New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-09-06

| bi NIL tho rhJras variety 0i 0rEanitnh pfln'i
Pies which nature produces. thoao few only arc
adapted for food which 40 bland and neutral in
their powers and IN chemical and phySical proper
tea 40 ctqusitcly adjusted 10 their purpose, that
they may bo wrought into tho living system,
and there decoIppo-ed aud expelled from II with
out the slightest interruption or disturbance OF
the vital processes. Tho breaking down and re-
building of the body takes place constantly during
life at q most rapid, thorough, equable and uniform
rate while the individual is totally unconscious Of
the changes Tho all destructive. all-lmpelng
agent is Oxygen gas introduced from the air by
breathing, and distributed throughout the system
By the circulation, so that it is in universal contact
with every part of the organization, and Perpetu-
ally acts upon it TO decompose and destroy From
! this vital oxydatiOn-this slow, measured. regu-
lated combustion-life results. The Infinite Chem
! ist has graduated with Omniscient exactness the
reciprocal powers and afinities of the gases we
inhale and the food we digest The natural rate
of reaction constitutes the equilibrium of health.
| Now, if in any manner this equilibrium be dis
urbed either by altering the action of the food On
the one hand or of the oxygen the other, disturb
ance and arrangement, both physical and intel
|
reduce the quantity of oxygen taken into the
system below its normal point as BY breathing
over and over the air Of close room all the life
forces, mental and bodily, are depressed There
may be abundance of food, but it will cease to be
force because there is not sufficient oxygen to
effect its development Or if nitrous oxyd( laugh
ing gas is breathed- containing large proportion
of oxygen-snd being very soluble in the blood,
| it is rapidly absorbed into the system and over.
oxy dies it, the consequence being preternatural
exslta,ion of sll the functions, intellectual and
physical. Combustion within the system is hight
ened and both brain and muscles are excited to
the Development of extraordinary force. Thus
nitrous oxyd inhaled is force; and yet, who is
simple enough to assert that it is there
fore food But whether the equilibrium Of vital
combustion be overturned by charging the system
with one extra dose of oxygen, or. on the
other hand, by supplying matters upon which
oxygen is 10 take effect, which are more CON-
bustible than ordinary food, the effect is
precisely the same-the burning process Is aug
nentee, ell the functions Of the fabric are quick.
ened to an uKwarranted speed, and we have
result which simple food is totally incapable of
artificial compound, not brought into existence
by the hand of nature through constructive
growth, as sre all true ailments, but coming by
the route Of deadly miasmas and pes!ilential ex-
halations, the putrefactlve decay of organic |
matter, coming from food by process of decom
position which destroys the aliment aud 70.
places i. By a new and necessarily different sub
stance, the presumption is strong that this facti
tious principle can in no just sense be cassed
with foods. But, when we examine its physical |
and chemical properties, the case becomes still |
clearer. Among the ailments which nature pre-
psres for us, she has established a fixed grada-
tior of combustbility. The plastic or tissue
forming principles, Astounding in nitrogen, are
least combustble, burn slowest; while the fats |
and oils among respiratory foods are most CON- !
bustible and lnilammatory--the other slimentary |
substances being intermediate. For the utmost |
natural necessities of the system in the way of |
cslorifcation, nature has provided the Olesgi- |
naus compounds. The leading fiery Ingredient |
of AL organized substances is hydrogen; and |
III. ne is more of this in the oils tn an in any other
kind of food. But in alcohol this element is in
still greater excess, which places it quite be-
ological necessities. Beside the heating quail
ties which result from its composition, the COM
bustive capabilty of alcohol is increased by its
mobile, difusable, penetrating nature, which 10
favorable TO its rapid oxidation in the body.
Now, when we consider that the fundamental
event of the animal economy is the introduction
and diffusion throughout it of oxygen gas and
that all the complex and multifOrm function of
the living being flow Immediately from the vital
conclusive process, it will be perfectly evident
that any alteration or disturbance Of the natural
conditions under which it is performed can only
be attended by peril and mischief. Alcohol by
its high combustibility when drunk, perverts
the aim of respiration, establishes new order
of changes, and caters excitement and discord
throughout the organism. As alcohol is more
combustible than normal food, it seizes first
upon the oxygen of the blood, generates heat in
unnatural Intensity, develops the no1ious and
poisonous products of decomposition with unu-
,ual and Injurious rapidity, contributes to de-
tain in the system those waste cOmponents
which result from tissue decomposition, and
which should be constantly hurried away by the
respiratory process, and by using up the oxygen
which .hould have acted upon the natural food
and tissues, puts stop to their healthy changes
As oxygen is the meteor Of animal vitality, its
physiological action cannot be in any way inter
fered with without profound constitutional dis
turbance BY introducing into the organism