Structure and Functions of the Body

Anatomy is the study of the physical structure and physiology the study of the normal functions of the human body. Chemical Constitution of the Body.—In the body only twenty elements have been found. These include carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, manganese, chlorin, potassium, and fluorin. For the most part they appear in very complex and highly unstable combinations, though oxygen and nitrogen may be said to exist uncombined in the blood, alimentary canal, and lungs. Hydrogen also occurs in simple form in the alimentary canal, but as the result of fermentation, not as an element of the body.