IV 



CAPITAL— THE MOTHER OF LABOUR 



AN ECONOMICAL PROBLEM DISCUSSED FROM A 

 PHYSIOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW 



[1890] 



The first act of a new-born child is to draw a 

 deep breath. In fact, it will never draw a deeper, 

 inasmuch as the passages and chambers of the 

 lungs, once distended with air, do not empty 

 themselves again ; it is only a fraction of their 

 contents which passes in and out with the flow 

 and the ebb of the respiratory tide. Mechanically, 

 this act of drawing breath, or inspiration, is of 

 the same nature as that by which the handles of 

 a bellows are separated, in order to fill the bellows 

 with air ; and, in like manner, it involves that 

 expenditure of energy which we call exertion, or 

 work, or labour. It is, therefore, no mere metaphor 

 to say that man is destined to a life of toil : the 

 work of respiration which began with his first 

 breath ends only with his last ; nor does one born 



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