PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, LO LONDON: Printed for the SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE; SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORY, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS; 4, ROYAL EXCHANGE; AND BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. 1853 157. C. 25′′ 1. PREFACE. THE Author does not consider any apology necessary for submitting to the public, in a popular form, a subject which is of essential importance to all mankind. Under the auspices of the Society for which he has written it, the present work may find its way into quarters, to which treatises of a similar kind may not have reached, and may be the means of extending a knowledge of the laws which regulate life and health. Should such be the case, and should it thus tend to increase the happiness and well-being of any of his fellow-creatures, the object with which it has been written will be fully realized. 28, FINSBURY CIRCUS, May, 1853. CONTENTS. Health defined.-Frequently dependent on Causes within our Control.-Duty of promoting it in ourselves and others.-Con- Influence of Light.-Upon Vegetation.-Upon Animals and Man.-Injurious Consequences of Deficiency of this Stimulus.— PAGE Influence of Heat on Plants.-On Animals.-Warm and Cold- blooded Animals.-Internal Heat of Animals and Man.-How Air, its importance to Animal and Vegetable Life.—Provi- sions for Respiration in Animals and Man.-Mechanism of Re- spiration in Man.-Chemical Changes induced by it.-Causes that interfere with effective Respiration in the Individual and in Communities.-Ventilation.-Epidemics.-Electrical and Hy- |