A Guide To The Scientific Knowledge Of Things Familiar - novelonlinefull.com
You’re read light novel A Guide To The Scientific Knowledge Of Things Familiar Part 19 online at NovelOnlineFull.com. Please use the follow button to get notification about the latest chapter next time when you visit NovelOnlineFull.com. Use F11 button to read novel in full-screen(PC only). Drop by anytime you want to read free – fast – latest novel. It’s great if you could leave a comment, share your opinion about the new chapters, new novel with others on the internet. We’ll do our best to bring you the finest, latest novel everyday. Enjoy
A. Because it both _concentrates and reflects the heat of the flame_; in consequence of which, the heat is so greatly increased, _that very little carbon escapes unconsumed_.
CHAPTER VI.
ANIMAL HEAT.
Q. _What is the cause of ANIMAL HEAT?_
A. Animal heat is produced _by the combustion of hydrogen and carbon_ in the capillary veins.
Q. _What are CAPILLARY VEINS?_
A. Veins _as small as hairs_ running _all over the body_; so called from the Latin word "capilla'ris" (_like a hair_).
Q. _Do these CAPILLARY VEINS run all over the human body?_
A. Yes. Whenever blood _flows from a wound_, some _vein_ must be divided; and as you cannot insert a needle into _any part of the body without bringing blood_, therefore these little veins must run _through every part_ of the human frame.
Q. _How do HYDROGEN gas and CARBON get into these very little veins?_
A. The food we eat is _converted into blood_, and blood contains both _hydrogen_ and _carbon_.
Q. _How does COMBUSTION take place in the veins?_
A. The _carbon of the blood_ combines with the _oxygen of the air we breathe_, and forms into _carbonic acid gas_.
Q. _What BECOMES of this CARBONIC ACID GAS formed in the human blood?_
A. Some of it is _thrown off by the breath_; and the rest of it is _absorbed by the blood_, to keep up the animal heat.
Q. _What is the cause of the COMBUSTION of FIRE?_
A. The _carbon of fuel_ unites with the _oxygen of the air_, and forms _carbonic acid gas_.
Q. _What is the cause of the COMBUSTION of a CANDLE or LAMP?_
A. The _carbon of the oil or tallow_ unites with the _oxygen of the air_, and forms _carbonic acid gas_.
Q. _What is the cause of SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION?_
A. The piled-up goods _ferment from heat and damp_; and (during fermentation) _carbonic acid gas is formed_, as in the two former cases.
Q. _Does the HEAT of the HUMAN BODY arise from the SAME CAUSE as the heat of FIRE?_
A. Yes, precisely. The _carbon of the blood_, combining with the _oxygen of air inhaled_, produces _carbonic acid gas_, which is attended with combustion.
Q. _If animal heat is produced by COMBUSTION, why does not the human body BURN UP like a coal or candle?_
A. It actually does so. Every muscle, nerve, and organ of the body, actually _wastes away like a burning candle_; and (being reduced to air and ashes) is rejected from the system as useless.
Q. _If every bone, muscle, nerve, and organ, is thus consumed by combustion, why is not the BODY entirely CONSUMED?_
A. It would be so, unless the parts destroyed _were perpetually renewed_: but as a lamp will not go out, _so long as it is supplied with fresh oil_; neither will the _body_ be consumed, _so long as it is supplied with sufficient food_.
Q. _When a man is STARVED, what parts of the body go first?_
A. First the _fat_, because it is the most combustible; then the _muscles_; last of all the _brain_; and then the man dies, like a _candle which is burnt out_.
Q. _Why does WANT of sufficient NOURISHMENT often produce MADNESS?_
A. After the _fat and muscles_ of the body have been consumed by animal combustion, the _brain_ is next attacked; and (unless the patient dies) _madness must ensue from starvation_.
Q. _Why does a man SHRINK when STARVED?_
A. A starved man shrinks _just as a fire does_, unless it be supplied with sufficient fuel.
Q. _What is the FUEL of the BODY?_
A. _Food is the fuel of the body_; and the _carbon of the food_ mixing with the _oxygen of the air_, evolves heat in the same way that a fire or candle does.
Q. _Why is EVERY part of the BODY WARM?_
A. As the capillary veins run through every part of the human body, and the combustion of blood _takes place in the capillary veins_, therefore _every part of the body is warm_.
Q. _Why does RUNNING make us WARM?_
A. When we run, _we inhale air more rapidly_; and the rapidity with which we inhale air _fans the combustion of our body_, as a pair of _bellows_ quickens the flame of a common fire.
