The Washington times., 1914-07-19
With Mahoney's Aid, SeIf-StyIed
Scientist of Times Staff
Exploits Novel Method of
Distribution.
,ome Science and Much RefleC.
ton Concerning Air, Hot and
Otherwise, Marks Disserta.
ton on Bug Without Name.
By GARDINER MACK.

Inc incentive OF lne OiIblAdl huhdA
being to be human has been discovered.
It is AIR.
Air in its infinite variety was the
1eginning Of the great line of Cleavage
between man and the other section Of
The animal kingdom. There is no place
0here there is such an infinite variety
II air as in the animal kingdom. Some
animals don't mind it. But 1t Is an
even bet that the main reason man took
Fate by the hand and allowed himself
20 be led over the threshold of the home
Of his chimpanzee parents was desire
0 get different kind of air-it was this
original yearning that started man on
his journey through life by the route
that has been marked civilizatioR-
Perhaps man didn't realize that he
as going to be civilized. His sole
.esire on that momentous occasion was
. obtain fresh air. Ana there can be
20 manner of doubt as to fts keeness
Il there is anyone who scorns this
iheory for a moment just let him go to
ne ornate habitat of the simian group
IN any well-kept zoo and II will be a
natter of very little more than ten
minutes before he, too, will be con-
Imed with a yearning for fresh air.
Seeking the Air.
II one cares to dwell upon the air
'neory at length it would not be diff
rult to prove its participation also in
he development of the animal all the
Tay from the invertebrate mass of the
original protoplasm toto Dustin Far
7um, let Us say. (Since Dustin went
nto the moving picture business he
as counterfeited almost every DEPART
nent of LIES activities) But IMAGINE
Ior az instant that telly-like mass we
are told represents the very inception
"t animal life, lying inert at the bottom
cf the sea. 1t is represented as a most
rude affair. There were lust two
things ii could do-lie there and expire
ot ennui. or go to the surface-which
'1eant goirg for air. And protoplasm is
alleged 10 have squirmed and developed
Iiseif through a thousand years or so
81 Tor the purpose of getting to the
urface. 1t must have been air that il
wanted. because that is about all there
was TO the universe at chat particular
time. And it developed from jellyfish
TO tadpole, and from tadpole to toad,
and from toad to something else, and
still something more, until the first
four-legged animal appeared.
II was the constant seeking of
0hange of air that created this progress
IS each group broke off fran the group
- II Detn lns InG very TERM
7pplied TO it by its late fellows was
hat it was putting on airs
Biologists Don't Mind Them.
OF course. there isn't any doubt but
nat the great biologists will rise up in
rath and smash this theory to smith
7eens. They will claim there is no
scientific basis for it. Perhaps there
sn't. But it certainly does sound good.
Besides il makes a corking introduction
. q brief dissertation on air. And we
7ront mind what the scientists say
2 bout 1t because they are more or less
ne inventors of variety of air them
elves. You see, every little while some
earned person reaches into the at
Dosphere and grasps a new idea Then
ones scientific tug Of war. the pur-
0ose OF which is to determine whether
~r not the zephyr blown over the aver
se state of mind by the upward reach
md downward jerk Of the intellectual
arm was fresh or simply hot air.
II may be amusing on quiet Sun
.ay like this to contemplate the fact
nat from creation to the present time
he animal and vegetable Kingdom
ave been engaged in A beautifully
halanced competition that has sup
Dlied the earth with alternate doses
of fresh and hot air. And just as the
desire for fresher air spurred man
kind to progress from the beginning.
u might be more or less appropriate
0 remark lldt Ine dDllltN 10 crlCuIdIe
not air is the thing that most distin-
Euishes him not only from all other
animals, but marks out the individual
1uman being from others of his own
kind. Thus, so important a feature OF
'fe has this become, THAI the highest
development of the breed. and this
night interest eugenlsts, the one that
breaks into the first page with great
or regula rity. is one who has reduced
he manufacture of hot air TO a
7cience and circulates il through the
Medium of the newspapers.
Now For Some Real Science
To get back TO the contest between
me animal and vegetable kingdom.
There is q very curious fact that is not
known TO the average person in con-
nection with this matter Of air which
gives something OF key to the even
renor of life on board what Herbert
Quick has called the good ship Earth
The kind OF air man needs Is the exact
reverse of the kind of air vegetables
need. Man inhales oxygen and eXhales
r3rbon dioxide. Vegetables inhale car
bon dioxide and eXhale oxygen. Now,
IL is the percentage of carbon dioXide
q the air that rendrs il pure or impure,
generally speaking. OF course, there
an be, and are a number of other gases
and forms of dust floating around in
the atmosphere that dilute il or con-
animate II more or less. But. generally
speaking, we mean n lack OF OAS gen
and an overdose of carbon diON!de when
We refer TO impure air. The waste OF
the body that s. given OFF through the
Oxydizstion OF the blood in the lungs
IS carbon dioxide. That is what plants
feed on. And the waste they give OFF
Is oxygen. In other words, people
breathe out gas which is taken up
by vegetable life. and turned into
another gas or chemical element which
people feed from when they, breathe it
Here's the Application.
The injection Of this little Dit Of real
science was done with malice afore-
thought Its purpose is to give a
theme from which can be worked a
description of the varied devices that
nave been employed by mankind for
untold generations 10 supply himself
with ths breath OF life in q manner
most pure and least defilcd by the
Contaminations Of civilization.
II might seem strange TO the aver
age mind that CIV i.iGation contaminates
rhe air. But it does. Get as much
civilization as you van into small
SDace-for instance IN the interiOr of
al Unventilated moving picture theater
and you have the acme If Contami-
nation. You have Increased you, vol
ume OF carbon u oxide and consequent
IS decreased thu proportion Of oxygen.
The resUit is depression.