Tag: duncan lacroix

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Fun Fact: phalanges

ep 202 phalanges

sing. noun: phalange [fuh-lan-jee]; pl. noun: phalanges [fuh-lan-jeez].

From the Greek, phálanx, meaning military formation; later used for the bones of fingers and toes

Anatomy def: 14 bones in the digits of each hand or in the toes of each foot; 56 phalange bones in total. Each thumb and great toe bears two phalanges and remaining digits each contain three phalanges.

Outlander def: Smashed but healing finger bones of Jamie’s puir left hand (right hand in Diana’s books). Claire’s own loving hands diligently labor to mended them!

Learn about phalanges in Anatomy Lesson #22, “Jamie’s Hand – Symbol of Sacrifice.”

Read about Jamie’s smashed bones in Dragonfly in Amber:

Jamie glanced dispassionately at his right hand. It really wasn’t too bad; a couple of fingers set slightly askew, a thick scar down the length of the middle finger. The only major damage had been to the fourth finger, which stuck out stiffly, its second joint so badly crushed that the healing had fused two finger bones together. The hand had been broken in Wentworth Prison, less than four months ago, by Jack Randall.

See Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser tighten the laces of Jamie’s amazing hand brace, in Starz episode 202, Not in Scotland Anymore. Designed to stabilize his healing phalanges, Clever Cunning Claire likely devised this awesome medical appliance!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Fun Fact – urinate

urinate

Scientific def: to discharge urine from the body (to micturate)

Outlander def: Act of peeing with your godfather el fresco!

Learn about urination in…Well, I haven’t actually written an Anatomy Lesson about the urinary bladder, the organ that stores urine and contracts during urination. The closest I can come to the topic at at this point are Anatomy Lesson #8, “Jamie Takes a Beating and Claire’s Healing Touch,” and Anatomy Lesson #15, “Crouching Grants – Hidden Dagger”; these lessons introduce the kidneys, organs that produce urine.

In the meantime, here’s a wee (Ha, ha) lesson on urination to contemplate: do ye ken it takes 21 seconds for most mammals to urinate? Yep! A researcher and his colleagues were awarded a 2015 Ig Nobel prize** for this finding. Such research may seem frivolous, but it could lead to an early medical diagnostic tool for men. If the time to empty the urinary bladder exceeds established urination times, a prostate exam may be in order (New Scientist, 31 October 2015).

Read about Claire’s need to urinate while interrogated by BJR at Fort William. From Outlander book:

The tension was slightly relieved by the entrance of an orderly, bearing a tray of tea things. Still silent, Randall poured out and offered me a cup. We sipped some more. “Don’t tell me,” I said finally. “Let me guess. It’s a new form of persuasion you’ve invented—torture by bladder. You ply me with drinkables until I promise to tell you anything in exchange for five minutes with a chamber pot.” He was so taken by surprise that he actually laughed.

Or where Jenny Murray’s new daughter baptizes her father’s shirt (Outlander book):

“Hello, wee Maggie,” he whispered, touching the tiny button of a nose with one fingertip. His new daughter, unimpressed by the introduction, closed her eyes in concentration, stiffened, and urinated on her father’s shirt.

See Jamie and Murtagh pee on the walls of Castle Leoch in Starz, episode 109, The Reckoning! Yep, these BFFs formulate and celebrate as they urinate and consecrate Colum’s real estate! Do ye ken there are 444 English words that rhyme with urinate? Hee, hee!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

** Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, and then THINK. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology.