periods of the revolution are too vast, the objects too distant, to seem to have as their prospective design the condition of the human race… it is perhaps in surveying plains, and meads, and mountains, remote from man, that the mind is most elevated to pure and high contemplations. But cities, temples, and the memorials of past ages… are equally the work of God, through the propensities of His creatures, and, we must presume, for the fulfillment of His design.” (Pg. 80)
He states, “It must now be apparent, that nothing less than the Power which originally created, is equal to those changes on animals, which adapt them to their conditions: and that their organization is predetermined; not consequent on the condition of the earth or of its surrounding elements… Every thing declares the diversity of species to have its origin in distinct creations; and not to be owing to a process of gradual transition from some original type. Any other hypothesis than that of new creations of animals, sited to the successive changes in the inorganic matter of the globe… brings with it only an accumulation of difficulties.” (Pg. 113)
He notes, “It affords an instance of the boldness with which philosophers have questioned the ways of Providence, that they have asked---why might not all our actions be performed at the suggestion of pleasure? Why should we be subject to pain at all? In answer I would say, that consistently with our condition, our sensations and pleasures, there must be variety in the impressions. Such contrast is common to every organ of sense. The continuance of an impression occasions it to fade. If the eyes look steadfastly upon one object, the image is soon lost---if we continue to look on one color, we become insensible to it; and for a perfect conception, colours opposed to each other are necessary. So have we seen that in the sensibilities of the skin, variety is required to render the sensations perfect.” (Pg. 131-132)
He summarizes, “The highest proof of benevolence is this: that we possess the chiefest sources of happiness in ourselves. Every creature has pleasure in the mere exercise of his body, as well as in the languor and repose that follow exertion. But these conditions are so balanced, that we are impelled to change; and every change is an additional source of enjoyment. What is apparent in the body is true of the mind also... The great source of happiness is to be found in the exercise of talents; and perhaps the greatest of all is when the ingenuity of the mind is exercised in the dexterous employment of the hands. Idle men do not know what is meant here; but nature has implanted in us this stimulus to exertion; so the ingenious artist who invents, or with his hands creates, enjoys a source of delight, perhaps greater, certainly more uninterrupted, than belongs to the possession of higher intellectual power; far at least beyond what falls to the lot of the mere minions of fortune.” (Pg. 134)
He points out, “We cannot resist these proofs of a beginning, or of a First Cause. When we are bold enough to extend our inquiries into those great revolutions that have taken place, whether in the condition of the earth, or in the structure of the animals which have inhabited it, our notions of the ‘uniformity’ of the course of nature must suffer some modification… It has now been made manifest, that man, and the animals inhabiting the earth, have been created with reference to the magnitude of the globe---that their living endowments bear a relation to the elements around them… progressive changes, from the lowest to the highest state of organization and of enjoyment, point to the great truth, that there was a beginning…. When we acknowledge that animals have been created in succession and with an increasing complexity of parts, we are not to be understood as admitting that there is here proof of a growing maturity of power, or an increasing effort in the Creator… It is… a power manifesting itself in the perfect and successive adaptation of the one thing to another---of vitality and organization to inorganic matter.” (Pg. 168-169)
He concludes, “what to us avail all these proofs of Divine power---or harmony in nature---of design---the predestined accommodation of the earth, and the creation of man’s frame and faculties, if we are stopped here? If we perceive no more direct relation between the individual and the Creator? But we are not so precluded from advancement. On the contrary, reason accumulates at every step, or a higher estimate of the living soul, and give its assurance that its condition is the final object and end of all this machinery, and of these successive revolutions.” (Pg. 173)
98% of this book consists in VERY precise and detailed anatomical and physiological descriptions (including detailed drawings) not only of the human hand, but of comparable structures in other creatures. (Such comparisons---now called ‘homology’---were later key evidences for evolution by Charles Darwin and Thomas H. Huxley.)
This book—as well as the other Bridgewater Treatises---will be of great interest to anyone studying Natural Theology.
