The Kidneys.-- The kidneys are two glandular bodies, having for their functions the secretion of urine. The form of the kidney resembles a French bean; its average length team from four to four and a half inches, two inches in breadth and one in thickness. The two kidneys are situated one on each side of the spine and the lumbar region, opposite the last two dorsal and two first lumbar vertebrae; they are a brownish-read color flattened from before word, and grooved on the anterior border for the reception of the great vessels.
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I do not know what a French bean looks like, but I suspect people to read the book 100 years ago probably did. I suppose this is some sort of reference point is lost its way over the years even though I'm sure there are a few people that knows what this still is. This book was written to be a common reference for the everyday person hundred years ago, but it probably would not connect home with everyday people in the current century. There are a number of ways to look at this, but it is important to remember that a reference that can be understood is very important when you're trying to help somebody possibly save their life or prevent further injury, if you give a reference to medical supplies describing what they look like and where they should be located, but the person that you tell doesn't understand what you're saying it could be the difference between life and death. That said, this is more of an anatomy lesson and it is doubtful that the average person really needed to know what the kidneys look like in a human person. This was probably more beneficial for a person that might actually consider studying it as an in depth later on down the road.
Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:
- Muscles of the Eye
Muscles of the Eye.-I’m turning the flap we see four of the six delicate, who with all strong muscles which I would hold I firmly in its bony orbit, but also moved upward toward the canopied vaults of heaven, downward to view the beauties of nature on earth; or sideways to the right or left, Spain have to horizon at a single glance! The next illustration gives us a graphic and faithful to limitation of the beautiful arrangements of the numerous curtains, humors, lenses, pigments, membranes, nervous coats and blood vessels which enter into the composition of this remarkable organ, each of which is exquisitely adapted to the respective functions has to perform.
As you can tell, we are getting back on track with this effort after a couple month hiatus mostly do to (ironically) poor health. No other projects are going to slow us down and we now have a promoter that will even help us hire more transcriptionists as we cover Wilmington real estate.
- How Can We Keep Healthy?-
How Can We Keep Healthy?- the best answer to that question is, to be the child of healthy parents income from a sturdy stock. The nurse at the mother’s breast and raise outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air, to sleep at plenty of air in the room at night. To have a natural movement of the files once a day. And through childhood to receive three meals a day consisting of pure wholesome food, plenty of milk, free from germs, pure water and sleep from 10 to 12 hours a night throughout childhood, depending on the age. To play into work which will be in the air and develop the muscles gradually. Every child should be vaccinated anytime after the six-month and repeat at the seventh year, to be done at once, in addition during an epidemic of smallpox. It is not necessary or write for a child to have scarlet fever, measles, diphtheria, etc., as so many people think. They are often followed by deafness, heart disease, nervous diseases and paralysis which nature never meant to inflict a child with to go through life.
Children’s teeth, eyes and throat should be examined at intervals and many defects corrected. The tonsils and adenoids (growths would stop up the nose and prevent air being breathed properly) should be removed. Enlarged tonsils often cause deafness by preventing air from the throat reaching the ear cavity due to stopping the opening of the Eustachian tube which leads from the throat to the ear.
Children should not be taught to many branches at school. Every school should be well lighted with plenty of fresh air. Many of the smaller schools are now being built on open ropes of buildings in large cities or in platforms placed out of doors with just a roof overhead to protect the children. All schools should be held in the open where possible. There is absolutely no chance of cold that the children are warmly dressed in experiments are proven that the children are healthier, more attentive and mentally deficient where they had been in school in the open air.
This kicks off an interesting theme that I have seen throughout this section of the book as I took a sneak peak into things. Its the concept that fresh air all by itself is important to health. Now, I suspect that the real benefit to good health is actually the absence of pollution, which was a real problem even 100 years ago with coal soot and other contributors of new industrial run off problems. If we could time travel, I think one of the interesting things we’d discover if we could send people back to large and small cities armed with digital cameras is that pollution was likely very rampant 100 years ago. This was very likely a significant health problem.
That said, keeping people outside in the fresh air just for the sake of being outside in the fresh air regardless of the temperature is approximately where the science runs into pseudoscience and misunderstanding.
- 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.
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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.