Elements of anatomy and physiology : prepared for the use of schools and colleges / by W. S. W. Ruschenberger ; from the text of Milne Edwards and Achille Comté.

  • Milne-Edwards, H. (Henri), 1800-1885.
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Elements of anatomy and physiology : prepared for the use of schools and colleges / by W. S. W. Ruschenberger ; from the text of Milne Edwards and Achille Comté. 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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    LESSON II. Functions of Nutrition—Nutrition of Organs—Proof of the existence of the nutritive movement—Coloring of bones—The blood is the principal agent of nutrition—use of the blood—study of this liquid—physical properties of the blood—red and white blood—Globules—Serum—coagulation—venous and arterial blood — Transformation of venous into arterial blood by the action oj the air. OF THE FUNCTIONS OF NUTRITION. OF THE NUTRITIVE ACT. 1. Nutrition is the vital act by which the different parts o, the bodies of organized beings renew the materials of which they are composed. 2. To effect this renovation, the animal appropriates certain substances within his reach, which are adapted to this purpose, and these substances being introduced into the body and distri- buted to the different organs, are there retained and become con- stituent parts of them. 3. At the same time that the organs thus acquire new mate- rials, they lose others, which, having become old and useless, are in some way detached and expelled. 4. Thus, then, the new materials take the place of those which have been detached from the organ, so that its substance is, little by little, renewed. 5. When a living being thus incorporates with its organs more material than it loses, its volume augments, and of course its weight increases:—Thus, by the act of nutrition, the infant, which at birth weighed only five or six pounds, is found to have acquired, when it has reached the age of twenty-five years, more than a hundred weight, and a proportionate increase in size; but if the contrary be true, and the living being loses more material than it incorporates with its organs, it grows thin, as is often ob- served when the adult approaches extreme age; and when these two phenomena are in just equilibrium, its weight remains the same 6. This nutritive act takes place in all living beings. 1. What is nutrition ? 2. How do animals renew the materials of which their bodies are com- posed ? 3. Do the organs always retain the materials acquired '! 4. Why is the size of the organs not increased by the constant accession of new materials ? 5 When an organ receives more material lhan it loses, what is the con sequence ? When an organ loses more than it receives what happens? 6. Does the act of nutrition take place in all things ? D2