Familiar letters on chemistry, ed. by J. Gardner

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Page 56 - Thus starch, gum, sugar, beer, wine, spirits, &c., furnish no element capable of entering into the composition of blood, muscular fibre, or any part which is the seat of the vital principle.
Page 64 - The mutual action between the elements of the food and the oxygen conveyed by the circulation of the blood to every part of the body is the source of animal heat. "All living creatures whose existence depends on the absorption of oxygen possess within themselves a source of heat independent of surrounding objects.
Page 32 - One country purchases only from absolute necessity from another, which excludes her own productions from her markets. " Instead of the tallow and linseed oil of Russia, Great Britain now uses palm oil and cocoa-nut oil of other countries. Precisely analogous is the combination of workmen against their employers, which has led to the construction of many admirable machines for superseding manual labour. In commerce and industry every imprudence carries with it its own punishment; every oppression...
Page 69 - If we were to go naked, like certain savage tribes, or if in hunting or fishing we were exposed to the same degree of cold as the Samoyedes, we should be able with ease to consume 10 Ibs.
Page 179 - What a curious and interesting subject for contemplation ! In the remains of an extinct animal world England is to find the means of increasing her wealth in agricultural produce, as she has already found the great support of her manufacturing industry in fossil fuel...
Page 101 - ... kills without eating. A nation of hunters, on a limited space, is utterly incapable of increasing its numbers beyond a certain point, which is soon attained. The carbon necessary for respiration must be obtained from the animals, of which only a limited number can live on the space supposed. These animals collect from plants the constituents of their organs and of their blood, and yield them, in turn, to the savages who live by the chase alone. They, again, receive this food unaccompanied by...
Page 75 - ... exertion of any kind, on the temperature of the air, and finally, on the presence or absence of water. Through the skin and lungs there escapes a certain quantity of water, and as the presence of water is essential to the continuance of the vital motions, its dissipation hastens death. Cases have occurred, in which a full supply of water being accessible to the sufferer, death has not occurred till after the lapse of twenty days. In one case, life was sustained in this way for the period of sixty...
Page 103 - Cultivation is the economy of force. Science teaches us the simplest means of obtaining the greatest effect with the smallest expenditure of power, and with given means to produce a maximum of force. The unprofitable exertion of power, the waste of force in agriculture, in other branches of industry, in science, or in social economy, is characteristic of the savage state, or of the want of knowledge.
Page 85 - The second nitrogenised compound remains dissolved in the juice after the separation of the fibrine. It does not separate from the juice at the ordinary temperature, but is instantly coagulated when the liquid containing it is heated to the boiling point. "When the clarified juice of nutritious vegetables, such as cauliflower, asparagus...
Page v - The Letters contained in this little volume embrace some of the most important points of the Science of Chemistry, in their application to Natural Philosophy, Physiology, Agriculture, and Commerce. LETTER-WRITER, The Useful...

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