Beauty and Strength of the Foot. -- not only does the foot, too, frequently sustain heavy weights, but it must carry them as well. It likewise affords a firm support. Were it not for this beautiful mechanism, the constant jarring a concussion which would be experienced in the act of walking would inevitably destroy these delicate organs, the brain and spinal cord, and death would immediately follow. How few persons and civilized nations have perfectly natural feat! The beauty and utility of the human foot is marred; its movements are impeded by encasement and unnatural boots and shoes; these, instead of conforming to the form and shape of the foot, make the foot of death itself to them. The consequences corns, bunions, cross toes, in-growing toenails, large joints, and a number of other evils from which so many suffer the present day.

And that sections ends another section of non-sense.  I am looking forward to the further sections of the book that actually conveys some knowledge.  You couldn't find useful information in this section of the book with a GPS device.

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Changes in the Human Body
  
  

  I was traveling over the 4th of July here in the US and had written this article in advance, but something got stuck and it did not publish. Technology!

  Changes in the Human Body. –The human body is in a constant state of change. In the midst of life there is death. The blood discs die and new ones are born into life. Every act of life is destructive as well as constructive. Not a thought can be evolved but numerous brain cells die; not a wink of an eye, a smell of a lovely rose, nor a muscular movement, but results in the death of some part of the machinery involved. Every process of life is a process of death. The scales of the epidermis are constantly falling off to be replaced by fresh cells from beneath, and it is on the continuance of this interchange that our life, health and vigor depends. The more rapidly this change goes on, and fresh, vigorous, healthy tissues take the place of the old lifeless ones, the more elasticity, buoyancy and strength we possess — the more healthy and robust we become.

  ________________

  To a layman most of that last paragraph sounded like nonsense. Yes, cells do die and more cells are created throughout the human body. the author describes in a way that makes it sound like birth is given to the cells by other cells. I think the part the Mesa sound rather ludicrous is based on the author’s assumption that there is a cause-and-effect. When you move a muscle according to the author’s reasoning, that movement kills a muscle cell and births another muscle cell at the same time. Cells may be creating and dined at the same time but I don’t believe it’s from the exertion or the motion. That seems to be a fallacy in the logic from the statement.

• 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.

• The Stomach
  
  

  The Stomach.  — the stomach is an irregular expansion of the gullit or aesophagus, and is the receptacle which receives the food when swallowed.  Its shape has been, not inaptly, likened to the Scotch bagpipe.  It will hold about 3 pints, though it is capable of considerable distension.  When moderately filled with food it measures about 12 inches in length by 4 inches in diameter at its widest end.  The walls of the stomach consist of four distinct coats, held together by fine areolar tissue, and are arranged in the following order, from within out word: the mucous, the areolar, the muscular and the serous.  The inner mucous coat is a smooth, soft, rather thick, pulpy membrane, loosely connected with the muscular coat, and secretes the gastric digestive fluid of the stomach.
  _______

  The spelling in the section definitely gave me a few runaround’s.  The spelling of areolar and mucous and a esophagus oral spells slightly differently than they are today most of the time.  Either that or my medical contexts is extremely off base which is also possible, but I do think esophagus had a more antique like spelling as the ‘a’ and the ‘e’ were actually run together in the print as if they were one letter.  I’ve seen this printing technique before but I don’t exactly understand where or why it’s used other than for words like esophagus and even Egypt, it’s almost to signify that a hard he will follow at the beginning a word that starts with the as opposed to an egg which is not pronounced ‘eeegg’ and instead ‘ehhgg’.

  It’s not a real big thing, but it’s something that struck me as I was going through that section.  I’m sure somewhere in the world that spelling is perfectly normal.  New thing that caught my eye was the analogy of a Scottish bagpipe being similar to a stomach.  I’m not going to look it up as it’s a fact that I don’t really want to know I’d rather live with the mystery of it, but I suspect the bagpipes are made or lease were made from sheep stomachs or something like that anyway.  I could be completely wrong but like I said in this particular case it likely that mystery out there to savor for the rest of my days.  It almost picture myself taken a cross-country trip someday on a motorcycle, getting off my bike at the end of a long day of writing and walking into a café to order some food sitting down at the counter and removing my motorcycle sunglasses. 

  I’ll engage in some benign conversation with a local and will start stock about Scottish bagpipes.  My dinner guest to be the expert in Scottish bagpipes and I won’t know anything about them.  At that point in time I can finally end the mystery and I’ll ask my dinner guest if Scottish bagpipes are actually made from sheep stomach’s. I’ll probably get a ludicrous look, maybe a guffaw, and possibly a black eye.  That’s the type of thing makes life fun!