Volume 1

The world of wonders : a record of things wonderful in nature, science, and art.

Date:
1883-1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The world of wonders : a record of things wonderful in nature, science, and art. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    29/462 (page 15)
    THE CLOCK AT STRASBURG, IS fluid appears greatly to resemble the saliva in its properties. It tranoforms the starch globules that have passed through the stomach undigested into sugar, and also dissolves the muscular fibres which have hitherto only been masticated. Another very important function of the pancreatic fluid is its power of forming an emulsion with fats and oils that is capable of being absorbed by the system. The pancreas is greatly assisted in its action by the intestinal fluid which is secreted by certain porticns of the small intestine itself, which appears to have a solvent action on those portions of the food that ■ have escaped the power of the other fluids; in fact, it may be looked upon as being a universal solvent. The milky fluid now formed, is termed the chyle, and is absorbed into the system by the vessels of the intestinal walls by which they are conveyed into the blood. These vessels are known as the absorbents, and form the connect- ing links between the digestive and sanguiniferous systems. As the chyle is absorbed it changes its character. First the presence of fibrin begins to manifest itself, then it gradually becomes coloured, white corpuscles, apparently iden- tical with those of blood, being formed in great numbers. The temptation to fellow it farther on its course now becomes very strong, but we must remember that it is digestion and not assimilation that we are considering. ] We have merely attempted here to describe as ; simply as possible the ordinary every-day action of our digestive organs, which in itself is sufficiently wonderful; the eccentricities of digestion would alone fill many pages. The ostrich is said to be able to digest iron; but if we consider the wonderful process continually going on in our own bodies, the difficulty of performing such a feat will not appear so remarkable. A piece of iron introduced into the stomach would in time be dissolved by the acid contained in the gastric juice ; in fact a case is on record where a conjuror, in performing the trick of swallowing a sword-blade, accidentally allowed it to pass too far down the gullet, so that it was impossible to withdraw it. The unfortunate man was ordered acid drinks in abundance. These gradually dis- solved the steel, and would no doubt have effected their purpose had not a foolish medical man ordered the conjuror horse exercise towards the end of his treatment. The portion of the sword- blade remaining undissolved was forced against the coats of the stomach by the motion of the horse, and the result was what might have been naturally expected, a severe internal wound and death. Moitti^rs of ConstructiDii. THE CLOCK AT STRASBURG. About the middle of the fourteenth century the canon of Strasburg wished mightily for a clock which should be worthy of the magnificent cathedral wherein he would place it. With this end in view, he invited the most learned astronomers and the most skilful mechanicians to vie with each other in producing a clock which should astonish the world, and be no shame to the mighty cathedral. A man came forward ; and in 1352 the clock was finished. The whole of the Chapter was convoked to behold the first movements of this mar- vellous machine, which surpassed the most sanguine expectations. A cock perched at the top of a tower flapped his wings a few minutes before the striking of each hour to warn the faithful against the suggestions of that e\ ii spirit, which the chief of the apostles himself had no power to resist. Then Death came and struck upon a sounding bell as many strokes as the hour required, and an equal number of apostles passed in a lowly attitude before Christ, who placed his hands upon them in the attitude of blessing. Finally the chariot of the sun showed by its course round the dial the months and the seasons ; and the hands pointed out the different parts of the day, the days of the week, the days of the month, the age of the world, and the ) ear of our Lord. When the canons saw all this their first feelings were of amazement and delight ; then they thought within themselves that this man who had been clever enough to make a wonderful clock for them might make many more, and deprive their clock 01 its celebrity. They immediately determined to deprive the unfortunate man of his sight, and bar- barously executed their sentence, not informing their victim until afterwards of the cause for their wicked cruelty. When he learnt it he cried out, Oh ! foolish men, what have you done ? The clock is not finished ; one piece is still wanting which I alone can supply, and without which it is quite useless. The man was instantly led to his work, when he seized the main wheel which set the whole mechanism in motion, broke it, and thus stopped the movements of the clock for ever. This is the legend of the first Strasburg clock. But in 1550 a new clock of Strasburg was to be made, and the most noted mathematicians of the time were called upon to preside over its manufac- ture. The work was interrupted by the death of