Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1853-02-12
THE ATMOSPHERE, AND ITS EFFECTS
UPON ANIMAL LIFE

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
immense ocean Of air SO miles deep yet it
was so, and the color Of this ocean, which is
called the atmosphere, is a deep cerulean
blue. To perceive this color it was necessa-
~ TO be able TO see al once the whole vol
ume, and also on calm aud clear day, for
no color could be perceived If seen in small
quantities, or when there was either wind
or haziness. In like manner the color OF
water could not be seen in small quantities.
and as oulv percep!ible where there was
vast expanse Of ocean The air was also
substance capable Of condensation and ex.
panson. lis expansion was seen in the
wind, BY which shis were made 10 traverse
the ocean, aud also in windrnills. The tor
nado was another phase Of its expansion,
Ivy which trees was uprooied and houses
overturned, and was almost equal to the
power Of steam. The greatest weigh, o.
The atmosphere was fifteen pounds to the
square inch, and this weigh, presses Oh
every way, both upward and Downward
To explain the pressure upwards, The lectur.
er exhausted The air of Il large vase, which
remained fas, 10 the plate on which j, stood,
but on the air being let in i, was easily re-
moved. remember, said ne, being asked
the question, if there is a pressure OF fifteen
pounds 10 the square inch, the reason why we
were not al once crushed by the weight
but this is, as before explained, because
the air presses in all directions with the
same force, and hence there is an cqnIibri-
um. This is a most important element. and
one which requires TO be known, and also
| that the air never presses more than is
pounds 10 the square inch. The next guam
tity Of the air is elasticity. Press it so as 10
make it occupy a smaller space than it
otherwise would and then take away the
weight, and it comes back and occupies its
original space. The lecturer then explained
that in the air there were two gasses one
oxygen, which is that part OF the atmosphere
by which chiefly we live, and which is the
one.fifth parl ; and the other nitrogen,
which is fout.ffihs of the atmosphere. OAy.
gel supports life and combustion, and nitro
gen restrains its effects and tulls its opera.
ton. The quantity OF air which a person
consumes depends in measure on oneself
and by training can be made more or less
The tailor ard shoemaker lake little in com.
parson with the laborer, and the public
speaker aud singer, or these who cry com
mod,ies for sale through the streets. A
man in good health makes eighteen respira
lions in a minute, and in % hours consume.
81 hogsheads Of the air. AS the oxyger
which supports life is so small we ought ,c
be very particular how we permit other ga
ses to mix with it and viiale it, The blood
) when it enters the lungs, is black, but wher
, the oxygen acls OIL ii it becomes red, anr
sends it through The veins 10 inpar life ant
animation. This black blood is produced by
carbon and imparls the blackness which W,
see in the faces OF persons who loose lhel
lives BY sufocaiiom, because the oxygen wa
not allowed TO reach the lungs TO purify it,
} When we send ont The air from the lung
we do not send ii in the same manner as W,
inhaled it, for when eXhaed il is as deadl
a poison as arsenic or corrosive sublimae =
The lecture showed this by experiments
and filed a vase with his own breath, i
+, which lighted candle would no, live.
}, was such air a. killed persons who wen
= down into wells in the country, or who ha
died when pan Of charcoal was placed in
room. The danger Of taking impure matte
II into the stomach was not so great as into III
y lungs, for the stomach had power TO ejet
F. impurities which the lungs had not. Beside
6, the impure air which we exhale there al
= $500 pores on every square inch Of the su
% face of the body, and to a body OF large siz
II there are $3.50 square inches and thes
70 multiplied make 1000, 900 Of pores TheT
3 is sort of drainage pipe in the body, whc
81 sends out matter as well as gas, and ih
3 pipe is calculated al % miles long. Tt
% particles Of matter which are sent out, ar
- which do not dissolve are so numerous tn
II in China, where the houses are so low al
81 great many persons are in the habit of a
"a sembing in one room, it has been discove
,. ed that, after IS or 90 years these partc
adhere 10 the ceiling of the room ,ha, II
Id farmers will contract TO put new ceiling
q, they are allowed TO lake down the old on
10 so valuable has il been found for manure.
~ A HUNDRED YEARS AGO = In his Histo
Of Massachusetts, Bradford states that on Il
~ anniversary Of the Society for Promoting |
u dus,ry, three hundred females Of Boston a
sembled on the Common with their spinni
wheels. They were neatly atlired in clio
(. OF their own manufacture, and great CROW
~ of spectators collected 10 witness The seen
This was in 1883, just one hundred yea
. ago.
an KIDS AND GoATs.-MI. Verigreen attend
ri a fashionable entertainment, and was requt
osi led by friend TO notice the white kids v
ms Verigreen's mind was upon The farm at HON
,er and as he looked round upon the moustac
Iry ed faces that surrounded him, wondern
iv- ly, his friend asked him If he saw ihe'
he eNo,n says he, ~ don't see any KIDS,
iih there's 4 wonderful LOT Of gooss all round bel