Respiration.—­Pursuing the same line of study, we turn for a moment to the relation of the circulatory system to the function of supplying the body with oxygen gas.  Oxygen is absolutely needed to carry on the functions of life; for these, like those of the engine, are based upon the oxidation of the fuel.  The oxygen is derived from the air in the simplest manner.  During its circulation the blood is brought for a fraction of a second into practical contact with air.  This occurs in the lungs, where there are great numbers of air cells, in the walls of which the blood-vessels are distributed in great profusion.  While the blood is in these vessels it is not indeed in actual contact with the air, but is separated from it by only a very thin membrane—­so thin that it forms no hindrance to the interchange of gases.  These air-cells are kept filled with air by simple muscular action.  By the contraction of the muscles of the thorax the thoracic cavity is enlarged, and as a result air is sucked in in exactly the same way that it is sucked into a pair of bellows when expanded.  Then the contraction of another set of muscles decreases the size of the thoracic cavity, and the air is squeezed out again.  The action is just as truly mechanical as is that of the blacksmith’s bellows.

The relation of the air to the blood is just as simple.  In the blood there are various chemical ingredients, among which is one known as haemoglobin.  It does not concern us at present to ask where this material comes from, since this question is part of the broader question, the origin of the machine, to be discussed in the second part of this work.  The haemoglobin is a normal constituent of the blood, and, being red in colour, gives the red colour to the blood.  This haemoglobin has peculiar relations to oxygen.  It can be separated from the blood and experimented upon by the chemist in his laboratory.  It is found that when haemoglobin is brought in contact with oxygen, under sufficient pressure it will form a chemical union with it.  This chemical union is, however, what the chemist calls a loose combination, since it is readily broken up.  If the oxygen is above a certain rather low pressure, the union will take place; while if the pressure be below this point the union is at once destroyed, and the oxygen leaves the haemoglobin to become free.  All of this is a purely chemical matter, and can be demonstrated at will in a test tube in the laboratory.  But this union and disassociation is just what occurs as the foundation of respiration.  The blood coming to the lungs contains haemoglobin, and since the oxygen pressure in the air is quite high, this haemoglobin unites at once with a quantity of oxygen while the blood is flowing through the air-vessels.  The blood is then carried off in the circulation to the active tissues like the muscles.  These tissues are constantly using oxygen to carry on their life processes, and consequently at all times use up about