The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-09-23
FROM 1900 EGGS, n MAN.
According to the Author of This story
thai IL About the Size of Ii.
Richmand DiSnafch-

Richmond Dispatch.
Years ago a witty psychologist said that
the greatest man on earth was nothing
more than so much white of egg alive, and
in this observation he came very near 10
striking the mark, for everything that Is re-
CURED TO construct the perfect man OF 100
pounds weight is contained in l,2O eggs.
IL We only knew how to do IL we could take
the contents of these eggs and from tnem
make & perfect man.. But even this asser-
ton, astonishing as it may be, is only a
general statement of the case, as any care
full student of physiology will attest, for
this remarkable machine that walks. eats,
sleeps, thinks, talks, aughs and cries, Is
made up of the most complex mixture of
gases, liquids and solids Of which one could
possibly conceive.
Solid as the body may seem, IL is large
ly composed of gases, the five gases, oxy-
gen, hydrogen, nitrogen, chlorine and huor-
ine, constituting all but a small traction
of the body's bulk In fact, IL has been e-
timated that there is enough gas in a
mans body to fill a gasometer capable OF
holding 1850 cubic feet; The nine substances
that go to make up the solids in a mans
composition are carbon, calcium, phos-
phorus, iron, sulphur, sodium, potassium,
silicon and magnesium. In some people
traces of other substances, such as copper
aluminium, manganese, lead, mercury, ar
senic and lithium may be found, but in such
cases the unusual substances may be re-
The amount of oxygen that is contained
In a human body Is something p~rodigious.
In a 15o-po9nd man 1t Is no less than igS
bulk would be equal TO a beam OF WOOD
one foot square and nearly a quarter of a
mlle i1 mi a u b mgsSare each by bo 1Ra ga 81 eal i
Ions. Thus ii can be seen that the oxygen
represents many times the bulk of the body
Itself.
While the hydrogen is much lighter than
the oxygen. it is much more bulky, enough
being contained in each Northumberland
~fifty-pound man to initiate a balloon large
and strong enough. to lift himself. balloon
and tackle included. Of nitrogen there is
also enough to make twenty times the bulk
of the body, but the other gases are rep
resented in smaller amounts.
Of the solids carbon is one or the mos
important substances. there being enough
In a mans BODY to MI a sack oil tW wnrtGys
enough to make sixty-five gross OF LEAD
pencils. Carbon is the handspring of ami
NAL life. the fuel of the body. 1t keeps
us warm and gives us energy to move, and
yet without phosphorus We should be In a
pitiable state, indeed. We should have no
arms. legs, skull or teeth, but should be
a soft mass, compelled to crawl about like a
worm and live on some pap-like foods; me
substances Of which the human body, is
composed play such a prominent part mat
it is difficult to single out any one and say
that ii is the most important, but IL must pc
admitted that the one pound and a naL
Of phosphorus Is as esse en- al as omo one i oe
phosphorus Is, 1t is enough 10 poison every
resident of a good-sized village or 10 make
Ordinary table salt, which is a mixture
of sodium and gaseous chlorine. is quite
necessary to the welfare. of the body, II
sfdnges found nd s in eot Of thus, hoW Seri' there
are not more than six or seven ounces In the
whole body. Or a little more than enough
to supply the dining. table OF a goou-siIeS
there is but a small amount in the body.
but that does a large amount OF WORK, Is
washing soda. or sodium In union Win car :
bon and oxygen Its mission III ne ooos -
TO act as scaVenger.
starch and fat produce fuel for the body,
and this feel is consumed at once or Is nI1oa
i'm reserve as need may require. Most or the
fat that is eaten meets an alkan IN tne IN
testines and thus soap Is maze; IneIe 10
and three-fourths to seven and one-naiI
pounds of candles, and the average MN
manufactures tons of soap during ms NE
time. 1t is estimated that there Is always
enough sugar in the body to fill a large
sized sugar bowl. One of the most astonlsn-
ing facts is that man is not crushed 10
death before he takes his first step because
he is always carrying a load that Woulo
break the backs Of seventy horses. Strange
as this assertion may seem. 1t is a matter
that may easily be proved by mathemati-
clans. 1t is a matter of general. knowledge
that the pressure of the atmosphere at sea
level Is fifteen pounds to the square inch.
The skin area of the average man is ABOUT
$500 square inches, so 1t Is a simple problem
to figure out the result At each step ne
carries an external load of nearly seven,
teen tons. The reason why he is not crushed
dS Idl as tI0 lldttCSt PdiiNaht W tHS
nous burden is due to the fact that the In
ternal pressure in the lungs. as well as the
expansive forces of the gases of which his
body is so largely composed, are sufficient
to counterpoise the external pressure.
Another fact that is not generally known
Is that the average man produces eight
ounces of pure charcoal every day of his
life. In the course of the twenty-four hours
he will breathe out about 1900 grains of
carbonic acid, and this, If the oxygen should
be removed, would produce the coal. and
this leads up to one of the mos. interesting
of the examples. The normal capacity of
the lungs is 230 cubic inches, residual air
occupying 100 inches, c~omplemantal air 100
inches. and thirty inches are tidal air. The
average man breathes from fifteen to seven
teen times a minute. BY doing this he
exerts a force that, IL concentrated in a
single effort, would enable him to support
on his chest a block of iron weighing nearly
1000 pounds, while the amount of air used
by the inspirations and expirations would
be sufficient to fill a balloon of $50 cubic
feet capacity.
The heart is just as powerful as the lungs,
and the amount of energy it develops is
simply astounding. During the twenty-four
hours this vital engine produces energy a &
gregating 100 foot tons. or. In other words.
power sufficient to raise $1,000 pounds one
foot from the earth, and 1t requires but a
little calculation to show that during the
day this little pump Of nerves and muscles
does the work of eight cart horses.