an Amorite, brother of Aner and Eholoel, and friend of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 13.). It was with these three persons, together with his own and their domestics, that Abraham pursued and overcame the kings after their conquest of Sodom and Gomorrah. This Mamre, who dwelt near Hebron, communicated his name to great part of the country round about. Hence we read (chap. xiii. 18. xxiii. 17., &c.), that Abraham dwelt in Mamre and in the plain of Mamre. But it is observed, that what we translate the plain should be rendered the oak, of Mamre, because the word elon signifies an oak or tree of a long duration. So men tells us, that this tree was still extant, and famous for pilgrimages and annual feasts, even in Constantine's time; that it was about six miles distant from Hebron; that some of the cottages which Abraham built were still standing near it; and that there was a well likewise of his digging, whereunto both Jews, Christians, and Heathens, did at certain seasons resort, either out of devotion or for trade, because there was held a great mart. To these superstitions Constantine the Great put a stop.
Of all the objects which the universe presents to our observation, there is none that so powerfully calls for our attention, there is none with which it so much concerns us to be intimately acquainted, as the human species. If we admit, what mankind, in that pride of heart, which is so natural to those who style themselves the lords of the creation, have assumed, that man is the only being possessed of reason; there is no created thing that can in the least stand in competition with him. But, without examining into the validity of this exclusive claim, without inquiring whether some of our inferior fellow mortals may not be admitted to some small share of this faculty; it must be allowed that, whether we consider him as a solitary being, possessed of beauty and intelligence superior to the other classes of animated nature, or in the more amiable character of a social being, capable of the sentiments of affection, friendship, gratitude, and benevolence, man is a most distinguished personage; and, to his fellow men, certainly the most interesting object to which they can direct their attention; that in short,
"The proper study of mankind is man."
A full examination of every thing relating to the human species would include almost all that is interesting, useful, or curious in nature. Indeed this whole work is little more than a collection of facts and reasonings, that either mediately or immediately relate to Man. It may not be improper here to refer to a few of the principal articles alluded to, before we enter on the proper business of this article, which is to state a few general circumstances relating to the natural history of man, considering him as the first animal in the creation.
Firstly, Man may be considered generically; as constituting a tribe of animals differing from all others, in his structure, functions, diseases, and in possessing the faculty of reason.
The structure of man has been detailed under Anatomy; his functions will be treated of under Physiology; the diseases and accidents to which he is exposed, with their treatment and remedies, will form the subjects of Medicine, Midwifery, Surgery, and Materia Medica; and the nature and exercise of his reasoning powers are discussed under Logic, Metaphysics, Language, Grammar, Oratory, Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, &c.
Secondly, Man may be considered specifically, as differing from others of the same tribe in height, features, colour, disposition, and manners; resulting from climate and other local circumstances. In a general point of view, the varieties of the human species fall to be noticed here; but, for a particular account of the inhabitants of different regions of the globe, we refer the reader to the geographical articles Africa, Asia, America, Abyssinia, Ceylon, Hindostan, New Holland, &c.
Thirdly, Man may be considered as a dependent and an accountable being, in relation to his Creator, his neighbour, or himself. The religious and moral duties of man are explained under Theology, Christianity, Moral Philosophy, and Law; and to these may be added, as connected with man in this third view, Political Economy, Agriculture, Gardening, Architecture, Chemistry, Dynamics, Mechanics, Hydrodynamics, and a number of other branches of science, that teach man how to employ to the best advantage those powers and faculties with which Heaven has endowed him, for his individual and common benefit.
Lastly, We may consider man with respect to the relations that subsist between him and the inferior classes of the creation, as they minister to his necessities, supply his wants, abridge his comforts, or oppose his progress. This consideration naturally leads us to the article Natural History, and its subdivisions Mammalia, Cetology, Reptology, Ophiology, Ornithology, Ichthyology, Helminthology, Conchology, Botany, Mineralogy, Geology, and Meteorology.
Of those writers who directly treat of man, the philosopher and the moralist consider him in the abstract; the natural history of the geographer describes him as he exists in communities; the historian traces the origin of society, the progress of man in arts, civilization, and refinement, and the changes that have taken place among the human species, from the natural operation of physical causes, or from the folly, villainy, and ambition of princes and heroes; the biographer treats of man as an individual, and shews the effects of exalted virtue, eminent abilities, or striking vices, both on their possessor and on the community at large. It is the business of the naturalist to describe the external form of man, as it differs from that of other animals; to consider the usual varieties of it in different nations, and the more striking peculiarities that are occasionally found in individuals; to describe the habits and manners of the human species; the progress of life from infancy to death; the duration of life and its causes; and the effects produced on the body by death.
Of the writers who have treated on some part of the natural history of man, we might give a most copious list, even without including the almost innumerable catalogue of medical works. For the generality of readers, it may be sufficient to refer to Buffon's Natural History, or the Abridgement of it by Goldsmith; to Virey's Histoire Naturelle du Genre Humain; Cuvier's Tableau Elementaire de l'Histoire Naturelle des Animaux; Herder's Outlines of the Philosophy of the History of Man; and the works of Deubenton, Vieq d'Azyr, Camper, Blumenbach, &c. &c.
