Biomedical Ephemera, or: A Frog for Your Boils

Metallic cast of the combined pneumatic cavities of the face

a. inferior nasal fossa b. median nasal fossa c. superior nasal fossa d. sphenoidal sinus e. internal carotid artery f. sheath of the optic nerve g.  antrum of Highmore (maxillary sinus) h. infundibulum (ethmoidal infundibulum) i. nasolacrymal canal k. ethmoidal cells l. frontal sinus

Much of the frontal skull consists of pneumatic (air-filled) cavities. Many of these are known as sinuses.

While the function of our sinuses is not fully understood, they’re known to effect the filtration of inhaled air, and decrease the weight of our skull.

Atlas and Text-Book of Dentistry including Diseases of the Mouth. Gustav Preiswerk, 1909.

Boreal Woodland Reindeer or Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou)

Genetically and physiologically, Reindeer are the same species as Caribou.

The name Reindeer probably came from the Sami (native Laplanders) name for the species, Raingo. The name Caribou came from the Mi'kmaq (First Nations language spoken from Nova Scotia all the way through Boston) name, qalipu, meaning "snow shoveler", coming from its winter foraging habits.

The species lives throughout the arctic circle, and there are many subspecies, specialized for life on everything from the open tundra, bushy plains, dense woodland, and rocky mountain forests. Both sexes grow antlers that are branching and flat at the end. These are the only Cervidae where all individuals grow antlers. The antlers are crucial to foraging during the winter, when the species subsides off of mosses, fungi, and lichen beneath the snow.

In the wild, golden eagles and wolverines can occasionally take out calves, but the most prolific hunter of both juvenile and adult reindeer is the grey wolf. In native-managed herds, the opportunistic wolverine is the primary threat to the young and injured.

The Wild Beasts of the World Vol II. Frank Finn, 1909.

Our Three (Brain) Mothers

Protecting our brain and central nervous system are the meninges, derived from the Greek term for "membrane". You may have heard of meningitis - this is when the innermost layer of the meninges swells, often due to infection, and can cause nerve or brain damage, and sometimes death.

There are three meningeal layers: the dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater. In Latin, "mater" means "mother". The term comes from the enveloping nature of these membranes, but we later learned how apt it was, because of how protective and essential the meningeal layers are.

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The dura is most important for keeping cerebrospinal fluid where it belongs, and for allowing the safe transport of blood to and from the brain. This layer is also water-tight - if it weren't, our cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) would leak out, and our central nervous system would have no cushion! Its leathery qualities mean that even when the skull is broken, more often than not, the dura (and the brain it encases) is not punctured.

The arachnoid is attached directly to the deep side of the dura, and has small protrusions into the sinuses within the dura, which allows for CSF to return to the bloodstream and not become stagnant. It also has very fine, web-like projections downward, which attach to the pia mater. However, it doesn't contact the pia mater in the same way as the dura: the CSF flows between the two meningeal layers, in the subarachnoid space. The major superficial blood vessels are on top of the arachnoid, and below the dura.

The pia is what makes sure the CSF stays between the meninges, and doesn't just get absorbed into the brain or spinal cord. It also allows for new CSF from the ventricles to be shunted into the subarachnoid space, and provides pathways for blood vessels to nourish the brain. While the pia mater is very thin, it is water-tight, just like the dura mater. The pia is also the primary blood-brain barrier, making sure that no plasma proteins or organic molecules penetrate into the CSF. 

Because of this barrier, medications which need to reach the brain or meninges must be administered directly into the CSF.

Images: Anatomy: Practical and Surgical. Henry Gray, 1909.

Anyone else sick of hearing about the US election yet? My OZ friends are all getting social media reminders to vote today, and they've never even been to the US...well, it's all over soon, but let's do some cute in the mean time!

House Sparrow - Passer domesticus

In the temple at Dier-el-Bahari

The sparrow is one of the limited number of species distinctly benefiting from human settlement. Where humans are, sparrows are, often en masse. Go just a half-mile into the wilderness beyond a settlement, and you'll be hard-pressed to find even one individual. Other closely-related passerines ("songbirds") like finches and thrushes can survive where humans live, but none have adapted to the point that they're rarely found in the "wild" any longer, and few other avian species have thrived as well as sparrows in settled lands.

The sparrow is perched on a wall at the temple at Dier el-Bahari, most well-known for Hatsheput's tomb. It's next to an engraving of Horus, depicted as a Lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus) carrying a Shen ring, a symbol of eternal protection.

Egyptian birds for the most part seen in the Nile Valley. Charles Whymper, 1909.

Skeleton of the Fin Whale (Baelenoptera musculus)

Fin whales are the second-longest animal in the world, and second-largest, after the blue whale. They travel significantly faster than blue whales in open ocean, but were (and are) hunted just as much, if not more, than their rorqual counterparts. There are estimated to be 38,000 alive today.

