The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-11-03
BY DAVIS g. CREWS.
INCREASING MORTALITY IN THE UNITED
STATES


we can CLEAN, l;fe is gradually but alarm
lngly deterorating in the United Statcs.-
There are several causes which operate to
produce this effect. OF all the clements of
human subsistence, air is most immediate
~ and most constantly necessary. We can
live moro days without food than We can
minutes without air. Deprived Of fooG, a
man may live eight or ten days deprived
OF air, he would be dead in half that num-
Der CT minutes.
Says DR.. Sou;hwood Smith, physician oc
the London Fever Hospital: Deprive an
animal of air or confnc 1t to Mnt arhicA
has already been rcspired, "and carbon ac-
cumuates in the venous blood, carbon
mixes with the arterial blood. In half a
minute the blood flowing in the arteries
IS evidently darker; in three quarters Of a
minute it is ola dusky hue; and in Il min
ute and half it is quite black. Every
particle of arterial blood now disappears,
and the whole mass becomes venous the
animal falls down insensihle, and in three,
or, at m ost, in four minutes, the heart en-
tirely ceases its action, and can never again
be excited" The animal is irrecovcrably
dead.
The Importance Of this process Of the
aeration, or Decentralization Of the blood
IS evinced by the elaborate and hcauti-
full provisions which nature has made for
carrying it on. To facilitate this operation
the Creator has placed in the breat of each
human being pair Of lungs, so ;nterpen-
etrated with air cells and blood-veSsels-e
timated at no less than 100000, ,0OO-that
according to a late writer they offer an a.
mount Of surface on which the blood is cx-
posed to the purifying action of the air,
OF, 2,642 square feet. Through the min
ute pores Of these amazingly wrought lungs,
lmpellcd hy an unseen power, without our
volitlon, without our thought, without our
knowledge, willie sleep as while we
wake-from the most distant cxtrcmctics
of the system, ru,Iics the red tide Of life
driven by contracti!e force in the
heart equal to nearly 1000 pounds each
minute. BY this process, every drop Of the
thirty pounds Of blood in The system is cx-
posed to the purifying action Of the air
three minutes, and this process is again
repeated every succeeding three minutes
through life. And thus, in the course of
ayear, not less than 4 100000 pounds OF
blood have been dcca' bonizcd, purified, and
rendered fit again to carry life and hratl,
through tL: system. And to effect this
general pnrifcation, liz 900 cubic feet of
air have III the course Of the year, been
drawn i'll and expelled by the lungs at more
than 100000 OF separate rc>prations.-
And by this wonderful process, during the
same period Of time, the blood has peen re-
!ieved Of no less than 100 pounds Of car
bonic acid, one Of the most rapid and deadly
poisons in naturc-t,ese 100 pounds be
ing capable Of poisoning to degree Of
immediate fatality, 100000 or 100000
cubic feet Of air. Besides this carbonic ac-
id, there is about an equal amount of ctfctc
putresent fluid and solid animal matter dis.
charged from the lungs and pores Of the
skin Of each adult person and these sub
stances together amount to about SIX
pounds every twenty four hours. Both are
Of gaseous form and float in the sur
rounding air.
These substances being poisonous if re-
inhaled, the benevolent Creator has provi-
ded in nature for their constant, immcdi-
ate and entire removal He has placed man
at the bottom Of an ocean Of air, As miles
deep, which is perpetually being stirred and
whrled about by the winds. lie has like.
wise established law, by which the air,
being raised by contact with the lungs and
the surface Of the body to higher tenn
peraerature than the surrounding atmos-
phere, shall become lighter and immediate.
ly rise above the reach of second inspra-
ton. lie has made the animal and the veg
etable kingdoms Of nature to counteract the
effect Of each other-the first absorbing OK
ygen and giving out carbonic acid, and the
second absorbing and feeding upon carbonic
acid and giving out pure oxygen in return
thus purifying the air and again rendering
it fit for The respiration of animals. BY
these great compensations the equilibrium
Of nature is kept up, and the life Of both
lie animal and vegetable kingdom pre-
served. But man, by shutting himself in
close rooms, cuts himself off from the ope-
ration OF those benifcent laws, and prevents
the removal of the poisonous products of
respiration, for which the Creator has made
such beautiful and wise provision in nature
Our close ceiling prevents the ascent Of
these impure gaseous exhalations, which a'e
thus aiued about us, and breathed and
rebreathed, hour after hour, and year after
year, and we reap th penaltv in a oato-