Reviewing the Medical Books and Journals that constituted Medical understanding a century back.

History of the Book of Medicine

June 23rd, 2007 at 3:50 pm

Breathing Capacity of Lungs

in: Chest, Lungs

Breathing Capacity of Lungs. --the breeding capacity of the lungs bears a close correspondence to the stature of man. For an ordinary sized man of about 5'8" in height, it will be 230 cubic inches, or about 1 gallon of air, and for each additional inch of stature up to 6 feet, there will be an increase of 8 cubic inches. in a forcible expiration all the air in the lungs is not expelled; or still remains behind 100 cubic inches. thus, with his son expelled air, the breeding capacity of an ordinary sized man is about 330 cubic inches, or equivalent to 11 pints of air. Of the 230 cubic inches, 100 can only be forced into lungs by the exercise of great effort, and is available for emergencies as striking a heavy blow, or for the purpose of training, as in singing, rolling, running, climbing, etc.; but the extra amount of air old was on hand in the lungs is of great value, since it enables the lungs to perform their functions continuously, even under severe and violent exertions.

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At this point in time I'm on page 47 of this text. We've been walking through basic anatomy, and I have a layman's education in anatomy. I think this might be the first time that I've actually learned something conceivably useful from the book. I do not know how accurate it might be, I was intrigued by the concept that some of the air for the lungs remains in the lungs continuously. I do understand the concept of air pressure and this does make logical sense in that regards. It would also explain why it's important to cover hole in the chest if you happen to puncture a lung. The puncture creates a deflated long which is lost that amount of air which remains at a constant level.

All in all I'm quite impressed that I have learned something from the book that's meant to teach me something.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

  • Rain-Water

    VARIETIES OF WATER.

    Rain-Water. — in classifying waters, we have first to consider them as regards their sources. Rain-water, as already mentioned, is sweet and soft, and when filtered is perfectly adapted to all the purposes of life; the one difficulty about its use being the impossibility of collecting the cure and preserving it without contamination for the long periods of time and in the large quantities which would often be necessary.

     

    That is a relatively poor description for a classification of anything. The author mentions that we should consider the source, and then promptly this drives how Rainwater tastes and what can and can’t be done with it in a very vague and general way. So with that worthless description we proceed to the next section where the author will probably talk about wind chimes or something completely unrelated to the topic at hand.

  • Typhoid Poison from a Well

    Typhoid Poison from a Well.  — in a report of the American public health Association, Dr. Austin Flynn gives an account of an outbreak of typhoid fever in Vermont which it was possible to trace, in the most circumstantial way, to the poisoning of a well in some such method as has been described.  The young man traveling through the region by stagecoach was taken ill, and, when he could go no further, was left in a tavern and a little hamlet to be cared for, his illness soon proved to be typhoid fever.  A small watercourse, a shallow valley, by the village into two portions, each of which consisted of half a dozen houses or less.  In a few days new cases of the fever made their appearance in that part of the hamlet which the tavern along — every house, in fact, but one was invaded with this disease — whilst on the other side of the stream not a case occurred.  It appears that the tavern well, which was the only one up on that side of the village, furnish the water supply to all the families belonging there but one.  That one family had had a quarrel with the landlord of the hotel, and consequently deserted the tavern well for a more distant supply of drinking water, and so escape swallowing the specific poison of typhoid fever in the water by which all their neighbors were stricken down.

     

    image In case you’re wondering, typhoid fever is spread by people that shed typhoid bacteria area this can happen when they handle food or drinking water that other people consume, or when the bacteria is exhausted into a sewage system that contaminate the water supply.  So it is possible that the people that became sick from typhoid fever in this example, became sick from close proximity with a very sick traveler, in addition to the pollution of that traveler with the water supply.  We rarely think of these problems today when we book time in las vegas suites or at a beech cottage, but the bacteria could still be propogated by people handling food. This is one of the prime reasons why people should wash their hands. Due to water treatment procedures, we are currently fortunate to have less exposure to contaminated drinking water, however when sewer lines break in coastal areas and people swim in the ocean near these breaks, the risk could go up.

    It is also very interesting to note, that in this passage a health association that Dr. Flynn worked with was noted as opposed to just a name.  This is a distinct improvement, and I think the first time it has occurred in 158 pages!

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