14 OXYGEN COMBINES WITH 



either case the conclusion is inevitable, that the 

 body of a man, who daily takes into the system 

 32J oz. of oxygen, must receive daily in the shape 

 of nourishment, as much carbon and hydrogen as 

 would suffice to supply 24 Ibs. of blood with these 

 elements ; it being presupposed that the weight of 

 the body remains unchanged, and that it retains its 

 normal condition as to health. 



This supply is furnished in the food. 



From the accurate determination of the quantity 

 of carbon daily taken into the system in the food, 

 as well as of that proportion of it which passes out 

 of the body in the faeces and urine, unburned, that 

 is, in some form in which it is not combined with 

 oxygen, it appears that an adult, taking moderate 

 exercise, consumes 13'9 oz. of carbon daily. (3) 



These 13-is oz. of carbon escape through the skin 

 and lungs as carbonic acid gas. 



For conversion into carbonic acid gas, 13^ oz. 

 of carbon require 37 oz. of oxygen. 



According to the analyses of Boussingault (Ann. 

 de Ch. et de Ph. LXXI. p. 136) a horse consumes 

 in twenty-four hours 97J oz. of carbon, a milch 

 cow 69 A oz. The quantities of carbon here men- 

 tioned are those given off from the bodies of these 

 animals in the form of carbonic acid ; and it appears 

 from them that the horse consumes, in converting 

 carbon into carbonic acid, 13 Ibs. 3J oz. in twenty- 

 four hours, and the milch cow 11 Ibs. 10J oz. of 

 oxygen in the same time. (4) 



