Deformed Bullets Removed from Spanish-American War Cases: All bullets were removed from surgical cases.
An American Text-Book of Surgery for Practitioners and Students. Edited by William Keen and J. William White. 1894.
Feathers
Found only on birds, feathers are some of the most complex integumentary (skin) structures found in vertebrates.
There are two primary types of feathers: flight and down. Some birds, such as peacocks and birds-of-paradise, also have display feathers.
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Flight feathers come in two categories of their own: remiges (wing feathers), and rectrices (tail feathers). These strong feathers are what allow most birds to fly. They have strong midline ridges, called the shaft (or rachus). The rachus is mostly covered in the fluffy-but-structured extensions, what most people think of as the “feather”, called the vane. At the bottom of the rachus, below the vane, is the bare quill (or calamus). Each extension on the vane is covered in many hooks and hooklets (also called barbs and barbicels), which is what birds are putting back into place when they preen - gotta keep everything in order to fly well!
Down feathers don’t have the hooks or the rachus of the flight feathers. There are many types of down feathers, but all of them serve the same basic purpose, which is temperature regulation. They trap air close to the bird’s body, which insulates it from the cold. When a bird puffs up in the middle of winter, it’s creating a bigger insulating layer to trap body heat, so that it doesn’t cool off as quickly.
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To replace their feathers on a regular basis (to remove damaged or correct for lost feathers), birds undergo a process called moulting. Depending upon the species, this can happen all at once, be staggered over the course of a year, or happen gradually over several years. Many species undergo moulting during breeding season, to show off their flashy plumage.
Moulting is regulated by the pineal gland and circadian rhythms in most birds, though in pet birds, a somewhat-constant slow moult (punctuated by one or two “big moults” a year) is found, as a result of artificial lighting.
Nouveau Larousse Illustre. Claude Auge, 1898.
The Fossa - Cryptoprocta ferox
While the fossa shares traits with the civets, cats, and mongooses, they are not closely related to any other extant mammal that we know of. Their generic name, Cryptoprocta ferox, literally means “ferocious hidden anus”, referencing their “anal pouch” and readiness to attack intruders. It is one of the better binomials I have ever come across.
These carnivores largely prey upon lemurs, and are native only to Madagascar. They’re born grey or whitish, and mature to a tawny or red color as adults.
The females of this species undergo a phase called transient masculinization, wherein a maturing/adolescent female develops a significant os clitoridis (clitoral bone), and her underside is colored orange by secretions, similar to what is produced by males.
By the time she is a fully mature adult, however, both of these traits have largely subsided, and their purpose is unclear. Since adolescent females mostly hunt and sleep, and are unready to rear young, it appears that avoidance of sexual harassment by adult males and avoidance of aggression by mature females (males generally move freely between female territories) plays a significant role in their transient masculine traits.
The male fossa has a large external penis, especially compared to other carnivorous species. It can reach up to 7 inches (~18 cm) long, and has the backward-facing keratin spines that cats and bears possess. Mating in this species takes place in trees, up to 30m off the ground, and can last for many hours. During estrous, the female will attract many males to her territory, but will continue to keep other females out of her zone. The males compete for her attentions and over a several-day receptive period she will mate almost continuously with whatever male proves himself most dominant among the fold.
Images: The Transactions of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London. 1898.
Crustaceans
Crustaceans belong the the subphylum Crustacea, and are members of the invertebrate phylum Arthropoda.
Like other arthropods, they have an exoskeleton, which does not grow with them, and which they must moult in order to grow larger. They have two-part legs (other arthropods have one or three-part legs), though the number of legs varies greatly between species.
The commonly-known species of crab, lobster, shrimp, crawfish, and barnacles all belong to the Crustacea subphylum, but they're not alone - there are more than 61,000 species of Crustacean, and they've existed since the Cambrian period, 500 million years ago.
Though most crustaceans are motile and aquatic, there are some that are partially terrestrial, barnacles are sessile (non-moving) as adults, and a few are parasitic, such as the whale and fish lice, and bizarre tongue-eating louse (Cymothoa exigua).
Nouveau Larousse. Pierre Larousse, 1898.
biomedicalephemera reblogged
Things I did not know could become dislocated: Eyeballs.
But they can be! Upon sharp strikes, whiplash, or puncture-strikes to the back of the head, the eyeball can be pushed forward from the brain (remember, the eyeball is just an extension of the brain in the first place), and become dislocated from its socket.
From the Ball Ophthalmology Collection at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. 1898.
biomedicalephemera reblogged
Lorius head, showing extended tongue with brush tip
Both lories and lorikeets (members of the parrot family) have specialized tongues with extended papillae for feeding on nectar and pollen. They also eat soft fruits.
Lorius spp. are brightly colored and are native to the Australasian region. In captivity, they have a tendency to be extremely loud and active, as well as needing a specialized nectar-replacement diet to suit their systems. Unfortunately, many species of lory/lorikeet are still captured in the wild and sold as exotic pets. There are now only 50 known ultramarine lorikeets left in the wild, and many other species are endangered or threatened.
The Structure and Classification of Birds. Frank E. Beddard, 1898.
East Caucasian Tur - Capra cylindricornis
Turs are goat-antelopes from the upper altitudes of the Greater Caucasus (between the Black and Caspian Seas, in the countries of Georgia and Azerbaijan) Mountains, and reproduce using a combination of the rutting and lek systems, which includes normally-solitary males showing off/competing for females each year -
WAIT. STOP. HAMMERTIME.
Wild Oxen, Sheep, and Goats of All Lands. Richard Lydekker, 1898.
Top: Complete uterine prolapse. Center and bottom: Female reproductive organs, diagrammatic and in situ.
