A Treatise on Physiology and Hygiene Part 3

EXERCISES THAT MAY BE PRACTISED ON THIS APPARATUS.

EXERCISE I. (Fig. 13).--Stand erect under the cords and place the heels together. Grasp the handles firmly, keeping the knees and elbows stiff, and pull downward and forward until the fingers nearly touch the toes.

Return slowly to the erect position. Repeat.

EXERCISE II. (Fig. 13).--Stand erect, and having grasped the handles overhead firmly, separate them and bring them down slowly until they touch the sides: then return them slowly to the original position.

Repeat.

EXERCISE III. (Fig. 13).--Stand erect, heels together, grasp the handles overhead, and charge forward with the right foot. Return to first position, and then charge with the left. Repeat, using the right and left foot alternately.

EXERCISE IV. (Fig. 13).--Stand erect, heels together. Grasp the handle overhead, and charge forward with the right foot, knee bent. Remain in this position and bring the arms down to the sides so that the arm and fore-arm may form a right angle. Still holding the handles, thrust forward, first the right hand and then the left, until the arm is straight. Repeat. Return to first position, then charge forward with the left foot, performing the same movements as before.

EXERCISE V. (Fig. 13).--In this exercise we change to the pulleys leading from the side posts, which can be used in several different ways. 1st. Stand erect, heels together, facing one of the posts, grasp the handle with the right hand, the arm being extended, then flex the fore-arm on the arm. Repeat. Perform the same movements with the left hand. 2d. Stand with back to the post; grasp the pulley behind with the right hand, then gradually bring the hand forward until it is extended in a straight line in front. Repeat. Perform the same exercise with the left hand.

{38} EXERCISE VI. (Fig. 13).--This exercise is especially adapted to the legs. Stirrups are so arranged that they can be attached to the pulleys overhead, and can hang down to within three or four feet of the floor. Place the foot in the stirrup, and then press down until it touches the floor. Repeat. Exercise the left foot in the same way.

EXERCISE VII. (Fig. 13.)--This exercise requires a little attention in the adjustment of the apparatus. Under the pulleys in the floor are pa.s.sed ropes which can be attached to the snap-hooks that hold the handles overhead. Stoop forward with the knees stiff, and take hold of the handles, and then raise the body to the erect position. Repeat.

EXERCISE VIII. (Fig. 13).--Sit on the floor or on a seat three or four inches high; bend forward, take hold of the handles, and perform the same movements that you would in rowing a boat.

EXERCISE IX. (Fig. 13).--The trapeze can now be let down; take hold of it with both hands, sustaining the weight of the body with the arms, then rotate the body first from right to left, then from left to right alternately. This exercise is especially suitable for females.

EXERCISE X. (Fig. 13).--Grasp the trapeze as before, bearing all the weight with the arms: then draw the body up slowly until you can place the chin over the bars. This requires strength of muscle, and might strain if done too violently; if slowly performed there is no danger.

These are but a few of the exercises that can be practised with this apparatus. As these become familiar they can easily be modified, and new ones can be arranged to meet the requirements of particular cases.

Most of the exercises described can be practised with one hand so as to strengthen the muscles on one side.

[Sidenote: 29. Need of repose? How do we obtain rest? Alfred the Great? The eight-hour division of time?]

29. REST.--We cannot always be active: repose must succeed labor. We obtain this rest partly by suspending all exertion, as in sleep, and partly by a change of employment. It is said that Alfred the Great recommended that each day should be divided in the following manner: "Eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for sleep." This division of time is as good as any that could now be made, if it be borne in mind that, when the work is physical, the time of recreation should {39} be devoted to the improvement of the mind; and when mental, we should then recreate by means of physical exercise.

[Sidenote: 30. Cessation of voluntary activity? Temperature of the body?

Consequence? Body and mind during sleep? Nutrition? Describe it.

Consequences of insufficient sleep?]

