140 ANALYTIC SECT. XVII. 
ceexiiv, The quantity of carbon thus taken 
from the blood of an ordinary-sized man, is com- 
puted, by Lavoisier, at. thirteen ounces in twenty- 
four hours. This, like all other physiological 
calculations, is varied by incidental cireum- 
stances. 
cccxLv. The manner in which the oxygen of 
the air, and the carbon of the blood, come within 
the sphere of each other’s attraction, is still very 
imperfectly understood. It is, however, altoge- 
ther a chemical process, quite independent of the 
vital force; for the coloration and decarboniza- 
tion of the blood of a strangulated animal may 
easily be effected by forcible inflation of the 
lungs ; this important fact is due to Lower. 
cccxtv1. The combination of oxygen with the 
carbon of the blood, not producing the same 
elevation of temperature which results from it in 
all other circumstances, is one of the strongest 
anomalies in chemistry. The physical arrange- 
ment of the integral particles of carbon, strangely 
influences its chemical properties; how different 
the combination of oxygen with the diamond, 
compared with the carbon of the blood, 
cccxLvil, Analogy and induction would, a 
priori, lead us to expect an elevation of temper- 
ature in the lungs, which is, on the other hand, 
refuted by facts; and where analogy ,and facts 
are at issue, the latter demand decided preference. 

