10 



pound is stored, becoming "potential" energy in that compound, and is 

 liberated again in exactly the same quantity on the resolution of the sub- 

 stance into its original constituents. 



So the amount of energy liberated in decomposition of a food in the body 

 is exactly equal to the energy needed to build it up from its excreted constit- 

 uents; and this liberated energy appears in the body as heat, work and electric 

 currents." 



The electro-chemic energy which is liberated from the reduction of food 

 structures in the human system is negative, or lower in potential to that which 

 is produced in the lungs from the atmosphere. The exchange between these 

 two electro-chemic energies keeps in action that vast system of forces which 

 we know as human life. 



Physiologists must recognize that no chemical changes can take place in 

 the human system without the liberation of electro-chemic energy from the 

 elements undergoing transformation. The blood is the physical conductor of 

 electro-chemic energy to tissues, organs and nerves of the human system. It 

 is composed of many elements and structures, all of which have an especial 

 purpose in the economy of nature. 



Digestion prepares food structures to enter the circulation for further re- 

 duction. Chyle does not represent the final step in the reduction of food 

 structures, as these must be reduced to energy before they are fitted to 

 become a sustaining part of the vital organism. 



The ultimate step in the reduction of structures transpires in the blood; at 

 each circuit of blood some of the compounds ai-e torn apart by electrolytic 

 action ; each time a compound is broken a certain amount of stored energy is 

 released from the elements of that compound, and thus becomes a part of the 

 sustaining energy of the system. When structures are completely reduced 

 they are not destroyed, but having parted with their portion of energy they 

 are no longer useful to the system, and consequently pass away from it. as 

 waste, or retrograde products, or elements. 



Every particle of food that is used by the system must be converted into 

 energy before it plays its part in the functions of the organism. Here is the 

 secret of vitality; here we gain the force that keeps our bodies alive. These 

 products of digestion act similarly to the zincs and carbons of a battery; they 

 are slowly converted into force by numerous rounds of circulation in the sys- 

 tem. At each circuit they are acted upon by various organs, each one of 

 which has its own peculiar function. It is thus that the products of digestion 

 finally reach that most refined condition known as vital force. 



When the products of digestion are poured into venous blood they consist 

 of a fluid which is composed of many structures. Water forms a large per- 

 centage of this compound; from the source of digestion, also, comes the 

 supply of oxygen, carbon and other elements, which must be subjected to 



