Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-06-02
WONDERS IN BONES.
Some Curious Facts in Gaseous stractur
Little Dreamed or

Some Curious Facts in Gaseous Structure
Little Dreamed or
Exhibited in glass case at the National
museum at Washington, there is bone
human tibia-tied In a knot. 1t has been
Adered thus flexible by soaking it in acid,
wi lch has dissolved out of it all its mineral
pats, leaving only the animal portion.
This portion makes about one-third of the
BONE which fact might surprise some peo-
pie who suppose that their bones are al
most wholly lime.
There are funny things about bones
other than funny bones" said an osteol-
ogist connected with the Smithsonian in
stitution. For example, the bones OF
birds are hollow and filled with warm air
from the lungs; so it may be said that a
bird breathes down to its toes and to the
tips OF its wings. In fact, IL you break off
the wing of a duck the animal can actually
breathe through the broken end Of the
bone though you hold its head under
water. Some Of the gigantic reptiles OF the
mesozoic epoch. which some scientists
claim to have been the ancestors Of man,
had hollow bones similarly filled with air
from the lungs, for the support OF their
bodies in the water while they browsed
upon seaweeds near shore, their massive
and solid leg bones serving them as
anchors in depth about sufficient to cover
their backs
"People continually imagine that their
bones are of solid mineral construction,
without any feeling in them. No one who
has ever had leg or an arm cut of is
likely to indulge such a mistaken notion.
Comparatively speaking, little pain is felt
when the flesh is being cut through, but
when the bone is attacked by the saw,
oh, myl
"You see, as a matter of fact, there are
blood vessels and nerves inside the bones,
Just as there are outside. Any one who
has purchased a beefsteak at the market
knows about the marrow in the bone. il
is the same with other animals than the
beef, including human beings. Through
the marrow run the nerves and blood yes
sells, entering the bones from the flesh
without by little holes, which you can see
for yourself any time by examining a
skeleton or part of one. When the dis
ease called rheumatism, which no physi-
clan understands, affects the nerves within
the bones no way has been discovered Tor
treating it successfully. 1t does not do to
smile when a person says that he feels
thing in his bones.
| Mature adaptS the pony sbructure vi
various animals to their habits in a very
interesting manner Sluggish creatures
| like the sloth have solid bones, whereas the
bones Of the deer and the antelope are com
paratively light, so that they may run fast,
and the leg bones Of the ostrich are hollow.
You will find in the bones of any skeleton
the application of mechanical principles
which have only become known to man
through the processes Of laborious and
long considered invention. In your OWL
shoulder you have most beautiful and
perfect illustration OF the ball and socket
joint while at your elbow there is com
bination of the hinge and ball and socket
which in its way surpasses anything that
human invention has been able to accom-
plish thus far
"But these are simple things compared
with the hand, the bones Of which exhibit
the most perfect and complete apparatus
in its adaptation to the purposes for which
IL is intended, that has ever been imagined
How is it possible for any one who hai
studied the structure of his own hand Il
say that there is no GodP'-Washingto