RESPIRATION TENDS TO CONSUME THE BODY. 27 



equally, a want of resistance ; and this is the negative 

 cause of the cessation of the vital process. The flame 

 is extinguished, because the oil is consumed ; and it is 

 the oxygen of the air which has consumed it. 



In many diseases substances are produced which are 

 incapable of assimilation. By the mere deprivation of 

 food, these substances are removed from the body with- 

 out leaving a trace behind ; their elements have entered 

 into combination with the oxygen of the air. 



From the first moment that the function of the lungs 

 or of the skin is interrupted or disturbed, compounds, 

 rich in carbon, appear in the urine, which acquires a 

 brown color. Over the whole surface of the body oxy- 

 gen is absorbed, and combines with all the substances 

 which offer no resistance to it. In those parts of the 

 body where the access of oxygen is impeded ; for ex- 

 ample, in the arm-pits, or in the soles of the feet, 

 peculiar compounds are given out, recognisable by their 

 appearance, or by their odor. These compounds con- 

 tain much carbon. 



Respiration is the falling weight, the bent spring, 

 which keeps the clock in motion ; the inspirations and 

 expirations are the strokes of the pendulum which regu- 

 late it. In our ordinary time-pieces, we know with 

 mathematical accuracy the effect produced on their rate 

 of going, by changes in the length of the pendulum, or 

 in the external temperature. Few, however, have a 

 clear conception of the influence of air and temperature 

 on the health of the human body ; and yet the research 



