“And here we cannot but notice the wonderful patience, perseverance, and hardihood of the Indian woman, as exemplified in the conduct of the poor squaw of the interpreter. She was now far advanced in pregnancy, and had two children to take care of—one four, and the other two years of age. The latter, of course, she frequently had to carry on her back, in addition to the burdens usually imposed upon the squaw; yet she had borne all her hardships without a murmur, and throughout this weary and painful journey, had kept pace with the best pedestrians. Indeed, on various occasions, in the course of this enterprise, she displayed a force of character that won the respect and applause of the white man.”
PHYSIOLOGY.
To my Beloved Sex:—
SEEING so many of you daily imposed upon by those who profess to be acquainted with prolapsus uteri, or falling of the womb, and knowing that two-thirds of the married ladies are very ignorant, as regards the structure of their own bodies, and therefore the more easily imposed upon, I will endeavor to give a full description and explanation of the living animal, which we call physiology. It is a beautiful study, and we read of King David’s admiration, after viewing the structure of his own body; he exclaims in rapture, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made!” I am sorry this important study is excluded from our schools. The reader may ask—what are the component parts of the living animal, the heart, brain, eyes, ears, muscles, bones, and the many other parts—how do they act, and what are their uses?
FORMATION OF THE CHEST.
The chest is formed by the back bone behind, the breast bone in front, and the ribs, which go from the back bone to the breast bone. Seven of the ribs are long, and five short; the five lower are the short ribs, and they are united to the breast bone by an elastic cartilage; by this construction, the chest is made flexible.
Now that I have explained the formation of the lungs, we will look in and see what it contains—the lungs and heart.
The lungs are wedge-shaped—the small ends being up under the collar bone, while the base, or larger part, is at the bottom, turned down heavily in the midriff. The lungs are attached to the wind-pipe, and larger air vessels and blood vessels, these likewise being connected to the back bone with cartilages. The lungs float downward into the midriff, and against the ribs or the side of the chest, every time the air is drawn into the chest. They are divided into two parts, on each side of the chest, something like a sponge, full of cells; the most correct resemblance of these cells, or vacancies, would be, in my opinion, a thick branch of some shrub, very full of the minutest berries you can conceive of, and without leaves; you must imagine the shrub as hollow, through all its branches and twigs, until quite into the cells; then cut the extremity of all the twigs, until you bring it to a wedge shape, and weave something like a spider web, to cover the cells, so that nothing but the air or blood can pass through, to be renewed.