An inquiry into the physiological mechanism of respiration : with especial reference to the movements of the vertebral column and diaphragm / by J.F. Halls Dally.

  • Dally, John Frederick Halls, 1877-1944.
Date:
[1909]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: An inquiry into the physiological mechanism of respiration : with especial reference to the movements of the vertebral column and diaphragm / by J.F. Halls Dally. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    to about 15 per cent.; from tlii.s onwards it may remain stationary, or even further decrease (vide fig.s. 10 and 11). With each decade of life the diaphragm becomes functionally less active, and this fact, as seen above, corresponds with decrease in size of the base of the lung in contact with it. Does this mean that the diaphragm in man is becoming morpliologically less active ? The foetal type of diaphragm is the one which is present in anthropoid apes, as well as in uncivilised races, the crura, in both cases, being strongly developed. Remembering that, as Keith has shown, the primary function of the diaphragm is to pump blood into the heart, and that its participation in respiration is but secondary, it seems Fig, 10.—The lung at birth. Fig. 11. —The lung at the age of 25. (Diagrammatic.) (Diagrammatic.) , reasonable to suppose that civilisation, involving, as it does, a more sedentary and less athletic existence than uncivilisation, is the chief cause of the lessened scope of the diaphragm’s activity. SUMMAKY. In the orthodiagraph we have an instrument whereby we can both observe and measure with exactitude the movements of the internal organs during life. In this paper I have briefly touched upon some of the results obtained. Not only is the orthodiagraph valuable as a means of observing and recording healthy vital processes, but also it can be made of consider- able assistance in the diagnosis of pathological conditions. I he lesults obtained by the use of other methods have reference to points which previously have received but scanty attention.
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