Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Man

MAN, the chief of the animated world, is distinguished from all living creatures by his superior faculties; being possessed of reflection, thought, a power of invention, and an ability of carrying his conceptions or designs into effect. Formed for society, he seldom lives in solitude: and as an emanation of divine light appears to direct all the good actions of mankind, we excel every created being, while we enjoy the exclusive faculty of communicating our ideas, by speech as well as by letters.

Men are divided into classes, chiefly by their colour, that varies according to the situation of the country in which they reside.—See Complexion.—Their bodies are erect, and seldom exceed six feet in height; they are almost naked, excepting a few hairs; and, though Nature has refused a general covering of the skin, man still remains her master-piece; as, conformably to Sacred History, he is the last work that proceeded from the hands of the Creator. The form of his body; the powers of his mind, supported by that innate spirit which governs (or at least ought to guide) his actions, and to which the faint appellation of Reason has been given; together with his discernment of good and evil;—all evince his superiority over the whole animal kingdom.

With all these advantages, however, mankind labour under innumerable wants, which the present work is designed to supply; namely, as far as respects domestic and rural affairs, as well as other subjects more or less connected with animal economy.—To describe the various parts of the human frame, is the province of anatomists; and, as it would be foreign to our plan to discuss the social, moral, religious, and political relations of man, we trust the present brief sketch will suffice. Let it, however, be observed, that the generality of mankind have no reason to complain of the shortness of their existence; for, as they receive, at their birth, the germ of a long life, it must be attributed partly to their own neglect, partly to the concurrence of accidental and extraneous causes, which they cannot prevent or foresee, that they do not attain such an age as their natural constitutions may seem to promise. Hence we ought to be very circumspect in our family connections, and modes of living; because, it is either from a blind choice in the former, or an imprudent conduct in the latter respect, that so many are the victims of hereditary disease.—See Life, and Longevity.