The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-07-02
OFFICES or OXYGEN.

Extract from Lecture BY DR.. y. n. KEEL
Iogg. Of Battle Creek ysnItarium-
We exhale to get rid of poisons of the
most deadly character. We inhale that
we may lake in oxygen, the great vital
izer of TIE body, which Is needed for the
health Of every tissue. The reason that
! muscle becomes tired from prolonged
exercise Is that it has become poisoned
by an accumulation of brokcn-down
tissue which is in excess Of the amount
which the immediate blood supply can
carry Of, and SO serves partially to par
alyze it. When one rests . few mo-
ments the oxygen comes along AMI
burns up these poisons, and the muscle
is able to resume work. It is not that
new tissues are built up and the parts
nourished. but simply that the poisons
are carried off and burned up. The
same is true Of the results Of activities
If the brain and other vital activities.
We are refreshed by giving the oxygen
in the flood chance to destroy the ac-
emulation of poisons or to change
them Tito form in which they may be
carried out of the body by means of the
kidneys and liver There is always q
little extra supply Of capital in the way
If oxygen in the body, SO that II we do
not breathe enough or are obliged to
occupy . room which is more or less i'm
pure wa can get on quite comfortably.
But by snd by this store Of oxygen be-
comes exhausted and we feel tired.
This nc. cunts for extra fatigue at the
md Of = weeks toll. Day by day we
rave been drawing upon our supply Of
oxygen until we need Sabbath for its
renewal.
We need oxygen for the purpose of
digestion. We can not convert the va
'ious food substances into form fit for
assimilation into bone, brain, muscle,
md ideas without free supply Of oxy-
rem, the great force by which this mys-
erious Transformation is wrought. The
liver il rendering establishment of the
oody where poisons are converted into
something less harmful, and oxygen is
he agent by which they are changed.
4 is necessary for the health Of every
issue and every living cell. The de-
yree of life and vital activity Of an ami
nal depends upon the amount of oxy-
rem it is able to take in. The difference
between the life of frog and that of q
bird is in the amount of oxygen con-
sumed. The frog has only couple of
lir bags into which it swallows q small
quantity of air, mouthful by mouthful,
Is we drink glass Of water. Then it
able to go down to the bottom Of the
,ool and stay there fifteen or twenty
minutes before it needs to breath
again. Even if deprived of these bags,
which answer in the place Of
lungs, the frog is able to live
sor two or three weeks without
treat discomfort. This is how frogs
and fishes keep alive in block of ice, for
hey can go long time without breath
.ng at all. Their temperature is al.
ways that Of the medium in which they
are submerged. On the other hand,
birds take in q great amount of oxygen
and breathe with wonderful rapidity.
The lungs fill the greater share of their
little bodies, and additionally their
bones arc hollow and connect with the
lungs, so with every breath the whole
skeleton is filled with air. The tenn.
perature of birds which fly with the
swiftest velocity is from one hundred
and twenty to one hundred and forty
degrees, and this is because they take
in SO much oxygen. So the person with
large breathing capacity is able t.
live up in the clouds instead of down IL
the mud; that is, the highest type Of
physical life is attainable by those with
the greatest breathing capacity.
Respiration has further Offices thar
furnishing oxygen to the body for vi
talization and for burning up impurities
1t is the great regulator Of all the vita
processes. Reported by Helen l.. Man
ming.