West-Jersey pioneer., 1872-05-03
Written for the Evening STAR
THE BREATH OF OUR LIFE
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN OXYGEN AN
SOCIAL EMINENCE.

/ SOCIAL EMINENCE.
The available power of every human be-
ing, and the same is true of all animals
may be accurately measured by his breath
ing capacity. No man who, from major
ganization, disease, or acquired habits. be-
came deficient in the respiratory function,
ever obtained eminence in science or art
literature or poetry, oratory or statesman
ship, and no man or woman with small
lungs and short breath ever acquired dis.
tinction as q writer, traveller, philosopher,
singer, lecturer, or even dancer And I
doubt if an example can be found in all
history OF a child whose mother had feeble
lungs or contracted chest ever becoming
distinguished in after life except as an in
Valid The fieetest horse (Eclpse) ever
known on the American turf had the LARGEST
lungs IN proportion to his body of any ra-
Ger on'record. have never seen ssDexter. -
the matchless trotter, but if any one will
visit Bonners stables, in New Y ork. he NAV
satisfy himself at a glance that speed and
respiration are inseparably associated. The
birds and insects, whose motions are too
rapid for our eyes to follow, are largely en-
dowed with respiratory apparatus.
Respiration, or breathing, means simplv
the inhalation and exhalation of atmos-
pheric air. The object of respiration so
tar as the vital functions are concerned. is
to Arate or purify the blood For the pro-
cess of publication to be well performed.
requires an abundance of pure air, and a
sufficient development and normal play of
the lungs. Whatever, therefore, vitiates
the atmosphere -restrain, tho motivua,- of
the chest, devitalizes and enfeebles the
whole system. These facts seem to be as
generally recognized in theory as they are
ignored in practice. They are taught in
our medical text books on physiology, and
even in the physiologes for common schools
but are practically disregarded in nearly all
trades and vocations of life.
more intimate knowledge of the phy-
siological process of res piratIon might per-
haps induce many persons, especially the
butterflies of fashion, to ''cease to do
evil in the matter of dressing themselves
so that free breathing is impossible.
Atmospheric air is composed of a mix
ture OF oxygen and nitrogen gases, with a
small per centage Of carbonic acid gas
Air exhaled from the lungs contains a large
per centage of carbonic acid gas, nearly the
normal amount Of nitrogen, and dimin-
ished quantity of oxygen, The process
of publication, therefore, consists in the
elimination of effete carbon from the svs
TEN, and in the supply of oxygen to the
system; and if this process is arrested for
few minutes the individual dies
The uses that oxygen subserves in the
vital operations are not fully understood.
We only know it to be an agent of disnte-
grafton, but it is highly probable that it is
also veheicle for conveying into the sys-
tenn agents or elements more refined than
atmospheric air-electricity, magnetism.
etherium, aura or force-whieh neither
chemical analysis nor microscopic examipa-
tons can detect.
1t is perfectly certain that the mme diate
effect of respiration is the publication of
the blood, and the remote or ultimate eff
fects, the regulation of the temperature of
the body, the production of muscular mo-
ton, the generation of nervous energy, and
the manifestation of mental power How
important then, for every purpose for which
human beings exist, that breathing should
be free and untrammelled.
Respiration is also intimately related to
nutrition. The food clements which are di-
gested in the stomach and passed into the
lungs in the form of chyle, must be mingled
with atmospheric air, particle with part-
Gle, before they can be properly fitted for
| assimilation. Tuberculous deposits in the
lungs, constituting one form of consump-
| tion, often originate from the food taken
the stomach being in excess Of the quantity
| OF air taken into the lungs and such con-
| sumptives often make a bad matter worse
| by increasing the quantity of food without
| attending to respiration. They should
rather diminish the quantity of food for a
time, expand the lungs by appropriate ex-
ercises, and then as respiration increases,
increase the quantity of food. otherwise the
| surplus alimcntary material will be thrown
out of the capillary blood vessels of the
lungs into their substances, as nou-useable,
with the result of disorganizing their struc-
ture.
Many feeble persons-dyspeptics, con
sumptives, liver complainers. etc, have re-
covered good health by changing from Sc
dentary indoor to active outdoor habits,
because in SO doing they obtained a suffi
cheney of the breath of life. One of the
wants of this age of marvellous art ano
wonderful discovery is a hygienic plan fol
ventilating dwelling houses, churches, pub.
| lie halls, steamers and railroad ears The
prevalent arrangements, with some excep
| tions, seem better calculated to exclude the
air than to provide it.
In view of these facts, how unfortunate.
how abominable, how horrible, is the prev
alent custom of American women in con-
tracing their lungs by lacing, and loading
their hips with heavy skirts, so that breath
ing is diminished and walking impeded.
Thousands of American women destroy
more than one half of their breathing ca
pacity by fashionable dress alone and Just
| to that extent they destroy all of their life
resources, mental as well as vital They
are in a condition of perpetual invalidism,
they are liable to fatal congestions at any
moment, and are certain to die young. They
cannot possibly be the mothers of healthy
offspring; for although they may breathe
enough to maintain feeble hold on life for
few years, they cannot furnish pure blood
enough to develop sound structures in an
other being.
Let the reader walk with me through
Chestnut street any fine day, and will
point out to him score or more of young
ladies who will not live ten years. some of
them not half so long, because of their style