CHAPTER III. 

 THE EXOTERIC THEORY OF BREATH. 



In this chapter we will give you briefly the theories 

 of the Western scientific world regarding the functions of 

 the respiratory organs, and the part in the human economy 

 played by the breath. In subsequent chapters we will 

 give the additional theories and ascertained facts of the 

 Oriental school of thought and research. The Oriental 

 accepts the theories and facts of his Western brothers 

 (which have been known to him for centuries) and adds 

 thereto much that the latter do not now accept, but which 

 they will in due time "discover" and which, after renam- 

 ing, they will present to the world as a great truth. 



Before taking up the Western idea, it will perhaps be 

 better to give a hasty general idea of the Organs of Respi- 

 ration. 



The Organs of Respiration consist of the lungs and 

 the air passages leading to them. The lungs are two in 

 number, and occupy the pleural chamber of the thorax, one 

 on each side of the median line, being separated from each 

 other by the heart, the greater blood vessels and the larger 

 air tubes. Each lung is free in all directions, except at the 

 root, which consists chiefly of the bronchi, arteries and 

 veins connecting the lungs with the trachea and heart. 

 The lungs are spongy and porous, and their tissues are 

 very elastic. They are covered with a delicately con- 

 structed but strong sac, known as the pleural sac, one wall 

 of which closely adheres to the lung, and the other to the 

 inner wall of the chest, and which secretes a fluid which 

 allows the inner surfaces of the walls to glide easily upon 

 each other in the act of breathing. 



The Air Passages consist of the interior of the nose, 

 pharynx, larynx, windpipe or trachea, and the bronchial 

 tubes. When we breathe, we draw i-? the air through the 

 nose, in which it is warmed by contact with the mucous 

 membrane, which is richly supplied with blood, and after 

 it has passed through the pharnyx and larynx U passes 



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