Human physiology, for the use of elementary schools online

REESE*LIBRARY*




OF THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA




HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY,



FOR THE USE OF



ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.



BY CHARLES A. LEE M. D. 5

LATE PROFESSOR OF MATERIA MEDICA AND MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE, IN
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.



" The proper study of Mankind is Man.



ITH



TJHIV






NEW YORK:
TURNER, HUGHES, & HAYDEN,

NO. 10 JOHN ST.
RALEIGH, N. C.-TURNER & HUGHES.

1843.






iOLOGY
J3RARY

G



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838,

BY J. ORVILLE TAYLOR,
In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern

District of New York.



/



STEREOTYPED BY SMITH & WRIGHT, 21G WILLIAM ST. N. Y.



Piercy & Reed, Printers, 9 Spruce St. N. York.



TO

CHARLES ANTHON, L. L. D.

JAY PROFESSOR OF LANGUAGES

IN COLUMBIA COLLEGE,

THIS HUMBLE ESSAY,

IS BY PERMISSION,

GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED,

IN TESTIMONY OF PROFOUND RESPECT.



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.



In presenting to the public the present stereotype edi-
tion of this work, it is proper to state, that no labor or
expense has been spared to render it still more worthy
of the kind approbation with which it has been received.
A large proportion of it has been entirely re-written,
many corrections have been made, and numerous and
highly valuable illustrations introduced ; these improve-
ments, together with the questions at the end of each
chapter, cannot but render the work better adapted to
the objects for which it was written.

The author flatters himself that this treatise will be
found to contain the substance of what is yet known on
the subject of Human Physiology, and most that is
valuable, which is scattered through many learned and
ponderous volumes. In preparing it, more than fifty
different works have been consulted, from all of which
the author has freely taken whatever he found adapted
to his purpose. Originality has not been aimed at, as it
was precluded by the very nature of the subject ; in-
deed it would have been unsuited to the object in view.



Vlll PREFACE.

From the rapid sale of the first edition, and the nu-
merous orders for the work from all parts of the United
States, it may safely be concluded, that Physiology is
henceforth to be one of the common branches of know-
ledge taught in our schools, academies, and other semi-
naries of learning. Indeed it is remarkable, that
sciences, so closely connected with the health and hap-
piness of our race, as those which teach us the structure
and functions of the human body, should so long have
been confined to those who intend to pursue the
practice of medicine and surgery as a profession, espe-
cially when the practical application of such knowledge
is daily and hourly of the utmost importance to every
individual, connected as it is, with the preservation of
health and of life. That such studies are not above the
comprehension of children I can testify, not only from
my own observation, but from the experience of numer-
ous teachers, such as those whose names are appended
to the testimonials, on the first pages of this work. If
this is not sufficient, I have to commend to the attention
of the reader, the following extract from a lecture of
Mr. George Combe, the distinguished phrenologist of
Edinburgh, which he was so kind as to communicate to
me by letter :

" I take the liberty to urge very earnestly on your at-
tention, not only the advantage, but the necessity of in-
troducing instruction in anatomy and physiology into
popular education. The great laws of health cannot be
understood, nor can their importance be appreciated



PREFACE. iX

without this knowledge. I do not mean that you should
teach your children all the minute details of these
sciences, which would be necessary if you intended
them for the practice of medicine and surgery : all I
desire is, that the structure of the leading organs of the
body should be explained so far as to render the func-
tions of them intelligible, and that on this knowledge
should be founded a clear and practical elucidation of
the laws of health. I can certify, from observation,
that this instruction may be communicated to children
of ten years of age, and upwards, with great success.
The structure addresses their observing faculties, and
an explanation of the functions is as interesting to them
as a romantic story."

In treating of physiological subjects, I have unavoid-
ably employed some technical terms, but only in cases
where there was an evident advantage attending
their use; but in all such cases the exact meaning
of the term has been assigned it. This explanation
saves the necessity of a glossary, which was appended
to the first edition, and it is, therefore, omitted in the
present.

It will be perceived that the present edition contains
more anatomy than the former. This has arisen from
the full conviction, that in order to understand the
functions of an organ, its structure must first be learn-
ed To aid in the accomplishment of this object, nu-
meious well-executed wood cuts have been introduced,
alike creditable to the artist and useful to the learner.



