Breathing.--Respiration, or the act of breathing, consists of thealternate inspiration and expiration of air to and from the lungs; in the process of which the lungs themselves are almost passive managements, since their contraction expansion takes place by means of the muscles which surround the chest. The diaphragm or midriff, which, when at rest in the lungs empty, forms a beautiful dome to the abdominal cavity, becomes depressed during the inspiratory process, and presses the walls of the abdomen outward. At the same time the ribs become elevated, thus increasing the size of the chest. Thereupon the elastic lungs expand to occupy the entire space, whilst the current of air, in obedience to a well known physical law, rushes down the windpipe and enters the numerous air cells, the result of which is inspiration. In expiration the reverse of this takes place. We bend forward, draw the abdominal walls inward, press the diaphragm upward, whilst the ribs are pulled downward. All these acts simultaneously performed decrease the size of the chest, and force or expel the air from the lungs.
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This is another one of those segments where there are excessive number of comments, however the writing is actually fairly descriptive of the process. Today the commas are a distraction but the writing is pretty good here. It is not extremely technical nor does it get into many of the finer details of the inner workings of the lungs, but from the perspective of a person describing the breeding action of the lungs as observed from the movement of the chest this is pretty good.
Make no mistake at this point in time scientists had often studied the lungs of animals and sometimes even people in action without the obstruction of a skin or the chest cavity. Scientists almost two hundred years earlier had performed what would be considered today fairly brutal experiments on animals and dogs in particular to gain a working knowledge of the organs. Battle field physicians also received a great deal of experience in war time and this book series actually was first published during the time of the American Civil War.
Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:
- The Pyloric Gate and The Liver
The Pyloric Gate. — At the smaller end the muscular fibers contract and form a gateway — the pylorus, as it is called — which carefully guards the exit from the stomach, and allows no food to escape until properly prepared. The gastric blood vessels are seeing distributing themselves over the outer surface of the organ, thus ensuring its nutrition and repair.
The Liver. — The liver is the secreting organ by which the bile is formed. It is situated on the right side below the diaphragm, and is of a reddish-brown color. It is a regular in form, being convex on the upper surface, irregularly concave behind, very thin in front, and weighs about 4 pounds. It is, therefore, seen to be the largest organ or gland in the body. It is divided into two lobes, the right and the left, the former being by far the larger. I’m turning the flap over, we see how intricately is arranged internally.
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It’s strange but there are only a few sections like this one where there are no bizarre items to report or identify. It’s kind of a nice change of pace when the medical textbook reverts back to being a medical textbook.
I’m sure some strange topic will come up to catch my attention soon and it’s not like topics today in real life don’t sometimes appear a little out of the ordinary. I recently covered a reference to something known as tranquility diapers, which I believe is some reference to the peace of mind that a person suffering from incontinence, or IBD might experience after they utilize this particular product and start to live a more normalized life again.
In many ways it’s all a matter of perspective, my perspective of this old textbook is skewed significantly from the perspective of the initial writers and editors. Like calculus problem I’m studying the derivative. In this case the derivative can be measured by the span of time and change in knowledge .
- From Mothers Home Nursing Families to Nurses Traveling Across the US
I was doing some research on nursing last night and I came across an interesting trend. Nurses today in the present-day are finding in taking temporary positions that enable them to travel across the United States to work as a nurse in multiple locations, or should say in different locations. So for example if you are a nurse and you wanted to spend the winter in Miami, you could accept a position as a travel nurse and work in Miami for two or three months during the middle of winter. These positions seem to be available all around the United States, and they offer outstanding pay rates and even benefits that are normally associated with full-time work such as a 401(k) plan.
