Centaurine innards

[desperance]

Okay, look. I'm quite happy with one digestive system that has two separate stomachs en route, there are instances of that and stranger things; but are we to suppose that a centaur has two sets of ribs, human and horse, and - therefore? - two sets of lungs within 'em? Skeletally, see, I think they must; and you'd need horsey lungs, I'd guess, to power a horsey body. Which would imply two hearts also, unless the human half just didn't bother with a heart, because the horsey one was good enough for all; I'm okay with that either way, I just have trouble with the lungs thing. Only one intake-pipe, after all: does the poor girl have to breathe for two, great vasty draughts of air...? Or if she just has one set of horsey lungs, what's in the human chest cavity...?

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

The swim bladder.

Horses can swim, and humans can swim, but it looks like it would be very difficult for a centaur to swim without some assistance, and can you imagine a centaur in water-wings? (Did you have water-wings where you were as a small child? Little inflatable whatsits for around small children's arms while they are learning to swim.)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Yup, we had water-wings - I just never learned to water-fly. Or swim. I am innately sinky.

But thank you, it's a lovely thought.

[grndexter.livejournal.com]

Ummm... why would a centaur have trouble swimming? Horses do it with humans on their backs...

[fjm.livejournal.com]

This is one of those moments where your sexuality is getting in the way of your imagination [g].

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Oh lor', is it...?

*blushes, and retires from the field*

[fjm.livejournal.com]

Were you John Norman you'd have no problem imagining increased lung capacity

[leer]

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Y'know, the first time I read 'Brave New World' (and can this be the first time those two writers have ever been brought together in a single thought?), I really didn't understand what Huxley meant when he kept describing his young women as 'pneumatic'...

[cinderberry.livejournal.com]

Please, take those two writers apart again. Please.

[freaky-trixter.livejournal.com]

Good God, I've read all those myths so many times, but it never occured to me that centaurian anatmy is this weird! Thanks for giving me a new angle ro look from..;-)

[devonellington.livejournal.com]

Well, horse lungs and heart have to power a lot more than human ones do, so if you need to stick with one set, I'd use the horse.

BTW, a problem in thoroughbred racing is the bleeding through the nose and in the lungs when running -- the membranes are so thin from the breeding. Which makes it harder for the horses to breathe and harder for them to run. So they're put on a drug called "Lasix" for the race. If you see a horse on Lasix for the first time (it must be listed in the form), it's likely the horse will win, or at least hit the board, because now the bleeding in the breathing is controlled.

Don't know if that tidbit of information could be useful for centaurs, but . . .

[grndexter.livejournal.com]

I see no problem for Centaurian anatomy to contain multiple organs such as hearts and lungs. There are animals in the world that have more than one heart (worms?)

And lung capacity/volume is only part of the equation. How fast can they suck in air and exhale the waste? How efficient is their O2/CO2 exchange rate? Remember that a horse supports a neck and head that would be very comparable bulk wise to a man's torso and shoulders.

I see a single, well developed set of horse lungs with a larger than normal bi-tubal bronchial system (air in in tube 1, out in tube 2)... ansd a big mouth.

[sanity-cheque.livejournal.com]

Philip Jose Farmer had a good take on this in The World of Tiers series. His Centaurs had one set of "bellows-like" lungs in the horse chest, with a very wide and strong windpipe through the human chest and throat. Also, good classic sci-fi :)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Thank you!