Bones of the Spinal Column. -- The twenty-four bones of which it consists are so stiffly locked together as to form a chain that will bear and support the heaviest burdens, yet so flexible that it will bend like India rubber; within this wondrous column heights of delicate error that would thrill at the gentlest touch, yet so securely does it rests in its bony couch that it feels not the slightest jar or shock; and resting upon this remarkable pillar of bones is born the brain, without a tremor or a fear of danger; to it are found clinging to vital organs of the chest and abdomen, secure in the protection it affords.

In this section they author makes a remark that either the brain or the other organs of the body should fear the danger incumbent upon them for having attached themselves to the spinal column. This statement just seems rather bizarre to me and I can't make heads or tails of it. I think its some vague reference to the altitude of the brain suspended above the body and held up by the spinal column, but its just a strange thing to say. I bet the author would truly be hysterical if they new how incumbent their physical existence was upon the DNA of their parents let alone the design and synthesis of peptides!

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Coagulation of the Blood
  
  

  Coagulation of the Blood. –according to Dr. Draper, of New York, 20,000,000 die at a single breath! Blood when exposed to the air coagulates, and the value of this peculiar yet intrinsic property cannot be overestimated. Win and archery is ruptured bleeding takes place, the blood coagulates and forms a plug, thus preventing further hemorrhage.thus we observe with what divine foresight and wisdom, not only the wants of the body are provided for, but also the incidents to which it is liable.

  At the beginning of this topic I started to assume that the author was referring to the death of blood cells in the number of 20 million as opposed to people or something else. Even the book with a section heading it sounds a little sensational. The description of coagulation wasn’t too bad and it made sense and then the author seemed to lose his scientific perspective again and started talking about the divine and basically spouting some relative nonsense which again makes me do believe that the author had reached the extent of his knowledge. I think he was just basically filling in the text with more words. If I didn’t know better I would suspect the author was being paid by the word and basically was just paid three times over what that information was worth.

  Actually, come to think of it, I do not know better. I have done some external research to attempt to identify the bonafides of the author and the editors, but have so far come up short in that department. I couldn’t verify their credentials as medical professionals any more than I could say that they were masons that specialized in the construction of outdoor fireplace settings.

• Vitality of the Heart
  
  

  Vitality of the Heart.  — its vitality is as amazing as its strength.  While life exists this tireless order never stops.  In disease, as long as a flutter of this wondrous organ exists, we know the spark of life is not altogether vanished, and new Hope is begotten that helped me be restored.  Airing such long lives as we sometimes see, the heart has propelled no less than 500,000 tons of blood; and yet, during all this patient, unfaltering and unflinching labor, it is her.  Self as the waste has occurred.

  Heart Rhythms.  –the rhythm of its beats never fails until death breaks into the casket and seizes the ever thriving pendulum at the command of the great Master Workman,  silencing the quivering muscles of the heart and compelling the wheels of like a standstill.

  ___________

  This closes out the introduction to the workings of the heart, and the author ends the section talking about heartbeats or heart rhythms, but in doing so doesn’t talk about heart rhythms or heartbeats at all.  Notice the capitalize reference to Master Workman.  I’m sure would’ve been some sort of sacrilege not to capitalize those two words and so they are capitalized.  But it’s still a little bizarre.  Next section were heading into the digestive system, which is probably just as mysterious to the author as the working of the heart!

• THE CLITORIS, URETHRA, VAGINA AND HYMEN.
  
  

  These female organs show further at the perfection which anatomical plate printing has attained.

  Clitoris.—This small organ, it will be seen, is situated at the upper part of the Volvo, or outside parts of the female generative system, it is usually concealed by the lips of the pudenda. It performs a function during sexual intercourse similar to that performed by the penis of the male.

  Urethra.–This highly useful organ, common to both sexes, is, as will be seen by the plate, now, or medium, by means of which the urine is carried from the bladder to be voided. It is a delicately lined organ, furnished with retentive valves, and therefore susceptible to a variety of diseases.

  Vagina.–This word implies a chief, and is applied to the can out which leads from the uterus (womb) to the external organs of generation in the female sex. Commonly, it implies such external organs, or organ, as depicted in the plate.

  Hymen.–The mucous membrane, or virginal membrane, at the entrance of the female sexual organ, or vagina.

  In general the author skips through the section very rapidly in a no-nonsense business or away. There is no alliteration, and no religious references. That is not surprising as this was written just after the turn of the century when discussions of these particular topics are not carried out in public and rarely between men and women in public, let alone in a book designed to teach both men and women. Keep in mind, that this book came out 40 to 50 years before the Kinsey studies and books on sexual practices were done and written about. Medicine and Society at a long way to go from this point in time when this section was written.