348 THE CHEMISTRY OF CREATION. 



and frequently we find it manifested in a very 

 remarkable manner by a suddenly awakened 

 feeling. The poet, in the pleasure of creation, 

 glows with the ardour of his mind ; and the 

 blush of the innocent is but the exhibition of 

 the phenomenon under some nervous excitation 

 produced by a spirit-disturbing thought. Thus 

 we see that the processes of digestion and re- 

 spiration are not the only sources of animal 

 heat, but that many others exist to which much 

 of the natural temperature of the body must be 

 referred."* 



Thus reminded of the importance of the air 

 to man and the animal world at large, we can 

 feel the full import and accuracy of the expres- 

 sion, the " breath of life ;" for only while we 

 breathe we live. There is more, therefore, than 

 health in the soft airs which float around us.* 

 Upon them our very existence is every moment 

 dependent. The breeze not only refreshes and 

 cools the cheek, but gives strength, activity, 

 and warmth to the entire frame. The learned 

 Dr. Derham well said, " It is the air the whole 

 animal world breathes and liveth by ; not only 

 the animals t inhabiting the earth and air, but 

 those of the waters too. Without it most ani- 

 mals live scarce half a minute, and others that are 

 the most accustomed to the want of it live with- 

 out it many days." 



* The Poetry of Science, p. 382. 