We had proposed giving here a short popular view of the structure and economy of man; but as even this would lead us into details for which we cannot afford room, we must refer our readers to Kerr's Translation of the System of Linnaeus, and Dr Hunter's Introductory Lectures to his course of Anatomy.
It is of more consequence to our present purpose to mention the particular circumstances that distinguish man from those animals to which he seems nearest allied. These distinctive marks are well described by Blumenbach, in his work De Generis Humani Varietate Naturae, and by M. Daubenton, in his introduction to the Dictionary of Natural History in the Encyclopédie Methodique; with the latter we shall present our readers.
The only animals that bear any striking resemblance to man, in point of structure, are the apes, especially between the orangutan, and the gibbon; but according to M. Daubenton, apes. Daubenton, there are two principal circumstances that particularly distinguish man from these animals; the first is the strength of the muscles of the legs, by which the body is supported in a vertical position above them; the second consists in the articulation of the head with the neck by the middle of its base.
We stand upright, bend our body, and walk, without thinking on the power by which we are supported in these several positions. This power resides chiefly in the muscles which constitute the principal part of the calf of the leg. Their exertion is felt, and their motion is visible externally, when we stand upright and bend our body backwards and forwards. This power is not less great when we walk even on a horizontal plane. In ascending a height, the weight of the body is more sensibly felt than in descending. All these motions are natural to man. Other animals, on the contrary, when placed on their hind legs, are either incapable of performing them at all, or do it partially, with great difficulty, and for a very short time. The gibbon, and the orangutan, can stand upright with much less difficulty than other brutes; but the restraint they are under in this attitude, plainly shows that it is not natural to them. The reason is, that the muscles in the back part of the leg in the gibbon, &c., are not, as in man, sufficiently large to form a calf, and consequently not sufficiently strong to support the thighs and body in a vertical line, and to preserve them in that posture. See Mammalia, p. 28.
M. Daubenton has discovered, that the attitudes proper to man and to other animals, are pointed out by the different ways in which the head is articulated with the neck. The two points by which the osseous part of the head is connected with the first joint of the neck, and on which every movement of the head is made with the greatest facility, are placed at the edge of the great hole of the occipital bone, which in man is situated near the centre of the base of the skull, (affording a passage for the medullary substance into the vertebral canal,) as upon a pivot or point of support. The face is on a vertical line, almost parallel to that of the body and neck. The jaws, which are very short when compared with those of most other animals, extend very little farther forwards than the forehead. No animal has, like man, its hind legs as long as the body, neck, and head, taken together, measuring from the top of the head to the os pubis.
In the frame of the human body the principal parts are nearly the same with those of other animals; but in the quadrupeds connexion and form of the bones there is as great a difference as in the attitudes proper to each. Were a man to assume the natural posture of quadrupeds, and try to walk by the help of his hands and feet, he would find himself in a very unnatural situation; he could not move his feet and hands but with the greatest difficulty and pain; and let him make what exertions he pleased, he would find it impossible to attain a steady and continued pace. The principal obstructions he would meet with would arise from the structure of the pelvis, the hands, the feet, and the head.
The plane of the great occipital hole, which in man is almost horizontal, puts the head in a kind of equilibrium upon the neck when we stand erect in our natural attitude; but when we are in the attitude of quadrupeds, it prevents us from raising our head so as to look forwards, because the movement of the head is flopped by the protuberance of the occiput, which then approaches too near the vertebrae of the neck.
In most animals, the great hole of the occipital bone is situated at the back part of the head; the jaws are very long; the occiput has no protuberance beyond the aperture, the plane of which is in a vertical direction, or inclined a little forwards or backwards; so that the head is pendant, and joined to the neck by its posterior part. This position of the head enables quadrupeds, though their bodies are in a horizontal direction, to present their muzzle forwards, and to raise it so as to reach above them, or to touch the earth with the extremity of their jaws when they bring their neck and head down to their feet. In the attitude of quadrupeds, man could touch the earth only with the fore part or the top of the head.
To these differences of structure, we may add, that man could when man is standing, his heel rests upon the earth as well as the other parts of his foot; when he walks it is quadruped, the first part that touches the ground; man can stand on one foot; these are peculiarities in structure and in the manner of moving which are not to be found in other animals. We may therefore conclude that man cannot be ranked in the class of quadrupeds. We may add, that in man the brain is much larger, and the jaws much shorter, than in any other animal. The brain, by its great extent, forms the protuberance of the occipital bone, the fore head, and all that part of the head which is above the ears. In the inferior animals, the brain is so small, that most of them have no occiput, and the front is either wanting or little raised. In animals which have large foreheads, such as the horse, the ox, the elephant, &c., they are placed as low as the ears, and even lower. These animals likewise want the occiput, and the top of the head is of very small extent. The jaws, which form the greatest portion of the muzzle, are large in proportion to the smallness of the brain. The length of the muzzle varies in different animals; in foliiped animals it is very long; it is short in the orangutan, and in man it does not exist at all: no beard grows on the muzzle; this part is wanting in every animal.