30. During sleep, all voluntary activity ceases, the rapidity of the circulation and breathing diminishes, and the temperature of the body falls one or two degrees. In consequence, the body needs warmer coverings than during the hours of wakefulness. During sleep, the body seems wholly at rest, and the mind is also inactive, if we except those involuntary mental wanderings which we call dreams. Nevertheless a very active and important physical process is going on. Nutrition, or the nourishing of the tissues, now takes place. While the body is in action, the process of pulling down predominates, but in sleep, that of building up takes place more actively.

In this way we are refreshed each night, and prepared for the work and pleasures of another day. If sleep is insufficient, the effects are seen in the la.s.situde and weakness which follow. Wakefulness is very frequently the forerunner of insanity, especially among those who perform excessive mental labor.

[Sidenote: 31. Amount of sleep in different persons? Cases? Frederick the Great? Bonaparte? Instances of long deprivation of sleep?]

31. All persons do not require the same amount of sleep, but the average of men need from seven to nine hours. There are well-authenticated cases where individuals have remained without sleep for many days without apparent injury. Frederick the Great required only five hours of sleep daily.

Bonaparte could pa.s.s days with only a few hours of rest. But this long continued absence of sleep is attended with danger. After loss of sleep for a long period, in some instances, stupor has come on so profoundly, that there has been no awaking.

[Sidenote: 32. Instances of sailors? French soldiers? During torture?]

32. There are instances related of sailors falling asleep {40} on the gun-deck of their ships while in action. On the retreat from Moscow, the French soldiers would fall asleep on the march, and could only be aroused by the cry, "The Cossacks are coming!" Tortured persons are said to have slept upon the rack in the intervals of their torture. In early life, while engaged in a laborious country practice, the writer not unfrequently slept soundly on horseback. These instances, and others, show the imperative demand which nature makes for rest in sleep.

QUESTIONS FOR TOPICAL REVIEW.

PAGE 1. What can you state of the number and division of the muscles? 25, 26 2. Describe the structure of the muscles. 25, 26 3. Their arrangement in pairs and consequent action. 26 4. What is the difference between the motion called flexion and that called extension? 26 5. Describe their action, and state which are the more powerful. 26 6. What is the difference between voluntary and involuntary muscles? 26 7. Ill.u.s.trate the difference between the two. 26 8. State all you can of the tendons or sinews. 27 9. What is meant by contraction of the muscles? 27, 28 10. In how many and what ways may contraction be effected? 28 11. What is stated of after-death contraction? 28 12. Why cannot a muscle in life continue contracted a long time? 28 13. How then can the constant beating of the heart be explained? 28 14. How does the strength of a man compare with that of a horse? 29 15. What can you state in relation to the relative strength of animals? 28, 29 16. What, in relation to physical strength? 29 17. What, in relation to physical degeneracy? 29, 30 18. What, in relation to the importance of exercise? 30 19. What is the effect of exercise upon the heart, skin, and appet.i.te? 30, 31 20. How does exercise affect the current of the body's circulation? 31 21. How does judicious exercise affect the muscles? 31 22. What is stated of violent and spasmodic exercise? 31 23. Of the exercise of walking? 31, 32, 33 24. Of running, leaping, and other modes of exercise? 32 25. Of physical culture, in connection with out-door exercises? 33 26. Of the importance of gymnastics in our schools and colleges? 33, 34 27. Of the importance of rest from labor or exercise? 38, 39 28. What processes take place during sleep? 39 29. What effects follow insufficient sleep? 39

{41}

CHAPTER III.

THE INTEGUMENT, OR SKIN.

_The Integument--Its Structure--The Nails and Hair--The Complexion--The Sebaceous Glands--The Perspiratory Glands--Perspiration and its Uses--Importance of Bathing--Different kinds of Baths--Manner of Bathing--The Benefits of the Sun--Importance of Warm Clothing--Poisonous Cosmetics._

[Sidenote: 1. What is the skin? Parts directly beneath? What is shown?]

