The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1882-03-01
WHAT IN MANI
A spark or Fire, "a Drop OF watcr-sorne
Interesting observations About tho Nu-
man Anatomy.

mhh Auhto"y.
New York Yews.
While the gastric juice has q mild,
bland, sweetish taste, II possesses the
power Of dissolving the hardest food
that can be swallowed. 1t has no in1u-
ence whatever on the soft and delicate
fibers Of the living stomach, nor upon
the living hand, but Mt the moment Of
death it begins to eat them away with
the power OF the strongest acids.
There is dust on sea, on land, in the
valley, and on the mountain there is
dust always and everywhere; the atmos-
phere is full of it; it penetrates the
noisome dungeon, and visits the deepest,
darkest caves of the earth; no palace
door can shut it out, no drawer 30 secret
as to escape its presence; every breath
OF wind dashes it upon the open eye,
yet that eye is not blinded, because
under the eyelid there is necessarily
cmpting itself fountain OF blandest
fluid in nature. which spreads itself over
the surface OF tho eye Mt every winking,
and washes every atom Of dust away.
But this liquid is mild and so well
adapted to the eye, itself has some
aeridity, which. under some circum-
stances, becomes so decided rs to be
gcalding TO the skin, and would rot away
the cycids, Were it not that along the
edges of them are little oil manufac-
tories, which spread over their surface
coating as impervious to Tho liquid
necessary for keeping tho eyelids washed
clean rs the best yarnish is impervious
to water
The breath which leaves the lungs has
been SO perfectly Invested of its life
giving properties, that to rebreathe it
unmixed with other dir the moment it
escapes from the mouth, would cause
immediate death by suffocation while
if it hover about us, more or less de-
structivo influence over health and life
would be occasioned. But it is made of
a nature so much lighter than the com.
mon air, that the instant that it escapes
the lips and nostrils it ascends to the
higher regions above the breathing point,
there to be rectified, renovated, and sent
back again, replete with purity and life.
How rapidly it ascends is fully exhibited
on frosty mornings.
But, foul and deadly rs the expired air
is, nature, wisely economical in all her
works and ways, turns it to good account
III its outward passage through the Or
gans of the voice, making of it the
whispers Of love, the soft words of affec-
ton, the sweetest strains of ravishing
music, the persuasive eloquence of the
finished orator.
If well-made man be extended on
the ground, his arms at right angles
with the body, circle making the navel
its center will just take in his head, the
fingers ends, and the feet. The distance
from top to toe is precisely the same Us
that between the tips Of the fingers
when the arms are extended. The length
OF the body is just six times that of the
foot, while the distance from the edge o.
the hair on the forehead to the edge O.
the chin is ono-tenth the length of tn,
whole stature.
OF the sixty-two primary elements
KNOWN in nature, only eighteen are known
to the human body, and of these sever
are metallic. Iron is found in the blood
phosphorus in the brain, limestone il
the bile, lime in the bones, and dust ant
ashes in all.
Not only these eighteen human Gle
ments, but the whole sixty-two of which
the universe is made, have their essen
tial basis in the four substances of oxy
gen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon
representing the more familiar names O
fire, water, saltpeter, and charcoal.
And such is man, the lord of the earth
"A spark of fire, n drop of water, a grail
OF powder, an atom of charcoal.