14 SCIENCE OF BREATH. 



regenerative process of the lungs, it returns to the arteries 

 in an abnormal state, insufficiently purified and imperfectly 

 cleansed of the impurities which it took up on its return 

 journey. These impurities if returned to the system will 

 certainly manifest in some form of disease, either in a form 

 of blood disease or some disease resulting from impaired 

 functioning of some insufficiently nourished organ or tissue. 



The blood, when properly exposed to the air in the 

 lungs, not only has its impurities consumed, and parts with 

 its noxious carbonic acid gas, but it also takes up and 

 absorbs a certain quantity of oxygen which it carries to all 

 parts of the body, where it is needed in order that Nature 

 may perform her processes properly. When the oxygen 

 comes in contact with the blood, it unites with the 

 haemoglobin of the blood and is carried to every cell, tissue, 

 muscle and organ, which it invigorates and strengthens, 

 replacing the wornout cells and tissue by new materials 

 which Nature converts to her use. Arterial blood, properly 

 exposed to the air, contains about 25 per cent of free 

 oxygen. 



Not only is every part vitalized by the oxygen, but the 

 act of digestion depends materially upon a certain amounf 

 of oxygenation of the food, and this can be accomplished 

 only by the oxygen in the blood coming in contact with the 

 food and producing a certain form of combustion. It is 

 therefore necessary that a proper supply of oxygen be 

 taken through the lungs. This accounts for the fact that 

 weak lungs and poor digestion are so often found together. 

 To grasp the full significance of this statement, one must 

 remember that the entire body receives nourishment from 

 the food assimilated, and that imperfect assimilation al- 

 ways means an imperfectly nourished body. Even the 

 lungs themselves depend upon the same source for nourish- 

 ment, and if through imperfect breathing the assimilation 

 becomes imperfect, and the lungs in turn become weakened, 

 they are rendered still less able to perform their work 

 properly, and so in turn the body becomes further weak- 

 ened. Every particle of food and drink must be oxygen- 

 ated before it can yield us the proper nourishment, and 

 before the waste products of the system can be reduced to 



