Bones of the Skull -- this illustration gives an accurate and faithful representation of the head, face and neck, surrounded by an outline of the fleshy parts as they appear in the human frame. The bones of the head, eight in number, constitute the skull, and those of the face, 14 and number, compose a strong, hard bony case, which encloses and affords a suitable protection for the brain and the four organs a special sense, viz.: site, smell, taste and hearing. All of these bones are in movable, except the lower jaw, which moves by means of a hinge-joint, and permits of the opening and closing of the mouth.

One of the things that struck me as I dictated this last segment (for my readers information I am using Dragon Naturally Speaking to dictate this text as well as my views on the text) was the large number of commas as used in this paragraph. By my count there were 15 used in this paragraph which had three sentences. Now this book in general uses the coma extensively and reminds me of a style of writing that I was taught in grade school shortly before several rules of language were simplified. For example when I was in grade school I was taught that a conjunction that included the word "and" should have a coma in between each item building up to the conjunction including the last word that preceded the word "and." Back then I would've drafted this sentence as follows: I went to the store, the post office, the car wash, and the bank. Later in high school some economy of writing came about and decreased 1 of the commas needed in writing. I don't know when or why this occurred, but I do recall several grammar teachers remarking on the fact and teach in is the new writing style. Back then I didn't follow the news quite to the extent that I do today and so I do not recall whether there was a boost in the global economy due to the increased productivity allowed workers especially "knowledge workers" who would not have had to write, type or dictate quite as many commas. In fact they would have one less coma to write. Can you imagine what everyone did with all that extra time saved him from writing? Now honestly one coma probably to make that big of a difference. But now as I read the library of health I realize that over the last 82 a hundred years the world hasn't saved just one coma; they have saved close to a dozen per paragraph. Computers may have brought a significant amount of productivity to the workforce, but just imagine how much we've saved over the last hundred years writing fewer comas. I wonder when the majority of the comas as were lost. Maybe it was the result of World War I or World War II or the combination of both wars. It's possible that to expedite communications Society had to adapt and reduce the number of dits in das used in a telegraph. The war to end all wars may have failed in Indian all wars, but it may have succeeded in putting an end to a few extra comas.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Choose a Better Life Health Blog
  
  

  Last night I had dinner with a gentleman from iContact.  He mentioned that his wife had been writing about her effort to change her life, live healthier, eat healthier and lose weight. 

  She has been very successful at achieving her goals.  You can follow some of her journey, her experiences, and benefit from her tips and lessons learned at ChooseABetterLife.net.

  I’m hoping to meet more health related bloggers today and as soon as I can find one of my missing cufflinks, I’m off to meet up with people for a couple pre-show breakfast get togethers.

• NATURAL POSITION OF CHILD AT TIME OF BIRTH
  
  

  This beautiful and effective plate shows the natural position of the child at the time of birth.  It is technically called the presentment of the fœtus for birth.  Of the presentment’s there are many varieties, whose study is most interesting to the obstetrician.  Some of them give rise to very difficult and dangerous delivery.  When the presentment is natural, as in the figure, the comfort of the mother is increased and the doctor’s anxiety is modulated.

   

  First off, the plate that this section refers to is located in our section on chart 2.  Here is the specific picture in question. 

  

  Second,that lasthave sense that talks about the anxiety of the doctor, I think that could be misconstrued a couple different ways.  It could appear that the author is more worried about the doctor than the mother.  That was my initial interpretation.

  It could also be, that the author was trying to tell the reader, that it’s okay to be anxious or you should be anxious if the fetus is not in the ideal position at childbirth.This could be some sort of hidden warning.It could also be something to tell doctors to relax if things are lined up correctly.

  At this time, most babies were delivered at home.If a doctor was present, that was actually something.There really wasn’t a great deal that they could do though if things went seriously wrong. 

  In our modern era we are so used to having medical professionals on hand to cover every little thing from corrective eye surgery to a nose job and we don’t think about these things. Furthermore, medical services of the specialized nature are becoming close in common. If I need to find a charlotte cosmetic dentist to fix my smile, I can drive 20 miles down the road and find one.

  Back then, you are doing good field drive a buggy 20 miles down the road to find a general practice doctor.

• The Shoulder Joint
  
  

  The Shoulder Joint. — The shoulder joint, formed as it is by the shoulder-blade (scapula), collarbone (clavicle), and the arm bone, is most beautifully designed and executed. It comprises a shallow ball and socket joint, the supporting the freest rotary movements. The shallowness of the socket, however, accounts for the frequent dislocations of this joint; but that is compensated for by the EC, graceful carriage and swaying of the arm, which is deeper socket would not permit.

  As in the section titled, “The Ribs” this section utilizes the word “freest”, I’m assuming this word is some sort of combination of the word free and est, which probably refers to the most amount of freedom allowed or something of that nature. Today we probably use the words maximum range of motion or maximum freedom war something of that nature. We might even use the word freest!

  Now, I’m not really a betting man. I like to play cards and Texas Hold ‘em especially, but I’d be willing to be that the word freest is not a real word anymore. I may not being hitting the poker tables anytime soon with other bets, but I’ll take that one any day of the week.