Mechanics of Normal and Pathological Locomotion in Man

Abstract

PIp. vi+48. 4 text-figs. and 15 plates. Price l0s. 6d. net. This book presents a full and ordered account of the method of dissection of the brain by defibrillation or blunt dissection, and some of the results to be obtained by this method are shown in the many illustrations, almost all of which are photographs of actual specimens.Though the method is not new and has been used in England previously by Jamieson and by Green, as far as we know it has not been set out in book form as a laboratory manual until now.The translation appears to be accurate and quite satisfactory, and the set up of the book is very good. The Growth of the Surface Area of the Human Body. By EDITH BOYD. (With a Foreword by RIChARD E. SCAMiMON.) (University of Minnesota. The Institute of Child Welfare, Monograph Series, No. x.) (London: Oxford University Press.) 1935. Pp. x + 145, figs. 50, tables 28. Price 22s. 6d. net.This work, dedicated to John Abernethy, is a comprehensive and exhaustive study of a much-neglected branch of physical anthropology. It deals with the technique for the assessment of the surface area of the human body in both preand post-natal life. The author discusses in detail the various methods available for the evaluation of body area, both by direct measurement and by estimation, the mathematical formulae for relating this area to major bodily dimensions, and the inferences drawn from the growth phases of the area throughout life. Being written largely from the biophysical standpoint the work presupposes a familiarity with the tables, formulae and notations of the biometrician.

Giovanni Borelli and the Study of Human Movement: An Historical Review

“…In spite of the deficiencies in his knowledge of anatomy and physiology he is still considered by many to be the greatest scientific genius the world has ever seen 7 , 8 . In De Motu Animalium (334 BC ), he gave a geometrical analysis of muscular flexion as a change from a straight line, to an angle and he recognized that without flexion there could be no forward progression 9 . In his writings On Parts of Animals and On Progression of Animals , he described the transfer of rotary motion of the feet to translatory motion, and he recognized that, in moving, the animal makes its change of position by pressing against that which is beneath it 10 .…”

“…He found that when agonists are under reflex stimulation, the excitation of one centre of control is simultaneous with the inhibition of the other. This, together with the all‐or‐none reaction, is fundamental to the understanding of the kinetic events of the human body 9 …”

“…The invention of the electromyograph by Wedenski in 1880 allowed him to demonstrate the existence of action currents in human muscles. Then, in 1906, Einthoven developed the string galvanometer for the study and recording of action currents and in 1910 Piper produced a paper on the physiological aspects of muscle electricity 9 , 10 . Knowledge of this work did not spread to the English‐speaking world until Adrian’s paper, ‘Interpretation of the electromyogram’ was published in 1925 24 .…”

“…The thermodynamics of muscular work were first studied by August Chauveau (1827–1917), while Fenn, Benedict and Cathcart studied energy expenditure during gait 9 . As the study of muscle physiology progressed, other workers were investigating the more mechanical aspects of animal motion.…”

“…This interest in the mechanics of motion flourished. Descartes (1569–1650), a philosopher, drew on a knowledge of both anatomy and physiology in considering man as an early machine: ‘Machine de Terre’ 9 . For him the body was ‘a machine made by the hand of God: incomparably better than any machine of human invention’ 8 …”