Pink Beryl and Emerald Crystals

Emerald is actually a member of the beryl family of gemstones (including aquamarine, heliodor, red beryl, and others), but with a higher number of impurities (known as inclusions), and colored various shades of green by trace amounts of chromium.

While dozens of questionable cures and wards for the plague are known, the royalty of both Europe and Byzantium believed that crushed emerald was the surest ward, and would save them from any plague-related death. This belief went so far as to lead the apothecaries and physicians of sixteenth-century England to release a declaration stating that the inefficacy of gems in both curing and warding the plague was due to improper identification and preparation of gems prescribed, not because the "cure" was simply a ploy on the nobility's belief that the more expensive something was, the better it was.

A Book of Precious Stones. Julius Wodiska, 1909.

Nature is brutal.

Solitary tiger vs. African elephant!

Boa constrictor vs. crocodile!

Swordfish vs. everything aquatic!

It's a veritable SPIKE TV show!

Hunting Big Game in the Wilds of Africa, Containing the Thrilling Adventures of the Famous Roosevelt Expedition. J. Martin Miller, 1909.

"Desperate encounter with ferocious beasts"

I have as much clue what's going on here as you do.

Clearly it involves beating leopards with rifle-butts in an African arena that has transplanted species in it.

Hunting Big Game in the Wilds of Africa. J. Martin Miller, 1909.

"Dog-headed thyloeinus"

This is either a miniature thylacine, or a damn giant of a platypus...thylacines ranged from 40-70 lbs (20-30 kg) as adults (they were about the size of a small greyhound, but built more for stamina than speed), and platypuses are considered BIG if they reach 6 lbs (2.6 kg).

Roosevelt's Thrilling Experiences in the Wilds of Africa Hunting Big Game. Marshall Everett, 1909.*

*No, this scene is not from Africa. It is from an account of another explorer later in the book, who went to Tasmania

Skulls of Naja tripudians (A, B, C) and Bungarus candidus (D, E)

The Bungarus candidus is commonly known as the Malayan krait, and the Naja tripudians (now Naja kaouthia) is the monocled cobra. Both have venoms with nearly 100% neurotoxic action and were used in Dr. Noguchi's research to compare against the hemotoxic venoms of other snakes.

Snake Venoms: An Investigation of Venomous Snakes with Special Reference to the Phenomena of their Venoms. Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, 1909.

Effects of the Crotalus adamanteus venom on mesentery of rabbit (top), and pectoralis of pigeon (bottom).

Many venomous snakes have hemotoxic venom, or a hemotoxic component within their venom. These toxins are able to break down red blood cells, disrupt clotting, and cause hemorrhaging due to the blood being thin enough to slip through capillary and tissue walls. Unlike a neurotoxic venom, which kills by paralyzing the diaphragm and suffocating the victim or prey, hemotoxic venom does not kill quickly. The internal bleeding and hemorrhaging of organs and major vessels is extremely painful.

When snakes kill with hemotoxins, they tend to follow their prey until it collapses, before attempting to eat it. However, the majority of the time, it turns out that the prey isn't dead yet. It's simply in shock and unable to continue - it would end up dying soon enough, but if the snake isn't too far behind it, the prey does get eaten alive. 

Snake Venoms: An Investigation of Venomous Snakes, with Special Reference to the Phenomena of Their Venoms. By Hideyo Noguchi M. D., 1909.

Musculature of the venom apparatus.

Most venomous snakes can change the muscle tension around their venom sacs when they strike. This regulates how much (and if) venom is injected into the victim. In some species, almost 60% of bites are "dry" - not injecting any venom.

Snake Venoms: An Investigation of Venomous Snakes, with Special Reference to the Phenomena of Their Venoms. By Hideyo Noguchi M. D., 1909.

Coral Snakes vs. the King Snake

King snakes (and milk snakes) look much like the highly venomous coral snake, and many species avoid them because of this. This is an excellent example of Batesian Mimicry.

Snake Venoms: An Investigation of Venomous Snakes, with Special Reference to the Phenomena of Their Venoms. By Hideyo Noguchi M. D., 1909.

Naevus Lipomatodes

Related to the "port-wine stain"-type birthmark. Can be present at birth or develop before age 20, and sometimes grows significantly (like other naevii).

This birthmark doesn't actually affect the epidermis on a histological level like many do - it's just an accumulation of adipocytes directly under the skin, among the dermal collagen. Sometimes it's encapsulated, sometimes it's connected to subcutaneous fat, but either way, if it's removed, it isn't known to recur.

Interestingly, the first descriptions of this condition aren't considered to have been written until 1921, even though this book (from 1909) both illustrates it and refers to it with the same name and presentation as it's known today. However, the book doesn't include a description of clinical etiology of the condition, despite including similar conditions, such as naevus pigmentosum and naevus pilaris.

A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Skin. James Nevins Hyde, 1909.