Work of the Heart.  --no slave ever performed his work more patiently than the heart.  It's quivering task is essential to life and health.  It is the fountain from whence the spirit flows, and on the faithful performance of its functions every part of the body depends for the warm stream of life, motion and vigor which it unstintingly furnishes.  The ancients believed the heart to be the seat of love.  Within its walls were located all that was pure, true, good and noble, as well as the evil passions of the soul.  And although modern scientist on the seat of mind, reason, consciousness and the mental powers be located in the brain, and does rob the heart of its romance, yet it has revealed wonder is connected with the small organ, that certainly it clips the mysteries associated with it in the past. Pit-a-Pat! pit-a-pat! drops this marvelous engine, and in response to its constant dropping the blood bounce along the myriad of tubes, conveying messages of life and health.

_________________ There's a little bit of irony in this particular section.  The author is reviewing the ancients perception of what the heart did, and I'm reviewing what the authors.the heart did a hundred years ago.  The irony is probably compounded by the fact that I'm a layman and know very little about medicine in the authors were probably fairly informed about medicine in their day, however many of the things that they describe seem ludicrous to me just like some of the things they thought the ancients describe probably seem ludicrous to them.  I can't wait for generations in the future to come along and find the ludicrous things that I've created!

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• How to destroy the Breeding Places of Mosquitoes-Part 3
  
  

  How to destroy the breeding places of mosquitoes.-Mosquitoes will breathe indoors as well as outside. Any water left in clogged sinks, toilet fixtures, water pitchers in bedrooms, slop jars buckets, tubs, spittoons, aquariums without fish, or in fact any vessel which is capable of holding the few teaspoons of Still water, will afford a breeding Place for the mosquito. Neglect to remove or repair the above structure is only allowing a large crop of mosquitoes to develop and annoy you and your neighbors by bites, disturbing your comfort, preventing rest, sleep and subjecting you to the malaria and yellow fever if you are in a district where these diseases are known to exist.

  So yet again they’ve managed to find a way to include another list of places where mosquitoes might be born or patch. Thanks a lot for that. There’s only one paragraph bonus section and they still haven’t described how to destroy the breeding places.  With these types of vagueness I’d almost expect them to tell me to shut the wood blinds to keep out the mosquitoes too.

• Use of the Auricles
  
  

  Use of the Auricles– The auricles serve as reservoirs to receive the blood — the right, as it comes dark and foul from its tour of the body; the left, as it filters bright and pure from the oxygenated forest of lungs — and to furnish it to the ventricles as they need it. This is graphically shown in the chart, the large blue vein, formed by the jugular and subclavian veins, is seen descending downward and emptying into the right auricle; the red pulmonary vein, formed by the coalescing of its numerous branches, conveying rich, pure blood for the lungs and depositing it in the left auricle.corresponding to the lightness of the work they perform, the walls of the auricles are comparatively thin and weak.

  ____________

  Referring to the blood as dark and foul seems a little overly dramatic for this particular description. Similarly it refers to the blue vein, which as we’ve pointed out in a past article is inaccurate. Other than those accommodation of odd and incorrect items section is in too bad. It’s a little overly descriptive in a literary sense but the most part seems to be fairly on-topic.

  If the author really wanted to see something that was foul or dangerous I wonder what they would’ve thought of a Def Leppard concert. In a way it’s too bad that the authors are not alive today, otherwise I would’ve sent them a def leppard tour schedule. I’m sure that would give them something to really write about.

• How We Walk
  
  

  How We Walk.- the foot is in raised from the ground and swung forward into true pendulum fashion.  The leg in so doing becomes flexed at the knee joint, and considerably shorter, and the whole weight of the body is transferred to and supported by the leg and foot, which is planted firmly on the ground.  The leg in the foot which was swinging in the air is now brought down to the ground, the muscles passing through changes just the reverse of those employed in raising it.  Planting this foot firmly on the ground, to prevent the body from failing, we raise the other foot, swing it forward, like describing the same movements as before, repeating the process alternatively with each leg.  These movements constitute the act of walking; the complexity of which is fully illustrated by the consultative machinery employed for its performance, as we’ve seen in the beautiful place join the wonderful unskillful arrangements of the bones and muscles of the leg.

  This description sounds slightly unscientific.  I picture a man standing there and slowly lifting his leg while the author slowly writes in perfect form each word describing the movement, but the entire time failing to recognize the chaotic nature of walking or running which is at best an exercise in repeated controlled falling.  Its much easier today to analyze true movement with the benefit of cameras and slow motion.  The author might not even be suited for practicing medicine today and could possibly be better suited to accounting or banking working with mortgage lenders.