Vlll PREFACE.

From the rapid sale of the first edition, and the nu-
merous orders for the work from all parts of the United
States, it may safely be concluded, that Physiology is
henceforth to be one of the common branches of know-
ledge taught in our schools, academies, and other semi-
naries of learning. Indeed it is remarkable, that
sciences, so closely connected with the health and hap-
piness of our race, as those which teach us the structure
and functions of the human body, should so long have
been confined to those who intend to pursue the
practice of medicine and surgery as a profession, espe-
cially when the practical application of such knowledge
is daily and hourly of the utmost importance to every
individual, connected as it is, with the preservation of
health and of life. That such studies are not above the
comprehension of children I can testify, not only from
my own observation, but from the experience of numer-
ous teachers, such as those whose names are appended
to the testimonials, on the first pages of this work. If
this is not sufficient, I have to commend to the attention
of the reader, the following extract from a lecture of
Mr. George Combe, the distinguished phrenologist of
Edinburgh, which he was so kind as to communicate to
me by letter :

" I take the liberty to urge very earnestly on your at-
tention, not only the advantage, but the necessity of in-
troducing instruction in anatomy and physiology into
popular education. The great laws of health cannot be
understood, nor can their importance be appreciated



PREFACE. il

without this knowledge. I do not mean that you should
teach your children all the minute details of these
sciences, which would be necessary if you intended
them for the practice of medicine and surgery : all I
desire is, that the structure of the leading organs of the
body should be explained so far as to render the func-
tions of them intelligible, and that on this knowledge
should be founded a clear and practical elucidation of
the laws of health. I can certify, from observation,
that this instruction may be communicated to children
of ten years of age, and upwards, with great success.
The structure addresses their observing faculties, and
an explanation of the functions is as interesting to them
as a romantic story."

In treating of physiological subjects, I have unavoid-
ably employed some technical terms, but only in cases
where there was an evident advantage attending
their use; but in all such cases the exact meaning
of the term has been assigned it. This explanation
saves the necessity of a glossary, which was appended
to the first edition, and it is, therefore, omitted in the
present.

It will be perceived that the present edition contains
more anatomy than the former. This has arisen from
the full conviction, that in order to understand the
functions of an organ, its structure must first be learn-
ed To aid in the accomplishment of this object, nu- "
meious well-executed wood cuts have been introduced,
alike creditable to the artist and useful to the learner.



X PREFACE.

The work is, therefore, presented to the public in its
present shape, with the hope and belief, that it will
subserve the cause of human knowledge and happi-
ness.

NEW YORK, April, 1839.



CONTENTS.



CHAP. I. Organic and Inorganic Bodies . . . . 13

CHAP. II. Division of the Animal Kingdom ... 20

CHAP. III. Structure of the Human Body .... 24

CHAP. IV. Structure of the Human Body continued . . 39

CHAP. V. Chemistry of the Human Body ... 56

CHAP. VI. The Human Skeleton 63

CHAP. VII. Properties of Animal Bodies . 95
CHAP. VIII. Relation of Animal Bodies to Heat, Light, and

Electricity 105

CHAP. IX. The Nervous System . . . ' . . 110

CHAP. X. Intellectual and Moral Faculties ... 123

CHAP. XI. The Spinal Marrow and its Functions . 135

CHAP. XII. The Nerves and their Functions . . . 144

CHAP. XIII. The five Senses Sense of Touch . . 156

CHAP. XIV. Sense of Taste 167

CHAP. XV. Sense of Smell 177

CHAP. XVI. Sense of Sight 190

CHAP. XVII. Sense of Hearing 225

CHAP. XVIII. Respiration . 237

CHAP. XIX. The Circulation of the Blood . . . .256

CHAP. XX. Nutritive Functions Digestion . . . 274

CHAP. XXI. Secretion 286

CHAP. XXII. Absorption 292

CHAP. XXIII. Nutrition 298

CHAP. XXIV. Animal Heat ...... 304

CHAP. XXV. The Voice 312

CHAP. XXVI. Locomotion, and its Organs, . . . 319

CHAP. XXVII. The Teeth* 326

CHAP. XXXIII. Sleep and Death 331

* Written by Solomon Brown, A. M. Scientific and Practical Dentist of this city.




HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY.



CHAPTER I.



DEFINITION ; ORGANIC AND INORGANIC BODIES.

1. PHYSIOLOGY is " the science of life," or that branch
of knowledge which explains the uses of the various. organs
of living beings. Vegetable physiology treats of the func-
tions of plants ; and Comparative physiology, of those of the
inferior orders of animals ; while Human physiology treats
exclusively of man.

2. The kingdom of nature embraces three great classes,
ANIMALS, VEGETABLES, and MINERALS. According to a more
scientific arrangement, it is composed of organic and inor-
ganic bodies. By' organic bodies, we mean those which
possess organs or instruments for the performance of certain
functions ; and by inorganic, those which do not. It is by
a knowledge of these works of God, that we derive our ideas
of his power, wisdom, and goodness.

3. Organized bodies are divided into two great classes,
animals and vegetables ; which differ from inorganic matter
in several respects, the most important of which are the
following :

4. Organized bodies have a certain determinate form,
peculiar to the species to which they belong. Every species
of plant or animal may be known by its external shape ; as

2



14 PHYSIOLOGY.

a horse, a cow, a tree, or a rose. They differ so much from
all other kinds, that we are seldom in danger of mistaking
them. This will not apply to inorganic bodies, except,
perhaps, to a few minerals which crystallize in a certain
shape.

5. In organized bodies, we find the parts of which they
are composed, distinguished by round or oval forms ; as the
body and leaves of trees ; the petals of flowers ; the bodies
and limbs of animals. We scarcely ever see straight lines,
or sharp angles among them, as in mineral substances.

Every species of animal or vegetable has its own proper
size, from which it varies but little. But minerals may be
large or small ; the substance called granite, for example,
may make a pebble or a mountain.

6. Inorganic bodies contain either a single element, as
carbon, sulphur, &c., or several of the elementary or simple
substances, which are fifty -two in number, as lime, silex, and
magnesia ; while in organized bodies, we find at least three
of these elements, as carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in veget-
ables ; and the same, with the addition of azote or nitrogen
in animals. In organic bodies, there have been discovered
in all eighteen simple substances, though they generally con-
tain but three or four.

7. But these two classes of substances, not only differ as
to the number of the elements which enter into their com-
position, they also differ, as to the mode in which these
elements are combined. Thus in minerals, two element-
ary substances unite and form a compound, and this again,
combines either with another simple substance, or with a
compound composed of two other simple substances. Thus,
for example, carbonate of ammonia is composed of car-
bon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, but combined as
follows :

The carbon and oxygen unite to form carbonic acid ; the
hydrogen and nitrogen, to form ammonia ; these two com-
pounds thus uniting, form carbonate of ammonia.



ORGANIC AND INORGANIC BODIES. 15

In animals, we find the same simple elements uniting, each
with all the others, forming the peculiar principles of organic
bodies, such as fibrin, gelatine, &c.

8. Organized bodies contain small particles of matter of
a round or oval shape, both among their solid and fluid parts.
These are supposed, according to their different arrangement,
to make up all the elementary forms of organized bodies ; as
when arranged in lines, they form nerves, tendons, and
muscles ; in sheets, the various membranes and coats of ves-
sels ; and in masses, the solid substance of the glands, as the
liver, kidneys, and pancreas.

9. There are but few changes in inorganic bodies. The
elements of which they are composed remain at rest. Rocks
and mountains are the same now, as they were five thousand
years ago. But in organized bodies, compounds are con-
tinually forming to be again separated ; animals feed on
vegetables, and vegetables on animals ;

" See dying vegetables life sustain;
See life dissolving, vegetate again ;
All forms that perish, other forms supply-
By turns we catch the vital breath and die."

10. In organized bodies the parts are mutually dependen
on each other for support. If we cut off the limb of a tree,
it dies, because it can receive no sap ; if we amputate a
finger, it mortifies, because the circulation of the blood has
ceased ; but if we break off a piece of marble, it will remain
unchanged as long as the original mass.

