Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-01-05

Der. The length of the alimentary canal
is thirty-tyo feet. The amount of blood
in an adult averages thirty pounds, or
fully one-ffth Of the entire weight. The
heart is six inches in length and four in
cheS in diameter, and beats seventy
times per minute, four thousand two
hundred times ninety-two thousand
hundred times per hour, thirty-siX mil
lion seven hundred and ninety-two thou
sand times year, and at each beat two
and half ounces of blood are thrown
out of it, one thousand seven hundred
and fifty ounces per minute, six hundred
and fifty-six pounds per hour, and three
fourthS tons per day. All the blood in
the body passes through the heart in
three minutes. This organ, by its cease
less industry, pumps each day what is
equal to lifting one hundred and twenty
one tons one foot high. The lungs will
obtain about one gallon Of air at their
usual degree of imitation. We breath
on an average one thousand two hum
dred times per hour, inhale six hundred
gallons Of air, or twenty-four thousand
air-cells of the lungs exceeds twenty
thousand square inches, an area nearly
equal to the floor of a room twelve feet
square. The average weight of the
brain of an adult male is about three
pounds, two ounces, Of a female, two
pounds, twelve ounces. The nerves are
all connected with it, directly or by the
spinal marrows. These nerves, together
with their branches and minutes rami-
ficatiOnS, probably exceed ten million in
number, forming "bOdy-guard'' out
numbering by far the greatest army
ever marshalled. The skin is composed
of three layers, and varies from one
fourth to one-eighth Of an inch in thick
ness. The atmospheric pressure being
about fourteen pounds to the square
inch, a person of medium size is subject
ed to a pressure of forty thousand
pounds. Each square inch of skin con-
taiDs three thousand five hundred sweet
ing tubes or perspirato1y pores, each of
which may be likened to little drain
pipe One-fourth of an inch long, making
an aggregate length of the entire sur
face of the body DOL 166 feet, or almost
forty miles long. Man is thus marvel
ously made. Who is eager to Investigate
the curious and wonderful works Of
Omnipotent Wisdom, let him not WAN
der the wide world round to seek them,
but examine himself.
The ancient Greeks produced the
greatest SculptOTS the world has ever
seen, and made the human figure their
special study. It is to them we owe the
measurements here given, and by which
tey made all their statues. From the
crown to be nape Of the neck is one
twelfth the statue of a perfectly formed
man. The hand, from the wrist to the
end Of the middle finger, is one-tenth of
the total height. A man of good pro-
portion is as tall as the distance between
the tips of his fingers, when the arms
are extended to full length. The face,
from the highest point in the forehead,
where the hair begins, to the end of the
chin, is one-tenth Of the whole statue.
If the face, from the roots of the hair
to the chin, be divided into three equal
parts, the first division determines the
eyebrows should meet, the second the
opening Of the nostrils. The proper
tons Of the human figure are six times
the length Of the right foot Whether
the form is slender or plump, the rule
holds good, on an average. An devia-
ton from the rule is a departure from
the beauty Of proportion Christian
Union.