The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1858-10-14
wonders Of lhc IIuuaan syssela

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Paley applauds the contrivaDce BY which
everything we eat and drink 10 made to
glide on It's road to the gullet, over the en-
trance of,he wind.pipe without falling into
it, A little movable lidI the epirloltis,
which is lifted up when we breath. is pfess-
ed down upon the chink OF the cir passage
BY the weight Of the food and the action Of
the muscles In swallowing it. Neither sol.
ids nor liquids, In short, can pass withOu.
shutting down the trap.door a. they proceed.
But this is only part Of the safegusrd.--
The slit st the top Of the wind.pipe, which
never closes entirely when we breathe, 10 On.
dowed with an acute sensibility to the slight.
est particle of matter. The least thing
which touches the margin Of the aperture
causes its sides to come firmly together, and
the intruding body is stopped st the inlet.-
1t is stopped, but, unless removed, must drop
At the next inspiration into the lungs. To
effect its expulsion, the sensibility Of the rim
at the top Of the wind pipe actually puts in.
to vehement action whole class of muscles
placed lower than it's bottom, and which,
COMPRISING the chest over which they are
distributed drives out the sir with force
that sweeps the offending substance before
il. r-
The convu'sive coughing which arises
when We are choked is the energetic effort
OF nature for our relief when anything chan.
ces to have evnded the protecting epigloi,is.
Yet this property, to which we are constant
y owing our lives, is confined to single
spot in the throat. II does not, as Sir
Charles Bell afirms, belong to the rest Of
the wind.pipe, but is limited to the ori6ce,
where alone it isTneeded. Admirable, too,
it 10 to observe that, while thus sensitive to
the most Insignificant atom, it bears, with.
out resentment, the atmospheric currents
which are constantly passing to and fro over
its irritable lips. alt rejects" says Paley,.
''the touch ofa crum Of bread, or drop Of
water, with a spasm that convulses the
whole frame; and yet. left to itself and its
proper efice, the intermission of DIR alone,
nothing can be so quiet. II does not even
make itself felt; q man does not know that
he has atrachea." This capacity Of per.
ceiving with such acuteness, this impatience
Of offence, yet perfect rest and ease when
let alone, are properties, one would have
thought, not likely to reside in the same
subject. 1t is to the junction, however, Of
these almost inconsistent qualities 10 this,
as well as in some other delicate parts Of
the body, that we owe our safety and our
cOmfort-our. safety to their sensibili,y; our
comfort to their repose.
Another Of the examples adduced BY Bell
is that Of the heart. The famous DR.. Har-
vey examined, at the request Of Charles I. i,
a noblema1 Of the Montgomery family. who
in consequence of an abcess, had fstulous
opening in the chest, through which the
heart could be seen and handled. The
great physiologist was astonished to find it
insensible. II then brought him." he says.
"to the king, tha he might behold and vouch
so extraordinary a thing, and that he might
perceive, as I did, that unless whea we
touched the outer skin, or when he saw our
fingers in the cavity, this young nobleman
knew not that we touched the heart. Yet
it is to the heart that we refer our Joys, our
sorrows, and our affections, We speak OF q
good hearted and a bad hearted, true
hearted and heartless man. Shielded from
physical violence by an outwotk Of botes;
it Is not invested with sensations which
could have contributed nothing to its preser.
vation, but, while it can be grasped with. the
fingers. and give no intimation of the fact to
its possessor, il unmistakably responds to
the varied questions of the mind, and, by the
general consent Of mankind, is pronounced
the eest Of our. pleasures, griefs. symgathies,
hatreds and love. Persons have frequently
dropped down dead from the yehemence with
which it contracts OF expands upon the sud-
den announcement of good or bad news-its
muscular walls being strsined too far in tbs
upwafd Or downward direction to enable
them to teturn-and one Of the purposes
which this property OF the heart is probably
designed to subserve, is, to put check up
on the paSsi6ts through the alarming physi-
cal sensation they excite. ....s,,. r ERA X
The brain ia again enclosed ina bony
cases All bodily sensations are dependsnt
upon the nerves, but even the nerve do not
give rise to feeling unless they are in con.
necticn with the brain. The nervous chord.
which. in familiar language. is called the
spinal marrow, is the channel By which this
communication is kept up in the major part
Of them; and when section ofwhat may be
termed the great trunk for the conveyance
Of our sensations is diseased, and by the
breach in ito continuity. the nerves below
the disofdered part can no longer send their
accustomed intelligence to, the brain, the
portion Of the body, which thus becomes
isolated may be burned or hacked, and no
more pain will result than il il belonged to
a dead carcass instead Of to living man.
The brains therefore, ih subordination to the
mind, il the phyaieal centre ofall sensation.
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