An anatomical exposition of the structure of the human body / By James Benignus Winslow ... Translated from the French original, by G. Douglas.

  • Jacob Benignus Winslow
Date:
1733
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An anatomical exposition of the structure of the human body / By James Benignus Winslow ... Translated from the French original, by G. Douglas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    89. We may be convinced, that the folid part of Bones is made up of different Strata of Laminae, clofely join’d together, by examining broken Bones, thofe that have been long expos’d to the Air, Rain, or Sun, thofe that have been calcined by Fire to a certain degree, or thofe that have beeg foften’d by long and violent boiling, as in Papin's Digefler. 90. And even without the help of fuch Preparations, the Lam ins; in fome Bones may be feen through a good Microfcope ; and (till plainer in Exfoliations, the coming away of the Splinters of Bones after Wounds, 6?r. The number of thefe Laminae anfwers to the thicknefs of the Bone. 91. Gagliardi, Profeffor of Anatomy at Rome, pretends to have ob- ferv’d that thefe Laminae are connected by means of certain fmall long Bones, which running through them in different places, fome diredtly, others obliquely, nail them together like fo many Pins. 92. These little Bones, he fays, feem to be tranfverfe Epiphyfes of the bony Fibres, of which the Laminae are compofed : and that they are of va¬ rious kinds and figures, ftraight, crooked, branched, long, and fhort, and that fome of them have fmall heads belonging to them. 93. They appear, according to him, to arife from within outward in each Lamina, except a few near the outer Surface of the Bones, the Points of which are turn’d inwards in a contrary dire&ion to the reft ; in fuch a man¬ ner as that the Nails or Pins arifing from the internal Laminae pierce feveral of thofe that lie upon them, and each of thefe again fend out others which pierce thofe that furround them. 94. Lastly, he fays, that thefe little Bones are not only of different kinds and figures, but of different orders likewife, and that they are found in great numbers, even in the cellular Subftance of Bones. I cannot here take upon me to form any Judgment of this Dodtrine, having been hitherto unable to fatisfy my felf fo much as about the Exiftence of thefe little Bones from all the Experiments I have made. 95. To return to the Laminae, the external may be obferv’d to lie in pretty regular Strata ; but in the more internal, this difpofition is gradually alter’d, thefe appearing in fome meafure to lie in Gathers or unequal Folds. The innermoft of all are perforated by many Holes of different fize and figure. 96. In this manner do the Laminae which compofe the folid parts of Bones, change their regular Difpofition, to form what I call thecellulous or fpongy part, which makes up almoft the whole interiour Texture of the Bones which have not large Cavities, and of all the Epiphyfes without ex¬ ception ; but in the hollow Bones this part is found only near the Ex¬ tremities. 97. The Cells or void Spaces in this fpongy part are more confiderable in fome Bones than in others j and the Plates which compofe them differ in form as well as in extent *, being more or lefs flat, crooked, twifted, an¬ gular, irregular, thick, thin, broad, narrow, &c. 98. In many Bones thefe Plates appear to degenerate into fmall Fila¬ ments, fo that the cellulous part of fuch Bones is, as it were, a mixture of Vol. I. • C Plates
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