Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-02-03
THE HUMAN MACHINE
MANS eooY AND lTs WONDERS OF
MECHANICAL DEVICES.


Arc InfrInEcmcntH ON the clever
nnd Ingenious Dcrtceh Registered
In Natures Patent ONcc.
So fcarfTlly ana wonderfully Is the
human body made that scientists are
beginning to realize that many of the
inventions of the day arc infringe
ments OH natures patent office a
good deal of trouble and worry IN tho
past could have bccil avoided Ind III
ventors made Il careful study Of tlih
devices employed In making these hu.
man bodies OF ours the useful things
they are. Tho principles of the block
and pulley or the tackle could have
been discovered ages before had the
files of natures patent Office been ram
sacked, for there arc several complete
puleys in the body. notably the one
which moves the eyeball Inward to.
ward the nose.
Engineers made exhaustive tests md
experiments before they discovered
that Il hollow shaft or rod of iron or
steel Is about twice as strong as
this device incur bones since the birth
OF Adam and Eve, and every impor.
tant bone is practically constructed on
this principle. Tie ball and socket of
lie hip bones were the forclllnners OF
the modern ball bearings, and ii was
the first automatic oiling machine used
In tie world. The value of air pres.
sure anu Il vacuum was unknown to
man until the last century, but every
one OF us carried the secret In the mir
tight hip Joint which nuturc had us.
signed to lessen the muscular effort to
hold our legs upright in position.
Engineers have made wonderful
progress In developing compound sue.
ton and circular pumps, but all of tho
principles contained In them are found
In the heart, ana this little pumping
machine Is still without rival in the
mechanical world
The principles of the safety valve
for steam engines are not so 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 call
''N'i ~ Viz vi SWEAT
glands. Each such little gland has
safety valve which lets off heat from
the body when IL gets beyond n safe
temperature. We cannot stand rise
OF more than to 10 degrees OF tenn
perature and live. If therefore the
100000 safety valves were closed for
twenty-four hours, death would super.
vene.
Adams apple was the first storage
clstern ever built. and It works with
automatic regularity through health
and sickness. 1t is most Important
organ of the body. although for cen
turtles 1t was considered supcriiuous
attachment. 1t regulates the flow of
blood between the heart and the brain,
When 1t ceases TO operate. somebody
dies of apopleXy or rush of blood to
the brain. When the heart sends I'D
too much blood to the head. the Adams
apple steps in to check the flow and
store il up for future emergencies. II
the heart Is temporarily weakened or
put out of good running order. the
blood stored in this cistcrn is given up
ana 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 from deficiency of supply.
The eye has score of small lnvcn- !
tons worthy OF recording, the ear
nearly as many more and the vital
organs an equal number. There Is the
liver with its quarantine station. Let
any posons enter our systems with
food and they are Immediately neld UP
at this quarantine station and destroy
ed by q secret process. 1t is only
when poisons enter IN large quantities
that the station cannot handle them.
But the stomach co-operates with tho
liver and intercepts some of The pol.
sons. There are small machines there
which manufacture minute quantities
of hydrochloric acid from the salts
eaten. This acid is made In exact pro-
portion TO the amount of food consum-
cd and suilices to destroy the microbes
which we swallow. But there Is even
a third quarantine station located in
the mouth. Millions of microbes are
destroyed in the mouth daily by tho
juices elaborated there for this very
purpose. If it was not for these three
quarantine stations working continu.
ously night and day, we should be kill
ed off by microbes within an hour aft
er eating a meal
In the ear there is little device
which might have been the original of
our modern compressed mir inventions.
The delicate drum Of the ear inist have
an equal pressure from the outside and
inside to receive and transmit the
sound vibrations. To make this pos
slblc the eustachian tube was devised.
It's function is TO regulate the air pres