The home book of health and medicine : a popular treatise on the means of avoiding and curing diseases, and of preserving the health and vigour of the body to the latest period : including an account of the nature and properties of remedies, the treatment of the diseases of women and children, and the management of pregnancy and parturition / by a physician of Philadelphia.

  • Horner, William E. (William Edmonds), 1793-1853.
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The home book of health and medicine : a popular treatise on the means of avoiding and curing diseases, and of preserving the health and vigour of the body to the latest period : including an account of the nature and properties of remedies, the treatment of the diseases of women and children, and the management of pregnancy and parturition / by a physician of Philadelphia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    TIIE INTERCOSTAL MT7SCLE9. The intercostal muscles are situated be- tween the ribs, and by their contraction, raise the latter, in order to dilate the cavity of the chest in the act of respiration. There are two sets of intercostal muscles, one within the other; the fibres of the two sets run obliquely, in opposite directions, from the edge of one rib to that of another, and hence decussate each other like the strokes in the letter x. THE PEETJRA. The membrane which lines the cavity of the chest, and covers the organs situated in that cavity, is called the pleura. It is a de- licate, smooth, shining and moistened mem- brane of the serous kind, its free surface being covered with a serous fluid. It forms two distinct sacs, covering the lungs on each side, and from them extending over the inner surface of the chest. The part where the two bags formed by the pleura meet in the centre of the chest, constitutes the mediastinum, between the laminae of which'' are situated the heart, gullet, wind- pipe, aorta, the large veins going to the heart, &c. The inflammation of the pleura causes the disease known by the name of pleurisy, and when the serous exudation from its surface is increased, dropsy of the chest is produced. MEDIASTINUM. A fold of the pleura or lining membrane of the chest, passes from the spine behind to the breast-bone in front; this is the me- diastinum, and divides the cavity of the chest into two lateral portions, which are occupied each by one of the lungs. Be- tween the folds of the mediastinum are con- tained the gullet, windpipe, large blood- vessels and nerves, and the heart. DIAPHRAGM. The muscular expansion which divides the cavity of the thorax from that of the abdomen, is called the diaphragm. It is placed very obliquely between these two cavities, its anterior connection being much higher than its posterior. Its middle part is forced up by the viscera of the abdomen, so as to form an arch. The diaphragm, at its anterior part, arises from the ensiform cartilage, and the cartilages of the sixth, seventh, and all the inferior ribs. Its fi- bres converge towards a common centre, where they terminate in a broad triangular tendon. This is attached to the internal muscles about the loins. There are several passages through the diaphragm, through which pass the aorta, the thoracic duct, the vena azygos, the two great intercostal nerves, the esophagus, the vena cava, and eighth pair of nerves. When the diaphragm contracts, its concavity is lessened, particu- larly on each side, over which the lungs are'placed, its centre being firmly fixed from its connection with the mediastinum, or bag which surrounds the heart. B) the descent, however, of its sides, it pushes downwards and forwards the abdominal viscera, thus lengthening, and of course en- larging, the cavity of the thorax; it is hence the principal muscle of inspiration. TIIE PECTOIlAIi MUSCLES. The muscles situated in front of the tho- rax, upon its upper and lateral parts, are the pectoral. They arc two in number. The most exterior is the largest, arising from two of the ribs, from the breast bone and the anterior part of the collar bone ; its fibres run towards the arm-pit in a folding manner, and are there connected with a tendon, by which the muscle is inserted into the upper and inner part of the bone of the arm. When in action, this muscle moves the arm forward and obliquely up- wards towards the breast bone. Beneath this muscle is a second smaller one, which arises from the third, fourth and fifth ribs, and terminates in a tendon which is inserted into a projection of the shoulder blade. When in action, it draws the latter forwards and downwards; it also, when the shoulder is fixed, assists in raising the ribs upwards. The two muscles produce the prominence of the breast in the male subject. THE MAMMB OH BREASTS. The female breasts are termed in anato- mical language, the mammre. They arc two globular organs, situated upon the an- terior parts of the female chest, and destin- ed to secrete the milk for the nourishment of the infant during the early months of its existence. Each breast is composed of a gland, divided into distinct lobes, each of which is subdivided into smaller lobes; Ijy these the milk is separated from the blood. From the smallest subdivisions of the gland arise small ducts, which, joining together as they advance, finally open upon the nip- ple, by from fifteen to eighteen minute ori- fices. It is by these ducts that the milk is conveyed to the nipple, from thence to be drawn by the sucking of the infant's mouth. The different lobula of the breasts are held together by cellular structure, and covered by a fatty cellular membrane, varying in thickness, and by the common integument or skin; here, however, having extreme delicacy and softness. Near the centre of each breast is situated the nipple, which is composed of a spongy tissue, perforated by the milk tubes, and capable of becoming-