The American physician, and family assistant / by Elias Smith.
- Smith, Elias, 1769-1846.
- Date:
- 1837
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The American physician, and family assistant / by Elias Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
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![Were once the energy of air deny'd, Tlio heart would cease to pour its purple tide ; The purple tide forget its wonted play, Nor back again pursue its curious way. The heart consists of four cavities, from one of which called the left ventricle, the blood is driven into the arteries through the body ; by another, called the right auricle, it is received back again by the veins , it then passes into the right ventricle, whence it is forced into the lungs. Having there been revivified by coming into con- tact with the air, it is carried back by a set of veins into the left auricle, and, from thence, into the left ventricle, where it began its course : it is then a- gain forced into the arteries, brought back by the veins, &x. till the end of life. The lungs are a large spongy substance, filling nearly the whole cavity of the chest, which rises as they fill, and falls as they empty, in respiring air through the mouth and nostrils. The act of respiration is performed about twen- ty times in a minute ; and about forty cubic inch- es of air arc respired every time ; of which two in- ches oxygen arc absorbed by the blood in the lungs, producing, at the same instant, ninety eight de- grees of vital heat, and restoring to the veinouK blood its bright red color. [Obs.—The lights, as they are called, or the lungs of sheep or oxen, are exactly similar to the lungs of a man. On inspection, they will be found to be wonderfully adapted to their design of bring- ing the air into contact with the blood. Any rup- ture in their tender fabric, or defeat in their ac- tion, leads to the fatal disease, called Consump- tion.] Four thousand times in every hour, each cavity of the heart is called into action ; and all the blood](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21154818_0026.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
