Physiology

Part 1

LOCKYER’S ASTRONOMY

ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY:

Accompanied with numerous Illustrations, a Colored Representation of the Solar, Stellar, and Nebular Spectra, and Celestial Charts of the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere.

By J. NORMAN LOCKYER.

American edition, revised and specially adapted to the Schools of the United States.

12mo. 312 pages. Price, $1.75.

The volume is as practical as possible. To aid the student in identifying the stars and constellations, the fine Celestial Charts of Arago, which answer all the purposes of a costly Atlas of the Heavens, are appended to the work--this being the only text-book, as far as the Publishers are aware, that possesses this great advantage. Directions are given for finding the most interesting objects in the heavens at certain hours on different evenings throughout the year. Every device is used to make the study interesting; and the Publishers feel assured that teachers who once try this book will be unwilling to exchange it for any other.

D. APPLETON & CO., PUBLISHERS, 549 & 551 BROADWAY, NEW YORK.

SCIENCE PRIMERS, edited by PROFESSORS HUXLEY, ROSCOE, and BALFOUR STEWART.

VI. PHYSIOLOGY.

FIG. I.--THE HUMAN SKELETON IN PROFILE.

Mn. The Mandible or Lower Jaw.

St. The Sternum. } R. The Ribs. } In the Thorax. R´. The Cartilages of the Ribs. }

Scp. The Scapula, or Shoulder Blade.

Cl. The Clavicle, or Collar Bone.

H. The Humerus. } Ra. The Radius. } In the Arm. U. The Ulna. }

F. The Femur. } Tb. The Tibia. } In the Leg. Fb. The Fibula. }

FIG. II.

A front view of the Sternum, St., with the Cartilages of the Ribs, R´., and part of the Ribs themselves R.]

Science Primers.

PHYSIOLOGY.

BY M. FOSTER, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 549 AND 551 BROADWAY. 1877.

PREFACE.

This Primer is an attempt to explain in the most simple manner possible some of the most important and most general facts of Physiology, and may be looked upon as an introduction to the Elementary Lessons of Professor Huxley.

In my descriptions and explanations I have supposed the reader to be willing to handle and examine such things as a dead rabbit and a sheep’s heart; and written accordingly, I have done this purposely, from an increasing conviction that actual observation of structures is as necessary for the sound learning of even elementary physiology, as are actual experiments for chemistry. At the same time I have tried to make my text intelligible to those who think reading verbal descriptions less tiresome than observing things for themselves.

It seemed more desirable in so elementary a work to insist, even with repetition, on some few fundamental truths, than to attempt to skim over the whole wide field of Physiology. I have therefore omitted all that relates to the Senses and to the functions of the Nervous System, merely just referring to them in the concluding article. These the reader must study in the “Elementary Lessons.”

Part 2

M. FOSTER.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

ART. SECT.

I. INTRODUCTION. PAGE

1. “ What Physiology is 1

2. “ Animals move of their own accord 1

3. “ Animals are warm 3

4. “ Why animals are warm and move about--they burn 4

5. “ The need of Oxygen 5

6. “ The waste matters 5

II. THE PARTS OF WHICH THE BODY IS MADE UP.

7. “ The Tissues 7

8. “ The cavities of the Thorax and Abdomen 9

9. “ The Vertebral Column 12

10. “ Head and Neck 15

11. “ Nerves 18

12. “ General arrangement of all these parts 19

III. WHAT TAKES PLACE WHEN WE MOVE.

13. “ The Bones of the Arm 21

14. “ The structure of the Elbow Joint 23

15. “ Other joints in the body 25

16. “ The arm is bent by the contraction of the Biceps Muscle 26

17. “ How the will makes the Biceps Muscle contract 32

18. “ The power of a muscle to contract depends on its being supplied with blood 35

