Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1871-11-15
POPULAR PHYSIOLOGY.

POPULAR PHYSIOLOGY.
We publish below the concluding
portion of Hon. L j. Boyers' Lecture
on Popular Physiology, and regret
that we have not room for the whole
lecture,
Food and bodily exertion accelerate
the pulse. In sleep it is slower. 1t
is most frequent in the morning, be.
coming slower as the day advances,
and this diminution is more regular
and moro rapid in the evening Honce
the propriety OF rest from our physi.
cal and intellectual labor towards tho
close of the day. You will ever find
afternoon and midnight study most
prejudicial to health; destroying
sleep, and deranging all the secrctions
OF the skin and bowels and the cquani
nifty of tho nerves. 1t must be u per-
son of truly enviable constitution in
whose case the product of thought is
as valuable after sunset as in the morn.
ing. The difference OF pulse in the
sexes is considerable. | know ofno
accurate table to which TO refer but
have no doubt, from my own observa.
tion, the pulse of women averages full
five beats more in q minute than that
Of gmen. ] am old fashioned and un.
gallant enough to believe that to this
and the feebcness produced by domes
tic care and dissipation, much of her
vaciIating character is due. My OBJ
ject in reviewing the circulation of
the lower tubes has been to show the
continuity of tho chain by which ma.
ture gradually reaches the perfection
ofa double and Independent circula
tion for the appropriation Of the great
life. e.giving element, and that wherc
the Almighty guards with such jealous
care even in the lower ranks of ere
alton the proceeds by which the great
end is attained. Man may well pause
and wonder at his presumption in i'm.
peding its progress. How should we
look upon the usages of society and
the false taste Of woman in trying to
shut out, by the murderous trickery
of dress, the bcniicence of Heaven in
supplying air to paint her lips with
coral, aud to add soul and expressive.
ness to her eyes, and soitncss to the
hands, and fulnoss to the breast with
which she is to nourish the infant 50
curiously and wonderfully supplied
with her blood When you reflect,
how priceless is this boon? bow
easily obtained? The theory, as old
as the moment when God brcathcd
the breath of life into the nostriIs of
our great progenitor, it is not ne.
cessary that it should bo prescribed
by solemn looking gentleman in
black, in cabalistic characters and bad
latin, and purchased of an ignorant
apotheoary, or dispensed from little
bottle olattenuated falsehood, or soak.
cd and drenched into your feeble car.
cass with n dirty wet sheet. 1t costs
none these humiliating sacrifices to
ignorance and rascality. You take it
from the same glorious source whence
the eagle gets IL as he sails under
itslifoinspiring influence on unwearied
wing across the rolling deep aud
screams wildly his cry Of delight to
the great source Of his power. From
the moment when the first impression
of the air on the infants skin causes
the first effort of the muscles that
raise its ribs and let into its lungs the
life continuing and nerve.restoring
fluid, to The last sigh that escapes us
in death, there is not q moment in
which We are not reminded Of the
power of this great rcnovator of life.
What truth in Physiology is better
known than that which assures us
that the minute arteries that color the
lips and add clearness TO tho skin de.
rive their life force from the air
Painting, which is a temporary par.
tial suspension of the heart and lungs,
makes the hands and the countenanco
livid, and if il continue too long, it
passes into death. Partial filling
of the lungs, which is all that
is ever required or ever allow.
cd in almost every pursuit of fash.
ionOblc life, is only degree Of tho
same state that occurs in fainting.
Only look at the position Of fashion.
ably dressed women, sitting in her
rocking chair cmbroidcring see the
approximation of her arms and tho
bent neck and body. The chest con.
tanning tho lungs, has to sustain the
whole weight of tho head and arms
They hang upon IL like pieces of dead
flesh. The intcstines arc forced down.
ward and the great bloodivosscls that
supply the limbs arc compressed
There is the beautiful spine, suporbly
archcd by the great artist, with its
cxquisitely arranged and graceful
curves, TO bring the centre of gravity
between tho feet, the very line of
beauty, its unmatched and unequaled
elastic substance between each bone
TO take off the shock of every step f;
the collar bones, 20 keep the arms
apart and TO allow the lungs full play,
aud to show tho beauty Of tho breast
and throat, with beautiful and grand
muscles on the back to keep back the
shoulders,-tho whole woman,-"a
dream Of Eden when the world was
young" and look, only look, at the
great results Of fashionable society,
Great Heaven Spirit of Guido and
Raphael, do yc behold her Shades of
Hunder and Bell, do not your bones
rattle in your graves at the spectacle !?
Such respiration, with tho lungs poi,
soncd and irritatcd by tho fiocculi fl.
ling tho atmosphere of the parlor,
and the rank and sitting smell of a