FURNITURE, AND ITS USES. 193 



on equal, at least, to the waste. But in no 

 ordinary dwelling can any such process be 

 found. All dwellings can indeed be repaired, 

 but it is usually by machinery without, and not 

 within. 



The habitation of the human soul is kept in 

 repair partly by means of the rivers which run 

 through the circulatory apartment. It was this 

 fact that made it necessary for me to dwell so 

 long upon this apartment in the previous chap- 

 ter. 



rTnE BLOOD. There is nothing in this part 

 of the universe which so much resembles the 

 economy of the human body, and the means by 

 which its constant waste is supplied, and the 

 whole kept in' repair, as watering and supply- 

 ino- the face of the earth. Evaporation and 

 the growth of plants and animals are constantly 

 wasting or drying up the soil ; but there are 

 numerous hidden streams, some of them very 

 small, that wind their way almost everywhere, 

 and continually furnish new moisture. 



It is true, there are also large streams which 

 appear on the surface, unlike the surface of 

 17 



