936 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 



an equal weight of animal food, if we except 

 cheese, butter, fat, and lean meat deprived of 

 water. 



5. That during the process of respiration, 

 starch, sugar, gum, and fat are converted into 

 blood, by absorbing nitrogen from the air, and by 

 giving off carbon ancT hydrogen ; consequently, 

 that the elements of respiration, when combined 

 in due proportion, are employed in nourishing 

 the solids, like the fibrin, albumen, and caseine, 

 of both animal and vegetable food. 



6. That as the chemical composition of all 

 animals is the same, herbivora must derive a 

 portion of their nitrogen from the atmosphere, 

 because their food does not contain enough of 

 that element to maintain their nutrition and 

 growth, which are even more rapid than in car- 

 nivora. 



7. That the living body is a self-repairing ma- 

 chine, which has the power of transforming both 

 ternary and quaternary compounds into its own 

 tissues ; and when wholly deprived of food, is 

 capable of living for many days on its own ruins, 

 which are repeatedly renovated in the lungs, 

 where they are also gradually converted into 

 carbonic acid, water, and other inorganic com- 

 pounds. 



8. That the rapid increase in the weight of the 

 body after long abstinence or illness, the speedy 

 healing of broken bones, the filling up of ulcers, 

 and the rapid growth of herbivorous animals, all 



