Why is breathing so integral to life?
The Organs of Respiration consist of the lungs and the air passages to them.
The lungs occupy the pleural chamber of the thorax one on each side of the median line being separated from each other by the heart, the greater blood vessels and the larger air tubes. Each lung is free except at the root which consists chiefly of the bronchia, arteries and veins connecting the lungs with the trachea and the heart. The lungs are spongy and porous and their tissues are very elastic. They are covered with a delicately constructed but strong sac, known as the plural sac, one wall of which closely adheres to the lung and the other to the inner wall of the chest and which secretes a fluid which allows the inner surfaces of the walls to glide easily upon each other in the act of breathing.
The air passages consist of the interior of the nose, pharynx, larynx, windpipe or
trachea and the bronchial tubes.When we breathe, we draw in the air through the nose which is warmed by contact with the mucous membrane which is richly supplied with blood. The air passes into the trachea or windpipe which subdivides into numerous tubes called the bronchial tubes (bronchia) which in turn subdivide into and terminate in the millions of minute subdivisions of small air spaces contained within the lungs. One informed writer claims that if the air cells of the lungs were spread out over an unbroken surface they would cover an area of fourteen thousand square feet.!
The blood is driven by the heart, through the arteries, into the capillaries thus reaching every part of the body which it vitalises, nourishes and strengthens. It then returns by means of the capillaries by another route, the veins, to the heart, from whence it is drawn to the lungs.
The blood starts on its arterial journey bright red and rich, laden with life-giving qualities and properties. It returns by the venous route, poor, blue and dull, being laden with the waste matter of the system into the right auricle of the heart. When this auricle becomes filled, it contracts and forces the stream of blood through an opening in the right ventricle of the heart which in turn sends it on to the lungs, where it is distributed by millions of hair-like blood vessels to the air cells of the lungs.
The foul stream of blood is now distributed among the millions of tiny air cells in the lungs. A breath of air is inhaled and the oxygen of the air comes in contact with the impure blood through the thin walls of the hair-like blood vessels of the lungs, walls which are thick enough to hold the blood but thin enough to admit the oxygen to penetrate them. When the oxygen comes in contact with the blood, a form of combustion takes place and the blood takes up oxygen and releases carbonic acid gas generated from the waste products and poisonous matter which has been gathered up by the blood from all parts of the system.The blood thus purified and oxygenated is carried back to the heart, again rich, red and bright and laden with life-giving properties and qualities. Upon reaching the left auricle of the heart, it is forced into the left ventricle, form whence it is again forced out through the arteries on its mission of life to all parts of the system.
It is estimated that in a single day of twenty-four hours, 35,000 pints of blood traverse the capillaries of the lungs.
When we consider the minute details of the process just described, we are lost in wonder and admiration at Nature’s infinite care and intelligence.
The Organs of Respiration consist of the lungs and the air passages to them.
The lungs occupy the pleural chamber of the thorax one on each side of the median line being separated from each other by the heart, the greater blood vessels and the larger air tubes. Each lung is free except at the root which consists chiefly of the bronchia, arteries and veins connecting the lungs with the trachea and the heart. The lungs are spongy and porous and their tissues are very elastic. They are covered with a delicately constructed but strong sac, known as the plural sac, one wall of which closely adheres to the lung and the other to the inner wall of the chest and which secretes a fluid which allows the inner surfaces of the walls to glide easily upon each other in the act of breathing.
The air passages consist of the interior of the nose, pharynx, larynx, windpipe or
trachea and the bronchial tubes.When we breathe, we draw in the air through the nose which is warmed by contact with the mucous membrane which is richly supplied with blood. The air passes into the trachea or windpipe which subdivides into numerous tubes called the bronchial tubes (bronchia) which in turn subdivide into and terminate in the millions of minute subdivisions of small air spaces contained within the lungs. One informed writer claims that if the air cells of the lungs were spread out over an unbroken surface they would cover an area of fourteen thousand square feet.!
The blood is driven by the heart, through the arteries, into the capillaries thus reaching every part of the body which it vitalises, nourishes and strengthens. It then returns by means of the capillaries by another route, the veins, to the heart, from whence it is drawn to the lungs.
The blood starts on its arterial journey bright red and rich, laden with life-giving qualities and properties. It returns by the venous route, poor, blue and dull, being laden with the waste matter of the system into the right auricle of the heart. When this auricle becomes filled, it contracts and forces the stream of blood through an opening in the right ventricle of the heart which in turn sends it on to the lungs, where it is distributed by millions of hair-like blood vessels to the air cells of the lungs.
The foul stream of blood is now distributed among the millions of tiny air cells in the lungs. A breath of air is inhaled and the oxygen of the air comes in contact with the impure blood through the thin walls of the hair-like blood vessels of the lungs, walls which are thick enough to hold the blood but thin enough to admit the oxygen to penetrate them. When the oxygen comes in contact with the blood, a form of combustion takes place and the blood takes up oxygen and releases carbonic acid gas generated from the waste products and poisonous matter which has been gathered up by the blood from all parts of the system.The blood thus purified and oxygenated is carried back to the heart, again rich, red and bright and laden with life-giving properties and qualities. Upon reaching the left auricle of the heart, it is forced into the left ventricle, form whence it is again forced out through the arteries on its mission of life to all parts of the system.
It is estimated that in a single day of twenty-four hours, 35,000 pints of blood traverse the capillaries of the lungs.
When we consider the minute details of the process just described, we are lost in wonder and admiration at Nature’s infinite care and intelligence.
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