Sierra County advocate., 1895-02-15
IgaAr BECOnEs OF OUR
BODIES?

Cor. OF the Progressive Thinker.
So much has been written OF the
fisurs ii our spiritual body, that
Toe question OF what becomes OF
our material self is almost neglect
ed. The poor framework that has
% bear SO many IT our earthly
burdens is, at the best, only con
t9dered mere receptacle for the
spirit, 70 be thrown aside and con
signed 10 oblivion "a soon as the
change called death has taken
place and the spirit, freed from the
rage ii has occupied for a briet
rpace, soars into the great unknown,
Trne, the Christian religion teaches
that on the day of judgment all
h,dies shall be reinhabited by their
,rmer spirits, thus forming new
l,ody from the dust OF the old.
This idea has been ridiculed, not
only by materialists, but also by
many Spiritualists, who fail to give
ths matter any thought, seeing
nothing in II but one of the many
fallaciss OF an exploded religion.
let us look at il from a thinkin,,
standpoint.
The human body, like all other
bodies, is composed of number OF
elementary ppbstances, OF which
the three gases oxygen, hydrogen
md nitrogen together with car
bon form ninety seven one hun
dredths OF II. A number OF other
elements are represented, but their
names are not essential to our
purpose, as we do not wish to make
this a scientific dissertation.
Now, when a man dies aud his
body has gone Though the pro-
cess OF disinteeration, either by
decomposition OF cremation (which
are the same, decomposition being
. process OF slow burning), his
elements have been resolved into
their respective natural conditions,
most of them mingling with the
mir. Their quantity is not incon-
siderable. For instance, the oxy-
Len contained in the body of an
, veraged-sized man will, when lib
rated, take up space equal to
: wenty.eight, cubic meters. So
with the other elements in proper
ton. And as almost 1000 human
beings are thus resolved into their
elements every day, not to speak OF
the still greater number of AMI.
,nals, il will readily be seen what
an enormous supply of elementary
substances are thus thrown upon
the air "open to engagements" as
il were.
What becomes OF these, can, of
course, only be conjectured. 1t
would be impossible TO trace the
clements OF certain body and
watch their subsequent combins-
ton aud transformations, if, indeed,
they remained together, which
Ipey probably do not, although it
Is possible. We will take it for
that they seperate, going
'nio different combinations in the
yuarse OF time, being released from
Lhese in turn and going into others,
and SO on, They may help to form
another body; the elements OF
caesar may have combined with
'thers to form the body OF an ami.
nal. Who knows? On the other
land. these elements may remain
n their gaseous state forever
There is no way OF deciding.
y hen you die, the carbon IN yonr
'ody may, many years from now.
prm a diamond, or bs fashioned,
nto lead pencil. The air we
rsathe is full OF the elements of
rmer bodies thus their death is
nr life. 1t is a wonderful sub
'ct TO contemplate, but this much
tius-- matter ia eternal. The
that once formed the
odies Of Adam and Eve, or their !
lrthest ancestors, still exist in i
no form or other, organic or
solid or gaseous, visible !
invisible.
This being conceded, we would
*: Is it impossible for all the ell. a
nents of one body to becoms re- $
1ifad Inv nhanra nt otharu iaa =,