{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_59651/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_59651","id":"gutenberg_59651","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59651","summary":null,"tags":["Bible and science","Category: History - Other","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","God","Rationalism"],"text":"Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project\nGutenberg (This file was produced from images generously\nmade available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n THE CREATION OF GOD.\n\n BY\n\n DR. JACOB HARTMANN,\n\n M.D. St. Louis Medical College; Bachelor of Medicine, Toronto\n University;\n M.B. Trinity College, Ontario; Member of the College\n of Physicians and Surgeons, Ontario; Licentiate of the\n Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons,\n Edinburgh, Scotland; Member of the\n County Medical Society of\n New York, etc., etc.\n\n\n New York:\n THE TRUTH SEEKER COMPANY,\n 28 Lafayette Place.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n CHAPTER I. The Universal Aspect, 9\n II. The Earth, 21\n III. The Chemical Aspect, 39\n IV. The Sun, 51\n V. Genesis--The Creation, 67\n VI. Genesis--The Garden of Eden, 80\n VII. The Deluge, 92\n VIII. The Scriptural God--The Creation, 101\n IX. The Creation of God--Abraham, 112\n X. Moses--Confirmation of the Idea of God, 119\n XI. Samuel the Kingmaker, 138\n XII. God Save the King, 147\n XIII. Jehova Takes a Rest, 170\n XIV. The End of National Life, 178\n XV. The Christian Era, 200\n XVI. Organic Life--Vegetable, 212\n XVII. Organic Life--Animal, 221\n The Master Tissues.\n The Muscular Tissues.\n The Nervous Tissues.\n XVIII. Food and Food-Substances, 242\n XIX. Elimination of Waste Substances, 250\n In General.\n By the Lungs.\n By the Skin.\n By the Kidneys.\n XX. Digestion, Nutrition, 278\n XXI. The Elementary Substances, 300\n XXII. Alcohol and Its Effects on the System, 310\n XXIII. The Soul--What is it? 321\n The Mind.\n XXIV. Sin and Salvation, 340\n XXV. The Ecclesiastical Kindergarten, 353\n XXVI. Rational Review, 372\n XXVII. Visions--Bible Dreams-Revelations, 380\n XXVIII. The Planetary Gods, 392\n XXIX. Every Man His Own God, 403\n Tables { Gateways to Knowledge.\n { Morals: Whence They Spring.\n XXX. The Non Credo, 418\n Rules for Human Conduct.\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n Map of the Intellectual Faculties--The Mind, opp. title-page.\n Map of Theological Retrogression, opp. p. 390\n Map of the Deluge and Garden of Eden, opp. p. 432\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\n \"Si les nommes \u00e9taient capables de gouverner toute\n la conduite de leur vie par un dessein regl\u00e9, si\n la fortune leur \u00e9tait toujours favorable, leur \u00e2me\n serait libre de toute superstition.\"\n\n --Spinoza, 1650.\n\n \"Il n'y a pas de moyen plus efficace que la\n Superstition pour gouverner la multitude.\"\n\n --Quinte Curce.\n\n \"But in the temple of their hireling hearts\n Gold is a living god, and rules in scorn\n All earthly things but virtue.\"\n\n \"Falsehood demands but gold to pay the pangs\n Of outraged conscience; for the slavish priest\n Sets no great value on his hireling faith.\"\n\n \"But human pride\n Is skillful to invent most serious names\n To hide its ignorance.\"\n\n --Shelley.\n\n\nAt this time, in this age of agitation, unrest, dissatisfaction,\nand doubt among the masses, and all classes, in every civilized part\nof the globe, in all communities and human organizations, in church\nand out of church, ecclesiastical bodies of all shades; besides\nthe vast number of theories and doctrines of a popular socialistic,\nanti-poverty, communistic order, etc., a prevailing skepticism has\nseized the minds of men, as to the truth, validity, and stability\nof the entire religious fabric. The unsettled condition of the minds\nof men, the disturbing elements of the laboring classes, the church\nquarrels, clerical litigations, disputes, wrangling, and mutual\nhate about scriptural authenticity, its truth and supernaturalism,\nthe heresies and blasphemies, the unsatisfactory condition of the\nRoman church, the constant and unremitting papal correspondence, the\npetty bickering, the selfish zeal, the greed for money, the anxiety to\nraise funds for all kinds of ecclesiastical establishments, naturally\narouse suspicion whether the idea of a God is not going out of fashion,\nwhether the clergy has not lost faith in the Book, whether the Jew,\nthe Jehovistic aristocrat, has not been the primary inventor of\nthese supernatural wares, whether the Christian theologians are not\nbeginning to lose their sway and grip and their pretended supernatural\nauthority over their ignorant devotees. We may ask frankly, honestly,\ntruthfully, and in perfect good faith:\n\nHas not the time arrived for a grand and human reformation? For new\nmethods of teaching, for new and more accurate ideas, for a more\nprecise knowledge of the natural, for instructions in absolute facts,\nfor a more thorough understanding of natural laws, for a broader\ncomprehension of man himself and his surroundings, for an abandonment\nof all the supernatural subterfuge, ignorance, and superstition, of\nreligious fables, miracles, false theories, and misleading doctrines\nas to God, with their immense sacrifice of human life.\n\nWithin the limits of the church nothing is to be hoped for, nor can\nanything be expected, except the greedy grasping of the hard-earned\nmoney of the ignorant laboring classes, the fanatical devotees, to\nsustain and uphold a mercenary priesthood, a rotten supernatural system\nthat has proved so pernicious to mankind. Europe, at one time the\nrich pasture for the holy Roman Catholic apostolic church, no longer\npours the milk and honey into the supreme pontiff's lap as of yore. In\na letter dated \"Rome, Feb. 3d,\" Ledochowski writes of Leo XIII.'s\nsolicitude for the good of religion in these parts: \"The supreme\npontiff has many reasons of sadness on account of the distresses\nwhich the impudent endeavors of wicked men are trying to bring upon\nChristianity, especially in Europe. On the other hand, it is a great\nconsolation to him to see the increase of Catholicism, with God's aid,\nelsewhere in the world.\" Of course Ledochowski signifies the pope's\ngreat admiration for the wonderful resources--for this flourishing,\nprolific, and generous American milch-cow. The Roman administration,\nwith that marvelous business tact so characteristic of that church,\nturns its tender attention, with all its pontifical flummery and\ngrotesque maneuvers, to insinuate its methods upon this republic,\nto overawe us with a blaze of stupefaction, profounder ignorance and\nsuperstition, by honoring America with a resident tax-collector, and\nto save Gods, their divinities, with the Christ, Holy Ghost, Virgin\nImmaculate, saints, angels, and all the other theological absurdities.\n\nIs it not high time for man and woman to learn that their dependence\non any supernatural aid is futile, their prayers and appeals to\nan imaginary God worse than useless, their cringing fear for the\nso-called sacred authority cowardly, their submission to priestly\nrule and authority slavish, and the inculcating of biblical church\nlore stupefying? Is it not time for man and woman to comprehend\nthemselves, their powers, the uses of their several organs, their\nfunctions, and the natural laws that govern them? That ideas, thought,\nconsciousness, intellect, understanding, imagination, knowledge, etc.,\netc., are but the functions of nervous matter? That everything we know,\nhave discovered, developed, or produced, is the natural product of\nnerve tissue.\n\nIn reviewing the history of this theologico-ecclesiastical\norganization--this Jehovistic Christianized system, from the very\nbeginning to the present time, we find that this many-shaded,\never-changeable, greedy, grasping creed has done during the four\nthousand years of its existence a vast amount of mischief and little\nor no good. It had to be civilized instead of civilizing. Instead of\nelevating their followers, priests rather made every effort to keep\nthem in subjection, steeped in ignorance and superstition.\n\nIn presenting these pages to the public, it is for the purpose of\nexposing some simple intelligible facts, some wholesome truths,\nsome few scientific revelations discovered by men of eminence,\nknowledge, and wisdom, regarding ourselves, this terrestrial globe,\nand the universe at large of which we are part. It is not possible in\nmodern times to force men to believe, to accept the impossible. At\nthis period of mental transition, the tendency is to think,\nto reason, to gain knowledge and truth, to be self-supporting,\nself-sustaining, independent, free, and untrammeled by barbaric\ndelusion and terrorism. They no longer fear and cower before a shadow\nof some supernatural imaginary thing or being that has no existence\nand never had.\n\nMan must learn to know that man is an evolution of nature's forces,\na product of this terrestrial globe; that all the physical and\nphysiological phenomena of his fine muscular and nervous system are\nthe natural products and functions of his organization; that whether\nsoul, spirit, God or Jehovah, they were evolved in the brain of man;\nthat man, as man, with all his endowments, faculties, and capabilities,\nis part and parcel of this earth, a natural result of natural causes,\nand the supernatural, the God or gods, is the natural product of\nman's working faculties.\n\nThe scientific world has long since discarded every idea of anything\nsupernatural, declared the impossibility, falsity, and absurdity of\nthe scriptural fable, and that God, Jehovah, with all the ingenious\npriestly inventions, has proved itself pernicious and oppressive to\nhumanity and contrary to intelligence, reason, and common sense. Man\nto know his rights must know himself, his nature and his natural\nsurroundings, and if he knows himself, he will learn that God did\nnot create man, but that man created God, and that every man is and\nmust be his own God to be a true man. Know the natural, never mind\nthe supernatural.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CREATION OF GOD.\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nUNIVERSAL ASPECT.\n\n\nThe beginning of intellectual development consists of observant\nexperience. By frequent and repeated observation man acquired a\nfamiliarity with the subjects of that process--a clearer and better\nunderstanding of them.\n\nThus, the Chaldean shepherds, while minding their flocks of sheep\nand cattle, lazily and continuously watched the sky and starry hosts,\nand by degrees recognized, and acquired a knowledge of, many of the\nstars, laying the foundation for astronomy. Authorities state that\nthey composed seventy-two volumes on that science, these books dating\nas far back as 2,540 B.C., treating of the polar star, Venus, Mars,\nand so on. It is possible that many errors attended their observations;\nmany mistakes may have entered their explanations. That was natural,\nconsidering the remoteness of the times and the lack of facilities.\n\nKnowledge and truth never come easily. The former is very hard to\nacquire, the latter very difficult to discover.\n\nEvery truth, every new idea, has to battle against old established\nnotions. If the new idea is persisted in, which is ordinarily the case,\na struggle must ensue. The old idea resists, refuses to yield, no\nmatter how false, ridiculous, or pernicious it may be. Yield, however,\nit must, and does in the course of time. Truth must win in the long\nrun, though it has to fight its way through depths of ignorance,\nprejudice, and superstition, sustained by hate, bigotry, terrorism,\nand persecution.\n\nAs century after century passed in the Dark Ages, apostles of science\nand truth appeared, here and there, now and then, calm, dignified,\npatient, persistent and persevering, untiring, self-denying,\nmen of superior intellect, unswayed and undismayed by existing\nauthorities. These men gave us, though not a complete, a very\nample revelation of nature, unfolding its mysteries, explaining its\nphenomena, making known the truth as far as men had been able to\ndiscover up to their time.\n\nNature with its laws man had to observe carefully in order to learn\nto unravel its secrets, its workings, its forces. There is no way to\nreveal them except through the mind of man. There are no means of\nknowing or discovering the intricacies and subtleties of nature's\nhidden and inexhaustible resources but by careful thought, reason,\nconstant study and application. Not a single problem has ever been\nsolved--in fact, one cannot be solved--except by acquired intellectual\npowers, developed by the refining process of education of the great\nnervous centers of man.\n\nMany scholars have devoted and still devote their time, their energy,\ntheir life, in search of new facts, new truths, concerning the stars,\nplanetary system, and this terrestrial globe we live on especially.\n\nCenturies before Christ's time, and after, men were engaged in\ndeveloping the science of Astronomy--Anaximander, Hipparchus, Ptolemy,\nCopernicus, Galileo, Newton, Herschel, and many others. These men\nwere the apostles of truth, the teachers of facts, and some of them\nwere martyrs to science.\n\nThe great civilizer, the press of modern times, was recently filled\nwith accounts about the planet Mars, comet, etc., giving all the\ndetailed information obtainable.\n\nEveryone who reads the newspapers learns something about Mars, and\nventures to give his opinion, whether it is like the earth--inhabited,\nhas seas or atmosphere, etc. So that, whatever new facts are revealed,\nnew truths announced, the minds of men are made so much richer.\n\nKnowledge, the progress of science, the discoveries of important\nfacts, the improvements of political, social, or civil laws, do\nnot come to us spontaneously, nor do they come to us suddenly in\noverpowering quantities; it is a process of gradual acquirement, a\nslow accumulation, to which every generation contributes its quota\nof observation and experience that makes up the total wealth of\naggregate thought, and is handed down from generation to generation,\nour common inheritance.\n\nThis common inheritance is neither all true nor all good. A large\nproportion that has been handed down to us by the ancients is not\ntrue or good, though it is believed to be true and good.\n\nThe revelations of absolute truths, of actual facts, are of more recent\ndate--discoveries made within the last few centuries. The spurious,\nso-called revelations are the works of antiquity, which are not based\non truth or fact or knowledge or experience. The mental faculties of\npristine men were primitive, and their ideas were as primitive. They\nlived in an age of infancy; it was all surprise, wonder, astonishment,\nand miracle.\n\nWhen Kepler discovered the law that \"Planets revolve in ellipses with\nthe sun at one focus,\" he worked hard for many days, and after many\ntrials succeeded. He also discovered a second law, which he defines,\n\"A line connecting the center of the earth with the center of the\nsun passes over equal spaces in equal times;\" and his third law,\n\"The squares of the times of revolutions of the planets about the sun\nare proportioned to the center of their mean distance from the sun.\"\n\nNo one ever claimed for Kepler, nor has he laid claim himself, that\nhe was inspired by God, or received the idea through any supernatural\nagency.\n\nThe hostile and bitter opposition that Galileo met on the part of\nthe Christian Church is too well known; but the importance of his\ndiscoveries, and the truth, remains.\n\nAll intelligent persons ought to understand Newton's law of\ngravitation. If they understood the full import and significance of\nthat law, they would never believe in the absurd miracles of Moses,\nJoshua, Elijah, Christ and Company. The law: \"Every particle of matter\nin the universe attracts every other particle of matter with a force\ndirectly proportional to its quantity of matter, and decreasing as\nthe square of the distance increases.\"\n\nIt is most remarkable--that man discovering great truths, concerning\nwhich there has never been any dispute, or controversy, or fight;\nthat stand, unaltered and unchanged, forever. Such men have not been\ninspired by God, Jehovah, Christ, or the Holy Ghost, or anything\nsupernatural. They have accomplished their works by their powers\nof observation, great mental efforts, skillful explanation and\nelucidation, accomplished by hard and untiring work.\n\nIt is astonishing that, in the presence of so many revealed natural\ntruths, so many ascertained scientific facts, and numerous discoveries\nin this century, which is claimed to be much advanced in civilization,\nintelligent persons--teachers, preachers, priests, and those laying\nclaim to scholarship--still believe that the visionary figures, the\nproduct of distorted imagination or hallucination, of men like Isaiah,\nEzekiel, etc., were of supernatural origin.\n\nThe incredible stories found in the Bible, the fabulous inventions\nconcocted in the imagination of some person or persons away in Chaldea\nmany thousand years ago, are still taught to be true, and the children\nin the Sunday-schools are instructed to believe these absurdities.\n\nThe undue haste exhibited in the first chapter of Genesis, in\ncreating the earth, etc., is one of those wonderful puzzles to\na child's mind. It is a something that is not easily explained\nat length to young people without awaking the suspicion of its\nimpossibility, and requires considerable ingenuity to satisfy\ninquiring minds concerning it. The supernaturalists get over it\nby a final and complete answer, that admits of no argument--that\n\"With God everything is possible.\" That being absolutely untrue,\nthe answer explains nothing, but has a tendency to stupefy the child\nand hinder its educational advancement, for the reason that such an\nanswer puts a stop to all farther inquiry. This really has been the\neffect of this pernicious teaching for many centuries.\n\nAll the stories, fables, myths, handed down to us from antiquity\nmay be classed in the same category. There are many of them--yes, a\nperfect wilderness. All are true in part, but false as a whole. Upon\nclose examination we find glimmerings of truth in all of them. The\ndifference lies in the kind, not in the quality. In the biblical story\nof creation, the writers had evidently observed, and knew, there were\nan earth, water, stars, and something above the earth which they called\nheaven, the atmosphere. That was the limit of their knowledge. They\nknew they existed, and things and objects that surrounded them existed,\nand they made an attempt in their primitive method to account for the\nmanner in which these things came into existence. They could know\nnothing about it, because the most important discoveries were made\nthousands of years later.\n\nHesiod, 900 B.C., in his \"Theogonia,\" invokes the Muses who inhabit\nthe heavenly mansions, and whose knowledge of generation and birth\nhe had formerly sung: \"Tell, ye celestial powers, how first the gods\nand world were made; the rivers, and the boundless sea, with its\nstrong surge. Also, the bright, shining stars, and wide-stretched\nheaven above, and all the gods that sprang from them, givers of good\nthings.\" The Muses answer: \"First of all existed chaos; next in order\nthe broad-bosomed Earth; then Love appeared, the most beautiful of\nimmortals. From chaos sprang Erebus and dusky night, and from night\nand Erebus came Ether and smiling day.\"\n\nHe gives a further description, which, like the foregoing, we know\nto be fiction, yet to contain elements of truth. We are not asked to\nbelieve all. He says:\n\n\n \"Look up, and view the immense expanse of heaven,\n The boundless Ether in his genial arms\n Clasping the earth. Him callest thou\n God and Jove.\"\n\n\nIt is no easy matter for a man of ordinary education to form a notion\nof the mental crudeness of the lower type of the human race of our\nown times; it is far more difficult for him to divest his mind of all\nits acquisitions through study and observation, and reduce his ideas\nto the level of those progenitors of his race, the men of antiquity.\n\nWhen men had to struggle with savage beasts, it required superior\nintelligence to preserve themselves from destruction. That might\nhave led to the worship of the strongest animals, such as the lion\nand the tiger. But no sooner did man learn the use of iron, which\nenabled him to kill these his gods, proving himself superior to the\nthing he worshiped, than these gods were thrown aside.\n\nSo long as man was unable to explain the mysterious appearances of the\nsun, moon, and stars, he endowed them with his own intelligence. He\nworshiped what was to him incomprehensible, mighty, wonderful; made\nimages representing their phenomena or forces for his adoration. In\nhis mind he pictured the sun as a warrior clad in golden panoply,\nthe pale moon he regarded as the queen, and the stars as an immense\nhost of spirits and heroes. Some interpreted the sun to be the child of\ndarkness, the morning the bride of heaven, the clouds a fairy network,\nand the heat a friend of man; when the heat was very intense, then\nthe sun was slaying his children. They would liken the dark clouds\nwhich rested on the earth to a terrible being whom they named the\nSnake or Dragon, that shut up the waters in his prisonhouse. When\nthe thunder rolled they said that this hateful monster was uttering\nhis hard riddles; and when, at last, the rain burst forth, they said\nthat the bright sun had slain his enemy, and brought the stream of\nlife for the thirsting earth.\n\nProfessor Max M\u00fcller says: \"He begins to lift up his eyes; he stares\nat the tent of heaven, and asks, Who supports it? He opens his ears\nto the winds, and asks them, Whence and whither? He is awakened from\ndarkness and slumber by the light of the sun, and him whom his eyes\ncannot behold, and who seems to grant him the daily pittance of his\nexistence, he calls his life, his health, his brilliant Lord and\nProtector. He gives names to all the powers of nature.\"\n\nAll sorts of names were invented to designate any particular force,\nphenomenon, or characteristic. In the Vedas the sun has twenty\ndifferent names, each one descriptive of the sun or its aspect. In\nPersia the blazing sun was adored, and altars smoked perpetually of\nfire. In Gaul and Britain pillars were raised to the sun, altars to\nthe moon, and fires were heaped under sacrificial caldrons to Cardwen,\nthe earth-goddess.\n\nMan's ideas of course underwent modifications as civilization\nadvanced. The religious idea had taken root and elaborated\nramifications, and laws were evolved to govern them. The sun of\nprosperity shone; communities grew stronger and more numerous;\nfrom the worship of the physical laws of nature, the laws governing\nmorality became involved. Thus morals invaded nations, over which they\nenthroned their gods. Every nation elaborated its own details, and\nslowly took its relative position. As these gods grew in importance\nmen assumed the responsibility to guard them, and the function\nto attend them. Thus a class called priests were chosen, elected,\nor self-appointed to minister to them. These functionaries at the\nsame time assumed the moral and political guidance of nations or\ncommunities, and individuals. In this manner arose hundreds upon\nhundreds of Gods: Io, Isis, Jupiter, Juno, etc., etc.\n\nThe qualities of the gods, like the qualities of men, were good and\nbad. They were good and evil, light and dark, life and death, and were\narranged to suit the time and occasion. When laws were established\nto govern society, obedience to these laws was declared to be right,\ndisobedience wrong. Men learned this; they became conscious of what\nwas right and what was wrong. The ministration to these gods was\nacknowledged to be a righteous act. Rules were established to prevent\nany violation or infringement of the duty due to these gods. A trespass\nin violation of anything considered sacred was regarded as an evil--a\nsin. Slowly the consciousness of sin, of doing wrong, of violating\nthe law, was recognized and established, and the attitude men assumed\ntowards the gods, or their conduct towards them, was regarded as\nmoral holiness, sanctity, or piety. The evolution of images, idols,\ngods and goddesses, was not the work of a day, but of very many\ncenturies. The same may be said of sacrifices, worship, ceremonies,\nthe laws concerning the same, holiness, sin, good and evil, sanctity,\nsacrilege, divinity, blasphemy, etc., etc.\n\nTheologians, as well as theological philosophers and theorists,\nfinding their pet notion of a god strangely interfered with and\ndisturbed by the advancing progress in the knowledge of the natural\nsciences, bring to their aid additional proof to demonstrate the\nexistence of a god, viz., that all races of men, wherever found,\nsavage, barbarian, Indian, African, etc., on the different parts\nof the earth's surface, believe in a something higher and greater\nor more powerful than themselves, a spirit, a soul, a supernatural\nbeing. Unfortunately for their argument, this mental condition\nthat is ascribed to the barbarians, etc., as being instinctive or\ninnate--that is, this supernatural element--this having an idea of\nsomething they do not understand--proves the contrary, that there\nis no truth in their assumption. The very fact that they have gone\nthrough that process, or are going through it, shows it a kind of\neducational distemper of a lower order that all primitive races have\nto pass. As children who learn to read must first know their A B C,\nit is the road that leads to a higher grade of thought. They begin\nin surprise and wonder at the natural, concerning which they know\nnothing. They fear, they adore the forces they cannot overcome. They\nmake images of them in their likeness and worship them. When, however,\nthey have learned through experience to overpower them, they cease to\nrespect them. New forms are adopted, modifications made, and lastly\nso changed that but a mere shadow of the original remains.\n\nAll races began in a similar fashion, varying in form and method. The\nsun, clouds, atmosphere, seasons, oceans, thunder, and all other\nphenomena in nature--the inability to account for the existence of\nthese led to worship, sacrifice, etc.; and images, idols, gods,\noriginated; and in connection with them, stories, fables, myths,\nand fictions were supplied by the officiating priests or persons in\nattendance. The fanciful creations of the imagination hold good and\nwill hold good so long as we do not know anything of the realities\nof life, of nature, of the actualities, of facts, of truth. But when\nthe masses shall have learned more of nature, then the visionary,\nthe imaginary god, the heirloom and heritage of our antiquated\nforefathers, will be thrown aside as the images were by Abraham,\nthe idols dismissed or discarded later. The relics, the remnants,\nof this barbarism still have a hold on the minds of men.\n\nOur entire religious fabric rests upon the creation as related in the\nBible, handed down to us as the universally acknowledged text-book\nof all knowledge. The time was when it was dangerous to doubt, and\nimperiled one's safety or even life to openly state an opinion contrary\nto the supposed infallible assertions contained in the holy book.\n\nThe man or men who originally wrote that part of Genesis had not the\nremotest idea what he or they were talking about. He or they knew\nnothing of the subject-matter in consideration. The story told is\nlike many other fables that had their origin in those early days of\nwaking humanity.\n\nThe great masses are not very much better off to-day as regards these\nnotions. They still believe in the Bible, and hang their hopes of\nsalvation on its truth. The churches teach it, and it forms part and\nparcel of the church creed.\n\nIt will therefore do no harm to present a few facts--that the holiest\npriest cannot contradict, that the most pious preacher must admit--that\nadmit of no argument or controversy, because absolutely true.\n\nEvery intelligent person knows that we live on this earth; that this\nearth is also called the world, and that this world is a planet;\nthat this planet belongs to a family of planets. This planet of\nours, this earth, belongs to a system of planets known as the solar\nsystem. And the solar system is mainly comprised within the limits of\nthe Zodiacs. By the Zodiacs is meant a belt of the Celestial Sphere. 8\u00b0\non each side of the Ecliptic is styled the Zodiac. This division is\nof very high antiquity, having been in use among the Hindoos and\nEgyptians. The Zodiac is divided into twelve equal parts, of 30\u00b0\neach, called signs, to each of which a fanciful name is given.\n\nThe sun is the center. Around him the planets revolve in ellipses.\n\nThe sun itself has a diameter of 866,000 miles. The major planets\nrevolving around the sun as far as known are as follows:\n\n\n Name. Distance from the sun. Diameter.\n\n Vulcan 13,000,000 miles. unknown.\n Mercury 36,000,000 ,, 3,000 miles.\n Venus 67,000,000 ,, 7,600 ,,\n Earth 93,000,000 ,, 8,000 ,,\n Mars 141,000,000 ,, 4,200 ,,\n Jupiter 483,000,000 ,, 90,000 ,,\n Saturn 886,000,000 ,, 73,000 ,,\n Uranus 1,782,000,000 ,, 33,000 ,,\n Neptune 2,790,000,000 ,, 37,000 ,,\n\n\nIt is not an easy matter to imagine that we are suspended in space;\nbeing held up, not by any visible object, but in accordance with the\nlaws of universal gravitation, whereby each planet attracts every\nother planet and is in turn attracted by all.\n\nThere are a number of minor planets, satellites, a moon, and meteors\nor shooting-stars, and comets, etc., etc.\n\nThe sun, the great central globe, is so vast as to overcome the\nattraction of all the planets, and compel them to circle around him;\nnext we come to the planets, each turning on its axis while it flies\naround the sun in an elliptical orbit; then accompanying them are\nthe satellites or moons, each revolving about its own planet, while\nall whirl in a dizzy waltz about the central orb; next the comets,\nrushing across the planetary orbits at irregular intervals of time\nand space; and finally shooting-stars or meteors, darting hither and\nthither, interweaving all in apparently inextricable confusion. To\nmake the picture more wonderful still, every member is flying with\nan inconceivable velocity, and yet with such accuracy that the solar\nsystem is the most perfect timepiece known.\n\nThe moon's distance from the earth is 239,000 miles; and it has a\ndiameter of 2,160 miles.\n\nThe above gives some idea of the immensity of the solar system. And\nit is but one of the myriads of systems, and our earth a speck amidst\nit. If on a clear night we cast our eyes upwards, we behold a belt of\nclosely dotted stars extending across the sky--the Milky Way. This\ngalaxy, a luminous, cloudlike band, stretches across the heavens\nin a great circle, and contains myriads of stars, densely crowded\ntogether. Herschel remarks that 288,000 stars once passed across\nthe field of his great reflector in forty-one minutes, and says:\n\"Thus we are to think of our own sun as a star of the second or third\nmagnitude, and of our little solar system as plunged far into the\nmidst of the vortex of worlds, a mere atom along that\n\n\n \"'Broad and ample road\n Whose dust is gold and pavement stars.'\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHE EARTH.\n\n\nThis earth we live on is a planet, and belongs to the solar system\nof planets. It shines brightly, and appears to other worlds as other\nplanets do to us. It is nearly 25,000 miles in circumference, and has\na diameter of a little over 8,000 miles. It is five and a half times\ndenser than water, and weighs about 6,096,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons.\n\nThe atmosphere that surrounds this earth is like a shell that is\ntwo hundred to three hundred or more miles in thickness. We live\nat the bottom of an immense ocean of gaseous matter, which envelops\neverything, and presses upon everything with a force which appears,\nat first, perfectly incredible, but whose actual amount admits of\neasy proof. Gravity being, so far as is known, common to all matter,\nit is natural to expect that gases, being material substances,\nshould be acted upon by the earth's attraction, as well as solids\nand liquids. This is really the case, and the result is the weight\nor pressure of the atmosphere, which is nothing more than the effect\nof the attraction of the earth on the particles of air. The amount of\npressure exerted upon every square inch of the surface of the earth,\nand the objects thereon, is from fourteen to fifteen pounds. This\nenormous force is borne without inconvenience by the animal frames,\nby reason of its perfect uniformity in every direction; and it may\nbe doubled, or even tripled, without inconvenience. An important law\nwhich connects the volume occupied by a gas with the pressure made\nupon it, is expressed by Mariotte in the following manner. This law is\nusually called Mariotte's law: \"The volume of gas is inversely as the\npressure; the density and elastic force are directly as the pressure,\nand indirectly as the volume.\"\n\nThis law has been found to be true no matter how rarefied the air.\n\nThe atmosphere, like everything else on earth or connected therewith,\nand like all other planets known, and the earth itself, is composed\nof elements, as we shall see presently.\n\nThe atmospheric air is composed of gases, elementary substances,\nknown by the names of Nitrogen and Oxygen, with variable proportions\nof carbonic acid and watery vapors, and usually a trace of\nammonia. Besides these, there may occasionally be other substances\npresent, depending upon local causes, as the odoriferous principles\nof plants and the miasmata of marshes, etc., etc.\n\nNearly three-fourths of the atmosphere is composed of nitrogen,\nwhile about one-fourth or less is oxygen. The following is the\nrelative proportion:\n\n\n By weight. By measure.\n\n Nitrogen 76.9 79.3\n Oxygen 23.1 20.7\n ----- -----\n 100 100\n\n\nIts specific gravity is unity (1), being the standard with which\nthe density of all gaseous substances is compared. It is 814 times\nlighter than water, and nearly 11,065 times lighter than mercury;\n100 cubic inches weigh 31 grains.\n\nOxygen is necessary to combustion, to the respiration of animals,\nand to various other natural operations, by all of which that gas is\nwithdrawn from the air. It is obvious that its quantity would gradually\ndiminish, unless the tendency of these causes were counteracted by\nsome compensating process. This, to some considerable extent, is\naccomplished by vegetation, as it is found that healthy plants, under\nthe influence of the sun's light, constantly draw carbonic acid from\nthe air, the carbon of which is retained, while the oxygen is returned.\n\nThe atmosphere becomes less and less dense from the surface of the\nearth upwards.\n\nAnimals and vegetables exist in this atmosphere. They cannot exist\nin any other. All living things and beings live on this earth's\ncrust. Vegetables are fixed to the soil of this earth, while animals\nmove freely upon it.\n\nThe earth's crust.--Sir Charles Lyell speaking of this earth's\ncrust says: \"By the 'earth's crust' is meant that small portion of\nthe surface of our planet which is accessible to human observation,\nor on which we are enabled to reason by observations made at or near\nthe surface. These reasonings may extend to a depth of several miles,\nperhaps ten miles; and even then it may be said that such a thickness\nis no more than 1/400 part of the distance from the surface to the\ncenter. The remark is just, but although the dimensions of such a\ncrust are, in truth, insignificant when compared with the entire globe,\nyet they are vast and of magnificent extent in relation to man and to\nthe other organic beings which people our globe. Referring to this\nstandard of magnitude, the geologist may admire the ample limits of\nhis domain, and admit at the same time that not only the exterior of\nthe planet, but the entire earth, is but an atom in the midst of the\ncountless worlds surveyed by the astronomer.\n\n\"The solid part of this earth consists of distinct substances,\nsuch as clay, chalk, sand, limestone, coal, slate, granite, and the\nlike. It has been imagined that the various deposits on the earth's\nsurface were created in their present form and in their present\nposition. On the contrary, it has been shown that they have acquired\ntheir actual configuration and condition gradually, under a variety\nof circumstances, and at successive periods, during each of which\ndistinct races of living beings have flourished on the land and in\nthe waters, the remains of these creatures still lying buried in the\ncrust of the earth.\n\n\"The materials of this crust are not thrown together confusedly;\nbut distinct mineral masses called rock are found to occupy definite\nspaces and to exhibit a certain order of arrangement. These rocks\nare divided into four great classes by reference to their different\norigin, or in other words by reference to the different circumstances\nand causes by which they have been produced.\n\n\"The first two divisions, which will at once be understood as natural,\nare the aqueous and volcanic, or the products of water and those of\nigneous action at or near the surface.... The aqueous rocks, sometimes\ncalled sedimentary or fossiliferous, cover a larger part of the earth's\nsurface than any other. These rocks are stratified, or divided into\ndistinct layers or strata; these strata have been generally spread\nout by the action of water, like what we daily see taking place near\nthe mouth of rivers or on the land during a temporary inundation.\n\n\"The remains of animals, especially of aquatic species, are found\nalmost everywhere, imbedded in stratified rocks; and sometimes, in\nthe case of limestone, they are in such abundance as to constitute the\nentire mass of rock itself. Shells and corals are the most frequent,\nand with them are often associated the bones and teeth of fishes,\nfragments of wood, impressions of leaves, and other organic substances.\n\n\"When geology was first cultivated, it was a general belief that\nthose marine shells and other fossils were the effects and proofs\nof the deluge of Noah; but all those who have carefully investigated\nthe phenomena have rejected this doctrine. A transient flood might be\nsupposed to leave behind it, here and there upon the surface, scattered\nheaps of mud and sand and shingle, with shells confusedly intermixed;\nbut the strata containing fossils are not superficial deposits,\nand do not simply cover the earth, but constitute the entire mass\nof mountains. Ample proof of these reiterated revelations is given,\nand it will be seen that many distinct sets of sedimentary strata,\neach several hundreds or thousands of feet thick, are piled one\nupon the other in the earth's crust, each containing peculiar fossil\nanimals and plants, which are distinguishable, with few exceptions,\nfrom species now living. The mass of some of these strata consists\nalmost entirely of corals, others are made up of shells, others of\nplants turned into coal, while some are without fossil.\n\n\"Volcanic rocks are those which have been produced at or near the\nsurface, whether in ancient or modern times, not by water, but by\nthe action of fire or subterranean heat. These rocks are for the most\npart unstratified, and are devoid of fossils.\n\n\"There are two other divisions of rock, called Plutonic rocks, granite,\netc., and Metamorphic, or stratified crystalline rocks. The members\nof both these divisions of rocks agree in being highly crystalline\nand destitute of organic remains.\n\n\"The composition of the aqueous rocks, mineral composition of strata:\nThese may be said to belong principally to three divisions, as follows:\n\n\"1. Arenaceous or siliceous rocks. Beds of loose sand frequently\nmet with, of which the grains consist entirely of silex, which\nterm comprehends all purely siliceous minerals, as quartz and common\nflint. Quartz is silex in its purest form; flint usually contains some\nadmixture of alumina and the oxide of iron. Silica is the mineral used\nin the manufacture of glass, mixed with a little potassium oxide and\nlime, or lead, etc.\n\n\"2. Argillaceous rock. A mixture of silex or flint with a large\nproportion, usually about one-fourth, of alumina or argil; but in\ncommon language, any earth which possesses sufficient ductility,\nwhen kneaded up with water, to be fashioned like paste by the hand\nor by the potter's lathe, is called clay. Such clays vary greatly\nin their composition. They are, in general, nothing more than mud\nderived from the decomposition or wearing down of various rocks. The\npurest clay in nature is porcelain clay or kaolin, which results\nfrom the decomposition of a rock composed of feldspar and quartz,\nand it is almost always mixed with quartz. (The kaolin of China\nconsists of 71.15 parts of silex, 15.86 of alumina, 1.92 of lime,\nand 6.73 of water.)... One general character of all argillaceous\nrocks is to give out a peculiar, earthy odor when breathed upon,\nwhich is a test of the presence of alumina.\n\n\"3. Calcareous Rocks. These consist mainly of chalk--lime and carbonic\nacid. Shells and corals also are formed of the same elements, with the\naddition of animal matter. Any limestone which is sufficiently hard to\ntake a fine polish is called marble. Many of these are fossiliferous;\nbut statuary marble, which is also called saccharine limestone,\nas having a texture resembling that of loaf-sugar, is devoid of\nfossil. Siliceous limestone is an intimate mixture of carbonate of\nlime and flint, and is harder in proportion as the flinty matter\npredominates. Marl slate bears the same relation to marl which shale\nbears to clay, being calcareous shale. Magnesian limestone is composed\nof carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia; the proportion of\nthe latter amounting in some cases to nearly one-half. It effervesces\nmuch more slowly and feebly with acid than common limestone. Gypsum\nis a rock composed of sulphuric acid, lime, and water. It is usually\na soft whitish-yellow rock, with a texture resembling loaf-sugar, but\nsometimes it is entirely composed of lenticular crystals. Alabaster\nis a granular and compact variety of gypsum found in masses large\nenough to be used in sculpture and architecture. It is sometimes a\npure snow-white substance. It is a softer stone than marble and more\neasily wrought.\"\n\nWhen geologists examine the earth's crust, they usually commence\nwith the surface on which we live, and search downwards as far as\npossible. Lyell constructed a tabular view of the fossiliferous strata.\n\nIt must be borne in mind that we have no other methods of ascertaining\nthe truth than by close observation, making diligent search, in\norder to discover what this earth's crust is made of. We have no\nsupernatural facilities to give us information, and we are very\ncertain there never were any. What information we are reckoned to\nhave, handed down by our antiquated barbarian forefathers, is of a\ndifferent nature. It refers--briefly stated--to the conduct of Man,\nthe manner in which he shall act as an individual, or collectively\nas a community; including a great number of what are considered now\ntheatrical or mountebank ceremonies, fancy customs, sacrifices,\nand a repetition of certain phrases, ordinarily called prayers,\naccompanied by illustrative images and pictures, and movements of\nbody--fantastic symbols and devices created and prescribed by man.\n\nHaving no other means of ascertaining facts, man was naturally\ncompelled to search for testimony in the earth's crust--to discover\nwhat it is composed of; the kind of material; how it was formed; the\ntime it took to form; the period that elapsed between formations;\nhow the layers or strata were superposed one upon another; what\nsubstances were found in them; where organic life was first found;\nwhat it consisted of; when man first appeared. By examining this\ntable we get a glimpse of the true state of things. This shows the\norder of superposition, or chronological succession, of the principal\nEuropean groups:\n\n\nI. Post-Tertiary. A. Post-Pliocene.\n\nPeriods and Groups.\n\n1. Recent. Peat mosses, shell marls, with bones of land animals, human\nremains and works of art. Newer parts of modern deltas and coral reefs.\n\n2. Post-Pliocene. Clay, marl, volcanic trap. All the shell of living\nspecimens. No human remains or works of art. Bones of quadrupeds,\npartly of extinct species.\n\n\nII. Tertiary. B. Pliocene.\n\n3. Newer Pliocene. Boulder formation. Cavern formation, or\nPleistocene. Three-fourths of fossil shells of extinct species. A\nmajority of the mammals extinct; but the genera corresponding with\nthose now surviving in the same great geographical and zoological\nprovinces. Icebergs frequent in the seas; glaciers on hills of\nmoderate height.\n\n4. Older Pliocene. A third or more of the species of mollusca\nextinct. Nearly, if not all, the mammalia extinct.\n\n\nC. Miocene.\n\n5. Miocene. About two-thirds of the species of shells extinct. All\nthe mammalia extinct.\n\n\nD. Eocene.\n\n } Fossil shells of the Eocene period, with very\n6. Upper Eocene. } few exceptions, extinct. All the mammalia of\n } extinct species, and the greater part of them\n7. Middle Eocene. } of extinct genera. Plants of Upper Eocene\n } indicating a south European or Mediterranean\n8. Lower Eocene. } climate; those of Lower Eocene a tropical\n } climate.\n\n\nIII. Secondary. E. Cretaceous--Upper.\n\n9. Maestricht beds. Yellowish-white limestone. Large marine saurians,\netc.\n\n10. Upper white chalk. Marine limestone composed in part of decomposed\ncorals.\n\n11. Lower white chalk.\n\n12. Upper green sand.\n\n13. Gault. Dark-blue marl at base of chalk escarpment. Numerous\nextinct genera--conchiferous cephalopoda, etc.\n\n14. Lower green sand. Species of shells, etc., nearly all distinct\nfrom those of Upper Cretaceous.\n\n\nF. Wealden.\n\n15. Weald clay, of fresh-water origin. Shells of Pulmoniferous\nmollusca.\n\n16. Hastings sand. Fresh water. Reptiles of, etc.\n\n17. Purbeck beds. Limestone, calcareous slate, etc. Roots of trees;\nplants, etc.\n\nG. O\u00f6lite.\n\n18. Upper O\u00f6lite. Portland building-stone, sand.\n\n19. Middle O\u00f6lite. Oxford clay, dark-blue clay. Large saurians.\n\n20. Lower O\u00f6lite. Preponderance of ganoid fish. Plants chiefly cycads,\nconifers, and ferns.\n\n\nH. Lias.\n\n21. Argillaceous limestone, marl clay. Mollusca, reptiles, and fish\nanalogous to the O\u00f6litic.\n\n\nI. Trias.\n\n22. Upper Trias. Red, gray, green, blue, and white marls, and\nsandstone, with gypsum. Batrachian reptiles.\n\n23. Middle Trias. Compact grayish limestone, with beds of muschelkalk,\nof dolomite and gypsum.\n\n24. Lower Trias. Plants different for the most part.\n\n\nIV. Primary. J. Permian.\n\n25. Upper Permian. Yellow magnesian limestone. Organic remains both\nanimal and vegetable, more allied to primary than to secondary period.\n\n26. Lower Permian. Marl slate. Thecodont saurians, heterocercal\nfish, etc.\n\n\nK. Carboniferous.\n\n27. Coal measures. Great thickness of strata of fluvio-marine origin,\nwith beds of coal of vegetable origin, based on soils retaining roots\nof trees. Oldest of known reptiles. Sauroid fish.\n\n28. Mountain. Carboniferous or mountain limestone. Limestone with\nmarine shells and corals, etc.\n\n\nL. Devonian.\n\n29. Upper Devonian. Yellow sandstone, paving and roofing stone. Tribe\nof fish with hard coverings. No reptiles yet known.\n\n30. Lower Devonian. Gray sandstone.\n\n\nM. Silurian.\n\n31. Upper Silurian. Tilestone. Oldest fossil fish yet\ndiscovered. Trilobites, etc.\n\n32. Lower Silurian. Caradoc sandstone, etc. No land plants yet\nknown. Footprints of tortoise, etc.\n\n33. Upper and Lower Cambrian.\n\n\n\nSYNOPSIS.\n\n\n Post-Tertiary. } }\n Pliocene. } Tertiary or Cainozoic. }\n Miocene. } }\n Eocene. } } Mesozoic.\n }\n Cretaceous. } }\n Jurassic. } Secondary or Mesozoic. }\n Triassic. } }\n\n Permian. } }\n Carboniferous. } }\n Devonian. } Primary or Paleozoic. } Paleozoic.\n Silurian. } }\n Cambrian. } }\n\n\nThe precise chemical action upon the elements composing these\nvarious geological formations at different remote periods, is no\ndoubt difficult to ascertain. That there always has been some chemical\naction going on, and that it is continually going on, is certain. How\nand to what extent we can judge only from the experience of actual\nobservation in the laboratory.\n\nMr. Crale remarks: \"The whole surface of the land is exposed to\nchemical action of the air, and of the rainwater with its dissolved\ncarbonic acid, and in colder countries the frost. The disintegrated\nmatter is carried down the slopes during heavy rain; and, to a greater\nextent than might be supposed, especially in arid districts, by the\nwind; it is then transported by the streams and rivers, which when\nrapid deepen their channels and triturate the fragments.\" Darwin\nsays: \"If the theory be true\" (speaking of the time elapsed since\nthe Cambrian lowest formation) \"it is indisputable that before\nthe lowest Cambrian stratum was deposited, long periods elapsed,\nas long as, or probably far longer than, the whole interval from the\nCambrian age to the present day; that during these vast periods, the\nworld swarmed with living creatures. Here we encounter a formidable\nobjection; for it seems doubtful whether the earth, in a fit state\nfor the habitation of living creatures, has lasted long enough. Sir\nW. Thompson concludes that the consolidation of the crust can hardly\nhave occurred less than 20 or more than 400 million years ago, but\nprobably not less than 98 or more than 200 millions of years. These\nvery wide limits show how doubtful the data are; and other elements may\nhave hereafter to be introduced into the problem. Mr. Crale estimates\nthat about 60 million years have elapsed since the Cambrian period,\nbut this, judging from the small amount of organic change since the\ncommencement of the glacial epoch, appears a very short time for the\nmany and great mutations of life, which have certainly occurred since\nthe Cambrian formation; and the previous 140 millions of years can\nhardly be considered as sufficient for the development of the varied\nforms of life which already existed during the Cambrian period.\"\n\nIt seems almost impossible for an ordinary mind to grasp the magnitude\nof the figures, the span of life being so short. Yet some idea may\nbe formed when we compare the age of this earth's crust formation,\nthe hundreds of thousands of years that passed in the evolution of\nman, and the brief space of time that has elapsed since he has become\nenabled to give an account of himself.\n\nAs regards the thickness of the earth's crust, Professor Ramsey has\ngiven the maximum thickness, from actual measurement in most cases,\nof the successive formations in different parts of Great Britain;\nand this is the result:\n\n\n The Paleozoic strata (not including igneous bed), 57,154 feet.\n Secondary, 13,190 ,,\n Tertiary, 2,240 ,,\n\n\nmaking altogether 72,584 feet; that is, very nearly thirteen and\nthree-quarters British miles. B\u00fcchner in his work on \"Force and Matter\"\nstates: \"The so-called coal formation alone required, according to\nBischoff, 1,000,177 years; according to Chevandier's calculation,\n672,788 years. The Tertiary strata required for their development\nabout 350,000 years; and before the originally incandescent earth\ncould cool down from a temperature of 2,000 degrees to 200, there\nmust, according to Bischoff's calculation, have elapsed a period\nof 350,000,000 years. Valger calculates that the time required for\nthe deposit of the strata known to us must at least have amounted to\n648,000,000 years. I quote these figures simply to show how difficult\nit is, and the labor required, to form even a proximate idea as to\nthe period of time that must have elapsed for the formation of the\nvarious strata known.\n\nThat all animals were not created at once is certain beyond all cavil\nand dispute. The development of the various forms of life was an\nexceeding slow process, and lasted very many thousand centuries. That\nthe earth's crust was not at certain stages of formation in a fit\ncondition either to receive or to maintain the higher types of animal\nlife, is well known. And we know that man's remains are found only\nin the uppermost surface of the earth's crust. Max M\u00fcller says in\nhis \"Testimony of the Rocks\": \"It was not until the earlier ages\nof the O\u00f6lite system had passed away, that the class of Reptiles\nreceived its fullest development. And certainly very wonderful was the\ndevelopment which it did then receive. Reptiles became everywhere the\nlords and masters of the lower world. When any class of air-breathing\nvertebrates is very largely developed, we find it taking possession of\nall three terrestrial elements--earth, air, and water. Last of all,\nthe true placental mammals appear, and thus, tried by the test of\nperfect reproduction, the great vertebral division receives its full\ndevelopment.\" Agassiz's \"Principles of Zoology\" says: \"We distinguish\nfour ages of nature, comprehending the great geological divisions,\nnamely:\n\n\"1. The Primary, or Paleozoic age, comprising the lower Silurian,\nthe upper Silurian, and the Devonian. During this age there were no\nair-breathing animals. The fishes were masters of creation. We may\ntherefore call it the Reign of Fishes.\n\n\"2. The Secondary age, comprising the Carboniferous, the Trias, the\nO\u00f6lite, and the Cretaceous formations. This is the epoch in which\nair-breathing animals first appear. The Reptiles predominated over the\nother classes, and we may therefore call it the 'Reign of Reptiles.'\n\n\"3. The Tertiary age, comprising the Tertiary formation. During\nthis age terrestrial mammals of great size abound. This is the Reign\nof Mammals.\n\n\"4. The Modern age, characterized by the appearance of the most\nperfect of created beings.\"\n\nThe majority of mankind trouble themselves but little whether progress\nis made in any one of the branches of science or not. Man has no\ntime to think seriously of anything except to provide food for his\nfamily. The priest does his thinking, and he is made to contribute\npart of his labor to support the holy man who does the thinking for\nhim. All he knows is that his soul or his spirit, his hereafter,\nand his God are well cared for, and he pays for it. Yet every man\nought to understand that all his rights, civil and political--all the\nfreedom he enjoys--he has to thank science for procuring and securing.\n\n\"Shall it be seriously objected to the application of the sciences\nto philosophical problems that its results are not agreeable? That\nthe truth is not always agreeable, nor always consolatory, nor\nalways religious, nor always acceptable, is as well known as the old\nexperience of the almost total absence of reward, either external\nor internal, provided for its exemplars. What this or that man may\nunderstand by a governing reason, an absolute power, a universal soul,\na personal God ... is his own affair. The theologians, with their\narticles of faith, must be left to themselves; so of the naturalists\nwith their science; they both proceed by different routes.... The\nsame bloody hatred with which science was once persecuted by\nreligious fanaticism would revive now, and with it the Inquisition\nand Auto-da-f\u00e9, and all the horrors with which a refined zealotism\nhas tortured humanity would be resorted to, to satisfy the wishes\nof the theological cutthroats. A man in advance of his age beholds\nthe struggle of the contending parties from a high point of view,\nand sees in the eccentricities of this contest merely the natural\nand necessary expression of the opposing elements which agitate our\ntime. No one can doubt that truth will finally emerge the victor. It\ncertainly will not be long before the battle becomes general. Is the\nvictory doubtful? The struggle is unequal; the opponents cannot stand\nagainst the trenchant arm of physical and physiological Materialism,\nwhich fights with facts, that everyone can comprehend, while the\nopponents fight with suppositions and presumptions\" (B\u00fcchner).\n\n\"Science and faith exclude each other\" (Virchow).\n\nFools still cling to faith; wise men find the truth in science.\n\nNote.--Baily's \"History of Astronomy,\" Part I, page 31, \u00a7 124, and\nPart II, pp. 33, 39, maintains that India has existed as a nation, as\nthe records show, 4,320,000 years. The Indians divide this time into\nfour principal periods: First period, that of innocence or simplicity,\n1,728,000 years; second period, 276,000; the third period, 864,000;\nand the ages of misfortune about 422,000--Cali-yon-gan period. Similar\nstatements are made by Cicero (\"De Divinat,\" I, 19), concerning the\nChaldeans: \"Condemnemus, inquam, hos aut stultiti\u00e6 aut vanitatis\naut imprudenti\u00e6 qui 470 millia annorum ut ipsi dicunt monumentis\ncomprehensa continent.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE ATMOSPHERE.\n\nThe atmosphere is the gaseous envelope encircling the earth; and it\nconstitutes the ocean of air at the bottom of which we live. We become\naware of the existence of the air when we move rapidly and experience\nthe resistance offered to the passage of our bodies, and also when the\nair is set in motion, giving rise to a wind. We notice the pressure\nof the atmosphere if we withdraw the air from beneath the hand by\na powerful air-pump, for we then find that the hand is pressed down\nwith a force equal to 1.033 kilos. on a square centimeter, or nearly\n15 lbs. on every square inch. The total atmospheric pressure which\nthe human body has to support hence amounts to several tons. But\nthis pressure is not felt under ordinary circumstances, because\nthe pressure exercised is exerted equally in every direction. The\ninstrument used for measuring the pressure of the air is termed a\nbarometer, and the average pressure at the sea level is equal to that\nexerted by a column of mercury 760 mm. high. The air being elastic\nand having weight, it is clear the lower layers of air must be more\ncompressed than those above them, and hence the density of the air\nmust vary at the different hights above the sea level. The density of\nthe air being thus dependent on the pressure to which it is subjected,\nthe higher strata of air become generally rarefied, and it is hence\ndifficult to say whereabouts the air ceases, but it appears that the\nlimit of the atmosphere is about 200 to 300 miles from the level of\nthe sea. If the whole atmosphere were of the same density throughout\nas it is at the earth's surface, it would reach only to a height of\na little more than five miles above the sea level.\n\nAqueous vapor is contained in the air in quantities varying in\ndifferent localities and at different times, and depending mainly on\nthe temperature of the air. Air at a given temperature cannot contain\nmore than a certain quantity of moisture in solution; and when it has\ntaken up its maximum quantity, it is said to be saturated with aqueous\nmoisture. The higher the temperature of the air the more water can\nit retain as vapor; and when air saturated with moisture is cooled,\nthe water is deposited in liquid form in very small globules, forming\na mist, fog, or cloud. This is the cause of the fall of rain, snow,\nand hail; when warm air heavily laden with moisture from the ocean\npasses into a higher and colder position, or meets with a stratum of\nair of lower temperature, it cannot any longer retain so much aqueous\nvapor, and a large quantity assumes a liquid form, falling as rain\nwhen the temperature is above the freezing-point, or crystallizing\nas snowflakes if the temperature is below that point. Hail is caused\nby the congelation of raindrops in passing through a stratum of air\nbelow the freezing-point. The deposition of dew is caused by the rapid\ncooling of the earth's surface by radiation after sunset, and by the\nconsequent cooling of the air near the ground below the temperature\nat which it begins to deposit moisture. In general the air contains\nfrom 50 to 70 per cent. of aqueous vapor of the quantities necessary\nto saturate it. If the quantity be not within these limits the air\nis either unpleasantly dry or unpleasantly moist.\n\nThe air contains, besides the gases of oxygen and nitrogen, carbonic\nacid, ammonia, accidental impurities, and volatile organic matter,\nwhich latter is the most important, as it probably influences to a\ngreat extent the healthfulness of the special situation. We become\naware of the existence of such organic putrescent substances when\nentering a crowded room from the fresh air; and it is probable that\nthe well-known unhealthiness of marshy and other districts is owing\nto the presence of some organic impurities.\n\nWe may have occasion to refer to this when speaking of the deluge, etc.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE CHEMICAL ASPECT.\n\n\nBy the word chemistry we understand the science which investigates\nthe composition of all material substances, taking them apart or\nseparating them, by a chemical process, and discovers the nature\nand properties of the minutest particle. These small particles have\nreceived the name, elements or elementary substances; that term is\napplied in chemistry to those forms of matter which have hitherto\nresisted all attempt to decompose them.\n\n\"We know that we have earth, air, water, and we have seen in Chapter\nII that the earth's crust is made up of many substances, rocks,\ncoral reefs, clay, marl, feldspar, quartz, limestone, granite, etc.,\netc. These substances are composed of small particles, or elements,\nand are called minerals or inorganic substances. There is another class\nof substances, called organic, that are derived from living things or\nbeings. These are also taken apart or separated into their elementary\nsubstances. As plants or animals, all such elementary substances have\nreceived the name organic substances because plants and animals have\norgans of reproduction, hence the name.\n\nThe taking apart of any substance into its constituent elements is\ncalled analysis by chemists.\n\nThe same elements can also be put together to produce various\nsubstances; that is termed synthesis.\n\nChemists have adopted a name for each of the elements, and these\nnames are represented by symbols, or letters.\n\nCompound substances may contain two or more elements. When the\ncomposition of a substance is determined by splitting the compound\ninto its elementary constituents a chemical analysis of that substance\nis said to have been made; and if the proportions by weight in which\neach of the constituents is present be determined, a quantitative\nanalysis of the substance has been made, etc.\n\nBy chemical action, we signify that which occurs when two or more\nsubstances so act upon one another as to produce a third substance\ndiffering altogether from the original ones in properties; or when a\nsubstance is brought under such conditions that it forms two or more\nbodies differing from the original one in properties. Chemistry is\ncalled an experimental science. In investigating all the materials\nwithin his reach, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, whether contained\nin the earth, sea, or air; whether belonging to the mineral, animal,\nor vegetable creation, the chemist finds himself obliged to divide\nsubstances into two classes: (1) compound substances--those which he\nis able to split up into two or more essentially different materials;\n(2) elements or simple substances--those which he is unable thus to\nsplit up, and out of which nothing essentially different from the\noriginal substances has been obtained.\n\nCompound bodies are made up of two or more elementary substances\nchemically combined with each other; thus sulphur, copper, lead,\nare elementary bodies; out of each of these nothing different from\nsulphur, copper, lead, can be obtained; whereas when two of these\nbodies are heated together, a compound is formed from which both of the\noriginal elementary constituents can at any time be obtained. Water\nis a compound body--it can be split up into two elementary gases,\nhydrogen and oxygen; common salt, again, is a compound of a gas\n(chlorine) with a metal (sodium); and limestone, clay, sugar, and\nwax may serve as examples of compound bodies; whilst phosphorus,\ncharcoal, iron, mercury, and gold may be mentioned as belonging to\nthe class of simple substances.\n\nAs to physical properties of gases--they have weight, volume,\ndiffusion, density, etc.\n\nTheologians insist that there is a God, a God that was first\nintroduced to us by a man with the name of Abraham, advertised\nby Moses, and has been palmed off upon the masses as a something\nexceedingly wonderful. A multitude of men who find it to their\ninterest to advocate his pretended claims, are still doing their\nutmost to sustain their God. We are trying to discover where he is\nto be found, whether he is a local or a universal God, what he is\ncomposed of, whether he resides on earth permanently or transiently,\nwhether he controls the entire solar system or more systems, whether\nhe occasionally takes a trip to other planets; and if he has created\neverything we want to find out how he has created it. For that reason\nwe have to search, taking a glimpse among the stars, in the earth,\natmosphere, etc. Since geology does not respond favorably, we are\ntrying to discover what this earth is composed of. The elementary\nbodies at present recognized amount to sixty-four in number. Of these\nabout fifty belong to the class called metals. Several of them are of\nrecent discovery, and as yet very imperfectly known. The distinction\nbetween metals and certain non-metallic substances or metalloids,\nalthough very convenient for purposes of description, is entirely\narbitrary, since the classes graduate into each other in the most\nindefinite manner. The following is a complete list of the elementary\nsubstances known, giving their names, symbols, and combining weight:\n\n\n Symbols. METALLOIDS. Combining\n Weight.\n\n Elements of life: of primary importance.\n\n O Oxygen [1] II 16\n H Hydrogen I 1\n N Nitrogen V 14\n C Carbon IV 12\n\n Elements of secondary importance.\n\n Cl Chlorine I 35.5\n Br Bromine I 80\n I Iodine I 127\n F Fluorine I 29\n P Phosphorus V 31\n S Sulphur VI 32\n Si Silicon IV 28\n B Boron III 11\n Se Selenium VI 79.5\n Te Tellurium VI 179\n\n Mechanics, arts, science, and medicine.\n\n Al Aluminium IV 27.4\n Ca Calcium II 40\n (Cuprum) Cu Copper II 63.5\n (Ferrum) Fe Iron IV 56\n (Plumbum) Pb Lead IV 207\n Mn Manganese IV 55\n (Hydrargyrum) Hg Mercury II 200\n (Kalium) K Potassium I 39.1\n (Argentum) Ag Silver I 108\n (Natrium) Na Sodium I 23\n (Stannum) Sn Tin IV 118\n Zn Zinc II 65.3\n (Stibium) Sb Antimony V 122\n As Arsenic V 75\n Ba Barium II 137\n Bi Bismuth V 210\n Cr Chromium VI 52.2\n Co Cobalt IV 58.7\n (Aurum) Au Gold III 197\n In Indium IV 74\n Mg Magnesium II 24\n Ni Nickel IV 58.7\n Pd [2] Palladium IV 106.6\n Pt Platinum IV 197.5\n Sr Strontium II 87.5\n Ti Titanium IV 50\n W Tungsten VI 184\n U Uranium IV 120\n\n Little known, rarely used.\n\n Be Beryllium II 9.3\n Cd Cadmium II 112\n Cs C\u00e6sium I 133\n Cr Cerium IV 92\n D Didymium II 95\n E Erbium II 112.6\n Ir Iridium IV 198\n La Lanthanum II 92\n Li [3] Lithium I 7\n Mo Molybdenum VI 96\n Nb Niobium V 94\n Os Osmium IV 199.2\n Rh Rhodium IV 104.4\n Rb Rubidium I 85.4\n Ru Ruthenium IV 104.4\n Ta Tantalum V 182\n Tb Terbium\n Tl Thallium III 204\n Th Thorium II 231.5\n V Vanadium V 51.3\n Y Yttrium II 61\n Zr Zirconium III 89.6\n\n\nAll matter is made up of very small particles which are chemically\nindivisible and which are termed atoms, and the atom of each elementary\nsubstance differs essentially from that of every other. All the atoms\nof each element are alike, and chemical compounds are formed by the\ncombination of unlike atoms. Hence the smallest particle of a compound\nconsists of a group of atoms. This group, which can be divided by\nchemical but not by mechanical means, is termed a molecule. The\nsmallest particle of an element in a free state is, however, not\na single atom, but a group of atoms mechanically indivisible, or a\nmolecule. This explains why elementary bodies act more energetically\nand enter more readily into combination at the moment of their\nliberation from a combination than when in the free state.\n\nWhen chemical changes occur, it is the molecules which react upon\none another, and the change consists in the change of position of\ncertain atoms contained in the groups. When an element is set free\nfrom a compound, the liberated join together to form molecules,\nunless some body is present with which the element can combine.\n\nBy an atom we therefore understand the smallest portion of a chemical\nelement which can enter into a chemical compound; by a molecule,\nthe smallest portion of a simple compound body which can occur in\nthe free state or which can take part in a chemical action.\n\nAll the elements, with the single exception of fluorine, combine with\noxygen to form oxides. In this act of combination, which is termed\noxidation, heat is always, and light is frequently, given off. When\nbodies unite with oxygen, evolving light and heat, they are said to\nburn, or undergo combustion. All bodies which burn in the air burn with\nincreased brilliancy in oxygen gas; and many substances, such as iron,\nwhich do not readily burn in the air, may be made to do so in oxygen.\n\nOxygen is a colorless invisible gas, possessing neither taste nor\nsmell.\n\nHydrogen is a colorless invisible gas, possessing neither taste nor\nsmell. It is the lightest gas known, being 14.47 times lighter than\nair. It combines with oxygen to form water.\n\nNitrogen is a colorless, tasteless, inodorous gas, slightly lighter\nthan air. It does not combine readily with bodies, and it is a very\ninert substance, neither supporting combustion or animal life, nor\nburning itself. It has, however, no poisonous qualities, and animals\nplunged into a jar of this gas die simply of suffocation from want\nof oxygen. Nitrogen exists in a free state in the air, of which it\nconstitutes four-fifths by bulk. It occurs combined in the bodies of\nplants and animals, and in various chemical compounds, such as nitre,\nwhence the gas derives its name.\n\nCarbon is a solid element; it is not known in the free state,\neither as a liquid or as a gas. Carbon is remarkable as existing\nin three distinct forms, which in outward appearance or physical\nproperties have nothing in common, whilst their chemical relations are\nidentical. These three allotropic forms of carbon are (1) diamond,\n(2) graphite or plumbago, (3) charcoal. These substances differ\nin hardness, color, specific gravity, etc., but they each yield\non combustion in the air or oxygen the same weight of the same\nsubstance, carbonic acid or carbon dioxide. Carbon is the element\nwhich is especially characteristic of animal and vegetable life, as\nevery organized structure, from the simplest to the most complicated,\ncontains carbon. If carbon were not present on the earth, no single\nvegetable or animal body such as we know could exist. In addition to\nthe carbon which is found free in these three forms, and contained\ncombined with hydrogen and oxygen in the bodies of plants and animals,\nit exists combined with oxygen as free carbon dioxide in the air,\nand with calcium and oxygen as calcium carbonate in limestone, chalk,\nmarble, corals, shells, etc. Plants are able when exposed to sunlight\nto decompose the carbon dioxide in the air, liberating the oxygen,\nand taking the carbon for the formation of their vegetable structure,\nwhilst all animals, living directly or indirectly upon vegetables,\nabsorb oxygen, and evolve carbon dioxide. Thus the sun's rays,\nthrough the medium of plants, effect deoxidation, or reduction,\nwhilst animals act as oxidizing agents with respect to carbon.\n\nOxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Carbon--these are the life-giving\nelements. They are the life-producing and life-sustaining\nelements. Neither animal nor vegetable life can exist without them. The\nentire activity of nature depends upon them. Every organic substance\ncontains them.\n\nNo organic substance can exist without them.\n\nThe principle of life is due to them.\n\nFrom a blade of grass to an insect, from an insect to an animal,\nincluding man, one cannot emerge into life without these elements.\n\nThe birth, growth, and development of plant and animal depend upon\nthem, the sustenance and nurture.\n\nAll our food-substances are almost wholly made up of these elements.\n\nNo force, power, or energy can be produced without their presence.\n\nOur muscular strength, our nervous force, our very thoughts, our\nimagination, as well as digestion, respiration, circulation of the\nblood, depend on these elements.\n\nOur sensations, our pleasures, our pains, depend upon them. All the\nexcitement and depression in life are dependent on them.\n\nThe beauties of vegetation, all the various shades and colors of\nflower and blossom, the tints and odors, are dependent on them.\n\nNo phenomenon in nature, no matter how terrible, delightful, or\nenchanting, can be manifested without these elements.\n\nNo earthquake, thunder, storm, lightning, wind, hail, rain, snow,\nor ice could exist without them.\n\nNo light, heat, or motion--in fact, none of the physical forces,\ncould be evolved without them.\n\nOur atmosphere, ocean, seas, rivers, forests, are composed of them.\n\nNo art, science, mechanics, architecture, nor indeed anything that\nwe now enjoy, could exist without them.\n\nGunpowder, dynamite, electricity, and all else are dependent on\nthese elements.\n\nWhy attempt to enumerate the extraordinary roles they play on earth\nand in the universe?\n\nEvery plant would wither, every life would perish, without Oxygen;\nthis element may be truly called the breath of life.\n\nThe creation of God is dependent on these elements, because were it\nnot for man God would never have been.\n\nThe ark, made of wood, was composed of them. The figure of Christ,\nand the Virgin Mary, as she is called, as well as all the saints,\nwere and are composed of Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, etc. We\nknow that these chemical elements enter into the composition of all\nthings in nature--mineral, vegetable, animal.\n\nWe also may be absolutely certain that no more elements exist now,\nat this present time, than existed ten, twenty, or one thousand\nmillion of years ago.\n\nChemical elementary substances have no greater relative weight towards\none another, nor a greater volume, at this present time than they had\nat any time since the existence of this earth. The total weight of\nall elements that enter into the formation of this terrestrial globe\nhas never varied, whether they were in solid, fluid, or gaseous state.\n\nThe law of gravitation has always existed.\n\nElements that enter into the formation of organic beings, vegetable\nor animal, must in due time undergo decomposition and return to the\nsame elements of which they were composed.\n\nThe chemical action has always been the same. All substances are\nsubject to chemical action when exposed to the primary elements,\noxygen and hydrogen especially.\n\nAn element can never be annihilated.\n\nIt may not be out of place to mention some of the substances in daily\nuse. For example, water is composed of oxygen and hydrogen. Air is\ncomposed of oxygen and nitrogen. Bread, of starch, sugars--oxygen,\nhydrogen and carbon. Meats, of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen,\netc. Salt, of sodium and chlorine. Vegetables, fruits, etc., of oxygen,\ncarbon, and hydrogen. Fats, of oil. alcohols, of oxygen, carbon,\nand hydrogen. The tissues of the animal body are composed of oxygen,\nhydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen.\n\nThe combination of five elements produces electricity, thus: Zinc\n(Zn) + copper (Cu) + sulphuric acid, which consists of hydrogen (H2),\nsulphur (S), and oxygen (O4), = electricity.\n\nA few examples in the changes of the combination of oxygen and hydrogen\nare shown in water. Under conditions of heat and cold it becomes ice,\nsteam, dew, rain, hail, snow, clouds, etc., etc. These phenomena\nare known.\n\nWe merely mention these facts to show how much has been discovered\nby human skill, but of how much more remains to be discovered we can\nnot form the slightest notion. All that has been done in the field of\nscience has been of actual benefit to humanity. For the discoveries are\nbased on fact and truth. They are ushered into this world to alleviate\nand to lighten the struggle and the burden of men. They come without\noppression, without crime, without bloodshed. They come as the great\nbenefactors of mankind. Men would be much better off to-day if they\nreceived for their Sunday lessons instruction in the natural, instead\nof wasting their precious time in repeating the silly twaddle of\nsupernatural extravagance, that tends to stupefy instead of clearing\nup the understanding.\n\nScientific research has advanced so far, that not only are we able to\nknow, from the discoveries made, the elementary composition of this\nearth, and all that belongs thereto, but other far more difficult\nproblems have been partially solved. That is, with the aid of newly\ndiscovered instruments, we can ascertain, to a considerable extent,\nthe elementary composition of the sun, stars, and distant planets.