The Topeka state journal., 1897-09-11


pera ture gauge shows more than 9S1k
degrees the system begins at once to
literally pour on water, from a wonder
full system of irl-iSating Canals. There
are about 2, ,3S1, ,24S sweat pores in the
skin of an average man, according to
Dalton, and their length is such that it
is estimated that if they We're placed
end TO end they would make a single
tube 27 miles long. The entire func-
ton of these millions of little tubes is to
bring water to the surface and distrib-
ute it evenly over the Dody, In minute
quantities a all times and in prOfuSiOn
when the temperature goes up. That
promotes a rapid evaporation on the
surface of the body and carries off the
surplus heat and lowers the fires OF
production. In ordinary conditions a
man will throw off about 900 grams of
water in a day through these pores. But
glass workers and stokers and furnace
men working in great heat often throw
off 1 500 or / 500 grams in single hour
to counteract the pern1c1ous effect of
these occupations.
Now take away water from the skin
and it would be as dry and shriveled
as the old parchments in the Royal
museum and a man would die in a very
short time.
Any man can live much longer time
without solid food than without water.
DR. Tanner lived 40 days on water
alone and Griscomb 40 days.
DR.. Tanner only lost Sc pounds in 40
days At first he drank little water
and lost rapidly. Then he drank water
freely and gained pound and half
a day for time on water alone. Had
he been wholly deprived of water he
would have died long before the 40 days
We're ended.
Take the sense of taste and see what
a wonderful relation water holds to
that. The gustatory nerve is endowed
with the special capacity of recognizing
sapiency in food, drink and other tast-
able things that may be placed in the
mouth. Every article of food or drink
TlIa in Ia iG lNTZ Zad hxT fI1eA
Sustatory nerve and its sapiency, its
special flavors and temperature are all
reported to the brain. If the food or
drink is hot enough to injure the tis-
sues, instantly the command issues
from headquarters to reject it. And
you know how promptly You obey the
order when you get mouthful of hot
coffee or potato. This nerve has the
power to discriminate with the greatest
nicely the countless fiavors of all foods
and drinks. 1t tells you in the dark as
well in the light that the thing you
have taken into the mouth is an apple,
a pear, a peach, a pineapple. 1t knows
bread from bacon, ham from hominy,
goose from grouse, shad from salmon
and pork from pigeon. More, it knows
all the varieties of apples, of peaches,
of pastry and puddings. 1t tells you
the good, better and best qualities of all
foods. 1t has a way of telling you
this ragout is delicious, this coffee is
superb this wine has the finest bou-
quet, this watermelon is fit for a god
too hot with pepper and spices and that
one too fiat for want of them" II tells
you this article is salt, that one sugar,
this is vinegar, that is tobacco" How
often does. it shout in your inner ear:
This milk is souri, This naatis tainted.
This butter is rancid! Bah! this coffee
is chicOry and beanSi
And it does all this and more by the
of all food. Take water away from
food and the tongue and YOU would be
just as well pleased with mustard as
milk, with saWdust as plum pudding,
with alOeS as honey, with boiled sole
leather as broiled steak!
Take another special sense, that of
hearing, and see what water does for
you. Make an excursion into the ear
and you shall find that beyond the
cOnch (the outer ear) and it's cOnVolu-
tions, beyond the auditory canal, be-
yond the drumhead and all its V bratory
membranes lies the labyrinth and the
semi-circular canals filed with water,
and in this true auditorium of the soul
that complex thing we call sound passes
like an ambassa dor of the outer world,
endowed with uncounted charms. And
enthroned in that chamber of sublime
mysteries, the auditory nerve plays the
autocrat of million joys and sorrows.
There. all alive with animation, ali
athril with intense energy, that cum
ming magician, the auditory nerve, sits
and counts the endless vibra tionS o t reso.
nant matter and at so many vjbra tions
brain what tone and what major or
minor fraction of a tone on the musi-
cal scale is passing along over the
Sounding-board of the soul and in
faultless acclamation proclaims to you
in the light or in the dark your mothers
voice, your lovers accents, your chiId's
prattle. Through this ever alert SEN
tinel of the soul, though you may be
blind, you are apprised of the coming or
receding of the storm, the train, the
mob. 1t reports to you the songs of
the night and the clamor of the day, all
through the ministries of water. There
are about a thousand 1angua ges and
dialects spoken by the nations and
tribes of the earth and each one of them
has many sounds and cOnlbina tiOns of
sounds. Then there are all the beasts
and birds and reptiles, each with a few
or many notes in its Vocality, and then
that innumerable host that no man
with a song or sermon in it's vo-
Gallon. Then add to all of these the
mulutudinous sounds of earth and air
and sea and sky, and then remember
that the auditory nerve has an auditiVe
affinity for each one of these countless
sounds and can differentiate each one
from all the others, and you begin to
gain some idea of how you stand re-
lated to all things in life through the
gateway of the ear. And you cease
to wonder why old Donysius took the
trouble to construct an artificial ear in
the solid rock so feet wide and $50 feet
long and spent much of his time listen
ing at the tympanum.
Take away water from the human
ear and all sweet sounds are tangled in
to chaos, and birds and lutes are dumb
and the sea is silent and the storm be-
comes a silent pantomime, and all the
wheels of the universe roll soundless
through the trackIesS void!
But water has another wonderful re-
1ation to the ear. The semicircular ca
nails are full of water by which we
maintain our equilibrium. AS you tip
your head one way or another the wa
ter in these canals rises on one side and