Anatomist Charles Bell (1774-1842) wrote in the Preface to this 1833 book, “The author cannot conceal from himself the disadvantages to which he is exposed in coming before the public, not only with a work in some measure extra-professional, but with associates distinguished by classical elegance of style, as well as by science. He must entreat the reader to remember that he was, early and long, devoted to the study of anatomy; and with a feeling (right or wrong) that it surpassed all others in interest and usefulness.” (Pg. vii)
He begins the book, “If we select any object from the whole extent of animateth nature, and contemplate it fully and in all its bearings, we shall certainly come to this conclusion; that there is Design in the mechanical construction, Benevolence in the endowments of the living properties, and that Good on the whole is the result. We shall perceive that the Sensibilities of the body have a relation to the qualities of things external, and that delicacy of texture is, therefore, a necessary part of its constitution: that wonderful, and exquisitely constructed as the mechanical appliances are for the protection of those delicate structures, they are altogether insufficient; that a protection of a very different kind, which shall animate the body to the utmost exertion, is requisite for safety: and that Pain, whilst it is a necessary contrast to its opposite pleasure, is the great safeguard of the frame. Finally, as to Man, we shall be led to infer that the pains and pleasures of mere bodily sense (with yet more benevolent design) carry him onward, through the development and improvement of the Mind, to higher aspirations.” (Pg. 1)
He outlines, “In the following pages, I shall treat the subject comparatively, and exhibit a view of the bones of the arm, descending from the human Hand to the Fin of the fish. I shall… review the actions of the Muscles of the arm and the hand. Then proceeding to the vital properties, I shall advance to the subject of Sensibility, leading to that of Touch; afterwards, I shall show the necessity of combining the Muscular Action with the expertise of the senses, and especially with that of touch, to constitute the hand, what it has been called, the geometrical sense. I shall describe the organ of touch, the cuticle and skin, and arrange the nerves of the hand according to their functions. I shall then inquire into the correspondence between the capacities or endowments of the mind, and the external organs, and more especially the properties of the hand. And I shall conclude by showing that animals have been created with a reference to the globe they inhabit; that all their endowments and various organization bear a relation to their state of existence, and to elements around them; that there is a plan universal, extending through all animated nature, and which has prevailed in the earliest condition of the world; and finally, that on the most minute, or the most comprehensive, study of those subjects, we everywhere behold Prospective Design.” (Pg. 10-11)
He observes, “The phenomena visible in the heavens, on the earth, and within it, are of a nature, taken by themselves, to overwhelm the inquirer’s mind. To learn his own value, man must consider himself, his physical endowments and capacities, and compare them with the elements around. Without a true conception of his positions and relations, the whole range of natural science is barren of consolation; the periods of the revolution are too vast, the objects too distant, to seem to have as their prospective design the condition of the human race… it is perhaps in surveying plains, and meads, and mountains, remote from man, that the mind is most elevated to pure and high contemplations. But cities, temples, and the memorials of past ages… are equally the work of God, through the propensities of His creatures, and, we must presume, for the fulfillment of His design.” (Pg. 80)
He states, “It must now be apparent, that nothing less than the Power which originally created, is equal to those changes on animals, which adapt them to their conditions: and that their organization is predetermined; not consequent on the condition of the earth or of its surrounding elements… Every thing declares the diversity of species to have its origin in distinct creations; and not to be owing to a process of gradual transition from some original type. Any other hypothesis than that of new creations of animals, sited to the successive changes in the inorganic matter of the globe… brings with it only an accumulation of difficulties.” (Pg. 113)
He notes, “It affords an instance of the boldness with which philosophers have questioned the ways of Providence, that they have asked---why might not all our actions be performed at the suggestion of pleasure? Why should we be subject to pain at all? In answer I would say, that consistently with our condition, our sensations and pleasures, there must be variety in the impressions. Such contrast is common to every organ of sense. The continuance of an impression occasions it to fade. If the eyes look steadfastly upon one object, the image is soon lost---if we continue to look on one color, we become insensible to it; and for a perfect conception, colours opposed to each other are necessary. So have we seen that in the sensibilities of the skin, variety is required to render the sensations perfect.” (Pg. 131-132)
He summarizes, “The highest proof of benevolence is this: that we possess the chiefest sources of happiness in ourselves. Every creature has pleasure in the mere exercise of his body, as well as in the languor and repose that follow exertion. But these conditions are so balanced, that we are impelled to change; and every change is an additional source of enjoyment. What is apparent in the body is true of the mind also... The great source of happiness is to be found in the exercise of talents; and perhaps the greatest of all is when the ingenuity of the mind is exercised in the dexterous employment of the hands. Idle men do not know what is meant here; but nature has implanted in us this stimulus to exertion; so the ingenious artist who invents, or with his hands creates, enjoys a source of delight, perhaps greater, certainly more uninterrupted, than belongs to the possession of higher intellectual power; far at least beyond what falls to the lot of the mere minions of fortune.” (Pg. 134)
He points out, “We cannot resist these proofs of a beginning, or of a First Cause. When we are bold enough to extend our inquiries into those great revolutions that have taken place, whether in the condition of the earth, or in the structure of the animals which have inhabited it, our notions of the ‘uniformity’ of the course of nature must suffer some modification… It has now been made manifest, that man, and the animals inhabiting the earth, have been created with reference to the magnitude of the globe---that their living endowments bear a relation to the elements around them… progressive changes, from the lowest to the highest state of organization and of enjoyment, point to the great truth, that there was a beginning…. When we acknowledge that animals have been created in succession and with an increasing complexity of parts, we are not to be understood as admitting that there is here proof of a growing maturity of power, or an increasing effort in the Creator… It is… a power manifesting itself in the perfect and successive adaptation of the one thing to another---of vitality and organization to inorganic matter.” (Pg. 168-169)
He concludes, “what to us avail all these proofs of Divine power---or harmony in nature---of design---the predestined accommodation of the earth, and the creation of man’s frame and faculties, if we are stopped here? If we perceive no more direct relation between the individual and the Creator? But we are not so precluded from advancement. On the contrary, reason accumulates at every step, or a higher estimate of the living soul, and give its assurance that its condition is the final object and end of all this machinery, and of these successive revolutions.” (Pg. 173)
98% of this book consists in VERY precise and detailed anatomical and physiological descriptions (including detailed drawings) not only of the human hand, but of comparable structures in other creatures. (Such comparisons---now called ‘homology’---were later key evidences for evolution by Charles Darwin and Thomas H. Huxley.)
This book—as well as the other Bridgewater Treatises---will be of great interest to anyone studying Natural Theology.
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