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.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Fine View of Stomach Coatings
  
  

  Fine View of Stomach Coatings.  — On turning over the flap we obtain a very fine view of this remarkable membrane.  The areolar coat is placed between the mucous coats, and connects with both.  The muscular coat is very thick and stout, and composed of three sets of fibres,  the longitudinal, circular and oblique, which form three distinct layers.  The outer coat is a thin, smooth, transparent and elastic membrane, derived from the peritoneum, and well lubricated to prevent friction.  When the fibres of the muscular wall contract, a peculiar churning movement of the stomach is produced, thus securing the thorough mixing of its contents, that every particle may come into contact with the solvent properties of the gastric juice.

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  There’s not much to say about the section however from a chemistry perspective I wonder if the author understood what comprise the gastric juice.  Biology was never my strong suit however I seem to recall from chemistry class that hydrochloric acid is the actual chemical that constitutes the majority of the gastric juice,  I can’t remember what strength of HCl is in the stomach, but as I recall the lining of the stomach is strong enough to hold it without being burnt or damaged.  I must’ve missed the lesson that explained why your throat and esophagus and possibly your nostrils are burned when items in your stomach go the wrong way. 

  There are a lot of things that of been learned over the last 100 years and I want to mention that I’m not trying to point out the ignorance of the writer or the author or even demonstrate my own ignorance, I’m just trying to remark on the evolution of thought in the change that’s taken place over a hundred years.  I’m comparing the written knowledge of medical professionals as compared to a layman today.  It’s an apples to oranges comparison, or maybe a different way to put it with an even worse analogy is that it’s stone tool cutting versus a  plasma cutting way of achieving the same result.  The irony is that some stone tools actually have sharper and more precise blades and many of the tools that we’ve created over the last 100 years, and so I recognize that there are some things that we may have learned over the last 100 years that are actually a step backwards.  Maybe with a little bit of luck, if I find it in this book I’ll actually know it when I see it.

• The Ribs
  
  

  The Ribs.– the ribs are twenty-four in number, arranged in pairs, well moneyed set in the chest.  At the back they are fastened to the spine, confront the seven upper pairs are tied by cartilages to the breast bone, three are fastened to each other in the cartilage above, and two, the floating ribs, are loose.  The long, slender ribs give lightness; their arched form confers strength, and the cartilages and parts of elasticity; thus the three most essential prerequisites of the chest for the protection of the delicate organs contained within this cavity are secured, whilst the freest motion in respiration is ensured.

  This section starts to get back to some of the vocabulary that is less known today.  Words such as “whilst” and “freest” sound like something out of a bad movie about pilgrims.  In general several other sentences in this section have what I would refer to as emotional connotations that are descriptive but are not necessarily accurate and definitely do not have the cold medical sound that you would expect in a text today.  In other words it doesn’t sound very scientific.

• The Value of Life
  
  

  We have seen in the Book of Medicine already that times were very different 100 years ago.  The infant mortality rate was much much higher and life expectancy was much lower as well.

  As such people had a much different perspective.  They often distanced their emotions just a bit from their children.  Furthermore, their concerns for the hereafter were much more immediate.  Middle age today was much older today than middle age 100 years ago.  This may have been part of the reason why people had a more pious view on life.

  They lost their loved ones more often and sooner in life.

  They worked to build up big families so that the family could continue to survive.  We often limit family size for economic reasons.  We buy life insurance from companies like our sponsor, Globe Insurance.  They kept family grave plots.

  Things were much different back then and we will explore these even more as we move past the anatomy section of the Book of Medicine and get it to the prognosis and care of many of the ailments that were common 100 years ago.