The Chautauquan, Vol. 03, February 1883: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Promotion of True Culture.; Organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle.Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
History
The Chautauquan, Vol. 03, February 1883: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Promotion of True Culture.; Organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle.
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Chautauqua Institution -- Periodicals; Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle -- Periodicals
Now this is how the furnace of the living body is kept smouldering on
in its gentle and even way. Little blasts of air are constantly puffed
in upon the burning fuel. That out-and-in play of your chest as you
breathe,—that is the puffing of air blasts into certain chambers of
your living laboratory, to keep up its smouldering fires. The more
quickly and deeply you breathe, the warmer your body becomes; and the
more slowly and softly you breathe, the colder that body remains. The
same action which blows a fresh wind through the living frame to clear
away its impure vapors, also serves to fan its hidden flames, and keep
its fuel burning. When the breathing is stopped the fires of the body
go out, just as those in a common furnace do, when their air-blasts are
arrested, and the body becomes dead cold.
You will remember that when the fresh air is drawn into your lungs
as you breathe, it enters a large quantity of little cavities or
chambers, which have, all of them, a fine net-work of the supply-pipes
stretched out upon their walls; and that as the blood rushes on in its
course through these supply-pipes, it sucks air into itself from the
air-cavities, and carries it, in its own streams, to all parts of the
living structure. Air goes with the blood to that strong force-pump,
the heart, and is then pumped out with the blood to every crevice and
fibre of the body. Every part of the body therefore receives, by means
of the supply-pipes and in the blood, heat-fanning air, as well as
supporting food.
When air reaches the living flesh and nerves, by thus flowing to them
in the blood-streams of the supply pipes, it sets up those changes
of substance in their structures which lead to the production of
movement, and feeling, and other kinds of living power. When it reaches
the dissolved fuel, contained in the blood and in the various little
furnace-chambers of the laboratory, it sets up those changes in the
fuel which lead to the production of warmth. The fuel is slowly burned
in the blood and in the chambers of the frame, and there gives out
warmth, as a fire does whilst it is burning in a grate. This warmth
consequently heats the blood, and the warm blood carries its heat
wherever it goes. The entire body thus becomes as warm as the blood, or
nearly so.
Now, where do you think all the heat originally comes from, that is
procured from burning fuel? The heat is stored away in the fuel, as
one of the ingredients of its composition, until it is burned. But
where was the heat obtained from, which is stored up in the fuel? Of
course, when the fuel was made, that heat-store had to be supplied to
it, as well as its other ingredients. First let us see when and how
the fuel was made, and perhaps we shall then be able more perfectly to
understand this matter of its warming qualities and power.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account