Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-02-24
THE HUMAN MACHINE
MANS BODY AND ITS WONDERS or
MECHANICAL DEVICES.

and Ingenious Devices Registered
An Natures Patent Omce.
SO fearfully and wonderfully is the
human body made that scientists are
beginning to realize that many Of the
Inventions of the day are infringe.
ments OH natures patent Office. A
good deal of trouble and worry In the
past could have been avoided had In.
ventors made careful study of the
devices employed In making these hui
man bodies of ours tho useful things
they are. The principles of tho block
and pulley or the tackle could have
been discovered ages before had the
files Of natures patent Office been ran.
sacked, for there are several complete
pullcys In the body. notably the one
which moves the eyeball Inward to.
ward the nose.
Engineers made exhaustive tests and
experiments before they discovered
that hollow shaft or rod Of iron or
steel Is about twice as strong MS n
solid one. Yet nature had patented
this device In our bones since the birth
OF Adam and Eve. and every impor.
tant bone Is practically constructed on
this principle. The ball and socket of
the hip bones were tho forcrunners of
the modern ball bearings. and 1t WIS
the first automatic olling machine used
In the world. The value Of air pres.
sure and vacuum wns unknown to
man until tho Inst century. but every
N t-rin1 hn a., 1t
tight hip joint which nature had MS.
signed to lessen the muscular effort to
hold our legs upright In position.
Engineers have made wonderful
progress in developing compound sue
tlon and circular pumps, but nil OF the
principles contained In them are found
IN the heart. and this little pumping
machine is still without rival In the
mechanical world.
The principles of the safety valve
for steam engines are not 30 new as
they seem. Our human bodies carry
with them the first automatic safety
valves ever designed There are up.
ward OF 100000 of them. We cali
thom by the common name of sweat
glands, Each such little gland has o
snfety valve which lets OFF heat from
the body when II gets beyond safe
temperature. We cannot stand rise
of more than 8 10 10 degrees Of tenn
pcrature and live. If therefore tho
100000 safety valves were closed for
twcnty-four hours. death would super.
vene.
Adams apple was the first storage
clstern ever built, and 1t works with
automatic regularity through health
and sickness. 1t Is most important
organ of the body. although for CEN
turtles 1t was considered superfuous
attachment. 1t regulates the flow of
blood between the heart and the brain,
When 1t ceases to operate. somebody
dies OF apopleHy or rush of blood to
the brain. When the heart sends up
too much blood to the head, the Adams
apple steps In to checl, the flow and
store 1t up for future emergencies. II
the henrt is temporarily weakened or
put out of good running order, the
blood stored in this cistcrn is given up
and sent to the brain. The perfect
working OF this little device ,is appar.
ent when we consider how compara.
lively few die OF rush OF blood to the
brain or froma deficiency OF supply.
The eye hns score of small inven-
lions worthy OF recording. the ear
nearly MS many more and me vital
organs an equal number. There Is the
liver with its quarantine station. Let
any poisons enter orr systems with
food and they are Immediately held up
at this quarantine station and destroy
oil by n secret process. Ii Is only
when polsons enter IN large quantities
that the station cannot handle them.
But the stomach co-operates with the
liver and intercepts some OF the pol.
sons. There nre small machines there
which manufacture minute quantities
of hydrochloric acid from the salta
eaten. This acid Is made in exact pro.
portion to the amount of food consum.
ed and suffces to destroy the microbes
which we swallow. But there is even
n third quarantine station located in
the mouth. Millions OF microbes are
destroyed In the mouth daily by the
juices elaborated there for this very
purpose. If 1t was not for these three
quarantine stations working continu.
o'isly night and day, we should be kill
cd off By microbes within nm hour aft,
er eating meal.
In the ear there Is little device
which might have been the original of
ohr modern compressed mir inventions.
The delicate drum Of the ear must have
an equal pressure from the outside aud
inside to receive and transmit the
sound vibrations. TO make this pos.
sible the eustachian tube was devised.
Its function is to regulate the mir pras.