Rib

“ Instead of striking between the sixth and seventh left rib, as your countrymen do, you must have struck higher or lower; ”

“ The fore extremity of each rib consists not of bone, but of an elastic substance called cartilage. The elasticity of this substance, combined with the oblique position of the ribs, constitutes a beautiful provision, in consequence of which the chest enlarges and contracts its volume, to afford free play to the lungs. ”

“ From this part of each rib a strong flat muscle comes forward on each side, before the viscera, forming the abdominal muscles and uniting in a middle tendon, so that the lower half of each rib which is beyond the origin of this muscle, and which is only laterally connected to it by a loose cellular membrane, is external to the belly of the animal, and is used for the purpose of progressive motion, while that half of each rib which is next the spine, as far as the lungs extend, is employed in respiration. ”

“ In the rib-action, above alluded to, the lower ribs are controlled by the diaphragm which draws them slightly downward, while other muscles hold them in place and the intercostal muscles force them outward, which combined action increases the mid-chest cavity to its maximum. In addition to this muscular action, the upper ribs are also lifted and forced outward by the intercostal muscles, which increases the capacity of the upper chest to its fullest extent. ”

“ The muscles which bring forward these ribs, according to Sir Everard, consists of five sets. One from the transverse process of each vertebra and the rib immediately behind it, which rib is attached to the next vertebra. The next set goes from the rib near the spine, and passes over two ribs, sending a slip to each, and is inserted into a third, a slip connecting it with the next muscle in succession. ”

“ The rib develops from the ends of the vertebral bows, which, coming in contact with the muscle plates of their own segment of the body, are by the resulting bulging forced to expand, and later come together through the formation of the breastbone. ”

“ This last rib, when shut, flaps under the upper one, and also falls down with it before to the waist, but is not joined to the ribs below. Along the whole spine-bone runs a strong, flat, broad, grisly cartilage, to which are joined several other of these ribs; all which open horizontally, and are filled in the interstices with the above membrane, and are jointed to the ribs of the person just where the plane of the back begins to turn towards the breast and belly; and, when shut, wrap the body round to the joints on the contrary side, folding neatly one side over the other. ”

“ There is a femur which helps its fellow to support the weight of the body; and there again is a rib which, along with others, forms a protective box for certain of the viscera. Dissection reveals a set of muscles serving to straighten and bend the fingers, certain other muscles that move the legs, and some inconspicuous muscles which, contracting every two or three seconds, slightly raise the ribs and aid in inflating the lungs. ”

“ On the left side of the abdominal cavity is the spleen, while to the right of the stomach is the liver, whose function is the purification of the blood and the secretion of the bile, which is so useful for digestion.
In the hollow space enclosed by the ribs are situated the heart and the lungs. The heart is between the two lungs, but more to the left than the right. There are on the whole 24 bones in the chest; the action of the heart can be felt between the fifth and the sixth rib. ”

“ With this column the broad ribs unite in the back, while in front they are held together by the sternum; and to make this cradle of bones more compact and fit to resist the action of the wings, and to protect the interior organs, the ribs touch each other with what the anatomists call "uncinate processes." Whoever is called upon to carve at the table a chicken or a turkey will experience how solid and protective the construction of the skeleton of the body is. ”

“ The five or six lower ribs, called false or floating ribs, are rounder, and approach nearer to nature in their form, thereby affording sufficient space for the heart, stomach, and liver, and some other of the abdominal viscera. ”

“ The back-ribs make an excellent roast; indeed, there is not a sweeter or more varied one in the whole carcass, having both ribs and shoulder. The shoulder-blade eats best cold, and the ribs, warm. The ribs make excellent chops, the Leicester and South-Down affording the best. The breast is mostly a roasting-piece, consisting of rib and shoulder, and is particularly good when cold. When the piece is large, as of the South-Down or Cheviot, the gristly parts of the ribs may be divided from the true ribs, and helped separately. ”

“ Location.—The ribs form the lateral bony wall of the thorax, articulating superiorly with the dorsal vertebræ.
Description.—The ribs are arranged in order of length, the ultimate rib being the longest. From anterior to posterior, they approach more nearly a horizontal position. The ribs are divided into the true and the false. The true ribs articulate with the sternum. The false ribs do not touch the sternum; they are floating. The true ribs are composed of two parts, a vertebral, or dorsal, and a sternal, 42or ventral. ”

“ It is conceived, that without this freer sweep of the lower ribs, life could not have been maintained, so much would the functions of the heart, and chylopretic viscera have been interrupted. The false ribs descend very low down, on each side, there being scarcely one and a half inch between them and the crest of the ileum. The pelvis is capacious, and on its front aspect presents nothing very extraordinary. ”

“ But the damage is not done to the heart and lungs alone. The liver is crowded out of place until it sometimes reaches clear across the abdomen and is creased with ruts from the pressure of the ribs upon it. The stomach is also pressed out of place. It belongs close up under the diaphragm, but it is crowded by the pressure down until it lies in the abdominal cavity, as low down, sometimes, as the umbilicus, six or eight inches below where it belongs. ”

