| MEDICAL INTRO |
| BOOKS ON OLD MEDICAL TREATMENTS AND REMEDIES |
THE PRACTICAL |
ALCOHOL AND THE HUMAN BODY In fact alcohol was known to be a poison, and considered quite dangerous. Something modern medicine now agrees with. This was known circa 1907. A very impressive scientific book on the subject. |
DISEASES OF THE SKIN is a massive book on skin diseases from 1914. Don't be feint hearted though, it's loaded with photos that I found disturbing. |
The Nervous System.
The brain includes a number of different nervous centers which it is not necessary for us to name. It is composed of two halves or hemispheres, which are separated from each other by a deep fissure running from before backward. The outer part of these hemispheres is arranged in the shape of convolutions; the inner part of the brain is composed largely of nerve fibres, which conduct nervous force from the brain to different parts of the body.
The hemispheres are the seat of mental activity; there is a general relation between the size and depth of the convolutions on the one hand and the intellectual power of the individual on the other. Certain functions are localized in different parts of the brain ; that is, these parts are known to originate the nervous force by which certain functions are performed. Thus it is known that the nervous power whereby the limbs are moved is produced in the front part of the upper surface of the brain ; and it is well established that the faculty of speech is a function of a certain convolution (the third frontal) on the left side of the brain. When this convolution is destroyed by disease, the individual loses the power of articulating words, though the vocal organs remain unaffected. Beyond this we have no reason for assuming that different mental faculties are located in different parts of the brain ; there is, in other words, no physiological basis for the assertions of phrenologists. The skill which many of these gentlemen exhibit is the result of close observation of faces, rather than of knowledge derived from " bumps on the head."
The part of the brain which lies at the back part of the base of the skull and constitutes the beginning of the spinal cord, the medulla oblongata, is an extremely important portion of the nervous system ; among its various functions is the important duty of presiding over the act of breathing. If this part of the nervous system be injured, breathing ceases ; this is often shown as a physiological experiment; if an instrument, such as a shoemaker's awl, be introduced into the base of the brain so as to break up the medulla, breathing ceases, simply because the animal no longer feels the necessity for air, and makes no effort to breathe.
The spinal cord is composed partly of nerves which pass from the brain to the muscles, and from the skin to the brain. The former nerves transmit the nervous influence which causes the muscles to contract; the latter transmit the impressions made upon the skin to the brain. Aside from these nerves, the spinal cord contains nervous centers which are capable of originating impulses independently of the brain; thus, if a chicken's head be chopped off, separating entirely from the rest of the body, the animal continues to move violently until the nervous centers in the cord are exhausted from lack of blood. Many familiar actions illustrate the fact that the same independent action of the spinal cord takes place in the human animal; thus, if the sole of the foot be tickled, or a pin be inserted into the flesh of the leg, the limb is violently moved without any voluntary action on the part of the individual, in fact, often before the person is aware of the irritation.
The Nerves.-The nerves are white cords which serve as telegraph wires for connecting the brain with the different parts of the body. From every portion of the skin nerves run upward to center in the brain, so that every impression made upon the skin is communicated at once to the organ of the mind ; the eye, the ear, and the other organs of special sense, stand in similar communication with the brain.
Every muscle in the body which is controlled by the will is similarly connected with the brain ; every muscular action is originated by nervous force, which is generated in the brain and transmitted along the nerves to the muscles. If the nerves be cut or injured, the transmission of the nervous force is interrupted; impressions made upon the skin are not perceived in the brain ; and voluntary efforts to move the limbs exert no effect upon the muscles.
Above is a picture of the human nervous system as well as the main parts that make up the nervous system.
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