The theory and practice of military hygiene / by Edward L. Munson.

Edward Lyman Munson

Date:: 1901

Credit: The theory and practice of military hygiene / by Edward L. Munson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

54/1010 page 38

$suit of proper training a large portion of the lungs is utilized which is nc\er used by persons of sedentary habits, the whole of the lungs and not ineiel} the uppei half being brought into action. When breathing is correctly performed there is no movement of the clavicles and shoulders, but merely an upward and forward action of the sternum, more especially the lower part, combined with elevation of the ribs and with abdominal contraction and relaxation. % Abdominal breathing should be particularly cultivated; it not being forgotten that the diaphragm is as amenable to training as is any other muscle. The lungs should be filled slowly and emptied foicibly, regularity in this exercise soon increasing expansion and serving as an excellent aid in securing an erect, manly carriage and digni¬ fied gait. . The increase of lung capacity depends largely on thoracic mobility, an originally mobile chest, even if of small dimensions, favoring it greatly. Generally speaking, the younger the recruit the better the results which may be anticipated in this respect. The habit of breathing properly is a great factor in longevity, and a roomy thorax and strong heart are no mean allies in resisting invasion by disease. When the latter has actually gained a foothold a few additional cubic inches of respiratory capacity or a small reserve of disciplined cardiac, power may suffice to turn the scale in pneumonia or typhoid fever. It is true that many comparatively undeveloped persons enjoy fair organic health, but it is equally true that greater respiratory and muscular power would unquestionably make such lives more effective and of longer duration. The influence upon the system of enlargement of the chest cannot be overesti¬ mated. The greater expansion permitted to the lungs, the greater play allowed the heart, the greater amount of oxygen introduced into the system, the greater excretion of effete matter from the blood—all these exert a powerful influence for well-being upon every cell of which the body is composed. To be truly strong the individual must be able to breathe deeply and well, and nothing is more certain in the military service than the^ dictum that every inch a man adds to his chest measure adds to the measure of his days.” Abel found in seventy-five out of one hundred soldiers, examined after a course in physical training, that the chest measure was increased from 2.6 to 5 cm. Marey noted among the men under instruction at Join- ville-sur-Pont that while after a six months’ course of training the fre¬ quency of the respiratory movements was actually decreased, there was a notable increase in the amount of air inspired hi a given time; the exami¬ nation of a large number of men by means of the spirometer showing an average increase of respiratory capacity of 500 c.c.—rising from 3,800 to 4,300 c.c. At the end of the course of instruction he observed that ex¬ ercises which at the outset had rapidly induced breathlessness and exhaus¬ tion were readily performed with little or no acceleration of breathing. In the British service the drill sergeant endeavors not only to expand the chest but to keep it expanded. The recruit is required to hold himself upright with the head well back and the chest inflated by the fullest in¬ spiration, and this artificial dilatation is sought to be maintained without giving place to a corresponding exhalation. In this condition, as analyzed by Davy, the expiration, being held in abeyance, obstructs the circulation and impedes the cardiac action. With imperfect respiration the aeration$

The theory and practice of military hygiene / by Edward L. Munson.

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