“ The ribs are one- or two-headed, rather strong, but short, rarely reaching half-way round the body. They occur on all the vertebrae of the trunk and on most of those of the tail. One pair of ribs connects one vertebra, the sacral, with the pelvis, of which the ilium and ischium are generally ossified, rarely also a portion of the pubic region. ”

“ When we breathe deeply and endeavour to inspire more than is usual we employ certain muscles which act on the ribs, enlarging the cavity of the chest, and then diminishing it as the expiration occurs. The larger the spaces between the ribs, and the more elastic the ribs themselves, the greater is their possible amount of movement. In us it is very great in the child, great in man, but much less in old age, when the elasticity of the ribs diminishes. ”

“ This accounts for the fact that a woman who has been accustomed to lace tightly, feels as if she "must fall to pieces" if she leaves off her stays. Next, they gradually press in the ribs, which in time become permanently deformed. (See Plate 2.) The ribs crush the lower part of the lungs, which are thus prevented from performing their due amount of work. Owing to their pressure the lower part of the chest cannot expand outwards, and it is also hindered from expanding downwards by the impeded action of the diaphragm. ”

“ The lower floating ribs are forced to take the place the stomach should occupy in part; the skirts are compelled to grow too narrow, the liver is also pressed too closely and the stomach is bound as with a cord. ”

“ The ribs are each nearly semicircular, arching back from the spine, so as to form a ridge or keel inside, and on the back there is a great depth of flesh. The bone is excessively hard and heavy, and can scarcely be broken. ”

“ The ribs are not only capable of being distinguished, but may be clearly separated and counted one by one, and handled like so many pieces of cane; and, together with the skin which covers them, resemble more the hoops and outer covering of a small balloon, than any thing in the ordinary course of nature. ”

“ It is obvious that, if the diameter of the chest, at its lower and broader part, is diminished by lacing, or any other cause, to the extent of one fourth or one half, the lungs B, B, are pressed in towards the heart, A, the lower ribs are drawn together and press on the liver, C, and spleen, E, while the abdominal organs are pressed downward on the pelvic viscera. ”

“ At length his head and cut lip were plaistered up, a reviving draught administered, and after some examination of bruises, and poking and pressing of his body, three of his ribs were pronounced “broken.” ”

“ The ribs incline downward with the spine, and hence, when we bend forward, the inclination is greater; and as a natural conse­quence, the capacity of the chest is diminished, and the ability to breathe freely suspended. ”

“ The ribs are connected to all the intervertebral spaces on the inside, from the neck to the lumbar region, by a small ligament, and before to the sternum, their extremities being spongy and soft; their form is the most arched in man of all animals; for in this part, man is, of all animals, the narrowest in proportion to his bulk. ”

“ Even if the edge of the liver be felt very much lower than is normal below the ribs, it does not necessarily follow that the liver is enlarged, since it may be pressed down by other causes—for instance, the habit of wearing tight stays. ”

“ Expansion and contraction in the chest are regular and rhythmical, and are secured by the jointed connection of the ribs with the breastbone. Expansion in the abdomen is irregular and at times excessive. ”

“ In the abdomen we find that most of its organs are single. The liver, stomach, spleen, colon, and small intestine form a series of single organs: each of these may be cleft symmetrically. The kidneys are a pair.
The extent to which the ribs are bared in the figure Plate 22, marks exactly the form and transverse capacity of the thoracic walls. The diaphragm, H H*, has had a portion of its forepart cut off, to show how it separates the thin edges of both lungs above from the liver, G, and the stomach, M, below. ”

“ The eleventh and twelfth ribs, unlike all those which precede them, except the first, have only one surface of articulation with the corresponding vertebræ, to which they are attached, instead of two facettes articulating—one with the body of the vertebra above, the other with that below. ”

“ Shut the mouth and draw the air in through the channel provided by nature—the nose. As a result of bad habits, most persons will raise the upper ribs, yet this expansion will soon yield to a movement of the lower ribs, and this again will gradually cease by continued practice, as will also every distension of the ribs. All these faulty movements will be superseded by a bulging out of the abdomen, which will be proportioned to the amount of air inhaled. ”

“ The patient will frequently press the lower ribs in, on the affected side, with his hand, or he will lie on that side, so as to control the expansion of the chest, or he will lie on the healthy side and bend his body over. ”

“ Nature has here inverted her own order, and turned the convex inwards, while the nobler organs, obedient to her will, maintain life by the gentle exercise of their wonted functions in a lower region. Below the ribs, which are well described in the accounts already given, the trunk so immediately curves in, that the red band of the silk-covering, though it is only loosely placed, seems a tourniquet to constrict the bowels within their prison house, and the hip-bones, being of their natural size, the waist is like a wasp’s. ”

“ But because the ribs could not entirely shut up that centre of the human body, without hindering the dilatation of the stomach and of the entrails, they form that hoop but to a certain place, below which they leave an empty space, that the inside may freely distend and stretch, both for respiration and feeding. ”