The daily gazette., 1880-04-10
D .LIIl7il.l ; . 80 o. I7I'l0I IIJI
Blood ossSi Digestion.
FIRST LECTURE OF THE SECOND COURSE
BY Dh. W. o.McoNHELL, LAST EVEN

FIRST LECTURE OF THE SECOND COURSE
By Dh. W. @. M'coNHELL, LAST EVEN.
DR.. w. G.. Mcdonnell, af Jefferson
Medical College, Phiadelphia. de-
livered his first lecture Of the second
course In the basement of the Sunday
School room Of the F,rst Presbyterian
Church. The subject Of the lecture was
the "Digestive System" and In order TO
make the subject more compreheBsiv W.
the doctor stated that be would at this,
his first lecture, . eat of blood and n.
workings by means of charts. Persons
might ask what blood had to do with
digestion, and 10 such persons he would
say, that blood had everything to do
with 10. BY means of mi eroscope II
has been discovered that there are two
kinds OF blood, red and white, which are
contained in corpuscles, " hich have been
described as being bi-concave, but
through the actions OF the heart the
white blood is converted Into the red,
which IL supposed to be the oxygen.
The white blood corpusclrs are erea.
deal less in number than the red, there
being about one white to three hundred
aud ffty red.
The lecturer next exhibited q chart
containing q representation Of heart
split IN half, and from this proceeded
to show the acti On of the blond through
OUT the body. The blood ~ compos ed
of vsincus aod arterlaI circulat on
From. the heart the blood passes to the
brain, then TO the lungs, stomach and
kidneys into the capillary arteries.
where the act OF nutrition takes place.
The bright arterial blood Is the blood
that feeds the small TISSUES. The next
important subject was to give descrip-
uon OF the digestive organs, which are
nj n.
ach. In the hrst plase tho food Is placed
IN the mouth, where mastication takes
place. After masticatiou the food
passes from the mouth to the THROAT.
thence inso the stomach, by way of the
BsOphagus, or pharyDx. The pharynx
Is composed OF small contracting or
grasping muscles. which forces the
blood into the stomach, where portion
Of the digestion takes place. All starchy
food is digested by the stomach, but il
will not digest such articles as meat,
owing to It's fibreons constr uctioD, Ali
such food passes from the STOMACH to
the ints- u mes, where the real digestion
takes place by means OF the gastric Juice
which d,solves the fibrous material.
From the mouth to the stomach the
alimentary canal Ia lined with mucous
membrane, which Is supposed to|1 etard
the food in order to mix It. with the
ohhNAs u1Stuk w tuG EbOtuhCuf YOU u1u
number of small intestines, whIci
have three Innings, the inner one being
composed OF mucous coating, from
which extends a nun ber of little epbe-
neral projecions, which wave when in
health. These small projeohous extract
from the food that which goes to make
up the blood. By means Of these ephe-
neral projections the blood passing
thr lugb regular course returns to the
nh hunl N I.a
Hence IL ts that person In order To
keep their blood pure should be very
careful of W hat they eat 4..i
IL Is often heard remarked when per
son has the typhoid fever that the physi-
clans win not allow the patient olId
food, but keeps feeding him or her on
"slops." The main cause Of typhoid
fever is the inflammation of the itls
glands, causing ulcers iu the intestines.
The passage of rough food through The
iDtestines would cause these al, eTs t,l
burst, and IN such cases death generally
ensueS. . ..4 .f it n
The speaker warned bis bearers
against swallowing cherry stones, seeds
OF grapes or raiyins, as IL very often pro-
duces Inflammation, and in many cases
death. .....t.. f4.. .t... y
Ip speaking of sbe blood 10 has been
remarked that the blood uDdprgoes q
change every seven years, while other
say it changes every year These asser-
lions are nonsencieal, as the blood is
changing every moment we live, aud
the man who spends his EoDey foi
sarsal arlllas and other drugs 10 clear
his blood is throwing his mo ney ava
for something that nature is performing
for us without any help. The speaker
next referred TO the spleen, and said
that the exact action of il was not
known. 1t had been removed from the
lower animals, and they had become
more fsrocious and ravenous. In closiuR
his very Interesting lecture the speaker
said that every one should be careful of
their digestive organs. as they were the
organs that sept us alive.
The lecture was well illustrated
throughout by charts, and was attentive
ly listened to. The next lecture OF the
course win take place on the 10th inst.