THE ACTIVE FORCES OF LIVING ORGANISMS 67 



amount, we shall probably see these facts in a new 

 and clearer light. Obviously, the effect which the 

 earth would transmit to us through the ether, whether 

 considered chemically or physically, would be mainly 

 one of inaction. Many people are influenced by sitting 

 on the ground even on the hottest and driest days 

 in summer under conditions which certainly do not 

 suggest the transmission of cold. Surely in such 

 cases we can explain the effect produced by supposing 

 the active ether of our bodies, active because chemical 

 action is always going on in it, to come under the 

 sway or influence of the more quiescent ether which 

 permeates the soil. A house situated on the top of 

 a hill, especially if this latter be isolated, stands away 

 and aloof from the ether of the earth to a far greater 

 extent than one built in a valley or hollow. 



Since there can be very little doubt that the varia- Some 



results of 



tion m the relative amounts of oxygen and carbonic massage. 

 acid which are present in the blood exercises a con- 

 siderable influence on the mode of functioning of the 

 nervous system, it may be of interest to consider the 

 results of massaging the body from this point of view. 

 When the tissues are pressed and kneaded it is evident 

 that a certain quantity of waste products must be 

 squeezed out from them into the blood. Of these the 

 most important, so far as the nervous system is con- 

 cerned, is probably carbonic acid. The effect which 

 this increase will produce will naturally depend to a 

 great extent on the rapidity of the circulation, for the 

 quicker this is the sooner will the carbonic acid be 



5—2 



