14 



pausions and contractions pervading the organs, inclusive of the heart ami 

 vessels, since it all forms a connected movement for increasing circulation be- 

 tween the cell brood and environment, from which everything is obtained and 

 into which the waste products are returned, the two going on simultaneously. 



With the expiration of the intra-uterine term, expansion of the maternal 

 passages sets in for reducing resistance to the egress of the embryo, 

 and the womb and abdomen contracting simultaneously for increasing pressure 

 in the womb, the contents are compelled out in the environment. Here, as 

 elsewhere, the Jaw of pressure applies for compelling n/nri'/ncnf in flic con- 

 tents of the, Iwlloiv viscera for which xj>fri<t/ adjustments obtain in the organs and 

 organism, the underlying principle being rhythmical i-lnn/ifs hi jircsNim: 



The atmosphere being invisible, it is difficult to realize the important relations 

 this sustains to the mechanics, nevertheless, the fact is incontrovertible, that 

 from centre to circumference, and from surface to surface of the body it is 

 corner-stone and foundation to all t/te mechanics conccnii-i/ in circulation. 



It is passing strange the matter should have escaped attention so long, 

 espacially in this age, when thnujh.f is reaching do.vn into the organic basis of 

 life. Indeed, one needs to go there if he would unravel the tangled skein 

 in animal structure and function, since the definite arrangements that obtain in 

 the organs with every stage in development show unmistakably a common 

 relation to fundamental forces in nature underlying it all, notably pressure run/ 

 gravitation. The animal body is not outside and independent of the organic laws, 

 but, on the contrary, is in entire conformity with them, while the arrangements 

 which obtain in the structures represent the relative adjustments for special 

 work. 



KESPIEATION IN THE NEW-BORN : THE CHANGE IN MECHANICS WHICH THIS INVOLVES. 



The first thing in the new-born is to start respiration for compelling 

 in the commerce in the environment in place of the uterine sinuses, and 

 the action in the placenta for which this is the substitute, the oxygen passing 

 in by way of the kings and the aliment through the intestinal canals. But this 

 requires fresh adjustments in the mechanics of circulation to bring it in cor- 

 respondence with this circumstance, notably, circulation of the blood in the 

 lungs, and the attaching of the intestinal apparatus to this movement by 

 means of the nerves connecting in the medulla oblongata, a matter which has 

 already been fully considered in the preceding pages. The first thing, there- 

 fore, is to start respiration, when it will bo in order to consider how tin 

 mechanics in circulation swings into this pendulum movement for compelling 

 correspondence throughout, with the blood ever flowing from high to low 

 pressure in conformity with the organic law underlying the organism itself. 

 One end of the nervous system, so to speak, is .t/iread out in the skin 

 surface, the other through the organism, while the medulla oblongata functions 

 as the common centre to it all ; any impression, therefore, made upon the skin 

 surface is promptly reflected to the medulla oblongata, thence over all the 

 structures for producing the reflex actions connected with respiration and 

 circulation, The irritations attendant upon parturition from friction agains*- 



