WISDOM OF THE DEITY. 



of the substances on the face of the earth, par 

 ticularly liquids, would be dissipated into vapour. 

 The atmosphere is now ascertained to be a 

 compound substance, formed of two very differ 

 ent ingredients, termed oxygen and nitrogen 

 gas. Of 100 measures of atmospheric air, 21 

 are oxygen, and 79 nitrogen. The one, namely, 

 oxygen, is the principle of combustion, and the 

 vehicle of heat, and is absolutely necessc-y for 

 the support of animal life, and is the most pow 

 erful and energetic agent in nature. The other 

 is altogether incapable of supporting either flame 

 or animal life. Were we to breathe oxygen air, 

 without any mixture or alloy, our animal spirits 

 would be raised, and the fluids in our bodies 

 would circulate with greater rapidity ; but we 

 should soon infallibly perish by the rapid and 

 unnatural accumulation of heat in the animal 

 frame. If the nitrogen were extracted from the 

 air, and the whole atmosphere contained nothing 

 but oxygen, or vital air, combustion would not 

 proceed in that gradual manner which it now 

 does, but with the most dreadful and irresistible 

 rapidity: not only wood and coals, and other 

 substances now used for fuel, but even stones, 

 iron, and other metallic substances, would blaze 

 with a rapidity which would carry destruction 

 through the whole expanse of nature. If even 

 the proportions of the two airs were materially 

 altered, a variety of pernicious effects would in 

 stantly be produced. If the oxygen were less 

 in quantity then it now is, fire would lose its 

 strength, candles would not diffuse a sufficient 

 light, and animals would perform their vital func 

 tions with the utmost difficulty and pain. On 

 the other hand, ware the nitrogen diminished, 

 and the oxygen increased, the air taken in by re 

 spiration would be more stimulant, and the cir 

 culation of the animal fluids would become ac 

 celerated ; but the tone of the vessels thus sti 

 mulated to increased action would be destroyed 

 by too great an excitement, and the body would 

 inevitably waste and decay. Again, were the 

 oxygen completely extracted from the atmosphere, 

 and nothing but nitrogen remained, fire and flame 

 would be extinguished, and instant destruction 

 would be carried throughout all the departments 

 of vegetable and animated nature. For a lighted 

 taper will not burn for a single moment in nitro- 



Acosta, in his relation of a journey among the moun 

 tains of Peru, states, that &quot; he and his companions 

 were surprised with such extreme pangs of strain 

 ing and vomiting, not without casting\ip of blood 

 too, and with so violent a distemper, that they would 

 undoubtedly have died had they remained two or 

 three hours longer in that elevated situation.&quot; Count 

 Zambeccari, and his companions, who ascended in 

 a balloon, on the 7th of November, 1783, to a great 

 height, found their hands and feet so swelled, that 

 it v/as necessary for a surgeon to make incisions 

 in the skin. In both the cases now stated, the per 

 sons ascended to so great a height that the pressure 

 of the atmosphere was not sufficient to counter 

 balance the pressure of the fluids of the body. 



35 



gen gas, and if an animal be plunged into it^ it is 

 instantly suffocated. 



Again, not only the extraction of any one of 

 the component parts of the atmosphere, or the 

 alteration of their respective proportions, but even 

 the slightest increase or diminution of their ape- 

 cific gravity, would be attended with the most 

 disastrous effects. The nitrogen is found to be t 

 little lighter than common air, which enables it 

 to rise towards the higher regions of the atmo 

 sphere. In breathing, the air which is evolved 

 from the lungs, at every expiration, consists 

 chiefly of nitrogen, which is entirely unfit to be 

 breathed again, and therefore rises above our 

 heads before the next inspiration. Now, had 

 nitrogen, instead of being a little lighter, been a 

 slight degree heavier than common air, or of the 

 same specific gravity, it would have accumulated 

 on the surface of the earth, and particularly in 

 our apartments, to such a degree as to have pro 

 duced diseases, pestilence, and death, in rapid 

 succession. But being a little lighter than the 

 surrounding air, it flies upwards, and we never 

 breathe it again, till it enters inio new and salu 

 tary combinations. Such is the benevolent skih 

 which the Author of Nature has displayed, for 

 pronx)ting the comfort and preservation of every 

 thing that lives.* 



Farther, were the air coloured, or were its par 

 ticles much larger than they are, we could never 

 obtain a distinct view of any other object. The 

 exhalations which rise from the earth, being 

 rendered visible, would disfigure the rich land 

 scape of the universe, and render life disagreeable. 

 But the .^ mighty, by rendering the air invisible, 

 has enableu us not only to take a delightful and 

 distinct survey of the objects that surround us, but 

 has veiled from our view the gross humours inces 

 santly perspired from animal bodies, the filth ex 

 haled from kitchens, streets, and sewers, and every 

 other object that would excite disgust. Again, 

 were the different portions of the atmosphere com 

 pletely stationary, and not susceptible of agitation, 



The necessity of atmospherical afr for the sup 

 port of life, was strikingly exemplified in the fate 

 of the unhappy men who died in the Black-hole of 

 Calcutta. On the 20th of June, 1756, about 8 o clock 

 in the evening, 146 men were forced, at the point of 

 the bayonet, into a dungeon only 18 feet square. 

 They had been but a few minutes confined in this 

 infernal prison, before every one fell into a per 

 spiration so profuse, that no idea.can be formed of 

 it. This brought on a raging thirst, the most difficult 

 respiration, and an outrageous delirium. Such was 

 the horror of thei. situation, that every insult that 

 could be devised against the guard without, and all 

 the opprobrious names that the Viceroy and his 

 officers could be loaded with, were repeated, to pro 

 voke the guard to fire upon them, and terminate their 

 sufferings. Before 11 o clock the same evening, one- 

 third of the men were dead; and before 6 next 

 morning, only 23 came out alive, but most of them 

 in a high putrid fever. All these dreadful effects 

 were occasioned by the want of atmospheric air, and 

 by their breathing a superabundant quantity of the 

 nitrogen emitted from their lumr?. 