\n\nIn 1802 Dr. Wollaston, and later Fraunhofer, discovered and perfected\nan instrument called the spectroscope. It consists of a prism,\nfixed upon an iron stand, and a tube carrying a slit. When light\npasses through a slit it impinges upon a flint glass prism, by which\nit is dispersed. The light of burning metals has been tested in that\nmanner. Thus when any light passes through the slit of a spectroscope,\nthe substance giving the light may be determined, the elements burning\nascertained. If the solar spectrum be examined--the light of the sun's\nrays--numerous dark lines parallel with the edge of the prism are\nobserved, and reveal a number of colors giving the following: red,\norange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. These are intersected\nby fine black lines of different degrees of breadth and shade, which\nare always present, and always occupy the same relative position\nin the solar spectrum. These are called Fraunhofer's lines. By\nthe means of this instrument, the spectra of the sun, planets, and\nmoon have been analyzed, and the color and position, the kind of\nmetals these distant bodies are composed of. The sun's atmosphere,\nfrom experiments made, is known to contain metals, such as soda, iron,\netc., in the condition of glowing gas, the white light proceeding from\nthe solid or liquid strongly heated mass of the sun which lies in the\ninterior. The metals hitherto detected in the sun's atmosphere are\nabout fifteen or more--iron, sodium, strontium, cadmium, magnesium,\ncalcium, chromium, nickel, barium, zinc, cobalt, manganese, aluminium,\ntitanium, hydrogen, etc.\n\nSo delicate is this instrument that 1/180000000 part of a grain of\nsodium can be detected, and a portion of lithium weighing 1/6000000\npart of a grain has been detected; thus showing that there exists a\nvery strong probability that the sun, planets, and moons are composed\nof similar, if not the same, elements that this earth is composed of.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE SUN.\n\n\nThe Colossus, or brazen statue of the Sun, was placed across the mouth\nof the harbor of Rhodes, its legs stretched to such a distance that a\nlarge ship under sail might easily pass between them. It was seventy\ncubits high, or a hundred English feet; its fingers were as long\nas ordinary statues, and few men with both arms could grasp one of\nits thumbs. Scarcely sixty years had elapsed before this work of art\nwas thrown down by an earthquake, which broke it off at the knees, in\nwhich position it remained till the conquest of Rhodes by the Saracens\n(A.D. 684), when it was beaten to pieces and sold to a Jew merchant,\nwho loaded nine hundred camels with its spoils.\n\nAnaxagoras (500 B.C.) taught that there was but one god, and that\nthe sun was only a fiery globe and should not be worshiped. He\nattempted to explain eclipses and other celestial phenomena by natural\ncauses, saying that there is no such thing as chances, these being\nonly names for unknown laws. For this audacity and impiety, as his\ncountrymen considered it, he and his family were doomed to perpetual\nbanishment. \"Man,\" said Protagoras of Abra (430 B.C.), \"is the measure\nof all things.... Of the Gods I know nothing, neither whether they\nbe nor whether they be not; for there is much that stands in the way\nof knowledge, as well the obscurity of the matter as the shortness\nof human life.\"\n\nSt. John begins his writings: \"In the beginning was the word,\nand the word was with God, and the word was God.\" But John, like\nmany others of his time, knew nothing more than the use of words\nto make riddles, which he himself could not see through and no one\nelse could understand. The man or men who first composed that part\nof scripture that informs us how the sun and earth were created,\ncertainly knew nothing about it, because all that is at present known\nis of comparatively recent date. For many centuries, the established\nreligion, the church, and the representatives of the theo-Christian\norganization, did all in their power to prevent light from penetrating\ntheir hidden benighted doings. They looked upon themselves as being\nall in all, knowing all in all--as having had everything worth knowing\nrevealed to them by an agency no one else had access to. The ideas of\ntheir mysterious doings, of their mysterious Gods, are hidden from\nview in deep obscurity--like the temple of the Egyptian Isis, that\nbore the inscription: \"I am all that is, that was, and that will be,\nand no mortal has lifted my veil.\"\n\nThe ancient writers of the scripture were full of deep, mysterious\nways, and their writings of hidden meanings. Ordinary mortals were\nprohibited from making inquiry because the subject was considered\ntoo mysterious, and much too sacred.\n\nSince then, many mysteries have been dissolved, or have been analyzed\nby the crucial test of science, and it has been discovered that\nthere is nothing hidden except what our ignorance prevents us from\nknowing. We have lifted the sacred veil and looked into the temple\nof nature, as she is, and not as she appears. The more we search,\nthe more we discover, the nearer we get to the truth.\n\nThere is not the slightest reason why every man, woman, and child\nat proper age should not be instructed in matters wherein they are\nimmediately interested, the knowledge whereof would undoubtedly be\nto their benefit.\n\nMen have lived through centuries of fable, ages of fiction, long\nperiods of myth. The Christian God is as much of a myth as any myth\nthat ever existed. Humanity having passed through these various mental\nafflictions, gone through so many bloody surgical operations, we are,\nas it were, approaching a condition that will soon be declared as\nconvalescent, and this most miserable of theological nurses may at\nnot a very remote period be dismissed.\n\nWe can say, without the slightest conscientious scruple, or fear of\ncontradiction, with reason to sustain us and the light of science to\nprove the truth, that There is no God.\n\nThere never was--except such a one as men have invented, held sacred,\nand worshiped. There is nothing sacred except what man makes sacred,\nnothing holy except what man makes holy, nothing divine except what\nman makes divine. He makes his own God, and he religiously, piously,\ndevoutly prays to and worships it. The more regularly he does so,\nthe more saintly he becomes, or esteems himself.\n\nFor many thousand years the Sun was worshiped, held sacred, sacrificed\nto, entempled, etc. As reason and understanding increased, they\nforsook him as a god, dismissed him as they had dismissed many gods\nbefore him. Yet the sun was by far their greatest benefactor and best\nfriend--more than they were aware of.\n\nThe sun is 93,000,000 miles from the earth. Supposing a railway could\nbe built to the sun, an express train traveling day and night, at the\nrate of thirty miles an hour, would require 352 years to reach its\ndestination. The light of the sun is equal to 5,563 wax candles held\nat a distance of one foot from the eye. The heat of the sun that we\nreceive annually is sufficient to melt a layer of ice 180 feet thick,\nextending over the whole earth. Yet the sunbeam is only 1/300000 part\nas intense as it is at the surface of the sun. Moreover, the heat and\nlight stream off into space equally in every direction. Of this vast\nflood, but one twenty-three-hundred-millionth part reaches the earth.\n\nThe diameter of the sun is about 860,000 miles. Its volume is\n1,300,000 times that of the earth, i.e., it would take 1,300,000\nearths to make a globe the size of the sun. Its mass is 750 times\nthat of all the planets and moons in the solar system, and 300,000\ntimes that of the earth. Its weight may be expressed in tons thus:\n1,910,278,070,000,000,000,000,000,000. The density of the sun is\nonly about one-fourth that of the earth, or 1.41 that of water,\nso that the weight of a body transferred from the earth to the sun\nwould not be increased in proportion to the comparative size of the\nsun. The sun rotates on his axis, like a wheel, once in about 25 days.\n\nOur astronomers tell us that the solar heat is gradually\ndiminishing. In time the sun will cease to shine, as the earth did\nlong since. Newcomb says that in 5,000,000 years, at the present rate,\nthe sun will have shrunk to half its present size, and that it cannot\nsustain life on the earth more than 10,000,000 years longer. Of this\nwe may be assured, there is enough heat to support life on our globe\nfor millions of years to come.\n\nThe sun consists of a central orb, liquid or solid, of exceeding\nbrightness, which of itself would give a continuous spectrum, or in\nother words which emits all kinds of light. The sunlight is decomposed\nby means of the spectroscope, already alluded to, in order to discover\nthe kind of elements it is composed of. Therefore Tyndall says:\n\"I think we now possess knowledge sufficient to raise us to the\nlevel of one of the most remarkable generalizations of our age. It\nhas long been supposed that the sun and planets have had a common\norigin and that hence the same substances are more or less common\nto them all. Can we detect the presence of any of our terrestrial\nsubstances in the sun?... I have said that the bright bands of a metal\nare characteristic of the metal; that we can without seeing the metal\ndeclare its name from the inspection of the bands. The bands are,\nso to speak, the voice of the metal declaring its presence.\n\n\"Professor Kirchhoff finds iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, chromium,\netc., in the sunlight spectrum. We know also the total amount of\nsolar heat received by the earth in a year, and we can calculate\nthe entire quantity of heat emitted by the sun in a year. Conceive a\nhollow sphere to surround the sun, its center the sun's center, and its\nsurface at the distance of the earth from the sun. The section of the\nearth cut by this surface is to the whole area of the hollow sphere\nas 1 to 2,300,000,000; hence the quantity of solar heat intercepted\nby the earth is only 1/2300000000 of the total radiation.\n\n\"The heat emitted by the sun, if used to melt a stratum of ice\napplied to the sun's surface would liquefy the ice at the rate of\n2,400 feet an hour. It would boil per hour 700,000 millions of cubic\nmiles of ice-cold water. Expressed in another form, the heat given\nout by the sun per hour is equal to that which would be generated\nby the combustion of a layer of solid coal 10 feet thick entirely\nsurrounding the sun; hence the heat emitted in a year is equal to\nthat which would be produced by the combustion of a layer of coal 17\nmiles in thickness. These are the results of actual measurements; and\nshould greater accuracy be conferred on them by future determinations,\nit will not deprive them of their astonishing character. And this\nexpenditure has been going on for ages, without our being able,\nin historic times, to detect the loss. When the tolling of a bell is\nheard at a distance, the sound of each stroke soon sinks, the sonorous\nvibrations are quickly wasted, and renewed strokes are necessary to\nmaintain the sound. Like the bell,\n\n\n \"Die Sonne t\u00f6nt nach alter weise.\n\n\n\"But how is its tone sustained? How is the perennial loss made\ngood? We are apt to overlook the wonderful in the common. Possibly\nto many of us--and to some of the most enlightened among us--the\nsun appears as a fire differing from our terrestrial fires only in\nthe magnitude and the intensity of its combustion. But what is the\nburning matter which can thus maintain itself? All that we know of\ncosmical phenomena declares our brotherhood with the sun--affirms\nthat the same constituents enter into the composition of his mass\nas those already known to chemistry. But no earthly substance with\nwhich we are acquainted--no substance which the fall of meteors has\nlanded on the earth--would be at all competent to maintain the sun's\ncombustion. The chemical energy of such substances would be too weak,\nand their dissipation would be too speedy. Were the sun a solid block\nof coal, and were it allowed a sufficient supply of oxygen to enable\nit to burn at the rate necessary to produce the observed emissions,\nit would be utterly consumed in 5,000 years. On the other hand,\nto imagine it a body originally endowed with a store of heat--a hot\nglobe now cooling--necessitates the ascription to it of qualities\nwholly different from those possessed by terrestrial matter. If we\nknew the specific heat of the sun, we could calculate its rate of\ncooling. Assuming this to be the same as that of water--the terrestrial\nsubstance which possesses the highest specific heat--at its present\nrate of emission, the entire mass of the sun would cool down 15,000\u00b0\nFaht. in 5,000 years. In short, if the sun be formed of matter like our\nown, some means must exist of restoring to him his wasted power. The\nfacts are so extraordinary, that the soberest hypothesis regarding\nthem must appear wild. The sun we know rotates upon his axis; he\nturns like a wheel once in 25 days: can it be the friction of the\nperiphery of this wheel against something in surrounding space which\nproduces the light and heat? Such a notion has been entertained. But\nwhat forms the brake, and by what agency is it held, while it rubs\nagainst the sun? The action is inconceivable; but, granting the\nexistence of the brake, we can calculate the total amount of heat\nwhich the sun could generate by such friction. We know his mass, we\nknow his time of rotation; we know the mechanical equivalent of heat;\nand from these data we deduce, with certainty, that the entire force\nof rotation, if converted into heat, would cover more than one, but\nless than two, centuries of emission. There is no hypothesis involved\nin this calculation.\n\n\"There is another theory, which, however bold it may at first sight\nappear, deserves our earnest attention. I have already referred to\nit as the meteoric theory of the sun's heat. Solar space is peopled\nwith ponderable objects. Kepler's celebrated statement that 'there\nare more comets in the heavens than fish in the ocean' refers to the\nfact that a small portion only of the total number of comets belong\nto our system, and are seen from the earth. But besides comets,\nand planets, and moons, a numerous class of bodies belong to our\nsystem--asteroids, which from their smallness might be regarded as\ncosmical atoms. Like the planets and the comets these smaller bodies\nobey the law of gravity, and revolve in elliptic orbits around the sun;\nand it is they, when they come within the earth's atmosphere, that,\nfired by friction, appear to us as meteors and falling stars. On a\nbright night twenty minutes rarely pass at any part of the earth's\nsurface without the appearance of at least one meteor. At certain\ntimes (the 12th of August and the 14th of November), they appear in\nenormous numbers. During nine hours of observation in Boston, when\nthey were described as falling as thick as snowflakes, 240,000 meteors\nwere calculated to have been observed. The number falling in a year\nmight perhaps be estimated at hundreds or thousands of millions, and\neven these would constitute but a small portion of the total crowd of\nasteroids that circulate round the sun. From the phenomena of light\nand heat, and by the direct observation of Encke, on his comet, we\nlearn that the universe is filled with a resisting medium, through\nthe friction of which all the masses of our system are drawn gradually\ntoward the sun. And though the larger planets show, in historic times,\nno diminution of their periods of revolution, this may not hold good\nfor the smaller bodies. In the time required for the mean distance\nof the earth from the sun to alter a single yard, a small asteroid\nmay have approached thousands of miles nearer to our luminary.\n\n\"Following up these reflections we should infer that while this\nimmeasurable stream of ponderable matter rolls unceasingly towards\nthe sun, it must augment in density as it approaches the center\nof convergence. And here the conjecture naturally rises that that\nweak nebulous light, of vast dimensions, which embraces the sun--the\nZodiacal light--may owe its existence to these crowded meteors. However\nthis may be, it is at least proved that the luminous phenomenon\narises from matter which circulates in obedience to planetary laws;\nthe entire mass constituting the Zodiacal light must be constantly\napproaching, and incessantly raining its substance down upon, the sun.\n\n\"We observe the fall of an apple and investigate the law which rules\nits motion. In the place of the earth we set the sun, and in place of\nthe apple we set the earth, and thus possess ourselves of the key to\nthe mechanics of the heavens. We now know the connection between hight\nof fall, velocity, and heat at the surface of the earth. In the place\nof the earth let us set the sun, with 300,000 times the earth's mass,\nand instead of a fall of a few feet, let us take cosmical elevations;\nwe thus obtain a means of generating heat which transcends all\nterrestrial power.\n\n\"It is easy to calculate both the maximum and the minimum velocity\nimparted by the sun's attraction to asteroids circulating round him;\nthe maximum is generated when the body approaches the sun from an\ninfinite distance as the entire pull of the sun being then expended\nupon it; the minimum is that velocity which would barely enable\nthe body to revolve round the sun close to his surface. The final\nvelocity of the former, just before striking the sun, would be 390\nmiles a second, that of the latter 276 miles a second. The asteroid\non striking the sun with the former velocity, would develop more\nthan 3,000 times the heat generated by the combustion of an equal\nasteroid of solid coal; while the shock, in the latter case, would\ngenerate heat equal to that of the combustion of upward of 4,000 such\nasteroids. It matters not whether the substances falling into the sun\nbe combustible or not; their being combustible would not add sensibly\nto the tremendous heat produced by their mechanical collision.\n\n\"Here then we have an agency competent to restore his lost energy,\nand to maintain a temperature at his surface which transcends all\nterrestrial combustion. The very quality of the solar rays--their\nincomparable penetrating power--enables us to infer that the\ntemperature of their origin must be enormous; but in the fall of\nasteroids we find the means of producing such a temperature. It may be\ncontended that this showering down of matter must be accompanied by\nthe growth of the sun in size; it is so; but the quantity necessary\nto produce the observed calorific emission, even if accumulated for\n4,000 years, would defy the scrutiny of our best instruments. If\nthe earth struck the sun it would utterly vanish from perception,\nbut the heat developed by the shock would cover the expenditure of\nthe sun for a century.\n\n\"To the earth itself apply considerations similar to those which we\nhave applied to the sun. Newton's theory of gravitation, which enables\nus, from the present form of the earth, to deduce its original state\nof aggregation, reveals to us, at the same time, a source of heat\npowerful enough to bring about the fluid state--powerful enough\nto fuse even worlds. It teaches us to regard the molten condition\nof a planet as resulting from mechanical union of cosmical masses,\nand thus reduces to the same homogeneous process the heat stored up\nin the body of the earth, and the heat emitted by the sun. Without\ndoubt the whole surface of the sun displays an unbroken ocean of\nfiery fluid matter. On this ocean rests an atmosphere of flowing\ngas--a flame atmosphere, or photosphere. But gaseous substances, when\ncompared with solid ones, emit, even when their temperature is very\nhigh, only a feeble and transparent light. Hence it is probable that\nthe dazzling white light of the sun comes through the atmosphere\nfrom the more solid portions of the surface.... In conclusion,\nthus writes Professor Thomson: 'The source of energy from which\nthe solar heat is derived is undoubtedly meteoric.... The principal\nsource--perhaps the sole appreciable efficient source--is in the bodies\ncirculating round the sun at present inside the earth's orbit seen in\nthe sunlight by us called \"Zodiacal light.\" The store of energy for\nfuture sunlight is at present partly dynamical--that of the motions\nof these bodies round the sun; and partly potential--that of their\ngravitation towards the sun. This latter is gradually being spent,\nhalf against the resisting medium, and half in causing a continuous\nincrease of the former. Each meteor thus goes on moving faster and\nfaster, and getting nearer and nearer the center, until some time,\nvery suddenly, it gets so much entangled in the solar atmosphere as\nto begin to lose its velocity. In a few seconds more it is at rest\non the sun's surface, and the energy given up is vibrated across the\ndistrict where it was gathered during so many ages, ultimately to\npenetrate as light the remotest regions of space....\n\n\"'The heat of rotation of the sun and planets, taken all together,\nwould cover the solar emission for 134 years; while the heat of\ngravitation (that produced by falling into the sun) would cover the\nemission for 45,589 years. There is nothing hypothetical in these\nresults; they follow directly and necessarily from the application\nof the mechanical equivalent of heat to cosmical masses.'...\n\n\"But, continues Helmholtz, though the store of our planetary system is\nso immense as not to be sensibly diminished by the incessant emission\nwhich has gone on during the period of man's history, and though the\ntime which must elapse before a sensible change in the condition of\nour planetary system can occur is totally incapable of measurement,\nthe inexorable laws of mechanics show that this store, which can\nonly suffer loss, and not gain, must finally be exhausted. Shall we\nterrify ourselves by this thought? Men are in the habit of measuring\nthe greatness of the universe, and the wisdom displayed in it, by\nthe duration and the profit which it promises to their own race;\nbut the past history of the earth shows the insignificance of the\ninterval during which man has had his dwelling here. What the museums\nof Europe show us of the remains of Egypt and Assyria we gaze upon in\nsilent wonder, and despair of being able to carry back our thoughts\nto a period so remote. Still, the human race must have existed and\nmultiplied for ages before the Pyramids could have been erected. We\nestimate the duration of human history at 6,000 years; but vast as\nthis time may appear to us, what is it in comparison with the period\nduring which the earth bore successive series of rank plants and mighty\nanimals, but no man? Periods during which, in our own neighborhood\n(Koenigsberg) the amber tree bloomed and dropped its costly gum on\nthe earth and in the sea; when in Europe and North America groves of\ntropical palms flourished, in which gigantic lizards, and after them\nelephants, whose mighty remains are still buried in the earth, found\na home. Different geologists, proceeding from different premises,\nhave sought to estimate the length of the above period, and they set\nit down from one to nine million of years. The time during which\nthe earth has generated organic beings is again small, compared\nwith the ages during which the world was a mass of molten rocks. The\nexperiments of Bischoff upon basalt show that for our globe to cool\ndown from 2,000\u00b0 to 200\u00b0 centigrade would require 350 millions of\nyears. And with regard to the period during which the first nebulous\nmasses condensed, so as to form our planetary system, conjecture\nmust entirely cease. The history of man, therefore, is but a minute\nripple in the infinite ocean of time. For a much longer period than\nthat during which he has already occupied the world, the existence of\na state of inorganic nature, favorable to man's existence, seems to\nbe secured; so that for ourselves, and for long generations after us,\nwe have nothing to fear. But the same forces of air and water, and of\nthe volcanic interior, which produced former geological revolutions,\nand buried one series of living forms after another, still act upon\nthe earth's crust. They, rather than those distant cosmical changes\nof which we have spoken, will end the human race, and perhaps compel\nus to make way for new and more complete forms of life, as the lizard\nand the mammoth have given way to us and our contemporaries.\n\n\"Grand, however, and marvelous as are these questions regarding\nthe physical constitution of the sun, they are but a portion of\nthe wonders connected with our luminary. His relationship to life\nis yet to be referred to. The earth's atmosphere contains carbonic\nacid, and the earth's surface bears living plants; the former is\nthe nutriment of the latter. The plant seizes the combined carbon\nand oxygen and tears them asunder, storing the carbon and letting\nthe oxygen go free. By no special force, different in quality from\nother forces, do plants exercise this power--the real magician here\nis the sun. We have seen how heat is consumed in forcing asunder the\natoms and molecules of solids and liquids, converting itself into\npotential energy, which reappears as heat when the attractions of\nthe separated atoms are again allowed to come into play. Precisely\nthe same considerations which we then applied to heat we have now to\napply to light; for it is at the expense of the solar light that the\ndecomposition of the carbonic acid is effected. Without the sun the\nreduction cannot take place, and an amount of sunlight is consumed\nexactly equivalent to the molecular work accomplished. Thus trees are\nformed, thus meadows grow, thus the flowers bloom. Let the rays fall\nupon the surface of sand, the sand is heated, and finally radiates\naway as much as it receives; let the same rays fall upon a forest,\nthe quantity of heat given back is less than that received, for the\nenergy of a portion of the sunbeams is invested in building up the\ntrees. I have here a bundle of cotton which I ignite; it bursts into\nflame, and yields a definite amount of heat; precisely that amount\nof heat was abstracted from the sun in order to form that bit of\ncotton. This is a representative case--every tree, plant, and flower,\ngrows and flourishes by the grace and bounty of the sun.\n\n\"But we cannot stop at vegetable life; for this is the source,\nmediate or immediate, of all animal life. In the animal body vegetable\nsubstances are brought again into contact with their beloved oxygen,\nand they burn within as a fire burns in a grate. This is the source\nof all animal power; and the forces in play are the same, in kind,\nas those which operate in inorganic nature. In the plant the clock\nis wound up, in the animal it runs down. In the plant the atoms are\nseparated, in the animal they recombine. And as surely as the force\nwhich moves a clock's hands is derived from the arm which winds the\nclock, so surely is all terrestrial power drawn from the sun. Leaving\nout of account the eruption of volcanoes and the ebb and flow of\nthe tides, every mechanical action on the earth's surface, every\nmanifestation of power, organic and inorganic, vital or physical,\nis produced by the sun. His warmth keeps the sea liquid, and the\natmosphere a gas, and all the storms which agitate both are blown by\nthe mechanical force of the sun. He lifts the rivers and glaciers\nup the mountains; and thus the cataract and avalanche shoot with\nan energy derived immediately from him. Thunder and lightning are\nalso his transmuted strength. Every fire that burns and every flame\nthat glows dispenses light and heat which originally belonged to the\nsun. In these days, unhappily, the news of battle is familiar to us,\nbut every shock, and every charge, is an application or misapplication\nof the mechanical force of the sun. He blows the trumpet, he urges\nthe projectile, he bursts the bomb. And remember this is not poetry,\nbut rigid mechanical truth. He rears, as I have said, the whole\nvegetable world, and through it the animal; the lilies of the field\nare his workmanship, the verdure of the meadows, and the cattle upon\na thousand hills. He forms the muscle, he urges the blood, he builds\nthe brain. His fleetness is in the lion's foot; he springs in the\npanther, he soars in the eagle, he slides in the snake. He builds the\nforest, and hews it down, the power which raised the tree and that\nwhich wields the axe being one and the same. The clover sprouts and\nblossoms, and the scythe of the mower swings, by the operation of the\nsame force. The sun digs the ore from our mines, he rolls the iron,\nhe rivets the plates, he boils the water, he draws the train. He not\nonly grows the cotton, but he spins the fiber and weaves the web. There\nis not a hammer raised, a wheel turned, or a shuttle thrown, that is\nnot raised, and turned, and thrown by the sun. His energy is poured\nfreely into space, but our world is a halting-place where the energy\nis conditioned. Here the Proteus works his spells; the self-same\nessence takes a million of shapes and hues, and finally dissolves\ninto its primitive and almost formless form. The sun comes to us as\nheat; he quits us as heat; and between his entrance and departure the\nmultiform powers of our globe appear. They are all special forms of\nsolar power--the molds into which his strength is temporarily poured,\nin passing from its source through infinitude.\n\n\"Presented rightly to the mind, the discoveries and generalizations\nof modern science constitute a poem more sublime than has yet been\naddressed to the intellect and imagination of man. The natural\nphilosopher of to-day may dwell amid conceptions which beggar those\nof Milton. So great and grand are they, that in the contemplation of\nthem a certain force of character is requisite to preserve us from\nbewilderment. Look at the integrated energies of the world--the stored\npower of our coal fields; our winds and rivers; our fleets, armies, and\nguns; what are they? They are all generated by a portion of the sun's\nenergy, which does not amount to 1/2300000000th of the whole. This,\nin fact, is the entire fraction of the sun's force intercepted\nby the earth, and, in reality, we convert but a small fraction of\nthat fraction into mechanical energy. Multiplying all our powers by\nmillions of millions, we do not reach the sun's expenditure. And still,\nnotwithstanding this enormous drain, in the lapse of human history\nwe are unable to detect a diminution of his store; measured by our\nlargest terrestrial standards, such a reservoir of power is infinite;\nbut it is our privilege to rise above these standards and to regard\nthe sun himself as a speck in infinite extension--a mere drop in the\nuniversal sea. We analyze the space in which he is immersed, and which\nis the vehicle of his power. We pass to other systems and other suns,\neach pouring forth energy like our own, but still without infringement\nof the law, which reveals immutability in the midst of change, which\nrecognizes incessant transference and conversion, but neither final\ngain nor loss. This law generalizes the aphorism of Solomon that there\nis nothing new under the sun, by teaching us to detect everywhere,\nunder its infinite variety of appearances, the same primeval force. To\nnature nothing can be added; from nature nothing can be taken away;\nthe sum of her energies is constant, and the utmost that man can do\nin the pursuit of physical truth, or in the application of physical\nknowledge, is to shift the constituents of the never-varying total,\nand out of one of them to form another. The law of conservation rigidly\nexcludes both creation and annihilation. Waves may change into ripples,\nand ripples into waves--magnitude may be substituted for number,\nand number for magnitude--asteroids may aggregate to suns, and suns\nmay resolve themselves into flora and fauna, and flora and fauna melt\nin air--the flux of power is eternally the same. It rolls in music\nthrough the ages, and all the terrestrial energy--the manifestations\nof life, as well as the display of phenomena, are but the modulations\nof the rhythm\" (Tyndall Lecture XII).\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nGENESIS--THE CREATION.\n\n\nMan must pass through infancy and childhood before he reaches manhood\nand maturity. Races and nations also had to pass the stages of infancy\nand childhood, with all their mistakes, fancy, and fable. In these\nstages any kind of information and interpretation is readily accepted,\nwithout inquiry and without investigation, for the reason that they\nare not capable of either. To inquire, is the awaking of knowledge;\nand to investigate, requires understanding. Whatever knowledge has been\nacquired, that knowledge can be imparted, but no more. If it be true,\nit cannot be denied or contradicted; if that knowledge be not true, it\nwill be subject to denial, controversy, and dispute, when experience\nhas ripened the understanding. Childhood will listen to anything\nwithout contradiction. It accepts the matter as told and believes\nit. As years pass on, the story that once seemed so impressive and\npretty, that was listened to so eagerly, loses its charm, for lack\nof truth. Fairy tales of past ages were abundant. Every locality\nhad them, and was by them adorned in mystery and wonder. They were\nordinarily recited with startling impressiveness. With awe places\nwere pointed out of perhaps some strange apparition, or prodigious\noccurrence. All of such accounts were either deliberate inventions,\nor concoctions of a prolific imagination. Early writings abound\nin them. The improbability of a story grows stronger the farther\nyou go back in the history of humanity. Many of these stories were\nincorporated in poems, in heroic legends, in tales of the mysterious\nbirths of kings and queens, descendants of gods. And the vast majority\nof the writers of antiquity mix fiction and fact, the possible with\nthe impossible. They treat on the conduct of men, their deeds and\nmisdeeds, according to the extravagant customs of the time.\n\nThe Book called scripture writings is composed of three\nelements--fiction, exaggeration, and fact. The fiction consists of all\nthat portion of the writings that relates to God and his miraculous\nworks. The exaggeration consists of impossible doings of men, such\nas accounts of miracle-healers, resurrectionists, flights to heaven,\netc. The facts appertain to the Jewish race actually--that they did\nexist as a nation, and conducted their affairs in as barbarous a\nfashion as their neighbors.\n\nFor nearly two thousand years Christianity has done its utmost to\nsustain the fiction portion as being absolutely true, and still\nit teaches these absurdities to be true, and anyone doubting their\naccuracy is liable to persecution. For every doubter of the current\nbelief, whether in ancient or modern times, is subject to discipline\nof the church to which he belongs. Recently in our own city many\nhave been subjected to a mild form of persecution for doubting. They\nwere declared to be heretics, blasphemers, etc. I speak of such men\nas Dr. Newton, Dr. Briggs, and others. Yet, we must concede that\nevery organization has a right to judge as to the qualifications of\nany one of its members, especially if he is an office-holder. They\nmay reject or accept any member. But since his membership depends\non whether he believes in their mode of interpreting this fiction,\nhe must say that he believes it, and proclaim to others that it is\ntrue, though he knows it is not.\n\nNothing on earth has given rise to so much dispute, angry quarrel,\nbitter hatred and abuse, as this fiction. It has been the cause of\nmore villainy, brutality, massacres, and bloody wars than all matters\nthat concern humanity put together.\n\nScience universally agrees that the biblical story has not a particle\nof truth in it; and the older it gets the more it suffers, the weaker\nit gets, and it finally must undergo complete dissipation, in the\npresence of the strong light of natural truth.\n\nWe have a great deal to be thankful for, to have and to enjoy the\nprivilege, the freedom, of exercising and giving expression to\nopinions concerning matters that have been considered too sacred to\nbe contradicted or criticised.\n\nThe time has come, or is coming very fast, that we shall be able to\ndispense with God, Christ, the Holy Ghost, and the Bible as a sacred\ntext-book, both the Old and New Testament. In order to do this we must\nexamine some portion of its text. We should do this for educational\npurposes. Every man and woman should acquire a proper amount of\nknowledge, to enable them to think for themselves. Every person knows,\nor ought to know, that priest and preacher are especially educated to\nkeep the masses as ignorant as they can possibly keep them. It is their\ntrade. It is their bread and butter, like that of every other trade\nor profession--it is their business, their function, their profit, to\nsustain and uphold this tottering fabric, this hollow sham, this aerial\nnothing, with not a truth, not even a shadow of a truth, to support it.\n\nChapter i, verse 1, of Genesis: \"In the beginning God created heaven\nand earth.\" Verse 2: \"The earth was without form and void.\"\n\n(1) God could not have created the earth, as a planet distinct and\nseparate by itself. This terrestrial globe belongs to a system of\nplanets, and they are all not only dependent on one another, but all\ndependent on the sun for their existence.\n\n(2) How can God create a planet, this earth? Where did he get his\nmaterial from? And was it possible for God to overcome the laws\nof gravitation?\n\n(3) Does it not seem strange that God, who seemed to have direct\ndealings with Moses, did not give him more information about it?\n\n(4) Theologians claim that God is the architect, the designer, the\nfirst cause, the creator. Why did it take God to make this terrestrial\nglobe six days? If he was able to make it in six days, he might as\nwell have made it in one day, yes, one hour. If the Word was God,\nand God was the Word, then the Word ought to have displayed this\nmagical art; he might have simply said, Go!\n\nThe term designer, architect, creator, implies skill, human skill,\na being that has brain.\n\n(5) As to heaven, that part that is scripturally indicated as heaven\nis the atmosphere.\n\n(6) We are nowhere told where God was when he was doing all this\nwork. Whether he was floating in space among the meteors and asteroids,\nor had his residence on Mars or Venus, we are not informed.\n\n(7) This earth always had a form. A globe that revolves round its own\naxis, once in twenty-four hours, and round the sun besides, cannot be\nwithout form. It must necessarily have a globular form; nor was it\never void. There is no such thing as a void in fact; it may appear\nso to one ignorant of natural phenomena. That was undoubtedly the\ncase when that matter was written up.\n\n(8) It must also be remembered that every planet in the system of\nthe sun receives a portion of his light. The contact of the sun's\nrays with the elements of this earth is fatal to any such nonsensical\nproposition as a void.\n\n(9) As to \"the darkness on the face of the deep,\" that could exist\nonly in isolated places, because of an intense fog or mist. The\nwhole surface of the earth could not have a fog at one time. That is\nimpossible. Wherever the sun shines there is light.\n\n(10) \"And the spirit of God moved on the face of the waters.\" What\nwaters? Where? We know that only one thing in this solar system can\ndisperse a fog; that is the sun.\n\nVerse 3: \"And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.\"\n\nThis is worse than childish; it is stupid.\n\n(1) How could God have light when the sun was not made?\n\n(2) And if the sun existed, it was silly on his part to say it.\n\nVerse 4: \"And God saw the light that it was good, and God divided\nthe light from the darkness.\"\n\nHow is it possible for any sane person to believe such nonsense,\nwhen everybody with a grain of common sense knows that light and\ndarkness depend on the sun, as day and night do?\n\nAnd this is said to have constituted the first day's work. If any man\nwill read it carefully he will perceive that the composition is of\na nature to entertain simple-minded people, children, who are unable\nto understand the ordinary phases of nature.\n\nThe second day's work is very droll.\n\nVerse 6: \"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the\nwaters,\" etc.\n\nVerse 7: \"And God made the firmament,\" and divided the waters which\nwere under the firmament and the waters which were above the firmament,\nand it was so.\n\nVerse 8: \"And called the firmament heaven.\"\n\nThere is not a particle of sense in this.\n\nIf the firmament is heaven, and heaven the atmosphere, we know that\nwe cannot have any water above the firmament. We may have clouds,\nor a certain quantity of moisture, but no water. If the atmosphere\nis overloaded with moisture, that moisture is sure to return to the\nearth in the shape of rain or other form.\n\nThis portion is important to pious persons, that they may know where\ntheir souls go when they go to \"heaven\"--to the atmosphere!\n\nTheologians and religious writers contend that this earth was in a\nstate of aqueous solution. That is all wrong. We have not oxygen\nand hydrogen enough to produce such a state with. Besides, if it\nwas in an aqueous solution what became of the sixty-two elementary\nsubstances that never enter into the composition of water? Nor can\nthe majority of the elements be held in suspension by water. The\nspecific gravity of the different elements cannot be suspended to\nplease anybody. Elisha is supposed to have performed that miracle;\nhe made an axe-head swim (2 Kings vi, 6). This same man also beheld\na chariot of fire and horses of fire with which Elijah went to\nheaven. It seems surprising that men who claim to know something of\nscience insist upon this miraculous supernatural work. They ought\nto know better. They ought to know that neither God nor man can stop\nthe chemical action of the elements in the presence or absence of the\nsun's heat. They ought to know that no supernatural power can suspend\nnature's forces, or nature's laws. They ought to know that no spirit,\nwhether belonging to God or not, can effect such an aqueous solution\nas these pious gentlemen would have us believe.\n\nThe third day's work is remarkable. It embraces the 9th to the 13th\nverses inclusive. \"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be\ngathered together unto one place and let dry land appear.\" Was God\nignorant of the existence of more oceans than one? of the numerous seas\nand lakes? or was this creation a local affair near the Gulf of Persia?\n\nThere is a singular phraseology used: the first day's work is not\nqualified; the second day, \"It was so;\" on the third day, \"It was so,\nit was good.\" Thus, it seems, God did not discover the quality of his\nwork until the third day, when he has it twice--\"It was so,\" as if in\nsurprise, and then that \"it was good,\" as if he lacked self-reliance,\nor was uncertain how the work would turn out.\n\nVerse 11: \"And let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,\nand the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,\" etc.\n\nIt is a pertinent question, or questions:\n\n(1) On what part of the globe were these planted?\n\n(2) In what season of the year were they planted?\n\n(3) Did these thrive and flourish in the absence of sunlight? and\n\n(4) In what kind of soil and in what locality? Were these trees, grass,\nherbs, planted at the North Pole, equator, in a subtropical or in a\nmild climate? Was it winter, spring, summer, or autumn? Was it sandy\nsoil, as in the deserts of Arabia, or hill, valley, or mountain? Or\nwas it really somewhere in Chaldea where the story originated?\n\nRemember, we have no sun yet.\n\nVerse 13: \"And the evening and the morning were the third day.\" God\ntakes his rest during the night, like any other toiler on the surface\nof this terrestrial globe. He did not believe in working after proper\nhours. No doubt he started with sunrise and stopped at sunset, as\nshepherds and agriculturists usually do. And God simply suspended the\nnatural operations and went to bed. I don't blame him. He was tired.\n\nThen again, grass might and does grow in a season, but trees do\nnot. It takes quite a number of seasons for trees to bear fruit. The\nelements that enter into their composition differ. Some have more of\none element, and grow on certain soil and flourish, while others do\nnot. Moreover, there are only certain localities on earth where the\ngrowth of any can be accomplished.\n\nThe fourth day's work is something prodigious:\n\nVerse 14: \"And God said, Let there be light in the firmament of\nthe heaven\" (in the eighth verse God calls the firmament heaven,\nbut in the 14th calls it the firmament of the heaven) \"to divide\nthe day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons,\nand for days and years.\"\n\nVerse 15: \"And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven\nto give light upon earth: and it was so.\"\n\nVerse 16: \"And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule\nthe day, and the lesser to rule the night: he made the stars also.\"\n\nThe inventor or the writer of these passages had not the slightest\nconception of what he was talking about. He spoke and wrote of the\nmere appearance of what he beheld daily and nightly, the sun and the\nmoon. They could not know, in those remote ages, the important role\nthe sun plays in the solar system, because whatever is known thereon\nis of very recent date. Talk of setting the sun in the firmament,\n93,000,000 miles' distance from the earth, considering its bulk,\nweight, and condition, is an outrage on common sense. It is a monstrous\npiece of stupidity to make children believe it, and it is an infamous\nfraud for any priest or preacher to teach it.\n\nWriters in order to explain away the above difficulty quote, for\nexample: \"Maimonides (born 1131 A.D.) in his guide, Rashi (1030) and\nAben Ezra (1119) in their commentaries, hold that the light of the\nfirst day was that of the sun itself, which revolving in its sphere\nfrom west to east and from east to west made a day of twenty-four\nhours. The scripture's saying that it was created on the fourth\nday is incident to its thus demonstrating its effects upon plants,\nwhich appeared on the third day; rain, which proceeded from the\nexhalations and vapors raised from the earth by the action of the\nsun's heat thereon, being necessary to their vegetation. Therefore,\nit is clear that there was no new creation on the fourth day; but\nthe heat implies that on that day the sun developed the effects of\nhis heat on plants.\" This is one of many explanations of philosophical\ncommentators who have tried to explain away the difficulty of creation,\nowing to the many doubts that arose in the minds of learned men about\nthe tenth and eleventh centuries A.D.; and especially the Greek\nphilosophers, Aristotle [4] and others. Volumes upon volumes have\nbeen written in order to explain away the difficulties theologians\nencounter. As science advances, explanations and reconciliations\nbecome more difficult. Maimonides, in his pious enthusiasm, after\nhaving consulted Aristotle and others, is not quite certain, but\nhe claims (according to More, xi, 15): \"I propose to show that the\ncreation of the world, as our religion teaches, is not impossible,\nand all philosophical reasonings to the effect that it is not so,\nas I have said, they may overthrow, but cannot make any objection\nagainst us. As for me, I stand firm in my belief on the question,\nof whether the world had a beginning or not. I accept the solution of\nthis problem from the prophets, as the prophets explain these things,\nwhich speculation cannot reach,\" etc. (Kusari I, 65, 67). In other\nwords, Maimonides, the authors of the Talmud, and all other writers,\ntheological philosophers, Hebrew and Christian, prove the truth of the\nBible by the Bible. One portion of scripture must prove another portion\nto be true. The Jews use their own biblical authorities to demonstrate\none another's statements. Isaiah gives evidence for Moses, and Moses\nis made to testify for Isaiah, and so the Jewish philosophers whip the\ndevil round the ring. The Christians have a double hold. They have a\nNew Testament. They prove the statements made by persons figuring in\nthe Old Testament by statements made in the New Testament. That is,\nthey make Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Moses, etc., give testimony\nfor John, Mark, Matthew, and Luke; and then make Luke, Matthew, Mark,\nand John give evidence for Moses, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Elisha, Elijah, etc.\n\nThe majority of theological writings and commentaries, yes, all of\nthem, were composed and written during the Christian era, and nearly\none-half of these after the twelfth century. All are employed with\nthe same subject-matter. Although they lay claim that the Talmud and\nother works treat of mathematics, physics, medicine, etc., they knew\nlittle or nothing about these things, and the little they did know\nwas mostly appropriated from the Greek and other nations.\n\nIt is not an unusual occurrence for modern thinkers to interpret the\nstatements of ancient writers as they originally never intended. They\nspoke in enigmas, parables, simply philosophical phrases, without\nstating a single fact, implying nothing in particular and everything\nin general.\n\n\"And he made the stars also.\" Make the stars! We have shown in a\nprevious chapter that this our solar system is but a speck among the\nstarry host of the universe.\n\nFrom verse 20 to 23 inclusive, God created moving creatures in the\nwater, and fowl that may fly above the earth. This general statement,\nlike all other statements in the Bible, is based on the principle that\n\"with God everything is possible.\" Unfortunately for God's adherents,\nthat is absolutely not the case. The laws of nature are fixed,\npermanent. There is no exception in favor of any mortal and natural\nbeing, and certainly not for any supernatural and imaginary being.\n\nDoes it not seem strange that the only animal mentioned in the fifth\nand sixth days' performance is the whale? \"Great whales,\" it says. Why\ngreat whales? They had heard something about the whale, he therefore\nreceived prominence, and was mentioned. They had no knowledge of\nother animals. Or was this great whale purposely inserted to do that\nextraordinary service to Jonah?\n\nAnd after all this work was done, God saw that it was good. Evidently\npleased with his handiwork.\n\nOn the sixth day he finishes his work--he \"brings forth living\ncreatures.\" Why living creatures? Are not fish, fowl, and whales\nliving creatures? Next come cattle and creeping things. After he\ncreated the creeping things he made man.\n\nVerse 27: \"So God created man in his own image; in the image of God\ncreated he him, male and female created he them.\"\n\nIf man was made in his own image, God's image, God must have the\nsemblance of man, otherwise man would not be like him. If God has\nthe semblance of man, and creates and desires, works and rests,\nlike a man, he is a man, therefore cannot be supernatural--a God!\n\nVerses 28, 29, 30: God places all that he has created at the service\nof man, giving him full control and dominion to make use of these\nbenefits as he, man, thinks best. \"And behold it was very good,\"\nand then God took a rest.\n\nThe entire creation must have taken place in a mild or warm climate,\nin some isolated locality on the face of the globe. No mention is made\nof icebergs, snow or hail. There does not seem to have occurred the\nslightest impediment in any of the work done. No evolutionary period,\nexcept the night's rest God reserved for himself, in addition to the\nwhole day Sunday, or rather the seventh day.\n\nWe are now prepared to make some very pertinent remarks and ask some\nvery pertinent questions:\n\n(1) What period elapsed from the time man was created to the time\nman could use words or speech intelligently?\n\n(2) We may assume that no one was present at the time of creation,\nbecause man and woman were made the last thing on the sixth day.\n\n(3) Who was the first man that received this information? After how\nmany generations or centuries was this news published, and to whom?\n\n(4) We are not informed, even by the holy book, of the man's name\nwho was the fortunate recipient of this valuable information.\n\n(5) Is it not highly probable that the man who first told this story\nmight also have invented it? We have no proof to the contrary, except\nthe mere say-so of somebody.\n\nThe statement, as written, is well enough as a fable; that's all. As\nto fact, there is not a particle of truth to sustain it. But if men\nare determined to believe it, and are not open to conviction, if they\nare willfully blind to the truth, they must remain the slaves to a\npowerful ecclesiastical organization.\n\nThe 14th verse, however, betrays its origin. When the sun and moon were\nmade for seasons, days, and years, as also for signs, that shows a high\ndegree of civilization. These divisions did not take place before man\nwas created? Were really these divisions made before a living creature\ninhabited this earth? For whom? For whose use? Writing had not been\ninvented. Athates, or Hermes, the Egyptian, is supposed to be the\nfounder of hieroglyphics, 2,136 B.C. And we do not hear of writing\nuntil 1,494 B.C. It is claimed that writing was taught to the Latins\nby Europa, daughter of Agenar, king of Phoenicia. The doctrine of the\nsolar system as it is now accepted was first taught by Pythagoras of\nSamos about 529 B.C. Copernicus proved it in the sixteenth century,\nand Newton demonstrated the truth fully in the year 1695. History\nclaims for the Egyptians that they were the first who fixed the\nlength of the year. The Chaldeans and Persians had adopted the lunar\nyear before Abraham ever dreamed of being exiled by his countrymen,\nthe Chaldeans. Can any man be so silly as to believe that an almanac\nwas made before man was created? There is not an intelligent priest\nliving who is ass big enough to believe any such nonsense.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nGENESIS--THE GARDEN OF EDEN.\n\n\nThe custom of six days' labor and one day's rest is a human invention,\nand is based on the principles of economy, power-saving, labor-saving,\nand had been a recognized institution long before the date of the\nsupposed creation. For if the statement of Baily be true (and we have\nno right to discredit it), human beings have existed, in one state\nor another, above 4,000,000 years. The record of the Hebrew race is\ninsignificant in comparison.\n\nThe modern eight-hour movement is the outcome of the economic reforms\nof labor. Had the composers of the scripture known something of it\nat that time God might have worked only eight hours instead of from\nsunrise to sunset.\n\nWe cannot have the slightest doubt that the above first-given labor\nregulation existed long, long ago. The Chaldeans had their mode of\ngovernment, their laws, their social rules and regulations; other\nneighboring nations had theirs; it was therefore nothing new. This\nsix days' labor clause was incorporated, but there was no need of a\nGod to make it.\n\nVerse 4: \"And these are the generations of the heavens and of the\nearth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the\nearth and the heavens.\" What generations of heaven?\n\nVerse 7: \"And the Lord God [In this chapter an extra title is assigned\nto God--it is the Lord God! Why?] formed man of the dust of the ground,\nand breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a\nliving soul.\"\n\nThis is a very grave error. Man is not made of dust of the\nground. There is comparatively very little dust in his composition.\n\n(1) Man contains no more dust than any other animal; the proportion\nof inorganic constituents in him and other animals is about the same.\n\n(2) Animals are constructed anatomically and physiologically the\nsame. They have the same organs, the same number of muscles, and same\nnumber of bones, with some few exceptions. They are built on the same\ngeneral principles as man; or rather, as man came later, we will say\nthat man is constructed on the same general principles as the animals.\n\n(3) The same mechanism and functions are to be found in the one as\nin the other--respiration, circulation, digestion, etc.\n\n(4) The proportion of mineral matters contained in a man--or dust,\nas it is termed in scripture--is about 1/23 to 1/24 of the bodily\nweight. That is, a body weighing about 125 to 130 pounds would yield\nabout 4 1/2 to 5 pounds of dust, or rather ashes, and the largest\nproportion of these ashes comes from the solid framework, the skeleton,\nthe bones, composed of phosphates and carbonate of lime.\n\n(5) More than two-thirds of the body's weight is water--that is,\nhydrogen and oxygen. The principal elements found in the body are\noxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon. There are traces of sulphur,\netc., besides the mineral substances above alluded to. Thus man is\nnot made of dust, but of water, oxygen and hydrogen, nitrogen and\ncarbon. If they had made God say that he made man out of water, he\nwould have been much nearer the truth. Solomon repeats the same in\nhis Eccles. iii, 20: \"All go unto one place; all are of dust, and\nall turn to dust again.\" In the burial service the same absurdity\nis repeated. Alter your service, your prayer--put water in place of\ndust. Or better, give all the four elements a chance.\n\nDo not teach children we are made out of dust. It is not true. Teach\nthe young what is true. What is the good of lying because some man\nsaid, God said so?\n\nThe \"breath of life.\" Is it not time that men of intelligence, in\nthis age of progress and civilization we boast so much of, cease to\npretend to believe such nonsense? It is absurd to talk of its being\n\"parables\" and \"figures of speech.\" Either the text means what it says,\nor it means nothing.\n\nThere has been an immense amount of controversy over two Hebrew words,\nviz.: nephesh--breath, respiring, life, life strength, animal soul;\nruach--anamos, breath, wind, psyche, soul, spirit, etc. They thought\nthat the life is in the blood. Lev. xvii, 11: \"For the life of the\nflesh is in the blood.\" Gen. ix, 4, 5: \"But the flesh with the life\nthereof, which is the blood thereof,\" etc., etc. This controversy\nhas given rise to no end of studies, as psychology--derived from\nthe word psyche,--soul. The literature that has been expended on\nthis subject, psyche, soul, cannot be easily estimated. The matter\nhas been twisted into a science, discussed, argued, lectured on,\netc. On the word Theo, Theon--Deos--God, societies and sects, etc.,\nhave been formed, as the Theosophists.\n\nWhat is the breath of life that caused so much controversy, in\nchurch and out of church? Oxygen. Deprive a man of oxygen and he\ndies. Deprive a beast of oxygen and it dies. Oxygen thus is essential\nto life. Neither man nor beast, as we said, can live without it. The\nissues which this has given rise to are bewildering--theological,\nmetaphysical, Theosophical, philosophical, Agnostic, gnostic,\nspiritual, etc., etc. Oxygen, however, covers the ground. It represents\nall, so far as the life of a body is concerned.\n\nWe now come to Paradise, or the garden of Eden.\n\nWe will try to locate this garden of Eden geographically, as nearly\nas possible correctly. Verse 8: \"And the Lord God planted a garden\neastward of Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.\" That\nwas very kind of God. Verse 9: \"God planted the tree of life also\nin the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and\nevil.\" A wonderful tree surety. What is most to be regretted is that\nthe species has become extinct. What a boon to humanity if but one tree\nwere planted in every church. Verse 10: \"And a river went out of Eden\nto water the garden; and from thence it parted, and became into four\nheads.\" Verse 11: \"The name of the first is Pison; that is it which\ncompasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.\" Verse 12:\n\"And the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx\nstone.\" Verse 13: \"And the name of the second river is Gihon: the\nsame is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.\" Verse 14:\n\"And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; that is it which goeth\ntoward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.\"\n\nAssyria was founded about 2247 B.C. and is situated near the Persian\ngulf; and seems to be wedged in between the Persian empire on the east,\nArabia on the west, or Badien el Arab, and on the southern point the\ngulf of Persia.\n\nEthiopia comprises Nubia, Sennaar, and Northern Abyssinia, and takes\nin a stretch of country on the west shore of the Red sea. The two\ncountries are separated by the Red sea, and by Arabia, which extends\nfrom the east shores of the Red sea to the west shores of the Gulf\nof Persia, and Assyria. Some one made a big blunder, or Johnston's\natlas is wrong, or they--God--made a mistake in the name. There is\nconsiderable distance between the two countries. Assyria lies in Asia\nand Ethiopia in Africa. Egypt lies farthest north of what is usually\nknown as Ethiopia. Assyria is hemmed in, north by Armenia, west by\nMedia and Susiana, south and southeast by Babylon and Mesopotamia. The\nriver Tigris is the dividing line on the south and southeast. The\nParachoatras and Zagrus mountains form the dividing line on the\nwestern border, and Armenia is the boundary on the north.\n\nChaldea is, comparatively speaking, a small tract of land situated\nbetween the river Euphrates and the Arabian desert, or Badien el Arab,\nwith Babylon on its north and the Gulf of Persia on the southwestern\npoint.\n\nThe river Euphrates takes its rise in the Gulf of Persia and runs\nwestward, and divides into four branches.\n\nThe first branch, the Pasitigris, runs somewhat westward through\nSusiana; the second, Chaosper or Kirkhah, runs northward through\nSusiana; the third, the river Tigris, runs north, northwest, separating\nBabylon from Susiana by Assyria; the fourth, the river Euphrates,\nthe farthest south, runs westward, etc.\n\nThis is the only river near the Gulf of Persia that divides into four\nbranches, and these are the four rivers that are indicated where\nthe garden of Eden was planted. This is near enough geographically\nto locate this garden which the Lord God planted. It will indeed\nafford great pleasure for pious people to know whereabouts they can\nfind the garden of Eden. In this rapid-transit age, they can get an\nexcursion ticket and reach this Paradise in a few weeks. This garden\nwas planted in Chaldea.\n\nWe will now see what God did next.\n\nVerse 15: \"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden\nof Eden to dress it and keep it.\" God gave the position of gardener\nto Mr. Adam. The only stipulation in the contract between the Lord\nGod and Adam was (verses 16, 17), he could eat of every tree in the\ngarden except the tree of knowledge. There is a God for you--wants to\nkeep the man he made in his own image, a living soul, as ignorant and\nas stupid as possible; in addition tempting him to commit a wrong act.\n\nVerse 18: \"And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should\nbe alone; I will make him a help meet for him.\" Very considerate\nindeed on the part of God.\n\nVerse 21: \"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam,\nand he slept; and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh\nthereof.\" This is the cleverest kind of surgical operation that\nwas ever performed, without loss of blood, use of antiseptics or\nanesthetics, without ligature, etc. And out of this rib he made a\nwoman. Why did God make a man of dust and the woman out of the man's\nrib? Why did he breathe into the nostrils of the man and forget to\ndo it to the woman? The only reasonable explanation that can be given\nis that, in those days, among the Chaldeans, woman was considered an\ninferior creature, possessing no soul. She was the slave sometimes,\nbut the servant always. She was the creature of man's lust, of his\npassion, and she was placed in the Bible by the man that wrote it in\njust the position and condition she occupied at that period. This is a\ngross falsehood, it is debasing, it is an infamous libel on truth. Does\nany woman believe that she is a bone of her husband's bone, and flesh\nof his flesh?\n\nVerse 25: \"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not\nashamed.\" What is there extraordinary about that? Savage races up to\nthis present time are found in many instances nude. C\u00e6sar describes the\nGermans as bathing promiscuously in a nude state. Columbus found our\nAmerican Indians nude. Evidently a degree of civilization had already\nbeen attained when this story was evolved. The story had its origin\nin the romantic regions of Chaldea, somewhere in the neighborhood\nof the Persian gulf, near the river Euphrates. The singer, the\nstory-teller, or the traveling minstrel tramped from place to place,\nfrom one shepherd's tent to another, relating the story to his crude,\nbarbarous countrymen, reciting the curious yet pretty fable of how man\nwas made; the world made; the garden made; how gold, onyx, and bdellium\nwere found, and where; lauding and glorifying their own country,\nand making out that they were the immediate descendants of the gods.\n\nEvery nation has its fairy tales, its fables, its myths, its songs,\nand its romances. Whether they have their origin in Egypt, or come\ndown embellished from Mount Olympus, whether they are the fairy tales\nof the Rhine, or those from the river Euphrates in Chaldea, they are\nonly the products of imagination.\n\n\n \"They spring from fountains and from sacred groves,\n And holy streams that flow into the sea\" (Od. x, 350).\n\n\nNext we come to chapter iii--the childish account of the serpent, and\nthe woman and the fruit she ate. The serpent is made to say, verse 5:\n\"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes\nshall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good from evil.\"\n\nThe first knowledge they acquired was, that they discovered they\nwere without clothes. \"And they sewed fig leaves together and made\nthemselves aprons.\" Why sewed? With what? Aprons were a very late\ninvention, and were never intended for any such purpose. And then,\nthe conversation between the Lord God and Adam! God calls for Adam\nwhile he is hiding. God inquires with a Chinese simplicity, \"Where\nart thou?\" This is the blandest kind of conversation that has ever\ntaken place between mortal man and a God. Adam tells him that he has\neaten some fruit. Like the boy who had stolen jam out of the jar, it\nseems Adam could not lie. God grows petulant, angry, cross; scolds him,\nand immediately deprives him of his position and turns him out of the\ngarden. God had two reasons for doing what he did. One reason was to\npunish Adam for disobedience; the second, that God got afraid of Adam.\n\nVerse 22: \"And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one\nof us\" (were there more gods than one?), \"to know good and evil; and\nnow, lest he put forth his hand; and take also of the tree of life,\nand eat, and live forever\"---- Was it the fear of competition--that\nmen might interfere with God's occupation, infringe on his monopoly?\n\nIt seems to have a priestly ring, this forbidding and preventing\nordinary mortals to become intelligent. The story is so framed as to\nexpress the line of conduct of the higher towards the lower, of the\nslave towards his master, of the laborer towards his lord; and the\n19th verse expresses the subjugation of the poor ignorant creature:\n\"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return\nunto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art,\nand unto dust shalt thou return.\" It is the church and the priest that\nhave taken care to keep the dust in the eyes of the masses. They are\nthe cherubim with a flaming sword that keep the masses away from the\ntree of life.\n\nChapter iv relates to the crime of murder. God instigates the\ncrime. Abel kept sheep. Cain tilled the ground. Cain brought vegetables\nto God, and Abel brought the firstlings of his flock and fat. God's\ntaste ran in the meat line; he was somewhat of an epicurean. He\nrespected Abel and his offering, but did not respect Cain's. Then God\nasks Cain why he is cross, and after Cain kills his brother Abel, he,\nGod, says: Where is thy brother Abel? And God dispossesses Cain and\ndrives him east of Eden to Arabia. A very arbitrary landlord this God.\n\nChapter v: The fourth chapter winds up with Enos the son of Seth. Verse\n26: \"Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.\" Now, Adam lived\n930 years, Seth 912 years, and Enos 905 years. God during this period\nwas wholly occupied with these people. Murder is the only incident\nof importance during the first thousand years. God takes a long rest\nfor nearly 2,000 years before anything of importance occurs.\n\nThis chapter treats of the genealogy, age, and death of the patriarchs\nfrom Adam to Noah.\n\nThe records of creation are by no means harmonious. There are no less\nthan one hundred and twenty opinions on the subject. The difference\nbetween the latest and remotest dates is no less than 3,268 years. Here\nare some of the dates of the supposed creation of the world. They\nmay be interesting to some, as showing the uncertainty and inaccuracy:\n\n\n Hebrew, 4004 B.C.\n Septuagint, 5873 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n Talmudistic, 5344 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n Scaliger, 3950 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n Petovias, 3984 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n Dr. Hale, 5411 \u00a0,,\u00a0 etc.\n\n\nHere we give the genealogy of Adam and his line:\n\n\n Age.\n 930 Adam, Born 4004 B.C. Died 3074 B.C.\n Abel, \u00a0,,\u00a0 3875 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n 912 Seth, \u00a0,,\u00a0 3874 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n 905 Enos, \u00a0,,\u00a0 3769 [5] ,,\u00a0\n 910 Cainon, \u00a0,,\u00a0 3679 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n 895 Mahaloled, \u00a0,,\u00a0 3609 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n 962 Jared, \u00a0,,\u00a0 3544 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n 815 Enos, \u00a0,,\u00a0 3282 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n 969 Methuselah, \u00a0,,\u00a0 3317 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n 777 Lamech, \u00a0,,\u00a0 3130 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n 365 Enoch, \u00a0,,\u00a0 3017 \u00a0,,\u00a0 (Translated?)\n 815 Noah, \u00a0,,\u00a0 2948 \u00a0,,\u00a0 500 bef. flood. }\n 315 aft. \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 }\n\n\nWe may venture to make a very strong interrogation mark after these\nyears. They are, however, in harmony with the rest of the story. Noah\ncloses the fabulous period. We hear no more of God's doings until\nwe come to Abraham, 1921 B.C. And Abraham reached the age of 175\nyears only.\n\nChapter vi, on the sons of God, etc., is next. I beg to remind the\nreader we are still in Chaldea, near the Gulf of Persia; near the\nriver Euphrates; near the garden of Eden, where God created man;\nwhere we found gold and precious stones; the place where murder was\ncommitted; near Arabia, etc. The geographical location is important,\nand let the reader also remember that the whole tract of land where\nall these transactions are supposed to have taken place is not so\nlarge as any moderate-sized state in our Union.\n\nIf you will examine a map of this particular region, it will help\nto bring the truth to your mind, and add considerably to your\nunderstanding. It is also well to bear in mind that in this small\nterritory the art of agriculture was pursued, as well as fruit-growing,\nsewing was invented and aprons were made, and Eve had an apron before\nshe had a dress, and this high state of civilization existed as soon as\nman and woman appeared on earth! What a contrast with other barbaric,\nsavage, and uncivilized tribes! Eve had a decided advantage over the\nyoung female that was captured when Columbus landed December 12th. She\nwas perfectly naked; so says history.\n\nVerse 2: \"The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were\nfair; and they took them wives all which they chose.\"\n\nSons of God! Was God married? If so, to whom? How many wives had\nhe? How many sons and daughters? Where was God's residence, if he had\nany? Were his domestic relations pleasant or not? Was his family large\nor small? Pray give us some information. Our theologians will tell us,\n\"Ah, that has a spiritual meaning.\"\n\nVerse 3: \"And the Lord [not God] said: My spirit shall not always\nstrive with man, for that he also is flesh.\" Who?--God? \"Yet his\ndays shall be a hundred and twenty.\" This is a crafty statement,\nbecause it shows that the average length of life was the same as it\nis now, with some few exceptions, and as the fabulous age was past,\nthe only way to get out of the difficulty was to give timely notice\nthat extraordinary ages should not occur again.\n\nVerse 4: \"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after\nthat, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they\nbore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old,\nmen of renown.\" Who were these descendants of God that became mighty\nand men of renown?\n\nAfter God's sons intermarry with the daughters of men, the affairs\nof man grow worse, instead of better. And God grows despondent:\n\nVerse 5: \"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the\nearth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was\nonly evil continually.\"\n\nThink of God's sons causing all this wickedness on earth. He ought to\nhave brought them up better. What can we expect of a God that cannot\nraise his own children properly?\n\n\"Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart.\" This exhibits the\nprofound ignorance of God. Though he made man, he did not know what\nthe various organs in the body were for. He ought to have known that\nthe heart does not think. Its function is to circulate the blood--a\ntruth which was not discovered until 1618 by Harvey, of England.\n\nVerse 6: \"And it repented the Lord that he had made man on earth,\nand it grieved him at his heart.\"\n\nHa! God has a heart, and he has flesh, and he has sons; he knows\nwhat is good, evil, wickedness; repents and grieves; and has domestic\nrelations with--evidently ladies, by whom he has children.\n\nWe will not mind the preparations of the ark, or the shipbuilding\ninstructions given by God. A God that knew something of mechanics,\nshipbuilding, dimensions, measurement, etc.--no wonder theologians call\nGod a designer, an architect. He showed some skill in the construction\nof this boat.\n\nAs soon as Noah had everything prepared, had loaded his cattle, etc.,\nfood and provender, God was ready to destroy his own sons and their\nrelations by drowning them.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTHE DELUGE.\n\n\nAs to the region where the deluge occurred--on the northern edge ascend\nthe Persian mountains; on the east the steep and lofty parallel chains\nof the Indo-Persian boundary mountains, and on the south the plateau\nfor a thousand miles along the Persian gulf and Arabian sea is bounded\nby the wild terraced regions of Beloochistan and Faristan. The second\ndivision includes the mountainous regions of Armenia, Koordistan, and\nAzerbijan. Here the table-land is compressed about half its general\nwidth. From this plateau, of which a part is mentioned in scripture\nas the \"mountains of Ararat,\" rises the volcanic cone commonly styled\nMount Ararat, to the hight of 17,212 feet above the sea level.\n\nThe highlands of Syria rise gradually from the neighboring desert to\nthe hight of 10,000 feet in Libanus and Antilibanus, and slope steeply\nin terraces down to the narrow coastlands of Phoenicia and Palestine.\n\nOf the Syrian and Arabian lowlands, the south is hot and arid, with\nalmost no oasis; but the north is watered by the Tigris and Euphrates.\n\nNear this isolated corner of Asia, in the neighborhood of the Persian\ngulf and the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, where the deluge is supposed\nto have occurred, in the lowlands of that region, Chaldea, immense\nchains of mountains run in several directions, with highlands 10,000\nfeet above the level of the sea.\n\nVerse 4: \"For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the\nearth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that\nI have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.\"\n\nThis deluge is supposed to have taken place about 2348 B.C. Hale\nputs it at 3154 B.C. The sons of God came upon earth and married the\ndaughters of men about 2948 B.C.; about this date ought to be nearer\nthe flood. Noah was 600 years old when he floated in his ark.\n\nWe will consider, first, a general deluge.\n\nA deluge over the whole earth is an impossibility.\n\n1. We have to take in consideration the inequality of the earth's\nsurface--lowlands, highlands, hills and mountains, plateaus, etc.\n\nAs to mountains: Asia possesses no less than sixty or seventy\nmountains, the highest being some 29,000 feet above the sea's\nlevel--the Himalaya, Everest.\n\nAfrica boasts of some thirty or forty mountains, the Kenia and\nKillamandja being 20,000 feet above the level of the sea, the other\nmountains grading downward in hight.\n\nEurope is adorned with some seventy or eighty mountains, Mount Blanc\nbeing the highest, others ranging downwards.\n\nSouth America boasts of some forty or more mountains, the Tupengater\nbeing the highest, 22,450 feet above the level of the sea.\n\nNorth America counts some seventy or more mountains, Mt. Elias being\n17,900 above the level of the sea.\n\nWe have plateaus and table-lands ranging from 10,000 feet above the\nlevel of the sea downward to near the sea's level.\n\nThe great basins between the highest points of the earth's surface\nare filled with water. These immense expanses form oceans, seas,\nlakes, rivers. The ocean bed is just as uneven as the dry portion of\nthe earth's surface. The numerous islands are the mountains of the\nocean bed, some of greater, others of lesser extent.