The post. [volume] (Middleburg, Snyder County, Pa.) 1864-1883, 1879-07-24


pounds Of water per year. 1t has
been found, also, that an adult man
OF average weight takes into his
lungs, Of oxygen alone, in tho course
OF one year. about eight hundred
pounds. Now, il IN ordinary health
and an adult man, his weight will be
about the same at the end Of the
year as it was at the beginning. Up
on q recognition Of these facts we up
preciate, 70 soino extent, the force of
the proposition laid down in the
outset. Tho question naturally a.
rises in the miud Of the novice, what
becomes of such ar enormous a
mount of material This will be
readily explained, when we come to
consider what u destructive process
is going on within all the parts Of
tho system, requiring immense sup
pl,es to compensate for the loss
When We reflect that every breath
we take, every idea that fits across
our minds, every motion of every
fiber in our system, occasions the
destruction of thousands of the at,
oms which compose them, it is nc
cause OF wonder. We as Americans,
it is said, are fast people, living
fast age. and, physiologically
speaking, there is nothing more
true. The more active the life we
lead, the more actively are performs
cd those processes that constitute
life. Those who exert themselves,
mentally or physically, change rap
idly their muscles are parting with
the atoms Of which they are compos.
ed very fast, aud new ones are
hastening, through tho current Of
their nutrient arteries, to supply
their places. They inhale more air /;
respiration is hurried ; the blood
goes its rounds more rapidly and
larger quantities Of food, air and
water are required to supply the in
creased demand.
If u man is seated at his desk, en-
gagged in intellectual pursuits, it has
been found that this kind of labor is
attended with great destruction Of
the tissue OF tho brain, 80 that much of
the nutriment Of the blood, that
would bo otherwise appropriated,
goes to make up this loss. Accord
ingly, We seldom see appearances of
great health in the person Of the in
tense student. Their aspect 1, gen.
orally lean aud hlggarl, rather than
ruddy aud rotuud, as is the case with
those who study but little. We will
now consider some of the special Of.
fees these ingesta food and water
perfOrm, as we'll as the air We inhale,
IN tho animal etonomy. All food
suitable for the nourishment of the
human body, should be combusti-
BILE. When. subjected to sufficient
heat it should burn, and the result
Of that combustion should be prin-
cipally, carbJ mic acid gas and water.
Knowing that articles suitable for
food, when burned in the open air,
DO yield carbonic acid gas and water
aud some nitroyenous compounds,
aud knowing that the matters
thrown of by the skin, lungs and
kidneys, when analyze1, yield pre-
cisefy the same composition, the iu-
ference follows, that the TODD, air,
and water, which We take in, are
disposed OF in Il somewhat similar
manner. They are thought in their
disposal, by late writer, to be identi
cal. The air we inhale depends for
its value. principally, upon the oxy-
gen it contains. This element has q
great affinity for the tissues aud the
blood indeed, it is by it's union
With the food, or it's product, the
blood, and tho worn out tissues Of
the system, that it fulfills its great
Office in the 40 instances, viz /: the pro
duction Of animal heat. While uuit +.
ing with carbon of the blood aud the
hydrogen of that fluid, giving rise to
various products, it acts also as a
scavenger TO the system, consuming
all the waste material Of the system,
that would otherwise become offen-
sive. Each Of these processes is at.
tended with the production OF heat,
making the human system a little
furnace, and the production of its
heat owing, like that OF artificial heat,
to the oxidation Of its substance. II
we burn piece OF animal flesh or
any other suitable article of food,
we will have as the result, carbonic
acid, formed by the union Of carbon
and oxygen, water, or its vapor,
formed by the union Of hydrogen
and oxygen, and ammonia, formed
by the union Of nitrogen and hydro
gen. Whom food is taken into the
stomach, water aud mir into the
lungs, We fiud the same results fol-
lowing carbonic acid gas aud wat
or are expelled by the lungs, while
ammonia is found in abundance in
the urinary secretious. The decay
Of leaves, the mellow tints of aut um,
the putrefaction Of animal matter
arc all similar instances Of oxidation
differing only in intensity. These
facts indicate to our minds the Nigh
ty part performed, by this element,
in tho economy OF nature. 1t com.
poses one third tho weight OF the
solid globe, one fifth the volume OF
atmosphere. aud eight-ninths ths
water of the lakes, oceans aud rivers
Of tho earth. Its discovery was in
deed an epoch In the history Of Sci