e scale of the _Holoptychius
Nobilissimus_. It consisted of its two well-marked tables of solid bone,
corresponding in their dermal character, the outer to the cuticle, the
inner to the true skin, and the intermediate cellular layer to the _rete
mucosum_; but bearing an unmistakable analogy also, as a mechanical
contrivance, to the two plates and the _diploe_ of the human skull. To
the strengthening principle of the two tables, however, there were two
other principles added. Cromwell, when commissioning for a new helmet,
his old one being, as he expresses it, "ill set," ordered his friend to
send him a "_fluted pot_," _i.e._, a helmet ridged and furrowed on the
surface, and suited to break, by its protuberant lines, the force of a
blow, so that the vibrations of the stroke would reach the body of the
metal deadened and flat. Now, the outer table of the scale of the
Holoptychius was a "fluted pot." The alternate ridges and furrows which
ornamented its surface served a purpose exactly similar with that of the
flutes and fillets of Cromwell's helmet. The inner table was
strengthened on a different but not less effective principle. The human
stomach consists of three coats; and two of these, the outermost or
peritoneal coat, and the middle or muscular coat, are so arranged, that
the fibres of the one cross at nearly right angles those of the other.
The violence which would tear the compact sides of this important organ
along the fibres of the outer coat, would be checked by the transverse
arrangement of the fibres of the middle coat, and _vice versa_. We find
the cotton manufacturer weaving some of his stronger fabrics on a
similar plan;--they also are made to consist of two _coats_; and what is
technically termed the _tear_ of the upper is so disposed that it lies
at an angle of forty-five degrees with the _tear_ of the coat which lies
underneath. Now, the inner table of the scale of the Holoptychius was
composed, on this principle, of various layers or coats, arranged the
one over the other, so that the fibres of each lay at right angles
with the fibres of the others in immediate contact with it. In
the inner table of one scale I reckon nine of these alternating,
variously-disposed layers; so that any application of violence, which,
in the language of the lath-splitter, would _run lengthwise along the
grain_ of four of them, would be checked by the _cross grain_ in five.
In other words, the line of the _tear_ in five of the