The reason why : $b a careful collection of many hundreds of reasons for things which, though generally believed, are imperfectly understood. A book of condensed scientific knowledge for the million
John Stuart Mill · en
Air is of the first importance to life. Hence it is provided
for us everywhere. We require air every second, water every few
hours, and food at intervals considerably apart. Air is therefore
provided for us everywhere. Whether we stand or sit; whether we
dwell in a valley or upon a mountain; whether we go into the
cellar under our house, or into the garret at the top of it, air
is there provided for us. God, who made it a law that man should
breathe to live, also sent him air abundantly, that he might
comply with that law. And all that is required from man in this
respect is, that he will not shut out God's bounty, but receive it
freely.
As we have employed the idea that if the air were coloured we
should have the opportunity of marking the process of breathing,
let us enlarge upon this, and suppose that every time the air were
returned from the lungs it became of a darker colour, the darkness
denoting increasing impurity. If we placed a man in a room full
of pure air, we should see the air enter his lungs, and sent back
slightly tinged; but this would disperse itself with the other
air of the room and scarcely be perceptible. As the man continued
to breathe, however, each measure of air returning from the lungs
would serve to pollute that abiding in the room, until at last the
whole mass would become cloudy and discoloured, and we should see
such a change as occurs when water is turned from a pure and clear
state into a muddy condition. The air does become polluted with
each respiration, and although it is colourless, it is as impure
as if with every breath given off from the lungs it became of a
dark colour in proportion to its impurity.
Thus we see how important it is that we should provide ourselves
with pure air; and that, in seeking warmth and comfort in
our houses, we should provide an adequate supply of fresh
atmosphere--because it is more vital to life than either water or
food.
Indeed, so constant is our requirement of air, that _if we had
to fetch it, for purposes of breathing, or simply to raise it
to our mouths, as we do water when we drink, it would be the
sole occupation of our lives_--_we could do nothing else_. For
this reason, God has sent the air to us, and not required us to
go to the air. And the great error of man is, that in too many
instances, he shuts off the supply from himself, and brings on
disease and pain by inhaling a poisonous compound, instead of air
of a healthful kind, which bears an adaptation to the wants of
life.
[Verse: "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."--I
CORINTHIANS XV.]