\n\n2. The fluid part of the terrestrial globe fills the hollow places\nof the solid portion of the earth's crust. These are the great and\nsmall depressions, or greater and smaller basins.\n\n3. The earth's weight has always been the same, neither increased\nnor diminished. This includes both the solid and liquid part of this\nterrestrial globe.\n\n4. The fluid portion of this terrestrial globe has neither increased\nnor diminished. It cannot, because the quantity of oxygen and hydrogen\nis limited to this earth. None can get away, and none can come to it.\n\n5. Water may change its position, or state--split up into elements;\nmake clouds, mist, hail, snow, or rain, or dew--but it ultimately\nreturns to the great basin of water where it came from.\n\n6. If water rises in any one locality beyond the ordinary sea level,\nwater has diminished in some other locality. The quantity of water\non the earth's surface has not increased, except in one locality.\n\n7. Rain cannot fall over the whole surface of this earth at one time.\n\n8. There is always daylight and sunshine, night and darkness, on\nthis earth.\n\n9. Heat and cold vary in the different parts of this earth. The\natmosphere is different in the various parts of the earth's\nsurface. There is a perpetual winter, summer, spring, or autumn in\nvarious parts on this globe.\n\n10. The rays of the sun strike the various portions of the earth at\ndifferent times. This variation in the direction of the sun's rays\nproduces a corresponding variation in the intensity of the sun's\nheat and light at different places, and accounts for the difference\nbetween the torrid and the frigid regions, etc.\n\n11. The atmosphere does not, and cannot, carry beyond a certain\npercentage of aqueous vapor. When it becomes overcharged the moisture\nmust fall, in raindrops when the temperature is warm enough.\n\n12. The sun's heat regulates the amount of aqueous vapor the\natmosphere can carry in the form of clouds. When the atmosphere is\nfully saturated, rain must fall.\n\n13. When the atmosphere is cool or cold, the raindrops congeal,\nand we have snow or hail.\n\n14. There are regions on the earth where it never rains, probably never\nrained. The rainless region of Asia is of vast extent. It includes\npart of Tibet, the great desert of Gobi, and part of Mongolia--a\nspace estimated to comprise about 2,000,000 square miles. There are\nother rainless regions on the face of the earth's surface. There is\na great diversity in the yearly amount of rainfall; the highest is\nabout 60 inches, the lowest 21 and less.\n\n15. There is no great difference between the polar and equatorial\ndiameter of the earth, the average number of miles being about 8,000.\n\nTaking the above facts in consideration--the conformation of the\nearth's surface, the elevation above the sea level, table-lands or\nplateaus, and mountains, the fixed quantity of water upon the surface\nof the earth, the influence of heat and cold, the condition of the\natmosphere, etc., a general deluge must be rigidly excluded.\n\nSupposing it rained forty days and forty nights, how many inches of\nrainfall could we possibly get? We can know to an inch the quantity of\nrain that would fall. The water would certainly roll down the hills\nand mountains, fill up the lakes and rivers, overflow the banks,\nand rise in the lowlands to a certain hight.\n\nThe deluge, Noah's deluge, was a local affair, if it ever\noccurred. Granting such a flood did take place, it never extended\nbeyond that portion of Asia, Chaldea. Supposing that the rivers\nTigris and Euphrates may have overflowed and caused a flood say of\nfifty feet rise above the level of the sea (which is impossible,\nbecause the surplus waters would flow into the seas and oceans),\nhow insignificant is the rise of fifty feet even in comparison with\ntable-lands 10,000 feet above the sea-level, and mountains 20 to\n30,000 feet above the sea-level.\n\nAs to the extent of the rainstorm that caused this deluge, I do not\nsuppose that the clouds held in the atmosphere extended over 500,\nor say 1,000, square miles over the region where the rain fell.\n\nAs to collecting the animals for the ark from all over the globe,\nthat is just as ridiculous as the deluge itself.\n\nIt is to be presumed that the person or persons who wrote the\nfirst seven chapters of the Bible had not the slightest idea of the\ngeographical condition of the earth's surface. It was not known. They\nthought that their locality embraced the whole earth. Even in\nColumbus's time they had no idea of the extent of this earth. The\nseas that they probably had some knowledge of may have been the Gulf\nof Persia, the Red sea, the Mediterranean or Arabian sea, probably\nthe Caspian. That was about the extent. They had means neither of\nland travel nor of navigation.\n\nVerse 20: \"Fifteen cubits upward did the water prevail, and the\nmountains were covered.\"\n\nA cubit, standard, contains 21 inches. Fifteen multiplied by 21\ngives 315 inches, or 26 feet 3 inches. How can 26 feet 3 inches of\nwater cover plateaus 10,000 feet high and mountains like the Ida,\n4,000 feet, and the Himalayas 29,000 feet in height? Mount Ararat in\nAsia Minor is 17,112 feet high.\n\nThese are figures. They do not lie. We have here positive proof. I\ndefy contradiction. Every man and woman with a little sense can\nprove it. And any priest or clergyman that will maintain the truth\nof a general deluge after reading this statement, is either a fool,\nor a fraud and an infamous liar.\n\nIn fact, the entire rainfall during the forty days and nights would\nhave had as much effect on this globe as a pint of water would have\nto drown an elephant.\n\nVerse 21: \"And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl,\nand of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth\nupon the earth, and every man.\"\n\nVerse 22: \"All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, all that\nwas on dry land, died.\"\n\nVerse 23: \"And every living substance was destroyed, which was upon\nthe face of the ground, both man and cattle and the creeping things,\nand the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth;\nand Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.\"\n\nVerse 24: \"And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and\nfifty days.\"\n\nMount Ararat is situated in Persia about 150 to 200 miles south of\nthe Black sea, and about 300 miles west of the Caspian sea, about\n500 miles east of Aleppo and the Mediterranean sea, and about 700\nmiles north of the Gulf of Persia, from Mount Sinai about 1,000 or\nmore miles northeast, and a similar distance from the Red sea.\n\nArabia is about 700 miles across between the Persian gulf and the\nRed sea. The distance between the shores of the Persian gulf and the\nCaspian sea is about five hundred miles.\n\nThe Caspian chain of mountains are situated about two hundred miles\nnorth of Mount Ararat, and they extend from the Sea of Azof north,\nrunning southwest to the Caspian sea.\n\nThe entire tract of territory where this deluge is said to have\noccurred does not embrace one thousand miles in any given direction,\nand takes in but two countries--Turkey and Persia--and only a portion\nof either. It does not extend farther north than the Caspian mountains\nand the Black sea, east than the Mediterranean sea, west than the\nCaspian sea, and south than the Persian gulf and Arabia.\n\nTurkistan, Afghanistan, and Beloochistan form the eastern boundary\nof Persia.\n\nThe twenty-six feet three inches of the rise of water in consequence\nof the rain could not have extended beyond the limits indicated above.\n\nAt the period of the deluge there were immense countries east of\nTurkistan, Afghanistan, and Beloochistan--Russia north, the Chinese\nempire and Hindostan farthest south. Europe and Africa could not be\nreached. So that all living substance was not destroyed and could not\nbe destroyed. Nor was all living substance destroyed in the country\nwhere the flood occurred, because those living on high table-lands\nwere out of reach of the flood.\n\nWe must necessarily draw our own conclusions as to the truth or falsity\nof the statements contained in verses 21, 22, 23. Some destruction\nof life may have taken place, limited to the locality.\n\nThere are other evidences that go to show the incorrectness of the\nscripture. The Hindoo era, or the era of the Caleyung, dates 3001 B.C.,\nseven hundred and fifty-six years before the deluge. This country was\nflourishing at the time of the flood. Moreover, the Hindoos counted\ntheir months by the progress of the sun through the Zodiacs.\n\nKeep the figures of the deluge in mind, 2348 B.C.\n\nChina, north of Hindostan and east of the deluged territory, was\nflourishing 2700 B.C. It was not touched by the flood. It had its\nown floods, separate and distinct from Noah's.\n\nIn 2347 B.C., one year after the flood, Noah made wine from grapes.\n\n\n Babylon was founded by Belus 2245 B.C.\n Astronomical observations were made 2234 B.C.\n Bricks were made 2247 B.C.\n Babylon was built 2247 B.C.\n\n\nAll this region was in a state of civilization one hundred years later,\nwhen all men had been destroyed, and the region had been under water\ntwenty-six feet three inches for one hundred and fifty days. One\nhundred years seems a long time, and a great deal can be done, that's\ntrue. In those days civilization was exceedingly slow. People did not\nprogress so rapidly as we do in this New World. There are regions\nwhere hardly any progress has been made. They are at a standstill,\nas it is termed. The people live, feed, and die.\n\nThe inconsistency, the untruth, of the story of the deluge will be\npalpable to everyone, if he or she will take the trouble to examine\nthe geographical, physical, and historical facts.\n\nI especially call the attention of hysterical, fanatical theologians,\nsupernaturalists, and the whole priestly class, to the declaration\nthat God had nothing to do with this deluge; that the God in whom\nthey believe must be an ass to think that he can drown out the whole\nterrestrial globe with forty days and nights' rain, with a rise of\nwater of twenty-six feet three inches.\n\nIt is impossible to enter into every detail in this brief\nstatement. There is, however, ample proof that a general deluge\nnever occurred, and that all animals, whether men or beasts, were\nnever destroyed.\n\nHow much honor it would reflect for a convention of clergymen, or a\ngathering of archbishops in saintly conclave assembled, to solemnly\ndeclare the whole beginning of Genesis a fabrication, a fiction,\na fable--that God had nothing to do with any such performance; that\nGod could not do anything so foolish; that God never did anything\ncontrary to the laws of nature; that neither God nor man could, if they\nwished, do anything contrary to the laws of nature. And that \"We, the\narchbishops, bishops, and clergy in general, further declare and aver,\nthat we, the sacred representatives of the ignorant masses, no longer\nbelieve that God, the so-called father almighty, created either heaven\nor earth, or beast or man, or anything; that we repudiate, deny, and\nreject all of the statements made in the book called the Bible; that\nwe do not believe in any supernatural interference; that we have erred\nand have misinstructed and misguided the masses; that the whole story\nis false, frivolous, and incredible; that neither the creation, as\nrecited, nor the deluge, or any part thereof, as described, is true.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nTHE SCRIPTURAL GOD--THE CREATION.\n\n\nThe Chaldeans were undoubtedly great admirers of nature at the time\nwe first hear the name of Abraham mentioned in connection with the\nBible, about the year 1921 B.C.\n\nThe people had already arrived at a high degree of civilization. The\ncountry belonged to the Assyrian empire under Ninus the Jupiter, 2069\nB.C. How long this section of country had been populated, and its\ninhabitants under a proper form of government, we have no record--in\nall probability, for many centuries.\n\nThe Chaldeans had already invented a judicial astrology, which\nwas transmitted to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The science\nof astronomy was known to them, and of it there are records as\nearly as 2234 B.C. The science of arithmetic was used by them--in\nall probability invented by them; concerning it we have nothing\nrecorded. The kingdom of Babylon existed 2245 B.C. An art of\narchitecture of some kind was already in use among its people, as we\nsee from the fact that they had built important structures. We have\nno records as to the proficiency they had arrived at in any other\nbranch of science or art. That the art of writing was known to them\nis probable, otherwise they could not have recorded certain facts\nabout astronomy. The credit of first using hieroglyphics, 2212 B.C.,\nis given to Athates, or Hermes, the Egyptian.\n\nThe correct division of the days of the week, the months, and the\nseasons may probably have been known to them, though the Jews take\nthe credit.\n\nThat these Chaldeans were great observers will not be\ndisputed--otherwise they could not have discovered the\nfixed stars, planetary system, etc. That they must have had\nconsiderable intellectual qualities--perceptive powers and skill\nin reasoning--developed will be admitted, inasmuch as they were the\ninventors of astrology, and of what more we have no knowledge.\n\nThey were great admirers of nature. We may infer that from the fact\nthat they were students of astronomy, acute and close observers\nof nature.\n\nWhat myths or fables they had, we have at the present time no idea. We\nhave no historical knowledge of these people. We know very little of\ntheir manners, culture, science, arts, degree of civilization.\n\nOther events occurred about that period. A Phoenician colony under\nPartholani landed in Ireland 2048 B.C.\n\nIn 2207 B.C. the government of China was established--it had an\nimperial dynasty. Fohi was the Chinese monarch.\n\nIn 2089 B.C. Sicyon was king of Greece.\n\nIn 2188 B.C. Egypt was established.\n\nIn 2085 B.C. Egypt was conquered by the shepherd kings of Phoenicia.\n\nIn 1998 B.C. Ching Hong teaches the Chinese the art of husbandry,\nand the method of making bread from wheat and wine from rice.\n\nIn 2095 B.C. pyramids and canals in Egypt. The science of geometry\nbegins to be cultivated.\n\nIn 2100 B.C. sculpture and painting are employed to commemorate the\nexploits of Asymandyas.\n\nWe have no difficulty in arriving at a conclusion that considerable\nprogress had been made in the art of government, in the political\nand social world, in the arts and sciences, and also in the moral\nand religious departments of life.\n\nAs to whatever myths and fables they had, of their origin we know\nvery little, or I may say nothing. The story of the creation and the\ndeluge is in all probability native to the soil. The deluge was in\nall likelihood a local affair--an overflow of the river Euphrates or\nthe Gulf of Persia. Whether it rained forty days and nights or more,\nwater enough could not fall to the ground to do any serious damage,\nbeyond the locality where it occurred. It would be not amiss even for\nthe most pious, God-fearing man to understand that the rainwater that\nfalls to the surface of the earth was originally taken from the waters\nthat are found on the surface of the earth. The actual quantity of\nwater on the earth was no more after the flood, or after any flood,\nthan before. The water changes position from one locality to another;\nit does not increase or diminish in quantity, whether it consolidates,\nevaporates, or liquefies. Whatever elementary form it may assume,\nthe law of gravitation holds its elements down to mother earth.\n\nThe idea entertained by many theologians, that the whole earth was\ncovered with water, is absurd. We have not water enough on the surface\nof this earth to serve any such purpose. This problem is just as\nfeasible as trying to drown a man in two inches of water--attempting\nto cover the entire earth with the water that is upon it.\n\nFrom historical evidence we gather that the people that inhabited\nthis region occupied their time chiefly with raising cattle, and were\nprone both to the observation of nature and to superstition.\n\nThe nervous system had at this time undergone considerable training\nand culture. Their faculties were already developed. They discussed\nand reasoned about current subjects, especially about those subjects\nwhich were nearest and dearest to them--religion and politics. And\nwe are still discussing the same subjects with as much eagerness,\nacrimony, and hate as these Chaldean shepherds did.\n\nThey were adorers of nature, which was perfectly in harmony with their\noccupation. The beauties, the phases, the phenomena of nature, these\nthey could not explain. Ignorant of their character and composition,\nnot understanding the natural, they reasoned themselves into\nconclusions that there must be a power beyond that sets all these\nthings in motion.\n\nThey knew nothing of God. In all probability they created nothing\nnew, but may have modified whatever was handed down to them by their\nfore-fathers--notions, customs, well-outlined rules of conduct,\nobservances, policy, government, etc.\n\nThe wiser and best-instructed portion of the community selected those\nthings that to them were most beneficial, and for which they thought\nthey ought to be grateful--in their wonderment and admiration they made\nselection of that which was to them most striking--and this gradually\nled to a systematization of certain qualities, certain excellences.\n\nAll things in nature are object-teachers. When we have seen a thing\nseveral times, we know it--learn its qualities, etc. So the forefathers\nof the Chaldeans, admiring nature, came to recognizing what was best,\neither in themselves or round about them.\n\nIn order to present these ideas, powers, and excellences in the most\nstriking manner to the senses, symbolic representations, or typical\nforms, were made, about in the same or similar manner as playthings\nare made to instruct and amuse children.\n\nAll the idols and mythological gods are drawn from nature, associated\nand endowed with such qualities as the human beings had from time to\ntime attained.\n\nThe motives that suggested these were just as pure as any motives\nare now.\n\nWe have symbols and idols among us at this day, four thousand years\nlater. It makes no difference whether it is Christ on a stick, the\nVirgin Mary on a canvas, or the sacred heart of a saint, it amounts\nto precisely the same thing; it is object-teaching--an object-lesson.\n\nThese Chaldeans had any number of symbols and idols, and men were\nassigned to watch and guard them. They had their ceremonies, their\ngowns or priestly garbs; they had their places for worship, out of\ndoors or indoors--everything that gave beauty, dignity, and sanctity\nto their performances. In short, we may conclude that they had what\nmay be called an established religion, with ceremonies, sacrifices,\nidols, as well as social, moral, and political rules to govern them.\n\nThere was dissension in those days as there is now. Men differed,\nargued, discussed; and differences arose. New ideas were intolerated\nthen, as they are now. The old would not yield to the new. Wrangling,\nanger, passion, jealousy, led to new formations, antagonistic to the\nold. The old systems had in all probability grown corrupt, domineering,\ncruel, selfish, and rapacious. A reformation of some kind was in\norder. Men of ability and sagacity began to grow skeptical as regards\nthe quality and ability of these numerous idols. Something similar\nis agitating the world to-day. Doubtless it is always to be found.\n\nAbraham was an agitator, a reformer, if you will. Josephus thus\nspeaks of him (Chap. VII): \"He was a person of great sagacity, both\nfor understanding all things and persuading his hearers, and not\nmistaken in his opinions; for which reason he began to have higher\nnotions of virtue than others had, and he determined to renew and\nto change the opinions all men happened then to have concerning God;\nfor he was the first that ventured to publish this notion: That there\nwas but one God, the creator of the universe; and that as to other\n(gods) if they contributed anything to the happiness of men, each of\nthem afforded it only according to his appointment, and not of their\nown power. His opinion was derived from the irregular phenomena that\nwere visible both at land and sea, as well as those that happened to\nthe sun and moon and all the heavenly bodies. 'If,' said he, 'these\nbodies had power of their own, they would certainly take care of their\nown regular motions; but since they do not preserve such regularity,\nthey make it plain, that so far as they co\u00f6perate to our advantage,\nthey do it not of their own abilities; but as they are subservient\nto him that commands them, to whom alone we ought justly to offer\nour honor and thanksgiving.' For which doctrines when the Chaldeans,\nand the people of Mesopotamia, raised a tumult against him, he thought\nfit to leave that country.\"\n\nIn other words, he was driven from his country for sedition and heresy,\nwhen he was seventy-five years old. He settled down in a land called\nCanaan, where he built an altar, and performed a sacrifice to God.\n\nIn this manner Abraham began to cultivate a reformation and religion\namong his own people, who were quite numerous.\n\nThe Egyptians at this period were in a flourishing condition. Canaan\nwas invaded by famine. So Abraham went down to Egypt, \"both to partake\nof the plenty they enjoyed, and to become an auditor for their priests,\nand to know what they said concerning the gods; designing either to\nfollow them, if they had better notions than he, or convert them to\na better way, if his own notions proved the truer.\"\n\nAt this time, too, much dissension, quarrel, and antagonism existed\nbetween the religious orders, and Abraham was not going to lose such\nan excellent opportunity. Josephus describes the condition of affairs\nas follows: \"For whereas the Egyptians were formerly addicted to\ndifferent customs, and despised one another's sacred and accustomed\nrites, and were very angry one with another on that account, Abraham\nconferred with each of them, and confuting the reasoning they made\nuse of, every one for their own practices, he demonstrated that such\nreasoning was vain and void of truth; whereupon he was admired by\nthem in those conferences, as a very wise man and of great sagacity\nwhen he discoursed on any subject he undertook; and this not only\nin understanding it, but in persuading other men also to assent to\nhim. He communicated to them arithmetic, and delivered to them the\nscience of astronomy,\" etc.\n\nFinding perhaps that he could not make proselytes he returned to\nCanaan. He there divided the tract of land between himself and Lot,\neach one pursuing his own particular course, Abraham with his notions\nand Lot with his, unable to agree.\n\nAn incident worthy of notice occurred. The Assyrians made war on\na number of kings, the Sodomites and Lot among them. The Assyrians\nconquered, and Lot, among the rest, was made captive. Abraham, with\nthree hundred and eighteen men, pursued the Assyrians, slew them,\ncaptured all they had, and gained a signal victory--thus showing that\nAbraham was a power.\n\nLot's affairs with his daughters we pass over, since they have no\nspecial interest for us.\n\nAbraham had several wives or women, by whom he had a number of\nchildren. He had six sons by Katurah, Ishmael by Hagar, Isaac by\nSarah, etc.\n\nNone of the sons adopted his method of thinking except Isaac, who at\nthe age of twenty-five was to have been sacrificed to God. Isaac, being\na mild-mannered young man, generous, and obedient to his father's will,\nreadily consented. Upon that, Abraham changed his mind. Isaac then\nbecame the heir both of his property and of his ideas concerning God.\n\nAbraham had two brothers, Nahor and Haron. Haron left a son, Lot,\nand two daughters, Sarai and Milcha. Nahor married Milcha and Abraham\nmarried Sarai. In this manner the family concentration began. And when\nIsaac was forty it was decided that he should marry the granddaughter\nof his brother Nahor, Rebeka, the sister of Laban.\n\nIsaac in turn made choice of Jacob as heir to his ideas and\nproperty--who took flight on account of Esau, and landed safely\nat his uncle Laban's house in Mesopotamia. Jacob married Laban's\ndaughters, Leah and Rachel, as well as their handmaids, Zilpha and\nBilhah. Now, Laban and his family were idolators. So were Esau and\nhis family. Rachel took along with her the images of the gods which,\naccording to their laws, they used to worship in their own country,\netc. Jacob raised his children strict to the rules laid down by his\ngrandfather and father; and the views as regards the rites of worship\nand circumcision, as well as God in the abstract with all the carnal\npassions and emotions of man that formerly were the attributes of\nthe idols, as also the sacrifices.\n\nThe story of Joseph is too well known to be repeated. It is quite\nenough for our purpose that a famine drove this Jacob's family, as\nit did Abraham, to Egypt, where they increased and multiplied during\na period of nearly four hundred years; that Joseph was famous in\nthe land, and the king gave Jacob and his children leave to live in\nHeliopolis--for in that city the king's shepherds had their pasturage.\n\nThis in brief is the story, stripped of the peculiar phraseology,\nwhich no doubt was in those days customary.\n\nThe trouble had begun with Terah, Abraham's father, who hated the\nChaldeans; and the Chaldeans returned the same with interest, I\nsuppose. So they moved to Haran in Canaan and settled down on a tract\nof land, by the right of squatter sovereignty, as it would be called\nin our times. Terah, the first squatter, turned this land over as a\nheritage to his son, Abraham; Abraham to Isaac, and Isaac to Jacob. In\nthis manner it became the promised land, the heritage of their fathers.\n\nIt is no easy matter to suppress and eradicate a practice, a habit,\na custom, once firmly ingrafted in a community. Prohibit it as\nmuch as you will, it will be done secretly. So after circumcising\nthe Hamerites and Shechemites, the sons of Jacob slaughtered them,\non account of the seduction of Dinah, Jacob's daughter. He and his\nfamily had to leave for fear of their neighbors, so Jacob told his\nhousehold to put away the strange gods that were among them, and\n\"be clean and change your garments,\" he said (Gen. xxxv, 2).\n\nThis abstract idea of God that Abraham called into life was not so\nfirmly rooted as might have been expected. The taint of the ancient\ngods more or less remained among them and occasionally cropped up here\nand there in a most prominent manner. For four hundred years we hear\nnothing of God or his workings--whether the Jews flourished or were\noppressed--nor have the other descendants ever made mention. Abraham,\nIsaac, and Jacob call on this imaginary god when in an emergency, when\nsome task has to be accomplished, some journey has to be undertaken,\nor a battle has to be fought.\n\nDuring the whole of the period they were in Egypt, notwithstanding\nthey were sorely oppressed, this God paid no attention to them, until a\nman arose that produced a great crisis in the affairs of this people,\nin the destiny of this family which had grown into a nation. This was\nreally the first reformation--that is, modification--of the existing\nreligious practices--their numerous gods, perhaps their rites,\netc. The sacrifices the Jews retained, with most of the usages and\npriestly rituals.\n\nHow many reformations or modifications had taken place before Abraham\nthe reformer, we do not know; and how long these gods (they were very\nnumerous) were in existence we know still less.\n\nThe evolution of these idols, the existing gods, did not take\nplace all of a sudden. It may have taken thousands of years for\nanything we know. It required considerable mental training to produce\nthem. Intelligence had assumed some importance, because the people had\nbecome proficient in argument, skillful in reasoning, and observers\nof nature.\n\nThe ordinary barbarian possesses no such capabilities. His brain is\nnot sufficiently cultured. So long as his wants are amply supplied,\nthere is no necessity to exert himself, the nervous system lies\ninactive, and this inactivity involves the perpetuation of ignorance.\n\nWe may reasonably presume that these Chaldeans, these shepherds,\nhad through many centuries of slow culture acquired the knowledge\nthey possessed, the customs and habits they practiced, the laws they\npromulgated, and the rules of conduct enacted both for social and\npolitical purposes.\n\nAnd any innovation on the established laws was resisted and punished,\npretty much as it is to-day. So when Abraham, or Terah his father\nbefore him, started the reformation, it caused a good deal of\ncommotion and alarm. The upholders of the settled state of affairs\nwere shocked. Anger, passion, partisanship, ran their course then,\nas they do now. These idolators were just as intolerant then as\nChristians are to-day. It was either submit or leave. Thus Abraham's\nand Terah's leaving the land of their fathers and settling on a tract\nof land where they could cultivate their new idea, their new God,\nwas without any special act, without miracle, without supernaturalism,\nwithout mystery, perfectly human, perfectly natural.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE CREATION OF GOD--ABRAHAM.\n\n\nGod, such God as we know of now, like all other things and beings on\nthis terrestrial globe was evolved very, very slowly in the minds of\nman--crude, ill-shapen, ill-fashioned, grotesque, barbarous, savage,\nsemi-civilized: harmonizing with his existing mental condition and\nall his surroundings; a product of man's rudeness, of his uncultured\nnature, his inexperienced special senses, with his nervous system just\nemerging from an instinctive animal life to a grade or two above its\nformer intelligence--the first step towards real humanity.\n\nGod was not always presented to humanity in his present guise. Oh,\nno; everyone with a moderate degree of intelligence who chooses\nto examine the records will find that God has undergone vast and\nimportant changes--changes in tendencies and character, conforming\nwith the progressive or retrogressive forms of political and social\nlife of the various communities, corresponding with the periods of\nthe time in which they lived.\n\nThe idea, in its primary conception, was slowly evolved,\nwithout special meaning or signification, dark, mysterious,\nincomprehensible. We may say, however, that this idea of God was\nendowed with characteristics best known to men, but of a higher\nquality than ordinarily then existing; largely reflecting their makers,\nan embodiment of their own powers and capabilities.\n\nThere was a time, no matter how remote, when there were creatures\nresembling the present form of man but of inferior nervous development,\nthat had no knowledge of either God or religion.\n\nNor had man in those ages any more intelligence than he had acquired\nby experience, or was necessary for his immediate use. It improved\nas the exigencies of his wants arose, fresh experience leading to\nnew observations, slowly adding to the already accumulated stock.\n\nThe intelligence of to-day would have been useless a hundred years ago,\nto the same race even, and of less use still two hundred years ago,\nand so on.\n\nIt is very doubtful whether man at first was even conscious of his\nown existence, any more than the higher type of brute life. This\nconsciousness slowly dawned upon him as his intelligence increased. A\nchild is not conscious of its own existence. It exists so long as the\nnecessary material is contributed towards its existence, or until it\nhas grown strong enough to contribute towards its own. It may after\na while acquire intelligence sufficient to become conscious of its\nown existence or not. The same rule holds good among the types of\nman such as we find on earth at the present time.\n\nDuring the early stages of man's existence, the muscular powers\nwere exercised most, we may say almost exclusively, the special\nsenses serving in their function as a guide for those powers, with\nthe degree of intelligence obtained from the number of impressions\nreceived. These senses had acquired their several experiences from\nthe necessities that from time to time were made manifest.\n\nThere are writers who make use of extraordinary expressions in regard\nto nature, as for example, that Nature is mighty, beautiful, wise, etc.\n\nNature is mighty only under certain conditions. Peculiar combinations\nof elements are essential. The presence or absence of the sun's heat\nplays always an important part.\n\nNature's being beautiful depends largely upon the education of the\nsenses, the capability of discerning symmetry, harmony, color, etc.,\nand this is acquired by comparison, taste, and habit. What strikes\none eye as beautiful, may have just a contrary effect on another,\nor be passed with perfect indifference by a third.\n\nAs to wisdom, nature can be wise only through a cultured,\nwell-educated, evenly balanced mind. The expression is applicable\nonly to man. Wisdom is a particular quality eminently and evidently\nthe product of a highly trained nervous system.\n\nIt is not an easy task at the present time to unravel the mental\nprocess of the earliest races of man that first led to the formation\nand the adoption of the idea that something existed more potent and\nmore powerful than themselves.\n\nYet if we carefully examine the mental condition of some of the wild,\nbarbarous nations existing at the present time, we may infer, with a\nreasonable degree of accuracy, the mental process the earliest races\nof man were capable of.\n\nRaces or tribes, no matter how low in the scale of civilization, that\nwere perfectly secure in their possessions, amply provided by nature\nagainst the encroachments of other races, man or animals, existed right\nalong perfectly content, exerting themselves just enough to gather\nin those substances which they found contributive to the sustenance\nof their lives. The surplus time was spent in gamboling, frisking,\nplaying, amusing themselves in their primitive condition like children\nof nature as they were. Progress they made none. There was no occasion\nfor it. Their senses were exercised to the extent of their immediate\nwants and no more. The natural head of the family or tribe was the\noldest, the father. He controlled or governed his descendants. So\nlong as the father was able to exercise his supreme power he was\nthe recognized head, adviser, leader, etc. While in this condition,\nthe primitive customs, habits, or usages practiced in their natural\nmode of living began, and continued with very few changes for ages.\n\nTheir language was as simple and crude as their mode of life, just\nsufficient for their wants. This mode of communication originated\nmainly from the necessities of life, as hunger, danger, pleasure,\nprotection, surprise, fear, etc. For all these they found expressions,\nsounds that conveyed the notions to one another, quite intelligible\namong themselves. They adopted names for things and beings with which\nthey came in contact in their daily lives, and for such instruments,\nutensils, and clothing as they from time to time invented or discovered\nby accident. The sounds that expressed their immediate necessity\nof communicating with one another, their wants--the cries of call,\npain, etc.--had no form in particular, no grammatical construction,\nno rules. Their emotions and passions were limited, because they knew\nno wants, no conflicts, other than those that arise from feelings\ninspired by their five senses. And they really had language enough\nfor all purposes--suitable and ample for their condition in life.\n\nArts and sciences they had none. Their simple domestic arrangements\nwere as primitive as they were. Their furniture consisted of little\nor nothing. Cooking utensils they needed none. There was no occasion\nto cook; nature's food was ample. This they collected, selected,\nand fed upon.\n\nClothing they had no use for, in the warm climate they lived in. They\nwere clad in nature's garb, male and female alike. Innocence and\nvirtue was well understood among them. They were moral in their\nway, committed no wrong--there was no occasion for it. There was\nplenty for everyone. The larders of nature were free, open, and\nplentiful. Therefore all were satisfied and happy.\n\nWealth or property they had. All they surveyed was theirs. What\nbelonged to one belonged to the other. Mine and thine was unknown. The\nmore civilized qualifications of property right developed many\ncenturies later.\n\nCommerce they knew nothing of. There was no need for that, since\nfurniture, utensils, implements of agriculture, weapons, clothing of\nany kind, they had no use for.\n\nThey had no laws--nor law-makers, nor justices, nor judges, nor any\nofficials known in later times.\n\nAnd what is more, they had no God, or idol, or myth, or symbol, or\nworship, or prayer or religion, or soul, or spirit. Nor did they\nknow anything about what we indicate by the epithets physical or\nmetaphysical, neither theological nor psychological, neither gnostic\nnor agnostic.\n\nThey did not know of any of those things. These were evolved and\ninvented later, as the necessities and exigencies arose, as their\nwants increased, and circumstances changed from internal to external\nconditions.\n\nConsequently, their language was limited. They made use of a limited\nnumber of words, or produced articulate sound enough to express just\nwhat they wanted, and no more. They may have had two or three hundred\ndifferent words or sounds in use. We have men to-day among us that have\nnot many more words at command, and their ideas generally correspond\nin number and quality to their stock of words.\n\nThe stock of words and the stock of ideas always depend upon the\namount of experience and the amount of exercise the five senses have\nhad; together with the urgencies and difficulties they have had to\ncontend with. The power of observation is developed in accordance as\nthe opportunities arise.\n\nEach particular special sense develops its own faculties, from the\npractice, use, and experience of that sense, the role it is called\nupon to play as necessities arise. And as each object is perceived\nor observed by the special sense, it is recorded, a picture of\nthe same is retained in the great nervous storehouse for future\nreference. The retention and recognition of the same goes to the\nformation of memory. As the stock of objects increases, words or\nsounds designating the same also increase in number, and the material\nfor the formation of ideas is also largely increased.\n\nIdeas can be formed only about such things as we know, or rather\nsuch things as any one special sense has been impressed with, has\nperceived and recognized. Those things or beings by which any one\nsense has not been impressed, the mind neither has perceived nor\nis able to recognize. Everyone, whether barbarian or civilized,\nis perfectly familiar with those things or beings that immediately\nsurround him--that is, all those things and beings which the senses\nhave already been impressed with, perceived and recognized. Sounds,\nor words, have been invented to designate all such; and these are\nknown; the picture representing any one object is retained, stored\naway in the great nervous storehouse, the brain--are remembered. The\noftener a thing is perceived, the more familiar it becomes and the\nmore easily recognized, the firmer it becomes fixed and the more\neasily it is recollected.\n\nThus primitive man, with his few wants, and these wants amply supplied\nby nature, had or invented names for all of them. These formed the\nearliest collection of names of objects--their appearance, their\nactions, their habits, etc. All these qualities were associated,\nidentified, and presented by words, in due time, without the presence\nof the objects. That is to say, the simplest ideas were in this manner\nformed, and the ideas so formed corresponded with the number of words,\nand the number of words corresponded with the number of impressions\nreceived by the senses.\n\nEach sense presents its share--one sense more, another less. A person\nmay have received a large number of impressions on the organ of\nvision--a painter, for instance--and may have stored away a wealth\nof artistic knowledge, yet the sense of hearing may be exceedingly\npoor in the number of impressions received. Such an individual would\nbe rich in artistic ideas but comparatively poor in musical ideas. So\nit is with all the special senses.\n\nEach sense receives impressions on its own account. It has its own\nspecial nervous center, and these special centers again are closely\nconnected with the great mass of brain matter. Collectively they\nhave for their function, to receive impressions, retain them, store\nthem away, recollect them, and reproduce them by articulate sound,\nor to recognize them.\n\nIn this process then we have the formation of idea, memory, thought;\nrecollection is the endeavor to call back, or form a figure of,\nan object once already perceived--felt by the senses.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nMOSES.--THE CONFIRMATION OF THE IDEA OF GOD.\n\n\nWe will here sketch the military career of Moses.\n\nWe omit the early incidents of the life of Moses--his childhood,\nhis growth, his education--and begin with his active life.\n\n\"And the occasion he laid hold of was this: The Ethiopians, who are\nnext neighbors to the Egyptians, made an inroad into their country,\nwhich they seized upon, and carried off the effects of the Egyptians,\nwho in their rage, fought against them, and revenged the affronts they\nhad received from them; but being overcome in battle some of them were\nslain, and the rest ran away in a shameful manner, and by that means\nsaved themselves, whereupon the Ethiopians followed after them in the\npursuit, and thinking that it would be an act of cowardice if they did\nnot subdue all Egypt, they went on to subdue the rest with greater\nvehemence; and when they had tasted the sweets of the country, they\nnever left off the prosecution of the war; and as the nearest parts\nhad not courage enough at first to fight with them, they proceeded\nas far as Memphis, and the sea itself, while not one of the cities\nwas able to oppose them. The Egyptians, under this sad oppression,\nbetook themselves to their oracles and prophecies\" (Josephus, Ch. X).\n\nMoses thereupon was appointed general of the Egyptian army against\nthe Ethiopians, and conquered them in the following manner:\n\n\"But Moses prevented the enemies, and took and led his army, before\nthose enemies were apprised of his attacking them; for he did not march\nby the river, but by land, where he gave a wonderful demonstration of\nhis sagacity; for when the ground was difficult to be passed over,\nbecause of the multitude of serpents, which it produces in vast\nnumbers, and indeed is singular in some of these productions, which\nother countries do not breed, ... When he had therefore proceeded\nthus on his journey he came upon the Ethiopians before they expected\nhim; and joining battle with them, he beat them, and deprived them\nof the hopes they had of success against the Egyptians, and went\non in overturning their cities, and indeed made great slaughter\nof these Ethiopians. Now when the Egyptian army had once tasted of\nthis prosperous success by the means of Moses, they did not slacken\ntheir diligence, insomuch that the Ethiopians were in danger of being\nreduced to slavery, and all sorts of destruction. And at length they\nretired to Saba, which was the royal city of Ethiopia, which Cambyses\nafterwards named Meroe, after the name of his own sister. This place\nwas to be besieged with very great difficulty, since it was both\ncompassed by the Nile quite round, and the other rivers Astapus\nand Astaboms made it a very difficult thing for such as attempted\nto pass over them; for the city was situate in a retired place, and\nwas inhabited after the manner of an island, being encompassed by a\nstrong wall, and having the rivers to guard them from their enemies,\nand having great ramparts between the wall and the rivers, insomuch,\nthat when the waters come with the greatest violence, it can never be\ndrowned; which ramparts make it next to impossible for even such as\nare gotten over the rivers to take the city. However, while Moses was\nuneasy at the army's lying idle (for the enemies durst not come to\nbattle), an accident happened: Tharbis was the daughter of the king\nof the Ethiopians; she happened to see Moses as he led his army near\nthe walls, and fought with good courage, and admiring the subtlety of\nhis undertakings, she believed him to be the author of the Egyptians'\nsuccess, when they had before despaired of recovering their liberty,\nand to be the occasion of the great danger the Ethiopians were in,\nwhen they had before boasted of their great achievements, she fell\ndeeply in love with him; and upon the prevalency of that passion,\nsent to him the most faithful of all her servants to discourse with\nhim upon their marriage. He thereupon accepted the offer on condition\nshe would procure the delivering up of the city; and gave her the\nassurance of an oath to take her to be his wife, and that when he\nhad once taken possession of the city, he would not break his oath to\nher. No sooner was the agreement made, but it took effect immediately;\nand when Moses had cut off the Ethiopians, he gave thanks to God, and\nconsummated his marriage, and led the Egyptians back to their own land\"\n(Josephus, Chap. V.)\n\nThese are simple facts, wherein God plays no part. It is a human\ntransaction, a conflict of forces; the strongest and most skillful\nwins. And when the last place of refuge, the fortress, is besieged, and\nthe Ethiopians are thoroughly beaten, the place seeming impregnable,\nthe army discouraged, a woman, the king's daughter, betrays it,\nand Moses is victorious. Thermutis, his mother by adoption, raised\nhim and educated him after the manner of princes. He was a great\nfavorite. Her influence gave him not only her protection, advice,\nand information, but other great advantages such as no other being\ncould obtain, she being constantly at court and a sister to the king.\n\nIt was no small glory, as well as experience, he reaped. That conquest\nmade him the first man in the land. That jealousies, antagonism and\nhatred were engendered against him by his rivals, that conspiracies\nwere formed, may readily be imagined, and that finally his life was\nthreatened. Finding it rather dangerous to remain in the country,\nsince he was being closely watched, and all the roads were guarded,\nand being no doubt fully informed of the plot, Moses fled. \"He took\nflight through the deserts, where his enemies could not suspect\nhe would travel; though he was destitute of food, he went on, and\ndespised that difficulty courageously\" (Jos.).\n\nMoses was born in 1571 B.C., and was made general of the Egyptian army\nwhen he was about thirty-five or thirty-seven years of age. In 1531\nB.C. he fled from Egypt and arrived at Midian. He made the acquaintance\nof a priest named Raguel or Jethro--his future father-in-law, for he\nmarried Zipporah, Jethro's daughter.\n\nAaron, his brother, three years older, being born 1574 B.C., must\nhave been a man of considerable influence. He remained during Moses's\nabsence in Egypt. The exodus of the Israelites from Egypt took place\nin 1491.\n\nDaring his forty years' stay with Jethro he minded his cattle near\nMount Sinai, where many supposed wonders are related to have occurred.\n\nThat Moses was not idle is self-evident. A man of that particular\ntype could not remain inactive. What took place between him and\nAaron or between him and Thermutis his stepmother is not recorded\nin history. That some systematic organization did take place is very\nprobable. That all followed in the ordinary course of human events,\nis to be presumed. And that the plans were laid and matured, how these\npeople were to be molded into a nation, and in what manner they were\nto leave Egypt, we cannot have a reasonable doubt.\n\nIt is more than likely that after the successful conquest, he was\nfired with the ambition to become a ruler himself. Envy and jealousy\nprevented his ever assuming the crown of Egypt, but what was to hinder\nhim becoming the head and leader of his own people? In his solitary\nwanderings about Mount Sinai, he was inspired with the thought of\ndelivering his own people, especially as the Pharaoh, his former\nprotector, was dead. Having all the necessary material at hand in\ncourt and out of court, he proceeded to carry out his plans.\n\nMoses was the man who created Jehova. Ex. vi, 3: \"And I appeared\nunto Abraham and Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God almighty;\nbut by my name Jehova was I not known to them.\" Not likely! Abraham,\nIsaac, and Jacob were of little or no culture. They were herdsmen who\nsimply differed from their neighbors by substituting an imaginary God\nfor the numerous images and idols that were then in fashion. They had\nnot the remotest idea of the meaning of the God they worshiped, such\nas Moses now put into the word God. It was no longer a mere abstract\ncopy with him--a thing to dispute, to reason, to argue about. To\nMoses it became a stern reality. The brain, the nervous system, the\nsenses, the faculties, had undergone a revolution during the four\nhundred years. Moses, with all the scholastic advantages, raised and\neducated to rule and govern man and nations, ambitious for power,\na great general, a man of determination and force, a man that was\ncapable of plotting against plotters, conspiring against conspirators,\nwho deliberately and shrewdly went to work to organize his people--he\nconceived then the idea that the simple old-fashioned Adonay--Lord--had\nlost its importance, being a common-place, every-day God among the\nHebrews. He invented the unpronounceable Jehova. It makes little\ndifference whence it is derived, whether from Io, Jovis, Jupiter, etc.\n\nJehova and Mount Sinai are inseparable. Moses knew every stone\nand crag about that mountain. A man does not live near a mountain,\nespecially a man of great vigor, action, and intellect, but that he\nobserves every nook, every spot, every footpath, and every turn. The\nconception of Jehova originated at Mount Sinai; and later the power,\nthe establishing and the realization, of his ambition, of his Jehova,\ntook place.\n\nThe miraculous pretensions and the wonderful workings that appear in\nthe scriptural phraseology were no doubt necessary for the purpose\nof carrying out the scheme Moses had concocted. In modern times we\ncan regard it only as a very peculiar method of writing up a history.\n\nMoses had his emissaries and leaders among his people. When they were\ntold about the wonderful occurrences about Mount Sinai, and what the\nGreat Jehova said to Moses, the story was rehearsed and repeated--about\nthe promised land, their preservation, their liberty. Of course,\nwhat could they do otherwise than yield? Their hopes were elated,\nand they were really interested, and believed that the God of their\nforefathers had sent Moses as their deliverer.\n\nMoses had already their confidence by his past history. The hero, the\ngreat conqueror of the Ethiopians, the savior of Egypt--that alone\nwas an immense prestige. But when it was announced that the Jehova,\nthe Lord God, etc., had said this and that to him, that he commanded\nhim to do this and that, where is the miracle, where is the wonder,\nthat they obeyed?\n\nWhen Moses found that the Hebrews would be obedient to whatsoever he\nshould direct, as they promised to be, and were in love with liberty,\nhe began his negotiations with the king of Egypt, who had but lately\nreceived the government.\n\nAs to his contest with the Egyptian priests in performing their\nrespective tricks, called miracles, what wonder that these ignorant\ncreatures believed, when we find stupid people enough of all nations\nthat believe in the miraculous cures of an old rag, purporting to have\nbelonged to Christ or some one else? Whatever was done, and how it\nwas done, we shall never know. That there was nothing supernatural\nabout the transaction is absolutely certain. The people may have\nbelieved it to be supernatural, as many millions believe to this\nday. You may believe a circle to be square, but that does not make\nit so. The untutored brain is surprised at a trifle, astonished at\nwhat it does not understand, and regards every new trick as a miracle.\n\nNeither Abraham, Isaac, nor Jacob could perform miracles. They had\nno use for them, knew nothing of them, and really had not the talent\nto produce them. Miracles had not been invented, or become the fashion.\n\nMoses was undoubtedly a proficient master of the magic arts, and\naccomplished his purpose thereby. After all, those performances were\nsimply a side-show. He knew the strength of his people. A general\nof his capacity does not undertake a task of that magnitude without\ncalculating the convincing force to back his demands. Six hundred\nthousand men on foot--besides children and women--organized under\nleaders, and no doubt equipped and ready for any emergency--an army\nof that size means a revolution of no small importance to a state. To\navert greater danger, Egypt let them go.\n\nHenceforth Moses is the imperial master of the situation, the dictator,\nthe ruler, the lawgiver, as determined as he is imperious--\"I am\nthe Lord thy God.\" And the man Moses knew what he was talking about,\nand the class of people he was talking to. He was the organizer of\nthe nation, the creator of Jehova, the intimate of God. No other man\nthroughout the Bible before or after Moses pretended to talk with God\nface to face except Moses. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord\n(Ex. xxiv, 2). And he took every care that no other man should discover\nhis secret workings. \"I am that I am;\" that is Moses. \"Thus shalt\nthou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you\"\n(Ex. iii, 14). Who but a man accustomed to command and be obeyed\nwould dare use such language?\n\nMoses was fully familiar with the locality; and Mount Sinai, where he\ndeveloped his scheme, he would permit no one to approach. \"Take heed to\nyourself that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it;\nwhosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death\" (Ex. xix,\n12). He would brook no nonsense. He kept these poor ignoramuses in\nconstant terror, in constant dread, of his Jehova. These precautions\nwere used, and terrible things threatened, so that no one should\nintrude upon his privacy on the mountain, and no doubt were necessary\nin order to secure his success.\n\nWe have no clear account of the manner in which these people\nleft Egypt. The population must have numbered close upon three\nmillions. This is entirely omitted. What God said to Moses, and\nMoses said to God, is continually repeated, but historical facts are\nwanting. We learn one important fact, however--they did not leave\npoor. When they departed from Egypt this multitude had to be kept\nbusy, otherwise they would lose confidence in Jehova and in Moses,\nand relapse into making images.\n\nWhat kind of a God was this Jehova? In Ex. xxxi we find him giving\ndirections about working in brass, silver, gold, furniture, designating\nwho should work at it; but God himself turns stone-mason--in verse\n18 we find two tables of Testimony, tables of stone, written by the\nfinger of God. If God had a finger, he had a whole hand. If he had\none hand he may have had two. To write needs practice, sight, brain,\nand all other parts belonging to a man. No doubt, when the tables,\netc., were written, it was done by a man.\n\nAs to the Ten Commandments, they were not new with Moses. They were\na codification of Chaldean and Egyptian laws.\n\nThe day of rest was recognized long ago in those slave-making days. It\nwas a principle of economy, power-saving. Six of the Commandments are\nnatural laws and are instinctively obeyed even among lower animals. All\nother laws were adopted from recognized customs and usages of the\npeople, mostly taken from the Egyptians, with some few alterations,\nperhaps, suitable to the existing emergency.\n\nWhen this Republic was founded, there were actually no new laws\nmade, but old laws modified to suit our case; thus the Constitution\nwas framed. Moses did precisely the same thing. The laws were the\nrecognized habits, practices, customs, laws, usages, long established\namong the nations in that region. And God, or Jehova, had as much\nto do with the framing of them as he had with the Constitution of\nthis nation.\n\nLeviticus may be truly called the cookery-book of Jehova. Just\nthink of it, that God himself told them what to select and how to\ncook it. They were instructed to forsake the idols or the images of\nGod, but retained the grosser barbaric practices of sacrificing. The\ndetailed account given of the bill of fare is interesting. For a full\ndescription we beg to refer the reader to Leviticus.\n\nHuman nature was strong in Moses. He did what any man high in the\naffairs of a state would do. He installed his own relations into\noffice--first his own tribe, the Levites. These were immediately\ninstalled as a permanent bureaucracy, as well as aristocracy. They\nwere the rulers, lawmakers, preachers, doctors, etc. (Num. i, 47,\net seq.). His brother Aaron and his sons were at once installed in\nthe permanent offices. A hereditary aristocracy was established and\nconsecrated as priests of the nation (Lev. viii). And the tribe of\nLevi were also selected to minister unto the priests, Aaron and sons.\n\nThe actions of this supposed God are very curious, and even amusing. He\nassumes so many shades of color, character, and passion, just as a\nman would under various degrees of excitement, disappointment, and\ndiscontent. \"Whenever Moses found it necessary to act with promptness\nand resolution he found it convenient to use his Lord God, Jehova,\nand usually with excellent effect. But when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram\nrebel Moses gives God advice (Num. xvi, 15). \"And Moses was very wroth,\nand said unto the Lord: Respect not thou their offering.\" He at once\nsuppresses the rebellion with a strong hand and puts an end to it.\n\nWipe out of the biblical story the dust and cob-webs of superstition\nand ignorance, cleanse it of the mire and dirt of barbarism, and you\nfind in Moses a man of action, sagacity, and determination; skillful\nin the arts of war; a man of great will power, energy, and pluck,\nbreaking down all barriers, overcoming all obstacles, conquering all\ndifficulties, in order to secure the final success of his immense\nundertaking; the creator of Jehova, the great I AM, the maker of God,\nthe leader of a great army, the organizer of a nation, the lawmaker,\nthe lawgiver, the molder and master mind of this great work.\n\nHis stratagem to preserve the Egyptian army from serpents by filling\nbaskets with ibises, who devour and destroy serpents, is an instance\nof his foresight, leading his army safely through the swamps without\ndamage, during the war with the Ethiopians.\n\nThe great feature of Moses's Mount Sinai expedition, and his absence\nfor forty days, and the production of the Ten Commandments, keeps the\ntheological world in a constant stew of wonder and admiration. From\nthe point of reason, common sense, and the light we have now, there\nis nothing remarkable or wonderful about the forty days' absence or\nthe Ten Commandments. Moses was provided with all the food he needed,\nand all the assistance he needed, during his stay in the mountain. His\nown family, as well as his wife's relatives, knew all about the\nmountain, while the masses were kept at a respectful distance, on\npenalty of death.\n\nWhat are these Ten Commandments?\n\n\n 1. One God (the concentrated essence of the }\n Chaldean gods), worship him only. } Natural laws of\n 2. Have no other God, image, etc. } self-preservation\n 3. Don't swear by God. } and\n 4. Rest on the seventh day (economy of } self-protection.\n muscular forces). }\n 5. Honor thy parents. }\n 6. Do not commit murder.\n 7. Do not commit adultery.\n 8. Do not steal.\n 9. Do not bear false witness.\n 10. Do not desire another man's property.\n\n\nAll these laws had been in existence centuries before the\ncoming of Moses. Nations had already adopted them, as a matter of\nnecessity. Crimes of murder and robbery, etc., were familiar among\nthe Chaldeans and other nations. When Isaac sent messengers to Nahor\nin order to secure Rebeka for his wife, they had to pass through\nMesopotamia, \"in which it was tedious traveling, both in winter, for\na depth of clay, and in summer for a want of water; and besides this,\nfor the robberies there committed\" (Jos.).\n\nIt must be remembered that society had reached a degree of organization\nand civilization; that these fundamental principles, these natural\nlaws, are observed to a considerable extent even among the lower\nanimals, and that they were strictly enforced in every barbarian as\nwell as more civilized community. In the codification of these laws by\nMoses there is nothing wonderful, nothing miraculous, supernatural. The\nwhole matter consisted in the adoption of these fundamental principles,\nthese common-law usages, and the proclaiming of them as the laws to\ngovern this newly organized nation, as all other nations had done\ncenturies before them.\n\nThe laws incorporated in the book of Leviticus, etc., consisting in\nthe regulation or government of the nation, appointing communities\nor families, dealing with food, dress, sacrifice, crime and its\npunishment, trade, commerce, domestic affairs, marriage, and above\nall church affairs, were mostly adoptions from other nations with\ncertain modifications, written up in the manner we find them.\n\nThe supernatural phenomena recited in the Bible in the books of\nMoses--what descended from heaven, clouds, pillars, earthquakes,\nthunder, lightning, rain, deluge, fire, etc., on and about Mount\nSinai--and that God performed these wonders to oblige Moses, because\nhe exercised his influence in prayer upon Jehova--form the greatest\npiece of nonsense that ever was written.\n\nClouds belong to the earth, are composed of earthly elements, are\ntaken from the surface of the earth by a natural process and return\nto the earth by a natural process. Neither God nor man can influence\nthem. The same may be said of all other phenomena. Water cannot be\ncomposed from any other elements than oxygen and hydrogen, and the\nsilly theological twaddle cannot change it. What we ought to know is,\nat least something of the natural. The more we know of the natural\nthe less we believe of the supernatural--in fact, the latter has\nlargely disappeared. In time, let us hope, these childish delusions\nwill be regarded as some of the remnants of the past and infantile\nages of humanity.\n\nIn all ages and at all times, men of great merit have been admired\nand honored by mankind. But the mythology and theology that enshrouds\nancient heroes, the deification, the supernaturalism, the sanctity,\nthe holiness, and the delusions that accompany and surround their\nactions, are entirely superfluous. We have outgrown these fables. And\ntruly, these imaginary attributions, these visionary productions,\nhave outlived their usefulness. Whether it be Moses, David, Alexander,\nHannibal, C\u00e6sar, Charlemagne, Cromwell, Frederick the Great, Napoleon,\nor Washington, they were men, nothing but men, and their actions,\nas also the great good resulting from their actions, that benefited\nhumanity, were natural, not influenced in any way or shape by the\nsmallest particle of supernaturalism.\n\nJosephus speaking of Moses says: \"He was one that exceeded all men that\never were in understanding, and made the best use of what understanding\nsuggested to him. He had a very grateful way of speaking and addressing\nhimself to the multitude. As to his other qualifications, he had such\na full command of his passions, as if he hardly had any such in his\nsoul, and only knew them by their names, as rather perceiving them\nin other men than himself. He was also such a general of an army\nas was seldom seen, as well as such a prophet as was never known,\nand this to such a degree that whatsoever he pronounced, you would\nthink you heard the voice of God himself\" (B. iv, ch. viii, 49).\n\nThe following verse in the Bible is undoubtedly true: \"And there was\nnot a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew\nface to face.\"\n\nMoses deserves all the credit for molding the Chaldean God into shape,\nfor creating Jehova, and for inventing prophets and the Jewish oracles.\n\nThese oracles, or pretended consultations or inquiries of God, whether\nheathen or Hebrew, were all of a similar nature and character. Whenever\nthe question asked was concerning the success or non-success of\na battle, whether they should fight or not, the answer depended\non the circumstances and the condition of affairs. If the army was\nwell disciplined, had a good leader, a good general, better than the\nenemy, they were going to fight. If not so well organized, weaker\nnumerically, or with an indifferent general, they would let fighting\nalone. The priests if well informed would give either a positive or\na negative answer, but if they knew nothing about either party, they\nwould deliver the answer of the oracle in such dubious expressions or\nterms, that let what would happen to the inquirer, the answer might\nbe accommodated or explained to mean the event that came to pass.\n\nThe expressions of the Bible during and after the time of Moses\nare of oracular form, and for that reason of a dubious nature, of\nmarvelous elasticity, accommodating any and every opinion or inquiry,\nsusceptible of a vast variety of interpretations. Many portions may\nbe made to mean anything or everything. There being nothing positive\nabout these biblical expressions, followers of these doctrines have\nbeen explaining and explaining. And as new views or opinions are set\nafloat, clever talkers explain and explain, and grow enthusiastic\nin explaining. And as fashions change, the explanations change. For\ncenturies these explanations and interpretations have been going\non--over what?\n\nAmong the Jews there were several sorts of oracles: as, first, those\nthat were delivered viva voce, as when God spoke to Moses; secondly,\nprophetic dreams, as those of Joseph and others; thirdly, visions,\nas when a prophet in an ecstasy, a nervous, excitable condition, being\nproperly neither asleep nor awake, had what they called supernatural\nrevelations; fourthly, when they were accompanied with the wearing of\nan ephod, or the pectoral worn by the high priest, who was endowed with\nthe gift of foretelling future things upon extraordinary occasions;\nand fifthly, by consulting the prophets or messengers sent by God.\n\nMoses was the first great prophet, the first great general, the first\ngreat lawgiver, the first and only organizer, and with his death God,\nJehova, ceases to be active.\n\nEverything appears wonderful or miraculous if we do not understand\nit, or are ignorant and credulous. Thus it was with the manna, that\nusually falls in certain seasons of the year in that region. Even\nMoses himself did not know what it was, until it had stuck to his\nhands and he had tasted it. It was no special favor to the Jews. It\nfalls for all creatures alike, but is not used until it is discovered\nthat it has reached the season when it is good to eat. Nevertheless,\nit is in our Bible accounted a miracle.\n\nNo man has ever performed a miracle except to deceive or delude\nanother, who is ignorant of what he is performing, or how it is\nperformed.\n\nMiracles are natural events occurring to those that are ignorant,\nor of little understanding; or they are intentionally performed with\nthe intent to deceive, delude, or defraud.\n\nGod himself, all believers should know, cannot perform a miracle,\ncontrary to the laws of nature--whether it be the laws governing\nplanets or the laws that govern the various phenomena that appear\nfrom time to time on earth. All are simply the result of some natural\nprocess.\n\nWhat shrewdness Moses used, whatever cunning, whatever diplomacy,\nwhatever wisdom or courage, was the production of his own will power,\nthe evolution of his own brain, acquired by education and training. He\nutilized these powers to gain his ends, to the best advantage and\nwelfare of the people he was trying to organize.\n\nHe may have fully believed in the oracles he invoked, the conception\nof his own powerful imagination. He may have inspired himself\nby a concentration of nervous force, stimulated by the immense\nresponsibility that rested upon him.\n\nThe solitude he enjoyed in the mountain was of great service to his\nreflecting mind. It gave him an opportunity to analyze every detail,\nthink over every circumstance, form his ideas and his plans. That it\nwas to him a sanctuary, a holy retreat, we can easily imagine, as every\nplace that becomes a retreat for great thinkers is a sanctum to them,\nand where, when they are deliberating, communing with themselves,\nit is no place for strangers to intrude.\n\nWe must, however, not lose sight of an important fact--that whatever\nmay be the products of the brain, of the nervous system, however\nstimulated or inspired the workings of the imagination and the\nproduction of ideas, evolving powerful thoughts, and however sublime\nand beautiful they may be, they are the effect of the educated\nfaculties; the result of the combined forces of the great nervous\ncenters.\n\nNotwithstanding the sagacity and cleverness of Moses, the barbarism\nand brutality of the age in which he lived was predominant in all his\nactions towards his enemies. Neither God nor Jehova had any mitigating\nsentiment, neither pity nor mercy. The ark was a superstitious symbol,\nand the priest the ready tool to carry out any system to deceive and\ndelude the masses. The ark, the creation of Moses, Aaron, Jethro\n& Co., was nothing more than an idol of another form. Whether the\nidol is in the image of somebody or a four-cornered box wherein lies\nthe difference?\n\nFor several centuries this wooden box plays an important role among\nthese half-civilized barbarians. They were no better than their\nneighbors, and were not any farther advanced in civilization than\nthe neighboring nations were--indeed, not so much.\n\nHow Christianity can hold that book, the Bible, as sacred, as a guide\nfor the present civilized age, is indeed a greater wonder and a far\nmore complicated miracle than ever was performed in the Bible.\n\nThe superstitious, cowardly army of Joshua refused to cross the river\nJordan, but the miracle was performed when the priest carried the ark\nacross the river--which was fordable, because they could see the sand\nat the bottom, and the stream was neither strong nor swift. So the\narmy forded the stream, following the wooden box. The same box was\nused before the walls of Jericho. The falling of the walls is related\nin a mysterious fashion, but the slaughter of men, women, and children\nis made quite plain. The only thing saved was that prostitute Rahab\nwho betrayed the city--and that was all the doings of God and the Box.\n\nJoshua sends to Ai three thousand men, and the Israelites get\nbeaten. Then after some hocus-pocus Joshua goes to Ai with thirty\nthousand and he beats them, \"and all the men and women that were killed\nat Ai were twelve thousand\" (Josh, viii, 25). And then he hanged\nthe king of Ai (verse 29). And this was a miraculous victory. Every\nnatural phenomenon was interpreted as a miracle. A hailstorm, an\naerial phosphorescence imitating sun and moon, the clouds, thunder,\netc.--are all miracles, if they help to beat the enemy. And after\nthe slaying was done the kings were hanged (x, 26).\n\nAltogether, Joshua conquered thirty-one kings and took possession\nof their territories. These kingdoms could not have been very large\naffairs, since the whole land is not very large. The presumption is\nthat superior numbers and better leadership in reality won the day.\n\nWhen the strong hand of Moses and Joshua has disappeared (Jehova is no\nlonger the stronghold) quarrels, outrages, and discontent arise. Eleven\ntribes retire from the field of action. Judah, the warrior tribe,\ndoes the fighting. The Levites, this aristocratic tribe, watch and\nguide the nation, dwelling in the forty cities assigned to them. I\nmention these two tribes especially on account of the important role\nthey play hereafter.\n\nA few statements of the mere facts will suffice. Joshua dies in 1443\nB.C. Othniel succeeds. Judah's military force fights and beats the\nCanaanites. Discord and fighting continue, until Eglon the king of\nMoab enslaves them, 1343 B.C. When Eglon is killed they are freed\nfor a short period, when Jabin the Canaanite subdues them. They are\nagain freed and again enslaved, and so on. Meantime they have their\nheroes, as Shamgar, who kills six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad,\nand Samson, who kills one thousand Philistines with a jawbone of an\nass, etc.\n\nI will append to this chapter a description of some events of Moses's\ncareer from Tacitus, Chapter III: \"Many authors agree, that when once\nan infectious distemper was arisen in Egypt and made men's bodies\nimpure, Bocchorius, their king, went to the oracle of (Jupiter)\nHammon and begged he would grant him some relief against this evil,\nand he was enjoined to purge his nation of them, and to banish this\nkind of men into other countries, as hateful to the gods. That\nwhen he had sought for, and gotten them all together, they were\nleft in a vast desert; that hereupon the rest devoted themselves\nto weeping and inactivity; but one of those exiles, Moses by name,\nadvised them to look for no assistance from any of the gods or from\nany of mankind, since they had been abandoned by both, but bade them\nbelieve in him, as in a celestial leader, by whose help they had\nalready gotten clear of their present miseries. They agreed to it;\nand though they were unacquainted with every thing, they began their\njourney at random: but nothing tried them so much as want of water;\nand now they laid themselves down on the ground to a great extent,\nas just ready to perish, when a herd of wild asses came from feeding,\nand went to a rock overshadowed by a grove of trees. Moses followed\nthem, as conjecturing that there was (thereabouts) some grassy soil,\nand so opened large sources of water for them.\"\n\nChapter IV: \"As for Moses, in order to secure the nation firmly to\nhimself, he ordained new rites, and such as were contrary to other\nmen. All things are with them profane which with us are sacred; and\nagain, those practices are allowed among them which are by us esteemed\nmost abominable. They sacrifice rams by way of reproach to (Jupiter)\nHammon. An ox is also sacrificed, which the Egyptians worship under\nthe name of Apis,\" etc.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nSAMUEL THE KINGMAKER--THE WARWICK OF ANTIQUITY.\n\n\nOur forefathers of antiquity, no matter to what nation they belonged,\ndressed every important event with a halo of mystery--fable, myth,\nand miracle. They knew no better.\n\nThe mind, the brain, the senses, had reached a stage of development\nthat might well be called childish, with sensuality and selfishness\npredominating. Fighting, cruelty, and lust were the leading actions\nprompted. And as in the case of children, ghosts and hobgoblins\nscared them, shadows and darkness frightened them, unusual sights and\nnoises surprised and alarmed them. And in their calmer moments they\nwondered. And any natural phenomenon was interpreted as miraculous\nif it aided any undertaking, and resulted favorably to them.\n\nWealth and women were considered the capital prizes in those\ndays. (That was three thousand years ago; how is it with us?) They\nwere men in physique, but children in the development of their mental\nfaculties.\n\nIt was then as it is now--every man talks about that which is uppermost\nin his mind; he makes his comparisons with those things he is most\nfamiliar with; his illustrations are drawn from those objects he\nsees most frequently; his language never extends beyond the number\nof words at his command; his memory is only equal to the number\nof things he has stored away; his mind is made up or composed of\nthose ideas that he has gathered from the experience of his senses;\nhis ideas from the number of objects he has come in contact with;\nhis knowledge consists of that which he has learned; his thoughts\nand reflections extend to that which he knows and never beyond;\nhis understanding depends on all these; and comparatively speaking,\nfew men are in advance of the age in which they live.\n\nIdeas, like other things terrestrial, have their birth, growth,\ndevelopment, maturity, and decline, and finally they partially or\nwholly disappear.\n\nThe birth of the idea of God, without the various objective\nrepresentations, had its origin in the mind of man; Abraham being\nthe first, or supposed to be the first, man who conceived the notion\nthat these images, idols, were not the proper thing. He doubted\nthe quality of the gods, and the principal objection to these idols\nwas that they had ears that did not hear, eyes that could not see,\netc., etc., but the new God, the later Jehova, could. The strangest\nof all inconsistencies lies in the fact that while they endowed him\nwith the human faculties, passions, emotions, desires, and feelings,\nthere is nothing tangible about his body.