250 PHYSIOLOGY. 



nearly, or quite, one half. Now, in this state of things, it 

 is very clear that the ribs cannot be raised upwards and 

 outwards, as they are in natural and free respiration, and, 

 consequently, the capacity of the chest cannot be enlarged 

 in these directions) 1 How, then, is life supported ? Clearly 

 by the play of the diaphragm alone, which, by its descent, 

 enlarges the cavity of the chest in its long diameter. But 

 even the action of this muscle is cramped by this unnatural 

 practice ; for, as the compressing apparatus extends down 

 over the loins behind, and in front over all the soft parts, or 

 the organs below the chest, it acts like a solid wall, prevent, 

 ing, by its resistance, the protrusion of these organs, and 

 thus restrains the diaphragm above, in its attempt to de- 

 scend ; so that in fact, the beautiful mechanism, contrived 

 by a Supreme architect, for performing a function indispen- 

 sable to life, health, beauty and enjoyment, is confined, 

 in every direction, and life, consequently, sapped at its very 

 fountain head ! 



17. If an opening be made into the cavity of the 

 chest, Ahe lung upon that side immediately collapses, and is 

 no longer useful in breathing] How is this explained ? The 

 lungs have a constant tendency to collapse, and they are 

 only kept from doing so, by the pressure of the air contained 

 within them. If a hole be made in the walls of the chest, 

 so as to allow the atmospheric air to come in contact with 

 the external surface of the lungs, and thus make the pressure 

 on the external and internal surface equal, they immediately 

 collapse and shrink to that size which is natural to them, 

 and which they assume when removed from the chest. This 

 operation, of opening the cavity of the chest, has been pro- 

 posed as a remedy for consumption ; as the lung in a state 

 of rest would be more likely to heal than when in constant 

 motion. 



18. The atmosphere is an invisible elastic fluid, surround- 

 ing the earth to the height of about forty miles. Water is 

 seven hundred times heavier than air ; (And yet a column of 



