THE HEART AND ITS WONDERS.
What the Blood Is.-The blood -- the pabulum of life -- has not inaptly been termed "Liquid Flesh." But it is more than that, since it contains materials so essential and so requisite for the building up and repair of every organ tissue of which the body is composed. The blood is the liquid by means of which the circulation in the body is carried on; it permeates every note and corner of the system, and is composed of a pen, colorless fluid, the plasma, filled with red discs, so small, flat and thin that it requires 3,500, placed side by side, to measure 1 inch, and no less than 18,000, placed one upon the other, to make a column 1 inch in height. These discs are continually forming and as constantly dying.

This section started off very strange with the reference to liquid flash, I think the author would have been wise to describe her point out this reference. As were only 50 pages into the book, I have the suspicion that there are going to be many very peculiar quoted references to sources that we will never know.

Than the author goes into his rapture about the human body and emotions of being in awe of the blood. That was somewhat to be expected.

Then we got to something interesting as they started to talk about the red discs. I suspect he's referring to red blood cells, and the viewer perception that they were discs as they looked at it through a microscope. It probably didn't really know what they were looking at yet and they could only get a descriptive name.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Difficulty of Obviating Lead Poisoning
  
  

  Difficulty of Obviating Lead Poisoning. — attempts have been made to obviate the danger of water contamination from lead pipes in various ways, but not as yet with complete success. In some instances the pipes have been lined with other metals, such as tin or zinc; but, at least in some instances, a galvanic action has thus been set up, which corroded the conduits with great rapidity, and probably lead, therefore, still more dangerous pollution of the water supply. Coating the pipes on the inside with coal tar, bituminous varnish, solution of gutta-percha and the India rubber, have also been experimented with, as yet with but partial success.

  Well those prescriptions sound about as useful as most prescriptions for acne treatments today.  Again, I would remind everyone that the quote above is from a 100 year old medical book and the preventative steps offered really only offer historical perspective. 

• Breathing Capacity of 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.

  _________________________

  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.

• THE PUBLIC DRINKING CUP.
  
  

  THE PUBLIC DRINKING CUP.

  The drinking cup is a common carrier of disease. It can and does spread consumption, syphilis and typhoid fever. Any child or adult suffering from tonsilitis, diphtheria, scarlet fever or other communicable diseases can infect another by using a public tumbler or cup, whether at a public railroad station, school house, ball park, pump, railroad train, ferry boat or steamship of any kind, etc.

  The most of the State Boards of Health have had laws passed in recent years to abolish the public drinking cup and those states which have not done so are neglecting the public health by not enforcing this preventive measure, which would aid iu checking the spread of disease.
  The drinking cup should be replaced by a sterile paper cup which can be purchased in sealed packages or containers and are given away free of charge in trains, etc., and can be purchased for one penny from the slot machines in stations. They are destroyed after use and a more refreshing and sanitary drink is obtained and the danger of contracting disease eliminated. The Public Drinking Cup Must Go.

  The concept of a Public Drinking cup is extremely foreign to many of us in the US today.  In fact it is often difficult in this age of dishwashing machines to even get a person to use the same cup themselves more than once.  We live in an era where drinking out of a fresh drinking bottle or soda bottle or coffee cup is the norm and not the exception.  We can hardly conceive of going on Vegas vacations or trips to Disney World or even a trip to Wal-mart or McDonalds or wherevere and entering into a casino or ’saloon’ or restaraunt and drinking out of the same cup that hundreds or even thousands of others had utilized before us.