The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1891-07-16
THE ATMOSPHERE.

tSpeCIdi Tdper hedU UeIOTe lue u l.. =. ~
We gaze upon nature with eyes blind to its won.
ders. We the fields of waving grain, the
meadows soft as velvet. the slvery brooks reflect
ing back the sunlight. the beautiful hues of the
forest, the hills and mountains overgrown with
luxuriant verdure rising the distance; and
stand, enraptured with the beauty surrounding
u.s. unmindful of the fact that the very air we
breathe is the source from whence came the
beauty spread before
Twenty-three hundred years ago, Anax.
imenes, a Greecian philosopher Of the Ionian col
ony in Asia Minor expressed the above fact in
these words. "Au things come from air. and into
air return" remarkable doctrine and one that
has been laughed at and ridicued for more than
two thousand years. TO prove this doctrine to be
true, we must know what gases constitute our at
nosphere. Experiment has shown that it is
composed of 50 per cent nitrogen, 20 per cent OK
ygen, with varying portions Of carbonc nitric and
sulphurc acids and ammonia. oxygen thus consti.
tutes one-ffth of the air; it also consti.
tutes eight-ninths of all water. and more
than one.haH of the solid matter of which
our earth is composed; also three-fourths of all
animal bodies, and four ffths of the vegetable
world. IN addition to this startling array of facts
there is one yet more wonderful: oxygen. the in
visible gas, is the sole supporter of life The great
office OF nitrogen in the atmosphere, is that of
modifier, for without it oxygen would burn up
the entire world. Nitrogen, besides being mod
ider Of the effects Of oxygen. enters largely into
the structure of the vegetable world, also forms
a large portion of animal food, and makes up
about IS per cent of all animal tissue. Carbonic
acid is highly poisonous, the breathing of which
if pure-would be instantly fatal to animal life
Carbon, in one of its forms, makes up by far the
greater portion Of the bulk of vegetable matter;
with this fact are all familiar, for we have
seen that upon eXpelling the gases from vegetable
matter black coal is left, which is carbon, COM
monty called charcoal. Let US now examine the
manner by which oxygen imparts physical life to
the animal kingdom
All animals are in fact machines of oxidation,
differing only in appearance and structure 1t will
be unnecessary to examine all animals in order that
we may arrive at the truth of the statement, that
oxygen is the immediate supporter of life AS we
are most fam ilar with our own structure we will
examine it. To prove the statement, suppose we
are confined in a with limited supply of
pure atmospheric air. We would gradually con.
sumo the oxygen, which would be replaced by
carbonic acid gas. Now, as we know that no fresh
air can enter the room, from whence comes this
new substance, carbonic acid? 1t must have come
By the oxygen of the atmosphere. which entering
the lungs is retained by the millions of air-cells
with which the membraneous covering of the lungs
are filed; we find air one side of the mem
brane. blood on the other side; the oxygen of the
aircells is absorbed by the blood through billions
of capillary tubes; entering the blood it flows by
system of arteries into the left aurcle of the
heart thence to the left ventricle from which it
is distributed by other systems of veins and arter.
les throughout the body, returning by similar
channels to the right aurcle of the heart then
to the right ventricle and from there to the mem.
braneous covering of the lungs. from which it is
expelled as carbonic acid gas and watery vapor
The act of breathing insures to existence and
health, for the oxygen, circulating through the
blood purifes it and carries off or con sumes the
material constantly wasting in our system. 1t
brings US successfully, growth. development de.
cay and death. 1t is natures process. and we
cannot change it or escape from it.
Let US now see what becomes of that poisonous
carbonic acid gas exhaled by the entire animal
kingdom. We will then see how essential the
one is to the other. Our death is the life of the
vegetable world. Let examine a plant as it
passes successfully through its several stages of
development AS a seed it will not terminate
unless it comes in contact with moisture which
causes the seed to swell and nourish the germ As
the germ develops its tendency is to grow in the
opposite direction in obedience to the laws of nat.
ure. AS soon it appears above the ground, a
remarkable change comes over it; it no longer
draws its nourishment from the parent seed, but
from the soil and atmosphere; carbonic acid is
absorbed by the leaves from the air and by the
roots from the soil; it flows with the sap of the
plant permeating all its parts and the plant seiz
ing the carbon causes it to become fixed; and
thus the growth continues, each leaf, each branch