\n\nNothing was accomplished with this God during several centuries in\nEgypt. Moses brought his Jehova out--as a stern reality. He skillfully\nmanipulated the idea. His own intellect and experience, his force and\ncharacter, were concentrated in this Jehova. His masterly organization,\nhis discipline, his impressive sternness, imperative and imperial, his\nstupendous will power, left a lasting impress upon this people during\nthe four centuries. This idea was nursed, nourished, and sustained\nby the Levites, and when they found their influence was waning they\nestablished a concentrated form of government by selecting a sanhedrin\nor council of seventy and electing the most eligible person they could\nfind on the recommendation of Samuel as their king. This king was Saul,\nwhose reign, fortunately or unfortunately, did not last very long.\n\nCompetition and struggle with other nations had, if anything, an\neducational tendency. As they grew numerically stronger, jealousies\narose. Ambitious men were grasping for power, and contending faction\nnaturally was the result.\n\nThe story about the lost asses is like that about another ass we\nhave heard of, that saw the angel and talked--we have many such,\neven at the present day. These stories are excellent fabrications\nto entertain juveniles with. And people must be precious asses to\nbelieve this nonsense, that God would be such an ass as to interfere\nwith these asses.\n\nBut something occurred which was perfectly human, and shows the\ncharacter of the man. It happened to be one of those critical moments\nin a nation's existence. Nahash the Ammonite had made war against\nIsrael, and encamped against Jabest-Gilead. Saul hearing of it, he\ndid as follows (1 Sam. xi, 7): \"And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed\nthem in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coast of Israel by the\nhands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and\nafter Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the\nLord fell upon the people, and they came out with one consent.\" Thus\nSaul collected an army of three hundred thousand men. That is what may\nbe termed practical politics. He was victorious over the Ammonites. As\nto the prisoners of war, whether captured or having given themselves\nup, he caused their right eyes to be put out. He plucked their right\neyes out, making them useless for war in the future.\n\nWhen he went to war against the Philistines, his army observed how\nnumerous the enemy were. God's army was scared and hid in caves. So\nhe sent to Samuel to consult the oracle, like any other respectable\nheathen.\n\nHe also made a conquest of the Amalekites, whom he utterly\ndestroyed. The Hebrews and these people had a grudge of several\ncenturies' standing, because when the Jews went out of Egypt they\nrequested permission to pass through the Amalekites' country, which\nwas refused them (Ex. xvii, et seq.).\n\nBut Saul offended God by saving Agag, the king of the Amalekites,\nso said Samuel (1 Sam. xv, 32, 33). \"Then Samuel said, Bring ye\nhither to me Agag, the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came to\nhim delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is\npassed. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.\"\n\nSaul's tenderness and mercy towards Agag displeased the stern, cruel\npriest and soldier. His, Agag's, life had to pay the penalty of death,\nby the hand of the priest himself, for an offense his forefathers\nwere presumed to have been guilty of, several centuries before. All\nbarbarities, cruelties, and slaughter were done in Jehovah's, God's,\nthe Lord's, name. The same pious crimes were repeated centuries later,\nunder the pretext of doing some imaginary brutal God a great favor.\n\nFor this transgression Saul is rejected by this priestly Warwick. For\nthis human action this wily priest denounces him, and Saul's act\nof kindness is interpreted by this domineering priest as a crime\nagainst his God. To carry out his political scheme, Samuel went to\nBeth-lehem. \"And the elders of the town trembled at his coming\"\n(1 Sam. xvi, 4). The revengeful priest, with a nerve of iron and\na will of steel, was not going to stand any nonsense. Saul had not\nobeyed him to the letter--it is, Off with your head!\n\nSamuel with all the church palaver, priest discipline, and pious\nhypocrisy, selects a successor, without compunction, without ceremony,\nand David is anointed to reign instead of Saul. From this time forth\nto the end of his life Saul is constantly in hot water. He slinks\nto his home at Gibeah (1 Sam. xv, 34) like a whipped cur, rejected\nand excommunicated by the priest. Full of apprehension and fear,\nhe blunders at every step he takes. The priestly influence is gone,\nand God has departed from him and is now with David. The crafty Samuel\nuses the expression, when others question the propriety of his action:\n\"Men do not see as God seeth.\" No! Men must have no will except the\npriest's will. Harassed and maddened by priestly cunning, jealous and\nangered at David's success in acts of heroism, Saul loses courage,\nas well as prestige with the people, to such an extent that David\nfinds it not a difficult task to organize a small army of his own,\ncarrying on a sort of desultory war on his own account.\n\nSamuel dies, having governed his people twelve years himself, and\njointly with Saul eighteen years. He was the greatest man, priest,\nand general since the times of Moses, a man of singular sagacity\nand courage, no doubt right royal and honest in his intentions and\nto his nation. Samuel did more to solidify the nation, and terrify\nneighboring nations, to infuse courage in his people and inspire them\nto acts of heroism, than any other of the judges, or any other man,\nduring this period.\n\nA curious incident is related of the manner in which Samuel came\ninto the world. It is the first one of its kind in the Bible. Hannah,\nthe wife of Elkanah, had no children, or as the Bible phrase has it,\n\"The Lord had shut up her womb\" (1 Sam. i, 5, 6). So she continued\npraying before the Lord, and Eli the priest marked her mouth (verse\n12). She conceived and bore a son, and she named him Samuel. And\nEli the priest adopted Samuel. \"And the child did minister unto\nthe Lord before Eli the priest\" (ii, 12). What the relations were\nbetween Hannah and Eli is not known, but that his own sons were not\nvery righteous is testified to by the following passage (1 Sam. ii,\n20): \"Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all\nIsrael; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door\nof the tabernacle of the congregation.\"\n\nIt was not an unusual thing, in the temples of the heathens, for\nwomen to accommodate the gods whenever they felt piously inclined;\nand also the priests lost no opportunity to gratify their saintly\npassions, or permit others to gratify theirs so long as it was to\nbenefit the church.\n\nSamuel's father, or rather reputed father, did not belong to the\npriestly tribe. He was an Ephrathite. Eli his adopted father belonged\nto the priestly caste. I simply cite this story to show how completely\nhuman these holy Jehovaists were. Many crimes and disreputable acts\nwere committed under the very shadow of the Lord. Yet Jehova was\npleased with anything these priests delighted in.\n\nEli was a heavy man (iv, 18). Fat, which I suppose they meant, shows\nhe was a good liver. He broke his neck by falling off his seat on\nhearing the ark was taken by the Philistines and Israel beaten.\n\nWhen Samuel took the reins of government he was still young. He subdued\nthe Philistines, regained the ark, and reorganized and consolidated\nthe nation. He made Saul king and general, and a stream of prosperity\nfollowed; the choice was a good one, and Saul served his nation well\nso long as he was obedient to Samuel's commands. Saul's humanity got\nthe better of him, he offended this stern, dictatorial priest, and\nlost his favor. David, his rival, was already chosen and in the field,\non whom all Samuel's influence and priestly glory was shed. Now God\ndeserted Saul and his cause. Henceforth the Lord was with David.\n\nSamuel was the first and only kingmaker; Saul and David were his\nhandiwork. He was a priest, a soldier and a statesman of more than\nordinary capacity and qualities, far superior to any of the judges\nthat governed Israel during the last four centuries. He was stern and\nsevere, but without blemish otherwise. He was, as far as we can learn\nfrom history, a relentless and cruel man towards his enemies. He\nwas of immense will-power, resolute and energetic. He was honored\nto an extraordinary degree by the people for whom he accomplished\nso much. He left the nation at his death more firmly united than it\nhad ever been--with an organized army, a stable government, and a\nwell-filled treasury. It was Samuel that really raised the nation to\nthe utmost hight that it ever attained, for he laid the foundation\nfor Solomon's glory, the zenith of Hebrew nationality.\n\nIt is he that closes the second period of national life, the people\nhaving attained under him its maximum standing as a nation, and the\ngreatness which culminated in Solomon, and the only political unity\nas a nation that the Hebrews ever had.\n\nA parallel may be drawn between the two periods. The Egyptian period:\nFour centuries or so pass without anything being done, until a man\nrises possessing the necessary qualifications to mold these people\ninto a nation. The second period consists of a struggle with other\nnations, almost continuously, to exist. Necessities arise; men present\nthemselves who seize the opportunity to fill up the want for the time\nbeing, until the coming of Samuel, the right man, at the right time,\nfor the right place. He closes the second act of the Hebrews' struggle\nfor nationality by giving them a centralized form of government,\nand placing a king at their head to rule them.\n\nAll the transactions of his life were human, natural. His conduct\nwas perfectly in harmony with the age he lived in. The nation as a\nwhole had become a little more civilized, and had reached as high a\npoint of intelligence as it ever attained--that is, as a nation.\n\nThus far we have not seen anything in their history that other nations\nhad not to contend with. To attribute their acts, individually or\nas a nation, to any supernatural power, to God, Jehova, or the Lord,\nis preposterous. In their dealings, their fightings, their cruelty,\ntheir brutality, their superstition, and their ignorance, they were in\nno sense superior to any of the contemporaneous nations. They were no\nbetter in their conduct than their neighbors. The strongest had always\nthe best of it; the conquered had to submit to slavery or be killed,\nwomen are captured and used, and the plunder is divided.\n\nNotwithstanding the priestly rule of the Levites, the Hebrews are\nconstantly relapsing into idolatry, brought back to the fold, and\nrelapsing again.\n\nThe church was at this time used for all sorts of corrupt purposes. The\nJehova that had been brought into the theological world with such an\nimmense boom by Moses had expended a good deal of its original force.\n\nThe remembrance of that stupendous crisis of the Hebrew national\nexistence was kept alive and the flames were fanned by priestly\ninterest. The God after Moses, the Jehova, had shrunk into the Lord,\nand the ark was the representative of God. \"The ark of God was\ntaken,\" ... \"when she heard tidings of the ark of God\" (1 Sam. iv,\netc.). And the success or failure of the Hebrews depended on the man\nwho led them. With a weak man as general or leader they were beaten,\nwith a strong man they won.\n\nOther nations meanwhile had sprung into life, and become powerful,\nwithout Jehova--without the God of the Hebrews. They had, however,\nidols and images, which seemed to behave with far greater propriety\nthan the God of Israel. So well did these mythological deities manage\ntheir affairs, that they almost swallowed up the whole Hebrew race.\n\nSamuel, having established a kingdom, and crowned two kings, Saul\nand David, dies, leaving these two competitors in the field.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nGOD SAVE THE KING!\n\n\nThat was the shout, with the commencement of the new era, when the\ntallest man in the nation appeared in the midst of the people that\nhad assembled at the call of Samuel (1 Sam. x, 24).\n\nI will give a short chronology of this United Kingdom under three\nkings--Saul, David, and Solomon:\n\n\n Saul is made king 1095\n Dies 1055\n Rules over Israel about 40 years\n David born 1085\n Kills Goliath 1062\n Reigns in Hebron 1055\n King over Israel 1048\n Dies 1016\n Rules over Israel about 40 years\n Solomon is born 1036\n Is crowned king 1015\n Lays foundation of Temple 1012\n Dedicates the Temple 1004\n Worships idols 985\n Dies 975\n Rules over Israel about 40 years\n\n\nThese figures may not be accurate. They are as near as the dates can\nbe had. Josephus gives the dates as follows:\n\n\n Saul reigned with Samuel 18 years\n After the death of Samuel 22 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n David lived 70 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n Reigned in Hebron 7 yrs 6m\n \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ,, Jerusalem 33 years\n Solomon lived 94 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n Having reigned 80 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\nThere is a discrepancy somewhere. Something is wrong in dates, like\nmost other facts in the Bible.\n\nDavid was twenty-three years old when he killed Goliath. Solomon was\ntwenty-one years old when he was crowned king; according to Josephus,\nfourteen years of age.\n\nWe have no further interest in the dates of those men, but more\nin their acts and character. Being the rulers of God's own chosen\npeople--with Jehova for a pilot, protector, and guide--with the\nwooden Box, the ark, with all its mysterious secrets and its holy\nenchantments; priests, prophets, and sacrifices, with all their\nsecret necromantic performances, these three men, with all their\ngodly professions, were no better than they should have been, even\nfor the age in which they lived.\n\nThey were brutal, gross, and licentious. Barbarous crimes were\ncommitted by them, with the sanction of their preposterous imaginary\nGod--who is lauded at this present day to the very echo, but the\nmost stupendous piece of folly that ever was palmed off on civilized\nhumanity.\n\nSaul, the first king, in exercising his terrible cruelty towards\nhis enemies perhaps only followed the practices and customs of\nother nations. Why this bloodthirsty man caused 385 persons to be\nmurdered; why he slaughtered all the inhabitants of Nob, men, women,\nand children, because Abimelech the priest supplied David with food,\nare some of those things that pulpit orators can best explain. The\nlife of the priest was not sufficient to expiate the offense he had\ncommitted, but Saul had his whole family exterminated.\n\nThe ark was no longer available. Jehova had taken the juvenile David\nin hand. The priestly oracle refused to be consulted. He, Saul,\nhad recourse to a fortune-telling woman of Endor, who was employed\nto call up the spirit of Samuel.\n\nSaul's jealousies, his quarrels with David, and all his misdeeds, as\nwell as bravery, may be read by those that feel an interest in the\nmatter. He finally committed suicide by falling on his own sword,\nand the next day the Philistines cut his and his sons' heads off,\nand deposited them before their idols, Dagon, etc.\n\nWhere was God? Can it be possible that our Christian neighbors\nbelieve that the life and conduct of Saul was directed by any supreme\npower? That God directed Saul to do so many foolish, barbarous,\nand murderous acts?\n\nWe shall probably be more interested in David, the man after God's\nown heart.\n\nDavid, like Saul, was judiciously selected by Samuel. David's acts\nand David's conduct were no different from the acts and conduct of\nany other man in his position and possessing his characteristics. He\ncombined a good deal of philosophy with his bravery; if the Psalms\nwere written by him we have before us a higher type of brain culture,\na mind that has undergone some training, is capable of analyzing\nits own feelings and giving expression to them. His comparisons\nnever extend beyond that--beyond what he knows. He appeals to the\nhigher qualities of men--their good acts, their virtues, their just\nconduct, their self-restraint, their passions, emotions, faults,\nand weaknesses. He recognizes them in others, and sees them reflected\nclearly in himself. His distress and his fears, his gladness and his\njoys, his trust in an unseen power, are all poetic, some sweet and\nsentimental. He speaks of his Lord, of his God, as of the pleasant\nrecollections of a dream. Jehova had long since lost the stern\nreality of Moses, and had changed with the changes the nation had\nundergone. The formalities had been kept up, the priestly luxuries\nhad increased, the ceremonies were more formal and business-like,\nbut the central power, the centralized government of the people,\nthe mantle of authority, had been shifted from high priest to king.\n\nThe God, Jehova, was no longer the guide, the power it had been. For\ntwenty-two years after the death of Samuel, Saul had conducted his\ngovernment and fought his battles without God, ark, or priest, and\nsought advice and counsel from other and human sources.\n\nSkeptics even at this early period began to doubt the existence of\na God, \"The fool saith in his heart, There is no God\" (Ps. xiv, 1).\n\nThe theocratic period of 395 years from Exodus to Saul had already\ndeveloped corruption in the church and licentiousness in the\nTemple. The priestly power received a terrible blow at the hands\nof Saul when he slaughtered the priest, Abimelech, and his family,\nthus showing that the representative of God no longer inspired terror;\nthat the priest was nothing more than any other man; that neither God,\nJehova, ark, nor any other sanctified paraphernalia could protect him,\nnor miracle interfere for his preservation.\n\nOpinions were freely expressed, discussion arose, and arguments\nwere not wanting to sustain the doubts that had arisen as to the\ngenuineness, the truth, of the God they had adopted. Neighboring\nnations had their gods. How was it, if their gods were not more potent,\nthat they should win so many battles, and enslave the nation of the\ntrue God?\n\nThe same or similar arguments that Abraham brought to bear on the\nChaldean gods were now beginning to be used against Jehova.\n\nDavid, besides being an excellent soldier, a brave general, was\na dreamer, a man of imagination. God was to him a sublime vision,\na reflected glory of the past. To him, an intense admirer of the\nbeautiful, trees, hills, and valleys, and the phenomena of nature in\ngeneral, were the wonders of his imaginary God. He was a musician,\na poet, a dreamer, in his moments of leisure. Everything he beheld\ncourted, kindled his admiration, awoke new feeling in his sensitive\nnature, from a pretty flower to a beautiful woman.\n\nThe conversations which he holds with his visionary God are the\nsimplest and most confidential. He pours out his grievances and his\ndelight to him. \"Thou hast put gladness in my heart.... I will both\nlay me down in peace and sleep\" (Ps. iv, 8, 9).\n\nThat Christian translators of the Bible presume to interpret certain\npassages and words to mean, to foretell, things or events that occurred\none thousand years later, is an assumption, and warrantable neither\nby the text nor by the actions of the persons writing them.\n\nDavid is supposed to have written the Psalms. When he speaks he refers\nmainly to himself, addresses himself personally to his Lord. He,\nDavid, is himself interested. Then again he speaks of man and things\nin general, without ever alluding to any one thing or body in the\ncoming future.\n\nDavid's Psalm ii is headed \"The Kingdom of Christ.\" The writer had\nno more idea of Christ than he had of Peter the Great at the time\nthat that Psalm was written.\n\nDavid wrote one hundred and fifty Psalms as printed in the Bible. In\nthe headings, the superscriptions, the solicitude of Christian\nbelievers, trying to torture meanings and significations out of\nsentences or expressions, led them to commit gross errors, as false\nas they are ridiculous. Judge for yourself:\n\nPsalm ii, 1--The Kingdom of Christ.\n\n\"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?\" Verse\n10: \"Be wise, now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed ye judges of\nthe earth.\"\n\nPsalm xlv, 1--The majesty and Grace of Christ's Kingdom.\n\n\"My heart is inditing a good matter; I speak of the things which I\nhave made touching the king; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.\"\n\nVerse 10--The Duty of the Church, etc.\n\n\"Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget\nalso thine own people, and thy father's house.\"\n\nPsalm xlvi, 1--Confidence Which the Church, etc.\n\n\"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.\"\n\nPsalm xlvii--The Nations are Exhorted Cheerfully to Entertain the\nKingdom of Christ.\n\nPsalm xlviii--The Ornaments and Privileges of the Church.\n\nIn not one of these Psalms is there the slightest allusion to\na church. It is the extravagant language of an exuberant mind,\nthe outcome of an overwrought imagination upon the subject he was\nthinking about.\n\nPsalm l, 1--The Majesty of God in the Church.\n\nPsalm li, 18--He Prayeth for the Church.\n\nPsalm lxviii, 7--For His Care of the Church.\n\nPsalm lxxii, 1--David Praying for Solomon, etc.; and The Truth of\nChrist's Kingdom.\n\nPsalm xciii--The Majesty and Power of Christ's Kingdom.\n\nPsalm cxviii, 19--Coming of Christ's Kingdom, etc.\n\nThe passage referred to, viz., verse 19, is: \"Open to me the gates\nof righteousness; I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord.\"\n\nThe absurdity of the interpretation is evident from the fact that out\nof one hundred and fifty Psalms the Christian Bible-makers were able to\nfind only five that could be twisted to make allusion to Christ--the\nii, xlv, lxxii, xcviii, and cxviii, and from these certain sentences\nwere selected, and these verses have as much connection with Christ\nor his kingdom as they have with the man in the moon. Six of all the\nchapters are supposed to allude to the church; those are above cited.\n\nDavid had not the remotest notion what would or could happen at any\ntime during his life, or at any time after his death. He was a child\nof circumstances like Saul, and like many other men after and before\nthem. The same may be said of Moses and Abraham. Opportunity makes\nthe man, if the man is fitting, able, to seize the opportunity when it\noccurs. No supernatural power had anything to do with any one of these\nmen, or any man that figured in the Bible, any more than God had to\ndo with men that played prominent parts as leaders, rulers, kings,\nor governors of other nations. Whatever power, skill, intellect,\nor imagination was developed, it was the proper sum-total of the\nexperience, observation, and instruction of the world's progress.\n\nThe Hebrews perhaps had special advantages in some respects over\nother nations, through their migratory instinct or inclination. The\ncontact with so many other nations gave them the advantage of a\nbroader experience and a greater variety of culture.\n\nDavid had enjoyed special advantages. After his first heroic action,\nhe became the leader of a band of desperadoes. And Saul himself\nunwittingly helped him, by making the bargain with David that if he,\nDavid, brought him one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, Saul\nwould give him his daughter Michal for wife. David with his band\nof chosen men brought him two hundred, and thus obtained his wife\nMichal. Henceforth David leads a kind of bandit's life, with his six\nhundred brave followers, evading Saul, who is in hot pursuit of him,\nand meantime fighting other nations, Philistines, Amalekites, etc.;\nlevying contributions, making conquests, whenever and wherever there\nwas a chance; falling in love easily and gracefully as the most expert\nleader of a gallant band. The pretty, attractive face of Abigail, the\nwife of Nabal, was an irresistible temptation. Nabal died from fright,\nit is said. Later in life when he happened to cast his eyes upon the\nbeautiful nude figure of Bathsheba, he immediately fell in love. Since\nhe was a man of action he satisfied his passion almost immediately,\nand poor Uriah, a captain of his, was sent to the war to be killed.\n\nHe was a shrewd and bold warrior, a great lover of woman, a\nphilosopher and a poet. His Psalms bear witness of his acts, deeds, and\nthoughts. In consequence of his overindulgence with women he contracted\na disease, a disease of which he complains most bitterly. Psalm iv:\nHis bones are vexed, he is weary with groaning--\"All night make I my\nbed to swim; I water my couch with my tears\" (verse 6). Psalm xxxviii:\nHe is in a sad plight: verse 3: \"There is no soundness in my flesh;\"\nverse 5: \"My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness;\"\nverse 7: \"For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease; and there\nis no soundness in my flesh,\" etc. The gentleman in all probability was\nafflicted with a disease known as syphilis in its tertiary stage. There\nis more of it.\n\nA sober reading of these psalms will find them full of indications\nof human nature with its frailties, weaknesses, impulses, mixed with\nsuperstitious fear, a vivid imagination, and an excitable temperament.\n\nWhen his greatness had been established, many conquests made, great\nwealth accumulated, numerous victories gained, festivities were\ninaugurated. In order to honor God and the ark, David danced and jumped\nin complete undress before the Box, in a true half-civilized fashion.\n\nWe must not consider all these acts as faults. He simply followed\nthe customs of the age. He was the highest representative type of\nthe then struggling civilization. Samuel began, Saul developed,\nand David consummated a new era of this part of the world of human\nhistory--while other sections of the globe were keeping abreast in\norganizing and drilling the human race to a higher sort of culture,\nforming nations, establishing kingdoms, producing heroes, evolving\nlawgivers and poets, and advancing in the arts and war, etc.\n\nDavid died seventy years of age, leaving a large and numerous\nfamily. Of his score of sons, there is none worth talking about,\nexcept Solomon, his successor. The immense wealth he amassed laid\nthe foundation for the glory of Solomon, who spent it lavishly,\nluxuriously, freely.\n\nAll in all David was an excellent character. He preserved the Twelve\nTribes, exalting the nation, consolidating the government, making it\nrespected and feared without, and giving them by his valor peace and\nsecurity and prosperity for the next ruler and for the nation.\n\nThis young gentleman, Solomon, however, had been fed with a golden\nspoon. His senses and his passions were prematurely ripe. He did not\nhave to search for opportunity; his desires were easily accommodated\nand satisfied. His indulgences were many and frequent, and his\nauthority and arbitrariness were soon made manifest.\n\nHe was surrounded with the best scholars of the day, and whatever\nfacilities were then to be had were got, either in philosophical\nworks or in other books. The higher studies consisted in close\nobservance of moral conduct, and contemplation of the outer world\nwithout knowing anything more than the outward appearances. Science,\nart, and mechanics were little known.\n\nThe school of poesy had begun. Theological disputes were in fashion,\nand thus theological doubt furnished ample food for conjecture,\nhypothesis, and imagination. Men had already entered the field of\ncontroversy as to the falsity or the truth of the prevailing opinions.\n\nKing Solomon in all his glory was the greatest showman upon earth at\nthe time he was living.\n\nLet it be understood that it is not our purpose to write history. That\nhas long since been exhausted; nothing new can be discovered. It may,\nhowever, be profitable to call attention to the fact that all these\nmen that figure in the scripture were human, perfectly human. That\nthey acted and spoke in accordance with the prevailing degree of\nintelligence and customs of nations. That in all their dealings and\ndoings there is not one scintilla of evidence that they were anything\nelse than perfectly natural. That they were struggling as a nation\nfor a position among the family of nations. That their methods\nof warfare were no better than those of their neighbors. By good\ngeneralship, brave conduct, and hard fighting they gained influence,\naffluence, and prestige. By their conquests and victories they got\ninto possession of a fair tract of land. By robbery and plunder they\namassed an immense amount of wealth. By their continual successes under\nDavid's brave leadership they secured peace from their enemies, their\nsurrounding neighbors; while those nations were subdued and weakened,\nthe Israelites became powerful and strong. A well-disciplined army,\na strong and united nation, was the inheritance Solomon received.\n\nHe was the prince-royal--his father a clever king, and his mother\nthe captain's wife, Mrs. Bathsheba, later queen-wife of David. He\nwas the first real prince that had ever ruled Israel--and also the\none that caused their ruin, as a nation, by his extravagant and\nlascivious conduct.\n\nThe scriptural story begins in Kings, with the death of David. Solomon,\nthe prince of the blood, was now king in his stead. He ascended the\nthrone when he was twenty-one years of age, having received every\neducational advantage of a prince. He, after Moses, is the second\nruler of Israel that had been instructed and prepared for the high\nposition he was about to occupy. That is the only comparison that can\nbe made between him and Moses. The latter was a giant of intellect,\naction, and determination, while the former was a luxurious debauchee\nand squanderer of his father's patrimony.\n\nWhy there should be so much adoration and adulation poured out on\nthis man, I fail to see. Because he built the temple and made profuse\nexhibition of his gold and silver? He could not have built it if\nhis father had not plundered other nations, and given him, Solomon,\nthe money to build with.\n\nBecause he had an immense number of chariots and soldiers, decked\nwith costly trappings? The money was there to provide these with,\nand later the people were pretty heavily taxed for his extravagance.\n\nThe only real point of glory may perhaps lie in the fact that he had\none thousand women to play with. We all know that he beats the record\non that particular branch of human enterprise. There was truly none\nlike him before or since.\n\nAnd lastly, we have his purported writings, consisting of the Proverbs,\nEcclesiastes, and the Songs of Solomon.\n\nNo sooner was he seated on his throne than he began to remove all\nobjectionable persons, those that were likely to be troublesome\nor dangerous. His elder brother, Adonijah, whose aspiration led\nhim to great things, was dispatched by Benaiah, Solomon's future\ngeneral. Abiathar, the priest, he removed where he could do least\ndamage. Joab, David's general, who sought the altar of the temple for\nprotection, Solomon ordered Benaiah to behead. Zadock he made high\npriest in place of Abiathar. Shimei was the next man on the list\nfor death, and Benaiah received order to kill him. Having removed\nall dangerous or antagonistic men, Solomon settled himself firmly in\nhis kingdom. Those that are curious may read all about the Temple,\nhis house, the wall, cherubim, vessels and the like of gold, the royal\npalace, splendors, etc., etc. He became what is termed a glorious king,\nbut luxury and women soon had their effect upon his judgment.\n\nHe had reached the zenith of Israel's greatness. He had\ntouched the highest point of its eminence. It was the golden\nage of the Hebrews--the age of pomp, pride, braggadocio,\nand exhilaration. Jerusalem became the great center of\nattraction. Everything obtainable was collected within its walls. No\nexpense was spared. Indeed, the city became the center of luxury,\nextravagance, and licentiousness. And Solomon was surely, though\nslowly, paving the way for the destruction of the nation. The\nolder he grew the worse he got. His reason gradually deserted him;\nhe wasted his energy and his strength on his women, so that when he\ndied he was despised, if not hated, by his people. And he left such\na rotten condition of affairs that it tumbled to pieces almost before\nhe was dead.\n\nIn the course of human events, certain results follow a given line of\nconduct in the affairs of man. The current of events depends upon our\nactions, whether good or bad, better or worse. Drain or waste of force\nand energy, of an individual or of a collective body as a community,\nstate, or nation, slowly but surely weakens, undermining the natural\nhealthy condition, and ultimately leads to a breaking down, and may\nbring about a final disintegration.\n\nSolomon began his reign with an abundance. He had a plenty both of\nmeans and health; a most extraordinary opportunity, with an ample\ntraining and education; an immense, well-organized army; a stable,\nfirm government, with a full quota of understanding or wisdom.\n\nAs a rule men get wiser as they grow older. They acquire greater\ndeliberation, sounder judgment, better understanding, more skill in\nthe management of affairs, of man and of state. They are generally\nmore conservative in their actions, more cautious in their dealings,\nmore abstemious in their desires. Their pleasures are restricted,\ntheir passions subdued, their wants few, and their pursuits in life\nso evenly regulated, their conduct so accurately adjusted, that a\njustice and a wisdom seem to guard every thought and every reflection.\n\nSolomon's course was like that of a balloon. He started chockfull\nof wisdom. He was a marvel, and made a prodigious show. He was a\nstartling phenomenon, the wonder of the age. (You know he asked God\nfor wisdom and God gave it to him; why did not God keep him wise?)\n\nIn old age he lacked wisdom. He had almost grown into a senseless\nimbecile. He was a squanderer of energy, a rou\u00e9, a debauchee, a\nfrivolous and licentious old man who frittered away his time and his\nbrains on his women and their playthings.\n\nWhen the pomp, pride, vanity, show, and bluster of his youth and\nmanhood were exhausted, all there was left was the remnants of\na glaring painted show. He had, as it were, danced and skipped\nand capered, sung and spoken his lines, in a blaze of glory and\nextravaganza on the stage of human affairs; the curtain drops, and\nalas, you behold, when the paint and gorgeous dress are removed,\na simpering, brainless old image-worshiper.\n\nBut what a colossal church figure this man makes! What a miraculous\npersonality he is made to be! What a wonderful creation of the\nChristians' God! A pity some pope has not canonized him and\nmanufactured him into a saint.\n\nAs to his writings--if he really wrote them, and they were not compiled\nor written for him--it is to be regretted that his conduct was not\nregulated by them.\n\nA most astonishing perversion of truth is the attribution to the eight\nchapters of the Song of Solomon of the subject of the church's love\nunto Christ.\n\nThe following are the chief interpretations:\n\nChapter i, verse 1: \"The song of songs, which is Solomon's.\"\n\nMeaning--The church's love unto Christ.\n\nVerse 5: \"I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as\nthe tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.\"\n\nMeaning--She confesseth her deformity.\n\nVerse 7: \"Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest,\nwhere thou makest thy flock to rest at noon,\" etc.\n\nMeaning--And prayeth to be directed to his flock.\n\nVerse 8: \"If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way\nforth,\" etc.\n\nMeaning--Christ directeth her to the shepherd's tent.\n\nVerse 9: \"I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in\nPharaoh's chariots.\"\n\nMeaning--And showing his love to her.\n\nVerse 11: \"We will make thee borders of gold and studs of silver.\"\n\nMeaning--Giveth her gracious promise.\n\nVerse 12: \"While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth\nforth the smell thereof.\"\n\nMeaning--The church and Christ congratulate each other.\n\nChapter ii, verse 1: \"I am the rose of Sharon and lily of the valley.\"\n\nMeaning--The mutual love of Christ and his church.\n\nVerse 8: \"The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon\nthe mountains, skipping upon the hills.\"\n\nMeaning--The hope.\n\nVerse 10: \"My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love,\nmy fair one, and come away.\"\n\nMeaning--The calling of the church.\n\nVerse 14: \"O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rocks, in the\nsecret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear\nthy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.\"\n\nMeaning--Christ's care of the church.\n\nVerse 16: \"My beloved is mine and I am his: he feedeth among the\nlilies.\"\n\nMeaning--The profession of the church, her faith and hope.\n\nChapter iii, verse 1: \"By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul\nloveth: I sought him, but I found him not.\"\n\nMeaning--The church's fight and victory in temptation.\n\nVerse 6: \"Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars\nof smoke, perfumed with myrrh, and frankincense, with all the powders\nof the merchant?\"\n\nMeaning--The church glorieth in Christ.\n\nChapter iv, verse 1: \"Behold thou art fair, my love, behold thou\nart fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is like\na flock of goats that appear from Mount Gilead.\"\n\nMeaning--Christ setteth forth the graces of the church.\n\nVerse 8: \"Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse,\" etc.\n\nMeaning--He showeth his love to her.\n\nVerse 16: \"Awake O north wind; and come thou south; blow upon my\ngarden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come\ninto his garden and eat his pleasant fruits.\"\n\nMeaning--The church prayeth to be made fit for his presence.\n\nChapter v, verse 1: \"I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse. I\nhave gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with\nmy honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk; eat O friends; drink ye,\ndrink abundantly, O beloved.\"\n\nMeaning--Christ awaketh his church with his calling.\n\nVerse 2: \"I sleep, but my heart waketh, it is the voice of my beloved\nthat knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove,\nmy undented; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the\ndrops of the night.\"\n\nMeaning--The church having a taste of Christ's love, is sick of love.\n\nVerse 9: \"What is my beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest\namong women? What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou\ndost so charge us?\"\n\nMeaning--A description of Christ and his graces.\n\nChapter vi, verse 1: \"Whither is my beloved gone, O thou fairest\namong women? Whither is my beloved turned aside? that we may seek\nhim with them.\"\n\nMeaning--The church professeth her faith in Christ.\n\nVerse 4: \"Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as\nJerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.\"\n\nMeaning--Christ showeth the grace of the church.\n\nVerse 10: \"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the\nmoon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?\"\n\nMeaning--And his love towards her.\n\nChapter vii, verse 1: \"How beautiful are thy feet with shoes,\nO prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the\nwork of the hands of a cunning workman.\"\n\nMeaning--A further description of the church's graces.\n\nVerse 10: \"I am my beloved's, and his desire is towards me.\"\n\nMeaning--\"The church professeth her faith and desire.\"\n\nChapter viii, verse 1: \"O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked\nthe breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would\nkiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.\"\n\nMeaning--The love of the church to Christ.\n\nVerse 6: \"Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine\narm, for love is as strong as death; jealousy as cruel as the grave;\nthe coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.\"\n\nMeaning--The vehemency of love.\n\nVerse 8: \"We have a little sister; and she hath no breasts; what\nshall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?\"\n\nMeaning--The calling of the Gentiles.\n\nVerse 14: \"Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to\na young hart upon the mountain of spices.\"\n\nMeaning--The church prayeth for Christ's coming.\n\nThese are the verses specifically interpreted and marked for\nChristian worshipers. It must be remembered that the most decent were\nselected. To say the interpretations are absurd, is putting it very\nmildly. Solomon had no more idea of Christ than he had of the laws\nof gravitation.\n\nHe was describing and writing about that which was constantly occupying\nhis mind and his time. He portrays a love-sick swain, with all the\ndetails that are pleasing both to his eye and to his fancy. He gloats\nand feeds upon his passions, thus:\n\n\"His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should\nembrace me\" (viii, 4).\n\n\"How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights\" (vii, 6).\n\n\"There are threescore queens and fourscore concubines, and virgins\nwithout number\" (vi, 8).\n\n\"His mouth is most sweet; yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my\nbeloved,\" etc. (v, 16).\n\n\"Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb; honey and milk are\nunder thy tongue\" (iv, 11).\n\n\"Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about\nit,\" etc. (iii, 7).\n\n\"His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me\"\n(ii, 6).\n\n\"Behold thou art fair, my love, behold thou art fair; thou hast doves'\neyes\" (i, 15).\n\nIt is an outrage on decency even to attempt to construe the intent\nof these songs. The man sang about his woman, like any other swain\nwho delights in his love. Solomon enjoyed nude beauties, as many men\ndo in our day, and he represented the various parts of the female\nanatomy most accurately. He reveled in the luxurious contemplation\nof them. Pull down the curtain of hypocrisy and falsehood and let's\nhave the truth--as it was, as it is.\n\nSolomon died at a pretty fair old age, having lived ninety-four\nyears. The country had been harassed by robbers, the factions began to\nbe restless, conspiracies were forming, and the people were nervously\nyet patiently waiting for a chance to revolt. No sooner was he dead\nthan the nation split into two kingdoms. Henceforth this people as\na nation is doomed. It soon disappears from the family of nations.\n\nBut--where is Jehova all this while?\n\n\nNote.--\"Solomon's wickedness became intolerable, fully confirming my\nformer observations, that his wickedness began early and continued\nvery long\" (Josephus, Bk. viii, Chapter vii).\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO KINGDOMS--JUDAH, ISRAEL.\n\nDavid was dead; Joab the great general had been decapitated by Solomon;\nand what Samuel, Saul, and David had built up, Solomon had been very\nsuccessful in pulling down.\n\nTen tribes revolted immediately and formed the kingdom of Israel,\nselecting Jeroboam as their king, 975 B.C. In order to establish a\nchurch, a temple, of his own, and his own gods, Jeroboam made two\ngolden heifers and built two little temples for them, claiming that\nmen had built the Temple at Jerusalem as men had built the temples\nhere, and so there was no difference between them. Besides, they\nwould save the journey to Jerusalem. This change was immediately\nput into effect. One class or tribe was dissatisfied. Those were the\nLevites, and they emigrated to Judea. This new kingdom of Israel was\nnot over-tranquil. Prophets, and stump orators, agitators, naturally\narose. Dissension, bickering, and quarrels appeared. The outlook for\nthe kingdom was not of the brightest.\n\nMeantime Jeroboam was in clover.\n\nRehoboam, the son of Solomon, was made king of the two tribes, Judah\nthe fighting tribe and Benjamin the king-giving tribe. Besides these\ntwo tribes, we must not forget the Levites, for because of them his\nkingdom was augmented. The priests of all Israel were Levites, and\nthere were quite a multitude of them.\n\nRehoboam was a Solomon on a very small scale. He had only eighteen\nwives and thirty concubines, and twenty-eight sons and threescore\ndaughters. He followed in his father's footsteps and led a jolly life,\nas we should call it in our present age. In 971, four years after he\nascended the throne, Shishka, king of Egypt, knowing of all the gold\nand silver Solomon had stuck into the Temple, invaded Judea with some\nfour hundred thousand men, etc., without opposition, cleared the temple\nof all the gold and everything of value, and returned home without\nstriking a blow. Rehoboam was a coward, he was afraid. As soon as\nJudea was clear of Shishka's army, Rehoboam had these gold ornaments\nthat had formerly decorated the temple, which had been carried away\nby Shishka, replaced by brass trimmings of the same make and style,\nand delivered them to the keeper of the king's palace.\n\nThese people were too like their brethren in Israel, for \"they built\nthem high places, and images, and groves on every hill, and under\nevery green tree\" (1 Kings xiv, 23).\n\n\"And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his\nlife\" (1 Kings xv, 6). These two nations therefore have been launched\nat a pretty fair pace on the downhill grade.\n\nJudah, however, had the best of it. For the kingdom of Israel lasted\nonly two hundred and fifty-four years. Shalmanezer, king of Nineveh,\ntakes Samaria and carries the Ten Tribes into captivity. These are\nwhat are usually known as the lost tribes. Lost nonsenses!--they had\nforsaken their former method of worship and adopted another.\n\nThe kingdom of Judah lasted to the time the Temple was burnt, 588\nB.C., having lasted three hundred and eighty-seven years--one hundred\nand thirty-three years longer than the kingdom of Israel. And what\nis more, these are the very Jews that are scattered all over the\nworld. These latter are the representatives of these three tribes,\nLevi, Benjamin, and Judah. And if any person is curious enough to\ninquire of any Jew to what tribe he belongs, he will receive the\nanswer that he belongs to one of the three above mentioned, that\noriginally formed the kingdom of Judah. Why they were preserved\nis nothing miraculous. It has nothing to do with God or Jehova,\nor the ark, or any special grace, as people generally believe. The\nreason is plain and perfectly natural. The Levites preserved them, the\nLevites sustained them, the Levites were the brainy race. The Levites,\nthe priestly tribe who were appointed by Moses, himself one of that\ntribe, to be the rulers, governors, lawgivers, fosterers, priests and\npreachers, were the brain of the whole nation. They clung to the idea\nof nationhood with all their priestly might, craft, and ingenuity,\nand are still clinging to it, with all their might and main. Judah\nand Benjamin survived only because of the Levites.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MIRACLE-MONGERS.\n\nAt 958 B.C. Abijah is king over Judah. He reigns only three years. King\nAsa follows, 955.\n\nNadab follows Jeroboam, king of Israel; dies; and Baasha reigns in 954.\n\n\"And there was war between Asa, and Baasha king of Israel, all their\ndays\" (1 Kings xv, 16).\n\nThese facts go to show that fighting continued between Israel and\nJudah. Foreign powers are now invited to help, and the struggle\ncontinues.\n\nIn 918 Ahab is king of Israel. It is during his reign that a new class\nof men rise, agitators, talkers, prophets, and small miracle-makers.\n\nElijah makes his appearance. Jehu had already prophesied against\nBaasha; he was a minor star in the field of prophecy. Elijah the\nTishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, \"said unto Ahab,\"\netc., says 1 Kings xvii, 1. Ahab was king of Israel 918.\n\nNo miracles are reported to have occurred after Moses. Joshua did\nnot perform any, except that incident about the sun. During all these\ncenturies from 1443, the date of Joshua's death, up to the reign of\nAhab, not a miracle-maker appears. There are strong men, bad men,\nfighting men, priests, brave generals, very wicked men, etc., but\nnone performs a miracle.\n\nAnother class of men are soon to appear. They, however, do not make\ntheir appearance until a century later, or so. I mean the nervous men,\nthe visionary dreamers and prophets of the type of Isaiah. In addition,\nany number of soothsayers, necromancers, fortune-tellers, and quacks\nhad entered into the business of miracle-making on a small scale. And\na new school of skeptics and philosophic speculators slowly developed.\n\nCivilization had not advanced much, but it nevertheless was\nprogressing. The minds of men had undergone an evolution. The Jehova\nof Moses, or the simple abstract form of the Chaldean idol of Abraham,\nhad lost its force, prestige, and importance. The ark, that sacred box,\nis completely lost sight of in these stirring times of revolution,\nrebellion, dissension, and fighting.\n\nThe high priest since the time of Saul had to take a subordinate\nposition. He was the minor oracle, the fault-finder, sometimes the\ncounselor, but never the leader. There was also great competition\namong the prophets. The trade had grown profitable, consequently false\nprophets, as they were termed, were trying to gain royal favor. The\nideas about God and Jehova had increased and multiplied. Disputes\nand confusion swayed the people. Idolatry flourished, and the Gods of\nAbraham and Moses were to some extent still sustained by the relatives\nof the man who created Jehova, Moses.\n\nMan's progress in thought, the evolution of the human brain, is\nslow and uncertain, especially when the line of advance is of a\nspeculative and problematic character. It is not like a scientific\nquestion, that can be demonstrated; accompanied by actual proof and\nabsolute certainty; with no discussion or equivocation, no denial or\nspeculation; which once established remains forever the same. Euclid's\ngeometry has never been disputed. Hippocrates in medicine--whatever\nhe said that was known and true, remains unchanged. Everything that\nis based upon facts lasts forever.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nJEHOVA TAKES A REST.\n\n\nGod rests and lets the Hebrews take care of themselves for a period\nof four hundred and seventy-six years.\n\nDuring these several centuries we hear nothing of miracle or of\nprophecy, of any importance. In fact, we have passed the only time\nGod or Jehova made himself at all conspicuous. He never appeared\nagain so prominently. He made his exit with Moses. When we hear of\nJehova it is but the mere echo of his former self.\n\nIt is not our purpose to examine or criticise the balance of the Old\nTestament, but for the sake of showing how human and natural is all\nthe course of these people struggling and making an attempt to exist\nas a nation, it will be well to consider the actual state of affairs\nof God's people, after they had become a nation.\n\nJoshua, the disciple of Moses, the general and leader after him,\nsubdued and conquered the territory Moses had indicated, and divided\nthe land among eleven tribes.\n\nHe followed the example of his master. He was a man of resolution and\nenergy, and at this time he had a well-disciplined army. He was quick\nand active in his movements, with the prestige of Moses to back him. He\nmade war on neighboring nations, slaughtered, hanged, and conquered,\nsparing nothing. He was shrewd and strategic. He consolidated the\nnation. He was wise, eloquent, and persuasive.\n\nThis closes the existence of the republican or theocratic form of\ngovernment, not a very glorious career of the Hebrews as a nation.\n\nNothing very remarkable occurs during these four centuries, but we have\na variety of incidents, all interwoven with superstitious notions of\na barbaric, miraculous nature. Besides the introduction of the Box,\ncalled the ark, female agitators and heroines are introduced. Debora\nand Barak deliver the people from Sisera, by means of Mrs. Jael Heber,\nwho drives a tent-nail through his temple while he is asleep. Then\nthere is great rejoicing and another miracle is performed.\n\nMeantime they were in slavery under the Assyrians for eighty\nyears--freed by Othniel; under the Moabites eighteen years--freed\nby one Ehud. Under the Canaanites they were in slavery twenty years,\nand were delivered by Barak and Debora. The Midianites afflicted the\ncountry for seven years, and Gideon delivered them.\n\nAnd this period called the era of the judges winds up with the\nBenjamites abusing the wife of a Levite, from the effects of which\nshe dies. Thereupon the husband cuts the body up in twelve pieces\nand sends one to each of the Twelve Tribes--of course through his\nbrother Levites. War is made upon the Benjamites whereby they are\nnearly exterminated.\n\nLust, robbery, plunder, slaughter, superstition, and barbarism marked\nthese few centuries with little intermission.\n\nThe Levites had utilized the time in establishing the church and\ntheir priestly order, and that was actually the governing power during\nthe four hundred and seventy-six years, but always under the name of\nthe God of Moses, and was therefore designated the theocratic form\nof government.\n\nI ask now in all seriousness, can anyone possessing a reasonable\namount of understanding really believe that a God, such as Jews and\nChristians would make us believe that Jehova is, could behave in the\nmanner recited in the history of the judges? It is a poor god that\ncannot restrain his people from committing crimes and depredations,\nrestraining their brutal instincts and passions, keeping them in order,\nat peace among themselves and with others.\n\nThese intestine quarrels began in Moses's time, at the formation\nand organization of the Jews as a nation, and ceased only with their\ndestruction.\n\nThe church which was called into life by Moses was firmly established\nduring this period with all the priestly paraphernalia of an Egyptian\ntemple. Aaron may rightly be considered as the first pope of the\nchurch, and the Levites the priestly tribe.\n\n\"And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and\nan ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a miter, and a girdle,\nand they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his\nsons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. And they\nshall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet and fine linen\"\n(Ex. xxviii, 4, 5). These theatrical garments we have to this day in\nthe Christian churches. Some additions have been made, corresponding\nand harmonizing with the events that have occurred since.\n\nWe must not for one moment suppose that the Hebrews were the only\npeople that were active and struggled for existence--which existence in\ntheir case this Jehova Christendom still looks upon as most miraculous.\n\nAs a nation the Jews never invented anything. Jehova is the only\nthing humanity at large has inherited, and he has been a cause of\nquarrel and discord ever since. Joshua dies 1443 and Saul is made\nking 1095. Other nations during this period advance more rapidly in\ncivilization without God, without Jehova, than the Hebrews do with\nhis assistance. Dardanus, king of Troy, is busy building cities 1480\nB.C. Danmoni invades Ireland 1463 B.C. Perseus establishes the kingdom\nof Mycene 1457 B.C. Crockery is made by the Greeks 1490 B.C. All\nkinds of tools and weapons are being made. At 1453 Olympic games are\ncelebrated in Greece. Hercules makes his appearance and arrives in\nPhrygia 1225 B.C. The Trojan war begins 1194 and Helen elopes with\nParis 1204 B.C. Latinus in 1239 reigns in Italy. In 1141 the temple\nof Ephesus is burnt by the Amazons. Many nations may be cited using\ndancing music. Singing had already developed. I cite these few items\nto show that the world was doing bravely without Jehova or God. In 1115\nthe Chinese not only knew of the mariner's compass, but were compiling\na standard dictionary containing forty thousand characters--which is\nsaid to have been completed by Pa-aut-she 1100 B.C.\n\nThese brief statements, these few historical facts--and there are\nany number of them--I recite for the purpose of showing that other\nnations developed, other kingdoms existed, other peoples had already\nmade considerable advances in art, science, lawmaking, government,\npriestcraft, without God, without Jehova, without the ark. These other\nnations had their oracles, their ceremonies, their customs. And what is\nmore, they still exist as nations. They no doubt had their wonders,\ntheir miracles, their spirits, their souls, their ghosts, their\nholy of holies, their sanctums, their angels, and their divinities,\nand whatever else has from time to time been invented to control and\ndeceive the masses and to satisfy the priests.\n\nWhat everybody should understand is that these Hebrews during the\ntheocratic form of government were no better than, and in fact not\nso good as, other nations, or any of their neighbors.\n\nThe stage of civilization has never yet advanced beyond the natural\ncapacity and capability of the people at any time. Whatever stage has\nbeen reached in the world's progress in the past, it was in harmony and\ncorresponded with the degree of nervous culture that had been attained.\n\nAnd just in proportion as the senses were developed, intelligence\nand understanding advanced. The senses are the sole originators of\nideas. The collective experience and training of these senses becomes\nthe standard by which we may judge the height of knowledge any class\nof people may have reached.\n\nNations kept pace with one another, copying from one another,\nimitating or modifying or improving those things and conditions with\nwhich they were brought in contact, whether by travel, commercial\nintercourse, or war. All these means of communication served as\na means of exchanging ideas, of adopting, rejecting, or improving\nwhatever degree of civilization had been attained.\n\nAt no time has any individual, community, or nation been especially\nfavored by any supernatural endowment, influence, or miraculous\ncontribution towards their advancement. But each has always been\nimproved by the force, energy, power, of some individual or individuals\nwhose training and education has been such as to fit him or them to\nconcentrate and carry out the ideas that have perhaps been floating\nfor a greater or lesser time in the intellectual atmosphere. When\ncivilization has outgrown the swaddlings of the times, something\nmust yield. A change is sure to be effected. Although it may not\ntake place without a struggle, or at once, ultimately it will and\nmust attain the necessary accommodation.\n\nChange or revolution has never yet taken place without some new ideas\nhaving been evolved. Doubts have arisen, and processes of reasoning\nhave been set in motion, plans made, in order to upset the old ideas,\nto replace them by the new.\n\nNew ideas and improvements ripen slowly. The minds of men are not\nready to receive and adopt them. Skepticism as to the existing state\nof things makes way for the newer and advanced condition of affairs.\n\nOur understanding and reasoning faculties are limited to the state\nof progress and the steps that have been made in the advancement of\ncivilization. We may be a little before our time, but never very much.\n\nWe could never have had an electric light if Volta had not discovered\nthe battery. Nor would steam power be so generally used if the marquis\nof Worcester had not had the idea suggested to him A.D. 1663 of a\nway to drive up water by fire, etc.\n\nMen must learn to know and understand that all knowledge, whether\nbelonging to mythology, idolatry, fable, romance, theology, philosophy,\nor science--all rules adopted for our mode of conduct, either as\nindividuals, communities, or governments--are the products of the\nbrain, evolved by degrees by a perfectly natural process.\n\nAnd just as we advance from infancy to childhood, from childhood to\nyouth, from youth to puberty, from puberty to manhood, from manhood\nto maturity, from maturity to reasoning, from reasoning to judgment,\nfrom judgment to wisdom, so humanity has gone step by step, through\nmany thousands of centuries perhaps, slowly improving in intelligence,\naccumulating experience. Observing so many phenomena in nature they\ndid not understand, it was all surprise and wonder. And not being able\nto account for them, in consequence of the infantile development of\ntheir nerve centers, admiration of their beauty and usefulness led\nto gratitude and worship. And they at length made themselves images\nrepresenting these extraordinary phases. Thus idols in all probability\noriginated. Like children with dolls, they dressed them, painted them,\nplayed with them, imitated living beings in their form and shape,\nendowing them with some of the best human qualities or virtues known\nto them.\n\nThe collection of these representations, especially the most prominent\nones, formed in due time the center or focus round which fables and\nmyths gathered. The older they grew, the more they were honored,\ntill at length they became established institutions.\n\nThe history of the human race begins with fables, myths, childish\nstories, and with idols. These prevail until some one arises and either\ndisputes their authenticity or proves them unreasonable. This tends to\nproduce new ideas, disputes, conflicts, angry passions, and separation.\n\nDifferences of opinion concerning old ideas and methods lead to the\nformation of new ones, especially when the old ones cease to interest\nand become impracticable or burdensome. New ideas in time take the\nplace of the old ones, improved, modified, and adapted to the existing\ncircumstances and conditions.\n\nThe Levites had for several centuries attempted to govern the Hebrews\nby means of ecclesiastical discipline, laws, and leadership, but\nfinally discovered that it was anything but a success. Every form had\nbeen tried. They were threatened with destruction, in spite of their\nJehova and the wooden Box, the ark. Some new stimulant had to be tried\nto bring about a more healthy condition of affairs. To consolidate\nthe nation if possible, to infuse a new spirit, and divert ideas from\ndiscontent, turmoil, and dissension, a king was suggested. Samuel\nfinding a very tall man who bore an excellent reputation for courage\nand wise conduct, one of the tribe of Benjamin, he selected him as\na proper person to become king of the Jews. This man's name was Saul.\n\nSamuel himself not only was a clever priest and prophet, but also\npossessed the necessary qualities to make a good general. It was he\nwho defeated the Philistines after they had gained one victory over\nthe Israelites and captured their ark.\n\nDuring this period of their existence as a republic, an ecclesiastical\nrepublic--the theocracy, as it is called--they had to contend and\nstruggle, and undergo many vicissitudes. It was barbarian fighting\nagainst barbarian. Regardless of their having on the one side Jehova\nand the ark, and on the other side Dagon & Co., the victory always\nremained with the best-disciplined or more numerous army, which also\npossessed good generalship.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nTHE END OF NATIONAL LIFE.\n\n\nThe Hebrew monarchy established under Saul 1095 B.C., continued and\ncemented under David, and weakened and ruined under Solomon, terminated\nin the year 975 B.C., lasting altogether one hundred and twenty years.\n\nThis marks the culmination of national greatness and glory--and the\nrapid decline and disintegration.\n\nWe now come upon the rise of a new class of men, prophets of a new\nschool--visionary men, dreamers and agitators, reformers--besides\nmiracle-mongers and fault-finders. Discontent reigned. Men began to\nsing the glories of their past greatness, the wonders of Jehova, the\nmiracles of Moses, and the promises that the Lord had made to their\nforefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of the land that flowed with\nmilk and honey.\n\nIt seems almost unaccountable, even from a theological, Christian\nstandpoint, that God, Jehova, the Lord almighty, should not be able\nto exhibit his wonderful powers regularly, systematically, instead\nof by fits and starts, on special occasions, after intervening\ncenturies. Why should a God come and go by leaps and jumps, appearing\nand disappearing at distant ages, now helping and then punishing? Why\nlead and mislead? Why permit people to be so foolish and senseless\nas to create rival gods? Why should he be jealous of a wooden god,\nor of any other kind of an idol?\n\nWhy should it be necessary to whip people into understanding God,\nknowing him? Why were there so many thousand people slaughtered to\nforce conviction of his marvelous powers?\n\nIs it not an outrage on common sense for a God to stoop to mountebank\ntricks, subterfuge, and delusion, so-called miracles, in order to\nestablish his existence, or his presence?\n\nIf God made man, why did he not make him properly to begin with, so\nas to suit himself at least? Why did he not make him so as to know\nthe father right from the start?\n\nWhy should this almighty God, this Jehova, keep his chosen people\ncontinually on the rack of transgression, crime, and folly?\n\nWhy did he create them so that they should so easily forget him,\nand devote their reverence, their veneration, their sacrifices,\nand their prayers to some brass or wooden image?\n\nThe excuse so frequently made throughout the Bible, as a reason for\nlosing battles or being made captives, that the Jews forsook their\nJehova, their God, is no extenuating circumstance. How comes it that\nthe nations with the heathen gods were victorious and finally conquered\nthe Hebrew nation and led them forth as captives? The heathen gods\nmust have been equal, indeed frequently superior, to the Hebrew God,\nbecause they, the heathen gods, were so very often victorious, and\nfinally subdued the Hebrews.\n\nThe two nations Judah and Israel fell into idolatry almost\nimmediately. Solomon even preferred Ashtoreth, the goddess of the\nZidonians; and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites (1\nKings xi, 5), and how many other strange gods we have no record.\n\nIsrael began as a kingdom 975 B.C.; Jeroboam, a servant of Solomon,\nwas the first king and Hoshea the last; Shalmanezer, king of Assyria,\ntook Samaria by force, and drove the Ten Tribes into Media captives,\nin the year 721 B.C.; this kingdom having lasted two hundred and\nfifty-four years, and having had during that time nineteen kings.\n\nThe kingdom of Judah lasted longer, beginning at the same time,\n975 B.C. Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon, was the first king. The\ncaptivity of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem was completed 588\nB.C. Judah had existed as a nation about three hundred and eighty-seven\nyears. Jehoiachin and Zedekiah were the last kings. During this period\nthey had about twenty-one kings. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,\nmade a conquest of Egypt, besieged Jerusalem, pillaged and burnt the\nTemple, and carried everything away that he could lay his hands on.\n\nWith few exceptions, a worse, a more brutal set of men than these\nrulers never governed any nation. During their successive reigns,\nwe find an unbroken succession of the barbarities which were at\nthat time the generally recognized method of warfare, accompanied by\nlicentiousness, and all the other savageries of these semi-civilized\npeople.\n\nProphet traffic flourished in those days. There were as many kinds\nof prophets as there were gods, with a complement of priests to\ncorrespond.\n\nReligious hate and intolerance was manifest on every occasion towards\none another. To gain power and control the affairs of state was\nthe chief aim and object. They would curse and destroy one another\nwhenever a favorable opportunity occurred.\n\nTwo religious fanatics became especially conspicuous about 918 B.C.,\nElijah and later Elisha. The antagonism and hostility between the\nleaders of factions was now very intense. Jezebel slaughtered the\nprophets of her opponents, and Elijah, who was the leader of the\nJehova faction, cursed and raved, and many hundred prophets of Baal\nwere slaughtered (1 Kings xviii, 19, 40). It was brutality against\nbrutality, crime against crime, savagedom against savagedom. The\nbloody struggle continued right along, the slaying being employed\non any and every occasion. Thus he caused the killing of the several\nfifties, as related in 2 Kings i. Elijah was a zealot; harsh, bitter,\nand merciless to the opponents of his faith. As to the miracles, they\nanswered the purpose well enough for a lot of ignorant, half-civilized\ncountry people. We have had similar tricks repeated by priests all\nalong, deluding, cheating, and defrauding the poor simple-minded,\nignorant classes.\n\n\"And it came to pass as they still went on and talked, that behold,\nthere appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted\nthem both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven\"\n(2 Kings ii, 11). How could a man go up to heaven? The atmosphere\naround this terrestrial globe is about two to three hundred miles in\nhight. The law of gravitation prevents the smallest particle from\nleaving the earth's surface, much more a body of the weight of a\nman. The whirlwind belongs to the earth, and never reaches beyond a\ncertain hight. Besides, everything taken up by a whirlwind or cloud\nin due time returns to mother earth. As for the horses and chariot\nof fire, in later days pious persons pretend to have seen similar\nappearances. A man sitting before a fire fancies he sees all kinds\nof pictures and faces; they are the reflections of his mind. So when\none fancies representations of figures and objects in the clouds,\nor in the moon, they are either delusions of vision, or the fancied\npicture of the imagination. There are delusions of hearing. An unsound\ncondition of the nervous system may produce hallucinations of such a\nnature; a disease or a mental derangement may occasion this sort of\nnervous disturbances.\n\nA new feature was introduced by these men--the healing art,\nresuscitating the supposed dead, casting out evil spirits, laying on\nhands, etc. A sillier piece of charlatanism was never put in print than\nElisha's miraculous resuscitating trick on a child in a cataleptic fit\n(2 Kings iv, 34, etc.).\n\nA craftier or more cunning piece of business was exciting Jehu, King\nAhab's general, to rebel, and to slaughter the whole of the king's\nfamily. Elisha sends a young prophet to Jehu to pour oil on his head\nand anoint him king, on his promise to exterminate the king's family\n(2 Kings ix): \"For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will\ncut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall and him that is\nshut up and left in Israel\" (2 Kings ix, 8).\n\nAhab, Jezebel, and Ahab's seventy sons were all slaughtered. All\nthe great man's priests, and his kinsfolk, were slain. And Elisha\ncalled together all the prophets of Ahab's faction, all those that\nworshiped Baal, and killed them all off. General Jehu was made\nking as a recompense for the services he had rendered to the Elisha\nfaction. That was about 884 B.C.\n\nUsurpation, conspiracy, and bloody crimes mark this period. Intrigue,\nrobbery, spoilings, lust, and degradation seem epidemic in these\nnations. When they were not fighting each other, they were warring\nwith these barbarities.\n\nElijah had undoubtedly a powerful party at his command when he prompted\nJehu to revolt and assume the reins of government. He had everything\npretty well organized when Elijah said, \"And it shall come to pass,\nthat him that escapeth Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth\nfrom the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.\"\n\n\"Yet I have left seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have\nnot bowed unto Baal\" (1 Kings xix, 17, 18). These seven thousand were\nno doubt his immediate disciples, not the commoner herd of people.\n\nHe selected a man to succeed him, whom he no doubt knew well--a\nfarmer, for Elisha was plowing when he was chosen as chief agitator,\narch-conspirator, and inheritor of all the rights and privileges of\na revolutionary leader (1 Kings xix, 20, etc.).\n\nThis plowman, prophet, and conspirator combines in himself also the\nhealer, preacher, and leader, etc. He cures Naaman's leprosy, causes\niron to swim, brings blessings to some and curses to others.\n\nThese knavish tricks succeeded with the ignorance and superstition\nof the day. The people could be swayed in any direction by a clever,\ndetermined, bold talker, consequently were easily excited into the\ncommittal of any acts, no matter how revolting or brutal.\n\nThese political factions led by prophets and priests were not so gentle\nand polite towards one another as they are at the present day. The\nchurch ruled. Gods of either side alternately were in power. Those\nin power killed off those who were out of power.\n\nWhether it is Elijah or Elisha, leaders of the Jehova party, or Queen\nJezebel, leader of the Baal prophets of the other party, the result\nalways depends upon numbers and clever leadership.\n\nFerocious brutality never ceases but for a short while. There is not\na spark of humanity, no mercy, not an act of kindness or consideration.\n\nMenahem was king of Israel 772 B.C. He smote Tipsha and all that were\ntherein. \"And all the women therein that were with child he ripped up\"\n(2 Kings xv, 16).\n\nThus we have page after page marked with bloody crime in the book\ncalled sacred history, scripture, and what not. And alas! this is\nGod's work, God's own book, God's own people.\n\nMuch has been said about the inaccuracies in the Bible--the\ncontradictions, the errors that are found. We are not concerned in any\nof them. We are interested in directing the attention of the reader\nto the book called holy scripture, a book believed to have been\nwritten by supernatural inspiration, relating to certain acts done\nby God; and these acts, accompanied by wonders, were performed for a\npeople especially selected by him, that were under his protection,\nguidance, direct supervision; and their leaders, lawgivers, kings,\npriests, prophets, and teachers were by reason of their holiness\nin communication with this God, either directly or indirectly, and\nthereby were endowed with powers that rendered them capable of doing\nthings contrary to the fixed laws of nature.\n\nWe have endeavored to point to a few of the acts of the greatest and\nbest men figuring in that book called scripture. These men were not\ndivine nor were their acts divine. Their acts were not humane, nor\nanything approaching what is understood to be humane at the present\nage. On the contrary, their acts were barbarous, savage, brutal,\ncruel, and in many instances outrageous.\n\nThey, the Hebrews, were no better than their neighbors the heathens,\nwhatever their name or nationality might be. The heathen with their\nidols were just as good in war, in battle, as, if not better than,\nthe Jews were with their God, their Jehova, and the ark, and finally\nsucceeded in subduing the Jews, burning their Temple with God's ark,\nvessels, etc., taking them captives, and destroying them as a nation.\n\nIt is evident from history that the principal men of the nation\nwere corrupt; that both the kingdom of Israel and that of Judah were\nrotten to the core. They were continually warring with each other,\nas with other nations. Their abuses gave rise to public agitators,\nwho always found supporters.\n\nMen of the Elijah and Elisha stamp never lose an opportunity, and\nthey made the most of all of it while they lived.\n\nThey introduced a school of thought and action that laid the foundation\nfor new sects that culminated in the remote future. The belief in\nmedical miracles was more firmly fastened upon the minds of their\nfollowers by the prophets, fortune-tellers, and healers, than by any\nclass previous.\n\nOther nations meantime were progressing in civilization--literature,\nthe art of warfare, etc. Greece was gaining laurels. Homer\nappeared. Hesiod wrote about 900 B.C. Tyrt\u00e6us's Elegies, Archilochus's\nSatires, etc., about 700 B.C. The Persians and Romans were rising and\nmaking rapid progress and conquest, soon to sweep smaller peoples\nand nations aside. These heathen made conquests, gained victories,\ntransplanted the captives, and were altogether far more prosperous\nand successful with their idols than the Hebrews were with their\nGod. Nothing else better proves that the struggles for supremacy\namong the human families were perfectly natural, each side depending\nalways on their leaders, their skill in fighting, their bravery,\nand their organization; that their Gods, their idols, their oracles,\nand their priests played but a small part in the transactions of life;\nand that all the gods, whether idols, or mythological, or Jehovistic,\nand no matter of what nationality, had all about the same material\nvalue, power, and importance.\n\nFrom our modern standpoint all the gods may be classed in one\ncategory. We may safely pronounce them to be creatures of imagination,\nsprung into existence through ignorance, fears, and superstition. They\nare all alike false, frivolous, and foolish. They have not a particle\nof truth in them. And the Gods that are now held in such high esteem\nby many people, are no better than the Chaldean idols.