Mind and Body; or, Mental States and Physical ConditionsAtkinson, William Walker
Science
Mind and Body; or, Mental States and Physical Conditions
Atkinson, William Walker
Mental suggestion
The blood cells are important members of the cell-community, and are
exceedingly numerous, there being over 75,000,000,000 of the red-blood
cells alone. These red-blood cells move in the blood currents,
carrying through the arteries each its little load of oxygen which it
transports to the distant tissues that they may be invigorated and
vitalized anew; and, returning, carrying through the veins the debris
and waste products of the system to the great crematory of the lungs
where the waste is burnt and thrown off from the body. Like the ships
that sail the sea, each cell carries its outgoing cargo, and returns
with another one. Some of these cells perform the office of special
repairers, forcing their way through the walls of the blood-vessels and
penetrating the tissues in order to perform their special tasks. There
are several other kinds of cells in the blood besides the carriers
just mentioned. There are the wonderful soldier and police cells which
maintain order and fight battles when necessary. The police cells
are on the constant lookout for germs, bacteria and other microscopic
disturbers of the peace of the body. When these tiny policemen discover
vagrant germs, or criminal bacteria, they rush upon the intruder and
tying him up in a mesh, proceed to devour him. If the intruder be too
large or vigorous, a call for assistance is sent out, and the reserve
police rush to the assistance of their brothers and overpower the
disturber of the peace. Sometimes when the vagrants are too numerous,
the policemen throw them out from the body, by means of pimples, boils
and similar eruptions. In case of infectious diseases, an army corps
is ordered out in full strength and a royal fight is waged between the
invading army and the defenders of home and country.
Some of the blood cells take a part in the process of extracting from
the food its nourishing particles, and then carrying the same through
the blood-channels to all parts of the body, where it is used to feed
and nourish the stationary cells there located. These cells manufacture
the chemical juices of the body, such as bile, gastric juice,
pancreatic juices, milk, etc., in short the entire physical process is
carried on by these indefatigable tiny cells. The body of each of us is
simply a great community of cells of various kinds. The cells are born
by the form of reproduction common to all cells, that of sub-division.
Each cell grows until a certain size is reached, when it assumes a
"dumb-bell" shape, with a tiny waist line, which waist is afterward
dissolved and the two cells move away from each other. In this way,
and this way alone, does the body grow, the material required for the
enlargement of the cell being supplied from the food and nourishment
partaken by the individual. Cells die after having performed their
life-work, and their corpses are carried through the veins by the
carrier cells, and cast into the crematory of the lungs where they are
consumed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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