In healthy women, the uterus is held in place by a "hammock" of ligaments and muscles, most notably the broad ligament, and the uterosacral ligaments. If these ligaments are torn or undergo trauma, they can weaken, and uterine prolapse can occur. The vast majority of uterine prolapse patients only have the uterus fall into the vagina, and further prolapse can often be staved off by Kegel and other exercises.
However, in severe cases (most often in very difficult vaginal births, following difficult pregnancies), both the uterus and vagina can prolapse, and completely evert from the pelvis. In these cases, it's often only possible to revert and secure the vagina; the uterus is too heavy to suture into place with no natural support, and is generally removed in a hysterectomy.
Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical. Henry Gray, 1910. Atlas Iconographique. Dr. S. Laskowski, 1898.
biomedicalephemera reblogged
Things I did not know could become dislocated: Eyeballs.
From the Ball Ophthalmology Collection at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. 1898.
Top: Screening adult men for tuberculosis with radiography Bottom: The chest of the man being screened above, clear of tuberculosis or other abscesses.
Radiography and the 'X' Rays in Practice and in Theory. S. R. Bottone, 1898.
Mummified cadaver of suicide by hanging
On the other end of the scale from that rapid putrefaction is mummification.
This cadaver is of a man who hanged himself in a dry, airy attic ten years before being found. His organs began to putrefy shortly after death, but as he disappeared (and likely hanged himself shortly after) in mid-November, the dry, cold, winter air halted to decomposition process. As he dessicated all winter long, the heat and insect activity of the following summers had little effect on his remains. Since the area he was found had little humidity during the summer, it appears that the heat hardened the remaining skin, and did not allow further decomposition as it would have when coupled with dampness.
Atlas of Legal Medicine. Dr. Eduard von Hofmann, 1898.
Extreme putrefaction of cadaver after only 16 days
In ideal circumstances for decomposition, putrefaction of the soft tissues can advance extremely rapidly with the help of insect activity. When maggots are present in large numbers on the body - such as in this 78-year-old man - their consumption of the tissues that resist putrefaction can speed up the decomposition process significantly. In most cases, a cadaver would require at least 3-4 weeks to reach this state of advanced decay. In the warm summer months, however, decomposition in as little as two weeks is not unheard of.
Atlas of Legal Medicine. Dr. Eduard von Hofmann, 1898.
Top: Hand of a day-laborer who had been drowned 24 hours prior Bottom: Hand of a drowned person submerged in running water for several weeks
The process of tissues decomposing and sloughing off in animals generally reaches its peak around three to four weeks, in a moderate climate. However, in running water, the washing away of the acids from the liquefied fats and proteins, and the lack of insect activity, can often significantly retard or alter the decomposition.
Because of this, it can often take several extra weeks for tissues submerged in running water to separate from the body, and when they do separate, they don't so much slough off when their substrate is consumed, but "slip" off, often in large sheets. The dermis of the hand is well-connected to itself, but less well-connected to its substrate, and as such is often subject to a phenomenon called "gloving" - where the skin slips off in, you guessed it, a "glove".
Atlas of Legal Medicine. Dr. Eduard von Hofmann, 1898.
Lower extremity of newborn, under running water for several months - formation of "adipocere"
One of the most interesting things to find in a cadaver is when adipocere forms. This so-called "grave wax" shows that a body is at least several months old, as it takes a while for the biochemical reactions to take place that form this substance.
While most cadavers go through the full decomposition process and are rotted away by bacteria and other organisms, bodies that form adipocere begin a process of anaerobic bacterial hydrolysis at the start of the putrefaction stage of decomposition. As most of the proteins in the body are digested, the fat in the body racidifies, and instead of being digested with everything else, breaks down into glycerine, fatty solids (saturated fats), and fluid fatty acids (unsaturated fat). The glycerine and fluid fatty acids are washed away or dissolved, and the solid fat remains behind, forming a cast of the body.
Adipocere is white or gray, and very much like thick cottage cheese in its crumbly texture. It's very hardy and preservative in quality, and cadavers over 700 years old have been found to have easily-discernible fine facial structures because of it. However, the formation of the substance requires very specific conditions to be met, the most important of which is a body with a relatively high fat content (though there are occasional exceptions). Because of this, infants, young women, and the obese are most likely to be found in this state.
Atlas of Legal Medicine. Dr. Eduard von Hofmann, 1898.
Lorius head, showing extended tongue with brush tip
Both lories and lorikeets (members of the parrot family) have specialized tongues with extended papillae for feeding on nectar and pollen. They also eat soft fruits.
Lorius spp. are brightly colored and are native to the Australasian region. In captivity, they have a tendency to be extremely loud and active, as well as needing a specialized nectar-replacement diet to suit their systems. Unfortunately, many species of lory/lorikeet are still captured in the wild and sold as exotic pets. There are now only 50 known ultramarine lorikeets left in the wild, and many other species are endangered or threatened.
The Structure and Classification of Birds. Frank E. Beddard, 1898.
Medial and caudal views of the musculoskeletal system of the dog - left forelimb from the elbow down.
Illustrating the tendons, muscles, and bones of the paws. Shepherd dog from Germany used for illustration - likely similar to today's German Shepherds.
Handbuch der Anatomie der Tiere für Künstler. Wilhelm Ellenberger, Hermann Baum, and Hermann Dittrich, 1898.
Fox Kits!
Though most people call baby foxes "pups", the more accepted colloquial terms in the scientific community are "cubs" or "kits". However, there are generally no "official" correct terms for juvenile animals aside from, well, juvenile.
The female fox is called a "vixen", but we all knew that, right? A group of foxes is called a "skulk", thanks to their sneaky and skulking nature.
Familiar Life in Field and Forest. F. Schuyler Mathews, 1898.