(8 53) 
An Account of two Book*. 
"%% TRACTATUS DOO, prior dz RESPIR ATI ON $j d- 
ter de R ACH1TIDE, A. f 0 H* MJTotV y &C 0*mr&68. 
in §f< • 
THe Author in the former of thefe TraBs^ having firft given an ac- 
count , how the Air by its ElafticJ^ force is infpired , and upon 
thedihtation of the Cheft , caufed by the intercoftal Mufcies , drawn 
upwards, rufhes into the Lungs, which are thereby expanded , being 
nothing elfebut a Body made up of very thin little Membranes, in the 
form of innumerable final J bladders - delivers his thoughts of the life of 
Refpiration, waving thofe opinions , that would have Refpiration ferve 
either to cool the heart , or to make the Bloud pafs through the Lungs 
out of the right ventricle of the heart into the left, or to reduce the 
thicker venal blood into thinner and finer parts ; and affirming, That 
there is fomething in the Air , abfolutely neceffary to life, which is con- 
veyed into the Blood - which, whatever it be,being exhaufted,the reft of 
the Air is made ufelefe, and no more fie for Refpiration. Where yet 
he doth not exclude this Ufe, That with the expelled Air^ the vapors 
alfo, {learning out of the Bloud, are thrown out together. 
And inquiring, what that may be in the Air, fo neceffary to life, he 
conjectures, that 'tis the more fubtile and nitrom particles, the Air abounds 
with, that are through the Lungs communicated to the Bloud : And this 
Aered Niter he makes fo neceffary to all life , that even the Plants 
themfelves do not grow in that Earth, that is deprived thereof , which 
yet, being expofed to the Air, and afrefh impregnated by that fertilizing 
fait, becomes fie again to nourifh thcjfe Plants. 
And confidering futher , what part this Nitrous Air afts , and what 
operation it performs in the Animal Life , he is of opinion , that this 
Niter , mixt with the fulphmeom parts of the Bloud, caufeth a due fer- 
mentation, which he will have raWed, not only in the Heart alone, but 
immediately in the Pulmonary veffels, and afterwards in the Arteries no 
lefsthan in the heart. Examining alfo the reafon, why Death fo fud- 
denly enfues upon Refpiration fuppreffed , the Bloud being then not yet 
unfit for motion, he inquires yet after another Ufe of Refpiration, which 
maketh it fo very necelTary to Life. And confidering with himfelf , thac 
the Life of Animals confifts in the Diftribution of the Animal fpirits, 
for the fupply of which is required the Fulfation of the heart, and the 
Afflux of the Bloud to the Brain, it Teems to him, that Refpiration is 
highly neceffary to the motion of the heart , forafmuch as the heart is 
one of the Mufcies, the motion of every one of which abfolutely re- 
quires this hereal Niter, fothat without the fame, even the beating of 
tie Heart cannot be performed. 
