Word: pleura
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Dates: during 1880-1889
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...computed that a man needs 23,000 cubic feet of air every day, that his excretions of carbonic acid may not pollute the air. Pleurisy not only affects the lungs but the diaphragm, which is the principal agent in drawing air into the lungs. The enlargement of the pleura forces the air out of the air cells, thin walls are brought into contact with each other, and the whole lung in an airless condition may be pressed into the back part of the chest alongside of the back bone, where it lies as useless, as far as breathing is concerned...
...that by virtue of their elasticity they can expel a large part of the air which they contain when inflated. A certain amount, however, always remains. As the heart is enclosed in a sort of sack called the pericardium, so are the lungs enclosed in a sack, the pleura, the inner part of which passes over the outside of the lungs and the outer part lines the inside of the chest. In health there is nothing between these two surfaces but a little moisture which helps them to slip easily on each other; a matter of importance, as the lungs...
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