This concept of travel nursing seems to have evolved and changed over the years quite a bit. As we continue to dig within the book of medicine, we are repeatedly reminded that the book was written 90 years ago for an audience primarily consisting of mothers caring for their families and nurses in remote locations where other medical care was unavailable. A single doctor might cover a single town or even a county or territory back then. A traveling nurse back then might have to go by horseback to take care of an ailing patient, or they might work in a hospice or alms house typically for very low pay if they were paid anything at all. Room and board were actually the standard pay of the time.Fast-forward 90 years and the situation has changed dramatically. Nursing is very high in demand to the extent that people will actually pay a nurse to travel across the country and work for a few months at a time. Part of this is probably driven by the shortage of nurses and a number of different areas and part of it probably relates to the fact that elderly and ailing patients are much more mobile these days. It has been very common for a couple decades now for people to travel south for the winter to Florida or Phoenix or even Southern California. This influx of people that need medical attention seems to be matched by nurses that are willing to go to those locations and work. Furthermore, were not necessarily talking about a live-in nurse that works 24 hours a day taking care of an elderly patient, were talking about a nurse that works a shift sometimes in a home sometimes a hospital or other medical facility. That leaves pony of time for a real life after hours and many opportunities to explore the location that they’re visiting.
- VENEREAL DISEASES
VENEREAL DISEASES.Syphilis, gonorrhoea and a host of diseases which follow in their train, come within the scope of Preventive Medicine. They are not spread by water, air, food, or insects as are so many diseases, but develop only from contact with a sufferer (usually by co-habitation, but possible by non-sexual contact), or by the germs from a sufferer being imparted to another by towels, clothing or other articles. They may be communicated to an innocent wife by a diseased husband and vice versa, and many serious diseases and infirmities depending on these diseases may be transmitted to the children of the diseased, as instance the disease of Opthal-mia or Blindness in Children, which occurs at or shortly following birth, and which is usually attributable to one or both of the parents suffering from gonorrhoea, although it may arise from other causes (see Index for article on Opthalmia, its cause, treatment and prevention).
Syphilis and gonorrhcea are so largely dependent on immoral Inter‑course that their prevention is largely a matter of moral uplifting of the people. But, pending this morat uplifting, much is possible by the State and municipal governments placing these diseases on the list of contagious diseases which must be reported to the authorities, as is now required in respect of small-pox, scarlet fever and other diseases which are neither so loathsome nor have such far-reaching results for ill to mankind.
All parents should carefully read the articles on Syphilis, Gonorrhoea and Opthalmia, to be found elsewhere in this work (see Index), and then they should carefully guard their children and at proper age thoroughly instruct them in the fearful ravages of venereal disease. There is too much false modesty in these matters on the part of parents. The general discussion. of sexual matters in novels, in sensational books on eugenics and in ordinary conversation is to be condemned, but it is the duty of every mother to her daughter and of every father to his son, to not only keep constant guard over them in these matters, but, at the beginning of puberty, to instil into their minds the real truths that they may become imbued with the horrors of venereal disease, yet realize the nobility of true sexual life. Professors and teachers in resident schools and colleges where youth is congregated should also have regard to this vital subject and take means to properly impart useful knowledge, and not only adopt every possible precaution to prevent students from meeting lewd persons, but by periodical medical examination discover if any venereal disease is existent, and if found in any individual then suspend such student until the disease be eradicated beyond the possibility of contagion.
Syphilis is a more horrible disease than small-pox and may be easily communicated to the innocent by a common towel, by a brother kissing his sister or a son his mother, and in many other ways, and yet the syphilitically diseased may go where they please and little or no precautions are taken as to the spreading of the disease. It is estimated that in New York City alone 250,000 people are suffering from this loathsome disease, either inherited or acquired, and when it is borne in mind that large numbers of these have innocently acquired it and are now in turn transmitting it to others, the enormity of the evil and the imperative need of preventive measures, will be realized.
Today, fighting venereal diseases begins with a much more solid foundation for education, but is solidly supported by a host of drugs and treatments that can fight many venereal diseases. In some ways venereal diseases today have a stigma significantly less than 100 years ago, because they can be treated better and do not result in death. Popping an antibiotic is as easy as popping a diet pill or taking cold medication.