Handbook for attendants on the insane.

Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Handbook for attendants on the insane. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    24/414 (page 4)
    The Kidneys.—These consist of a complicated mass of small tubes amongst which lie numberless small bloodvessels. The kidneys drain away from the blood those products of body- activity which result from the wear and tear of the body- constituents. The body does not, however, wear out (as does a machine) until old age is reached, as it is able to repair itself by means of the protein or nitrogenous food which it absorbs. The Nervous System.—This system is composed of compli- cated cells which form a mechanism resembling an elaborate electrical installation. It consists of a complex central part, the brain, which controls the functional activity of the body, and by means of which we feel, think and act; of subordinate central portions, the spinal cord and sympathetic system,, which carry out less important nervous functions under the genera control of the brain ; and of a complicated system of nerve fibres which carry messages to and from every part of the body. The Fat.—The body generally is padded with fat, which consists of small cells, each containing a minute globule of oil. The fat covers and protects the more delicate parts and organs of the body, and also serves as a kind of reserve coal-store. The Skin.—Lastly, the body is covered with skin, which protects the underlying parts. It is firm, tough and resisting. The skins of animals, for example, when suitably preserved, form leather. The skin is well supplied throughout with nerve fibrils, and we are thereby enabled to feel—and thus protect ourselves from injury—and to acquire information with regard to the objects around us. By means of special and highly complicated modifications of the skin or other tissues, which constitute the organs of special sense, we are also able to receive more delicate sensations than those from the skin generally, and we thus can see, hear, smell, and taste. The human body thus requires to be studied, as would a machine, from two points of view—namely, how it is made,