\n\nJudah is still struggling to retain her grip on her national\nlife. Every effort prolongs the agony. Hezekiah is king 717 B.C. Isaiah\nis the prophet. Romantic dreamer, songster, critic, and man of visions,\nhe sees distress, ruin, and misery before him; recalls the glories\nof the past, but sees none of the faults; sees the greatness of the\nnation of Solomon, David, and Saul, and now beholds the national\ndegradation. He laments this dreadful condition with a bitterness of\nfeeling. Then he hopes against hope that something will happen in the\nfuture that will bring about a happy state of his nation and reproduce\nthe golden prosperity of those glittering ages that are gone. This\nman is a close observer, a visionary man, and a critic. He writes and\nsings of his own people, of his own country. In the introduction which\nhe gives himself in Isaiah i and ii, he presents his vision concerning\nJudah and Jerusalem, etc. He reproaches them for their sin, iniquity,\ncorruption, etc.: \"Your country is desolate, your cities are burned\nwith fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it\nis desolate, as overthrown by strangers\" (i, 7).\n\nHis dream and hope of the future: \"And he shall judge among the\nnations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords\ninto plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not\nlift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more\"\n(ii, 4).\n\nThis entire chapter, like most of the chapters of Isaiah, is a work\nof the imagination. It is the fancy of a dreamer who mentally sees\nthe thing he longs for. In his nervous exaltation, visions appear,\nincoherent, meaningless, except to himself. He brings different parts\nof different objects together, representing things and scenes he is\nfamiliar with, in the form of pictures, natural in parts but unnatural\nand impossible as a whole.\n\n\"As for my people, children are their oppressors and women rule over\nthem\" (iii, 12). He describes the \"tinkling ornaments\" about their\nfeet, and their cauls and their round tires like the moon, their\nchains and bracelets and mufflers, the bonnets, and the ornaments\nof the legs, and the headbands and the tablets and the earrings, and\nthe rings and nose-jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the\nmantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins, and the glasses, and\nthe fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails, etc. This portion is no\ndoubt realistic. It shows his mental condition and the mood he was in.\n\nHis humor changes: \"Now I will sing to my well-beloved a song\nof my beloved touching his vineyard\" (v, 1). In this chapter he\ntouches upon everything that strikes his fancy. Hell, wind, land,\ninstruments, lions, etc., etc., are all introduced. He rambles all over\nnature. Imaginary ideas are mixed with realities indiscriminately,\nfor illustration, comparison, lamentation, or complaining. High in\nthe temple he sees the Lord sit; sees the seraphim with six wings,\netc. (vii). And in chapter viii he has a \"great roll and writes\nin it with a man's pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz.\" Verse 1:\n\"And I went to the prophetess; and she conceived, and had a son. Then\nsaid the Lord to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz\" (3).\n\nIsaiah lived after the captivity of the Ten Tribes.\n\nHe also knows of the constant fighting between the Ten tribes and the\ntwo, Israel and Judah. Israel has been carried away captive to other\nlands and its country has been given to a people called Cutheans, or\nSamaritans. These cultivated and adopted in some measure the Jewish\nreligion. In moments of despondency he refers to them as he refers\nto Moab and other nations elsewhere. The whole Christian faith seems\nto be based on the prophecy of the ninth chapter of Isaiah, 6th and\n7th verses. Isaiah starts out in this chapter speaking of the time\nwhen God first lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon and the land of\nNaphtali, etc. In the 6th verse he says, \"For unto us a child is born,\nunto us a son is given,\" etc. That man has no reference to Christ\nas Maher-shalal-hash-baz.\n\nChapter viii, verse 8: \"And he shall pass through Judah; he shall\noverflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck, and the\nstretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of the land, O\nImmanuel.\" This really means the son which the prophetess conceived,\nand called Maher-shalal-hash-baz.\n\nChapter ix, verse 21: \"Manasseh and Ephraim, and Ephraim and Manasseh;\nand they together shall be against Judah,\" etc. He talks in a confused,\nmystified fashion, alluding now to this people, now to that; at one\ntime to the Tribes and at another to the Moabites, Assyrians, then to\nEgypt or Zion; dreams of tyrants, hypocrites, and his hopes revived\nabout the remnants of Israel. When he speaks of the child he has not\nthe remotest dream of Christ. He has no foreknowledge, except what his\njudgment suggests. He feels annoyed and irritated, then his hope and\naspiration soothe and comfort him, and in chapter xi he describes a\nmost happy state of affairs: \"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,\nand the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young\nlion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them\"\n(verse 6). \"And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones\nshall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like an ox\"\n(xi, 7), etc.\n\nThe wildest and most extravagant kinds of interpretation are given to\nvarious passages in Isaiah. Into them the theologians force a meaning:\n\nChapter xxxv, 1: \"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be\nglad for them and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the\nrose.\" Christians say it means the joyful flourishing of Christ's\nkingdom.\n\nIn chapter xliii, verse 2, Jehova declares: \"I, even I, am the Lord;\nand beside me there is no savior.\"\n\nHe repeats it in chapter xliv, verse 6: \"I am the first, and I am\nthe last, and beside me there is no God.\"\n\nVerse 8: \"Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know\nnot any.\"\n\nChapter xlix: \"Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken ye people from\nafar; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my\nmother hath he made mention of my name.\" This is supposed to mean,\nChrist being sent to the Jews complaineth of them.\n\nChapter lv: \"Thus saith the Lord, where is the bill of your mother's\ndivorcement, whom I have put away? or which creditors is it to whom I\nhave sold you? Behold! for your iniquities you have sold yourselves,\nand for your transgression is your mother put away.\" It is said that\nthis means, Christ sheweth that the dereliction of the Jews is not\nto be imputed to him, by his ability to save. This is the Christian\ninterpretation of the above passage. It is a misrepresentation of\nfacts as well as meaning. Why twist, torture, and falsify it?\n\nIsaiah lived in stirring times. After the captivity of the Ten\nTribes, the government and the people were corrupt. An invasion was at\nhand. Sennacherib invades Judea 712-711 B.C. The Medes and Assyrians\nwere also fighting for supremacy. Being an educated man, he knew the\nhistory of his nation--their trials, the triumph and the glory they\nhad enjoyed, and the decline of this people with its pride and pomp\nto a passing away. He had ample material to supply his imagination; he\ntherefore dreamed, sang praises, saw visions, hoping for something to\nturn up, miraculous or otherwise, to save the remnant of his nation. He\ncannot be compared to the two strong, rough miracle-mongers of Israel,\nElijah and Elisha, that had lived over a century before him.\n\nThis idealistic dreamer had not the slightest knowledge of coming\nevents, of what was to happen seven hundred years later. The minds\nof men had slowly undergone changes.\n\nThe rigidity of the Mosaic laws had undergone some modification,\nand some change in interpretation as to the meaning of the many\ncommands and usages. With every battle and with every invasion new\nnotions, new customs, were introduced. The transition was surely\nlaying the foundation for various schools, which was inevitable as\nthe intelligence and education progressed.\n\nAfter Isaiah Jeremiah comes, as a natural result of the age. Manasseh,\nking of Judah, had been carried captive to Babylon, and restored to\npower 677 B.C. Ammon and Josiah follow. The latter is killed, and his\nsuccessor, Jehoahaz king of Judah, is deposed and carried to Egypt\n609. Three years later Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem. Jehoiachin\nreigns three months, and he is carried off captive to Babylon, besides\nthree thousand of the principal persons of dignity, and among these\nwas Ezekiel (598 B.C.). Zedekiah was appointed king. He was the uncle\nof Jehoiachin, twenty-one years of age when he began his reign; a\nbad one it was, and he suffered for it. And he was the last of the\nkings of Judah. In 588 B.C. Jerusalem was captured and destroyed,\nthe Temple burnt; the sons and friends of Zedekiah were slain;\nZedekiah's eyes were put out, and he was bound and taken to Babylon.\n\nJeremiah had spoken a good many truths, and given them ample warnings\nwhat would happen. He met with a great deal of opposition--was thrown\ninto prison and made to suffer for his boldness. His exhortations\nand his appeals availed nothing.\n\nThe heads of the high priests and those of the rulers were cut off. The\ndestruction was complete.\n\nJeremiah wrote fifty-two chapters, and Christian interpreters managed\nto find two places in this entire writing that indicated Christ's\nkingdom:\n\nChapter xxiii, verse 5; \"Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I\nwill raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and\nprosper and shall execute justice and judgment in the earth\"--meaning,\nChrist shall rule and save them.\n\nChapter xxxi, verse 22: \"How long wilt thou go about, O thou\nbacksliding daughter? for the Lord hath created a new thing in the\nearth. A woman shall compass a man\"--meaning, Christ is promised.\n\nThese are the only two spots whence any possible allusion can be drawn.\n\nThis man is unlike the visionary, romantic dreamer Isaiah, whose\nimagination and nervous exaltation kept him more or less in a state of\nexcitability and carried him into regions of dreamland where his hopes\nand wishes were planted. Jeremiah writes up the historical occurrences;\npasses judgment on his own people and on the nations his people had to\nstruggle with, bewailing their corruption, wickedness, wretchedness,\nmisery. He never dreams of Christ or Christianity, nor does he in\nany part allude to Christ. He also, like Isaiah, wrote and acted in\naccordance with the times he lived in. He was a steadfast friend\nto his disciple Baruch. His lamentations describing the miserable\nstate of Jerusalem, bewailing its calamities, are perfectly human,\nand perfectly natural for a patriot and a poet of his time.\n\nEzekiel was in Chaldea among the captives about 590 B.C. This man is\nalso largely endowed with a prolific imagination; he is a visionary\nman. He adopts a new method of talking; when the word of the Lord comes\nto him, \"Son of Man\" is the manner in which he is addressed. Jeremiah\nuses the expression, \"Sayeth the Lord,\" or \"the word to Jeremiah from\nthe Lord saying\"----Isaiah uses, \"Thus saith the Lord.\"\n\nEzekiel wrote forty-eight chapters. The following are interpreted to\nmean Christ:\n\nChapter xxxiv, verse 20: \"Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them:\nBehold I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the\nlean cattle\"--meaning, the kingdom of Christ.\n\nChapter xxxvi, verse 25: \"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you;\nand ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your\nidols, will I cleanse you\"--meaning, the blessings of Christ's kingdom.\n\nChapter xxxvii, verse 20: \"And the sticks whereon thou writest shall\nbe in thine hand before their eyes\"--meaning, the promises of Christ's\nkingdom.\n\nThe political methods of governing nations which had their origin\nin the ages of barbarism, ignorance, and brutality, left the rotten\nremnants to construct upon them a system of rules for the guidance\nof the masses, to control, subjugate, and restrain their mental\nfaculties, the development and advancement of their understanding,\nand to perpetuate the suppression of their higher intellectual powers.\n\nThe beliefs in a God with the inferior natural human functions were\nhanded down to us through many centuries, undergoing transitions and\nchanges to suit the occasions, circumstances, and times.\n\nThe toning down of the Hebrew God is in the first instance mainly\ndue to the beneficent influences of the heathen, as they were then\ncalled. The educational facilities the Jews enjoyed during their\ncaptivity were of a better and higher order, and how much of the entire\nbook called scripture is due to these opportunities afforded them we\nshall never know. History teaches us, however, that Ezra, when Cyrus\nwas king of Persia, 457 B.C., was permitted to go to Jerusalem to\ncollect what manuscripts and data he could find, and he is credited to\nhave written the Chronicles 453 B.C. How many more books or parts were\nwritten and compiled by Ezra and his companions will remain a mystery.\n\nThe work of resuscitating the nation--to recover its former importance,\nto re\u00ebstablish some of its former glory--was attempted seventy years\nlater, under Cyrus, who granted the Jews the privilege to return and\nrebuild the Temple.\n\nThey were prompted to do this out of pure motives of patriotism, and it\ncan be regarded only as a struggle to continue to exist as a portion\nof a historic people. The Levites were instrumental in bringing about\ntheir return. The tribes were those belonging to the kingdom of Judah.\n\nAt this time an opposition temple and an opposition religion was\nestablished by the people of Samaria, a mixture of Cutheans and\nIsraelites. The rivalry and hatred towards each other was as intense\nas the hatred and bitter factional fight had been between the Ten\nTribes and the two tribes Israel and Judah.\n\nAffairs did not succeed well. There were quarrels, wrangles,\napplication to higher authorities to arbitrate and decide their\ndifferences and disputes. New kings, new powers, came for conquest and\nplunder. New leaders, new governors, deceit, treachery, rebellion,\nassassination, mark these centuries under Assyrians, Persians,\nGreeks, and Romans, until 63 B.C., when Judea was made a Roman\nprovince. Meantime new sects had organized under different names,\neach one giving its interpretation as to the signification of the\nlaws contained in the books that were handed down to them. From\nthe multiplicity of opinions, sects, factions, and fanaticisms, the\nalready modified ideas were about to undergo a farther transition,\nthat helped to inaugurate what might well be termed a reformation.\n\nWhile this nation was crumbling to pieces other nations had advanced\nin civilization, in art, science, and literature, that never claimed\nto have done anything under the influence of a Jehova, or any symbol\nrepresenting him. These nations--Greeks, Romans, Persians--seemed\nto have succeeded better with mythological gods than the Jews\nwith theirs. They had laws to govern them, which required neither\nsmoke nor thunder to make them. Man, plain man, made them. Some\nwere surrounded with mysterious ceremonies, symbols; others were\nnot. Lycurgus reforms the constitution of Sparta 884 B.C. Carpets\nare made for tents about this time. The art of sculpture rises in\nEgypt. Buddha's religion is introduced into India, and an attempt\nis made to discover the primitive language of mankind by Psameticus;\nand, what is of considerable importance, children are being educated\nin the Grecian language and manners 660 B.C.\n\nThese facts are mentioned to show that nations that were not hampered\nwith the Jehovistic religion, that had no miracles, wonders, or\narks, were more advanced in the national sciences, had made farther\nprogress in the general civilization of mankind, than the Hebrews. The\nelectricity of amber was discovered by Thales, and he also taught\nthe spherical form of the earth as the true cause of lunar eclipses,\n640 B.C. Schools of learning flourished in many places. Authors\nappeared whose writings are classic to this day--Sappho, Alc\u00e6us, \u00c6sop,\nPittachus. Solon's legislation in Athens superseded the laws of Draco.\n\nIt was not the Mosaic God that made these people intelligent, gave\nthem their understanding. Their enlightenment was due simply to the\nnatural processes of the great nervous centers, independent of all\nsupernatural interference.\n\nThe school of statuary was opened at Athens by Depoenus and\nScyllis. Comedies were enacted on a cart by Susarian and Dolon. Dials\nwere invented by Anaximander, etc. Learning is encouraged at Athens,\nand a public library is founded. All this and much more occurs about\n540 B.C.\n\nPersia, too, is rapidly spreading its empire; growing powerful;\nprogressing in wealth, commerce, and learning. Zoroaster founds his\nphilosophy, without bloodshed, rapine, or murder.\n\nRome is in a nourishing condition; takes its first census 565\nB.C.--811,700 citizens--spreading its empire.\n\nWe must ever bear in mind that all these nations were called heathen,\nand their methods of belief are looked upon by Christian teachers as\nmuch inferior to their own.\n\nConfucius, the Chinese philosopher, is not inferior in his morality\nto any of the moralists of the age in which he lived, 522 B.C. And\nwe may safely say he is equal even to the morals of to-day. Manners,\nmethods, and fashions change, but certain principles remain.\n\nWe can examine the pages of the history of other human races and\ncompare them with the Jews, God's own chosen race, his own people,\nand the heathen takes the prize in every branch of science, art, and\nthe progress of civilization. The Hebrews for many, many centuries,\nwith their blind infatuation with the supernatural, their constant\nsuperstitious practices of their ceremonial, their senseless devotion\nto an imaginary piece of extravagance, were so steeped in stupidity\nand ignorance that they had neither time nor inclination to observe\nand examine nature and its workings, so remained slaves to their\npreposterous practices.\n\nRepublics become fashionable. Corinth starts with her republican\nform of government 582 B.C., and Rome follows in abolishing a regal\ngovernment and establishing a republic 509 B.C.\n\nThe Carthaginians make a voyage to Great Britain for tin, etc.\n\nSophocles, Plato, Socrates, Aristophanes, and a host of renowned\nmen rise to teach the world how to think, how to speak. Philosophy,\nmedicine, morality, poetry, history, comedy, tragedy, arts, and\nscience had a firm hold on the public mind. A degree of refinement\nboth in manner and in conduct prevailed among all classes.\n\nIt was about this time that Ezra and his companions were\ncompiling--rather collecting--fragments for composing the book of\nChronicles. Other books may have been compiled or written.\n\nNehemiah followed Ezra. He rebuilt and repeopled Jerusalem. For all\nthat, nothing good of a permanent character was accomplished.\n\nTime goes on, centuries accumulate; intelligence, experience, and a\nhigher grade of civilization appear. Nations grow more powerful. The\nstruggle for supremacy continues, and Judah, like a shuttlecock,\nis thrown about from nation to nation, now under one dominion and\nnow under another.\n\nReligious opinions, however, are forming. They are hostile, bitter,\ninimical towards one another; accompanied with all the hatred,\njealousy, spite, that religious differences usually engender. They\nare all anxious to hold office, priestly or otherwise, consequently\nbribery, lying, and misrepresentation are the means used to gain\nthe influence of those in power. The rivalry between the sects makes\nmatters no better.\n\nThe Samaritan sect were already in existence when Ezra returned to\nJerusalem. Hostilities led to conflicts, and there was little peace\nbetween them.\n\nIn Judea there were several sects, holding various opinions. Like\nso many political factions, each sought control, and tried to uphold\nits peculiar views and interpretations.\n\nThe Sadducees sprang into life about 244 B.C. This sect believed\nthat the soul dies with the body; \"nor do they regard the observance\nof anything besides that the law enjoins them; for they think it an\ninstance of virtue to dispute with those teachers of philosophy whom\nthey frequent; but this doctrine is received but by few, yet by those\nstill of greatest dignity. But they are able to do almost anything of\nthemselves; for when they become magistrates, as they are unwillingly\nand by force sometimes obliged to be, they addict themselves to the\nnotions of the Pharisees, because the multitude would not otherwise\nhear them\" (Josephus).\n\nThis sect, one would judge, consisted of the wealthy and more\nenlightened class.\n\n\"The Pharisees live meanly, despise delicacies in diet, and they\nfollow the contract of reason; and what that prescribes for them, as\ngood for them, they do; and they think they ought earnestly to strive\nto observe reason's dictates for practice. They also pay respect to\nsuch as are in years; nor are they so bold as to contradict them in\nanything which they have introduced; and, when they determine that\nall things are done by fate, they do not take away the freedom from\nmen of acting as they think fit; since their notion is, that it hath\npleased God to make a temperament, whereby what he wills is done,\nbut so that the will of man can act virtuously or viciously. They\nalso believe that souls have an immortal vigour in them, and that\nunder the earth there will be rewards or punishments according as they\nhave lived virtuously or viciously in this life; and the latter are to\nbe detained in an everlasting prison, but that the former shall have\npower to revive and live again; on account of which doctrines they are\nable greatly to persuade the body of the people; and whatsoever they\ndo about divine worship, prayers and sacrifices, they perform them\naccording to their directions; insomuch that the cities gave great\nattestation to them, on account of their entire virtuous conduct, both\nin the actions of their lives, and of their discourse also\" (Josephus).\n\n\"The doctrine of the Essenes is this, that all things are best ascribed\nto God. They teach the immortality of souls and esteem that rewards\nof righteousness are to be earnestly striven for, and when they send\nwhat they have dedicated to God unto the Temple, they do not offer\nsacrifices, because they have more pure lustrations of their own;\non which account they are excluded from the common court of the\nTemple, but offer their sacrifices themselves; yet is their course\nof life better than other men; and they entirely addict themselves to\nhusbandry. It also deserves our admiration, how much they exceed all\nother men that addict themselves to virtue, and this in righteousness;\nand indeed to such a degree that as it hath never appeared among any\nother men, neither Greeks nor Barbarians, no, not for a little time,\nso hath it endured a long while among them. This is demonstrated by\nthat institution of theirs, which will not suffer anything to hinder\nthem from having all things in common; so that a rich man enjoys no\nmore of his own wealth than he that hath nothing at all. There are\nabout four thousand men that live in this way; and neither have many\nwives, nor are desirous to keep servants; as thinking the latter tempts\nmen to be unjust; but as they live by themselves, they minister one\nto another. They also appoint certain stewards to receive the income\nof their revenues, and of the fruits of the ground; such as are good\nmen, and priests, who are to get their coin and their food ready for\nthem. Of a fourth sect of Jewish philosophers, Judas the Galilean was\nthe author. These men agree in all other things with Pharisaic notions;\nbut they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is\nto be their only ruler and lord. They also do not value dying any kind\nof death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and\nfriends, nor can any such fear make them call any man Lord\" (Josephus).\n\nThese matters are quoted to show the changes and modifications\nreligious opinions were undergoing, and must have undergone for many\ncenturies previously, until they reached the present stage.\n\nThe arguments, discussions, and reasons given, as well as the beliefs\nadopted, differ only in degree and kind from those when Abraham and his\nfather dissented from the mode of worship then extant in Chaldea, some\none thousand nine hundred years previous, and from the modifications\nintroduced by Moses, the greater part of which were adopted from the\nEgyptians--whence the Jews really got the first taste of civilization.\n\nThese religious notions of the Jews are the opinions, simply the\nopinions, of a small branch of the human family. There are a great\nmany others.\n\nDuring all these centuries little or nothing was known of the natural,\nof the more intimate relations of nature and nature's forces. And\nof all nations the Jewish race knew the least. They were too much\noccupied with the supernatural to ever learn anything of the natural.\n\nThe supernatural idea sprang from the mire of ignorance and barbarism\nand savagery. Crime and outrage mark the centuries as it rolled along\nin the tide of human events, halting only when forced, and renewing\nits current when there was nothing to bar its way--struggling madly,\nconquering, fighting, subduing. Life was of no value, and everything\nwas brutally crushed under this monstrous supernatural idea, until\nat length it was brought to halt by superior natural forces that in\ntime crushed and subdued it.\n\nAfter one thousand four hundred years of Jehovaism, of various\nshades and hues, this religion emerges from the past ages to the\ncoming centuries in a new garb, slightly improved, somewhat milder\nin temper, and wearing altogether a new mask, so that neither Father\nAbraham nor General Moses would recognize his offspring.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN ERA.\n\n\nWe come to the beginning of the second two thousand years of modified\nJehovaism, called the Christian era.\n\nThe Christian era, like the Chaldean-Abrahamic era, and like the\nMosaic-Jehovistic era, was introduced in a mysterious manner. Both the\nMosaic and the Christian were accompanied with miracles, differing\nin degree and intensity, as also corresponding with the changes\nand transitions of the times, the progress of intelligence, and the\ndevelopment of brain power.\n\nIf Moses had made the attempt to perform his miracles in Christ's\ntime, he would have been hooted. He could not have deceived these\nmasses with his tricks as he did the ignorant horde he led out of\nEgypt. These people had no opinion, no idea, no intelligence. They were\nthe obedient tools and slaves of anyone who exhibited superior skill\nto control them and keep them in subjection, as the Catholic and Greek\nchurch make the ignorant masses subservient to their will at this day.\n\nThe small end of the wedge of science had begun to make its way into\nthe dense solid mass of ignorance and superstition, through the thick\ncoating of Jehovistic supernaturalism. This thin end, however, opened\na chink big enough to give us the first glimpse of the natural.\n\nMen began to think, reason, calculate. Their past experience made\nthem think and compare the various conditions of man and things in\nnature. Philosophy, arts, science, had taken root, in opposition to\nand in spite of any supernatural theory or any Jehovistic influence.\n\nThe natural is the proper antidote for this supernatural poison.\n\nGreece was one of the first nations that helped to lift the heavy\nfog that obscured man's intellectual vision:\n\n\n B.C.\nArist\u00e6us writes a treatise on conic sections, 380\nDionysius invents catapult\u00e6, 399\nAristotle, the founder of the Peripatetics, logician and\nphilosopher,\nPlato, Diogenes, Demosthenes (Philippics), etc., 368\nGausias of Sycion invents caustic painting, the art of burning\ncolors into wood and ivory, 335\nLysistratus invents molds from which to cast wax figures, 328\nThe gnomon is invented or constructed to measure altitudes,\nEuclid of Alexandria writes his celebrated Mathematics, that has\nnever been contradicted or modified, and is used at the present\nday, 300\nDionysius the astronomer at Alexandria finds the solar year to\nconsist of 365 days 5 hours and 49 minutes,\nArchimedes the mathematician demonstrates the property of a\nlever and other mechanical powers, also the art of measuring\nsolids and surfaces and conic sections, and constructs a\nplanetarium,\nThe art of making paper and printing invented by the Chinese, 200\nAttalus, king of Pergamos, introduces a book with leaves of\nvellum, instead of rolls,\nPasidonius calculates the hight of the atmosphere to be 800\nstadia,\nScipio Nascia invents a water clock,\nHipparchus lays the foundation of trigonometry, fixes the first\ndegree of longitude, the meridian,\n\n\nThese few citations I hope will be convincing proof of the progress\nmade, thus showing that men were observing, reasoning, calculating,\ngoverned by demonstration and proof. It would have been impossible for\nMoses, or any other man, to perform miracles of the nature theologians\nbelieve, at the time of Christ.\n\nTwo conditions are always necessary for every miracle--profound\nignorance on the one hand, and a clever fraud on the other.\n\nThere are, however, another class of miracles, that are at all\ntimes in order; that are played and plied on human failing and human\nweakness, always coupled with ignorance on the one side, and dishonest\nscoundrelism, a fraud by a priest or church mountebank, on the other.\n\nIn disturbances of nature, no one believes unless he has ocular proof\nand demonstration, knowing that these things are subject to natural\nlaws and no one man could produce an earthquake or a thunderstorm. No\nman could stop the current of the Mississippi river either by praying\nor by throwing a stick over it.\n\nWhat we can do, that has the appearance of a miracle, is to play\nupon the susceptibilities, failings, weaknesses, and imaginations of\nignorant human nature.\n\nThese cure-alls, these medical wonder-workers, these spiritual\ncharlatans, these theological miracle-mongers, these fanatical frauds,\nwere introduced more prominently in the Bible story by the celebrated\npolitical agitators Elijah and Elisha.\n\nThe Christian form of religion is a modification of the Hebrew, mixed\nwith either Greek or some other of the numerous doctrines existing\nat that period. The hero of this reformation is brought to our notice\nin what is scripturally called a miraculous manner.\n\nMatthew introduces the subject by saying (i, 18): \"Now the birth of\nJesus Christ was in this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused\nto Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of\nthe Holy Ghost.\"\n\nWe have noticed how (Gen. vi, 2) the sons of God married the daughters\nof men--who the lady was, the mother of these sons, we do not know,\nor by what process they were brought into this world.\n\nThere are instances in the Bible when prayer had the effect of\nproducing that interesting condition on woman.\n\nWe have also the example of Eli, that fat, lascivious priest (whose\nsons entertained themselves behind the altar with the ladies) who\nassisted Hannah when the Lord closed her womb. The Temple has served\nmany outrageous purposes, and many amusing as well as instructive\nlessons might be gathered. Fortunately the Jewish Temple is no\nexception. The heathen temples were equally guilty.\n\nDuring the reign of Tiberius, the Romans had a temple of Isis, and they\nhad a god called Anubis. A man with the name of Mundus fell in love\nwith a married lady called Paulina, who bribed the priests to permit\nhim to appear to Paulina in the temple as the god Anubis. The priest\nrepresenting the god Anubis invited Paulina to the temple in order\nto be entertained by that god. Her husband, pleased with the favor,\nconsented. Paulina was entertained all night at the temple by what\nshe supposed to be the god Anubis, Mundus representing him. Paulina\nwas delighted, her husband also, but Mundus could not hold his\ntongue. Tiberius heard of it; he caused the temple, priests, and all\nto be burnt, and Mundus was exiled for three months. The priests were\ncrucified. Anyone curious to know particulars about this matter may\nconsult history.\n\nIn modern times, living as we do in an age of reason, fact, and\nscience, we do not take the same view of these particular occurrences\nsuch as the Bible speaks of as our forefathers, the ancients who lived\nin an age of fancy and imagination. The Holy Ghost, unless he is in\nthe substantial form of a man, can accomplish nothing, and either\nMrs. Mary Joseph had committed an act of indiscretion before marriage,\nor Joseph himself was the father.\n\nIt would be far more decent for all parties concerned to legitimatize\nthe child. The effect or result would be just the same, since the\nyoung gentleman is to be the great reformer of that age, clever,\nmeek, mild, amiable as he is represented to be in the New Testament.\n\nMark begins his gospel: \"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,\nthe Son of God.\"\n\nLuke begins historically and then tells his virgin story (i, 27).\n\nJohn philosophizes, and tells us that (verse 18) \"no man hath seen\nGod; the only begotten son which is in the bosom of the father,\nhe hath declared him.\" In verse 45 he is called the son of Joseph.\n\nThe entrance of Christ into this world is the most stupid and\nridiculous piece of nonsense that was ever written. If Christ is the\nson of God he can be no relation of David, and Joseph can certainly not\nbe his father. Or if the Holy Ghost was the cause of Mary's condition\nbefore marriage, Joseph condoned the offense by living with her, and\nis the father by adoption and not by nature; and can by no means be\na relation or descendant of David.\n\nThen again, if Joseph is the father, Jesus is not the son of God. In\nthat case, he might be a relation of David, but no relation to God.\n\nMen of ordinary education no longer believe either in the Holy Ghost,\nthe manner of Christ's coming, nor in his divinity. It is an absurd\nfabrication, an impossibility and contrary to nature.\n\nI repeat once more, that neither God, his spirit, nor his holy ghost,\ncan perform anything that is in direct opposition to the laws of\nnature.\n\nThe miracles that are attributed to Jesus Christ by Matthew, Mark,\nLuke, and John are invariably of a medical nature; embracing all\nkinds--lepers, palsy, fevers, dropsy, the blind, the dumb, the\nlame--hemorrhages of women, casting out devils, curing lunatics,\nhealing every disease.\n\nThe manner of curing is very peculiar--by touch, by rebuke, by word,\nby spit and touch.\n\nA sample or two will suffice:\n\nMark vii, 32: \"And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had\nan impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand\non him.\" 33: \"And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his\nfingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue.\" 34:\n\"And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said unto him, Ephphatha,\nthat is, be opened.\" 35: \"And straightway his ears were opened,\nand the strings of his tongue were loosed, and he spake plain.\"\n\nMatt. xvii, 15, etc.: Christ rebukes the devil out of a lunatic.\n\nChapter xx, 34: He touches the eyes of two blind men and they see.\n\nLuke viii, 43: \"And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years,\nwhich had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed\nby any.\" 44: \"Came behind him, and touched the borders of his garment;\nand immediately, her issue of blood stanched.\"\n\nChapter viii, 54 (woman dead): \"And put them all out, and took her\nby the hand, and called saying, Maid, arise.\" 55: \"And her spirit\ncame again, and she arose straightway,\" etc.\n\nJohn ix, 1: \"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man, which was blind\nfrom his birth.\" Verse 6: \"When he had thus spoken, he spat on the\nground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of\nthe blind man with the clay.\"\n\nLuke xiv, 2: He cures a man of dropsy, etc.\n\nThat these cures were actually performed is not very probable, for\nthe simple fact that the art of medicine was little known, and least\nknown among the Jews.\n\nThat these four witnesses really were present at the time these\noperations were performed, we have no proof. Luke says Christ cures\nblindness by touch; John makes him use spit and clay. We are not\ntold that he was trying experiments. Anyway, every operation was\nsuccessful. Raising people from the dead was equally successful.\n\nWhy should we wonder that such miracles could be performed among the\nlower classes, rude, uneducated, and poor? They were ready to believe\nany kind of plausible deception; and it was among this class that he\nfound his adherents.\n\nThese performances called miracles are supposed to have happened nearly\ntwo thousand years ago. At that time the masses were not to be compared\nto the masses of to-day in education, understanding, or in the progress\nmade in every branch of art, science, literature, mechanics, etc.\n\nThe church Christianity has also progressed somewhat, and there can be\nno possible excuse for the priests of to-day affirming these pretended\ncures of Christ. They ought to know that the notions of these things\nare due to feebleness of intellect in the uncultured brain, to the\nlack of understanding and the gullibility of the masses. Christ and\nhis disciples were as ignorant as the masses concerning medicine or\nthe healing art. They knew absolutely nothing about it. At 325 A.D.,\nlater 318, fathers of the then existing Christian organizations\napproved of the entire contents. Nay, a large part of it may have\nbeen manufactured by them.\n\nAt this day there is no reason that men should not know better. Every\nman, whether priest or layman, ought to understand that so-called\nmiraculous cures can be performed only by men, priests or others,\nthat premeditatedly, with intent, cheat, swindle, and defraud some\nportion of the public, in consequence of the ignorance of the one,\nand the superior knowledge, shrewdness, and cunning of the other.\n\nIt is a flagrant abuse of authority, a miserable condition of our laws,\na stupendous piece of bigotry, an outrage, that a man can be punished\nfor speaking the truth, and it is an actual miracle that people are\nstill so wonderfully stupid as to believe in the scandalous deception\nof the healing qualities of an old rag, a coat, pretended to have\nbelonged to Christ or some one else. Recently we read in the daily\npaper, the Sun: \"Berlin, Sept. 26.--In Treves, Herr Reichar has been\nsentenced to six weeks' imprisonment for ridiculing the holy coat\nand for attacking the Roman Catholic prelates because they encouraged\nthe people to believe that it had healing qualities. His publisher,\nHerr Sonnenburg, was sentenced to three weeks' imprisonment. The\nchief charge against them was blasphemy.\"\n\nEven in this city, some miserable cheat or cheats attempted to\nperpetrate the same sort of scoundrelism in one of the Catholic\nchurches.\n\nDuring the recent cholera desolation in Hamburg, we read: \"In all\nthe churches services of prayer for the abatement of the plague have\nbeen held. They have been attended by crowds which have filled the\nbuildings\" (Sun).\n\nIn ancient times plagues were regarded as visitations from God; to-day\nwe know that they are the products of filth and starvation. Sanitary\nmeasures and food for the starving are needed, instead of prayer. The\nchurches would answer a far better purpose converted into soup-kitchens\nand healthy lodging-houses for the poor and homeless.\n\nIn Russia the condition is still worse. The degradation of the masses\nis extreme. Of the dreadful doings there we hear but the slightest\necho. The Russian priest is an ignorant, intolerant, selfish,\ntyrannical brute. In time of cholera the clergy walk in procession\nthrough the streets in church garb, with banners, crosses, candles,\nchanting and praying, while the dirt, filth, and cholera poison lie\nall around them.\n\nThe pilgrimages to Lourdes are another ecclesiastical swindle. The\npoor, miserable dupes are enticed in order to be plundered. From\nthe Tribune, \"Zola at Lourdes,\" we quote: \"Nothing could be more\ntruly sensational than the annual pilgrimage thither, the flocking\nto that shrine of tens of thousands of devotees, dozens of special\ntrains running to it daily; the daily processions, with thousands of\npriests and tens of thousands of the laity; the fervent prayers of the\nsupplicants, and the wild exaltation of those that are miraculously\nhealed--or who believe themselves to be healed.... So M. Zola,\naccompanied by Mme. Zola, were at Lourdes, and following the crowd,\nproceeded at once to the holy grotto. He found it surrounded by\nmore than twenty thousand people, of both sexes and of all ages\nand conditions. Indeed in none of his novels is a more striking\nscene portrayed than that. In the afternoon the daily procession\noccurred. At its head marched no less than two thousand priests,\nmonks, and nuns. Then came the holy sacrament, borne beneath a silken\ncanopy. After it came the sick and the suffering who had come thither\nto be cured. These were cripples on crutches or leaning on the arms of\nfriends; the blind, led by their friends or fellow-pilgrims; sick and\ndeformed infants in their mothers' arms; here and there a cripple and\na blind man arm in arm, relying upon each other, the one for support,\nthe other for guidance. Behind these thousands came other thousands\nof suppliants, sightseers, perhaps some scoffers, while yet other\nthousands stood by and gazed upon the scene.\"\n\nIt is indeed a miracle that we have so many such persons at this\nstage of progressive civilization. But the church and its priests\nhave exerted every influence to prevent its advance.\n\nFortunately the world at large has outgrown this childish nonsense\nto some extent. The development of our civil laws, with a greater\nknowledge of the natural laws, keep the church and priestly fanatics\nin subjection.\n\nAs to the resurrection of Christ's body, or anyone else's body, we may\nput it down as fabulous and untrue. Dead bodies do not rise--cannot\nrise. From the moment a body is dead the process of decomposition\nbegins, and resuscitation is an impossibility. No one believes it,\nand the priest of this century even doubts it, though the manner\nof Christ's birth and death forms the creed of Christian believers,\nand reads as follows:\n\n\"I believe in God, the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth,\nand in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord, who was conceived by the\nHoly Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,\nwas crucified, dead and buried. He descended into hell; the third day\nhe rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at\nthe right hand of the Father, whence he shall come to judge the quick\nand the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church,\nthe communion of saints, the remission of sins, the resurrection of\nthe body, and life everlasting.\"\n\nDoes anyone, except the most ignorant, believe any of the items\ncontained in the above creed?\n\nThe men that composed the Old, and later the New Testament, may\nhave been sincere in their belief, may have acted from pure motives,\nand I give them credit that their endeavors were honest, that they\nknew no better. They could not know the truth, have knowledge of the\nnatural. Its forces, its capabilities, its phenomena--these were\nunknown to them. They erred, were mistaken in what they observed;\nthat of itself is ample excuse for their opinions.\n\nNo such excuse exists at this present time, and no men or set of men,\nhowever organized, priestly or otherwise, should be permitted to\ndelude and stupefy the more ignorant portion of a community.\n\nThe judge on the bench ought to know better than punish a man because\nhe ridicules the efficacy of an old coat to cure miraculously. It is\na disgrace to our civilization, and should not be tolerated.\n\nWe have a right to criticise any idea, opinion, set of opinions,\nor ceremonies, no matter how ancient, how originated or by whom\nentertained or put into practice.\n\nWe have as much right to protest against the truth or falsity of\ntheir statements, as any of our forefathers had in remote ages.\n\nAny individual that permits his prejudices to get the better of his\njudgment, because he belongs to this or that church, is unfit to\nserve in a public capacity. The judge or magistrate that sentenced\nReichar and Sonnenberg at Treves deserves to be branded as the greatest\njackass that ever decorated a bench.\n\nRidicule is the only weapon that wipes out these shameful practices,\nthat helps to enlighten the masses, that elevates their thoughts and\nmakes their understanding.\n\nIt is disgraceful enough for the ancients to have crucified Christ\nfor his opinions, beheaded Paul for his preaching, and crucified\nSt. Peter for his energy.\n\nAbraham had a right to have his opinions. He differed with the\nChaldeans about their gods, ridiculed them, despised them, argued,\nreasoned, as best he knew how. He had to leave the land of his birth\nfor his opinions.\n\nMoses had a right to set up his Jehova, organize a nation, and fight\nunder his banner. He forced a success with superior numbers and\nsuperior skill.\n\nComing to Christ, Paul and Peter had a right to their opinions. They\nsuffered for their opinions, yet their opinions held.\n\nWe of to-day have a right to deny the truth of their opinion. We\nhave a right to deny any part or the whole of their doctrine, their\npretensions, their errors; we have a perfect right to decline to\naccept their say-so for proof of anyone's having done certain things\nby supernatural aid. And neither church nor priest can force people\nto believe in their absurdities, when our reason, understanding,\nand common sense tell us that it is neither true nor possible.\n\nFew men are so dull that they do not recognize the fact that it is\nunpleasant, as well as unprofitable, for an organized body of men,\nwhether church or other organization, who have prospered, gained\ninfluence, control and authority over men, territory or wealth,\nby means of certain ideas or opinions, to be interfered with or\nencroached upon by a new and opposing organized body, with new ideas\nor opinions, lest the former might lose some of their influence,\ncontrol, or authority over men, territory, or wealth.\n\nSelfishness and self-preservation lie at the root of this, and\nevery aggressive movement will be hindered, checked, or prevented\nif possible.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nORGANIC LIFE--VEGETABLE.\n\n\nThe constituent elements that enter into vegetable life consist in\nthe main of three elementary substances. These essential elements\nconsist of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon.\n\nThe secondary elementary bodies consist of nitrogen and earthy\nelements, sulphur and phosphorus.\n\nThere are also found other elementary substances in lesser quantities\nin vegetable structures, as potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium,\nsilicon, aluminium, iron, manganese, chlorine, bromine, and iodine.\n\nThese are the materials of which vegetables are made. Vegetables derive\nall the materials of their fabric from the earth and the air. Plants\ncan possess no simple elements which these do not supply. They may take\nin, to some extent, almost every element which is thus supplied. The\nelements above mentioned are not of universal occurrence, nor are\nthey all components of any one vegetable tissue.\n\nAlthough plants and animals have no peculiar elements; though the\nmaterials from which their bodies spring, and to which they return, are\ncommon earth, water, and air, yet in them these elements are wrought\ninto something widely different from any form of lifeless mineral\nmatters, under the influence of what is usually termed the principle\nof life. This may be said to consist of a favorable condition brought\nabout by the union of certain elements, under a moist atmosphere and\na high temperature, combined with other powerful forces in nature.\n\n\"When this terrestrial globe began to cool the matter predominating in\nthe atmosphere was water or its elements oxygen and hydrogen, carbonic\nacid and nitrogen; under the influence of a high temperature, and\npowerful sources of electricity, numerous combinations were produced\nbetween the elements; first carburetted hydrogen, then a nitrogenous\ncombination, more or less analogous to the albuminous matter which\nwe know\" (Huxley).\n\nAmong the innumerable combinations nature produced, during a series\nof infinite ages, slowly undergoing transformation, the mixture of\nthese substances, acting chemically upon one another, generating and\nregenerating at the expense of their surroundings, composed the first\nliving being. This being was of excessive simplicity, comparable to\nthe organisms which we call monera.\n\nThe sun's heat acting upon these elements, and the elements acting upon\none another, produced motion. Heat is motion, expansion, restrained\nand acting in its strife upon the smallest particles of bodies.\n\nThe principles of life were first produced by the action of the\nsun's heat upon these vitalizing elements, setting them in motion,\ngenerating the required force. The surrounding condition being\nfavorable, the simplest form of physiological life was produced. Once\nunder the influence of what may now be termed the principle of life,\nin connection with which alone such phenomena are manifested, the\nthree or four simple constituents effected peculiar combinations,\ngiving rise to a few organizable elements--as they are termed,\nbecause of them the organized fabric of the vegetable or animal\nkingdom is built up. This fabric is in a good degree similar in all\nliving bodies; the solid parts, or tissues, in all assuming the form\nof membranes, arranged so as to surround cavities, or form the walls\nof tubes, in which fluids are contained. Such a structure is called\norganized structure, and the bodies so composed are called organized\nbodies, because such fabrics consist of parts co\u00f6perating with one\nanother as instruments or organs adapted to certain ends, and through\nwhich alone the living principle, under whose influence the structure\nitself was built up, is manifested in the operations which the animal\nor plant carries on. There is in every organic fabric, a necessary\nconnection between its conformation and the action it is destined to\nperform. This is equally true of the minute structure, or tissue,\nas revealed by the microscope, and of the larger organs which the\ntissues form in all plants and animals of the higher grades, such as\na leaf, a petal, or a tendril, a hand, an eye, or a muscle. The term\norganization formerly referred to the possession of organs in this\nlarger sense, that is, of conspicuous parts or membranes. It is now\napplied as well to the intimate structure of these parts, themselves\nmade up of smaller organs through which the vital forces directly act.\n\nProtoplasm, called by Huxley the basis of physical life, is nothing\nmore than a homogeneous albuminous matter. An isolated albuminoid\nis not living any more than an acid or a base equally isolated is a\nchemically active body. But a mixture of two or several albuminous\nsubstances (a protoplasm contains at least two) might be living,\nsimilarly as a mixture of an acid and a base demonstrates the chemical\nactivity of the two bodies. But, whereas in the combination of an acid\nand a base, the formation of a new body puts an end to the dynamic\nmanifestations of the mixture; the albuminous matter which by its\nunion gives birth to a protoplasm, that is to say, to living matter,\nis capable of generating itself at the expense of the medium in which\nit is placed, and in proportion to the dynamic manifestations which\nit produces, gives birth to some rejected excreta in its midst.\n\nLiving matter may be roughly compared to an electric pile, the\nelements of which are capable of regenerating indefinitely. This\ncontinual exchange of the elements of living bodies and the medium in\nwhich they are placed, is one of the conditions of life. Life is the\ncontinued organization, while the molecules constituting the organized\nbody (organism) are in a state of mobile equilibrium, or a continual\nrenovation. A grain of vegetation, or an animal (Rotifera) slowly\ndried, might not manifest any vital property for a long time. Far from\nconstituting an example opposed to our definition, it on the contrary\ngoes to corroborate it. Whilst the chemical elements which compose it\ncould not act one upon the other, it was necessary that they should\nbe dissolved: Corpora non agunt nisi sulta. One might compare these\norganisms to a pile where nothing except the fluid is wanting. The\neggs of certain animals (birds, etc.), that require a certain heat\nin order to develop completely, furnish us a case analogous to those\nchemical actions which could not be accomplished in a perfect manner\nexcept by a sufficient elevation of temperature.\n\nThe long discussions that have taken place in the last few years on\nthis question, the attempted efforts to demonstrate or refute the\nheterogenic doctrine, have but indifferently served the purposes of\nscience. They have made us at least to see more clearly the impotence\nof chemistry and physiology alone to solve the biological problem. It\nis impossible for anyone to study with care the organization of\nthe Infusoria, and even the Protista, and believe that beings so\ncomplex are formed by spontaneous generation. The size of an animal\nor a vegetable signifies nothing in this question. The imperfections\nof the micrographic investigation have alone permitted the notion of\nthe creation of beings such as the Paramecia, the Mucidina, etc. Even\nin the more inferior Protista, the Bacteria, and other Schizomycites,\nthe hypothesis of heterogeny is reversed by the simple observation that\nthese beings present a very complicated metamorphosis. An evolution,\nthat is to say a series of supposed forcible metamorphoses, a special\ncondition of the germ, resulting from heredity, consequently proves\na generation dependent on other than anterior organisms.\n\nThis reasoning, however, demonstrates in an unobjectionable manner that\nthe first living beings were formed independent of all pre\u00ebxisting\norganization, and that these beings were as little organized as\npossible.\n\nThe latest progress in chemistry and in biology permits us to raise\nthe veil partly in recovering the obscure origin of living matter.\n\n\n\n\nANIMAL-VEGETABLES, PROTISTA.\n\nWhen we behold the plants and animals that ordinarily surround us,\nthe distinction between the animal and vegetable kingdom is somehow\nintuitive. And it seems a loss of time and trouble to indicate the\ncharacter which separates these two from each other. It is not the same\nwhen we descend the scale of organisms. Then we arrive at an inferior\nregion where the distinction disappears gradually, and we soon conceive\nthe existence of a frontier zone between the animal and vegetable,\na neutral territory which has been designated the kingdom of Protista.\n\nThey reproach naturalists for admitting the kingdom of Protista,\naccusing them of doubling the difficulty, instead of abolishing it;\nsince it is necessary to establish a distinction between Protista,\non the one part animal, on the other vegetable. That objection could\nbe made every time they established a new division in the organic\nkingdom. It does not signify anything for those who know that all\ndivisions that trench on biology are purely subjective and that\nnature does not bend to our strict system of classification. Natura\nnon facit saltus.\n\nAll living bodies can be decomposed into visible elements under\nthe microscope, and these have been named Plastides or Cells. That\nword is employed in a more general sense. The most simple Plastide\nis the Cytode, a simple mass of protoplasm without a nucleus or\nmembranous envelope. A cell in a restricted meaning of the word is\na Cytode presenting a nucleus, that is to say, a mass of protoplasm\nin the midst of which is a distinct part of the substance ambient\ndifferentiated by its aspect and its property.\n\n1. Plants and animals are always produced under the influence of a\nliving body similar to themselves.\n\n2. They develop from a germ or rudiment, and run through a course of\nchanges, to a state of maturity.\n\n3. Plants increase by a process through which foreign materials are\ntaken, made to permeate their interior, and deposited interstitially\namong the particles of the previously existing substance; that is,\nthey are nourished by food.\n\n4. Plants and animals alone possess the power of assimilation, or the\nfaculty of converting the proper foreign materials they receive into\ntheir own peculiar substance.\n\n5. Connected with assimilation, as a part of the functions of\nnutrition, is a state of internal activity and unceasing change\nin living bodies; these constantly undergoing decomposition and\nrecomposition, particles which have served their turn being continually\nthrown out of the system as new ones are brought in. This is true of\nboth plants and animals, but more fully of the latter.\n\n6. The duration of living beings is limited. They are developed,\nthey reach maturity, they support themselves for a time, then perish\nby death sooner or later.\n\nMineral bodies have no life to lose, and contain no internal principle\nof destruction. Once formed, they exist until destroyed by some\nexternal power. They lie passive under control of physical forces.\n\nLife. The great characteristic of plants and animals is life,\nwhich these beings enjoy, but minerals do not. We may safely infer\nthat life is not a product, or result, of the organization; but is\na force manifested in matter, which it controls and shapes into\npeculiar forms--into an apparatus, in which means are manifestly\nadapted to ends, by which results are reached that are in no other\nway attainable. As we rise in the scale of organized structure from\nplants through the various grades of the animal organization, the\nsuperadded vital manifestations become more and more striking and\npeculiar. But the fundamental characteristics of living beings--those\nwhich all enjoy in common, and which necessarily give rise to all the\npeculiarities above enumerated--are reducible to two, viz.: 1. The\npower of self-support, that of nourishing themselves by taking in\nsurrounding mineral matter and converting it into their own proper\nsubstance; by which individuals increase in bulk or grow, and maintain\ntheir life; 2. The power of self-division or reproduction, by which\nthey increase in number and perpetuate the species.\n\nA striking illustration may set both points in a strong light. The\nlarva of the flesh-fly possesses such power of assimilation that\nit will increase its own weight two hundred times in twenty-four\nhours, and such consequent power of reproduction that Linn\u00e6us did not\nexaggerate when he affirmed that \"Three flesh-flies would devour the\ncarcass of a horse as quickly as a lion.\"\n\nThe distinction between vegetable and mineral is therefore well\ndefined. But the line of demarcation between plants and animals is\nby no means so readily drawn. Ordinarily, there can be no difficulty\nin distinguishing a vegetable from an animal. All the questionable\ncases occur on the lower confines of the kingdom, which exhibit\nforms of the greatest simplicity of structure, and of a minuteness\nof size that baffles observation. Even here the uncertainty may be\nattributed rather to the imperfection of our knowledge, than to any\nconfusion of the essential characteristics of the two kinds of beings\n(the kingdom of Protista above alluded to).\n\nThe essential characteristics of vegetables doubtless depend upon\nthe position which the vegetable kingdom occupies between the mineral\nand the animal, and upon the general office it fulfills.\n\nPlants are those organized beings that live directly upon the mineral\nkingdom, upon the surrounding earth, air, water. They alone convert\ninorganic, or mineral, into organic matter; whilst animals originate\nnone, but draw their whole sustenance from the organized matter which\nplants have thus elaborated. Plants, having thus the most intimate\nrelations with the mineral world, are generally fixed to the earth,\nor other substance upon which they grow, and the mineral matter upon\nwhich they feed is taken directly into their system by absorption\nfrom without, and is assimilated under the influence of light in\norgans exposed to the air, while animals, endowed with volition and\ncapable of responding promptly to external impressions, have the power\nof selecting the food ready prepared for their nourishment, which is\nreceived into an internal reservoir or stomach. The permanent fabric\nof plants is composed of only Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen. The tissue\nof animals contains an additional element, viz., Nitrogen. Plants,\nas a necessary result of assimilating their inorganic food, decompose\ncarbonic acid and restore its oxygen to the atmosphere. Animals in\nrespiration continually recompose carbonic acid, at the expense of\nthe oxygen of the atmosphere and the carbon of plants.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nORGANIC LIFE--ANIMAL.\n\n\nWe have seen that the principal elements, the most active, that enter\ninto the composition of plant life, that form the food substance for\nthe support and nourishment of animals, are mainly composed of three\nelements, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Carbon; that during evolution, growth,\nand development certain elements are absorbed and assimilated, while\nothers, the gases, are exchanged. Plants yield up Oxygen and take in\nCarbonic acid from the atmosphere, which they store up and elaborate.\n\nWe have also seen that all the elements that enter into the composition\nof the various sorts of vegetation, are, chemically considered,\nseventeen in number.\n\n\nANIMAL LIFE.\n\nThe animal, like the vegetable, is also composed of chemical elements,\nand by chemical analysis has been found to contain eighteen,\nas follows:\n\n1. Of primary or vital importance: Oxygen, Hydrogen, Carbon, Nitrogen.\n\n2. Of secondary importance, entering into the more solid structures:\nsulphur, phosphorus, calcium, sodium, chlorine, silicon, potassium,\nfluorine, magnesia, iron.\n\n3. Accidental constituents: Magnesium, alumina, copper, and lead.\n\nThe compounds found in the body are recognized as being derived from\norganic and inorganic substances.\n\nOrganic substances are obtained:\n\n1. From plants and vegetables, and are termed carbohydrates or\nnon-nitrogenous substances, being composed of Oxygen, Carbon, and\nHydrogen--as starch, sugar, etc.\n\n2. From animals: nitrogenous substances; these compounds contain\nOxygen, Hydrogen, Carbon, and Nitrogen--as meat, white of eggs;\nthese are also termed albuminous.\n\n3. Mineral, elements of inorganic origin, as soda, potassium,\nphosphorus, etc.\n\nThe more highly organized tissues found in the animal are composed\nof five elements, as muscle, brain, blood; these are Oxygen, Carbon,\nHydrogen, Nitrogen, and sulphur.\n\nAlbumen, for example, exists in most of the tissues of the body,\nbut especially in the nervous tissue, lymph, chyle, blood, etc.\n\nFibrine is found most abundantly in the blood and the more perfect\nportions of the lymph and chyle.\n\nGelatinous substances are contained in the cellular or fibro-cellular\ntissues in all parts of the body, as tendons, ligaments, cartilages,\nbone, skin, mucous membranes, etc.\n\nChondrine is obtained from cartilages, etc.\n\nThe general chemical composition of these substances is as follows:\n\n\n Albumen. Fibrine. Gelatine. Chondrine.\n\n Carbon 52.5 52.7 50.40 49.97\n Hydrogen 7.0 6.9 6.64 6.63\n Nitrogen 15.5 15.4 18.34 14.44\n Oxygen 22.0 23.5 28.58\n Sulphur 1.6 1.2 24.36 } 0.38\n (Inorganic }\n elements.) }\n Phosphorus 0.4 0.3\n ------ ------ ------ ------\n 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00\n\n\nIt will be observed that in the composition of these tissues, more\nthan half of their constituent elements is Carbon. There is but a\nvery small quantity of Hydrogen.\n\nThe most abundant inorganic substance in the body is water, which is\ncomposed of Oxygen one and Hydrogen two (OH2). More than two-thirds\nof the body is made up of water.\n\nThe body is composed of various structures. Of the chief tissues of\nthe human body, the weight is as follows:\n\n\n The skeleton 15.9 per cent.\n The muscles 41.8 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n Thoracic Viscera (lungs, heart, etc.) 1.7 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n Abdominal Viscera (liver, etc.) 7.2 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n Fat 18.2 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n Skin 6.9 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n Brain 1.9 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\nLet us examine, briefly, each of these.\n\nThe skeleton.--The skeleton, or solid framework of the body, is mainly\nformed of bones, but is completed in some parts by the addition\nof cartilages. The bones are bound together by means of ligaments,\nand are so disposed as to support the softer parts, protect delicate\norgans, and give attachment to the muscles by which the different\nmovements are executed.\n\nThere are two hundred and four bones in the body:\n\n\n The vertebral column contains 26\n The skull--cranium and face 22\n The hyoid bone--bone of the tongue 1\n Ribs and sternum, forming the thorax 25\n The upper limbs--arms and shoulders 64\n The lower limbs 62\n Small bones, including the patella or kneecap,\n to the number of 16\n\n\nThe organic constituents form about 33.3 per cent of the composition\nof bone, while the remainder, 66.7 per cent, is inorganic matter;\nas follows:\n\n\n Organic matter (gelatine and blood-vessels) 33.30\n { Phosphate of lime 51.04\n { Carbonate of lime 11.30\n Inorganic substances { Fluoride of calcium 2.00\n { Phosphate of magnesia 1.16\n { Soda and chloride of sodium 1.20\n\n\nThe mineral or earthy matter enters very largely into the composition\nof bone.\n\nA fibrous membrane covers bone externally, and is called\nperiosteum. The hollow bones contain marrow, composed of fat, 96 parts;\nwater, 3; connecting tissue, 1. Bones are supplied with blood-vessels,\nwhich carry the nutritious fluid to them.\n\n1. The master tissues. Primarily, it is the tissue, and not the blood,\nthat gets loaded with carbonic acid, the latter simply receiving the\ngas from the former by diffusion, and the oxygen which passes from\nthe blood into the tissues being at once taken up in some combination.\n\n2. Nearly one-half of the weight of the body consists of the skeletal\nmuscles, and about one-quarter of the total blood in the body is\ncontained in them.\n\n3. The muscles are always producing carbonic acid (CO2), and when\nthey contract there is a sudden and extensive increase of the normal\nproduction.\n\n4. Oxygen is necessary for the life of the muscle; it is for the\nnervous tissue, but for muscular tissue especially.\n\n5. When venous blood, instead of arterial, is sent through the\nblood-vessel of a muscle, the irritability speedily disappears,\nand unless fresh oxygen is administered the muscle soon ceases to\nact and dies.\n\n6. The oxidation power is determined by the tissue and by the tissue\nonly.\n\n7. All the available evidence goes to show that oxidation takes place\nin all the tissues and not in the adjoining blood.\n\nThe master tissues of the body are the muscular and nervous\ntissues. All other tissues may be regarded as the servants to these.\n\nThese tissues are the all-important tissues in the body. The muscular\ntissues constitute and carry out the power, force, or energy of the\nbody. They set the body in motion. They do the work. They regulate\nthe delicate movements of the organs of special sense or function,\nas the eye, the ear, the tongue, the nose, larynx, thorax, abdomen;\nand fighting, defending, building, destroying, labor and mechanical\nskill of whatever nature, depend on them. Of exercise, sport, pain\nand pleasure, sensation, emotion, expression of the face, in fact\nall in all in every act of life, the muscles, the voluntary muscles,\nmust perform the work.\n\nThey are called the muscles of Animal life. They are Voluntary;\nthey may be set in action at will.\n\nFor guidance, control, co\u00f6rdination, sensation, and motion, the\nmuscular tissues are dependent on the nervous tissues.\n\nIt is not difficult to understand, I think, as will be explained\nlater on, that all muscular movements are perfectly natural, purely\nphysical and mechanical.\n\nThe nervous tissue will be a little more difficult to comprehend,\nfor causes that are reasonable and plain.\n\nAll animals are provided with two distinct sets of organs: 1. The\nmaster tissues, the nervous and muscular tissues, the voluntary\nmuscular tissues, which are the organs of animal life, the voluntary,\nthe active organs that do the work, consume the food, and throw off\nthe waste material; and 2. The servants to these, the involuntary\ntissues, the organs of organic life that prepare the food, carry it\nto the master tissues, and bring away the waste material.\n\nThe inherent qualities of both these sets of organs are instinctive,\nwith this difference--the former, the voluntary, the controlling and\nworking master tissues, are capable of development, progressively,\nacquiring intelligence, maturing into educatedness, etc.\n\nThe latter, the involuntary, are simply servants to these, and\nthey perform their functions in the same manner instinctively all\nthrough life.\n\nThe muscular and nervous tissues are the educable tissue. By\nrepetition, practice, and exercise they improve and at length exhibit\ncertain degrees of skill in the performance of their work.\n\nOn the other hand, the organs of mastication, deglutition, digestion,\nabsorption, excretion, circulation, and respiration simply perform\ntheir functions instinctively, without possessing the capacity of\nimprovement, and without regard to volition. These act involuntarily\nthroughout life, as preparers and carriers of nourishment to the\nmaster tissues, and removers of waste material.\n\nThe work of the muscular tissues is comparatively easy to\nunderstand. We can see the work done, can account for it, can\ndemonstrate it. The performances are capable of absolute proof,\nand controversy therefore is out of question.\n\nThe nervous tissues present quite another state of things. The great\nmass of cerebral matter, with all its complicated organs and their\nappendages, are hid within the cranium of the skull. We have no ocular\nproof of anything that is done by that structure, or of the manner\nin which the tissue acts. That we can see, hear, taste, and smell we\nknow. We recognize the organs that perform these functions. Sensation,\nfeeling, memory, thinking, cannot so easily be accounted for. Among\nthe masses it is a mystery to-day. The doctrine of a dual existence\nin man is old, still it is held on to with remarkable tenacity. The\nchurch still teaches and preaches that soul or spirit is a part of\nsome great personality or individuality not at all connected with\nnature--supernatural, divine, godly. This supernatural part, it is\nsaid, is placed in man some time during the process of birth. This\nsubject will be more fully discussed farther on, in order to show what\nqueer views theologians formerly held on some scientific subjects. I\nbeg to quote from a Talmudistic scholar and philosopher some thousand\nyears ago:\n\n\n\n\nPHILOSOPHICO-ANATOMICAL VIEWS OF A CELEBRATED HEBREW AUTHOR, AFTER\nTALMUDISTIC INTERPRETATION.\n\nJehuda ha-Levi ben Samuel, whose Arabic name was Abulhassan,\nconsidered an authority and philosopher of repute, was born in Castile\n1085 A.D. He adopted medicine for his profession, but was also a\ntraveler, philosopher, and student, and a Talmudistic scholar and\nwriter. He wrote a book called \"Sepher Hakusir: Book Kusari.\" It is\na philosophico-theologico-scientific treatise, conducted in dialogue\nbetween himself and the king of Kusar, who became convinced of the\ntruth of his argument and was converted to the Hebrew faith.\n\nIn the fourth part, section 25, page 246, Jehuda ha-Levi is explaining\nthe harmonious working of the whole universe, and in evidence thereof\nhe cites the world, soul, and year, very learnedly setting forth\nthe mysterious working of creation, the supernatural origin and\nsignificance of the Hebrew letters, the secret and hidden meaning of\ntheir number, etc. This is based upon the principle that one rests\non three, three on seven, and seven on twelve, as follows:\n\n\n Letters: Three Mothers, A. M. Sh.\n Alof, Mem, Shin.\n World, Air, Water, Fire.\n Man, Chest, Abdomen, Head.\n Year, Dampness, Cold, Heat.\n\n Letters: Seven double one.\n B. G. D. K. Ph. R. T.\n Bet, Gimmel, Dalet, Kof, Fe, Rosh, Tave.\n\n\nWorld: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon.\n\nMan: Wisdom, riches, dominion, life, kindness, posterity, peace.\n\nYear: The seven days in the week.\n\nThe twelve single one letters not mentioned--Man: Organs of hearing,\nseeing, smelling, speaking, tasting, begetting, dealing, walking,\nthinking, anger, laughing, sleeping.\n\nWorld: The twelve Zodiacs.\n\n\n\"One on three and three on seven and seven on twelve. And these\nnumbers have their functions in common one with another. For example,\n'the kidneys counsel,' 'the spleen laughs,' 'the stomach sleeps,'\n'the liver gets angry.' It is not to be wondered at that the kidneys\nhave power to give counsel; we observe something similar when the\ntesticles have been removed; one that has been castrated is weaker\nthan a woman; the beard does not grow, and, what is more significant,\nthe person can no longer give advice, counsel. The spleen laughs\nbecause of her natural functions, by reason of the blood being\nprotected against the black gall and thickening and turbidity,\nand from this clearness, purity, nothing but brightness and joy\ncomes. The liver is angry because of the bitterness she forms. The\nstomach sleeps by reason that it stands in relation with the organs\nof nourishment. The heart is not thought of, because it is the\nking. No more do they take in consideration the lungs and diaphragm,\nbecause they are necessarily so constituted to be of service to the\nheart; accidentally only do they serve the rest of the body, and\nare originally not designed to serve. The brain is under the senses,\nwhich emanate from that organ, and are thence distributed. Moreover,\nas to the organs that are situated below the diaphragm, therein\nlies a deep meaning. These are the primary vegetations, the primary\ngeneratives. The diaphragm separates the vegetative from the animal\nlife, as the throat separates the animal from the rational (Plato in\nhis Tim\u00e6us explains). Out of the primary generatives, out of the world\nvegetative, there where the root of being exists, the seed comes, and\nthere the embryo is fashioned out of four elements. God has selected\ncertain parts for his sacrifices--fat, blood, the peritoneum on the\nliver, the kidneys. On the contrary, he did not select the heart,\nor the brain, or the lungs, or the diaphragm. This is a deep mystery;\nthe explanation is forbidden. Therefore the prescript, that the Jezisa\nis permitted to be studied only after undergoing some preparation,\nby few persons, and only under certain formalities,\" etc.\n\nMaimonides, or Moses ben Maimon (Rambam), 1131-1205 A.D., wrote\nGod Hazaker, the Strong Hand, a very celebrated commentary on the\nTalmud. He held similar views, and is also considered a very learned\nauthority.\n\n\n\nTHE MUSCULAR TISSUES.\n\nThe voluntary muscles are for the most part placed in close relation\nwith the skeleton, being attached to the hard parts, and moving these\nin different directions by their contraction.\n\nThe muscles are all symmetrical, and with the exception of the\nsphincters and one or two others are in pairs. Each muscle constitutes\na separate organ, composed chiefly of contractile fibrous tissue,\nwhich is called muscular, and of other tissues and parts which may be\nregarded as accessory. Thus muscular fibers are connected together\nin bundles or fasciculi, and these fasciculi are again embedded in\nand united together by a quantity of connective tissue, forming the\nperimysium; and the whole is usually inclosed in an external sheath\nof the same material. Many of the muscles are connected at their more\nor less tapering extremities with tendons by which they are attached\nto the bones or hard parts; and the tendinous bands frequently run to\na considerable length either on the surface of the muscle or between\nits fibers.\n\nThere are two chief kinds of muscular tissue, the striped, and\nthe plain or unstriped, and they are distinguished by structural\npeculiarities and mode of action. The striped form of muscular fibers\nis sometimes called voluntary muscle, because all muscles under the\ncontrol of the will are constructed of it. The plain or unstriped\nvariety is often termed involuntary, because it alone is found in\nthe greater number of muscles over which the will has no power.\n\nThe involuntary or unstriped muscles are made up of elongated,\nspindle-shaped fiber cells, which in their most perfect form are flat,\nfrom about 1/4500 to 1/3500 of an inch broad, and about 1/600 to 1/300\nof an inch in length; very clear, and granular and brittle so that\nwhen they break they often have abruptly rounded or square extremities.