11. Inorganic substances exist either in solid, liquid, or
gaseous forms. They are wholly solid, liquid, or gaseous.
But organic matter always presents a combination of solid
and fluid parts. We find fluids circulating in regular ves-
sels, and the solids and fluids mutually dependent on each
other for support. In vegetables, we discover various parts,



16 PHYSIOLOGY.

such as wood, bark, leaves, roots, and flowers ; and in ani-
mals, muscles, nerves, tendons, vessels all of which are
organs, or instruments for the accomplishment of certain
purposes. Inorganic bodies are formed of homogeneous parts,
or parts perfectly similar.

12. Organic bodies are composed of two kinds of elements,
chemical, such as oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen, which exist
in minerals ; and organic, or proximate, such as albumen, gel-
atine, fibrin, &c., such as are never found in inorganic mat-
ter. It is because these organic substances are produced by
the peculiar forces of organic life, and not by chemical laws,
that we cannot decompose and then re-form them, out of
the same elements, as we can minerals. For example, we
can dissolve alum, salt, or copperas, and then by evapora-
tion, crystalize them in the same shape again.

13. The general properties of organic or inorganic bodies
differ in many particulars. In the first place there is a
constant warfare going on, between the chemical and phys-
ical laws, which govern inorganic matter, and the vital laws
which maintain animal life. This conflict commences at
the first period of our existence, and is kept up to the moment
of our dissolution. Life is enabled, for wise purposes, to
wrest portions of matter from the domain of the laws of
matter, for a certain indefinite period ; for a while, the
vital powers maintain a successful contest, but at last they
have to yield, and death gives over the body to the action
of the chemical forces.

14. This power of resisting the mechanical and chemical
laws of matter, is shown by the faculty which animal bodies
possess of maintaining the same degree of temperature, amid
the great changes from heat to cold to which they are exposed ;
in the power of changing to chyle and blood, the various
forms of food on which they subsist ; and also in their power
of forming from these the various tissues and organs of which
they are composed, and all in opposition to the general laws
of matter.



ORGANIC AND INORGANIC BODIES. 17

15. The growth of organized bodies proceeds from within,
that of inorganic matter from without. If minerals increase
in size, it is by attracting matter to their external surface,
while animals and vegetables grow by a process, called
nutrition ; that is, laying hold of nutritious substances and
converting them to their own nature, by means of internal
organs.

16. Organized bodies possess the power of being affected
with disease and recovering from it. They also have a
determinate duration, beyond which they do not often live.
This period varies for each species of animal and vegetable.
Some insects live but a single day ; most plants live but a
single year ; but some trees, such as the oak and cedar, are
supposed to live more than two thousand years. The average
duration of human life in this country is not over thirty years.

17. But the great distinction between a living being and
an inorganic body is, that the former carries on a number of
processes, not performed by the latter. A plant, for example,
absorbs food, converts it into its own proper substance,
arranges it into bark, wood, leaves, and other organized
structures, grows, arrives at maturity, generates and main-
tains a certain degree of heat, decays, and finally perishes.
No such phenomena are exhibited by a stone, or other inor-
ganic bodies. These processes, therefore, are called vital, be-
cause they are peculiar to a state of life, and afford characters
by which a living being is distinguished from all others.

18. Organized beings are divided into two classes, animals
and vegetables, differing from each other in several well-
known features.

19. Sensation and voluntary motion are possessed by ani-
mals, but not by vegetables. Had animals no sensibility or
feeling, they could not know their wants ; and if they knew
them but had not the power of motion, they would perish for
want of food ; hence the necessity of these two faculties
being joined together.

20. An animal, like a plant, receives food, transforms it into

2*



18 PHYSIOLOGY.

its own proper substance, and builds it up into certain struc-
tures ; it also generates and maintains a certain degree of
temperature, and after having arrived at maturity decays
and dies ; but in addition to these vital processes which are
similar in both, the animal possesses the faculty of feeling
and moving spontaneously, or according to the dictates of
its will, a property peculiar to itself.

21. Vegetables are nourished by the substances immedi-
ately around them, such as air, water, and the saline proper-
ties of the soil. They draw their support from without, by
absorption at their surface, or by means of roots. But
animals draw their nutriment from a great variety of sources,
and they are furnished with an internal cavity to receive
and prepare it for the purposes of nourishment.

