The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1854-07-14
The Nature and Relations Of Water
Extract from Lecture by Professor Draper. of the
- New York University. .

No living thing can exist, except II contains
water o the leading constituiants OF the va.
rious parts OF its system. To SO great an extent
does this GO, that in thousand parts OF human
blood nearly eight hundred are pure water. The
distribution O! organized beings all over the world
is TO great extent regulated by its abundance or
Scarcity. h seems if the prope Of this sub.
stance mark out the plan of animated nature
rom man, al The head of all to the meanest yege-
table that can grow on bare rock, through all the
various orders and tribes this ingredient is abso-
Iutely required. Inspid and inodoro"s itself. u
taxes the pecuiiaries Of all other bodies; assumes
with readiness the sweetness OF sugar. and the ac'd-
ty OF vinegar. Distilled with flowers, or the
aromatic parts Of plants, it contracts from them
their fragrance, and with equal facility becomes
the vehicle oil odours the most offensive TO our
senses.
We talk about the uses of water, and innag CINE
that Nature furnishes US perennial supply. The
common philosophy Of people is, doubtless, ad'
Vanced so far TO admit that in some unknown
manner this substance is created in the cloud, de.
scends AZ rain for The uses of ANIMALS and plants ;
but whence it came, or ~hero it goes, never once
enters into consideration. Men constantly forget
that in this world nothing is ever anninilated an
atom, once created can by no process be destroyed
The liquid that we drink TO day has been drunk
thousand times before the clouds that obscure the
sky have obscured i. again and again and il the
SORROWS OF mankind are a many as the phil1nthro-
pist may well fear, he might suspect gres: part
OF The ocean is, perhaps, made up OF tears that have
fallen from the human family. In the air their
sighs de away, and in the ocean the tears are all
lost. This using over and over again is striking
characteristic of the ways Of Nature; the beauti.
ful and the vile-the great and The small-are all
mingled together; the tears that you shed in the
depth of grief to day may be squired tomorrow
through hose pipe 10 clear the dirt off The street
or whis,led away .hrough the squeak Of locomo-
tive 10 scare some datory cow off the track. So
much for the sorrows of man.
What theE becomes of the immense quantities
Of water, which. thus entering as constituent OF
the bodies Of animals gives their various parts that
fex ibiliy which enables them 10 execute move
ments combining with vegetable structures, fits
them Tor carrying on their vital process! After the
course of lew years. all existing animals and
vegetables pass away; their solid constituents dis
integrate and take other conditions, the water
lost. perhaps for a time in the ground, at last
escapes in the form Of yapor INTO the air. In that
great and invisible receptacle, all traces OF lis
cienr relations disappear-It mingles with other
vapors lha, are raised from the sea by the sun.
From the bodies Of living animals and plants i'm
mense quantities are hourly finding their way TO
the sa me reservoir. In crowded city, from the
skin, and by the breath OF its inha abants,
clouds of vapor continually escaping-we see
this visby going in the cold weather OF Ninter;
and though invisible, the process is equally active
IN snmmer-the escape arising from the drink that
take, from all those various portions of the sys.
tenn that are dying each moment-lor the life Of |
an individual being is made Of the successive death
of all it's constituent particles. In the same man.
ner, from the forests and meadows, and wherever |
vegetables are found, water is continually evapora
tive, and that 10 an extent lar surprising what we
al first suppose. In single day, sunfower. Of
moderate size, throws from its leaves, and other |
parts. nearly twenty ounces weight. How enor. |
nous then must be the quantity which escapes from |
he surface Of great continent! Yet all this is |
thrown into the air; and there it minges with |
other portions, some of which are coming from |
living races, and some from the decay of the dead
some derived from the surface of the ground, and |
some from The remote reg ions OF the sea. 1t seems
,s If Nature had taken sure means that here all
ra ces Of identity should be lost. The winds, pro-
'erbially inconstant, blow at one time from the
costs Of Europe, at another from Africa, at another
rom Asia. In the republic of the universe there
$ a stern equality, the breath of the king inter.
ninges with the breath Of the beggar, and the
anne que, atmosphere receives the exhala,ions Of
he American, the European, the Asiatic, the
\ frican the particles that have risen from dead
with those OF the living; and if
his were not enough, the winds and tempest OBJ.
erae every distinction, and dash in one COM
non confusion these relics Of every part of the
lobe
man Of average size requires half
On weight OF watera year; when ne has reached
he meridian Of life. he has consumed nearly three
undrrd times his own weight Of this liquid
'hese statements which may seem to those
'hU hear them for the first time very wonderful;
nd as they easily verified, they might lead
ou to doub, whether the existing order of Nature,
8 dependent on the waters Of the sea, could fo-
ny length OF time be kept up under such heavy ;
The human family consists proba- !
iy Of thousand millions OF individuals it would
e very moderate estimate to suppose, that the
arIous animals, great and small, taken together, 9
onsume i've times as much water we do, and :
,e vegetable world two hundred times as much :
$ the animal races. Under such an immense ,
rain it becomes curious question what provision
IaIure has made TO meet the demand, and now {
,ng the waters Of the sea. supposing nothing re-
rms 10 them. could furnish supply. The
uestion Involves the stability of existence of ami =
atcd Nature, and the world Of organization and .
D man, save whose mind is thoroughly imbued :
it'll appreciation of the resources upon which -
e acts of the great Creator are founded, would; !
am sure, justly guess at The result There exists
the supply which would meet this enor- n
Gus demand for more than quarter of million :
years. Such IS the plan OF Nature, AID such :.
v fhe resources which she depends for carrying
It her measures. For the well being of her or.
nzed creations she can fall back Oh a gigantic i.
County Mirror, " 7. =