\n\nThe fibers of involuntary muscles form the proper muscular coats of\nthe digestive canal, \u00e6sophagus, urinary bladder, trachea, bronchi,\ngall-bladder, blood-vessels, lymphatics, etc. To this kind of fiber,\nmuscular fiber, the term organic is often applied. The sympathetic or\nganglionic portion of the nervous system, which consists of a chain\nof ganglia connected by nervous cords, extends from the cranium to\nthe pelvis, along each side of the vertebral column, and from which\nnerves with ganglia proceed to the viscera in the thoracic, abdominal,\nand pelvic cavities. By its distribution, as well as by its peculiar\nmode of action, this system is less immediately connected with the\nmind, as conducting either sensation or the impulses of the will;\nit is more closely connected than the cerebro-spinal system is with\nthe processes of organic life.\n\nThe muscles of animal life, or striped muscles, include the whole class\nof voluntary muscles, the heart, and those muscles neither completely\nvoluntary nor completely involuntary, etc. All these muscles are\ncomposed of fleshy bundles called fasciculi, inclosed in coverings\nof fibro-cellular tissue, by which each is at once connected with,\nand isolated from, those adjacent to it. Each bundle is again divided\ninto smaller ones similarly ensheathed and similarly divisible; and\nso on, through an uncertain number of gradations, till we arrive at\nthe primitive fasciculi or the muscular fibers peculiarly so called.\n\nMuscular fibers consist each of a tube or sheath of delicate\nstructureless membrane, inclosing a number of filaments or\nfibrils. They are of cylindrical form, or of prismatic with one or\nmore sides, according to the manner in which they are compressed by\nadjacent tissues. Their average diameter is about 1/500 of an inch,\nand their length never exceeds an inch and a half.\n\nThe arrangement of the elementary substances in a muscular fiber\n(the sarcos element or protoplasm inclosed in the sarcolemna,\nthe sheath) composing a muscular fiber may be compared to Volta's\npile or an electric battery. In fact, both muscle and nerve are\nmade up of electrical molecules, each of the two ends of which is\nnegative--though the development of the electrical current is at\npresent very imperfectly known.\n\nBesides, there is every reason to believe that the ground substance\nis similar in nature to ordinary protoplasm, but without the granular\ncharacter commonly but not always exhibited.\n\nBlood-vessels are largely distributed in the substance of a muscle,\ncarrying the materials necessary for its nourishment and chemico-vital\nchanges, and there are also lymphatic vessels as in other vascular\nparts of the body.\n\nNerves run through every muscle, by which the muscular contractions\nare called forth, and a low degree of muscular sensibility is conferred\nupon the muscular substance.\n\nThe blood-vessels of the muscular tissues are extremely abundant, so\nthat when they are successfully filled with a colored injection the\nfleshy parts of the muscle contrast strongly with its tendons. The\narteries, accompanied by their veins, enter the muscle at various\npoints and divide into branches, etc.\n\nThe nerves of a voluntary muscle are of considerable size. Their\nbranches pass between the fasciculi and repeatedly unite with each\nother in form of a plexus, which is for the most part confined to\na small part of the length of the muscle, or muscular division,\nin which it lies.\n\nThe voluntary muscles to which distinct names have been given in\nthe system amount to about 240, and they naturally fall under the\nfollowing four great divisions (the muscles are symmetrical and with\nfew exceptions are in pairs):\n\nA. In the axial part of the body:\n 1. Muscles of the head and neck, 75\n 2. Muscles of the vertebral column and trunk, 51\n\nB. In the limbs:\n 3. Muscles of the upper extremities, 58\n 4. Muscles of the lower extremities, 59\n\nFlesh and blood have nearly the same ultimate composition. On\nevaporating 1000 parts of blood it yields 790 parts of water and 210\nparts solid residue. The elements that enter into the composition of\nthe solid matter are as follows:\n\n\n Flesh. Blood.\n\n Carbon, 51.86 51.96\n Hydrogen, 7.58 7.25\n Nitrogen, 15.03 15.07\n Oxygen, 21.30 21.30\n Ashes, 4.23 4.43\n\n\nThe general composition of a human muscle is shown by the following\ntable:\n\n\n Water, 744.5\n { Myosin and other matters,\n { elastic elements, etc. 155.4\n Solids. { Soluble elements, 19.3\n { Gelatine, 20.7\n { Extractives, 37.1\n { Fats, 23.02 55.5\n\n\nThe muscles of the flesh form a large proportion of the weight of\nthe whole body. Calculated for a man of 150 pounds' weight:\n\n\n The skeleton, bone, 27 lbs.\n The muscles, 63 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n The viscera, with skin, fat, blood, etc., 60 \u00a0,,\u00a0\n\n\nThe property of muscular tissue by which its peculiar functions are\nexercised, is its contractility--contraction or shortening. This\nis excited by all kinds of stimuli, applied either directly to the\nmuscles, or indirectly to them through the medium of their nerves.\n\nThe muscular tissues perform all the physical work--as locomotion,\nevery kind of action and exertion--of the body.\n\nThe quantity of blood circulated through the body is estimated to be\nfrom about 1/10 to about 1/13 part of the body's weight, and about\n1/4 of that is distributed in the muscles.\n\nAs regards the action of the muscles the following general principles\nought to be kept in view:\n\n1. That the force exerted by any muscle during its contraction is\nin proportion to the number of muscular elements or fibers composing\nthe muscle.\n\n2. That the extent of motion, in so far as it merely depends on the\nshortening of the fibers of the muscle, is in proportion to the length\nof the fibers.\n\n3. That the direction of the force produced by a contracting muscle\nis in the line of the axis of the whole muscle if it runs straight\nbetween its opposite points of attachment, but in the line of the\nportion attached to the moving part of the muscle, or its tendon,\nif it be bent in its course, etc.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CEREBRO-SPINAL SYSTEM.\n\nThe Nervous Tissue.\n\nThe nervous system consists of the cerebrum, pons varolii, cerebellum,\nmedulla oblongata, the spinal cord with its nerves and the sympathetic\nganglia, etc.\n\nThe cerebrum or brain proper constitutes the highest and much the\nlargest portion of the encephalon. The cerebrum consists of two halves,\nthat are connected with each other by the corpus callosum, and with\nthe peduncular masses of the cruri cerebri, the processus a cerebello\nad cerebrum; the series of eminences, or cerebral centers or ganglia,\nconcealed from view, named corpora quadrigemina, optic thalamus and\ncorpora striata, etc.\n\nThe cerebral hemispheres are by far the most bulky part of the\ncerebrum. Various commissural structures unite the two hemispheres,\nincluding the corpus callosum and fornix; and some smaller structures,\nviz., the pineal gland, the petuitary bodies, and the olfactory bulb.\n\nThe cerebral hemispheres together form an ovoid mass, in contact\nwith the vault of the cranium, and with its smaller end forward,\nits greatest width being opposite to the parietal eminences. They\nare separated in the greater part of their extent by the great\nlongitudinal fissure.\n\nThe surface of the hemisphere is composed of gray matter, and is molded\ninto numerous smooth tortuous eminences, named convolutions, or gyri,\nwhich are marked off from one another by deep furrows, called sulci.\n\nThe cerebrum is divided into lobes for convenience of study, five in\nnumber, called frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, sphenoidal,\nand central.\n\nThe internal structure of the cerebrum is composed of white matter. It\nconsists of tubular fibers varying in size in various parts, but in\ngeneral still smaller than those in the cord, their average diameter\nbeing 1/10000 of an inch. The fibers of white substance present no\ndivision. They are arranged in bundles, separated by a network of\ndelicate connective tissue, consisting of cells, etc. The cells\nare of various forms and sizes--spheroidal, angular, fusiform,\netc. The fibers radiate from the white center of each convolution\nin all directions into the gray cortex, having a course for the most\npart perpendicular to the free surface. In passing through the gray\nsubstance they are arranged in bundles about 1/1500 of an inch in\ndiameter, thus separating some of the nerve cells, etc.\n\nThe olfactory tract and bulb, the corpora quadrigemina, corpora\ngenicolate, optic thalamus, corpora striata, are all more or less\nmixed. They possess gray matter.\n\nThe nerves immediately connected with the brain are of several\nkinds. And there are twelve pairs of them. They are called cerebral\nnerves.\n\nThere are four kinds.\n\n1. Nerves of special sense.\n\n2. Nerves of common sensation.\n\n3. Nerves of motion.\n\n4. Mixed nerves of sensation and motion.\n\nThe nerves of special sense may with great propriety be termed the\nnerves of observation, perception--the gateways of intelligence\nand education.\n\nI.--Nerves of special sense:\n\n1. The olfactory supplies the nose, special sense of smell.\n\n2. The optic supplies the eye, special sense of sight.\n\n3. The auditory supplies the ear, special sense of hearing.\n\n4. Part of the glosso-pharyngeal supplies the tongue and pharynx.\n\n5. The gustatory, lingual branch of the fifth, supplies the tongue,\nsense of taste.\n\nII.--Nerves of common sensation:\n\n1. The ophthalmic supplies the eye.\n\n2. The superior maxillary supplies the upper jaw and teeth.\n\n3. The inferior maxillary supplies the lower jaw and teeth.\n\nIII.--Nerves of motion:\n\n1. The third nerve, motor acuti. }\n }\n2. The fourth nerve, trochlear or } Supply the muscles\n pathetic. } of the eye.\n }\n3. The fifth, branch of fifth. }\n }\n4. The sixth, abducers. }\n\n5. The facial nerve supplies the muscles of the face.\n\n6. The hyperglossal supplies the muscles of the tongue.\n\nIV.--Mixed nerves:\n\n1. The pneumogastric supplies lungs, heart, stomach, larynx, etc.\n\n2. The spinal accessory supplies some muscles of the back.\n\nThe average weight of the brain in the adult male is about 49 1/2\nounces, a little more than three pounds avoirdupois; in the female\n44 ounces; the average difference between the two being from 5 to\n6 ounces.\n\nThe spinal cord has a length of about 16 to 17 inches, and weighs\nabout 1 1/2 ounces.\n\nThe spinal cord is a continuation of the medulla oblongata, is lodged\nin the spinal canal, and gives off 31 pairs of nerves, that supply\nall the muscles of the body with sensitive and motor nerves.\n\nThe medulla oblongata is pyramidal in form, having its broad extremity\nupwards. It is expanded laterally at its upper part. Its length from\nthe pons varolii to the lower extremity of the pyramid is about an\ninch and a quarter; its greatest breadth is nearly an inch; and its\nthickness from before backwards is about three-quarters of an inch.\n\nThe medulla is the link between the brain and the spinal cord. The\nmajority of centers for various organic functions are situated in it;\nas follows:\n\n1. The respiratory center, with its neighboring convulsive center\n(venous blood excites convulsive centers, etc.). 2. The vaso-motor\ncenter. 3. The cardiac-inhibitory center. 4. The diabetic center,\nor center for producing artificial diabetes. 5. The center for\ndeglutition. 6. The center for the movements of the \u00e6sophagus, with its\nvomiting center. 7. The center for reflex excitation of the secretion\nof saliva, with which may be associated the center through which the\nv\u00e6jus (pneumogastric) influences the secretions of pancreatic juice,\nand possibly of the other digestive juices. 8. The center for the\ndilation of the pupil by means of the cervical sympathetic.\n\nFrom the surface of the medulla certain of the cranial nerves arise,\nnamely the sixth (abducens), glosso-pharyngeal, pneumogastric, spinal\naccessory, etc.\n\nThe fibers from the spinal cord pass upwards through the medulla\noblongata and various other structures and finally reach the cerebrum.\n\nThe cerebellum, or hinder brain, consists of a body, and of three\npairs of crura or peduncles, by which it is connected with the rest\nof the cerebro-spinal axis. The cerebellum is covered with a gray\ncortical substance, rather darker than that of the cerebrum. Its\ngreatest diameter is transverse, and extends to about three and a\nhalf or four inches; its width from before backwards is about two or\ntwo and a half inches; and its greatest depth is about two inches,\nbut it is much thinner round its outer border. It consists of two\nlateral hemispheres joined by a median portion called the vermiform\nprocess, and other structures therewith connected, etc.\n\nMinute structure: The cortical gray substance is composed of an\nexternal clear gray layer, an inner grayish-red \"granule\" layer, and\nbetween the two a single layer of large cells with long processes,\ntermed the corpuscles of Porkinge (after the man who first described\nthem). Outside all is the layer of fibers and vessels of the pia\nmater. The external layer consists of a delicate matrix, probably of\nthe nature of connective tissue, consisting of cells and fibers, etc.\n\nThe cerebellum is probably concerned in the co\u00f6rdination of\nmovements. Its functions seem especially connected with afferent\nimpulses proceeding from the semicircular coats.\n\nThe spinal cord is a cylindriform column of nerve substance connected\nabove with the brain, through the medium of the medulla oblongata,\nterminating below, about the lower border of the first lumbar vertebra,\nin a slender filament of gray or vesicular substance, the filum\nterminale, which lies in the midst of knots of many nerves forming the\ncod\u00e6 equina. Through the center of the cord, running in a longitudinal\ndirection, is a minute canal, which is continuous through the whole\nlength of the cord, and opens above into the space at the back of the\nmedulla oblongata and pons varolii, called the fourth ventricle; the\naqueduct of silvius connects it with the third ventricle, lateral and\nfifth ventricles, near the base of the brain. The cerebro-spinal fluid\ncirculates in the interior of these ventricles and spinal cord. What\nprecise mechanical function it subserves is only surmised, not known.\n\nThe cerebro-spinal axis is protected by three membranes, named also\nmeninges. They are: 1. An external fibrous membrane, named dura mater,\nwhich closely lines the interior of the skull, and forms a loose\nsheath in the spinal canal; 2. An internal areolo-vascular tunic,\nthe pia mater, which accurately covers the brain and spinal cord;\nand, 3. An intermediate membrane, the arachnoid, which lies over the\npia mater, the two being in some places in close connection, and in\nothers separated by a considerable space.\n\nThe sympathetic nerves are distributed in general to all the internal\nviscera, and to the coats of the blood-vessels. Some organs, however,\nreceive their nerves also from the cerebro-spinal system, as the lungs,\nthe heart, and the upper and lower parts of the alimentary canal.\n\nThe great gangliated cords consist of two series, in each of which the\nganglia are connected by intervening cords. These cords are placed\nsymmetrically in front of the vertebral column and extend from the\nbase of the skull to the coccyx.\n\nWith respect to the functions of the sympathetic nervous system, it\nmay be stated generally that the sympathetic nerve fibers are simple\nconductors of impressions as those of the cerebro-spinal system are,\nand that the ganglionic centers have (each in its appropriate sphere)\nthe like powers of conducting and of communicating impressions.\n\nThe general processes which the sympathetic appears to influence,\nare those of involuntary motion, secretion, and nutrition.\n\nNerve centers. This term is applied to all those parts of the\nnervous system which contain ganglion corpuscles, or vesicular\nnerve-substance--i.e., the brain, spinal cord, and the several ganglia\nwhich belong to the cerebro-spinal and the sympathetic system. Each\nof these nervous centers has a proper range of functions, the extent\nof which bears a direct proportion to the number of nerve fibers that\nconnect it with the various organs of the body, and with other nervous\ncenters; but they all have certain general properties and modes of\naction common to them as nervous centers. The brain does not issue\nany force, except when itself impressed by some force from within,\nor stimulated by an impression from without; neither do the other\nnerve centers without such previous impressions produce or issue\nmotor impulses.\n\nThe more certain and general office of all the nervous centers is that\nof variously disposing and transferring the impressions that reach them\nthrough the several centripetal fibers. In nerve fibers impressions\nare conducted only in the simple isolated course of the fiber; in\nall the nervous centers an impression may not only be conducted,\nbut also communicated; in the brain alone it may be perceived.\n\nIn all cases in which the mind either has cognizance of, or exercises\ninfluence on, the process carried on in any part supplied with the\nsympathetic nerve, there must be conduction of impressions through all\nthe nervous centers between the brain and the part. But instead of,\nor as well as, being conducted, impressions made on nervous centers\nmay be communicated from the fibers that brought them to others,\nand in this communication may be either transferred, diffused, or\nreflected. Along nerve fibers impressions or conditions of excitement\nare simply conducted; in nerve centers they may be made to deviate\nfrom their course, and may be variously diffused, reflected, or\notherwise disposed of.\n\nFunction of nerves. The office of nerves as simple conveyors or\nconductors of nervous impressions is of a twofold kind: 1. They\nserve to convey to the nervous centers the impressions made upon the\nperipheral extremities or parts of their course; 2. They serve to\ntransmit impressions from the brain and other nervous centers to the\nparts to which they are distributed. For this twofold office of the\nnerves two distinct sets of nerve fibers are provided, in both the\ncerebro-spinal and sympathetic systems. Those which convey impressions\nfrom the periphery to the center are classed together as centripetal\nor afferent nerves, or nerves of sensation--sensitive nerves. Those,\non the other hand, which are employed to transmit central impulses\nto the periphery are classed as centrifugal or afferent nerves or\nmotor nerves, conveying impulses to the voluntary and involuntary\nmuscles, etc.\n\nNerves are constructed of minute fibers or tubules full of nervous\nmatter, arranged in parallel or interlacing bundles, which bundles are\nconnected by intervening connective tissue in which their principal\nblood-vessels ramify.\n\nThe size of nerve fibers varies, and the same fibers do not preserve\nthe same diameter through their whole length, being largest in their\ncourse within their trunk and branches of nerves, in which the majority\nmeasure from 1/2000 to 1/3000 of an inch in diameter. As they approach\nthe brain or spinal cord, and generally also in the tissue in which\nthey are distributed, they gradually become smaller. In the gray or\nvesicular substance of the brain or spinal cord they generally do\nnot measure more than from 1/10000 to 1/14000 of an inch.\n\nThe chemical composition of nervous matter. Like most of the other\ntissues of the body, the nervous substance contains a large proportion\nof water (from three-fourths to four-fifths of its weight). Of the\nresidue which remains after the removal of this by evaporation or other\nmeans, the larger part consists of a phosphuretted fat, which may be\nobtained crystallized, and in this condition was termed protagon. The\ncrystalline substance, however, is in reality a mixture of two other\nsubstances, lecithin and neurin. Cerebrin is also described as being\nfrequently met with in conjunction with lecithin.\n\n\n Lecithin. Neurin. Cerebrin. Cholestrin.\n\n Carbon, 44 5 17 26\n Hydrogen, 90 15 33 44\n Nitrogen, 1 1 1\n Phosphorus, 1\n Oxygen, 9 2 3 1\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nFOOD AND FOOD-SUBSTANCES.\n\n\nThere are two kinds of food: 1. Those food substances that are derived\nfrom the animal kingdom; and, 2. Food substances that are derived\nfrom the vegetable kingdom.\n\nFood is taken into the system to replace the material expended by\nthe human body, or the waste products which are thrown off from the\nmaster tissues.\n\nDefinition: Food may be defined to be any natural substance, vegetable\nor animal, recognized as such, that has undergone neither the process\nof fermentation nor that of putrefaction.\n\nFood may be considered in its relation to two purposes--the nutrition\nof the tissues, and the production of heat. Under the first of these\nheads will be included many other allied functions, as for example,\nsecretion and generation; and under the second, not the production\nof heat only as such, but of all other forces correlated with it,\nwhich are manifested by the living body.\n\nFoods derived from the animal kingdom are called nitrogenous\nsubstances, or azotized. They are also known by the name of\nproteids. These are mainly derived from meat, milk, eggs, etc. Of\nseveral we will examine the chemical composition.\n\nIt will be well to state in general terms that all food substances\ncontain in their composition from two-thirds to three-fourths, or\neven more, of water--some more, some less.\n\n\nProteids.\n\n Albumen. Caseine. Syntonin. Gluten. Gelatine.\n\n Carbon, 72\n Hydrogen, 112\n Oxygen, 23\n Nitrogen, 18\n Sulphur, 1\n Phosphorus, R. 2\n\n\nNon-Nitrogenous Substances.\n\n Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen.\n\n 1. Starch (amyloids), 18 30 15\n Sugar cane, 12 22 11\n 2. Oils and fats composed of stearic acid 18 36 2\n of mutton or beef,\n 3. Mineral--Saline matters, as chloride of\n sodium, phosphate of lime.\n\n\nAnimals cannot subsist on any but organic substances, and these must\ncontain the elements which are naturally combined with them--in\nother words, not even organic compounds are nutritive unless they\nare supplied in their natural state. Pure fibrine, pure gelatine,\nand other principles purified from the substances naturally\nmingled with them, are incapable of supporting life for more than a\nbrief time. Moreover, health cannot be maintained by any number of\nsubstances derived exclusively from one only of the two chief groups\nof elementary principles mentioned above. A mixture of nitrogenous\nand non-nitrogenous organic substances, together with the inorganic\nprinciples which are severally contained in them, is essential to the\nwell-being, and generally even to the existence, of an animal. The\ntruth of this is demonstrated by experiments performed for the purpose;\nand is also well illustrated by the composition of the food prepared\nby nature as the exclusive source of nourishment to the young mammals,\nnamely milk. The composition of milk is:\n\n\n Human. Cow's.\n\n Water, 890 858\n Solids, 110 142\n ---- ----\n 1000 1000\n\n Caseine, 35 68\n Butter, 25 38\n Sugar (with extracts), 48 30\n Salts, 2 6\n --- ---\n 110 142\n\n\n Carb. Hyd. Nit. Oxy. Sulph. R (unknown).\n Caseine, 72 112 18 23 1 2\n\n\nIn milk, it will be seen from the preceding table, the albuminous\ngroup of aliments is represented by the caseine, the oleaginous by the\nbutter, the aqueous by the water, the saccharine by the sugar of milk.\n\nLet us compare the composition of these four organic substances\nand water:\n\n\n Oxy. Hyd. Carb. Nitr. Sulph. R (unknown\n element).\n Water, 1 2\n Sugar, OH2+ 11 22 12\n Caseine, 23 112 72 18 1 2\n Olein, 6 38 21\n\n\nAmong the salts of milk are phosphate of lime, alkaline and other\nsalts, and a trace of iron; so that it may be briefly said to include\nall the substances which the tissues of a growing animal need for their\nnutrition and which are required for the production of animal heat.\n\nThe yolk and albumen of eggs stand in the same relation as food for the\nembryos of oviparous animals, that milk does to the young mammalia;\nand affords another example of mixed food being provided as the most\nperfect nutrition. The composition of fowl's egg is:\n\n\n White. Yolk.\n\n Water, 80.0 53.73\n Albumen, 15.5 17.47\n Mucus, 4.5 yellow oil 28.75\n Salts, 4.0 6.0\n\n\nThe food substances. 1. Amyloids, starch and sugars. Starch is derived\nfrom grain and vegetables, as wheat, barley, rye, oats, corn, rice,\nsago, tapioca, beans, peas, etc.\n\nThe vegetables contain from 75 to 90 per cent of water. Starch and\nsugars are derived from such as potatoes, turnips, carrots, beets,\netc., etc.\n\nThe fruits are largely composed of water, sugars, and acids.\n\nAll these classes of food contain only three elements.--Starch:\n\n\n Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen.\n 18 30 15\n\n\nIn their composition we have fifteen molecules of water presented\ncarrying eighteen atoms of carbon. Sugar:\n\n\n Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen.\n 12 22 11\n\n\nIn this case again we have eleven molecules of water carrying twelve\natoms of carbon. This is the chemical composition of starch and\nsugar food.\n\n2. Fats are also composed of three elements only--carbon, hydrogen,\nand oxygen. Take the fat of mutton or pork:\n\n\n Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen.\n 21 40 1\n\n\nAll other animal oils and fats are composed of these three elements\nonly.\n\n3. Albuminous substances--meats, beef, mutton, veal, pork, birds,\nand fish, of all descriptions.\n\n4. Besides these, mineral salts, already mentioned.\n\n5. And lastly, water--of which by far the greatest quantity is\nconsumed.\n\nThe quantity of food ought to be in amount sufficient to replace the\nwaste products of the body. An amount should be taken into the system\nequal in kind and quantity to the material expended.\n\nSince we know the amount of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and\nthe salts that are excreted by the kidneys, skin, and lungs, we may\neasily calculate the amount of various kinds of food needed to replace\nthem. The outcome being known, the income can be regulated accordingly.\n\nThe expenditure or waste, we have seen, in daily loss amounts in carbon\nto about 4,500 grains, and in nitrogen to 300 grains; besides a certain\nquantity of water, etc. We therefore require starchy substances, meat\nand fat, water, etc., to replace the quantity lost. Bread, for example,\ncontains 30 per cent of carbon and 1 per cent of nitrogen. If bread\nalone, therefore, were taken as food, a man would require in order\nto obtain the requisite nitrogen 30,000 grains, containing of carbon,\n9,000 grains; of nitrogen, 300 grains--an excess of carbon above the\namount required of 4,500 grains. But a combination of bread and meat\nwould supply much more economically what was necessary:\n\n\n Carbon. Nitrogen.\n 15,000 grains of bread (rather more\n than 2 pounds) contains 4,500 grs. 150 grs.\n 5,000 grains of meat (about 3/4\n pounds) contains 500 150\n ----- ---\n 5,000 300\n\n\nSo that 3/4 pounds meat and 2 pounds of bread, or its equivalent,\nwould supply the needful carbon and nitrogen with but little waste.\n\nFrom all these facts it will be plain that a mixed diet is the best\nand most economical for man; and the result of experience entirely\ncoincides with what might have been anticipated on theoretical\ngrounds only.\n\nThe quality and quantity of foods to be taken depends largely upon\ntheir digestibility.\n\nThe quantity of food necessary for a healthy man taking free exercise\nin the open air is as follows:\n\n\n Meat 16 ounces or 1 pound avoir.\n Bread and all other 19 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 ,, 1.19 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n carbohydrates,\n Fat, butter, 3 1/2 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 ,, 0.22 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n Water 52 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 ,, 3.38 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\nThe quantity and quality of food taken into the system every\ntwenty-four hours, should depend upon the amount and kind of labor\ndone, whether muscular or nervous, whether sitting or not, inactive or\nactive, whether indoors or out of doors; upon the kind of atmosphere we\nbreathe; upon season and climate, etc.; also upon the opportunities we\nhave of throwing off the surplus carbon and nitrogen that the system\nhas been overcrowded with.\n\nThese conditions determine the proper variations of the income, since\nthat has to be regulated and corrected by the outcome, and amounts\nafter all to just so much carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur,\nphosphorus, saline matter, and water as are contained in the proteids,\nfats, carbohydrates, salts, and water.\n\nIt matters little how food is prepared. The main feature is that the\nsupply is equal to the loss, of good and wholesome quality. Whether\nthe food is manipulated by an artistic $10,000 cook or by a plain,\nclean housewife, the result is the same. Whether the special sense of\ntaste, the gustatory nerve, has or has not undergone a high course\nof training and education, the fact remains that all that can be\nsupplied is the necessary material that has been expended by the work\nand labor done by the muscular and nervous tissues.\n\nThe subjoined results, selected from Boussingault, exhibit in a tabular\nform the relative quantity of organic and inorganic constituents in\nseveral kinds of herbage compared in several cases with the root or\ngrain. The water was previously driven off by thorough drying:\n\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n Leaves of Root of\n Mangel- Mangel- Potato Pea Clover Wheat\n Wurzel. Wurzel. Tops. Potatoes. Straw. Peas. Hay. Straw. Wheat.\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nCarbon 38.10 42.75 44.80 43.72 45.80 46.06 47.53 48.48 46.10\nHydrogen 5.10 5.77 5.10 6.00 5.00 6.09 4.69 5.41 5.80\nOxygen 30.80 43.58 30.50 44.88 35.57 40.53 37.96 38.79 43.40\nNitrogen 4.50 1.66 2.30 1.50 2.31 4.18 2.06 0.35 2.27\nAshes 21.50 6.24 3.90 3.90 11.32 3.14 7.76 6.97 2.43\n ------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\nSubjoined is a table from the same work of the percentage of mineral\nsubstances taken up from the soil by various plants:\n\n\n----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nSubstances Acids Oxide of\n Which -------------------------------- Iron, Charcoal,\n Yield Ammonia moisture,\n Ashes. Carbonic. Sulphuric. Phosphoric. Chlorine. Lime. Magnesia. Potash. Soda. Silica. etc. and loss.\n----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nPotatoes 13.4 7.1 11.3 2.7 1.8 5.4 51.5 traces 5.6 0.5 0.7\nMangel-\n Wurzel 16.1 1.6 6.1 5.2 7.0 4.4 39.0 6.0 8.0 2.5 4.2\nTurnips 14.0 10.9 6.0 2.9 10.9 4.3 39.7 4.1 6.4 1.2 5.5\nPotato\n Tops 11.0 2.2 10.8 1.6 2.3 1.8 44.5 traces 13.0 5.2 7.6\nWheat 0.0 1.0 47.0 traces 2.9 15.9 29.5 traces 1.3 0.0 2.4\nWheat\n Straw 0.0 1.0 3.1 0.5 8.5 5.0 9.2 0.3 67.6 1.0 3.7\nOats 1.7 1.0 14.9 0.5 3.7 7.7 12.9 0.0 53.3 1.3 3.0\nOat Straw 3.2 4.1 3.0 4.7 8.3 2.8 24.5 4.4 40.0 2.1 2.9\nClover 25.0 2.5 6.3 2.6 24.6 6.3 26.6 0.5 5.3 0.3 0.0\nPease 0.5 6.7 30.1 1.1 10.1 11.9 35.3 2.5 1.5 traces 2.3\nFrench\n Beans 3.3 1.3 26.8 0.1 5.8 11.5 49.1 0.0 1.0 traces 1.1\nHorse\n Beans 1.0 1.6 34.2 0.7 5.1 8.6 45.2 0.0 0.5 traces 3.1\n----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nTHE ELIMINATION OF WASTE SUBSTANCES.\n\n\nThe expenditures of the human body, or the waste products which\narise from the activity of the master tissues, are thrown off by\nthe excretory tissues, as the lungs, the skin, the kidneys, and the\nterminal part of the intestines.\n\nThe lungs are hollow organs, and we may consider them as really two\nbags containing air, each of which communicates by a separate orifice\nwith a common air tube, through the upper part of which, the larynx,\nthey freely communicate with the external atmosphere. The orifice of\nthe larynx is guarded by muscles, and can be opened or closed at will.\n\nEach lung is partially subdivided into separate portions called\nlobes. The right lung has three lobes, and the left lung has two. Each\nof these lobes, again, is composed of a large number of minute parts,\ncalled lobules. Each pulmonary lobule may be considered a lung in\nminiature, consisting as it does of a branch of a bronchial tube,\nair-cells, blood-vessels, nerves, and lymphatics, with a sparing\namount of areolar tissue.\n\nThe terminal portion of each lobule is composed of a group of\npouches or air-cells, which communicate with the intercellular air\npassages. These cells are of various forms, according to the mutual\npressure to which they are subject. Their cell walls are nearly in\ncontact, and they vary from 1/50 to 1/90 of an inch in diameter.\n\nOutside the cells a network of pulmonary capillaries is spread out\nso densely that the interspaces or meshes are even narrower than the\nvessels, which are on an average 1/3000 of an inch in diameter.\n\nBetween the atmospheric air in the cells and the blood in the\nvessels nothing intervenes but the thin membrane of the cells and the\ncapillaries, and the delicate epithelium lining the former. And the\nexposure of the blood to the air is the more complete because the folds\nof membrane between contiguous cells, and often the spaces between\nthe walls of the same, contain only a single layer of capillaries,\nboth sides of which are thus at once exposed to the air.\n\nThe enlargement of the capacity of the chest in inspiration is a\nmuscular act; the muscles concerned in producing the effect being\nchiefly the diaphragm, the external intercostal muscles, etc.\n\nFrom the enlargement produced in inspiration, the chest and lungs\nreturn in ordinary tranquil expiration by their elasticity; the\nforce employed by the inspiratory muscles in distending the chest and\novercoming the elastic resistance of the lungs and chest wall being\nreturned as an expiratory effort when the muscles are relaxed.\n\nThe acts of expansion and of contraction of the chest take up, under\nordinary circumstances, a nearly equal time, and can scarcely be said\nto be separated from each other by an intervening pause. The quantity\nof air that is changed in the lungs in each act of ordinary tranquil\nbreathing is variable, but probably 30 to 35 cubic inches are a fair\naverage in the case of healthy young and middle-aged men. The total\nquantity of air which passes into and out of the lungs of an adult,\nat rest, in 24 hours, has been estimated to be about 686,000 cubic\ninches. This quantity is largely increased by exertion; and it has\nbeen computed that the average amount for a hard-working laborer in\nthe same time is 1,568,390.\n\nBreathing air is the quantity of air which is habitually and almost\nuniformly changed in each act of breathing.\n\nComplemental air is the quantity of air over and above this which a\nman can draw into the lungs in the deepest inspiration.\n\nAfter ordinary expiration, such as that which expels the breathing\nair, a certain quantity of air remains in the lungs which may be\nexpelled by a forcible and deeper expiration; this is termed reserve\nair. But even after the most violent expiratory effort, the lungs are\nnot completely emptied; a certain quantity of air remains in them,\nover which there is no voluntary control, which may be called residual\nair. Its amount depends, in great measure, on the absolute size of the\nchest, and has been variously estimated at from 40 to 200 cubic inches.\n\n\n Power of Inspiratory Power of Expiratory\n Muscles. Muscles.\n\n 1.5 inches. weak 2.0 inches.\n 2.0 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ordinary 2.5 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n 2.5 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 strong 3.5 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n 3.5 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 very strong 4.5 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n 4.5 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 remarkable 5.8 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n 5.5 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 very remarkable 7.0 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n 6.0 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 extraordinary 8.5 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n 7.0 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 very extraordinary 10.0 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\nThe blood as it moves through the respiratory organs is exposed\nto the air that alternately moves into and out of the air-cells\nand minute bronchial tubes. The blood is propelled from the right\nventricle through the pulmonary capillaries in steady streams, and\nslowly enough to permit every minute portion of it to be for a few\nseconds exposed to the air, with only the thin walls of the capillary\nvessels and air-cells intervening.\n\nThe atmosphere we breathe has in every situation in which it has been\nexamined in its natural state a nearly uniform composition. It is a\nmixture of oxygen and nitrogen, carbonic acid, and watery vapor, with\ntraces of other gases, as ammonia, sulphuretta, hydrogen, etc. Of\nevery 100 volumes of pure atmospheric air, 79 volumes consist of\nnitrogen and 21 of oxygen, about. The proportion of carbonic acid\nis extremely small: 10,000 volumes of atmospheric air contains only\nabout 4 or 5 of carbonic acid. The average quantity of watery vapor\nin the atmosphere in this country is about 1.40 per cent.\n\nThe changes produced by respiration on the atmosphere are that:\n1. It is warmed; 2. Its carbonic acid is increased; 3. Its oxygen is\ndiminished; 4. Its watery vapor is increased; 5. A minute amount of\norganic matter and of free ammonia is added to it.\n\n1. The expired air is hotter than the inspired air. The temperature\nvaries from 97\u00b0 to 99 1/2\u00b0.\n\n2. Carbonic acid in respired air is always increased; but the\nquantity exhaled in a given time is subject to change from various\ncircumstances. From every volume of air inspired about 4 1/2 per cent\nof oxygen is abstracted; while rather a smaller quantity of carbonic\nacid is added in its place. Under ordinary circumstances, the quantity\nof carbonic acid exhaled into the air breathed by a healthy adult\nman amounts to 1,346 inches, or about 636 grains, per hour. It is\nestimated that the weight of carbon excreted from the lungs is about\n173 grains per hour, or rather more than 8 ounces in 24 hours.\n\nOf course the influence of age, sex, respiratory movements,\nexternal temperature, season of the year, purity of the respired air,\nhygrometric state of the atmosphere, period of day, food and drink,\nexercise and sleep, have to be taken in consideration.\n\nThe oxygen of respired air is always less than in the same air before\nrespiration, and its diminution is generally proportionate to the\nincrease of the carbonic acid. It has been shown that for every volume\nof carbonic acid exhaled into the air 1.17421 volumes of oxygen are\nabsorbed from it; and that when the average quantity of carbonic acid,\ni.e., 1,346 cubic inches, or 636 grains, is exhaled in the hour, the\nquantity of oxygen absorbed in the same time is 1,584 cubic inches,\nor 542 grains.\n\nThe nitrogen in the atmosphere, in relation to the respiratory process\nis supposed to serve only mechanically, by diluting the oxygen,\nand moderating the action upon the system.\n\nThe most obvious change which the blood undergoes in its passage\nthrough the lungs is that of color, the dark venous blood being\nexchanged for the bright scarlet arterial blood. It gains oxygen,\nloses carbonic acid, becomes 1\u00b0 to 2\u00b0 F. warmer; it coagulates sooner\nand more firmly, and contains more fibrine.\n\nThe venous blood as it issues from the right ventricle is loaded with\ncarbonic acid. The oxygen present is insufficient to the whole of the\nh\u00e6moglobin of the red corpuscles; much reduced h\u00e6moglobin is present,\nhence the purple color of venous blood. As the blood-vessels pass\nthrough the capillaries of the lungs, this reduced h\u00e6moglobin takes\nfrom the pulmonary air its complement of oxygen, all or nearly all\nthe h\u00e6moglobin of the red corpuscles becomes oxy-h\u00e6moglobin, and the\npurple color forthwith shifts into scarlet. The h\u00e6moglobin of arterial\nblood is saturated or nearly saturated with oxygen. Passing from\nthe left ventricle to the capillaries, some of the oxy-h\u00e6moglobin\ngives up its oxygen to the tissues, becomes reduced h\u00e6moglobin,\nand the blood in consequence becomes once more venous, with a\npurple hue. Thus the red corpuscles by virtue of their h\u00e6moglobin\nare emphatically oxygen-carriers. Undergoing no intrinsic change in\nitself, the h\u00e6moglobin combines in the lungs with oxygen, which it\ncarries to the tissues; these, more greedy of the oxygen than itself,\nrob it of its charge, and the reduced h\u00e6moglobin hurries back to the\nlung in venous blood for another portion. H\u00e6moglobin combines loosely\nwith carbonic oxide just as it does with oxygen, but the affinity\nwith the former is greater than with the latter. While carbonic oxide\nreadily turns out oxygen, oxygen cannot so readily turn out carbonic\nacid. This property of carbonic oxide explains its poisonous nature.\n\nRespiratory changes in the tissues. Arterial blood passing through the\nseveral tissues, becomes once more venous. A considerable quantity\nof the oxy-h\u00e6moglobin becomes reduced, and a quantity of carbonic\nacid passes from the tissue into the blood. The blood which comes\nfrom a contracting muscle, is not only richer in carbonic acid,\nbut also, though not to a corresponding amount, poorer in oxygen,\nthan the blood which flows from a muscle at rest.\n\nA muscle is always producing carbonic acid, and when it contracts there\nis a sudden and extensive increase of the normal production. Oxygen\nis necessary for the life of the muscle. When venous blood instead\nof arterial blood is sent through the blood-vessel of a muscle,\nthe irritability speedily disappears, and unless fresh oxygen be\nadministered the muscle soon dies.\n\nOur knowledge of the respiratory changes in muscle is more complete\nthan in the case of any other tissue; but we have no reason to\nsuppose the phenomena of muscle are exceptional. On the contrary,\nall the available evidence goes to show that in all the tissues\nthe oxidation takes place in the tissues and not in the adjoining\nblood. It is a remarkable fact, that lymph, serous fluid, bile, urine,\nand the other secretions contain no free or loosely combined oxygen,\nwhile the tension of carbonic acid in peritoneal fluid is as high as\nsix per cent, and in bile and urine is still higher, etc.\n\nAll these facts point to the conclusion, that it is the tissues,\nand not the blood, which become primarily loaded with carbonic acid,\nthe latter simply receiving the gas from the former by diffusion;\nand that the oxygen which passes from the blood into the tissues is\nat once taken up in the same combinations, so that it is no longer\nremovable by diminished tension.\n\nThe production of carbonic acid in the muscle is not directly dependent\non the consumption of oxygen. The muscles produce carbonic acid in\nan atmosphere of hydrogen. What is true of muscle is true also of\nother tissues and of the body at large.\n\nOxygen helps to wind up the vital clock; but once wound up, the clock\nwill go on for a period without further winding (Pfl\u00fcger).\n\nTo sum up, then, the result of respiration in its chemical aspect. As\nthe blood passes through the lungs, the low oxygen tension of the\nvenous blood permits the entrance of oxygen from the air of the\npulmonary alveolus, through the thin alveolar wall, through the thin\ncapillary sheath, through the thin layer of blood plasma, to the red\ncorpuscles, and the reduced h\u00e6moglobin of the venous blood becomes\nwholly, or all but wholly, oxy-h\u00e6moglobin. Hurried to the tissues,\nthe oxygen, at a comparatively high tension in the arterial blood,\npasses largely into the tissues, in which the oxygen tension is always\nkept at an exceedingly low pitch, by the fact that the tissues, in\nsome way at present unknown to us, pack away, at every moment, into\nsome stable combination each molecule of oxygen which they receive\nfrom the blood. With much, but not all, of its oxy-h\u00e6moglobin reduced,\nthe blood passes on as venous blood. How much h\u00e6moglobin is reduced\nwill depend on the activity of the tissue itself. The quantity of\nh\u00e6moglobin in the blood is the measure of limit of the oxidizing power\nof the body at large; but within that limit the amount of oxidation\nis determined by the tissue, and by the tissue alone.\n\nThe skin is an excretory tissue, and consists principally of two\nlayers, an external covering of epithelium, termed the cuticle or\nepidermis, and a layer of vascular tissue, named the corium derma or\ncutis vera. The integument serves (1) for the protection of deeper\ntissues, (2) as a sensitive organ in the exercise of touch, (3) as an\nexcretory organ, (4) as an absorbing organ, (5) for regulating the\ntemperature of the body. Within and beneath the corium are imbedded\nseveral organs with special functions, namely, sudoriferous or sweat\nglands, sebaceous or fat glands, and hair follicles; and on its\nsurface are sensitive papill\u00e6. The so-called appendages of the skin,\nthe hair and nails, are modifications of the epidermis.\n\nSudoriferous glands: In the middle of each of the transverse furrows\nbetween the papill\u00e6, and irregularly scattered between the bases\nof the papill\u00e6 in those parts of the surface of the body in which\nthere are no furrows between them, are the orifices or ducts of the\nsudoriferous, or sweat glands, by which it is probable that a large\nportion of the aqueous and gaseous materials excreted by the skin are\nseparated. Each of these glands consists of a small lobular mass,\nwhich appears formed of a coil of tubular gland-duct surrounded by\nblood-vessels and imbedded in the subcutaneous adipose tissue. From\nthis mass the duct ascends, for a short distance, in a spiral manner\nthrough the deeper parts of the cutis, then passing straight, and\nthen sometimes again becoming spiral, it runs through the cuticle and\nopens by an oblique, valve-like apparatus. The sudoriferous glands\nare abundantly distributed over the whole surface of the body; but are\nespecially numerous, as well as very large, in the skin of the palm of\nthe hand. They are estimated from 2,738 to 3,528 in each superficial\nsquare inch. They are almost equally abundant and large in the skin\nof the sole. The glands by which the peculiar odorous matter of the\naxilla is secreted form a nearly complete layer under the cutis, and\nare like the ordinary sudoriferous glands, except in being larger\nand having very short ducts. In the neck and back, where they are\nleast numerous, the glands amount to 417 on the square inch. The\ntotal number is estimated, at 2,381,248; and supposing the orifice\nof each gland to present a surface of 1/54 of a line in diameter (and\nregarding a line as equal to 1/10 of an inch) the whole of the glands\nwould present an evaporating surface of about eight square inches.\n\nSebaceous glands secrete a peculiar fatty matter. Like the sudoriferous\nglands, they are abundantly distributed over most parts of the body.\n\nThe quantity of matter which leaves the human body by way of the skin\nis very considerable. It is estimated that while 7 grains pass through\nthe lungs per minute, as much as 11 escape through the skin. The\namount varies extremely. It is calculated that the total amount of\nperspiration excreted from the whole body in 24 hours might range\nfrom 2 to 20 kilos.\n\nThe total amount of perspiration is affected not only by the condition\nof the atmosphere, but also by the nature and quantity of food taken,\nthe amount of fluid drunk, and the amount of exercise taken. It is\nalso influenced by the mental condition, by medicines and poisons, by\ndisease, and by the relative activity of the other excreting organs,\nmore particularly the kidneys.\n\nThe fluid perspiration or sweat, when collected, is found to be a\nclear colorless fluid, with a strong and distinctive odor varying\naccording to the part of the body from which it is taken. Besides\naccidental epidermic scales, it contains no structural elements. Its\nreaction is generally acid, but in cases of excessive secretion may\nbecome alkaline. The average amount of solids is about 1.81 per cent,\nof which about two-thirds consists of organic substances. The chief\nnormal constituents are (1) sodium chloride (common salt), with small\nquantities of other inorganic salts; (2) various acids of the fatty\nseries, such as fermic, acetic, butyric acid, with probably other\nacids--CH2O2-C2H4O2--C4H8O2; (3) neutral fats and cholestrine; (4)\nammonia (NH3) (urea), and possibly other nitrogenous substances.\n\nThe average loss by cutaneous and pulmonary exhalation in a minute\nis from 17 to 18 grains; the minimum, 11 grains; the maximum, 32\ngrains; of the average 18 grains 11 pass by the skin and 7 by the\nlungs. The maximum loss by exhalation, cutaneous and pulmonary, in\ntwenty-four hours is about 3 3/4 pounds; the minimum, about 1 1/2\npounds. Valentine found the whole quantity lost by exhalation from\nthe respiratory and cutaneous surfaces of a healthy man who consumed\ndaily 40,000 grains of food and drink to be 19,000 grains, or 2 1/2\npounds. Subtracting from this, for the pulmonary exhalation, 5,000\ngrains, and for the excess of the weight of the exhaled carbonic acid\nover that of the equal volume of the inspired oxygen, 2,256 grains,\nthe remainder, 11,744 grains, or nearly 1 5/7 pounds, may represent\nan average amount of cutaneous exhalation in a day.\n\nThe Kidneys, two in number, are excretory organs. They are deeply\nseated in the lumbar region, one on each side of the vertebral column,\nat the back of the abdominal cavity, and behind the peritoneum. The\nkidneys measure about 4 inches in length, 2 1/2 inches in breadth,\nand 1 1/2 inches in thickness. The left is usually longer and narrower\nthan the right one. The weight of the kidney is usually stated to be\nabout 4 1/2 ounces in the male and somewhat less in the female.\n\nThe excretory apparatus consists of fine tubules (the tubuli\nurineferi), malpighian bodies, blood-vessels, nerves, and lymphatics,\netc.\n\nThe kidneys are highly vascular, and receive their blood from the\nrenal arteries, which are very large in proportion to the organ they\nsupply. Each artery breaks up into four or five branches, these\nagain subdivide and break up into capillaries in the substance of\nthe kidney. The veins arise by numerous venous radicals from the\ncapillary network of the kidney, as seen near the surface of the\ngland, and collect the blood from the capillary plexus around the\nconvoluted tubules which mainly compose this part, the smaller veins\njoining together and ultimately forming a single vein and ending in\nthe inferior vena cava.\n\nThe kidneys are so arranged by their anatomical structure--that of\nthe cortical and medullary substance, the tubuli urineferi, pyramids,\nmalpighian bodies, etc.--that they separate from the blood the solids\nin a state of solution. The secretion takes place by the agency of\nthe gland cells, and equally in all the parts of the urine tubes. The\nprotoplasmic cells which line at least a large portion of the tubuli\nurineferi elaborate from the blood certain substances, and discharge\nthem into the channels of the tubules. All parts of the tubular\nsystem of the kidney take part in the secretion of urine as a whole,\nbut there is another provision of vessels for a more simple draining\noff of the water from the blood when required.\n\nThe large size of the renal arteries and veins permits so rapid\na transit of the blood through the kidneys that the whole of the\nblood is purified by them. The secretion of urine is rapid in\ncomparison with other secretions, and as each portion is secreted,\nit propels that which is already in the tubes onwards into the pelvis\nof the kidney. Thence, through the ureter, the urine passes into the\nbladder, into which its rate and mode of entrance has been watched. The\nurine does not enter the bladder at any regular rate, nor is there a\nsynchronism in its movement through the two ureters. In a recumbent\nposture the urine collects for a little time in the ureters, then flows\ngently, and if the body is raised, runs from them in a stream till they\nare empty. Its flow is increased in deep inspiration, or straining,\nand in active exercise, and in fifteen or twenty minutes after meals.\n\nSubstances taken into the stomach pass very rapidly through the\ncirculation. It does not take longer than one minute for ferrocyanide\nof potassium to pass through. Vegetable substances pass in from\nsixteen to thirty-five. Neutral alkaline salts with vegetable acids,\nwhich were generally decomposed in transitu, made the urine alkaline\nin twenty-eight to forty-seven minutes. But the time of passage varied\nmuch; and the transit was always slow when the substances were taken\nduring digestion.\n\nThere are really two distinct parts in the kidney--the actively\nsecreting part, the epithelium of the secreting tubules; and what\nmaybe called a filtering part, the malpighian bodies.\n\nThe specific gravity of urine is 1020--that is, the average human\nurine. Urine varies--in the morning before breakfast it is darker,\nurina sanguinis; urine secreted shortly after the introduction\nof any considerable quantity of fluid into the body, urina potus;\nand the urine evacuated immediately succeeding a solid meal of food,\nurina cibi. The last kind contains a larger quantity of solid matter\nthan either of the others, the first and second being largely diluted\nwith water.\n\nSpecific gravity: The morning urine is best calculated for\nanalysis. The average healthy range may be stated at 1015 in the\nwinter to 1025 in the summer, and variations of diet and exercise may\nmake a great difference. In disease, the variations may be greater;\nsometimes descending in albuminaria to 1004, and frequently ascending\nin diabetes, when the urine is loaded with sugar, to 1050, or even\nto 1060.\n\nThe whole quantity of urine secreted in twenty-four hours is subject to\nvariations according to the amount of fluid drunk, and the proportion\nof the latter passing off from skin, lungs, and alimentary canal. The\naverage quantity voided in twenty-four hours by healthy male adults\nfrom twenty to forty years of age amounts to 52 1/2 fluid ounces.\n\nThe chemical composition of urine. The average quantity of each\nconstituent of the urine in 1,000 parts is:\n\n\n Water (O H2), 967\n Urea (C O N2 H4), 14.239\n Uric acid (C5 N4 H4 O3), .468\n Coloring matter, mucus, and animal\n extractive matter, 10.107\n { Sulphates (soda, potash), } 8.185\n Salts. { Bisulphates (lime, soda, }\n { magnesia, ammonia), }\n { Chlorides (sodium, potassium), }\n Silica, etc., Traces.\n ---------\n 1,000.000\n\n\nUrea is the principal solid constituent of the urine, forming nearly\none-half of the whole quantity of solid matter. It is also the most\nimportant ingredient, since it is the chief substance by which the\nnitrogen of decomposed tissue and superfluous food is excreted from\nthe body.\n\nThe salts excreted by the kidneys in 24 hours are:\n\n\n Urea (C N2 H4 O), 512 grains.\n Chloride of sodium (Na Cl), 177 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n Phosphoric acid (H3 P O4), 48 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n Sulphuric acid (H2 S O4), 31.11 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n Uric acid (C5 N4 H4 O3), 8.53 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\nThe substances excreted consist mainly of carbonic acid gas (C O2),\nwhich is expired by the lungs, and urea (C N2 H4 O), which is expelled\nby the urine.\n\nThese excretions, or expenditures, or waste products of the human\nbody, present the carbohydrates--starch, sugars, and fats--and the\nproteids--meats and albumen--taken into the system as food.\n\nThe daily average loss by the expenditure or waste products of the\nbody is estimated to be about:\n\n\n Carbon, 4,500 grains.\n Nitrogen, 3 to 500 grains.\n Besides salts and water.\n\n\nOf all the elements of the income and outcome, the nitrogen, the\ncarbon, and the free oxygen of respiration, are by far the most\nimportant. Since water is of use to the body for merely mechanical\npurposes, and not as food in the strict sense of the word, the\nhydrogen element becomes a dubious one; the sulphur of the proteids,\nand phosphorus of the fats, are insignificant in amount; while the\nsaline matters stand on a wholly different footing from the other\nparts of the food, inasmuch as they are not sources of energy, and\npass through the body with comparatively little change.\n\nThe correct income will consist of so much nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen,\noxygen, sulphur, phosphorus, saline matters, and water, contained\nin the proteids, fats, carbohydrates, salts, and water of the food,\ntogether with the oxygen absorbed by the lungs, skin, and alimentary\ncanal.\n\nThe outcome will consist of: 1. The respiratory products of the lungs,\nskin, and alimentary canal, consisting chiefly of carbonic acid and\nwater, with small quantities of hydrogen and carburetted hydrogen,\nthese two latter coming exclusively from the alimentary canal;\n2. Perspiration, consisting chiefly of water and salts, with urea by\nthe skin, and other organic constituents of sweat amounting to very\nlittle; 3. The urine, which contains practically all the nitrogen\nreally excreted by the body, as well as a large quantity of saline\nmatter and water.\n\n\n\n\nHEAT AND TEMPERATURE.\n\nThe average temperature of the human body in those internal parts which\nare more accessible, as the mouth and rectum, is from 98.5\u00b0 to 99.5\u00b0 F.\n\nThe chief circumstances by which the temperature of the healthy body\nis influenced are the following:\n\nAge. The average temperature of the new-born babe is only about 1\u00b0\nF. above that proper to the adult. In old age the temperature rises\nagain, and approaches that of infancy.\n\nSex. In the female slightly higher than in the male.\n\nExercise. Active exercise raises the temperature of the body, through\nmuscular contraction, etc.\n\nClimate and season. In passing from a temperate to a hot climate,\nthe temperature of the human body rises slightly, rarely more than 2\u00b0\nto 3\u00b0 F. In summer the temperature of the body is a little higher\nthan in winter, 1/5\u00b0 to 1/3\u00b0 F.\n\nCold alcoholic drinks depress the temperature 1/2\u00b0 to 1\u00b0F.\n\nWarm alcoholic drinks, as well as warm tea and coffee, raise the\ntemperature about 1/2\u00b0 F.\n\nIn disease, as in pneumonia and typhus, it occasionally rises as high\nas 106\u00b0 or 107\u00b0 F.\n\nIn Asiatic cholera a thermometer placed in the mouth sometimes rises\nonly to 77\u00b0 or 79\u00b0 F.\n\nThe temperature maintained by mammalia of an active state of life\naverages 101\u00b0 F. In birds, the average is as high as 107\u00b0 F., the\nhighest temperature, 111.25\u00b0, being in the species of the linnets, etc.\n\nThe sources and distribution of heat. Wherever metabolism of protoplasm\nis going on, heat is being generated. All over the body heat is being\nset free; more abundantly in the more active tissues, and most of\nall in those tissues the metabolism of which leads to little or no\nexternal work. The metabolism of the tissues (including the blood)\nand of the food within the alimentary canal is the source of the heat\nof the body. But heat, being continually produced, is as continually\nbeing lost, as we have seen, by the skin, urine, and feces. The blood\npassing from one part of the body to another, and carrying warmth from\nthe tissues where heat is being actively generated, to the tissues or\norgans where heat is being lost by conduction or evaporation, tends\nto equalize the temperature of the various parts and thus maintain\na constant bodily temperature.\n\nTaking the body as a whole, under normal conditions, the chief sources\nof the production of heat are the muscles, and the abdominal viscera,\nmore especially the liver; and of these the liver deserves attention,\ninasmuch as it is always at work, whereas the heat produced by the\nmuscles is at least largely dependent on their contracting, and they\nmay remain at rest for a considerable period. The brain, too, may be\nregarded as a source of heat, since its temperature is higher than\nthat of the arterial blood with which it is supplied.\n\nHeat is lost by the skin, respiration, feces, etc. The great regulator,\nhowever, is undoubtedly the skin. The more blood passes through the\nskin the greater will be the loss of heat by conduction, radiation,\nand evaporation. The working of this heat-regulating mechanism is\nwell seen in the case of exercise. Since every muscular contraction\ngives rise to heat, exercise must increase for the time being the\nproduction of heat; yet the bodily temperature rarely rises as much\nas a degree C., if at all. By exercise the respiration is quickened\nand the loss of heat by the lungs increased. The circulation of blood\nis also quickened, and the cutaneous vascular areas becoming dilated,\na large amount of blood passes through the skin. The expenditure of\nheat may be tabulated thus:\n\n\n By the skin, in conducting, radiating, and\n evaporating, 77.5 per cent.\n Warming expired air, 5.2 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n Evaporating the water of respiration, 14.5 \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n In warming urine, etc., 2.6 \u00a0 ,,\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\n\n\nTHE CIRCULATION.\n\nThe heart is a hollow muscular organ divided by a longitudinal septum\ninto a right and a left half, each of which is again subdivided by\na transverse constriction into two compartments communicating with\neach other, and named auricle and ventricle.\n\nThe heart is inclosed in the pericardium and placed behind the\nsternum and costal cartilages on the border end or base, by which it\nis attached, being directed upwards, backwards, and to the right,\nand extending from the level of the fourth to that of the eighth\ndorsal vertebra, the apex downwards, forwards, and to the left.\n\nIn size, it is about five inches long, three and a half in its\ngreatest width, and two in its extreme thickness from the anterior\nto the posterior surface. The weight is from nine to ten ounces.\n\nThe circulation of the blood.--\n\nThe body is divided into two chief cavities, the chest or thorax,\nand abdomen, by a curved muscular partition called the diaphragm or\nmidriff. The chest is almost entirely filled with lungs and heart,\nthe latter being fitted in, so to speak, between the two lungs, nearer\nto the front than the back of the chest, and partly overlapped by them.\n\nIn the living body the heart and lungs are in constant rhythmic\nmovement, the result of which is an unceasing stream of air through\nthe trachea alternately into and out of the lungs, and an unceasing\nstream of blood into and out of the heart.\n\nThe blood is conveyed away from the heart by the arteries and returned\nto it by the veins; the arteries and veins being continuous with each\nother, at one end by means of the heart, and at the other by a fine\nnetwork of vessels called capillaries. The blood, therefore, in its\npassage from the heart passes first into the arteries, then into the\ncapillaries, and lastly into the veins, by which it is conveyed back\nagain to the heart--thus completing a revolution, or circulation.\n\nThere are two circulations by which all the blood must pass--the one a\nshorter circuit from the heart to the lungs and back again, which is\ncalled the pulmonic; the other the larger circuit, from the heart to\nall parts of the body and back again, which is called the systemic;\nand a subordinate stream of blood, that has been collected by the\nblood-vessels of the intestines, passes by means of the portal vein\nthrough the liver, and is called the portal circulation.\n\nThe principal force provided for constantly moving the blood on\nthis course, is that of the muscular substance of the heart; other\nassistant forces are (2) those of the elastic walls of the arteries,\n(3) the pressure of the muscles among which some of the veins run,\n(4) the movements of the walls of the chest in respiration, and (5)\nprobably to some extent the interchange of relations between the\nblood and the tissues which ensues in the capillary system during\nthe nutritive processes. The right direction of the blood's course\nis determined and maintained by the valves of the heart.\n\nThe heart is divided into two chief chambers or cavities--right\nand left. Each of these chambers is again divided into an upper and\nlower portion called respectively auricle and ventricle, which freely\ncommunicate with each other.\n\nThe right auricle communicates on the one hand with the veins of the\ngeneral system and on the other with the right ventricle. The valvular\ncurtain between the right auricle and the right ventricle is named\nthe tricuspid; by it the auricle is guarded from the ventricle. The\nventricle leads directly into the pulmonary artery and this in turn\ninto the lungs. The pulmonary artery is guarded by three semilunar\nvalves. The left auricle again communicates on the one hand with the\npulmonary vein and on the other with the left ventricle, which is\nguarded by the mitral or bicuspid valve. The left ventricle leads\ndirectly into the aorta, which is also guarded by three semilunar\nvalves. The aorta is a large artery which conveys the blood to the\ngeneral system.\n\nThe arrangement of the heart's valves is such that the blood can pass\nonly in one definite direction, and this is--from the right auricle the\nblood passes into the right ventricle, and thence into the pulmonary\nartery, by which it is conveyed to the capillaries of the lungs. From\nthe lungs, the blood, which is now purified and altered in color, is\ngathered by the pulmonary veins and taken to the left auricle. From\nthe left auricle it passes into the left ventricle, and thence into\nthe aorta, by which it is distributed to the capillaries in every\nportion of the body.\n\nThe Heart's action. The heart's action in propelling the blood\nconsists in the successive alternate contractions and dilatations of\nthe muscular walls of the two auricles and ventricles. The auricles\ncontract simultaneously; so do the ventricles; their dilatations also\nare severally simultaneous; and the contractions of the one pair of\ncavities are synchronous with the dilatations of the other.\n\nValves--Bi and Tricuspid. During auricular contraction the force of the\nblood propelled into the ventricle is transmitted in all directions,\nbut being insufficient to raise the semilunar valves, it is expended\nin distending the ventricle and in raising and gradually closing the\nauriculo-ventricular valves (tricuspid and bicuspid valves). These\nwhen the ventricle is full form a complete septum (partition) between\nit and the auricle.\n\nThe arterial or semilunar valves are brought into action by the\npressure of the arterial blood forced back towards the ventricles, when\nthe elastic walls of the arteries recoil after being dilated by the\nblood propelled into them in the previous contraction of the ventricle.\n\nThe sounds. When the ear is placed over the region of the heart two\nsounds may be heard at every beat of the heart, which follow in quick\nsuccession, and are succeeded by a pause or a period of silence. The\nfirst sound is dull and prolonged; its commencement coincides with the\nimpulse of the heart and just precedes the pulse at the wrist. The\nsecond is a shorter and sharper sound, with a somewhat flapping\ncharacter, and follows close after the arterial pulse.\n\nFirst sound. The chief cause of the first sound of the heart appears\nto be the vibration of the auriculo-ventricular valve, and also,\nbut to a less extent, of the ventricular walls, and the coats of the\naorta and pulmonary artery, all of which parts are suddenly put into\na state of tension at the moment of ventricular contraction.\n\nThe second sound is more complete than that of the first. It is\nprobably due entirely to the sudden closure and consequent vibration\nof the semilunar valves when they are pressed down across the orifice\nof the aorta and pulmonary artery.\n\nPulse. The heart of a healthy adult man in the middle period of life\nacts from seventy to seventy-five times per minute. The frequency of\nthe heart's action gradually diminishes from the commencement to near\nthe end of life.\n\nIn persons of sanguine temperament, the heart acts somewhat more\nfrequently than in those of the phlegmatic; and in the female sex\nmore frequently than in the male; in children, more frequently still.\n\nCapacity. The capacity of the two ventricles is probably exactly the\nsame. From the mean of various estimates taken, it may be inferred\nthat each ventricle is able to contain on an average about three\nounces of blood, the whole of which is impelled into the respective\narteries at each contraction.\n\nEvery time the ventricles contract three ounces of blood are pumped\nout of the heart into the lungs and heart respectively.\n\nCalculating seventy pulses per minute, the quantity of blood passing\nthrough the heart would be about 211 ounces, or 14 1/4 pints per\nminute; or 895 pints per hour, or 21,480 pints in 24 hours.\n\nVelocity. The velocity of the stream of blood is greater in the\narteries than in any other part of the circulatory system, and in\nthem it is greatest in the neighborhood of the heart and during\nthe ventricular systole; the rate of movement diminishes during the\ndiastole of the ventricles, and in the parts of the arterial system\nmost distant from the heart. The rate is calculated to be about from\n10 to 12 inches per second in the large arteries near the heart.\n\n\n\nTHE BLOOD.\n\nBlood is a tissue of which the red corpuscles are the essential and\nactive elements, while the plasma is the liquid matrix. There are\ntwo kinds of corpuscles, the white and the red. The protoplasm of the\nwhite corpuscles is native indifferentiated protoplasm, in no respect\nfitted for any special duty, as far as we know at present. The white\ncorpuscles are in reality embryonic structures, concerned chiefly in\nthe production of other forms, such as red corpuscles, and it may be\nunder certain conditions various elements of the other tissues. The red\ncorpuscles have a definite respiratory function. But these form a part\nonly of the blood. The largest portion of the blood, the whole mass\nof the plasma, is an unorganized fluid with no proper physiological\n(vital) properties of its own. Its function is to serve as the great\nmedium of exchange between all the tissues of the body. Just as the\nwhole organism lives on the things around it, its air and its food,\nso the several tissues live on the complex fluid by which they are\nall bathed and which is to them their immediate air and food.\n\nBlood within the living vessel is a fluid; but when shed, or after\nthe death of the vessels, becomes solid by the process known as\ncoagulation. The average specific gravity of human blood is 1056,\nvarying from 1045 to 1075 within the limits of health. It has an\nalkaline reaction, which in shed blood rapidly diminishes up to the\nonset of coagulation.\n\nBlood may, in general terms, be considered as consisting by weight of\nmore than one-third and less than one-half of corpuscles, the rest\nbeing plasma, the corpuscles being supposed to retain the amount of\nwater proper to them. Human blood: corpuscles 513, plasma 487. The\naverage quantity of fibrine in the human blood is said to be two\nper cent.\n\nComposition of serum: In 100 parts there are in round numbers:\n\n\n Water, 90 parts.\n Proteid substance, 8 to 9 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n Fat extractives and saline matter, 2 to 1 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\nOf the proteid substances the great mass consists of the so-called\nserum-albumen.\n\nComposition of red corpuscles: The red corpuscles contain less water\nthan the serum. In 100 parts of red corpuscle there are:\n\n\n Water, 56.5\n Solid, 43.5\n\n\nThe solids are almost entirely organic matter, the inorganic salts\nin the corpuscles amounting to less than 4 per cent. In 100 parts of\ndried organic matter of the corpuscles of human blood there are:\n\n\n H\u00e6moglobin, 90.54\n Proteid substance, 8.67\n Lecithin, .54\n Cholestrin, .25\n\n\nThe blood is distributed as follows in round numbers:\n\n\n In the heart, lungs, large arteries and veins, About one-fourth.\n In the liver, \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n In the skeletal muscles, \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n In the other organs, \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\n\nThe average proportion of the principal constituents of the blood in\n1,000 parts is:\n\n\n Water, 784\n Red corpuscles (solid residue), 130\n Albumen serum, 70\n Saline matter, 6.03\n Extractive fatty matter, 7.77\n Fibrine, 2.20\n\n\nThe chemical composition of h\u00e6moglobin is:\n\n\n Carb. Hyd. Iron. Nit. Oxy. Sulph.\n\n 54.2 7.2 0.42 16.0 21.5 6.7\n Mucine, 52.2 7.0 12.6 28.2\n Proteids, 51.5 6.9 15.2 20.9 0.\n to 54.5 to 7.3 to 17.0 to 23.5 to 2.0\n\n\n\n\nTHE ORGANS OF RESPIRATION.\n\nThe principal organs of respiration consist of larynx, trachea,\nbronchi, lungs.\n\nThe larynx is affixed to the upper end of the windpipe, and is not\nonly the entrance for air into the respiratory organs from the pharynx,\nbut also the organ of voice.\n\nThe trachea measures from four inches to four inches and a half in\nlength, and from three-quarters of an inch to one inch in width; but\nits length and width are liable to continual variations, according\nto the position of the larynx and the direction of the neck.\n\nThe trachea divides into two branches, called bronchi, right and\nleft. The right bronchus, wider and shorter than the left, measuring\nabout an inch in length, passes outwards almost horizontally into the\nroot of the right lung on a level with the fourth dorsal vertebra. The\nleft bronchus, smaller in diameter but longer than the right, being\nnearly two inches in length, inclines downwards and outwards to reach\nthe root of the right lung, which it enters on a level with the fifth\ndorsal vertebra--that is, about an inch lower than the right bronchus.\n\nThe lungs, placed one on the right and the other on the left of the\nheart and large vessels, occupy by far the larger part of the cavity\nof the chest, and during life are always in accurate contact with the\ninternal surface of its walls. Each lung is attached at a comparatively\nsmall part of its flattened inner or median surface by a part named\nthe root and by a thin membranous fold, which is continued downwards\nfrom it.\n\nThe pleur\u00e6 are serous membranes forming two shut sacs, quite distinct\nfrom each other, which line the right and left side of the thorax,\nforming by their approximation in the middle line the mediastinal\npartition, and are reflected each upon the root and over the entire\nfree surface of the corresponding lung.\n\nThe lungs. Each lung is irregularly pyramidal or conical, with its\nbase downwards, and one side (the inner) much flattened. The broad\nconcave base is of a semi-lunar form, and rests upon the arch of the\ndiaphragm. The apex is blunt, and reaches into the root of the neck,\nabove the first rib, where it is separated from the first portion of\nthe subclavian artery by the pleural membrane.\n\nThe lungs vary much in size and weight, according to the quantity of\nblood and mucous or serous fluid they may happen to contain, which\nis greatly influenced by the circumstances immediately preceding\ndeath, as well as other causes. The weight of both lungs together,\nas generally stated, ranges from 30 to 48 ounces, the more prevalent\nweights being found between 36 and 42 ounces. The proportion borne\nby the right lung to the left is nearly 22 ounces to 20, taking\nthe combined weight of the two at 42 ounces. The lungs are not only\nabsolutely heavier in the male than in the female, but appear to be\nheavier in proportion to the weight of the body. The general ratio\nbetween the weight of the lungs and body in the adult fluctuates\nbetween one to thirty-five and one to fifty.\n\nThe average weight in twenty-nine cases, male and female:\n\n\n Male. Female.\n Right lung, 24 ounces. 17 ounces.\n Left lung, 21 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 15 \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n --------- ---------\n 45 ounces. 32 ounces.\n\n\nThe proportionate weight of the lungs to the body is:\n\n\n Male. Female.\n 1 to 37 1 to 34\n\n\nThe substance of the lungs is of a light porous spongy texture, and\nwhen healthy is buoyant in water. Specific gravity, 0.126; deprived\nof air, 1.056.\n\nWhen pressed between the fingers, the lungs impart a crepitant\nsensation, which is accompanied by a peculiar noise, both effects\nbeing caused by the air contained in the tissue. On cutting the lung\nthe same crepitation is heard.\n\nThe pulmonary tissues are endowed with great elasticity, in consequence\nof which the lungs collapse to about one-third of their bulk when\nthe thorax is opened.\n\nThe root of each lung consists of bronchi, arteries, and veins,\ntogether with the nerves, lymphatic vessels, and glands, connected\nby areolar tissue, and inclosed in a sheath of the pleura.\n\nRespiration consists of an expiration and an inspiration. The air\npasses in through the nose or mouth, through the larynx, trachea,\nbronchi, into the lungs.