Diaphragm

di'a-fram, a Grecian word meaning a partition wall. In mechanics and anatomy, the term is applied to any thin curtain or partition, as the vibrating diaphragm of a telephone upon which the impulse of the voice falls; the curtain which is used in a photographic camera to cut off the light; and particularly the curtain-like muscle which separates the cavity of the chest from that of the abdomen. The human diaphragm is shaped something like an umbrella, point upward. Its muscular bundles are arranged on the under side somewhat like the rays of an umbrella. When the diaphragm contracts, that is to say, when these muscles swell and shorten, it is stretched more nearly straight across the body, and, as the point sinks, it enlarges the chest cavity, causing the lungs to inhale air. When the diaphragm is relaxed, its elasticity causes it to assume its natural form, and the center of the diaphragm rises, diminishing the upper or chest cavity, thus driving air out of the lungs. Thus we see that taking a breath is largely an action of the diaphragm. Sometimes the diaphragm is affected with periodic twitchings which seem beyond control. One of these, the sneeze, is caused by a sudden relaxation, that is to say, upward bound of the diaphragm. Hiccoughs are caused by spasmodic contractions of the same organ, the action being the exact opposite of a sneeze. In zoology, the diaphragm is a calcareous plate dividing the cavity of certain shells into two parts.