A Practical Physiology: A Text-Book for Higher SchoolsBlaisdell, Albert F. (Albert Franklin)
Science
A Practical Physiology: A Text-Book for Higher Schools
Blaisdell, Albert F. (Albert Franklin)
Human physiology; Physiology
The chest is supplied with numerous muscles which move the ribs up and
down in the act of breathing. A great, fan-shaped muscle, called the
pectoralis major, lies on the chest. It extends from the chest to the
arm and helps draw the arm inward and forward. The arm is raised from
the side by a large triangular muscle on the shoulder, the deltoid, so
called from its resemblance to the Greek letter delta, Δ. The biceps,
or two-headed muscle, forms a large part of the fleshy mass in front of
the arm. Its use is to bend the forearm on the arm, an act familiarly
known as “trying your muscle.” Its direct antagonist is the
three-headed muscle called the triceps. It forms the fleshy mass on the
back of the arm, its use being to draw the flexed forearm into a right
line.
On the back and outside of the forearm are the extensors, which
straighten the wrist, the hand, and the fingers. On the front and
inside of the forearm are the flexors, which bend the hand, the wrist,
and the fingers. If these muscles are worked vigorously, their tendons
can be readily seen and felt under the skin. At the back of the
shoulder a large, spread-out muscle passes upward from the back to the
humerus. From its wide expanse on the back it is known as the
latissimus dorsi (broadest of the back). When in action it draws the
arm downward and backward, or, if one hangs by the hands, it helps to
raise the body. It is familiarly known as the “climbing muscle.”
Illustration: Fig. 37.—A Few of the Important Muscles of the Back.
Passing to the lower extremity, the thigh muscles are the largest and
the most powerful in the body. In front a great, four-headed muscle,
quadriceps extensor, unites into a single tendon in which the knee-cap
is set, and serves to straighten the knee, or when rising from a
sitting posture helps elevate the body. On the back of the thigh are
several large muscles which bend the knee, and whose tendons, known as
the “hamstrings,” are readily felt just behind the knee. On the back of
the leg the most important muscles, forming what is known as the calf,
are the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The first forms the largest part
of the calf. The soleus, so named from resembling a sole-fish, is a
muscle of broad, flattened shape, lying beneath the gastrocnemius. The
tendons of these two muscles unite to form the tendon of Achilles, as
that hero is said to have been invulnerable except at this point. The
muscles of the calf have great power, and are constantly called into
use in walking, cycling, dancing, and leaping.
77. The Effect of Alcoholic Drinks upon the Muscles. It is found that a
man can do more work without alcohol than with it. After taking it
there may be a momentary increase of activity, but this lasts only ten
or fifteen minutes at the most. It is followed by a rapid reduction of
power that more than outweighs the momentary gain, while the quality of
the work is decidedly impaired from the time the alcohol is taken.
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