Common Use Def: The breast is one of two soft, protruding organs on the upper front of a woman’s torso that secrete milk after birth.
Anatomy Def: But, the scientific definition rightly includes male and female breasts as both are derived from the same embryonic tissue and diseases occur in the breasts of both sexes.
Outlander Def: Taming-of-the-sea organs? Or, so goes the argument posited by Captain Raines of the Artemis!
Learn about the breast in Anatomy Lesson #51 The Breast – Male and Female.
Anatomy Lesson #51 was not written to be titillating (hah).
Seriously, it was written as a public service. The incidence of breast disease is so high, it behoves one to understand breast structure and function so as to better understand prognosis, disease progression and treatment options should the need arise.
Breast anatomy also helps us understand the diseases plaguing the breast: cancer, cysts, fibrocystic changes, mastitis, gynecomastia, to name a few.
The worst: Though breast cancer in males is relatively rare, only 1 per 1000 adult males, the incidence of invasive breast cancer in US women is 1 in 8!!!
Read about the breast in Outlander books; there’s a mess of quotes to choose from! <G> This one is particularly special… From Voyager, the reunion between Claire and A. Malcolm:
A little reluctantly, I took his hand, and stepped out of the inadequate shelter of the remains of my dress. He drew me gently in, to stand between his knees as he sat on the bed. Then he kissed me softly, once on each breast, and laid his head between them, his breath coming warm on my bare skin. “Your breast is like ivory,” he said softly, the word almost “breest” in the Highland Scots that always grew broad when he was truly moved. His hand rose to cup one breast, his fingers tanned into darkness against my own pale glow.
See Captain Raines inform Claire that if a woman bears her breasts before a tempest, the seas will be calmed in. Huh??? Industriously chewing (tough mutton?), the Captain waxes poetic about the sailing superstition:
“After all, on this ship, your very presence is ill luck… By rights, you and Mistress MacKimmie should this moment be bare breasted! … A woman’s bare breasts calm an angry sea… The figure head at the bow, she bears her breasts for you, and prevents us being subject to any curses.”
Claire is not amused. Not on Jamie’s watch!!!
The deeply grateful,
Outlander Anatomist
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Photo Credit: Outlander ep 307, The doldrums