The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-03-15
WHAT IS MAN!
4 spark of Fire, u Drop OF Water.
!Nc,c lUk. NcWS.

Ncc Imk Ncws.
While the gastric juice has Il mild
band, sweetsh taste, it possesses the
power Of dissolving the hardest food
that can be swallowed. 1t has no influ-
ence whatever on the soft and delicate
fibres of the living stomach, nor upon the
living hand, but AT the moment Of death
it begins to eat them away with the pow
er of the strongest acids.
There is dust on sea, on land, III the
valley, and on the mountain ; there is
dust always and everywhere; the atmos'
pherc is full of it; il penetratcs the moi
some dungeon, and visits the deepest,
darkest caves Of the earth; no palace
door can shut it out, no drawer so secret
as to escape it4 presence; every breath
of wind dashes it upon the open eye, yet
that eye is not blinded, because under
the cvclid there is incessantiy cmptng
itself a fountain Of blandest fluid in ma.
ture, which spreads itself over the surface
of the eve 1T every winking, and washes
every atom Of dust away. But this liz.
uid is mild and so well adapted to The
eve, itself has some acridity, which,
under some circumstances, becomes su
decided as to be scalding to the skin, and
that along the edges Of them are little oil
manufactures, which spread over their
surface n con,ing as impcrvious to the
liquid necessary for keeping the cye!ids
washed clean as the best varnish Is i'm
pervious to water.
The breath which leaves the lungs has
been so perfectly divcs,cd of It's life.
giving properties, that to rebrcathc it
unmixcd with other air the moment 1t
escapes from the mouth, would cause
immediate death by sutiucation while if
it hover about us, more or less dcstruct.
i've influence over health and life wonld
be occasioned. But it is made o! ma.
ture so much lighter than the common
air, that the instant that it escapes the
lips aud nOst:ils it ascends to the higher
regions above the breathing point. there
to be rect;iict, renovated, and sent back
again, reEleta with purity and life. J! "
rapidly it ascends is fully exhibited on
frosty mornings.
But, foul and deadly as the expired mir
il, nature, wisely economical in all her
works and ways, turns it to good account
in its outward passage through the or.
gans of the voice, making Of il the whis-
pers Of love, the soft words of affection,
the sweetest strains Of ravishing music,
the persuasive eloquence of the finished
orator.
If well-made man be extended on
tho ground, his arms at right angles with
the body, circle making the navel its
cea.cr will just take in his head, the fin.
gers ends, and the feet. The distance
from top to toe is precisely the same a.
that between the tips of the fingers when
the arms are extended. The length ol
the body is just six times that of the
foot, while TIC distance from the edge ol
the hair on the forehead to the edge o
the chin is one tenth tho length Of the
whole stature.
OF the sixty.two primary elements
known in nature. only eighteen are known
to the human body, and of these seven
are metallic. Iron 10 found in the blood
phosphorus In the brain, limestone in
the bile, lime in the bones, and dust and
ashes in all.
Not only these eighteen human ele
ments, but tho whole sixty-two of which
the universe is made, have their essen
tial basis in the four substances of oxy
gen, hydrogen, nitrogen, aud carbon
representing the more familiar names o
fire, water, saltpetcr, and charcoal.
And such il man. the lord of the earth
"a spark Of fire, drop of water, grnil
Of powder, an atom of charcoal.