32 GREAT AMOUNT 



which many different effects may be produced. The 

 cause of these phenomena is magnetism ; the cause of 

 the magnetic phenomena is to be found in the electrical 

 current ; and the ultimate cause of the electrical current 

 is found to be a chemical change, a chemical action. 



There are various causes by which force or motion 

 may be produced. A bent spring, a current of air, the 

 fall of water, fire applied to a boiler, the solution of a 

 metal in an acid, all these different causes of motion 

 may be made to produce the same effect. But in the 

 animal body we recognise as the ultimate cause of all 

 force only one cause, the chemical action which the 

 elements of the food and the oxygen of the air mu- 

 tually exercise on each other. The only known ulti- 

 mate cause of vital force, either in animals or in plants, 

 is a chemical process. If this be prevented, the phe- 

 nomena of life do not manifest themselves, or they 

 cease to be recognisable by our senses. If the chem- 

 ical action be impeded, the vital phenomena must take 

 new forms. 



According to the experiments of Despretz, 1 oz. of 

 carbon evolves, during its combustion, as much heat as 

 would raise the temperature of 78*15 oz. of water at 

 32 to 212, that is, by ISO degrees ; in all, therefore, 

 78-15 times 180= 14067 degrees of heat. Conse- 

 quently, the 13-9 oz. of carbon, which are daily con- 

 verted into carbonic acid in the body of an adult, 

 evolve 13-9 X 14067= 195531-3 degrees of heat. 

 This amount of heat is sufficient to raise the tempera- 

 ture of 1 oz. of water by that number of degrees, or 



