Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-03-12
Concerning Air.

In order to appreciate fully the impor-
stand its physiological relations to the
animal economy.
Air aceomplishes two things-it is the
vehicle by means of which large portion
Of the waste, dead, poisonous matter
which is constantly generated in the sys.
tenn, and thrown off by the lungs and
skin, is carried away from 1t, and II
brings to the system oxygen, substance
without which no life can exist for mo-
ment
In regard to the first point, 1t is only
necessary to state that the ability of the
air to carry away from the body its poi.
sonous emanations Is in exact proportion
TO the purity of the air. In order that the
air be pure il must be continually changed
otherwise person is enveloped in con.
stantly thickening cloud Of "his dead
self" and breathes himself over and over
again; under which circumstances 1t may
truly be said that 'man's worst enemy is
his own breath"
In order the more fully to understand
what is accomplished by oxygen within
the system, let us call to mind what oc-
ours outside the body when oxygen forms
combinations with any Of that class OF
substances called organic.
The term organic matter is used to dis.
tinguish that which has at some time un-
dergone the process of growth; it includes
all animal and vegetable matter which
has not lost its character as such by the
process of decay, or by some form Of com
bustion; II differs from all other matter
(which is called inorganic) in the very
important circumstance that 1t contains
stored up within it, in latent form, what
is called force
During the process of growth, all ami
NAL and vegetable existences appropriate
and imprison the rays Of light and heat
which they receive from the sun, the veg
etable directly and the animal for the
most Part indirectly, through the medium
of food.
Now 1t is the great Office Of oxygen to
IibcrGte this latent force. In the familiar
example of ordinary combustion II is lib
Grated as light and heat but the particu-
lar form Of Its manifestation varies with
the varying circumstances attending Its
liberation.
If kernel of wheat, for instance, be
exposed to an elevated temperature In the
presence of oxygen, q chemical union
takes place between the oxygen and the
elements Of the wheat, light and heat are
given out, and that which was organic,
live matter becomes inorganic and dead.
The oxygen has, as IL were, entered In and
driven out the force from its hiding. place.
A process similar to this occurs in the
living body; here as In the kernel OF
wheat Ia force In latent form, which
must be set free by the same agent,
oxygen.
In the body, however, matter exists In
q great variety of forms, and the circum-
stances and conditions attending the lib
Grafton Of its force are many and dissimi-
lar. Hence we might expect what we
actually observe, great variety ofdynamic
within the body.
Oxygen Is carried by the blood to every
point Of the system; 1t stands
ready wherever there Is organic matter,
which In everywhere, TO form combina-
tions with il and set at liberty the impris-
oned force. When this force Is set free
In muscular tissue II manffests itself IS
contraction; in nerve tissue II
takes the form of nerve force; In one or
gan Ii shows itself as an excretive, in an
other as a secretive force; while In the
brain, that most wonderful OF all mechan-
isms, IL manifests itself under all the vary
ing forms Of thought, evolution and CON
seriousness. This union of oxygen with
organic matter precedes and is the eff
cient cause OF all activity within the body.
But the matter which by this union has
yielded up its force has become dead; its
Office in the system has been accomplish
ed No sooner, however, does II assume
this lifeless form than there is developed
In the surrounding atoms force or re-
pulsion which separates il from the liv-
ing tissue and throws it off into the blood,
by which it is carried to the different
secretory organs, and by Their, alienated
from the system. The lungs and skin do
a large share Of this eliminating, and IL Is
with this cffcte matter that person con-
teammates the air. But the blood which
carries the oxygen carries also the mate.
rial for repair; and no sooner - the dead