An essay on the lungs : ascertaining their true functions to be contrary to the present adopted opinions ; and leading to a treatment of consumptions, and other pulmonary diseases, which promises more success than has been experienced heretofore ; in a series of numbers / by John Christopher Stroebel, physician in New-York.

  • Stroebel, John Christopher.
Date:
1810
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on the lungs : ascertaining their true functions to be contrary to the present adopted opinions ; and leading to a treatment of consumptions, and other pulmonary diseases, which promises more success than has been experienced heretofore ; in a series of numbers / by John Christopher Stroebel, physician in New-York. 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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    horse appeared to be in the utmost distress; the lips, tongue, and interior of the mouth, became of a violet, and afterwards of a livid colour. The horse expired in the space of an hour and a half, amidst torments horrible to be seen. The death of the horse seems to have been caused by the dark colour of the blood, and this change to have been brought about by the im- peded or diminished motion of the intercostal mus- cles and diaphragm, owing to the section of those nerves whose office it is to convey the information to the brains, of a necessity of removing a certain stimulus. That this is the case, and how this pur- pose is effected, all men experience in the act of sneezing. The nerves which spread over the mucous mem- brane which lines the air passage, from the nose to the smallest ramifications of the bronchia, gives to that membrane that extreme sensibility as to cause a concussion of the whole thorax, or a cough, when an uneasiness is perceived from any fo- reign matter coming in contact with it. The Sneiderian membrane, in particular, which con- tains the olfactory nerves, may, by strong odours, by dust, or even the motion of a hair over it, be so stimulated, that, although its nerves are derived from the medulla oblongata, the galvanic fluid is sent through the six pairs of dorsal nerves, which are the intercostal and diaphragmatic nerves, and causes their muscles to contract forcibly, and pro- duce a deep inspiration, which is followed by a ra- pid expiration, and effects the act of sneezing, which is capable of removing the foreign substance that has caused the irritation of the membrane. As it would be impossible to sneeze, if the nerves of the Sneiderian membrane were cut or insensible: so is it also impossible to breathe, when