The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1906-05-04
MATERIALS IN A MAN


YOU CAN BUY THEM ALL IN ANY FIRST
CLASS DRUG STORE.
| A Scientific Analysis Of the Chem
teal Compounds Of Which . Human
Body IL Made-Man when Reduced
to Water. Powders aad Gas.
You can go to drug store and buy
all the materials to make man. If
the reader does not care to incur the
expense of purchasing the materials
with which to make man it may ut
least be interesting to study the chem
ical composition of the human body as
exhibited at the National museum.
This will personally appeal to the man
who is five feet eight inches high and
weighs 154 pounds, as the exhibit at
the museum represents the elements
and their quantities in the body of an
average healthy man Of that height
and weight. These compounds are
placed in a glass case, the collection
consisting of thirty-two bottles. jars
and boxes, labeled and set on shelves.
Man does not show to advantage
when reduced to water, powders and
gas. but he is worth attention not only
from a scientific viewpoint, but as a
moral lesson. The chemical compounds
of which our bodies are made up are
shown by analysis to consist mainly Of
thirteen elements. Five of these when
uncombined with other elements are
the gases oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen.
chlorine and fiuorine. The remaining
eight are solid substances, three of
which are nonmetals-carbon, phOs-
phate and sulphur-while the other five
are metals-iron, calcium, magnesium.
potassium and sodium. Besides these
thirteen elements are minute quaint
ties of few others, as silicon, manga
nese and copper. This scientific analy-
sis differs radically from the nurse lore
theory that boys-and> presumably men
are made of snaps and snails and
puppy dog tails" and can be relied on
as an official table of your contents,
provided you are man of 154 pounds
The inspector of the museums eX-
hibit on man first takes note Of jar
of reddish powder. The label tells
one that it is phosphorus, of which a
person contains pound and a half.
The specimen owes it's lurid hue to
long exposure. In it's natural state it
is soft, waxy and so inflammable that
to prevent spontaneous combustion 1t
is preserved under water. United with
oxygen it forms phosphoric acid, which
in turn combined with calcium, as
phosphate of lime. is an important con-
stituent of bone. Phosphorus also oc-
ours in the brain and nerves. Next
to the jar is a chunk of sulphur the
size of an egg. 1t is found in various
parts of the body, notably in the bones
and teeth. The next bottle contains
what looks to he cents worth of
darning needles. 1t represents one
tenth of an ounce of iron, an impor-
tant constituent of the red coloring
matter of blood.
The visitor next learns that his body
includes three pounds and thirteen
ounces of calcium, which incidentally
may explain any hankering he may
have for the limelight. This calcium
is yellowish metal, somewhat harder
than lead. 1t is the basis of lime and
occurs throughout the body, principal
~ as bones and teeth, in the form of
phosphate.
On another jar one reads: POTASSIUM,
soft metal, easily cut with a knife
and showing a silver white luster.
When thrown on water it decomposes
the water, combining with the oxygen
with such avidity that the hydrogen,
set free, takes fire. 1t is the basis of
potash and occurs in the body prin-
clpally as chloride and phosphate"
Naturally you know this must all be
so, but appearances are against it.
The specimen does not in the least
look like "a soft metal with a silver
white luster." 1t is the living image
of two pounds of shop worn dates, the
appearance Of it being due to exposure
no doubt
| In 154 pound human body are nine
ty-seven pounds of oxygen, which
would if set free fill space of nearly
1000 cubic feet. The body also carries
fifteen pounds Of hydrogen, which If
allowed to escape would fill a CORE
spending area. One SHOULD be partic.
ularly glad to know about this gas,
because it explains where spellbinders
get their supplies. The specimens of
these gases are compressed in big
glass jars that look sweaty inside, but
otherwise are apparently empty. Hy.
drogen, like carbon, is burned in the
body by uniting with oxygen, thus
serving as fuel. The water produced
is given off in the respiration through
the lungs and as perspiration through
the skin.
On the bottom shelf, along with other
specimens, is tin box containing thir
ty-one pounds of anthracite coal. II
represents that amount Of carbon in 9
human body. Carbon combines with
oxygen. In this combination heat and
force are generated and carbonic acid
gas formed. The carbon taken in the
body in food Is burned in this way by
n