IV. 

 CAPITAI^-THE MOTHER OP LABOUR. 



AN ECONOMICAL PROBLEM DISCUSSED FROM A 

 PHYSIOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW. 



[1890.] 



THE first act of a new-born child is to draw a 

 deep breath. In fact, it will never draw a deeper 

 inasmuch as the passages and chambers of the 

 lungs, once distended with air, do not empty 

 themselves again; and it is only a fraction of their 

 contents which passes in and out with the flow 

 and the ebb of the respiratory tide. Mechanically, 

 this act of drawing breath, or inspiration, is of 

 the same nature as that by which the handles of 

 a bellows are separated, in order to fill the bellows 

 with air; and, in like manner, it involves that ex- 

 penditure of energy which we call exertion, or 

 work, or labour. It is, therefore, no mere meta- 

 phor to say that man is destined to a life of toil: 

 the work of respiration which began with the first 

 breath ends only with the last; nor does one born 

 in the purple get off with a lighter task than the 

 child who first sees light under a hedge. 



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