Pow’r, wealth, and beauty are a short-liv’d trust;
’Tis virtue only blossoms in the dust.
NEW-YORK: _+Printed by JOHN BULL, No. 115, Cherry-Street+, where every
Kind of Printing work is executed with the utmost Accuracy and
Dispatch.--+Subscriptions+ for this +Magazine+ (at 2s. per month) are
taken in at the Printing-Office, and by E. MITCHELL, Bookseller, No. 9,
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_UTILE DULCI._
THE NEW-YORK WEEKLY MAGAZINE;
or, Miscellaneous Repository.
+Vol. II.+] +Wednesday, July 20, 1796.+ [+No. 55.+
[[For sources, see the end of the e-text.]]
_+Remarks+ on the +Wonderful Construction+ of the EYE._
The eye infinitely surpasses all the works of the industry of man. Its
formation is the most astonishing thing the human understanding has been
able to acquire a perfect knowledge of. The most skilful artist could
imagine no machine of that kind which would not be much inferior to what
we observe in the eye. Whatever sagacity or industry he might have, he
could execute nothing which would not have the imperfections necessarily
belonging to all the works of man. We cannot, it is true, perceive
clearly the whole art of divine wisdom in the formation of this fine
organ; but the little we do know is sufficient to convince us of the
infinite wisdom, goodness, and power of our Creator. The most essential
point is for us to make use of this knowledge, weak as it is, to magnify
the name of the Most High.
In the first place, the disposition of the external parts of the eye is
admirable. With what intrenchment, what defence, the Creator has
provided our eyes! They are placed in the head at a certain depth, and
surrounded with hard and solid bones, that they may not easily be hurt.
The eye-brows contribute also very much to the safety and preservation
of this organ. Those hairs which form an arch over the eyes, prevent
drops of sweat, dust, or such things, falling from the forehead into
them. The eye-lids are another security; and also, by closing in our
sleep, they prevent the light from disturbing our rest. The eye-lashes
still add to the perfection of the eyes. They save us from a too strong
light, which might offend us; and they guard us from the smallest dust,
which might otherwise hurt the sight. The internal make of the eye is
still more admirable. The whole eye is composed of coats, of humours, of
muscles, and veins. The tunica, or exterior membrane, which is called
_cornea_, is transparent, and so hard, that it can resist the roughest
shocks. Behind that there is another within, which they call _uvea_, and
which is circular and coloured. In the middle of it there is an opening,
which is called the _pupil_, and which appears black. Behind this
opening is the _crystal_, which is perfectly transparent, of a
lenticular figure, and composed of several little flakes very thin, and
arranged one over another. Underneath the crystal there is a moist and
transparent substance, which they call the _glassy humour_, because it
resembles melted glass. The cavity, or the hinder chamber, between the
cornea and the crystal, contains a moist humour, and liquid as water,
for that reason called the _watery humour_. It can recruit itself when
it has run out from a wound of the cornea. Six muscles, admirably well
placed, move the eye on all sides, raise it, lower it, turn it to the
right or left, obliquely, or round about, as occasion requires. What is
most admirable is the _retina_, a membrane which lines the inside bottom
of the eye. It is nothing but a web of little fibres extremely fine,
fastened to a nerve or sinew, which comes from the brain, and is called
the _optic nerve_. It is in the retina, that the vision is formed,
because the objects paint themselves at the bottom of the eye on that
tunica: and, though the images of exterior objects are painted upside
down on the retina, they are still seen in their true position. Now, in
order to form an idea of the extreme minuteness of this picture, we need
only consider, that the space of half a mile, that is to say, of more
than eleven hundred yards, when it is represented in the bottom of the
eye, makes but the tenth part of an inch.
I return thee thanks, O Lord God, for having formed my eye in so
wonderful a manner. My soul acknowledges thy infinite power, goodness,
and wisdom. Hitherto I had not considered my eyes as I should have done,
that is, as a master-piece of thy hands, and as a demonstrative proof,
that even the most minute parts of my body are not the work of chance,
and that thou hast formed them for most useful purposes.---_Surely I am
a faint image and likeness of THYSELF._
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