The Ohio organ, of the temperance reform. (Cincinnati, [Ohio]) 1853-1854, 1853-10-28
The Atmosphere and its Effects
sseg bas upon Animal Life. e it

stitute. on the esInhuence Of Air in
connection with Animal Life" The
lecturer commenced BY saying that
he supposed some Of them would be
surprised 10 hear that they lived at
the bottom Of an immcn ocean Of air
ffty miles deep; yet it was 50, and the
color Of the ocean which is called the
atmosphere, is a deep cerculian blue.
To perceive this color it was necessary
to be able to see at once the whole vol
ume, and also on a calm and clear day,
for no color could be perceived if seen
in small quantities, or when there was
either wind or haziness. In like man
ner the color Of water could not be
seen in small quantities, and was only
perceptible where there was vast
expanse Of ocean. The air was also
a substance capable Of condensation
and expansion. Its expansion was seen
in the winds, by which ships were
made to traverse the ocean, and also
windmills, The tornado was another
phase Of its expansion, by which
trees were uprooted and houses over
turned; and was almost equal to the
power of steam. The creates weight
Of the atmosphere was fifteen pounds
to the square inch, and this weight
presses on every way, both upward
and downward, To explain the pres
sure upward, the lecturer exhausted
the air out of a large vase, which then
remained fast to the plate on which it
stood, but upon the air being let in, it
was easily removed. | remember said
he, being asked the question, if there
is pressure of fifteen pounds to the
square inch, the reason why we were
not at once crushed by the weight;
but this is, as before explained, be-
cause the air presses in all directions
with the same equal force, and hence
there is an equilibrium. This is a
most important element, and one that
requires to be known, and also that the
air never presses more than fifteen
pounds to the square inch. d.
The next quality Of the air is elasti-
city. Press it, to make it occupy
Emaller space than it otherwise would,
and then take away the weight, and it
comes back and occu les its original
space. The lecturer then explained
that in the air there were two gases ::
one oxygen, which is that part of the
atmosphere by which chiefly we live,
and which is the one-fifth part; and
the other nitrogen, which is four. ffths
of the atmosphere. Oxygen supports
life and combustion, and nitrogen re-
strains its effects and dulls its opera
tons. The quantity of air which a
person consumes depends in a meas
ures on ones self, and by training can
be made more or less. ! he tailor and
shoemaker take little in comparison
with the laborer, and the public spe4 k
er or singer; or those who cry commo-
dities for sale through the streets. A
man in good health makes eighteen re-
spirations in minute, and in twenty.
four hours consumes ffty.one hogs
heads of the air. As the oxygen
which supportslifeis is small, we ought
to be very particular how we permit
other gases to mix with it and vitiate
it. The blood when it enters the
lungs, is black, but when the oxygen
acts on it, it becomes red, and is sent
through the veins to impart life and
animation, This black blood is pro.
duced by carbon, and impaI is the
blackness which we see in the face of
persons who lose their lives by suffoca-
tion, because the air was not allowed
to reach the lungs to purify it. When
we send out the air from the lungs we
do not send it in the same manner as
we inhaled it, for when exhaled it is
as deadly poison as arsenic or corro.
sive sublimate. The lecturer showed
this by experiments, and filed a vase
with his own breath in which a light