An essay concerning the effects of air on human bodies / By John Arbuthnot.

  • John Arbuthnot
Date:
MDCCLI [1751]
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Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: An essay concerning the effects of air on human bodies / By John Arbuthnot. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    An Essay concerning the II. Air is the principal Inftrument of Nature in all its Operations on and with in the Surface of the Earth, except Magnetifm and Gravity. No Vegetable nor Animal, terreftrial nor aquatic, can be produc’d, live, or grow, without Air. Eggs cannot be hatch’d, nor Vegetables grow in a Void. Water, purg’d of Air, will not make Plants vegetate, at leaft very ilowly, and that only by fome Quantity of Air that is left in the Wa ter. Air is the chief Inftrument in the Oeconomy of Foflils; all Operations, natural and artificial, on Foflils, depend upon Air; for without the Afliftance of Air, Fire and Heat ceafe. In a word, Air is the principal Inftrument in the Generation, Accretion, Refolution, and Corruption of all terreftrial Bodies; for it enters into the Compofition of all Fluids and Solids, all of which gene rate or produce Air in great Quantities : Oak has generated 4 of its Weight in Air, Peafe as much, Indian Wheat i ; Subftances oily and tenacious either do not produce it fo much, or part not with it fo eafily; as Honey, which does not yield i >or Bees-wax, which yields -gg ; Minerals yield a great Quantity of Air, Coal 4 of its Weight, Antimony about 28 times its Bulk, acid Spirits in Solu tion