On turning over this flap we are brought face to face with a grim looking but useful object -- the framework of the trunk and arms. The skeleton is of a ghastly appearance and emblematic of death; it's unsightly look sends a thrill of poor through us, and we instinctively recoil from it. Yet at some serves a useful purpose in the human body, and the ugly looking bones, when carefully examined, abound in nice contrivances and ingenious workmanship; whilst each individual bonus design for the a special duty it has to perform. Hence the bones different forms; some are long, as in the arms and legs; some are short and thick, giving strength and compactness, as in the lumbar portion of the spine; some are flat, for covering a cavity, as the school and pelvis, and others used for special purpose or irregular, is in the hands and feet.just when I thought the book was getting a slightly bit dull, this little section popped out at me as we start to read into some of the peculiar notions the author had regarding the skeletal system. Various phrases such as "thrill of poor" and "ghastly appearance and emblematic of death" rapidly depart from the tone you would expect from a medical journal or book. The author goes halfway through the paragraph before they start to get down to the actual topic at hand and shy away from their romantic notions about how scary a skeleton looks. It makes me wonder just how much or how little your average person back in the early 1900s may have been exposed to views that included pictures of the skeleton. Back then there was no TV nor cartoons even to introduce children to the funny side of skeletons, there was no Halloween where children dressed up like skeletons. The skull and cross bones probably had a much more sinister visual impact on people and to see a skeleton in real life or even in a picture may have been more dramatic. It definitely seems peculiar here.
Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:
- Diarrhea and Dysentery from Impure Water
Diarrhea and Dysentery from Impure Water. — the instances of outbreaks of these two diseases from contaminated water supply are very numerous, and probably most persons can recall examples of this kind. The impurities which produce diarrhea and dysentery are suspended earthy matters, such as are found in most river waters after a rain; suspended animal and vegetable material; salty thing chlorides of Lyme and Magnesia, and nitrate of ammonia and of lime. Besides the numerous outbreaks traceable to direct sewage contamination, there are several instances recorded of indirect poisoning the water supply from this source, as in the following curious case.
Just as a note about the style of writing or documentation, this paragraph seems to be unnecessary as a stand alone topic. Instead it is basically a transition paragraph, yet the author chooses to use it as a stand alone sub topic instead of just using it to work his way from one topic to a very slight tangent in the next topic. This would again seem to reflect the author’s possible motivation for not only being paid by the word but also with a stipend for important bolded topics. This surely does not seem to be practical like following a guide on replacing coilovers in a car or fixing a plumbing problem, and it must have driven some readers nuts as they used this book in semi-emergencies looking for the answer to serious problems only to be distracted by useless sections like this.
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- The Thorax
The Thorax. — The thorax derives its name from the Greek word thoreo, and signifies “I leap,” because the heart leaps in it. It is covered on the front part by large muscles; the pectoralis major, or large muscle of the breast, is observed on the left side of the chest, Wilson on the right it is removed and exposes the pectoralis minor, or small muscle of the breast. The dovetailed muscle observed on each side is the Seratus Magnus, and is employed in expanding and contracting the chest in the act of breathing. The muscles of the chest walls, in a deep inspiration, exert a force equal to lifting a weight of 750 pounds.
I do not know Greek but I found it interesting to learn that little bit of Greek above about the thorax. It’s a very descriptive word actually and I suspect if I understand it correctly preferring to the movement of the Adam’s apple? I would use the word Adam’s apple is a form of layman term, and I’m somewhat surprised that they didn’t use a layman term in their description as the audience for this book is supposed to be house wives and mothers.