The Earth
THE NATURAL EARTH
- Chapter 20 -
The nature and composition of the air
The waters of the oceans and lakes of the continental shelves and the mainland form a kind of condensed air in which animals can live. But this air actually belongs to the body of I lie Earth itself, namely to its outermost crust. That is why ocean water cannot be readily accepted by atmospheric air, except for the part that rises as fog and clouds, as well as the hydrogen that is being released.
Atmospheric air consists of a multitude of different kinds of air which may also be called individual or particular kinds of air.
As far as scientists can determine, the air consists of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and essential nitrogen in certain proportions. II, however, the air consisted only of these four gases, the atmospheric air would hardly be useable. So if the air had no components other than those which are thus far known to scientists, it would be disastrous for the growth of plants, the origin of minerals, and the life of the animal world.
Every plant absorbs, out of the atmospheric air, the particular air that is agreeable to its species, and eliminates all the others. II that were not the case, then no plant would have a specific form or shape or its own taste and smell.
If, however, every plant, according to its own kind, absorbs only one kind of air, there must be as many particular kinds of air as there are consumers. That this is in fact the case is proved by the effect of the particular fragrance of each plant upon the senses and organs of a human being, and even more so by its chemical substance. The fragrance of a rose affects the sense of smell by strengthening the organ of smell; and it sharpens the eyesight. The carnation, however, has an astringent effect upon the sense of smell, and weakens the eyesight. The lily causes the sense of smell to become limp, and in time the stomach will experience nausea. The violet (viola odorata) has a cheerful effect upon the soul through the sense of smell and strengthens the brain, while the dirty-yellow henbane flowers cause a sick feeling, and, when inhaled for a longer period of time, dizziness and dilation of the pupil of the eye.
Can all of this be attributed solely to the four known particular kinds of gas? Can this be accomplished solely by mixing these gases in as many different ways as possible?
No, there have to be many more specific kinds of air.
There are plants in existence that exhale exceedingly harmful air, and, in this air, other plants and even animals would immediately die. Then there are miraculous plants which have the ability to call back the recently departed. Each of these two kinds of plants must absorb out of the air a completely different sort of basic substance in order to bring forth these different effects.
Of how many different ingredients must the atmospheric air be composed in order to serve as nourishment to the multitude of created things, each in accordance with its kind! If, however, plants require for their existence so many different kinds of air out of the original atmospheric air, then how many more kinds of air must there be for animals, so that every animal finds the proper substance to inhale in the air?
Although every animal inhales the atmospheric air as a whole, yet each retains only that which is conducive to its nature; everything else it eliminates.
Once there were plants and animals upon this Earth which now exist no longer. Therefore, new species of plants and animals came into being, which have a certain resemblance to the animals of the past. The mammoth had a certain resemblance to today's elephant, and the giant ox of the past to today's smaller ones. These present animals have a certain resemblance to those of the past, and they belong to the same species, but they do not resemble them in size and form. There is also presently a species of tree, especially in the tropics, which resembles the giant trees of times past, but such are not the trees they once were.
These changes came into being because the earlier giant species could no longer find the proper nourishment in the atmospheric air. That is why they eventually became extinct: because one fundamental airy substance no longer existed. Instead, another substance was added which did not exist before. (?)This is also the principal reason for newly emerging diseases which have a certain similarity to those which existed in earlier times. However, the remedies that healed these earlier ailments fail today. A new ailment is the consequence of a lack of one fundamental substance in the air, which disappeared through its own process and did not reproduce itself again. Therefore, one must search to find a remedy which contains the missing fundamental substance through which the new disease may be removed. Since a better knowledge of these circumstances would l)e of substantial benefit to mankind, we should take a look at the causes through which certain fundamental substances in the air either completely or partially become lost while others take their place.