165 - 



From the blow of the tongue the oxygen combusts 

 in the place of concussion and the liberated hydrogen 

 -causes the walls of the bell to tremble. The motion pro- 

 duces new friction and combustion and the freed gas 

 -spreading in the atmosphere produces the phenomenon 

 known as sound-waves. 



So far as concerns the sensation of touch it is evi- 

 dent on the face of it that only forms of matter having 

 a certain firmness can be touched, and such matter can 

 only be produced with the aid of azote; whence this 

 :gas appears to lie at the root of this phenomenon of 

 feeling. 



And if every separate sensorial function of man is 

 wholly dependent upon the atmosphere around, it is 

 hardly open to doubt that man himself in his entirety is 

 subject to its power. The free-will which he can exercise 

 in moving from place to place is strictly confined to 

 the limits of planetary service. As vegetable seeds are 

 carried in space and grow upon that soil which suits 

 them best, so, exactly, man seeks for himself the best 

 environment in which to come in touch with nature and 

 develop the best fruits of knowledge. The bosom of 

 nature is the most suitable ground for mankind his na- 

 tural soil; it furnishes vitality, health and longevity, and 

 the least attention to the statistics of human hygiene will 

 show that the villager is healthier than the resident in 

 towns. 



Our earth is striving, like the other planets to become 

 a sun, and to achieve this end it must so far undergo 

 the process of desiccation that oceans and seas and lakes 

 must disappear. Man helps with this work; he dries up 

 the bogs and rivers; he battles with the seas, as we see 

 in Holland and Normandy; he cultivates fresh forms of 

 vegetation and makes use of all the animal creation. Man 

 <clears the forests and ploughs the forest land, not as a 

 mere human fancy but because the grass and corn give 

 out more oxygen and furnish him more food. Man breeds 



