92 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
ill tlie form of perspiration. Tliis explains wliy persons in 
Arctic regions consume such enormous quantities of food in 
comparison with those in more temperate latitudes. In order 
to keep up the natural heat of the body (which is invariably the 
same — 99° 5' Fahr.) in the midst of the intense cold of the sur- 
rounding media, it is necessary for considerable quantities of 
fuel to be rapidly burned in the body, so as to restore the 
amount of heat lost by radiation; and not only is the total 
weight of food which is required in the Arctic regions vastly 
greater than that consumed in warm climates, but the former 
contains a greater per-centage of combustible matter ; the 
fruits which constitute so large a proportion of the food of the 
inhabitant of the South containing not more than about twelve 
per cent, of carbon, whilst the blubber or fat which forms the 
staple diet of the Esquimaux or Lap, contains nearly eighty per 
cent, of that combustible. Plenty of food, therefore, takes the 
place of clothing, in the same manner as warm raiment is a 
partial substitute for food. The warmer we are clad the less 
fuel it is necessary to burn in order to keep up the supply of 
animal heat lost by radiation ; whereas, if Ave were to Avalk 
about naked or were exposed to an Arctic temperature, Ave 
should be enabled to consume tAventy or thirty pounds of 
whale’s fat together Avitli several quarts of train oil and brandy 
Avithout difficulty, finishing off AAnth a feAv talloAV candles by way 
of dessert, the combustible matters here indicated being not 
more than sufficient to supply the enormous radiation of heat 
consequent upon a difference of perhaps 120 degrees betAveen 
the temperature of the body and that of the external air. 
The analogy between the life of man and the flame of a candle 
or stove, is thus seen to be something more than a mere fanciful 
theory. Warmth and vitality are produced equally in each case by 
the combination of combustible matter with the oxygen present in 
the atmosphere ; and in either case, if the supply of air be in- 
sufficient or vitiated, a similar resxdt Avill follow ; for the pale, 
sickly, flickering flame of a candle burning in an atmosphere 
deficient in the necessary supporter of combustion, or containing 
noxious gases, is strictly parallel to the delicate, sickly, etiolated 
appearance caused in human beings by an impure atmosphere, 
whilst the ultimate result is the same in both cases, namely, the 
extinction of vitality, or death. 
An attentive examination into the phenomena of combustion, 
as exemplified in the burning of a candle, shows us, therefore, that 
not only is it necessary to take account of the food which we eat, 
that is to say, of the fuel with the combustion of which we keep 
up the requisite temperature ; but that a careful attention to the 
quality of the air we breathe is no less important to our health and 
comfort. A candle burning in a close room not only consumes 
