88 ANSWERS TO PRACTICAL QUESTIONS 



blood be similarly treated with oxygen, it gains oxygen, 

 loses carbonic acid, and takes on the color and properties 

 of arterial blood. HUXLEY'S Lessons in Physiology. 



6. Why do we need more oxygen in winter than in summer ? 



Because there is a brisker fire going on in our cor- 

 poreal stoves. 



7. Which would starve sooner ; a fat man or a lean one 1 



(See Chemistry, page 35, note.) 



A superabundance of flesh, in a time of scarcity, is 

 taken up by the absorbents and thrown into the circula- 

 tion, thus supplying the place of food in nourishing the 

 body. 



8. How do teamsters warm themselves by slapping their 

 hands together ? 



To produce the motion, additional O is supplied, and 

 increased oxidation is the result. This liberates heat to 

 warm the body. Besides, the blood sets to the arms and 

 the general circulation becomes more rapid. This extra 

 supply, both by its presence and the friction of the swiftly 

 moving currents, furnishes heat, and thus raises the tern 

 perature of the body. 



9. Could a person commit suicide by holding his breath ? 



Respiration is entirely independent of consciousness, 

 as is seen in sleep, coma, etc. It may be interrupted fot 

 a few minutes, but no effort of the will can enable one to 

 hold his breath until life is extinct. The desire for O, 

 the besoin de respirer, or the respiratory sense, as it is 

 called, becomes at last so great that the strongest reso- 

 lution yields the struggle. 



