The Philosophy of Health; Volume 1 (of 2): or, an exposition of the physical and mental constitution of manSmith, Southwood
Philosophy
The Philosophy of Health; Volume 1 (of 2): or, an exposition of the physical and mental constitution of man
Smith, Southwood
Hygiene; Physiology
67. Besides the bones and the teguments, the face contains a number of
muscles, which for the most part are small and delicate (fig. XLIV.),
together with a considerable portion of adipose matter; while, as has
been stated, the face and head together contain all the senses, with
the exception of that of touch, which is diffused, more or less, over
the entire surface of the body.
[Illustration: Fig. XLIV.
Muscles of the face.]
68. The second great division of the body, termed the TRUNK, extends
from the first bone of the neck to that called the pubis in front, and
to the lower end of the coccyx behind (fig. XXXIV. 2). It is subdivided
into the thorax, the abdomen, and the pelvis (fig. XLV.).
69. The _thorax_ or _chest_ extends above from the first bone of
the neck, by which it is connected with the head, to the diaphragm
below, by which it is divided from the abdomen (figs. XLV. and LXI.).
It consists partly of muscles and partly of bones; the muscular and
the osseous portions being in nearly equal proportions. Both together
form the walls of a cavity in which are placed the central organs of
circulation and respiration (fig. LX. 2, 5). The chief boundaries of
the cavity of the thorax before, behind, and at the sides, are osseous
(fig. XLV.); being formed before, by the sternum or breast-bone (fig.
XLV. 6); behind, by the spinal column or back bone (fig. XLV. 2, 4);
and at the sides, by the ribs (fig. XLV. 7). Below, the boundary is
muscular, being formed by the diaphragm (fig. LXI. 2), while above the
thorax is so much contracted (fig. XLV.), that there is merely a space
left for the passage of certain parts which will be noticed immediately.
70. The figure of the thorax is that of a cone, the apex being above
(fig. XLV.), through the aperture of which pass the tubes that lead
to the lungs and stomach, and the great blood-vessels that go to and
from the heart (fig. LX.). The base of the cone is slanting, and is
considerably shorter before than behind, like an oblique section of the
cone (fig. XLV.).
71. The osseous portion of the walls of the thorax is formed behind by
the spinal column, a range of bones common indeed to all the divisions
of the trunk; for it constitutes alike the posterior boundary of the
thorax, abdomen, and pelvis (fig. XLV. 2, 4, 6). It is composed of
thirty distinct bones, twenty-four of which are separate and moveable
on one another, and on this account are called true vertebræ (fig. XLV.
2, 4); the other five, though separate at an early period of life, are
subsequently united into a single solid piece, called the sacrum (fig.
XLV. 5). The bones composing this solid piece, as they admit of no
motion on each other, are called false vertebræ (fig. XLV. 5). To the
extremity of the sacrum is attached the last bone of the series, termed
the coccyx (fig. XXXV.).
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