\n\nInspiration: By the contraction of certain muscles, the cavity of the\nthorax is enlarged; in consequence the pressure of the air within the\nlungs becomes less than that of the air outside the body, and this\ndifference of pressure causes a rush of air through the trachea into\nthe lungs until an equilibrium of pressure is established between the\nair inside and that outside the lungs. This constitutes inspiration.\n\nExpiration: Upon the relaxation of the inspiratory muscles (the\nmuscles whose contraction has brought about the thoracic expansion),\nthe elasticity of the chest walls and lungs, aided by the contraction\nof certain muscles and other circumstances, causes the chest to return\nto its original size, or even become smaller. In consequence of this\nthe pressure within the lungs now becomes greater than that outside,\nand thus air rushes out of the trachea, until equilibrium is once\nmore established. This constitutes expiration.\n\nThe inspiratory and expiratory act together form a respiration.\n\nThe fresh air introduced into the upper part of the pulmonary passages\nby the inspiratory movement contains more oxygen and less carbonic\nacid than the old air previously present in the lungs. By diffusion the\nnew or tidal air, as it is frequently called, gives up the oxygen to,\nand takes carbonic acid from, the old or stationary air, and thus\nwhen it leaves the chest in expiration has been the means both of\nintroducing oxygen into and of removing carbonic acid from it. By\nthis ebb and flow of the tidal air and the diffusion between it and\nthe stationary air, the air in the lungs is being continually renewed,\nthrough the alternate expansion and contraction of the chest. In what\nmay be considered normal breathing, the respiratory act is repeated\nabout seventeen times a minute; and the duration of the inspiration\nas compared with that of the expiration and such pause as exists,\nis about as ten to twelve.\n\nWhen the ordinary respiratory movements prove insufficient to effect\nthe necessary changes in the blood, their rhythm and character become\nchanged. Normal respiration gives place to labored respiration, and\nthis in turn to dyspnoea, which unless some restorative event occurs\nterminates in asphyxia.\n\nChanges of the air in respiration:\n\n1. The temperature of the expired air is variable, but under ordinary\ncircumstances is higher than that of the inspired air.\n\n2. The expired air is loaded with aqueous vapor.\n\n3. The expired air contains about 4 to 6 per cent less oxygen and about\n4 per cent more carbonic acid than the inspired air, the quantity of\nnitrogen suffering but little change. Thus:\n\n\n Oxygen. Nitrogen. Carbon.\n\n Inspired air contains 20.81 79.15 .04\n Expired ,,\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 16.033 79.557 4.380\n\n\nWhile the air in passing in and out of the lungs is thus robbed of a\nportion of its oxygen, and loaded with a certain quantity of carbonic\nacid, the blood as it streams along the pulmonary capillaries undergoes\nimportant correlative changes. As it leaves the right ventricle it\nis venous blood of a dark purple or maroon color; when the blood\nhas passed through the lungs and falls into the left auricle, it\nis arterial blood of a bright scarlet hue. In passing through the\ncapillaries of the body from the left to the right side of the heart,\nit is again changed from the arterial to the venous condition.\n\nThe average composition of this gas in the two kinds of blood is as\nfollows. From 100 volumes may be obtained:\n\n\n Oxygen. Carbonic Acid. Nitrogen.\n\n Of arterial blood, 20 (16) vol. 39 (30) vol. 1 to 2 vol.\n Of venous blood, 8-12 (6 to 10) 46 (35) vol. 1 to 2 vol.\n\n\nOxygen plays a most important role on this terrestrial globe. Life,\nhealth, and food depend on it. This element penetrates, pervades,\neverything and everywhere, unites and disunites with all other\nelements, preserves and destroys. While its absence from a living\nbeing, whether plant or animal, is death.\n\nWhen a liquid such as water is exposed to an atmosphere containing a\ngas such as oxygen, some of the oxygen will be dissolved in the water,\nthat is to say will be absorbed from the atmosphere. The quantity which\nis so absorbed will depend on the quantity of oxygen which is in the\natmosphere above; that is to say, on the pressure of the oxygen; the\ngreater the pressure of the oxygen, the larger the amount which will\nbe absorbed. If, on the other hand, water containing a good deal of\noxygen dissolved in it be exposed to an atmosphere containing little or\nno oxygen, the oxygen will escape from the water into the atmosphere.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nDIGESTION, NUTRITION.\n\n\nIn plant life the permanent fabric consists of only three\nelements--carbon, hydrogen, oxygen. We know that plants alone convert\ninorganic or mineral substances into organic matter, and that plants\nas a necessary result assimilate their inorganic food, decompose\ncarbonic acid, and restore its oxygen to the atmosphere.\n\nVegetation is constructed of cells or vesicles, and has a cellular\ntissue. A cell is a living organism. It is that which makes up the\ntissue of plants. For the whole life of the plant is that of the cells\nwhich compose it; in them and by them its products are elaborated,\nand all its vital processes are carried on. Cell multiplication by\ndivision, cell growth, cell modification, exist in plants. Fluids are\ntransferred from cell to cell by a process called endosmose. Absorption\ntakes place by the roots, and the substance absorbed is carried up\ninto the leaves, even to the topmost bough of a tree, passing in its\ncourse many millions of apparently water-tight partitions. Plants\nexchange gases, taking in carbonic acid and giving off oxygen. They\nevolve heat, have organs of reproduction, and elaborate the material\nfor the final evolution of the seed. This seed, whether of grain,\nof vegetables, or of fruits, is composed of carbon, hydrogen, and\noxygen. And these constitute the starches and sugars which we find\nhave been evolved by the vegetable or plant, and which form the\nfood for animals. Plants, then, convert the elementary substances,\nthe crude material, into food. In doing so, they pass through the\nprocesses known as the essentials of life; these are, birth, growth,\ndevelopment, decline, and death.\n\nAll organic compounds are transitory. They are constantly appearing and\ndisappearing, composing and decomposing, organizing and disorganizing;\nand they are always dependent upon a certain degree of heat and\nmoisture for their existence or non-existence.\n\nThe universal constituents of plant life; of organic existence,\nwhich are indispensable to vegetation, are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,\nand nitrogen. Every vegetable substance is made up of at least\neighty-eight to ninety-nine per cent of these elements. The proper\nvegetable structure, that is, the tissue itself, consists only of\nthree of these elements, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen; while the fourth,\nnitrogen, is an essential constituent of the protoplasm, which plays\nso important a part in the formation of the cell, etc.\n\nPlants prepare or elaborate out of these chemical elements\nfood-substances composed of those elements--starches and sugars--upon\nwhich animals subsist. Animals feeding upon these vegetable\nsubstances assimilate, elaborate, them into meat substances, flesh,\nor proteids. These again are composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen,\nand oxygen.\n\nNitrogen plays the important role in proteids, being the distinguishing\nfeature, as contrasted with substances of vegetable origin, the\ncarbohydrates.\n\nThus man is provided with two kinds of food: derived from plants,\ncarbohydrates; derived from animals, proteids, or albumens, besides\nwater and mineral salts.\n\nThese foods undergo certain preparations previous to being introduced\ninto the system. In the system the food undergoes farther elaboration,\nto make it fit to enter into the circulation of the blood, in order\nto supply suitable material for the master tissues.\n\nWe will now examine briefly the organs and their secretions that\nconvert food-substances into blood, and, by the blood, into tissue.\n\nThe solvents and diluents of food in the human animal economy are the\nsaliva of the mouth, the gastric juice of the stomach, the pancreative\njuice of the pancreas, the bile of the liver, and the juices of the\nintestines--the succus entericus.\n\nThe digestive apparatus consists mainly of the alimentary canal\ntogether with various glands of which it receives the secretions.\n\nThe alimentary canal commences at the mouth and terminates at the\nanus. The average length is about thirty feet, about five or six\ntimes the length of the body.\n\nThe part situated in the head and thorax consists of the organs of\nmastication, insalivation, and deglutition, and comprises the mouth\nwith the teeth, the salivary glands, and the \u00e6sophagus or gullet. The\nparts contained in the abdomen and pelvis consist of the stomach and\nthe small and large intestines.\n\nThe glands which are most immediately connected with digestion are\nvery numerous small organs, situated in the mucous membrane of the\nalimentary canal, and the larger glands, such as the salivary glands,\npancreas, and liver, whose ducts open on its inner surface.\n\nThe mouth is included between the lips and the throat, bounded by the\nlips, cheeks, tongue, and hard and soft palate. It communicates behind\nwith the pharynx, and through the pharynx with the \u00e6sophagus. It is\nlined throughout with mucous membrane.\n\nThe mouth contains 32 teeth, 16 in the upper jaw and 16 in the lower\njaw. The inferior maxillary bone, or lower jaw, is the only movable\nbone about the head. The teeth have for their functions biting,\ngrinding, chewing, or triturating any hard food substance that may\nbe introduced into the mouth.\n\nThe tongue is a muscular organ covered with mucous membrane. By its\nmuscular structure it takes part in the process of mastication and\ndeglutition, and in the articulation of speech, while its mucous\nmembrane, with common and tactile sensibility, is the seat of the\nsense of taste.\n\nThe tonsils are two prominent bodies which occupy the recesses formed,\none on each side of the fauces, between the anterior and posterior\npalatine arches and the pillars of the fauces.\n\nThe saliva, which is poured into the mouth and there mixed with the\nfood during mastication, is secreted by three pairs of glands named\nfrom their respective situation parotid, submaxillary, and sublingual.\n\nThe parotid is the largest of three salivary glands. It lies on the\nside of the face, in front of the ear, and extends deeply into the\nspace behind the ramus of the lower jaw. Its weight varies from 5 to\n8 drachms. It has a duct called the parotid or Stenson's duct. It is\nabout 2 1/2 inches long, and about a line and a half in thickness. Its\norifice is opposite the crown of the second molar tooth of the\nupper jaw.\n\nThe submaxillary gland weighs about 2 to 2 1/2 drachms, and is\nsituated on the inner surface of the inferior maxillary. The duct\nis named Wharton's, and is about 2 inches in length. Its orifice is\nfound under the tongue.\n\nThe sublingual gland weighs about a drachm. It is situated on the\nfloor of the mouth. The ducts are called the ducti Rivintiani. They\nare from 8 to 20 in number. They may be seen when the tip of the\ntongue is lifted up.\n\nSaliva. Mixed saliva, as it appears in the mouth, is a thick, glairy,\ngenerally frothy, turbid fluid.\n\nThe quantity of saliva secreted in 24 hours varies. The average amount\nis probably from two to three pints in 24 hours.\n\nThe composition of saliva is:\n\n\n Water, 994.10\n Solids, 5.90\n\n\nThe solids are:\n\n\n Pyaline, 1.41\n Fat, 0.07\n Epithelium and Mucus, 2.13\n { Sulphocyanide of Potassium, }\n { Phosphate of Soda, }\n Salts, { \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ,, Lime, } 2.29\n { \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ,, Magnesia, }\n { Chloride of Sodium, }\n { \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ,, Potassium, }\n ----\n 5.90\n\n\nThe specific gravity varies from 1.004 to 1.008.\n\nThe rate at which saliva is secreted is subject to considerable\nvariation. When the tongue and muscles concerned in mastication are at\nrest, and the nerves of the mouth are subject to no unusual stimulus,\nthe quantity secreted is not more than sufficient, with the mucus,\nto keep the mouth moist.\n\nThe purposes served by saliva are of several kinds:\n\n1. Acting mechanically in conjunction with mucus, it keeps the mouth\nin a due condition of moisture, and facilitates the movements of the\ntongue in speaking, and the mastication of the food.\n\n2. It serves also in dissolving sapid substances and rendering them\ncapable of exciting the nerves of taste.\n\n3. By mixing with the food during mastication, it makes it a soft\npulpy mass, such as may easily be swallowed.\n\n4. Saliva performs a chemical part in the digestion of food. It\ntransforms starchy substances into dextrine and grape sugar.\n\nStarch is a carbohydrate--carbon 18, hydrogen 30, oxygen 15.\n\n\n C18H30O15 + 3H2O = C6H12O6 + 2(C6H10O5) + 2H2O\n (Grape sugar.) (Dextrine.)\n\n\nPtyaline is the salient feature of saliva. It is known as a\nferment--acting upon starch and converting it into dextrine and\ngrape sugar.\n\nThe action of saliva varies in intensity in different animals.\n\nThe food after having been acted upon and prepared is propelled,\nby the act of deglutition, through the \u00e6sophagus into the stomach,\nby way of the pharynx.\n\nThe pharynx is that part of the alimentary canal which unites the\ncavities of the mouth and nose to the \u00e6sophagus. It extends from\nthe base of the skull to the lower border of the cricoid cartilage,\nand forms a sac open at the lower end, and imperfect in front, where\nit presents apertures leading into the nose, mouth, and larynx. The\npharynx is about four and a half inches in length, and is considerably\nwider across than it is deep from before backwards.\n\nThe \u00e6sophagus or gullet, the passage leading from the pharynx into\nthe stomach, commences at the cricoid cartilage opposite the lower\nborder of the fifth cervical vertebra, descends in front of the spine,\npasses through the diaphragm opposite the ninth dorsal vertebra,\nand ends by an opening at the cardiac orifice of the stomach. It is\nfrom nine to ten inches in length.\n\nThe stomach is situated in the abdominal cavity. It lies in part\nagainst the anterior wall of the abdomen, and in part beneath the liver\nand diaphragm, and above the transverse colon. It is somewhat conical\nor pyriform in shape. The left part is the larger, and is named the\ncardiac, or splenic, the right is named the pyloric, extremity. The\nupper border is about three or four inches in length, is concave,\nand is named the lesser curvature, while the lower border is much\nlonger, is convex, and forms the greater curvature. The dimensions\nvary greatly in different subjects, and also according to the state of\ndistension of the organ. When moderately filled, its length is about\nten to twelve inches, and its diameter at its widest part from four\nto five inches. It weighs when freed from other parts about four and\na half ounces in the male and somewhat less in the female.\n\nThe structure of the stomach consists of four coats--a serous, a\nmuscular, an areolar, and a mucous coat. The external or serous coat\nis derived from the peritoneum. There are three kinds of muscular\nfibers--longitudinal, circular, and oblique, and the internal mucous\nlining is a rather thicker, soft, smooth, pulpy membrane, lying in\nridges or rug\u00e6, and containing a large number of glands--tubular\nor gastric glands, and another variety of gland called peptic,\nbesides others.\n\nWhile the stomach contains no food, and is inactive, no gastric\nfluid is secreted; and mucus, which is either neutral or slightly\nalkaline, covers its surface. But immediately on the introduction of\nfood into the stomach, the mucous membrane, previously quite pale,\nbecomes slightly turgid and reddened with the influx of a large\nquantity of blood; the gastric glands commence secreting actively,\nand an acid fluid is poured out in minute drops, which gradually run\ntogether and flow down the walls of the stomach, or soak into the\nsubstance introduced. The quantity of this fluid secreted daily has\nbeen variously estimated; but the average for a healthy adult has\nbeen assumed to range from ten to twenty pints in twenty-four hours.\n\nThe specific gravity of gastric juice has been found to differ little\nfrom that of water, varying from 1.001 to 1.010, and the amounts of\nsolid present to be very small, viz., about 56 per cent.\n\nThe chemical composition of gastric juice is:\n\n\n Water, 994.40\n Solids, 5.59\n { Ferment, pepsin, and a trace of ammonia, 3.19\n { Hydrochloric acid, 0.20\n Solids, { Chloride of calcium, 0.06\n { \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ,, sodium 1.46\n { \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ,, potassium, 0.55\n { Phosphate of lime, magnesia, and iron, 0.12\n\n\nOn starch gastric juice per se has no effect whatever, nor has healthy\ngastric juice any effect on grape sugar or cane sugar. On fats gastric\njuice is powerless.\n\nThe essential property of gastric juice is the power of dissolving\nproteid matters (meats, albumens, nitrogenous substances), and\nconverting them into a substance called peptones. Gastric juice thus\nreadily dissolves coagulated proteids which otherwise are insoluble,\nor soluble only with difficulty in very strong acids.\n\nCertain conditions are required for the perfection of the process,\nwhich are all found in the stomach. The first is a temperature\nof 100\u00b0 F. Second, minute division and constant movement favor\ndigestion. Third, the greater the surface presented to the action of\nthe juice, the more rapid the solution.\n\nNeutralization of the juice wholly arrests digestion.\n\nThe digestive action of gastric juice on proteids, like that of saliva\non starch, is a ferment action; in other words, the solvent action of\ngastric juice is essentially due to the presence in it of a ferment\nbody called pepsin.\n\nThe general effect of digestion of the stomach is the conversion of\nfood into chyme, a substance of various compositions according to\nthe nature of the food, yet always presenting a characteristic thick\npultaceous grumous consistence.\n\nThe small intestines commence at the pylorus and after many\nconvolutions terminate in the large intestines. They measure on an\naverage about twenty feet in length in the adult. For convenience they\nhave been divided into three parts--the duodenum, which extends from\neight to ten inches beyond the pylorus; the jejunum, which occupies\ntwo-fifths, and the ilium, which occupies three-fifths, of the rest\nof the canal.\n\nThe mucous membrane, the interior coat, is the most important to\nthe function of digestion. There are permanent folds, shelf-like\nprocesses, of the mucous membrane, called valvular conniventes. There\nare also villi and glands, as the glands of Lieberk\u00fchn, of Peyer,\nand of Bruner. The glands of Lieberk\u00fchn are thickly distributed over\nthe whole surface of the large and small intestines. The glands\nof Peyer are exclusively in the small intestine. They are found\nin greatest abundance in the lower part of the ileum near to the\nileo-c\u00e6cal valve. They are met with in two conditions, viz., either\nscattered singly, in which case they are termed glandul\u00e6 solitair\u00e6,\nor aggregated in groups varying from one to three inches in length\nand about half an inch in width, chiefly of an oval form, their long\naxes parallel with that of the intestines. In this state they are\nnamed glandul\u00e6 agminat\u00e6. The latter are almost always placed opposite\nthe attachment of the mesentery. In structure they are analogous\nto lymphatics or absorbent glands, and their office is to take up\ncertain materials from the chyle, elaborate them, and subsequently\ndischarge them into the lacteals, with which vessels they appear to\nbe closely connected. Bruner's glands are confined to the duodenum;\nthey are most abundant and thickly set at the commencement of this\nportion of the intestines, and are provided with permanent gland ducts.\n\nThe villi are confined exclusively to the mucous membrane of the\nsmall intestines. They are minute vascular processes, from a quarter\nof a line to a line and two-thirds in length. There are about fifty\nto ninety in number to a square line. Each villus consists of a\nsmall projection of mucous membrane, and its interior is supported\nthroughout by fine retiform or adenoid tissue. Two or more arteries\nare distributed to each villus, and from their capillaries, which\nform a dense network, proceed one or two small veins, which pass out\nat the base of the villus.\n\nThe lacteal vessels enter the base of each villus, and passing up\nin the middle extend nearly to the top, where it ends commonly by\na closed and somewhat dilated extremity. The office of the villi\nis the absorption of chyle from the completely digested food of\nthe intestines.\n\nThe large intestine extends from the termination of the ileum to the\nanus. It is usually about five to six feet in length, being about\none-fifth of the whole length of the intestinal canal. The large\nintestine is constructed of four coats like those of the stomach and\nsmall intestines, namely, the serous, the muscular, the areolar or\nsubmucous, and the mucous. It is divided into the ascending colon,\ntransverse and descending colon, and rectum and anus.\n\nThe c\u00e6cum is a short wide pouch, communicating with the lower end of\nthe small intestines through an opening guarded by the ileo-c\u00e6cal\nvalve. The appendix vermiformis is attached to the c\u00e6cum. The\ncolon commences at the right groin, ascends to the liver, forms the\nhepatic flexure, then crosses transversely from right to left to\nthe spleen, forms the splenic flexure, descends to the left groin,\nforms the sigmoid flexure, passes through the pelvis as the rectum,\nand terminates at the anus.\n\nThe mucous membrane of the large intestines, like that of the small\nintestines, is lined throughout by columnar epithelium, but unlike\nit, is quite destitute of villi and is not projected in the form of\nvalvular conniventes.\n\nThe peritoneum, or serous membrane of the abdominal cavity, is by\nfar the most extensive and complicated of serous membranes. Like the\nothers, it may be considered to form a shut sac, on the outside of\nwhich are placed the viscera, which it covers. The peritoneum forms\nthe mesenteries and omenta for the stomach, small and large intestines,\nand ligaments for the liver, spleen, uterus, and bladder.\n\nThe liver is a very important glandular organ, very constant in the\nanimal series, being found in all the vertebrates, and, in a more or\nless developed condition, in most invertebrate tribes. It secretes\nbile, and appears to act upon the blood which is transmitted through\nit. The liver is the largest gland in the body, and by far the most\nbulky of the abdominal viscera. It measures from ten to twelve inches\ntransversely from right to left, between six and seven inches from\nits posterior to its anterior border, and about three and a half\ninches from above downwards where thickest, which is towards the\nright and posterior part. The average bulk is about eighty-eight\ncubic inches. The ordinary weight in the adult is between 50 to 60\nounces, about one-thirtieth of the weight of the whole body. The\nliver is solid to the feel, and of a dull reddish-brown color, with\nfrequently a dark-purplish tinge along the margin. It has an upper\nsurface smooth and convex, and an under surface which is uneven and\nconcave. The liver is divided into two unequal lobes, a right and a\nleft, and on the under surface of the right lobe are three secondary\nlobes or lobules, named the lobe of Spigolius, the caudate or tailed\nlobe, and the square lobe. It has five fissures or foss\u00e6, described\nas the transverse or portal; the umbilical fissure and the fissure\nof the ductus venosus, together forming the longitudinal fissure;\nthe fossa of the vena cava, and the fossa of the gall bladder. It is\nheld in position by five ligaments formed by layers of peritoneum.\n\nThe liver is situated on the right side of the body under the\ndiaphragm. The convex surface is protected, on the right by the six\nor seven lower ribs, and in front by the cartilages of the same, and\nby the ensiform cartilage, the diaphragm of course being interposed.\n\nTo the left of the longitudinal fissure the liver is in contact with\nthe pyloric extremity and anterior surface of the stomach, on which it\nmoves freely. When the stomach is quite empty, the left part of this\nsurface of the liver may overlap the cardiac end of that organ. To\nthe right of the longitudinal fissure the liver rests upon the first\npart of the duodenum and the hepatic flexure of the colon. Farther\nback it is in contact with the upper part of the right kidney and\nsuprarenal capsule.\n\nThe two blood-vessels which supply the liver are the hepatic artery and\nthe vena porta. The hepatic vein conveys the blood away from the liver.\n\nThe lymphatics of the liver are large and numerous, forming a deep\nand a superficial set.\n\nThe nerves are derived partly from the coeliac plexus and partly from\nthe pneumogastric nerve, especially from the left pneumogastric.\n\nThe excretory apparatus of the liver consists of the hepatic duct,\nthe cystic duct, gall bladder, and common bile duct.\n\nThe hepatic duct is formed by the union of a right and left branch,\nwhich issue from the bottom of the transverse fissure and unite at a\nvery obtuse angle; it descends to the right, within the gastro-hepatic\nomentum. Its diameter is nearly two lines, and its length nearly two\ninches. At its lower end it meets the cystic descending from the gall\nbladder, and the ducts uniting together at an angle form the common\nbile duct.\n\nThe cystic duct is about one and a half inches in length.\n\nThe gall bladder is a pear-shaped membranous sac, three or four inches\nlong, about an inch and a half across its widest part, and capable of\ncontaining from 8 to 12 fluid drachms. The gall bladder is attached\nto the liver. The neck, gradually narrowing, becoming constricted,\nbends downward, and terminates in the cystic duct.\n\nThe common bile duct (ductus communis choledicus), the largest of\nthe ducts, being from two to three lines in width, and nearly three\ninches long, conveys the bile from the liver and the gall bladder\ninto the duodenum by a common orifice, with the pancreatic duct on\nits inner surface, about three to four inches below the pylorus.\n\nThe liver is an extremely vascular organ, and receives its blood\nsupply from two distinct vessels, the portal vein and the hepatic\nartery, while the blood is returned from it into the inferior vena\ncava by the hepatic vein. Its secretion, the bile, is conveyed from\nit by the hepatic duct, either directly into the intestines, or, when\ndigestion is not going on, into the cystic duct, and thence into the\ngall bladder, where it accumulates until required. The portal vein,\nhepatic artery, and hepatic duct branch together throughout the liver,\nwhile the hepatic vein and its tributaries run by themselves. At the\ntransverse fissure it is merged into the areolar investment called\nGlisson's capsule, which surrounds the portal vein, hepatic artery,\nand hepatic duct, as they enter at this part, and accompanies them\nin their branches through the substance of the liver.\n\nThe liver is made up of small roundish or oval portions called lobules,\neach of which is about 1/20 of an inch in diameter, and composed of\nminute branches of the portal vein, hepatic artery, hepatic duct,\nand hepatic vein; while the interstices of these vessels are filled\nby liver cells. These cells, which make up a great portion of the\nsubstance of the organ, are of rounded or polygonal form; about 1/800\nto 1/1000 of an inch in diameter.\n\nThe function of the liver is the secretion of bile. The bile is\na somewhat viscid fluid of a yellow, or greenish-yellow, color, a\nstrongly bitter taste, and when fresh a scarcely perceptible odor. It\nhas a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction, and its specific gravity\nis 1.020.\n\nThe composition of human bile is:\n\n\n Water, 859.2\n Solids, 140.8\n -------\n 1,000\n\n\nThe solids are:\n\n\n Biliary acids combined with alkalies (bilin), 91.5\n Fat, 9.2\n Cholestrin, 2.6\n Mucus and coloring matter, 29.8\n Salts, 7.7\n -----\n 140.8\n\n\nBile is distinguished from the other alimentary secretions by the\nentire absence of proteids. The chemical composition of bilin, as\ncompared with the organic parts of blood, is:\n\n\n Carb. Hyd. Nitr. Oxy. Sul.\n Bilin atoms, 76 66 2 22\n Blood, 48 36 6 14\n { Biliverdin, 16 20 2 5\n Coloring matter, { Glycocholic acid, 26 43 1 6\n { Taurocholic acid, 26 45 1 7 1\n\n\nThere seems to be some relationship between the coloring matters\nof the blood and bile; and it may be added, between these and that\nof the urine also; so that it is possible they may be, all of them,\nvarieties of the same pigment, or derived from the same source.\n\nThe quantity of bile discharged into the intestines is estimated\nto be about thirty to forty ounces secreted by an adult man in\ntwenty-four hours.\n\nThe purposes served by the secretion of bile may be considered to be\nof two principal kinds, viz., excrementitious and digestive.\n\nAs an excrementitious substance, the bile serves especially as a medium\nfor the separation of excess of carbon and hydrogen from the blood.\n\nThough one of the chief purposes of the secretion of bile may appear\nto be the purification of the blood by ultimate excretion, yet there\nare many reasons for believing that while it is in the intestines it\nperforms an important part in the process of digestion. Bile has a\nslight solvent action on fats, and only a slight emulsifying power.\n\nIts functions generally may be considered thus:\n\n1. It assists in emulsifying fatty portions of food, thus rendering\nthem capable of being absorbed by the lacteals.\n\n2. Bile facilitates the absorption of fatty matter.\n\n3. Bile, like the gastric fluid, has a strongly antiseptic power,\nand may serve to prevent the decomposition of food during the time\nof its sojourn in the intestines.\n\n4. Bile has been considered to act as a natural purgative, by prompting\nan increased secretion of the intestinal glands.\n\n5. Another very important function appears to be that of so acting upon\ncertain constituents of the blood passing through it, as to render\nsome of them capable of assimilation with blood generally, and to\nprepare others for being duly eliminated in the process of respiration.\n\n6. An important influence seems also to be exerted by the liver upon\nthe saccharine matters derived from the alimentary canal. The chief\npurpose of the saccharine and amylaceous principles of food is,\nin relation to respiration and the production of animal heat.\n\nThe pancreas is a long, narrow, flattened gland of a reddish-cream\ncolor, larger at one end than at the other, and lying behind the\nstomach opposite the first lumbar vertebra. It is usually from 6 to\n8 inches long, about 1 1/2 inch in average width, and 1/2 to 1 inch\nin thickness. It weighs about 2 1/4 to 3 1/2 ounces. Its principal\nexcretory duct is called the pancreatic duct, and runs through the\nentire length of the gland from left to right. The duct opens in\na common orifice with the ductus communis choledicus on the inner\nsurface of the duodenum about 4 inches below the pylorus.\n\nHealthy pancreatic juice is a clear, viscid fluid, frothing when\nshaken. It has a very decided alkaline reaction. The pancreas in its\nminute anatomy closely resembles the salivary glands; and the fluid\nelaborated by it appears almost identical with saliva.\n\nThe composition of pancreatic juice is:\n\n\n Water, 980.45\n Solids, 19.55\n\n\nThe solids are:\n\n\n Pancreatic, 12.71\n Inorganic bases and salts, 6.84\n -----\n 19.55\n\n\nAction of pancreatic juice. (1) It acts on starch raw and boiled with\ngreat energy, rapidly converting it into grape sugar. (2) On proteids\n(meats) it also exercises a solvent action, so far similar to that of\ngastric juice that by it the proteids are converted into peptones. (3)\nOn fats pancreatic juice has a twofold action: it emulsifies them, and\nit splits up neutral fats into their respective acids and glycerine.\n\nThus pancreatic juice is remarkable for the power it possesses of\nacting on all food-stuffs--on starch, fats, and proteids.\n\nSuccus entericus (intestinal juice). The precise action of this is\nnot known. It has been said to act upon starch, to convert proteids\ninto peptones, and to emulsify fats. On the other hand, each of these\nactions has been denied.\n\nThe portal system of veins. The portal vein, or vena porta, collects\nthe blood from the stomach, intestines, pancreas, and spleen; and\ncarries it to the liver, from which the bile is secreted; ramifying\nafter the manner of an artery in the substance of the liver and\nconveying to the capillaries of that organ the blood collected in\nthe main trunk. This blood, together with that of the hepatic artery,\nafter having served for the secretion of the bile and the nourishment\nof the liver, is withdrawn from that organ by the hepatic veins,\nand carried by them into the vena cava inferior.\n\nDigestion begins at the mouth. Food is masticated by the movement of\nthe lower jaw, broken into small pieces, moistened by the saliva,\nand starchy substances are converted into sugar. No change takes\nplace during the rapid transit through the \u00e6sophagus.\n\nIn the stomach the proteids are acted upon by the gastric juice and\nconverted into peptones. Fats remain unchanged, and sugars are not\nacted upon. While these changes are proceeding, the thick grayish\nliquid, or chyme, formed by the imperfectly dissolved food, is from\ntime to time ejected through the pylorus, accompanied even by large\nmorsels of solid less digested matter. This may occur within a few\nminutes of food having been token, but the larger escape from the\nstomach probably does not begin till from one to two and lasts from\nfour to five hours after the meal, becoming more rapid towards the\nend, such pieces as most resist the gastric juice being the last to\nleave the stomach. Substances can be absorbed from the cavity of the\nstomach into the circulation. The presumption is, that the diffusible\nsugars and peptones pass by osmosis direct into the capillaries,\nand so into the gastric veins.\n\nIn the small intestines the semi-digested food, or chyme, as it passes\nthe biliary orifice causes a gush of bile, and at the same time the\npancreatic juice which flows freely into the intestine at the taking\nof the meal, is secreted again with renewed vigor, when the gastric\ndigestion is completed. The conversion of starch into sugar, which\nmay have languished in the stomach, is resumed with great activity\nby the pancreatic juice. The pancreatic juice emulsifies fats, and\nalso splits them into their respective fatty acids and glycerine,\nand the bile is able to a certain extent to saponify the free fatty\nacids. It also appears that the slight emulsifying power of the bile\nis much increased by the presence of soap; and as a matter of fact,\nthe bile and pancreatic juice do largely emulsify the contents of the\nsmall intestines, so that the grayish turbid chyme is changed into\na creamy-looking fluid, which has been called chyle. These products\nas they are formed pass into the lacteals or the portal blood-vessels.\n\nThrough the large intestine pass off indigestible or undigested\nconstituents of the meal, and the gases generated.\n\nAbsorption takes place from the stomach, and occurs along the course\nof the small and large intestines, especially of water. The largest\nand most important part of the digested material passes away from\nthe canal during the transit of food along the small intestines,\npartly into the lacteals, partly into the portal vein.\n\nDigestion being, broadly speaking, the conversion of non-diffusible\nproteids and starch into highly diffusible peptones and sugar, and\nthe emulsifying, or division into minute particles, of various fats,\nit is natural to suppose that the diffusible peptones and sugars pass\nby osmosis into the blood-vessels, and that the emulsified fats pass\ninto the lacteals. That the great mass of the fat which enters the\nbody from the intestines passes through the lacteals, there can be\nno doubt; and there is but little doubt that a considerable quantity\nof peptone and sugar does pass into the portal blood.\n\nChyle is a white milky-looking fluid, which after its escape\ncoagulates, forming a not very firm clot. The nature of the coagulation\nseems to be exactly the same as that of blood.\n\nLymph seems to be blood minus red corpuscles, and chyle is lymph plus\na very large quantity of minutely divided fats.\n\nIt has been calculated that a quantity equal to that of the whole\nblood may pass through the thoracic duct in twenty-four hours, and\nof this it is supposed that about half comes from food through the\nlacteals, the remainder from the body at large; but these calculations\nare based on uncertain data.\n\nEntrance of chyle into the lacteals. The lacteals begin at a\nclub-shaped lymphatic space lying in the center of the villus, and\nconnected with the smaller lymphatic spaces of the adenoid tissue\naround it; it opens below into the submucous lymphatic plexus from\nwhich the lacteals spring.\n\nThe thoracic duct is the common trunk which receives the absorbents\nfrom both the lower limbs, from the abdominal viscera, from the\nwalls of the abdomen, from the left side of the thorax, left lung,\nleft side of the heart, and left upper limbs, and from the left side\nof the head and neck. It is from fifteen to eighteen inches long in\nthe adult, and extends from the second lumbar vertebra to the root of\nthe neck. At the last dorsal vertebra there is usually a dilation of\nthe duct, of variable size, which is called the receptaculum chyli,\nand is the common place of junction of the lymphatics of the lower\nlimbs and the trunks of the lacteal vessels. There are two sets of\nabsorbent vessels--the lacteals, which convey the chyle from the\nalimentary canal to the thoracic duct; and the lymphatics, which\ntake up the lymph from all the other parts of the body and return\nit into the venous system. There is a right lymphatic duct, about\na quarter to a half inch in length, which receives the lymph from\nthe absorbents of the right upper limb, the right side of the head\nand neck, the right side of the chest, the right lung and the right\nhalf of the heart, and the upper surface of the liver. The thoracic\nduct terminates on the outer side of the internal jugular vein,\nin the angle formed by the union of that vein with the subclavian,\nand the subclavian empties itself in the superior vena cava.\n\nLymphatics and lacteals are furnished with valves serving the same\noffice as those of the veins, and for the most part constructed after\nthe same fashion.\n\nLymph and chyle, unlike the blood, pass only in one direction, namely,\nfrom the fine branches to the trunk and so to the large veins, on\nentering which they are mingled with the stream of blood and form\npart of its constituents.\n\nIn some part of their course all lymphatic vessels pass through\ncertain bodies called lymphatic glands.\n\nAnalysis of lymph and chyle:\n\n\n Lymph. Lymph from Chyle from\n Thoracic Duct. the Lacteals.\n\n Water, 937.32 939.70 902.37\n Fibrine, 0.595 10.60 3.70\n Albumen, 42.775 38.83 35.16\n Fat, 6.51 a little 36.01\n Extractive Matter, 5.05\n Salts, 7.75 10.87 22.76\n ------ ------- -------\n 1000. 1000. 1000.\n\n\nChyle having reached the lymphatic channels, its onward progress is\ndetermined by a variety of circumstances. Putting aside the pumping\naction of the villi, the same events which cause the movement of the\nlymph generally, also further the flow of the chyle, and these are\nbriefly as follows:\n\n1. The wide-spread presence of valves in the lymphatic vessels causes\nevery pressure exercised on the tissues in which they lie, to assist\nin the propulsion forward of the lymph.\n\n2. Considering the whole lymphatic system as a set of branching tubes\npassing from the extravascular regions just outside the small arteries\nand veins and capillaries, to the large venous trunks, it is obvious\nthat the mean pressure of the blood in the subclavian at the junction\nwith the jugular is the cause of the movement, etc., assisted perhaps\nby the respiratory movements, and other causes, as osmosis, etc.\n\nThe average quantity of solid fecal matter evacuated by the human adult\nin twenty-four hours is about five ounces; an uncertain proportion\nof which consists simply of the undigested or chemically modified\nresidue of the food, and the remainder of certain matters which are\nexcreted in the intestinal canal.\n\nGases contained in the stomach and intestines. The sources of the\ngases contained in the stomach and bowels may be enumerated:\n\n1. Air introduced in the act of swallowing either food or saliva.\n\n2. Gas developed by the decomposition of alimentary matter, or of\nthe secretions and excretions mingled with it in the stomach and\nintestines.\n\n3. It is probable that a certain mutual interchange occurs between\nthe gases contained in the alimentary canal, and those present in\nthe blood of the gastric and intestinal blood-vessels.\n\nThe movement of the intestines is peristaltic or vermicular, and is\neffected by the alternate contractions and dilatations of successive\nportions of the intestinal coats. The contractions, which may commence\nat any point of the intestine, extend in a wavelike manner along\nthe tube. This is due to the involuntary longitudinal and circular\nmuscular fibers contracting successively from above downwards and from\nbehind forwards, etc. The movements take place slowly, and in health\nare commonly unperceived by the mind, but they are perceptible when\nthey are accelerated under the influence of any irritation.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nTHE ELEMENTARY SUBSTANCES.\n\n\nWe have thus far discovered that this terrestrial globe is composed\nof sixty-four elementary substances; that fifty belong to a class\ncalled metals, and the remaining fourteen are non-metallic and are\ncalled metalloids.\n\nWe know with absolute certainty the elementary chemical composition\nof all the substances known to man; everything within the reach of\nman has been analyzed, whether of inorganic or of organic origin.\n\nWe also know the principal elements that enter into the composition\nof organic substances, animal or vegetable.\n\nBut a thing that is not generally known is the wonderful role certain\nelements play in nature, especially in the life of plants and animals.\n\nIf we examine the extraordinary display of combination or composition\nof some of the elements--especially those that enter into the\ncomposition of organic substances--we shall find how few of these\nelements are essential for the production of life, and its maintenance;\nand we shall be surprised to find what force or power, and phenomena,\nthey are capable of producing. We shall be surprised to see how nicely\nand delicately these elementary compositions are adjusted--with what\nprecision the elements enter into combination with each other--and\nwith what astonishing result.\n\nThe union of the elements that enter into the composition of living\nmatter, must always be very accurately balanced, to insure a healthy\nor normal condition of either plant or animal. A very slight deviation\nor change may prove either injurious or destructive to the living\norganism.\n\nIn order to obviate writing the names of the elements, we propose to\nuse symbols. The elementary substances that enter into the composition\nof living matter being few, it will not be difficult to recognize\nthe meaning of the symbols. The four vital elements mentioned in a\nprevious chapter are\n\n\n Carbon. Hydrogen. Nitrogen. Oxygen.\n Symbols: C H N O\n\n\nThe atmosphere we breathe, for example, is what is called a chemical\nmixture, and is composed of O22N77, with traces of ammonia, etc.\n\nThe water we drink is a chemical composition, and is constituted by\nO H2.\n\nThe number placed against each element indicates the quantity of each\none requisite, or found, in the composition, or chemical combination,\nof the substance indicated.\n\nTake water for example. O1 (one) and H2 (two), that represents\na chemical compound. It is most abundant, and is by far the most\nessential, in the formation of organic life.\n\nAir, water, fire, are represented by the four elements C H N O.\n\nEvery power, every force known to man is dependent upon these. Every\nkind of life is made up of these. Of every phenomenon manifested\nby nature, whatever the display may be or where it may occur, these\nelements are the fundamental basis.\n\nProtoplasm, which is acknowledged to be the base of physical life,\nis nothing more than a homogeneous mass of albuminous matter which\nis composed of C H N O--with a greater or less quantity of each of\nthese elements.\n\nThese elements enter into the formation of all gases, fluids, and\nsolids. They are invisible at one time and visible at another. Without\ntaste or color or odor in a free state, or even in combination, they\nassume taste, color, and odor when the elements combine in certain\nproportions. They become either harmless or poisonous; create,\nmaintain, or destroy life.\n\nOxygen is a tasteless, colorless, and inodorous gas.\n\nHydrogen is a colorless, tasteless, and inodorous gas.\n\nNitrogen is destitute of color, taste, or odor.\n\nCarbon is a solid but becomes gaseous in combination with either\nOxygen or Hydrogen.\n\nThe diamond is one of the most remarkable substances known. It is\nalways distinctly crystallized, often quite transparent and colorless,\nnow and then having a shade of yellow, pink, or blue. Carbon is also\nfound as graphite or plumbago. It constitutes a large proportion of\nall organic structures, animal and vegetable. Pure carbon, diamond, is\nthe hardest substance known. In combination with Oxygen and Hydrogen\nit forms the softest of living matter, protoplasm. In combination\nwith Oxygen it is poisonous to all animal life, and beneficial to\nvegetable life. Combined with Hydrogen, it forms the gas we burn,\nand is destructive to animal life. It is the food-maker in the plant,\nand it is the food-provider for the animal. It is the combustive\nagent in nature, in vegetables and in animals. From a thunderstorm to\na flickering flame of a candle, carbon displays its power. From the\nsmallest and lowliest aquatic vegetable cell to the highest animal cell\ntissue, it is the important solidifying, heat-giving element. These\nelements when free have neither color, odor, nor taste. Combined,\nhowever, they acquire odor, taste, and color.\n\n\n\nO and N, the atmosphere, has no color, taste, or odor.\n\nO and H, water, has no color, taste, or odor.\n\nN and H, ammonia, has color, taste, and odor.\n\nO and C is given off by animals, taken in by vegetables--carbonic acid.\n\nC and H, the gas, has taste, odor, and color.\n\nN and O produce a gas--laughing gas.\n\nAny two of these elements may combine in the form of a gas, a liquid,\nor a solid. And any one may combine with any other element known and\nform a substance, a molecule.\n\nO combines with all the elements known.\n\nH \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0,,\u00a0 many.\n\nN \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0,,\u00a0 some.\n\nC \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0,,\u00a0 many.\n\nTwo elements form a substance.\n\nThree elements form vegetable life.\n\nFour elements form animal life.\n\nCommon salt is used daily with our food; is harmless and useful;\nit is known as the chloride of sodium. By analysis this compound is\nseparated, analyzed, into chlorine and sodium. Na stands for sodium,\nand Cl for chlorine. Combine Cl with H. That forms hydrochloric acid,\na strong poison, strong enough to dissolve marble. Cl has little\nattraction for O. Its chemical energies are principally exerted\ntoward hydrogen and the metals. Cl is one of the best disinfectants,\nand makes excellent bleaching material. Na (sodium) combines with O,\nand H, and C. These are some of the combinations:\n\nNa Cl = common salt.\n\nCl H = hydrochloric acid, a poison.\n\nO Na H = caustic soda.\n\nNa2 N O3 = Chili saltpetre.\n\nNa2 C O3 = sodium, carbonate, etc.\n\nPhosphorus and sulphur and other elements enter into combination with\nOxygen and Hydrogen.\n\nBoth phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) enter into organic life, but play\na subordinate role.\n\nThe vegetable cell contains liquid, solid, and air. The growing,\nvitally active cells are filled with liquid, namely O and H, charged\nwith more or less nutritive assimilated matters, C, etc.\n\nSap--the liquid which is imbibed by the roots and carried upwards by\nthe stem--this is the water impregnated with certain gaseous matter\nderived from the air, and minute portions of earthy matter dissolved\nfrom the soil under the influence of light. Sap elaborated--from\nthis we obtain the ternary substances composed of three elements,\nO C H; also substances composed of four elements, O C H N. The latter\nrepresents protoplasm or protein.\n\nVegetable chemical compounds, organic substances, can be produced\nonly under certain vitalizing conditions and influences.\n\nWherever upon the surface of this earth, the sun's rays produce a\ncertain degree of heat, temperature, C H O may combine and evolve\nvegetable life.\n\nIn tropical climates, for example, notwithstanding the sun's heat,\nno vegetation grows on high mountain peaks that are covered with snow\nand ice year in and year out; nor will vegetation grow in the cold\nclimate of the north. C H and O will produce vegetable life only in\nthe presence of heat. Heat is essential. And there is one source only\nwhence it can be obtained, that is the sun.\n\nThe climate, as the temperature, etc.; the quantity of elements, and\nthe quality of soil, vary the products of vegetation. That accounts for\nthe immense variety, the differences existing. The organic chemical\ncombinations in vegetable life are infinite. And all these varieties\ndepend on the numerical quantities of each of the elements C H O that\nenter any composition.\n\n\n The products of vegetation.\n\n C H O N\n\n Starch food substances, 18 13 15\n Sugar, grape, 6 12 6\n \u00a0\u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 cane, H2O + 12 22 11\n Oils, aniseed, etc., 10 12 1\n Acids, tartaric, 4 6 6\n \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0, citric, etc., 6 8 7\n Hydrocyanic, or prussic, acid, one of the\n strongest poisons, 1 1 1\n Tannin or tannic acid, 27 22 17\n Turpentine oil (composed of carbon and\n hydrogen only) 10 16\n\n\nWe have other vegetable products called alkaloids, that are principally\nfound in the bark and\u00a0the leaves. A few examples will suffice:\n\n\n C H N O\n\n Morphia, 17 19 1 3\n Strychnine, 21 22 2 2\n Quinine (sulphate H2SO4), 20 24 2 2\n The essence of coffee and tea, caffein or thein, 8 10 4 2\n\n\nThe alcohols, acids, ethers, and so on, are all composed of these\nelements:\n\n\n C H O\n\n Alcohol, 2 6 1\n Acetic acid, 2 4 2\n\n\nThe combinations are infinite. Volumes are filled with organic\nchemistry. Mere mention only can be made, to show the wonderful power\nthese elements display when variously combined.\n\nThe products of destructive distillation of coal yield a remarkable\nseries of combinations:\n\n\n Carb. Hyd.\n Light carburetted hydrogen, marsh gas,\n or fire-damp, is composed of 1 4 (C1H4)\n Aceteline, another product, 2 2 (C2H2)\n Heavy carburetted hydrogen, olefiant gas,\n the gas we burn, ethelene, 2 4 (C2H4)\n\n\nThese may undergo a vast variety of changes and\ncombinations. Chloroform, alcohol, ethers, acids, oils and fats,\nresins, balsams, etc., etc., all have these elements in combination.\n\nDoes it not seem strange that the different numerical combinations\nof the same elements should have such different effects upon the\nanimal system?\n\nWhy should starch and sugar compounds be good for the sustenance\nof animal life while other compounds of the same elements prove\ndestructive to life? Or, why should morphia have such a peculiar\neffect upon the animal tissues--especially the nervous? And why\nshould alcohol have such a peculiar effect upon the master tissues\nof the body? The difference in the chemical composition of quinine\nand strychnine is not so very great, yet the action upon the system\nis by no means the same. The effect upon the tissues is not the same.\n\nThose who believe in a God easily dispose of these questions by simply\nexclaiming, They are the wonderful works of God!\n\nThat one drop of hydrocyanic acid upon the tongue of an animal should\nkill is very astonishing; that acid being composed only of one of\nCarbon, one of Hydrogen, and one of Nitrogen (C N H). Why should it\nparalyze the brain first, before it affects the heart, since it has\nto be carried by the blood through the circulation to the brain? The\nderangement of the functions of that center causes death.\n\nThe revelations of these important combinations and actions man had\nto make for himself. They were not brought down to us on tablets of\nstone by some supernatural agent, nor did spirits or angels communicate\nthe mysteries and the powers of these elements.\n\nIt is owing to the development of man's intellectual faculties, that\nthe combinations of these elements has been made possible. It was\nquite a discovery when it was found that nitre, sulphur, and charcoal\nmade gunpowder. There are only five elements in that compound, viz.,\nNitrogen, potassium, Oxygen, Carbon, and sulphur. Chili saltpeter\nis used for domestic purposes. Harmless to animal life, so is each\none of these elements when they enter into combinations that are not\ndestructive to life.\n\nThe forces and powers exercised by any compound depend on the number\nand kind of elements that enter into the composition. And the influence\nthat bears directly upon their mutual activity again depends, when\nin a state of nature, upon the presence of heat. When a seed, as\nof wheat or of any starchy vegetable, is thrown into the ground,\nit will not germinate except in the presence of a certain amount\nof moisture, and heat, the heat varying from 50\u00b0 to 80\u00b0 Fahrenheit,\nin addition to free communication with the air.\n\nTemperature, moisture, air, electricity, kind and quantity of the\nvarious elements in the soil present, cause the immense variations in\nplant life and plant compositions. Yet the same elementary compositions\nwill be found in the same species, and the same conditions generally\nwill be required to reproduce them.\n\nEach group of elements that enters into the composition of any\nsubstance, carries with it qualities and capabilities peculiar to\nitself, throughout the vegetable kingdom. Its influence upon the\nanimal economy will depend on the various atomic elements, and the\nquantities of each, that enter its combinations. For example, the\natmosphere, the balance of power between O and N, is essential to\nboth plant and animal. So with water, O H2. And so with those foods,\nstarch and sugars, C18H30O15 or C6 H12O6; in each of these substances\nCarbon has its complement of Hydrogen and Oxygen. That is, the Carbon\nis, as it were, diluted in a sufficient quantity of water to make\nit suitable for food. Rob it of its Oxygen and it becomes a poison,\nan active poison. The less the quantity of Oxygen in any substance\nof organic origin the more unfit it becomes as a food. And it becomes\npoisonous to the animal system in proportion as the Oxygen is absent\nor removed from the composition. We have representatives of poisonous\nsubstances in alcohol, C2H6O, a mild poison; and in hydrocyanic acid,\nC N H, the strongest poison known.\n\nMoreover, we see already peculiar manifestations in vegetable life,\nhumble in character, low in degree. Plants not only rest from activity,\nbut have their sleep and exhibit sensible movement from irritation. The\nfoliage of the locust, and of most leguminous plants, and that of\noxalis and wood-sorrel, seem to have their sleep, as seen by the\nposition of their leaves and blossoms. Irritate the mimosa plant,\nas by roughly touching it, and the leaflets will suddenly change\nposition. In the Dion\u00e6a muscipula, or Venus's flytrap, the touch\nof an insect, alighting upon the upper surface of the outspread\nlamin\u00e6, causes its sides to close suddenly, the strong bristles of\nthe marginal fringe crossing each other like the teeth of a steel\ntrap, and the two surfaces pressing together with considerable force,\nso as to retain, if not destroy, the intruder, whose struggles only\nincrease the pressure which this animated trap exerts.\n\nIt is evident that the elementary combinations under certain conditions\nand the influence of heat, will exhibit vital action, in an organic\nform--manifest phenomena of life, that are only in degree, and not in\nkind, inferior to the lowest plant life. The process is the same. The\nmode of living differs in degree, though the results are different.\n\nThe combination and exchange of elements takes place in the simple\nplant life as in the higher animal life. The watery portion of plant\nlife is composed of O and H2, the same as water in a free state or\nwater in animal life, and the combination of Oxygen and Hydrogen\nwith Carbon. The food substances are found in the vital machinery\nof vegetation.\n\nThe characteristics of life exhibited in the lower grade of vegetation,\nare seen in a more perfect degree in animal life--respiration,\nexchange of gases, imbibition, absorption, assimilation, evolution\nof heat and motion, the power of incorporating material in its own\nsubstance, endosmosis, subjectibility to irritation, exhaustion,\nspontaneous movement, rest and sleep, capability of being influenced\nby various stimuli, etc., etc.\n\nThe combination of O, C, and H, organized and vitalized, in conjunction\nwith a few other less important elements, manifests in conformity\nwith the laws of nature all functions and activities that plant lie\nis capable of realizing. It would neither be extravagant, nor an\nexaggeration, considering the important role these elements play in\nvegetation, if they were rightfully termed the soul-life of plants.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nALCOHOL AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE SYSTEM.\n\n\nAll substances taken into the stomach as food are of three kinds,\ncarbohydrates, proteids, and fats. This means, starch, sugars, meats,\nand fats, besides water and some salts.\n\nFood substances carry their own complement of water, serve nutritive\npurposes when taken into the system, and are easily dissolved by the\nvarious fluids in the body.\n\nFood may be taken into the system for three purposes: 1. Simply for\nthe maintenance of health; 2. For fattening purposes; 3. For the sake\nof muscular energy.\n\nThe body, the human body, consists, speaking in general terms, of\ncarbohydrates, fats, and proteids, and water and saline matters.\n\nWe have seen that the work done by the master tissues causes a loss,\nor produces a certain amount of waste material, consisting of Carbon,\nHydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen, and some mineral matter--salts. This\nloss or waste has to be replaced in quantity and quality sufficient\nin order to maintain a healthy condition of the body.\n\nAnd, since we know the precise, or almost the precise, quantity of\nmaterial excreted, which consists of Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and\nHydrogen, etc., we can also estimate, with considerable precision,\nthe quantity needed to replace it.\n\nMore than 41 per cent of the entire weight of the body is made up of\nmuscular tissue. The nervous tissue constitutes not quite two per cent.\n\nThe chemical composition of muscular and nervous tissue--of the solid\npart only--is\n\n\n Carbon. Hydrogen. Nitrogen. Oxygen. Sul.\n\n 51.5 6.9 15.2 20.9 0.3\n to to to to to\n 54.5 7.3 17.0 23.5 2.0\n\n\nThe watery portion of the muscle is not mentioned. Please notice the\nlarge quantity of Carbon and the small quantity of Hydrogen in the\ncomposition of the solid part of the muscle.\n\nWe are aware that the muscles are always producing Carbonic Acid--that\nis, C and O2--and when a muscle contracts, there is a sudden and\nextensive increase of the normal production.\n\nThe blood that comes from a contracting muscle is richer in Carbonic\nacid--that is, it contains one atom more of Carbon and two atoms of\nOxygen more.\n\nThe blood that has passed through the lungs changes from venous to\narterial blood. The venous discharges about 5 vols. of Carbonic acid\n(C O2); the arterial carries away about 5 vols. of Oxygen (O) to\nthe tissues.\n\nThe carbohydrates taken into the system:\n\n\n Oz.\n\n Starch and sugars, about 20\n Meats, proteids, \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 15\n Fats, \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 3 1/2\n Water, \u00a0,,\u00a0\u00a0 52\n\n\nAbout 32 ounces of saliva converts the starch into sugar. That is,\nthe saliva changes starch (C18 H30 O15) into sugar (C6 H11 O5). Meats\nare acted upon by the gastric juice, it requiring about ten to\ntwenty pints to dissolve three-quarters to one pound of meat-stuff;\nand the substances in the stomach are changed into chyme. The fats\nare emulsified by the gall from the liver--about 30 to 40 ounces\nfor 3 to 4 ounces of fat. And the pancreatic juice completes the\nwork and still farther dissolves all three kinds of substances, so\nthat, with the aid of the succus entericus, the whole mass is changed\ninto a substance called chyle. All the carbohydrates and proteids in\nsolution, together with the fluids taken into the system, are taken up\nby the veins of the abdominal organs and conveyed by the portal vein\nto the liver. Passing through the liver, the blood is collected by\nthe hepatic vein and emptied into the inferior vena cava. The fatty\nsubstances are taken up by the lacteals to the receptaculum chyli,\npassed up the thoracic duct, and poured into the left subclavian vein,\nwhich empties its contents into the superior vena cava.\n\nBoth streams of blood--venous blood--from the superior and inferior\nvena cava, pass into the right auricle, thence to the right ventricle,\nthrough the pulmonary artery into the lungs, there exchange the\nCarbonic acid for Oxygen, and return by means of the pulmonary veins\ninto the left auricle, thence to the left ventricle, through the\naorta into the general system--and to the master tissues.\n\nIn the tissues the Oxygen is taken up. That is, the Oxygen passes from\nthe blood to the tissues and the tissues throw off the Carbonic acid,\nwhich the veins again carry to the right side of the heart.\n\nAlcohol is composed of Carbon two (2), Hydrogen six (6), and Oxygen\none (1) (C2 H6 O1). Alcohol, like all poisonous substances, carries\na small amount of Oxygen. In composition it resembles very much, and\nprobably is, a union of C2 H4 + H2 O, C2 H4 = ethane, olefiant gas,\nor heavy carburetted hydrogen. It is, in fact, a constituent of the\ngas we burn, procured from the destructive distillation of coal--in\nother words, coal gas. To make it plainer, ethane contains two of\nCarbon, four of Hydrogen + one molecule of water.\n\nWhen alcohol is taken into the system, it is almost immediately\nabsorbed by the veins of the stomach, is carried at once by the\nportal vein to the liver, and returns from the liver by way of the\nhepatic vein to the inferior vena cava, to the right auricle, and to\nthe lungs through the right ventricle.\n\nBut the lungs cannot supply Oxygen enough to satisfy the Carbon of\nthe alcohol. There is only one atom of Oxygen in the composition of\nalcohol, and three more atoms of Oxygen are needed to form Carbonic\nacid (C O2). Under ordinary, normal conditions, Oxygen enough is\ninspired to satisfy the wants of the tissues for combustion purposes,\nbut in the case of alcohol an extra demand for Oxygen is made, and\nthe lungs are not prepared to supply the demand.\n\nSince oxidation takes place in the tissues and not in the blood, the\nblood, being overcharged with heavy carburetted Hydrogen (C2 H4),\nunloads it into the tissue. The extra amount of Carbon arriving at\nthe tissue, robs it of its Oxygen. The Oxygen arriving from the lungs\nbeing insufficient, the tissue loses Oxygen. The presence of Oxygen\nis necessary for the maintenance of irritability. From the fact that\nno free Oxygen is present in the muscular tissue the tension is nil\nor even less than nothing.\n\nWhen the Carbon of the alcohol robs the tissues of its Oxygen, the\nHydrogen is set free. What becomes of it? The muscular and nervous\ntissues contain from 51 to 54 per cent of Carbon in their composition,\nand 6 to 7 per cent of Hydrogen. The free Hydrogen combines with\nthe Carbon of the tissues and forms carburetted Hydrogen, with which\nthe blood gets overloaded, and carries it to the other tissues. The\nnervous system, the brain, not receiving the Oxygen necessary, in\nconsequence of the blood being overcharged with both Carbonic acid\nand carburetted Hydrogen, the nervous substance is first impaired,\nnext exhausted, and lastly its normal activity extinguished.\n\nThe muscles meantime through having been robbed of both Oxygen and\nCarbon--receiving no free Oxygen or very little--and through the\npresence in the circulating fluid of Carbonic acid and carburetted\nHydrogen, lose the power to act. The cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla\noblongata, with all the other subordinate nervous centers, being\nimpaired by the poison and the absence of Oxygen, the nerves of\nvolition lose control, the cerebrum has its will power impaired or\nentirely subdued, and the cerebellum loses the power of muscular\nco\u00f6rdination.\n\nThus, then, the master tissues become crippled. At first alcohol\nmay have a stimulating effect on the nervous system; next, if the\nindulgence be continued, the nervous forces become exalted; finally,\nhowever, depression sets in, and proves at last a complete extinguisher\nof the intellectual faculties.\n\nThe muscles first lose the power of co\u00f6rdination, the irritability\nand tension gradually cease, at length they refuse to act.\n\nThe brain and muscles being helpless, the body lies in a state of\nstupor, motionless. The individual is temporarily deprived of his\nmental faculties, incapacitated, and completely oblivious to all his\nsurroundings. The involuntary organs, however, may act. The stomach\nmay eject its contents, having lost consciousness and will power. The\nurine and feces may pass off involuntarily.\n\nAll organs have to suffer, but two more than all the rest--the liver\nand kidneys.\n\nThe function of the liver, as we have already seen, is the secretion\nof the bile. That organ has still another important duty to perform,\nand that is in converting the starchy substances, or its already\nconverted sugars, in to glycogen = C6 H10 O5. The metabolic activity\nof the hepatic cells lies in the formation of glycogene. Glycogene is\na source of heat in the body. It is constantly present in the muscle,\nas a functional material no doubt. The chief purposes this substance\nserves are probably for respiration and production of animal heat.\n\nWe must bear in mind that fats are composed of C, H, and O, and that\nboth fats and carbohydrates serve nutritive purposes. Whether any\ndifference exists between the two we do not know at present, beyond\nthe fact that in the final combination of the two, while carbohydrates\nrequire sufficient Oxygen only to combine with their Carbon, there\nbeing already sufficient Oxygen in the carbohydrate itself to form\nwater with the Hydrogen, fats require in addition Oxygen to burn off\nsome of their Hydrogen.\n\nAlcohol is not convertible into glycogene. The six atoms of Carbon\nare complemented by five molecules of water: C6 + 5 O H2 = C6 H{10}\nO5. As already stated, alcohol (C6 H2 O) contains only one molecule\nof water (H2 O + C2 H4 ethane). To convert the four of Hydrogen into\nwater, two of Oxygen are needed--and to form Carbonic acid three of\nOxygen are wanting.\n\nIn this connection we may ask, Is alcohol a food? No! Alcohol is in\nno sense a food!\n\nAs a stimulant it is very useful, in a certain class of exhausting\ndiseases, but taken in large quantities alcohol acts as a slow poison.\n\nThe action of the alcohol, which must pass through the liver, is\ncertainly not beneficial. On the contrary, the function of the organ\nis interfered with and the tissues of which the liver is composed\nslowly but surely undergo a degenerative process.\n\nThe alcoholic beverages differ. As for example, whisky, wine, and\nbeer--of the three beer is probably the least injurious. By reason of\nthe hops it contains it helps to allay nervous irritability. When taken\ncontinuously in large quantities, it leads to congestion of the liver\nand the accumulation of fat. Beer contains only four to five per cent\nof alcohol, or thereabout. The effect of beer on some individuals is\nsomewhat similar, in the increase of size, to the remarkable growth\nof some aquatic plants, as the gourd, in which the vegetable tissue\ncells are very large and increase very rapidly.\n\nThe use of the stronger spirits leads to a degeneration of another\nkind--contraction of the liver, cirrhosis.\n\nThe kidneys are the next to suffer severely by the alcoholic\nfluids. The whole blood is purified by the kidneys. The transit is very\nrapid; the elimination of impurities must necessarily be rapid. The\nbody under the normal condition eliminates Nitrogen chiefly; this is\nthe urea and uric acid found in the diurnal excretion of urine of\nfifty-two ounces in the twenty-four hours. But if instead of a man\ndrinking the ordinary allowance of fifty-two ounces of water, a man\ntakes in several hundred ounces, as in the case of some beer-drinkers,\nit is evident that the kidneys have a great deal more work to perform\nthan usual, in addition to the constant irritability the kidneys,\nlike the liver and other organs, are subject to.\n\nThe sobering up of a man after a drunk, consists in receiving Oxygen\nsufficient in quantity into the tissues, to supply the amount he\nhas lost. It takes several hours before sufficient Oxygen has been\nintroduced into the tissues to establish the normal equilibrium.\n\nThe theories on alcohol are various. I quote some of the more important\nones, briefly stated:\n\nLiebig thought that alcohol disappeared by complete and rapid\ncombustion.\n\nLallemand and Perrin entertained the theory that alcohol was eliminated\nby the excretory organs. (That means, perhaps, that alcohol simply\npromenaded through the system.)\n\nParks was of opinion that alcohol is directly absorbed by the\nblood-vessels without undergoing any change or decomposition.\n\nAnother theory was that alcohol is converted into acetic acid (C2 H{4}\nO2); and that acetic acid is split up into carbonic acid (C O2) and\nwater--which is impossible, as there is not Oxygen enough for both\nC O2 and H2 O.\n\nIt appears, then, that alcohol does not disappear by rapid combustion,\nexcept when taken in very small quantities and during a state of\nexhaustion, and then not by combustion. That alcohol is excreted there\nis no doubt, but when taken in large quantities it is not excreted\nwithout leaving its permanent mark behind it. Nor is it absorbed by\nthe blood-vessels without undergoing any change or decomposition,\notherwise it would be excreted by the kidneys and skin.\n\nThat the function of the brain is entirely suspended, for a time\nat least, needs no argument, because all will power is arrested,\nthe nerves of special sense cease to act, all nerve-centers suspend\noperation, and the nerve-fibers no longer act as conductors of either\nmotion or sensation. And the muscular tissues are no longer capable\nof irritation, stimulation, or co\u00f6rdination; contraction, flexion,\nand extension have been temporarily annihilated; the force, the power,\nand the action have succumbed to the harmful influence of alcohol. And\nthe cause of it all is--too much carburetted Hydrogen and the absence\nof Oxygen. This has unbalanced the elements that normally enter into\nthe composition of the tissue both of muscle and nerve.\n\nThe master tissues, the nervous and muscular, that get drunk, they\nare the first to feel the stimulation, become excited, depressed,\nand exhausted.\n\nAnd finally let us sum up some of the effects of alcohol on the system:\n\n1. It is a source neither of heat nor of energy, nor can it be stored\nup for future use, nor can it be assimilated in the tissues.\n\n2. Alcohol retards the motion of the blood.\n\n3. It induces specific action after the manner of cumulative poisons.\n\n4. By the veins and absorbents alcohol mixes with the blood, and\nimmediately acts as a stimulant on all the tissues with which it is\nbrought in contact.\n\n5. It causes the retention of substances which ought to be eliminated.\n\n6. It is shown by abundant testimony that the blood becomes surcharged\nwith unchanged and unused material, and contains more Carbon than\nnormally, at times as much as 20 to 30 per cent.\n\n7. Alcoholic blood coagulates slowly and extravasates easily.\n\n8. The susceptibility to disease is greater, the resisting force is\ndiminished, and the healing process seriously interfered with.\n\n9. Oxygen is diverted from its proper functions, the exhalation\nof carbonic acid at the lungs is diminished, both absolutely and\nrelatively, but the pulmonary aqueous vapor is not lessened.\n\n10. The functions of the brain are at once stimulated, and all other\norgans are excited, and a train of phenomena is induced partly of a\nchemical nature and partly of a physical or vital.\n\n11. Alcohol produces a temporary increase of the heart's action,\nand a congestion of the whole of the pulmonary capillaries.\n\n12. It irritates the parts, stimulating the glandular secretions,\nleads to congestion of the blood-vessels, in time forms spurious\nmelanotic deposits and a gradual thickening of the gastric substance.\n\n13. Fat gradually is increased in the blood, and a milky character\nis imparted to the serum of the blood, and the red corpuscles in time\nassume a wrinkled and contracted appearance.\n\n14. The water of the urine is diminished; the chlorides are greatly\nlessened, as well as the acids and bases.\n\nMost people are concerned about themselves only to the extent of\nsecuring the immediate satisfaction of their senses. The superficial\nsurroundings they utilize to cater to the enjoyment of such indulgences\nof acquired taste, habit, passion, feelings or emotions, as prove most\ngratifying to them, never thinking that their constitution is nothing\nmore than a vitalized chemical machine, temporarily passing through\nits terrestrial cycle of physiological activity, beginning as a mass\nof protoplasm, and terminating, when it has gone through all the phases\nof animal existence, in the distribution of its chemical elements.\n\nThe deranging effect of alcohol on the nervous and muscular tissues\nmay be compared to the working of an ordinary battery. We know that\nthe action and the force depend on the elements that enter into the\ncomposition of the battery, fluids and solids, zinc and copper,\nand sulphuric acid--representing zinc, copper, sulphur, Oxygen,\nand Hydrogen. The action of the zinc and copper depends upon the\nfluids. Other fluids, though composed of three elements, would produce\neither not the same effect, or no effect at all. It stands to reason\nthat, since we know the kind of fluid that will set the elements in\naction, we certainly should be very unwise to use another fluid that\nwill either derange or destroy the battery's working capacity. The\nforces or force are in this instance produced by the combination of\ncertain elements, and in order to continue the activity or action of\nthese elements one upon the other, a constant supply must be kept\nup. The mechanism of muscular action, or nervous action, depends\nupon the supply of certain elements; they are continually replacing\nelements that are used up in the work they have to perform--that is,\nthe function of brain or muscle. The moment elements are introduced\nthat do not or cannot make up the loss of the working expenditure, that\ntend rather to disorganize or decompose the tissues, the functions and\nthe natural forces are interfered with, weakened, or may be brought\nto a standstill.\n\nThe effect of alcohol is much the same on all animals. I mean,\nthat the master tissues of the lower animals will succumb to the\ninfluence of alcohol as readily as those of a human being. We know\nwith certainty what gets drunk--where is the spiritual part of\nman? where is the soul? When the brain is intoxicated, its functions\nare more or less suspended, its controlling or governing action is\nlost over the muscular tissue, in addition to the muscles themselves\nbeing disabled. Both tissues, having been robbed of their elementary\nequilibrium, consequently cease working. The moment the equilibrium\nis re\u00ebstablished, the tissues assume their functions the same as\nbefore. If a given number of specific parts enter into the construction\nof any mechanism in order to produce a certain amount of force and\neffect, the number of specific parts must always be present if the same\nforce and effect is to be realized. Brain and muscle are made up of a\nspecific number of elements; these must be always present if we would\nhave them produce the normal force and effect. When too much Carbon\nand Hydrogen and too little Oxygen are introduced into the system,\nas in the case of alcohol, the derangement of these elements is felt\nin the poisonous effect, because enough Oxygen cannot be supplied to\nkeep up with the demand.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nTHE SOUL--WHAT IS IT?