1. THE INTEGUMENT.--The skin is the outer covering of the body. The parts directly beneath it are very sensitive, and require protection. This is shown whenever by accident the skin is broken, pierced, or torn off, the bared surface being very tender, and painful to the touch. Nature has provided the body with a garment that is soft, pliable, close-fitting, and very thin, and yet sufficiently strong to enable us to come in contact with the objects that surround us, without inconvenience or suffering.

[Sidenote: 2. Microscopic examination? What is the cutis? The cuticle?

Their union? How separated? What further is said of the cuticle?]

2. THE STRUCTURE OF THE SKIN.--When examined with the aid of the microscope, the skin is found to be made up of two layers--the outer and the inner. The inner one is called the _cutis_, or true skin; the outer one is the _epidermis_, or scarf-skin. The latter is also known as the _cuticle_. These two layers are closely united, but they may be separated from each other. This separation takes place whenever, from a burn, or other cause, a blister is formed; a watery fluid is poured out between the two layers, and lifts the epidermis from the true skin.

Of the two layers, the cuticle is the thinner in most parts of the body, and has the appearance of a whitish membrane. It is tough and elastic, is without feeling, and does {42} not bleed, when cut. Examine it more closely, and we observe that it is composed of minute flat cells, closely compacted, and arranged layer upon layer.

[Sidenote: 3. Wearing out of the cuticle? What then? Variety in thickness of cuticle? How accounted for?]

3. The outer layer is constantly being worn out, and falls from the body in the form of very fine scales. It is, also, continually forming anew on the surface of the inner layer. Its thickness varies in different parts of the body. Where exposed to use, it is thick, hard, and horn-like, as may be seen on the soles of the feet, or on the palms of the hands, especially of those who are accustomed to perform much manual labor. This is an admirable provision for the increased protection of the sensitive parts below the skin against all extraordinary exposure. Even the _liabilities_ of these parts to injury, are thus kindly provided for by "the Hand that made us."

[Sidenote: 4. Location and office of the cutis? What further is said of it?

Papillae? Touch?]

4. The cutis, or true skin, lies beneath the epidermis, and is its origin and support. It is firm, dense, elastic, very sensitive, and is freely supplied with blood-vessels. It is closely connected with the tissues below it, but may be separated by means of a sharp instrument. The surface of the cutis is not smooth, but is covered here and there with minute elevations, called _papillae_. These are arranged in rows, along fine lines, or ridges, such as those which mark the palm and fingers; their number is about 80 to the square line (a line being one-twelfth of an inch). These _papillae_ contain the blood-vessels which carry the supply of blood needed by the ever-wasting skin. They contain nerves also, and are largely concerned in the sense of touch; hence they are particularly abundant where the touch is most delicate, as at the ends of the fingers.

[Sidenote: 5. What are the nails and hair? The growth of the nail? The rapidity of its growth? Accident to the nail?]

{43} [Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 14.

_a, b._ THE ROOT OF A HAIR.

1, 2, 3. The skin forming the hair sac. 4. Sebaceous glands. 5. The hair sac.

_c._ TRANSVERSE SECTION OF A HAIR.]

5. THE NAILS AND HAIR.--These are appendages of the skin, and although very unlike the cuticle as it appears on the surface of the body, they are, in reality, modified forms of that layer of the skin. The nail grows from a fold of the cuticle at the root, and from the under surface. As fast as it is formed, it is constantly being pushed outward. The rapidity of its growth can be ascertained by filing a slight groove on its surface, and noticing how the s.p.a.ce between it and the root of the nail increases, in the course of a few weeks. When the nail is removed by any accident, it will be replaced by a new one, if the root be not injured.

[Sidenote: 6. How are the hairs produced? Difference in their length?]

6. The hairs are produced in a similar manner; the skin forming depressions, or hair sacs, from the bottom of which they grow and are nourished (Fig. 14). They are found, of greater or less length, on almost all parts of the surface, except the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. On certain parts of the body, they grow to great length; on other parts they are so short, that they do not rise beyond the hair sac in which they originate.

[Sidenote: 7. Root of the hair? Shaft? Firmness and softness of the hair?]