19. “ It is the food in the blood which gives the muscle strength 37

20. “ The continual need of food 38

IV. THE NATURE OF BLOOD.

21. “ The Blood in the Capillaries 40

Part 3

22. “ The Corpuscles of the Blood 42

23. “ The clotting of Blood 45

24. “ The substances present in Serum 48

25. “ The minerals in Blood 50

V. HOW THE BLOOD MOVES.

26. “ The Arteries, Capillaries, and Veins 51

27. “ The Sheep’s Heart 55

28. “ The Course of the Circulation 58

29. “ Why the blood moves in one direction only; the Valves of the Veins 64

30. “ The Tricuspid Valves of the Heart 66

31. “ The pulmonary Semilunar Valves 71

32. “ The left side of the Heart 72

33. “ What makes the blood move at all: The beat of the Heart 76

34. “ The action of the Heart as a whole 79

35. “ The Capillaries and the Tissues 82

VI. HOW THE BLOOD IS CHANGED BY AIR: BREATHING.

36. “ Venous and Arterial Blood 85

37. “ The change from Arterial to Venous, and from Venous to Arterial Blood 87

38. “ The Lungs 88

39. “ The renewal of Air in the Lungs. How the descent of the Diaphragm expands the Lungs 90

40. “ The natural distension of the Lungs. Inspiration. Expiration 91

41. “ How the Diaphragm descends 96

42. “ The Chest is also enlarged by the movements of the Ribs and Sternum 98

43. “ Breathing an involuntary act 100

44. “ Tidal air; stationary air 101

VII. HOW THE BLOOD IS CHANGED BY FOOD: DIGESTION.

45. “ Why the inside of the mouth is always red and moist 103

46. “ Why the Skin is sometimes moist. Sweat Glands 106

Part 4

47. “ The Mucous Membrane of the Alimentary Canal and its Glands 109

48. “ The Salivary Glands, Pancreas and Liver 111

49. “ Food-stuffs 113

50. “ How proteids and starch are changed 115

51. “ Lacteals and Lymphatics 117

52. “ What becomes of the Food-stuffs 120

VIII. HOW THE BLOOD GETS RID OF WASTE MATTERS.

53. “ The need of getting rid of Waste Matters 123

54. “ The Kidneys get rid of Ammonia in the form of Urea 125

55. IX. THE WHOLE STORY SHORTLY TOLD. 127

56. X. HOW WE FEEL AND WILL. 130

SCIENCE PRIMERS.

PHYSIOLOGY.

INTRODUCTION. § I.

=1.= Did you ever on a winter’s day, when the ground was as hard as a stone, the ponds all frozen, and everything cold and still, stop for a moment, as you were running in play along the road or skating over the ice, to wonder at yourself and ask these two questions:--“Why am I so warm when all things around me, the ground, the trees, the water, and the air, are so cold? How is it that I am moving about, running, walking, jumping, when nothing else that I can see is stirring at all, except perhaps a stray bird seeking in vain for food?”

These two questions neither you nor anyone else can answer fully; but we may answer them in part, and the knowledge which helps us to the answer is called =Physiology=.

=2. You can move of your own accord.= You do not need to wait, like the boughs or the leaves, till the wind blows upon you, or, like the stones, till somebody stirs you. The bird, too, can move of its own accord, so can a dog, so can any animal as long as it is alive. If you leave a stone in any particular spot, you expect to find the stone there when you come to it again a long time afterwards; if you do not, you say somebody or something has moved it. But if you put a sparrow or mouse on the grass plot, you know that directly your back is turned it will be off.

All animals move of themselves. But only so long as they are alive. When you find the body of a snake on the road, the first thing you do is to stir it with a stick. If it moves only as you move it, and as far as you move it, just as a bit of rope might do, you say it is dead. But if, when you touch it, it stirs of itself, wriggles about, and perhaps at last glides away, you know it is alive. Every living animal, of whatever kind, from yourself down to the tiniest creature that swims about in a little pool of water and cannot be seen without a microscope, moves of itself. Left to itself, it moves and rests, rests and moves; stirred by anything, away it goes, running, flying, creeping, crawling, or swimming.

Something of the kind sometimes happens with lifeless things. When a stone is carefully balanced on the top of a high wall, a mere touch will send it toppling down to the ground. But when it has reached the ground it stops there, and if you want to repeat the trick you must carry the stone up to the top of the wall again. You know the toy made like a mouse, which, when you touch it in a particular place, runs away apparently of its own accord, as if it were alive. But it soon stops, and when it has stopped you may touch it again and again without making it go on. Not until you have wound it up will it go on again as it did before. And every time you want it to run you must wind it up afresh. Living animals move again and again, and yet need no winding up, for they are always winding themselves up. Indeed, as we go on in our studies we shall come to look upon our own bodies and those of all animals as pieces of delicate machinery with all manner of springs, which are always running down but always winding themselves up again.

Continue reading Physiology free in the Wunder reader →