The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1893-04-26
FlashIight View Of
the Human System.

w ~ 0SAbg oiA0 10 PdDAlohNQ Ut III It
quest of County Superintendent Lyman
and others interested in the study O
physiology in u schools.
In introducing his subject, DIR. Bel
remarked hat he objected to physiolo
gy in the public schools Is taught a
present. 1t was too technical, he said
and it made no difference to a scholar
in u public school whether the bon,
or IS the femur. 1t was well that pu
pills be taught that they are constantly
surrounded by disease In germ form
they should also have a general idea
of how the functions OF digestion, cir.
culation and respiration are carried
on. This should be taught to them in
as vivid a form as possible. 1t was in
, illustration of this idea that the paper
was written:
II had finished my rounds and now
sat in the house surgeons room. My
study had been some infectious dis
eases. AS I leaned back in my chair
with eyes half closed, 1 unused on the
imperfections of our knowledge, and
wished that l might see mans organ
ism working.
MY seemed to lengthen out.
My bed multiplied many times, till I
perceived hat l was in the infectious
disease ward, and o found myself
to be floating through the air, AS soon
as the dizziness induced by my novel
transit had passed off, l perceived my
self to be a germ, and saw the air was
full Of germs. There were the germs of
d~iphtheria, measles, consumption, and
typhoid fever, besides many whom 1
did not know. Rods and circles, curves
and crescents, singly or in clusters, a
serried army waiting an opportunity
to attack man. For some time 1 wand
cred about absorbed in this strange
scene, till becoming curious about the
fight against the human species, 1 ac-
costed another germ, and after explain
ing my peculiar position to him, my
companion offered to show me about.
Approaching a patient we watched
our opportunity and succeeded in get
ting into his mouth with some food.
We secreted ourselves in a cave, which
l learned was a hollow of the tooth.
The tooth is Of a peculiar rod-like struc-
tuie. We saw the saliva running down
the inside Of the cheek like a mountain
stream. 1t assisted the mar in digest
ing sugars as well as protecting him
against invasion by germs. The first
attack is made on man by the sappers
and miners Of this midget army, who
split up the rods of the teeth under
of a deposit or tartar, left
there through mans carelessness. /
was interested in watching the tun-
nels and intrenchments there thrown
up under shelter of this friendly depos-
1t, and saw the germs take advantage
Of each spot. The huge feshy mass of
tongue moved about with the reg
of a piston, by some intuition
kept the mass of food between the
WI WAASh VI u0lCu IL do d snip 10 |
between two icebergs. Back
If the mouth a dark cavern opened,
Town which the food passed guarded by
mountains OF flesh-the tonsils-
which jutted out into the passage like
he pillars Of Hercules. These pillars l
were covered with white blood
ellis, which acted as custom house Of
icials to guard the body against any
nvasions of germs whilst other white
cells patrolled the system like
anitary pickets.
ITO pass this main guard was now
'ur difficulty; we at length succeeded
n hiding within a huge ball of food
bout to be swallowed.
we had the sensation of sinking,
linking, till the motion changed and we
ose and fell like the bosom of q great
cean. Emerging from our retreat we
ound ourselves in a huge cavern, the
COR and sides made of six sided de-
ressions like a giant honeycomb.
bottom of each depression l per-
eived to be a labratory for the man.
facture of a auid, which slowly welled
p, united with others, forming a giant
Ide which ebbed and flowed as the ,
DOR of the stomach rose and fell with
peculiar churning movement.
THE motion being due to the con-
of large bands of muscle, {
yhfoht onoiroln1 kh1" c+oroaal 4 1
the, peculiar action of the
cid gastric JUICE upon the proteid ele- Z
tents of the food with increasing in
crest. Meat was split up into long
eggs %corroded, whilst milk fell iii
peculiar light flakey mass to the floor
t the stomach, where the many blood !
essels encircling the gastric cells alb S
)rbed large quantities, the residue be-
lg worked up in a peculiar milky sub :
we called chyle. After waiting /
)me hours the lower end of the stom- I
Oh relaxed, allowing us to pass on into :
lie intestine where the digestion of +
commenced in the mouth, in C
,rrupted in the stomach was there re- Q
imed. The digestive juices here, like >
lie saliva were alkaline. They con- \
sted of juices from the intestine pam
'eas and liver. The fats were enl- d
sified, starches corroded, all forming Il
lynne, or chyle. The muscular coat of
le intestine is similar to that or the n
omach, bands running longitudinally d
Id tr%ansversely, whilst the inner or
layer is very sinuous like the :
dentations in a ~seacoast. thus allowing
large surface for ahuorhton uh;oh