22. Vegetable matter is composed chiefly of three elements,
viz. carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen ; besides these, animal
matter contains azote, which gives the peculiar smell that we
perceive on burning flesh, hair, bones, or feathers. Eighteen
simple substances, however, have been found in vegetables,
in very small quantities ; such as lime, sulphur, iodine, silex,
potash, soda, &c.

23. Animals and vegetables both consist of solid and fluid
parts ; the fluids, however, in animals, exist in much the
largest proportion. This is the reason why decomposition
occurs more rapidly in animals than in vegetables. Veget-
ables, abounding in fluids, decay sooner than those of a more
solid or fibrous texture.

24. Though the differences between animals and veget-
ables, are in general sufficiently obvious and striking, yet
in some few instances, their distinguishing characteristics
are not so evident. This is apparent from the fact, that
some animals have been mistaken for vegetables, and some
vegetables for animals. Some animals we find to be as
firmly attached to the soil, as most vegetables are, as is the
case in many of the zoophytes, or lowest order of animals,
as the sponge, coral, &c. ; while on the other hand, some



ORGANIC AND INORGANIC BODIES. 19

vegetables float in the water, as many kinds of sea-weed,
and are never attached to the soil.



Questions. What is physiology ? What does vegetable physiology
treat of? What human ? What classes does the kingdom of nature
embrace ? What other division ? What is meant by organic bodies ?
What by inorganic ? How are organic bodies divided ? How do or-
ganic and inorganic bodies differ from each other ? How do they
differ as to form ? as to size ? as to their number of elements ? as to
their mode of combination ? as to the shape of their particles ? as to
the changes they undergo ? as to the mutual dependence of parts ? as
to the kinds of elements ? as to their general properties ? How as to
their mode of growth ? of disease ? What is the grand distinction
between the two classes of bodies ? How are organized beings divid-
ed? How do animals and vegetables differ? How are vegetables
nourished? What is vegetable matter composed of ? Do animals or
vegetables possess the greatest amount of fluids ? What animals have
been mistaken for vegetables ?



CHAPTER II.



DIVISION OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

1. CUVIEE has divided animals into four great groups.
1. The vertebral. 2. The molluscous. 3. The articulated.
4. The radiated. The three last are destitute of vertebrae,
or a connected series of bones to form a spinal column.
They are, therefore, called invertebrated, while the term
vertebrated is applied to the former. The vertebral are
again divided into four classes, viz. 1. Mammalia. 2. Birds.
3. Reptiles. 4. Fishes. These are also distinguished by
the terms warm, and cold-blooded ; the warm-blooded, in-
cluding the two former, which possess a temperature con-
siderably above that in which they live ; while the two
latter, or the cold-blooded animals, are but little warmer
than that of the medium by which they are surrounded.
The mammalia are divided into nine orders ; Birds into
six ; while Reptiles include Tortoises, Lizards, Serpents,
and Frogs. Fishes are divided into the Cartilaginous and
Bony.

2. Molluscous animals, as the name signifies, are. those
which have no bones corresponding to those of the higher
orders of animals. They include all those animals with soft
bodies, which dwell in calcareous habitations, constructed by
themselves ; many of them are accordingly called shell-fish,
such as the oyster, muscle, clam, &c. This division also
embraces the snail, slug, and the nautilus. The articulated
class includes such animals as are furnished with joints,
with a hard external crust, or skeleton, to which are attach-
ed the organs of motion. It embraces the annelides, or red-
blooded worms, the Crustacea, (the lobster and crab,) Spiders,
and Insects. The Radiated class includes the Zoophytes, or
Plant animals, so called from their resemblance to the veget-



PHYSIOLOGY. 21

able kingdom. Most of these are of a soft texture, as the
Polypus, so well known from its being capable of existing
when turned inside out, and of reproducing any part of Its
body when destroyed by accident. To this class belongs
the Sponge, and the numerous families of the Coral.

3. The mammalia are placed at the head of the animal
kingdom ; not only because it is the class to which man
himself belongs, but because it also enjoys the most numerous
faculties, the most delicate sensations, the most varied powers
of motion, and the highest degree of intelligence.

4. The peculiar characters of these different classes must
be learned from works which treat especially of Comparative
Anatomy. It will be proper, however, in this place, to
point out some of the peculiarities which distinguish man.

5. In structure and external shape, man bears considerable