ESSAY VIII. 423 I. It is very probable that a new-born infant in its muscles and nerves (and especially in itsbowels and bones) has some origi- nal, essential, and constituent tubes, fibres or staminal particles (if I may so call them) which remain the same and unchanged through all the stages and changes of life in following years, how much soever the external and fleshy parts may be changed. And some philosophers maintain that the growth of the animal body is no- thing but the dilatation, stretching or spreading of these essential and staminal parts, these fibres, tubes or membranes, by the in- terposition of new additional particles ; whichadditional and acci- dental particles are the only things which are in perpetual flux, and always changing. And it may be added also, that perhaps these essential staminal particles are of such a nature as not to join and unite with other animal or human bodies, and become an essential constituent part of them : And therefore if mankind were all cannibals, and eat one another as well as the flesh of beasts, yet the same staminal or constituentparticles cannot belong to the bodies of two or more human persons. It has been said by some philosophers that the mere membranaceous parts of an animal body, though eaten by other animals, will not easily if at all digest ; and then they cannot be sanguified or turned into blood, nor become nutritive juices, nor form the constituent and essential parts of other animals : Now a great many of the original constituent parts of human bodies are membrana- ceous ; for some suppose almost the whole body to be made of tubes and juices, with little interspersed fibres which are added by nutrition. And how far the bones, i. e. original mere osseous substances may be indigestible also, who can tell Upon the whole, it seems that these essential, constituent or staminal particles, whatsoever they be, whether osseous, or membranaceous, or of any other quality, and how many or how few soever they be, always abide the same, even when the body is greatly enlarged by the perpetual newinterposition of additional nutritive particles, which are in continual flux. I say also, that it seems that these unchanging parts, whether few or many, in union with the same soul, are abundantly sufficient to denominate Methusaleh the infant, and Methusaleh the aged, the same per- son ; and then also these few essential constituent particles pre- served by divine providence, and raised in the formation of the new body, and united to the same soul, are sufficient to denomi- nate Methuselah dying, and Methuselah rising the same person still, both soul and body. Here it may be objected indeed, that there isno need of run- mng to such essential constituent particles of the body of a man in order to denominate him the same man at sixteen or sixty, or six hundred years of age ; for these philosophical ideas of constituent particles come not within the notice of the bulk of
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