Obscure Organs – Part 1

The Bible talks about Christians being like a body. “And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour;” (I Cor. 12:23). Small, unapparent parts often play important roles, both in an organism and in Christ’s church. Over the next several months we will highlight some of the more obscure organs in our body, systems and components that you may not have considered unless you are a scientist studying human anatomy or are involved in the medical community.

For example, have you ever wondered what’s the smallest muscle in the human body? It’s the tiny stapedius, a thread in your middle ear that attaches to the stapes or stirrup bone (the smallest bone in the body). The stapes bone helps transfer sounds from the outer to the inner ear. But if that incoming sound is too loud, the stapedius muscle contracts to pull the stapes bone back, dampening the vibration and protecting the inner ear from high noise levels. Though only 1mm (or 1/26 of an inch) in size this muscle protects your hearing from one particularly loud noise every day…the sound of your own voice! Certainly this tiny marvel of divine engineering deserves our appreciation.

Posted on February 1, 2017 by dwoetzel.

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