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:

• WOMB, OVARIES AND VAGINA.
  
  

  The Womb.–the plate beautifully and effectively illustrates the location and formation of the womb, that wonderful organ which performs the function of parturition, and which is so constructed as to assist in all the necessary efforts of birth. Its structure is elastic and strong, and it expands readily to accommodate the growth of the child (fœtus). While this is true exteriorly, its inner parts are rather delicately lined, and subject to a variety of painful diseases, generally designated as “Diseases of the Womb.”

  At this point, the author or authors just couldn’t help themselves and a return to some of their previous form.

  First off it like to point out the use of the word parturition. This word simply means the act of giving birth.

  Second, I’d like to point out the atypical spelling of the word fetus, spelled as “fœtus.” I have wonder if the use of the spelling using the Greek characters “œ” was used to describe the fetus from a secular perspective while being very respectable of nonsecular concerns and sensibilities. The etymology of the word is actually theoretically linked to a spelling mistake by Saint Isidore of Seville, who introduced Aristotle to his countrymen around between 535 ad and 636 ad in his work the Etymologiae (taking its title from the method he used in the transcription of his era’s knowledge). He may not have been a travelpro but he was well learned. He brought ancient knowledge back into Western knowledge as early as the beginning of the Dark Ages.

  Third, the last phrase of this section “Diseases of the Womb” seems to hint to me, and my perspective may be flawed, that the author is referring to illnesses often associated with women, but downplayed by doctors hundred years ago. They lump the large number of health issues together at times it did not take practical nor realistic look at it as they were avoiding the sensibility issues of the day.

• Duty of the Throat
  
  

  Duty of the Throat.- the muscular bands of the throat now grasp it and pass it down the gullet into the stomach, beyond our control.  Here it comes into contact with the gastric juice, undergoes the churning motion of the stomach, discarded over by the pylorus, thoroughly saturated in mixed before entering into the intestinal tract, where it is subjected to the action of the file, the pancreatic juice and the intestinal fluid each with its special duty to perform.

   

  Again nothing terribly exciting here in this section but the next one will take us into “Nature’s Treasures Opened to Man”.

• Why the Library of Health?
  
  

  Archaelogical Journey into a Medical Text

  Close to 10 years ago I purchased an antique book at an auction,is about 6 inches thick it’s bound in green leather, and it’s titled library of health on the outside book cover. Inside the book its title library of health space complete guide to prevention and cure of disease. It’s said to contain practical information on

  anatomy, physiology and preventive medicine; curative medicine, first aid measures, diagnosis, nursing, sexology, simple home remedies, care of the teeth, occupational diseases, garden plant remedies, alcohol and narcotics, treatment by 15 schools of medicine, beauty culture, physical culture, the science of breathing and a dictionary of drugs.

  The book contains 21 books in one volume.

  I love old books, I love all books. There’s something about this book caught my eye that I couldn’t explain of the time. I picked it up and it’s been sitting in my library for years. Now I also love history and archaeology and over the last couple of months I’ve been coming up with the notion that I wanted to delve into this book from the perspective of an archaeologist studying what medical teachers or teaching future doctors a hundred years ago. His book was published in 1916 and it’s almost 100 years old I believe the first of the books from this set was originally published in 1860. The book is now in the public domain as it was published before 1923.

  I intend to proceed to go through the book and eventually cover many of the topics covered in the book from the perspective of looking at what was considered medical science at the turn of the century. I am not a doctor and I cannot verify the medical accuracy today of any of the items in this book nor do I recommend anyone use the items in this book for any form of cure or treatment.

  The purpose of this website is primarily educational from a historical perspectivenot a medical perspective except so much is that historical medical percept active might help current doctors understand where they’re body of knowledge evolved from years ago. I also think there will be some entertainment value in looking at some concepts both moral concepts and scientific concepts that existed at the turn of the century.

  I invite you to come along on my journey with me as we analyze this book and I think I might make this a hobby of mine looking at other books in the future. This volume is 1700 pages long and covers a wide body of knowledge on many different topics. I don’t think this journey will end any time soon…