\n\n\nDry truth, real knowledge, hard facts, are less interesting, less\nentertaining, than a plausible fable or a fanciful story. While\nthe latter is listened to, with eagerness and pleasure, the former\nbarely receives ordinary civility and attention. The effort requisite\nto understand and to think, requires resolution, determination,\nand fixed attention. The senses are not stimulated, the emotions\nand feelings not aroused, by mathematical problems or astronomical\ncalculations. The muscular tissues are much more easily trained,\ndisciplined, and educated than the nervous tissues. In the former\nwe see immediate results. There is a pleasure in the pursuit, a\npalpable satisfaction in watching the muscular action and physical\ndevelopment. The most agreeable part about that kind of exercise,\ntraining--or education if you choose--is that it is easily acquired\nand soon put in practice, and much admired. It has other advantages\nin addition. The fatigue and exhaustion in consequence of muscular\nexercise, add no small amount of enjoyment to that already experienced,\nby having to replenish the spent energies, to fill the demand for new\nmaterial called for. The gustatory and olfactory nerves are stimulated\nby odor of the viands provided, and what is still more important,\nthe glandular activity that is set in motion produces an amount of\nexhilaration, so satisfactory that it is recognized as one of the\nprincipal features for every and on all occasions. \"A feast is made\nfor laughter and wine maketh merry\" (Eccles. x, 19).\n\nMuscular action, however, cannot take place without nervous\naction. These two tissues are dependent one on the other. Yet the\nmuscular tissue may be considered as subordinate to the nervous\ntissue. While the muscular tissue may become totally inactive or\nincapacitated, or even removed, the brain tissue may retain its\nactivity and continue to perform its functions. The very reverse\ntakes place when the brain is either injured or removed. We know by\nexperience, experiments, that injuries or other pathological changes\nwill cause impairment to muscular tissue.\n\nIt is hard to conceive, and harder still to understand, that an\nanimal--man included--is nothing more than a vitalized machine,\ncomposed in the first place of two distinct working parts--muscular\nand nervous--while all the other portions have to perform duty in\norder to sustain them.\n\nThe word function is a term applied to all tissues in general, as\nkidneys, liver, stomach, etc.; each has its function. So have muscles\nand nerves. The former has for its function contraction, while the\nlatter has for its function to control and regulate that contraction.\n\nThe first part of the machinery is governed and checked by the\ndomination of the other. That dominion, that control, is termed\nVolition, in other words, will power!\n\n1. Will power! What is it? It is a power which every animal possesses,\nand every animal exercises, in accordance with its particular\norganization and degree of organic development.\n\n2. Every animal has the power, with the aid of its senses--five senses\nof sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling--to select substances\nfrom the vegetable and mineral kingdom, for its immediate want,\nfor the sustenance of life.\n\n3. It has the power of locomotion to go in search for those substances,\nand to carry them to a place of safety, for present or future use. It\nhas the power to select the kind of food, to choose that which is\nbeneficial and reject that which is injurious. The five senses direct\nin that selection.\n\n4. The animal has will power to protect and defend his\npossessions--through his senses the brain directs and the muscles act.\n\n5. The animal has will power, when the organs of procreation are\ndeveloped, to choose a partner for the production of young. The senses\nserve in making the selection, as regards beauty, form, size, etc.\n\n6. It has the will power to nourish and protect its young or to\ndestroy it.\n\n7. Animals have the will power to build their habitation, their home,\nand furnish it in a manner best suited for their comfort.\n\n8. Animals have the power to articulate sound, and have the will\nto communicate with each other if they so desire, to antagonize or\nto quarrel.\n\n9. They have the will power to select from the surrounding\nelements. They choose water, air, sunshine, high or low altitudes;\nthey migrate from warm to cold, and from cold to warm, climates.\n\n10. They have social intercourse among themselves; have a will power to\norganize as a band or body to protect themselves against the attacks\nof other organized bodies, to fight and to battle.\n\n11. Animals instruct their young--guide them and protect them,\nas well as feed them. They have their code of morals. They have all\nsuch functions as serenading, love-making, music, jealousy, pleasure,\nand anger. Animals have judgment; they can compare and reflect on\ncold and heat, danger and tranquillity, comfort and discomfort. They\ncan reject or accept.\n\n12. They have memory, perception, and understanding. Domestic and\nwild animals exhibit these peculiarities. They will manifest their\nlikes and dislikes, hate and love, courage and cowardice.\n\nThe will power depends on the nervous system--the cerebral hemispheres,\nthe cerebrum or small brain, the thalamus opticus, corpus striata,\ncorpora quadrigemina, the peduncles, medulla oblongata, spinal cord,\netc. That is, all the organs that constitute the nervous machinery,\nthat control the muscular tissues in all their acts, and keep a\nwatchful outlook over all other organs of the body.\n\nThe will power, then, is the power to act in accordance and in harmony\nwith the things recognized, or the selection made by any of the five\nsenses, discriminating between that which is good for them and that\nwhich is injurious, or good and evil.\n\nAnimals in selecting grass for food will avoid that which is injurious\nto them. The olfactory and gustatory nerves guide them. They will seek\nshelter, and evidently know what to do when a thunderstorm approaches,\netc., etc.\n\nWill power is a property, quality, or function belonging to all\nliving creatures in common. The degree of will power depends upon the\nquality, quantity, and perfection of the nervous organization. Man has\nwill power in a measure greater as the nervous system is developed,\neducated, and perfected.\n\nMorality--a quality that does not exclusively belong to man. What is\nmorality? It is nothing more than a restraint, or check, on our actions\nand our feelings. It is the regulating of the actions of life towards\nourselves and towards others. It is the obedience to recognized and\nestablished laws in a community, socially and politically. It means\nnot to trespass against the laws of nature, against ourselves, or\nagainst our neighbors.\n\nAnimals restrain themselves and obey.\n\nMorality differs according to the social customs and practices, and\nthe civil laws regulating the same, which were made and adopted for\nmutual benefit and protection. These are either crude or refined,\ndepending on the condition of society.\n\nTo a limited degree animals have morality. Man has it in a higher and\nmore refined degree, according to the progress and culture attained.\n\nIntelligence--Animals possess intelligence, if the meaning of it is,\nto recognize sounds and figures, be obedient to the voice, understand\nwhat is said, perform certain acts, execute the will of a master,\nknow the difference between right and wrong, express gratitude,\nexercise watchfulness, protect life and property, remember places\nand objects in general, be capable of some degree of improvement,\nsusceptible of training and modification of conduct, etc., within\nthe limits of the nervous power the animal has.\n\nWhat is the soul? Is the soul something quite independent of\nmatter? Is it a something entire and complete in itself? A perfect\npart of a perfect whole? Does the soul possess all the excellences and\nqualities theologians claim for it? Whence does it come? What does it\nconsist of? Has it an existence separate and apart from the body? If\nso, where? In what state does it exist previous to entering the\nbody? Does every human being receive a like quality and quantity? Has\nit consistency? density? elasticity? Is there any connection between\nthe soul principle and matter? Spirit and soul, are they one and\nthe same thing, or do they differ? If so, in what? What is substance\nsoul and substance spirit? Is it self-acting and self-existing? Is\nthe soul susceptible to training and education, and the reception of\nknowledge? Or is the soul already trained, educated, and possessed of\nall the knowledge that is now known or likely to be known? Does the\nwill power reside in the soul? And is the nervous system subservient\nto the soul? Is the soul endowed with passions and emotions? Can the\nsoul deteriorate, be injured or be afflicted? In what degree does\nthe soul differ in the civilized and in uncivilized man?\n\nThe theological soul has its origin in the Bible, no doubt (from\nthe word nephesh, breathing; the Greek psyche: Latin animas, chayu,\nbreath of life).\n\nThis word gave the impulse to a vast amount of thought and reflection,\nboth theological and psychological. Discussion and literature followed\nas extensive as there has ever been on any metaphysical topic.\n\nIt may be interesting to learn some of the attributes of the soul. Here\nis a partial list: \"Will, passion, love, joy, grief, anger, mirth,\nsorrow, revenge, contempt, hatred, honor, pride, humility, jealousy,\ndespair, pity, compassion, love of fame, of music, of the marvelous, of\nnotoriety, avarice, guilt, curiosity, astonishment, respect, desire,\ncheerfulness, melancholy, sense of beauty, sense of the sublime,\nsense of friendship, feeling of delight, selfishness, generosity,\netc.\" The author of this concoction had not a very clear notion of what\nhe was writing about, otherwise he would have known that animals have\nin common with man most of the emotions above recited. The soul is a\ndisplay of nervous phenomena, exhibited under certain circumstances,\ndiffering only in intensity of expression, depending upon the kind\nand character of animal and man.\n\nIt is one of the common tricks of trade--when theologians argue upon\nthe immortality of the soul, they bring and ring in any amount of\nbiblical evidence to sustain them. They prove nothing. They cannot\nprove anything. It is the standing puzzle. They try to unravel a\nmysterious something that is not mysterious. Nor is there any need\nof mystery. What is essential for us to know is the truth, plain\nnatural facts. There is nothing that we need be either ashamed or\nafraid of. If we have been deluded by errors made several thousand\nyears ago, regarding the dual composition of man, or have been imposed\nupon and intentionally retarded in the onward progress, it is time\nto correct the error and remove the imposition. Let us have a clear,\nintelligent view of things and look at them as they are. This mystery,\nlike other mysteries, can be cleared up by the light of science and\nmodern investigation.\n\nWhat is the difference between man and animal? Articulate speech and\nthe susceptibility of the brain matter to a high degree of culture.\n\nMind is a term employed to designate the collective acquirements of\na man's brain. In proportion as the acquirements are greater or less,\nthe mind is greater or smaller.\n\nThese acquirements may be simple, complex, or profound. They may\nbe biased, general, or scientific; they may be deep, learned, or\nsuperficial. They may be only a slight advance above the general\nanimal instinct; or may have assumed a superior intelligence and may\nhave arisen to a higher plane of intellectual qualities.\n\nThe acquirement or evolution of mental power and intellectual capacity\ndepends:\n\n1. On the constitutionally inherited capacity and capability.\n\n2. On the size and general conformation of the brain.\n\n3. On the perfect condition of the organs of special sense.\n\n4. On the quality of the nervous structure.\n\n5. On the general physical constitution of the body.\n\n6. On the evenly balanced equilibrium between the vital organs.\n\n7. On the chemical elementary constituents that enter into the\ncomposition of the various tissues, especially the nervous tissue.\n\n8. And lastly on the education, training, or culture.\n\n9. I may add, suggestively, on the relative quantity and quality of\nthe gray and white substance of the brain, etc., and perhaps on the\ndepth of the sulci and the size of the convolutions and the general\nsymmetry of the different lobes of the cerebrum, etc.\n\nThe brain of an idiot is not susceptible to culture or education. He\nhas all the senses, but of an inferior and imperfect order; a brain\ninsufficient in quantity and quality to be capable of acquiring\nanything. No mind can be formed. The idiot has not any intellect. Has\nhe a soul?\n\nOr supposing any portion of the brain is diseased and any one of the\nspecial senses ceases to act, as sight, hearing, or any part of the\nmuscular tissue, and the intellect is impaired, either partially or\nwholly incapacitated, then has the soul suffered any damage, or does\nthe soul remain intact?\n\nOr supposing that a child is born blind, or that some one of the nerve\ncenters controlling certain faculties of the brain is absent, and\nthe education is necessarily limited to the remaining nerve centers,\nis the soul still complete and perfect?\n\nOr in case of change of structure of the brain substance, as\nin softening of the brain; or in case of tumors, blood clots\n(thrombosis), or syphilitic disease, and paralysis either local or\ngeneral resulting--depending on the seat of the disease--what has\nthe soul to do with it? Or in disease of the meninges (coverings);\nor in case of insanity, whatever morbid cause might have produced\nthat condition, where is the soul?\n\nOr when, in consequence of morbid changes, the mental and physical\nexpressions, the actions, change, often extravagantly, is the soul\naffected thereby?\n\nWhen the body is afflicted with disease, does the soul suffer?\n\nAt what period of fetal development is it that the soul enters the\nbody? Or does it enter at birth?\n\nThe breath of life is Oxygen. Without that element one could not\nlive. Without it the newly born babe is more helpless than a lower\nanimal. Not a single special sense is fully developed. The brain\nsubstance is not fully developed. The babe has no power to will\nanything. It has no volition--except the act of nursing, and that is\nnot a voluntary act. The organs over which will has no control are\nthe first to act--an infant soils its linen involuntarily. It imbibes\nnourishment, as a mass of protoplasm imbibes moisture. It has neither\nwill power nor desire. It cannot select. It has neither knowledge nor\nconscience. Since none of the special senses is able to act, it has no\nperception of any kind whatsoever. It experiences only two sensations,\npain and hunger. Young birds and other young animals do the same.\n\nIs there anything in this newly born babe of a supernatural character,\nsuch as a soul, spirit; the knowledge of God, or of good and evil? Does\nthere exist in this mass of organized protoplasm anything that may\nbe called divine? Is there aught innate? No! Certainly not!\n\nThere are what may be termed latent powers--not unlike latent\nheat--capable of being evolved. You may fashion anything out of it--in\nthe religious line, brutal or uncivilized, etc. It will acquire\nany kind of speech, from the howling of a dog to the most refined\nlanguage. It will contract any habit, from that of the lowest animal\ntype to that of the most refined lady or gentleman. You may make either\na cannibal out of it or the most fantastic gustatorian. It will either\ncrawl, climb, or walk. It will live anywhere and anyhow. It will either\nparade nude, be painted, or wear a breechcloth, or wear a swell dress\ncoat, or, if it be a female, a long trailing skirt with all sorts of\ngewgaws. In religion you may make anything out of this babe. You may\nmake it believe the greatest nonsense. It will believe three gods\nin one or twenty-five gods in one. It will be a Jew, a Christian,\na Mohammedan, or the lowest brute on the face of the earth.\n\nThis mass of vitalized matter is susceptible to training. The physical\npart, the muscular part, always develops and is readily trained. In a\nprimitive state it requires but little discipline to acquire muscular\nstrength. The muscular powers are the first to assert themselves. This\nmaster tissue, whenever and wherever it excels, receives honor and\nhomage, and prevails among its companions. In barbaric ages this was\nthe controlling force, the ruling spirit, the governing power.\n\nThe nervous tissues require teaching. The senses must be trained,\neducated, cultured, refined. The impressions received through the\nnerve-centers by the senses are stored up in the cerebrum. Though\nthey are at first simple, crude, and incomprehensible, habit, use, or\nrepetition enables them to familiarize us with the surrounding objects.\n\nIf the brain is fully formed, the infantile education begins. By\nconstant repetition of the same acts, the sense of satisfaction\nfrom feeding, and the sense of comfort from cleanliness, are slowly\nestablished in the experience of the child.\n\nHunger, cold, heat, and moisture will cause it to manifest its\ndissatisfaction by crying. It sleeps twenty out of the twenty-four\nhours, and wakes only to indicate its wants of either hunger or\ndiscomfort. The more regularly it is fed, and the more cleanly it\nis kept, the more peacefully will it rest and the more soundly will\nit sleep.\n\nWhen, however, an infant is born, though physically fully developed,\nwith face fully formed, but acephalous, without brain--that is, when\nan arrest of development has taken place--the babe cannot live, it\ncannot breathe, because the principal part of the nervous system is\nwanting--the medulla oblongata, cerebrum and cerebellum, etc.--though\nthe lungs, heart, and all other organs are perfectly developed. This\narrest of development may take place at any time. It is thus that\ncongenital malformations are produced. Idiots are thus formed, or any\nother inferior formation of brain may take place. In proportion as\nthe parts are present or wanting--the brain, or rather the nervous\nsystem--latent (better, inherent) qualities for future capabilities\nexist or do not exist. Supposing the optic nerve is arrested in its\ndevelopment, or any organ with which it is immediately connected, the\nspecial sense of sight is wanting. Though the eye itself, the organ\nof sight, may be perfect, all the training and education will never\ngive it capability or skill in arts and sciences. This can never be\nacquired by that organ. You cannot educate that organ which you have\nnot. Whatever perfect brain formation exists may be trained, fashioned,\neducated, in any one of the thousands of directions one pleases. It\nmay be given any bent or bias, good, bad, or indifferent--depending\nupon the influences that are brought to bear on the young brain while\nit is in the process of developing.\n\nAn infant has no mind, intellect, thought, idea, memory, or any other\nnerve quality that nerve structure is capable of developing.\n\nTalk of soul or spirit is absurd. It does not exist either in infant\nor in man any more than it exists in a plant or an animal--unless\nthe term is applied to the collective functions of the great central\norgans, and in that case it would certainly not be supernatural.\n\nAt the time when the books of Moses were written--we need not even go\nso far back as when the fable of creation was first related--they knew\nnothing of circulation or of respiration, or of the nervous system. It\nwas not even thought of. I believe you may search the Bible from end to\nbeginning and from beginning to end without finding such a thing. No\nsuch word as brain is mentioned. What is known of the nervous system\nis, comparatively speaking, of recent date.\n\n\"What seems most marvelous is, that we, in the nineteenth century,\nboasting of a high grade of civilization, and, I may say, with all\nthe modern improvements, should accept and still hold fast to an idea\nthat originated in the brain of some barbarian four thousand or more\nyears ago, away down in Mesopotamia (now Turkey) where they are still\nconsidered uncivilized. This is certainly very strange.\n\nBut ah! that priestcraft!\n\n\n\n\nTHE MIND.\n\nAll the organs in the body are capable of performing their functions\nthe moment the child is born. Most organs have performed their\nfunctions prior to the child's birth. Circulation, respiration,\ndigestion, secretion, and excretion--these functions are performed at\nonce. These are involuntary, and require no educational training. They\nare performed while the organism is otherwise entirely helpless.\n\n\n1. The first few weeks.--\n\n The nervous system is not developed. The special senses are not\n responsive--neither sight, hearing, taste, nor smell.\n There are no voluntary muscular movements, no co\u00f6rdinations\n of muscles.\n Nervous and muscular tissues undeveloped.\n Special senses undeveloped, no recognition.\n It has no mind--no faculties, morality, intellect, memory,\n reason, judgment.\n In short, it has nothing innate--no principle of either God,\n soul, or religion.\n No will power. The muscular and nervous tissues are not yet able\n to perform their functions, except such as are reflex and of an\n involuntary character.\n No expression.\n\n\n2. A few weeks after birth.--\n\n Impressions of light perceptible.\n Sensations slightly improved.\n Expression still blank.\n No volition.\n No recognition.\n Cry the only sound.\n\n\n3. Three months.--\n\n Special senses improved.\n The eye steadier. The child begins to recognize its mother, etc.\n Utters sounds of satisfaction.\n Perceives sounds indistinctly.\n No co\u00f6rdinate movement.\n Upper extremities more active.\n Expression of face improved--smiles.\n\n\n4. Six months.--\n\n Muscular tissues more developed--crawls.\n No co\u00f6rdination of muscular action.\n Sight improved--recognizes mother, father, etc.\n Excretions involuntary.\n Expressions of pain and satisfaction more palpable.\n Hearing improved--listens to sounds.\n Playfulness.\n Makes sounds of satisfaction and dissatisfaction more\n distinctly. No articulation.\n\n\n5. One year.--\n\n Special senses more developed.\n Co\u00f6rdination still imperfect.\n Excretion involuntary.\n Upper extremities more active.\n Fear manifested.\n The dawn of want.\n Recognizes a few objects.\n Pleasure expressed as well as anger.\n Likes and dislikes exhibited in some degree.\n Beginning of articulation.\n Sounds more distinctly recognized.\n Sight more perfect.\n Taste slightly developed.\n Smell--no discrimination.\n\n\nA child one year old--(a) Recognizes its parents imperfectly. Has\nslight co\u00f6rdinate movement of the upper extremities, and beginning of\nco\u00f6rdination of the lower extremities. Manifests its wants by making\nnoises, but has no articulation. Sensations of pleasure, pain, and\nanger are more plainly expressed. Playfulness is greater. Fear is\nexhibited. (b) It has no mind, no intellect, no will power. No God,\nno religion, no soul. No thought, no idea, no conscience. No faculties,\nno memory, no judgment. No knowledge of objects, or numbers. It knows\nnothing of comparison, relation, liberty, morality, love, hate, shame,\njoy, sorrow, despair, envy, ambition, pride, etc., etc.\n\n\n6. Second year.--\n\n The master tissues begin to perform their functions--the muscular\n and nervous tissues.\n Digestive apparatus more completely developed by the appearance\n of teeth.\n All the special senses more susceptible.\n Voluntary muscles begin to act, though imperfectly.\n Co\u00f6rdination still uncertain.\n Muscles of articulation attempt to produce articulate\n sound--beginning to imitate.\n Recognizes some objects; cannot discriminate.\n The sense of taste shows signs of development.\n The sense of smell--no discrimination.\n The sense of hearing recognizes simple sounds--voice.\n The sense of sight more distinct.\n The sense of feeling slightly improved.\n Attracted by bright-colored objects.\n Selfishness exhibited--seizes objects indiscriminately.\n Shows fear; knows nothing of danger.\n Manifestation of affection toward those who care and provide for\n its comfort.\n Excretions still pass involuntarily.\n Responds feebly to calls.\n Playful.\n Cognizant of light and darkness, indoors and out of doors.\n Shows signs of preference.\n Training begins; involuntary acts checked to a slight extent only.\n\n\nAt the end of the second year the child (a) recognizes its parents\nand others about it. Has co\u00f6rdinate movements comparatively correct\nof both lower and upper extremities. May manifest its wants by\nimperfect articulation. The sensations of pleasure, pain, and anger\nare more emphatic. (b) The will power is slight. The memory is very\nfeeble. Discrimination begins in simple matters.\n\n\n7. Third year.--\n\n Training progresses.\n Co\u00f6rdination complete.\n Nerve centers formed.\n Will power attempted.\n It depends at this age upon the surroundings--the guidance,\n attention, direction given to the child.\n It is more susceptible to impression.\n Memory improving.\n Perception manifested, but little discrimination.\n Articulates more perfectly.\n Imitates to some extent.\n Excretion controlled.\n Playful, active.\n All the senses work.\n More subject to discipline--obeys more readily.\n Teachable in right and wrong of a simple character.\n Likes and dislikes more prominent.\n Recognizes objects.\n Begins to pronounce.\n\n\nAt the end of this period there is no manifestation of anything\ninnate. The child knows nothing. Only the muscular tissues are more\nactive, and the nervous tissues more susceptible to teaching. It has\nno faculty of any kind.\n\nThe functions of the brain are more distinctly manifest through the\norgans of special sense. The child will become just what you make\nit; though the latent inherited qualities will give impulse to some\ndirections more than others. Thus inclinations and susceptibilities\nare awakened that may lead to greater or less distinction.\n\nAll that the child thus far has developed is instinctive, checked and\nmodified by those in whose care it is. The animal nature predominates,\nand the child at this stage will become a brute if left to itself.\n\nIf the proper training, teaching, discipline, or education is from this\ntime forth properly applied and the latent power judiciously brought\nout, mind and intellectual qualities may be developed--differing in\ndegree and intensity--by the bias or bent given to the functions\nof the great nervous center. On the culture of this organ depends\nthe kind of creature we may have when full grown in the shape of\neither man or woman. Any kind of sentiment, belief, or superstition,\nprejudice, hate, brutality, humanity or inhumanity, good or bad habits,\nvicious or benign--with no end to the variety, such as we witness among\nourselves and among the various nations upon earth--may be inculcated.\n\nIt is brain function, brain culture, brain education, that produces\ngreater or lesser minds, that evolves from mere intelligence the\nhighest intellectual powers, that marks the difference between man and\nman from the meanest savage to the greatest philosopher and scientist.\n\nBrain may exercise will power without training, culture, or\neducation. The muscles may exercise strength without training,\nculture, or education. It is the systematic attention of the one as\nof the other, the frequent repetition, steady practice, that produces\nskill in the one, as in the other; it is the patient application and\nperseverance in the one as in the other, sustained by constitutional\nendurance, that makes the expert in the one as well as in the other.\n\nIt is the united forces of the master tissues that have produced all\nthat is and was, and will continue to produce all that ever will be.\n\nSoul is the product of the imagination. It has no immortality,\nbecause it has no existence.\n\nThere are a class of men that are interested in sustaining the\ndelusion; these are the priesthood.\n\nWhat we want is not the salvation of souls, but the salvation of man.\n\nIf soul is the collective name of brain product, or combined result\nof brain function and education, we need not disagree about the\nword. But if it is insisted upon that the word soul means something\ndistinct and apart from the animal body, a supernatural manifestation,\na supernatural gift or endowment, given to man at birth and to man\nonly, and that this piece of supposed God enters the body at some\nperiod during birth and quits the body at death, it is not true! On\nthe contrary, it is false. Man has no soul, nor has any other animal,\nexcept that power that is produced by the nervous material. The\nbrain has a function to perform, like every other tissue in the\nbody. The muscular tissue, the liver tissue, etc., each perform their\nfunction. The great nervous centers and the special senses, being\nintimately connected, carry all impressions direct to the brain;\nthe retention of impressions, the memorizing, the recollection,\nthe formation of ideas, of thought, imagination, are the immediate\nfunctions of the nervous substance. These are secreted in a similar\nmanner as the pancreas secretes pancreatin; with this distinction, that\npancreatin is a fluid, while the quality of nerve function is a force,\na power, a manifestation, or phenomenon if you choose. Electricity\nis a product of a similar nature. There are other forces of a nature\nsimilar in character, the result of chemical combinations.\n\nLet the blood be overcharged with carbonic acid and circulate in\nthe brain, the nerve tissue will at first act irregularly, next very\nerratically, and finally stop its function altogether. The function of\nthe brain is partially suspended in certain diseases, as in hysteria,\nepilepsy, and chorea or convulsions. And where there is no brain,\nor little brain, there is no function or very little function. The\nvariety of brain, with its inequality of size, quantity, quality,\nthe hereditary failings, opportunity, training, education, all, and\nmuch more, make up the sum total of mind. As you educate the brain,\nso the mind will be. It will exhibit energy and endurance, and perform\nits functions, in proportion as the nervous structure is healthy,\nthe chemical constituents evenly balanced, and the equilibrium of all\nthe organs and tissues of the body evenly and smoothly maintained,\nso that the molecular and chemical or vital and nervous elements of\nthe brain perform each and every one its proper office.\n\nThere is no immortality of the soul, nor is there such a thing as\ndeath of instinct. There is nothing immortal except the elementary\nsubstances, proper; they cannot be destroyed. All live bodies function,\nno matter how small or how simple; complex bodies also function,\nand each and every organ that enters into the composition performs\nits function.\n\nEvery phase, every phenomenon, is a manifestation of matter.\nThunderstorm, lightning, electricity, or thought--whatsoever it\nmay be, call it by any other name, designate it or describe it how\nyou will, we cannot separate any object from this terrestrial globe\nof matter. The elements composing this world gave birth to life,\nlife manifests its energies in many forms, then returns again to the\ngreat ocean of elements whence it came.\n\n\n No soul you will ever find,\n Trust not in its life or death;\n Education makes the mind;\n Oxygen is the life's breath.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nSIN AND SALVATION.\n\n\nWhat is sin? If we are able to ascertain what sin is, we shall probably\nunderstand why salvation should be extended to the one that sins,\nor to a community of sinners.\n\nEverything has a beginning. We draw our deductions by comparison. Men\njudge in part by their own experience, and in part by the experience\nof others. We see what is going on in our daily active life, how every\nwork or enterprise, society or society reform, is started and set in\nactive operation.\n\nEvery beginning is crude and awkward. Rules adopted to govern a\nfamily circle, jar and chafe when introduced to govern larger bodies\nof individuals. What may seem good for a household government would\nhardly be suitable for a community, and the rules regulating the\ngeneral community would hardly be available for a people or a nation.\n\nModifications in the rule of conduct are inevitable as families or\ncommunities increase numerically. They may be slow, imperceptible, and\ncause little disturbance. But sudden and radical changes produce quite\nanother effect. They may cause simple irritation or friction among\nthe elements composing the family or community, may cause temporary\nembarrassment, or may cause an eruption with considerable commotion,\nand accompanied with more or less serious effects.\n\nChange in the methods of conducting and regulating the affairs of\nmankind, individually or collectively, in small family groups or in\nlarge communities, has ever been a matter, not only of great interest\nand deep concern to mankind, but also of bitter dispute, conflict,\nand hostility.\n\nIt has ever been thus, from the time intelligence superseded instinct,\nwith attempts to introduce innovations, new or improved methods\nregulating the conduct of either individuals or communities, or the\ngeneral affairs of man. Individual must yield to family, family to\ncommunity, community to people, and people to nation.\n\nRules once established, no matter how rude, vulgar, or barbarous,\nor how enlightened and beneficial, were adopted to secure a general\nuniformity of conduct or line of action for each individual or family\nbelonging to the community or people, for what was considered the\nbest interest of the whole, and their mutual benefit and safety.\n\nThe most primitive rules were instinctively adopted in the lower order\nof animal life, the laws of self-preservation and mutual protection.\n\nThe individual conduct, in either family or community life, is\ngoverned accordingly. That is very evident, and requires but little\nobservation to find the secret spring that explains the necessity\nfor its existence.\n\nIf a community, whether animals or men, are favorably located, have\nample provision and comfort, they will live in peace and contentment,\nthrive, develop, without friction or trouble. Let a lack of food\narise, or let the numbers increase and produce a scarcity, strife is\ninevitable. New, other than peaceful, methods are adopted. Either\nthey quarrel and battle among themselves, or they go in search of\nfood elsewhere--emigrate, in part or as a whole. If they meet with\nopposition, they will fight--the strongest takes possession, might\nasserts its right, and the conquerer becomes the ruling power.\n\nIn the early stages of human civilization, thousands of years ago,\nthe simplest primitive rules were established for the conduct and\nguidance of the individual living in the community--for, of course,\nmutual protection and self-preservation. Humanity in a barbarous\nstate adopted these rules, and handed them down from generation to\ngeneration until at length they were codified into laws. What are they?\n\nHonor thy parents.\n\nDo not commit murder.\n\nDo not take another man's wife.\n\nDo not bear false witness.\n\nDo not take anything belonging to another.\n\nThese are laws for self-preservation and mutual protection! If such\nsimple rules were not recognized and established, neither life nor\nproperty would be safe. Destruction of life and forcible possession\nof property would naturally lead to extermination.\n\nThe family union is instinctive. The father, like the leader of a\nflock, is in authority. He is feared, therefore honored.\n\nA community soon learns from experience that \"in union is\nstrength.\" Herds of cattle seem to know this, and are ever ready to\nprotect and defend themselves collectively.\n\nThe lowest savages, barbarians, observe among themselves the first,\nyes, primitive rules to govern them in community, in family.\n\nThese rules arose from necessity. It was for each individual's\ninterest, for family interest, and for the interest of the community\nat large, to adopt these rules, obey them and have them obeyed. These\nrules were for individual welfare, and for the common welfare of the\ncommunity at large, the preservation of their lives and the protection\nof their life and property.\n\nSo long as any community of human beings, whatever be their condition,\nhave ample provision to satisfy their wants, and are secure from\ndepredations from without, there will be no trouble. Happiness and\ncontentment, as well as peace and prosperity, will characterize\ntheir state.\n\nAs to the relation between males and females, that regulates\nitself. All communities, barbarians and savages, have always some\ngeneral recognized rule to guide them. Female chastity is secure\namong all nations, high and low, civilized and uncivilized, whether\nthey are decorated in a complete suit of nudity, a gauze covering,\nor a ball-room dress. There is no necessity of going back four or\nfive thousand years. C\u00e6sar relates (Lib. vi, 21) that the Germans were\nin complete undress costume when bathing promiscuously; yet they had\ntheir customs of marriage and marriage ceremonies. In this country we\nhave had the same customs and may have again. When Columbus arrived\nat one of the islands of the Caribs, 1494, a cacique and his family\npaid him a visit. This family consisted of two daughters, five sons,\nand five brothers. \"One of the daughters was eighteen years of age,\nbeautiful in form and countenance; her sister somewhat younger;\nboth were naked, according to the custom of these islands, but were\nof modest demeanor\" (Irving).\n\nAs a further illustration I quote from Irving's description of\nthe people that Peter Martyr met with. He relates: \"It is certain\nthat the land among the people is as common as the sun and water;\nand that 'mine and thine,' the seed of all mischief, have no place\nwith them. They are content with so little, that in so large a\ncountry they have rather superfluity than scarceness; so they seem\nto live in the golden world, without toil, living in open gardens;\nnot intrenched with dykes, divided with hedges, or defended with\nwalls. They deal truly one with another, without laws, without books,\nwithout judges. They take him for an evil and mischievous man who\ntaketh pleasure in doing hurt to another; and albeit they delight not\nin superfluities, yet they make provision for the increase of such\nroots whereof they make their bread, content with such simple diet,\nwhereby health is preserved and disease avoided.\"\n\nPossibly somewhere on the African continent there may still exist a\npeople that live a life as simple and as happy as those in the time\nof Columbus. But everything must yield before northern energy and\nChristian greed; besides, the new-comers need the land for their\nsurplus population.\n\nMay we not ask, Is not our present high state of civilization the\nnatural outcome of our necessities in the struggle to exist? Is not\nour high state of nervous development largely due to that struggle?\n\nIndolence and inactivity produce nothing. Activity and diligence\nproduce and invent all things.\n\nAll wrongful acts committed are either injuries done to ourselves,\nor injuries inflicted upon others.\n\nInjuries done to ourselves are not necessarily sins. Onanism, for\nexample, is unquestionably injurious, yet is not recognized as a\nsin. It leads to the insane asylum, and in many instances underlies\nreligious insanity.\n\nThere are other disgusting practices that are neither injurious nor\nrecognized as sins.\n\nThe stomach commits no sin, but leads nevertheless to many wrongs,\nto one's self.\n\nAll crimes are sins, but all sins are not crimes. And all injuries\ndone to others are accounted both sins and crimes.\n\nWhat seems very strange yet is wonderfully true is that all sins and\ncrimes against others find their origin in the indulgence of either\nstomach or sexual organs.\n\nStarvation may lead to crime. Hunger often drives to\ntheft. Extravagance, lust, and luxury lead to any variety of crime,\nfrom forgery to appropriating another man's wife.\n\nIn the gratification of those two organs, passions, we find the cradle\nof all crime.\n\nAnd what we call morality means the proper regulation of these\npassions, of these organs.\n\nThe church occasionally takes cognizance of sins, when discovered,\nthat do not come within the category of crime, as was seen recently\nin the case of a Major Theobald who seduced his niece while nursing\nhis invalid wife; he was suspended for one year, but saved his soul!\n\nAll our civil justices in the city of New York are kept busy to\nregulate and to punish overindulgences of the stomach and some other\npetty wrongs. Our criminal courts are kept busy in punishing those\nwho have wrongfully appropriated other people's property, or injured\nor killed another.\n\nThe superior civil courts attend to the disputes about property.\n\nWhy do those who adopt for their mode of livelihood the profession\nof theology want to exercise salvation? What have they to save?\n\nLet us examine for what sins the Deluge was brought, Sodom and Gomorrah\nwere destroyed, and Christ was crucified.\n\nThe principal scriptural sins:\n\nCain commits murder, from jealousy, because God preferred meat to\nvegetables (Gen. iv, 8).\n\nGen. vi, 5: \"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the\nearth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was\nonly evil continually.\" The contents of this sentence is absurd. The\nheart cannot imagine, or think. The function of the heart is the\ncirculation of the blood.\n\nWhat this wickedness consisted of, we do not know.\n\nHistory has no record exactly where this Flood or Deluge took\nplace. That it was localized is certain. It was in all probability\nnothing more than an overflow of the river Euphrates--that is joined by\nthe river Tigris, and terminates in the Gulf of Persia--in consequence\nof a series of consecutive rainstorms, etc., and God had as much to\ndo with this supposed deluge as he has to do with any deluge in the\nMississippi valley when that river overflows.\n\nGen. vi, 6: \"And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth\nand it grieved him at his heart.\" Now we are getting at God's anatomy!\n\nMan may labor under delusions--hear voices, etc. All those extravagant\nstatements are perfectly excusable from our modern standpoint.\n\nAll this wickedness is supposed to have taken place 2348 before the\nChristian era, and we have still the same sort of wickedness on earth\nas there was then. Barbarians inhabited that region--rude, crude,\nhalf-civilized herdsmen, not much superior to our Indians. Minding\ntheir flocks and increasing their families was their main\noccupation. Abraham made no scruples in cohabiting with Miss Hagar,\nSarah's maid; nor had Jacob any objections to Miss Bilhah, Rachel's\nmaid, nor did he scruple to accommodate Miss Zilpha, Leah's maid, and\nlater we read how Reuben lay with Bilhah, Jacob's mistress. Shechem\nseduced Dina, Jacob's daughter. Her brothers Simon and Levi killed\nall the males, etc. At this time, we learn, harlots were in fashion.\n\nWe have it recited, crime after crime--according to our modern\nnotions--yet these barbarians were God's own people! After killing\nShechem, and Hamor his father, and all the rest of the males, they\ntook possession of their property. Lot and his daughters is another\ninstance of biblical ethics.\n\nThis barbarian family, these shepherds, had their first experience in\ncivilization when they reached Egypt, and whatever they practiced later\nwas adopted from that nation. They had received some training under\nEgyptian rule for nearly four hundred and thirty years. During this\nperiod we hear nothing of sin or transgression. No sooner were they\norganized as a community than the sins, transgressions, and wickedness\nbroke out anew, and continued right along in a greater or lesser degree\nthrough the patriarchal period, theocratic period, and monarchial\nperiod. During the entire national existence of nearly one thousand\nyears to their captivity, we have recited sins, transgressions, and\ncrime, crime, transgressions, and sin; and all are perfectly human,\nperfectly natural among barbarians, savages, half-civilized, and even\ncivilized people. Whether David lusts after a nude woman, or Amnon\nforces his own sister, it reveals the weakness of animal human nature,\nand is a breach of the recognized laws, and a lack of discipline.\n\nAll through the Old Testament the same story is repeated--sensuality,\ncruelty, and crime; and rebellion against the established laws. It is\nthe burden of song and of prophecy--greed and scramble for power, the\ncause of continual dissension. The only time the Jews were reasonably\nquiet was when they were exterminating other nations, plundering\nand taking forcible possession of their women and female children as\nwell as their property. The great burden of sin throughout the Old\nTestament consists in the infringement of the law established by Moses,\nto worship no other god except the one he manufactured--that is, a God\nendowed with all brutality and sensuality, without a representative\nform, a God that had all the senses and could utilize them. The wooden\nidol had these organs but could not use them, while the Mosaic God\nhad them not but could exercise all the functions of animal life. In\nthe light of history, all ages display the same process in the human\nmind--the same passions and the same tendencies, held more or less\nunder restraint, according to the laws, customs, and habits of the\npeople. The Jews during their whole career were more or less idolators,\nand were continually relapsing into the idolatry, of some one kind or\nanother, of dead men, which was practiced under different celestial\nor animal emblems in the neighboring countries. And it was not ended\nuntil after the Babylonish captivity, 588 B.C., and when Ezra returned\nto Jerusalem, 557 B.C., who collected the various manuscripts and put\nthem into some sort of shape and started to rebuild the Temple. This\nevent took place during the reign of Xerxes son of Darius. Ezra and his\ncompanions had been educated meanwhile. They had enjoyed the privilege\nof a Babylonian education. They had the advantage of their learning,\ntheir philosophy. Now they returned better equipped mentally than ever\nthey were before their captivity. And for the first time they began\nto call themselves \"holy seed\" (chapter ix). They had intermarried\nwith the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites,\nMoabites, Egyptians, Amorites, etc., (verse 2) \"so that the holy seed\nhave mingled themselves with the people of those lands.\" Verse 6,\nthis priest goes into hysterics: \"O my God, I am ashamed and blush\nto lift up my face to thee,\" etc. Chapter x: He prays, confesses,\nand weeps and casts himself down before the house of God, etc. Verse\n11: \"And separate yourself from the people of the land, and from\nthe strange wives.\" Of course their wives were sent adrift. That\nwas the first time in their history that marriages were restricted\nto their own nation. This also is the first wholesale divorce on\nrecord. Intermarriages they had been guilty of for many centuries,\nand they were never accounted a sin until the time of Ezra. After\nthis reformation the same sins continue, intermarriages perhaps\nexcepted. The animal predominated, as it naturally would. Selfishness\nwas more prominent than ever. They knew the value of gold, and onyx\nstone, and bdellium. God had told them all about it in Gen. ii,\n11, 12. The commercial enterprise started with creation, and has\ncontinued. Jehova had not half the romance and the poesy of Zeus or\nJupiter. The latter had all the Grecian refinement, while the former\nhad all the barbarity of Chaldea.\n\nThus, the identical sins continued through the remaining centuries\nuntil Christ made his entry on this world's stage. He came\nopportunely. It was at a time of great agitation. Judea was a Roman\nprovince. Pontius Pilate was governor. Corruption, fraud, and crimes\nof all descriptions were practiced and flourished. The Temple served\nas a place for barter and business. Sedition, parricide, greed, and\nseduction were the ruling crimes and passions. Fanatics, heretics, and\nblasphemers were abundant. There were any number of religious factions,\nquarreling and fighting among themselves, hating one another heartily,\nand doing one another as much mischief as in their power lay. The\nfrequent contact with foreign invading nations brought new notions,\nnew customs and usages. New ideas consequently developed--sins and\nsalvation of souls. And humility and meekness were put forth against\narrogance of wealth, domineering, and priestly oppression. Communistic\nand socialistic ideas are always a prolific field for the hungry,\npoor, and starving. \"Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us\nour debts,\" etc. (Matt. vi, 11, 12). Christ's camel and needle story\nconfirms it. The result was he had a following, preached reformation,\nand accusation and persecution put an end to his life. It had taken\nroot, and a new sect was formed.\n\nWas his life sacrificed for the sins of humanity? Nonsense! This\nyoung man's death has not relieved any one, much more all future\ngenerations, of their sins. What? Sacrifice a man to God in place of\nsheep and cattle? So long as men have senses and passions, so long\nas we have extremes of poverty and wealth, sin remains.\n\nThe prevention of sin has never been the function of the church. The\ntrespasses of the natural laws were not properly understood, and the\nmasses are not educated up to that standard even now. Each man and\nwoman pays the penalty if he or she trespass against her or himself;\nand if they trespass or sin against another, our civil laws take care\nof that part.\n\nHas humanity improved since the coming of Christ? Where do you find\nit? In the history of the Catholic church?\n\nThey have two kinds of sin, mortal and venial sin. Mortal sin entails\nspiritual death. Venial sin does not. Mountains of literature have\nbeen written upon that one subject. Hundreds of thousands of men have\nassumed the task of salvation for nearly two thousand years. What\nhave they accomplished? What have the popes, bishops, and priests\ndone? And what are they doing now? Of what use are they? They\nhave been more of a curse to the world than a benefit. We are too\nbusy to look back at popish history, the power, the ignorance, the\nsuperstition, the darkness, and the persecution that overshadowed the\nworld during the popes' tyrannical and bloodthirsty rule. Greed, the\nchief characteristic of the churchmen, readily finds means to raise\nmoney for their use and benefit. In 1517 they sold indulgences for\npast and future sins. Every crime was pardoned. Luther and reformation\ncame. Did this change or eradicate the evil? No! God, Christ, Holy\nGhost, Virgin Mary, etc., assumed only a milder role, only a slight\ntransformation. The Catholic church has been the greatest curse of\nany church that ever existed. They started their anathemas (curses)\nat Nice 325 A.D., and have continued cursing, through the twentieth\ncouncil at Trent, 1546 A.D., and still continue. Their power has\nto some extent been modified, but the spirit of intolerance only\nslumbers. They readily accommodate themselves to circumstances. If\nthey cannot rule the nation, they will seize the schools and train the\nyoung, inculcating obedience to the church--that the youth shall be\nsubservient to the priest and yield up their earnings to the pope's\ntreasure. These are supported by the masses, assisted by the state,\nto teach stuff like the following sample:\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.\n\nWe fly to thy patronage, O holy mother of God! Despise not our\npetitions, but deliver us from all dangers, O ever glorious and\nblessed Virgin!\n\nLord have mercy on us.\n\nChrist have mercy on us.\n\nLord have mercy on us.\n\nChrist hear us.\n\nChrist graciously hear us.\n\nGod the father of heaven have mercy on us.\n\nGod the son, redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.\n\nHoly Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.\n\nHoly Mary, }\nHoly mother of God, }\nHoly Virgin of Virgins, }\nMother of Christ, }\nMother of divine grace, }\nMother most pure, }\nMother most chaste, }\nMother undefiled, }\nMother unviolated, }\nMother most amiable, }\nMirror of justice, }\nSeat of wisdom, }\nCause of our joy, }\nSpiritual vessel, } Pray for us.\nMother most adorable, }\nMother of our creator, }\nMother of our redeemer, }\nVirgin most prudent, }\nVirgin most venerable, }\nVirgin most renowned, }\nVirgin most powerful, }\nVirgin most merciful, }\nVirgin most faithful, }\nVessel of power, }\nVessel of singular devotion, }\nMystical rose, }\nTower of David, }\n\nTower of ivory, }\nHouse of gold, }\nArk of the covenant, }\nGate of heaven, }\nMorning star, }\nHealth of the weak, }\nRefuge of sinners, }\nComforter of the afflicted, }\nQueen of angels, } Let us pray.\nQueen of patriarchs, }\nQueen of prophets, }\nQueen of apostles, }\nQueen of martyrs, }\nQueen of confessors, }\nQueen of virgins, }\nQueen of all saints, }\nEtc., etc., etc.\n\n\nFrom the time of Luther up to the present, God, Christ, Holy Ghost,\nVirgin, etc., have been toned down considerably, until there is indeed\nvery little left except a shade of God. Our creeds now that have\ndismissed Christ, Holy Ghost, and Virgin, yet retain a hazy something\nwhich they still call God. The most erratic of these denominations\nyell themselves hoarse with shouting Sin and Salvation!\n\nThe modern kindergarten of Protestant fashionable church organizations,\nthe society churches, the scholarly preachers, entertain their\ncongregations with a novel sort of oratory and classic music. These\nrepresent a God at ease, a gentlemanly and mild sort of a God, with a\nconstant aristocratic smile round his lips, as irresistibly attractive\nas money can make him.\n\nStrong drastic terms, as purgatory, hell, and brimstone, are seldom\nheard. That sort of doctrine is usually reserved and dished up in\nfurnace-like fashion to the poor, half-starved, ignorant sinners.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nTHE ECCLESIASTICAL KINDERGARTEN.\n\n\nWhat shall we do to be saved? is a question asked by every religious\nfanatic.\n\nSaved from what? Ignorance? Superstition? Bigotry? Or stupidity? From\nidiocy or imbecility? Or, are we to be saved from poverty,\nhunger, starvation, misery and wretchedness, distress and\ndegradation? Barbarism, savagery, or uncivilization does not enter\ninto consideration of these unfortunate conditions. They exist right in\nthe midst of us, in the highest centers of human civilization. Of what\ngood is the talking of spiritual welfare, salvation, and heaven to a\nhungry stomach? Of what good is it to grow eloquent over celestial\nconditions when the poor wretch has sunk into the mire of sloth\nand apathy, when darkness, misery, and disappointment hang over\nhim like a pall at a funeral? Is this the man that is sinning--when\ntempted to steal some trifle to satisfy hunger? Self-preservation\nis the first law throughout organic nature. This poverty-stricken\nindividual occupies the lowest strata of civilized life. He must\nbe civilized--for the law makes him so. The starving must not eat,\nunless charity extends a helping hand. In the state of want and\nhelplessness, all the inherent failings loom up into prominence, and\naid to weaken the little resisting force remaining to withstand the\ntemptation of wrongfully supplying his wants. The higher indulgences,\neither gustatory or sexual, are not within reach of the hungry and\ndepressed; and salvation contemplated in the pleasures derived from\noverindulgence or excesses certainly does not apply to them. The\nclass of persons in a position to satisfy both digestive and sexual\npleasures we find in quite another catalogue of sinners. For some of\nthese there is no salvation, for others there is what may be termed a\nreparatory saving power, viz., confession and atonement, for which the\nspiritual part of the body is not held responsible, but only the flesh.\n\nIt is precisely the men who practice these flesh-begotten sins which\nthe church from the time of St. Paul to the present period has been\ntrying to save, with little or no success.\n\nSt. Paul is the man who contributed more towards laying the foundation\nfor the entire Christian system than any other man in the Bible. Of\ncourse he claims to be an Israelite of the seed of Abraham and of\nthe tribe of Benjamin. Jesus was of the same tribe--and probably the\nother apostles that figure in the New Testament belonged to the same\ntribe. That tribe is of mixed blood on the mother side. Whosoever\ndesires to be fully informed upon that subject, let him read Judges,\nxix, xx, and xxi chapters--a story of licentiousness, barbarism, and\nbutchery the like of which cannot be found in any history. A Levite\nwith his concubine or wife came to Gibeah to lodge overnight. Some\nBenjamites used and abused the woman till she died. The Levite cut the\nwoman up into twelve parts and sent one part to each tribe. Israel\ncame together in battle with the Benjamites and slaughtered man,\nwoman, and child. Six hundred men escaped to the wilderness, unto the\nrock of Rimmon. Israel had sworn not to give them their daughters to\nwife, so they helped them to get wives elsewhere, by means that are\nvery interesting, very savage, and very godly. I simply mention this\nincident to show that the tribe of Benjamin was of mixed blood. It\nwas not what would be called a natural divine selection, but a forced.\n\nPaul with his half-Grecian ideas, whose mind was permeated\nwith Grecian philosophy, used it largely in his argumentations,\ntheologico-philosophic, and in his epistolary correspondence to\nenlighten and instruct his disciples.\n\nThe Israelites or Jews up to the time of Christ were not by any\nmeans a spiritual nation. They had a god of the flesh; a sort of\ncannibal god; a politico-religious god, in whose name every kind\nof horror and brutality was committed. This was not Paul's God. The\ngarb of Socratic and Platonic philosophy adorns the spiritual phase\nof Paul's idea. The dual existence is distinctly set forth (Cor. xv,\n44): \"There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body.\" \"For\nthe spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the\nchildren of God\" (Rom. viii, 16). \"Likewise the spirit helpeth our\ninfirmities\" (26). \"For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die\"\n(13). \"For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons\nof God\" (14). The notion of Paul throughout his epistles of what he\nterms flesh and spirit, separating them as two distinct parts of the\nbody, and as having a dual existence, on one side the spiritual, the\ngodly, on the other the fleshy, the sinful, the earthly--is due to the\neducational doctrines that then were in vogue. The anatomical knowledge\nwas limited, and the physiological workings of the nervous system, the\nfunctions of the brain, were entirely unknown. The flesh and spirit\nwere the representatives of the muscular and nervous tissue, flesh\nof the muscular, spirit of the nervous. One of the most mysterious\nor hidden secrets was this function of the brain. The absence of any\npositive knowledge of the nervous system until recent times, caused\nmany errors to creep in, and many false impressions were received by\nmistake; and these blunders through ignorance have remained to a very\nconsiderable extent fixed and unaltered.\n\nGrecian philosophers who were attempting to give a reason, or account,\nfor the various mental phenomena, came to conclusions which are to-day\nseen to be contrary to scientific truth. He, Paul, embodied in his\nwritings all the speculative philosophy known at his time. This dual\nexistence had been taught among the Greeks for several centuries. When\nPaul wrote to the Romans he was in Corinth, and when he wrote to the\nCorinthians he was at Philippi, Macedonia. The rest of his epistles\nwere written partly from Greece, but mostly from Rome or Italy.\n\nNowhere in the Old Testament is mention made of spirit and flesh after\nthe manner of Paul. They had no knowledge of Grecian philosophy. Of\ncourse the mental condition had undergone some changes from the time\nof Ezra to Christ. Numerous sects had paved the way, and the ideas\nof various nations had been exchanged. A wonderful metamorphosis\nhad taken place in the God during the one thousand five hundred\nyears that passed between Moses and Paul. The ideal of Moses was a\nbarbarous, cruel God--a determined, imperative, imperious God, that\nhad a purpose in view, a nation to form, a country to conquer. The\nprince of Egypt, the successful general of a victorious army, talks;\nevery word is a peremptory command. The strong, powerful will of an\nenergetic man stands behind Jehova. There is no philosophy, but all\naction. No ideality, but muscular force. No humbleness, meekness,\nor mildness, but the stern exercise of a power that never flinches\nin any undertaking; regardless of consequences; pitiless in battle;\nfearless in the struggle, once determined must reach success. There\nis no display of imagination, no spiritual reflection, no refinement,\nbut there is only the coarse, vulgar, savage God of Chaldean-Egyptian\nmodification.\n\nThe God had undergone changes in the mental agitation of the times,\nand Paul had accepted the God as he conceived him, through teachings\nthen prevalent. An orator for a reformation, the cause of Christ he\nhad embraced, coupled with the learning of the Grecian literature,\nhis imagination led him to portray his God in the abstract--a refined\nethereal being--in truth, a gentleman of a God.\n\nPaul was the real founder of the past and modern church system, the\ngiver of ideas, the furnisher of numerous themes that gave impulse\nto any number of shades of the various sects now in existence, the\npromulgator of modification, the pleader of a cause, the moralizer,\nthe humble adviser and counselor of the lowly, ignorant, and poor. He\nwas very earnest and sincere in the cause he had espoused, and, if\nanything, proud of it--\"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:\nfor it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;\nto the Jew first, and also to the Greek\" (Rom. i, 16). Next to Jew he\nwas Greek. No wonder that his mind was tainted with Grecianism. His\nGod was an alloy of Greek and Jew Gods. The Greek philosophy helped to\nrefine and eliminate the barbarism and brutality out of the Mosaic God.\n\nOur modern mountebank preachers have nothing new to agitate\nand talk about in their fashionable decorated kindergartens of\nChristianity. They are ever spinning round the same circle. They are\nsensational, mouthing and gesticulating before a crowd they wish\nto entertain, and for this they are very handsomely housed, fed,\nand otherwise recompensed. They are the greedy theological leeches\nof humanity. They suck the blood, but give nothing in return. Have\nthey advanced the cause of humanity? Is humanity any wiser to-day\nthan these poor ignorant creatures were at the time Paul was trying\nto get a new idea into their untutored brain?\n\nHere is a partial list of Paul's complaints (Rom. i, 29, 30, 31):\nBeing filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness,\ncovetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit,\nmalignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful,\nproud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,\nwithout understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection,\nimplacable, unmerciful. For nineteen hundred years these Christian\nsaints have been trying to convert the world--Jews included, for\nindeed they needed it--and what has been accomplished? Does your\nkindergarten church teach aught that corrects the above evils? Have\nyou made them all into saints?\n\nPaul's argument about circumcision is very ingenious. He proposes an\ninward circumcision for the outward--heart and spirit (Rom. ii, 29),\ncircumcision through faith. His doctrine, the wages of sin is death but\nthe gift of God is eternal life (Rom. vi, 23), is very mischievous. It\nleads men to give their flesh a full swing and leads them to a satiety\nof pleasure and satisfaction of earthly bliss--lust or licentiousness,\nand they let the godly or spiritual part take care of itself. This\nis not education, but stupefaction. Yet our civilized spiritual\npurveyors of the soul are still chewing the same theological cud of\nnineteen hundred years ago. Every transgression against ourselves,\nagainst our own body, is a transgression against the law of nature,\nand the body must pay the penalty. Paul (Rom. xiii, 13) says, \"Let\nus walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness,\nnot in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and annoying.\" Paul\nwas a great believer in spiritual gifts. Cor. xii--this chapter\nhas given rise to more crazes, frauds, and cheats than Paul ever\ndreamed of. Verse 4: \"Now these are diversities of gifts, but the\nsame spirit.\" Verse 7: \"But the manifestation of spirit is given\nto every man,\" etc. Then he enumerates the gifts--faith-healing,\nmiracles, prophecy, discerning spirits, speaking divers kinds of\ntongues, interpretation of tongues, etc. (Cor. xii, 9, 10). This of\ncourse opens a wide field for imposition and charlatanism. Paul being\nan authority, cranks and \"fakes\" are not slow in taking advantage\nof it. A very large percentage of the masses are ignorant, easily\nmade superstitious and bigoted. Any nonsensical idea is swiftly\nimpressed. They are satisfied with anything they are told--content with\na filled stomach and salvation hereafter. This heavenly promise is\nan immense thing, an ecclesiastical bonanza. For thousands of years,\nit has been an extraordinary source of income. Hundreds of thousands\nhave lived in ease and luxury, have enjoyed heaven on earth, and let\ntheir poor ignorant dupes enjoy the hereafter.\n\nPaul also gives the Catholic church a right to use the\nanathema. Cor. xvi, 22: \"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ,\nlet him be Anathema, maranatha\"--\"Let him be accursed.\" The Roman\nCatholic church has made good use of it. From the time the Nicean\nCouncil was held every one of their canons--as their rules are\ntermed--is accompanied by an anathema for every man that does not\nthink, say, or believe as the church or its priests dictate. The church\ninstitution is so well organized and the system so well regulated, that\nthey possess the means of squeezing the last cent out of poor ignorant\nparishioners. They have so many trapdoors to catch the weary simpleton,\nthat if the money does not come through mass, it will come through\nindulgence, or unction, or sacrament, or anything and everything. They\ndispose of their spiritual wares at all prices--anywhere, everywhere,\nand at all times. Here is an instructive example of teaching:\n\n\"What is the blessed Eucharist? Ans. The body and blood, soul and\ndivinity of Jesus Christ, under the appearance of bread and wine,\" etc.\n\nThe immense amount of evil done by this church is something\nenormous to contemplate. If a papal medal in honor of the massacre\nof St. Bartholomew's could be found and put up at auction, it would\nfetch a small fortune. Literature was almost completely suppressed\nby this church, by laws published under the seal of the supreme\npontiff. How few at the present day know anything of the history\nof the Catholic church. Their past, their terrible black past, with\ntheir God, their Jesus Christ, their Holy Ghost, their Holy Virgin,\nand their saints--what arrogance, ambition, pride, selfishness, greed,\ntyranny, licentiousness, terror and torture of the Inquisition, bloody\ncrimes and massacres, they were guilty of! Reflection on these many\ndiabolical outrages makes one's flesh creep, and one wonders why\nsuch an institution has not been swept from the face of the earth\ncenturies ago. Have they done any good upon earth? From the time\nof Moses until after the time of Luther, yes, up to the present\ntime even, they have been continuously thrusting their idea of God\ninto the minds of man with the sword, through blood and slaughter,\nwith what result? Has humanity improved? Paul has much to say about\nthe frailties of human nature (2 Tim. iv, 2, 3, 4): \"For men shall\nbe lovers of their own self, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,\ndisobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,\ntruce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers,\ntraitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure,\" etc. The quarrels,\ndissensions, and protestations of the present day among the teachers\nand preachers of Christianity are a topic of entertainment in our daily\npress. Heresy, blasphemy, money disputes, Briggs, Smith, Corrigan,\nWigger, etc.--what is it all about that will benefit humanity? Priest\nand preacher, the modern teachers of the theological kindergarten,\nhave not advanced any in their methods. The civil law holds them in\ncheck and keeps them within the bounds of their vocation. Women, the\ndecorations and attractions, the most numerous supporters of all church\nenterprises, are not held in very high estimation by Paul. 1 Tim. ii,\n9: \"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel,\nwith shame-facedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or\npearls, or costly array.\" Verse 11: \"Let the woman learn in silence\nwith all subjection.\" Verse 12: \"But I suffer not a woman to teach\nnor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.\"\n\nThe church kindergarten instructions are based upon the writings and\nteachings of both the Old and the New Testament. Who wrote them, or\nwho compiled them, matters little. They are the accepted doctrines\nof the church or churches. Whether orthodoxy or heterodoxy, whether\nmonotheism or polytheism, whether the idolatry of calf or idolatry\nof the figure of Jesus or the Virgin, it amounts to one and the same\nthing. It is of no serious consequence whether Paul actually wrote\nthe Epistles or some one wrote them in his name several hundred\nyears later; or whether John wrote his Revelations; or Moses the\nPentateuch; or whether the whole Bible was compiled a thousand years\nafter Moses. The whole fabric is based upon error, partly due to the\ntimes when it was written, partly due to the state of civilization,\nto the educational status, to the ignorance and superstition of the\ntimes, the limited knowledge of nature, and the undeveloped mental\nfaculties, the misinterpretation and misconstruction of every phase\nand phenomenon their perceptive faculties were unable to explain,\nthe impressions received from the outward world or the feelings and\nemotions that agitated them within. It is no easy task to overcome the\nprejudices of the times in which we live. We are instinctively opposed\nto any innovation, whether the new ideas are an improvement on the old\nor not. For many generations, and for centuries, the various church\norganizations have been teaching the old, antiquated idea that the\nBible was a supernatural production, that either God had written it\nor had inspired man to do the work. What does it signify who wrote\n\u00c6sop's fables, Homer's Iliad, the five books of Moses, Isaiah,\nor the New Testament, or even Shakespeare? They are written. The\nquestion really is, whether the contents are true, are fabulous or\nhistorically correct. For many years it has been a recognized fact that\nthe Bible is a composition of fable, fiction, facts, misunderstanding,\nand misstatement. We only need glance at the absurd trials that are\nnow going on at this present time. These gentlemen, Briggs and Smith,\nare not the first to doubt the truth of the book. Hundreds have doubted\nbefore them. It is skepticism that produces evolution and revolution in\nthe accepted form of worship and faith and belief. Abraham, Socrates,\nChrist, Luther, and hundreds have doubted. They were skeptics in\nconsequence of a superior insight into the propaganda of certain\naccepted beliefs. Every speculative theory has been doubted. Great\nsciences are never doubted. Theology, the offspring of idolatry and\nmythology, is a purely speculative science--if indeed it can be classed\nas a science. Therefore, it has always been laboring under a cloud of\ndoubt. What wonder, then, that modern scholars, even clergymen, of\nsuperior ability, become skeptics when they compare modern science,\nmodern truth, with ancient fable and falsehood? The debates on\nprogressive sanctification, a middle state, whether sanctification\nis complete or incomplete at death--where is the heresy? where\nis the blasphemy? What are these overgrown, lopsided educated men\nthinking about--these self-constituted righteous bigots, what are\nthey squabbling about? Was not Abraham a heretic and a blasphemer to\nthe Chaldeans, Jesus Christ a heretic and a blasphemer to the Jews,\nSocrates a heretic and a blasphemer to the Greeks, Luther a heretic and\na blasphemer to the Most Holy Apostolic Roman Catholic Church? Why,\nthe entire theological doctrine, the whole spiritual code of morals,\nall the articles of faith and creeds and canons of the church, all the\nfigures and carvings of Christ, all the paintings, all the steeples,\nall the belfries on this earth's surface--what are they for? What are\nall the mountebank church costumes for? What is the use for a man to\ndisguise himself in a stage costume of the Egyptian period, to scare a\nlot of ignorant boobies? Of what use are your incense, your prayer, and\nyour blessing, your self-conceited holiness, your pretended sanctity,\nand your priestly hypocrisy? What is it all for? To save sinners? What\nshall we do to be saved? All this ecclesiastical humbug, preaching\nand pulpit noise and theological humbug, is about crushing out sin,\nsaving the sinner, and all the supernatural thunder is brought to\nbear upon the great sinning organs--to wit, the stomach and the sexual\norgans, to regulate these. God and gods, angels, prophets, and spirits\nlabored--and what is more monstrous and more extravagantly ridiculous,\nthe young man Jesus Christ had to be sacrificed--to save you from\noverloading your stomach--or rather abusing your stomach--and from\noverindulging in sexual exercises. Remember, every crime, known or\nunknown, recognized or not recognized, every evil and every wickedness,\nevery abomination or pollution or defilement, springs from these two\nsources. I am not taking diseases into consideration, such as David\ndescribes in Psalm xxxviii, for example.\n\nTo satisfy the wants of these organs, leads to greed, selfishness,\nfraud, forgery, deception, falsehood, corruption, etc. The pleasures\nresulting therefrom are accompanied by vanity, pride, pamperedness,\nenvy, jealousy, hate, discontent, etc. The indulgences are known as\ndrunkenness, lust, lasciviousness, fornication, adultery, obscenity,\ndebauchery, whoredom, luxury, revelry, and by many other terms. These\nform the theme of the prophets and the burden of the apostles. These\nare the sins, the vices, they have been trying to crush and wipe out\nwith their theological absurdities for several thousand years. They\nhave created all sorts of bugaboos to frighten fools, idiots, and\nstupid ignoramuses into discipline. They have created hell, purgatory,\ndark and deep pits, brimstone and fire. The gentleman devil, or\nMr. Satan, presides over the lower regions, conducts their affairs,\nonly to accommodate the spiritual fraternity, from the pope to the\nRev. Sam Patch. But in order to be saved, to go to heaven--an imaginary\nabode in the atmosphere, a sort of ethereal paradise in the upper\nstrata of the air that surrounds this globe, either with or without\nsunlight--in order to get one up there some clown of a priest will\nmumble off masses, a sort of ribald fustian composition that will raise\nyour spirit or your soul right up into the pure upper strata of this\nterrestrial atmospheric crust. Of course if there are seven heavens\nyou must pay accordingly. In case, however, you miss the aerial place,\nthe heaven, and accidentally become one of the devil's subjects, it\nstands to reason that Satan requires an extra fee to release you from\neternal punishment--which the good, pious priest puts into his pocket.\n\nIt is a pertinent question to ask our spiritual advisers, whether\nor not the Christian kindergarten makes a specialty of guarding and\nregulating, by the celestial medium of the Son of God, the Holy Ghost,\nthe digestive apparatus and the organs of procreation. Because all\nthe sins and vices originate with these. The devil, or Satan, holds\nhis jubilee in the pleasures and extravagant indulgences of man and\nwoman. The church has long since been deprived of its political power\nand importance. The civil law regulates minor and major crimes, and\nprovides punishment therefor. The only function left for the Christian\nchurch, the ecclesiastical kindergarten, is advisory, admonitory,\naccompanied with frivolous promises--Be good, you well-dressed ladies\nand gentlemen; pray to our shadows, kneel before yon figure on the\ncross, sprinkle yourselves with holy water, and contribute liberally\ntoward our support and sustain our kindergarten, then we bless you\nand give you a pass to the heavenly regions. Basta! Only believe,\nhave faith, never mind about understanding, common sense, and reason,\nthen you surely will be saved, and have a white and clean gown fresh\nfrom the laundry, a pair of wings, a golden crown, and you can have\nyour choice of either a trumpet or a harp, which you may either blow\nor touch, and may sit at the feet of an old man with a long white\nbeard, on a golden chair, his feet resting on the clouds, surrounded\nby an innumerable host of angels and cherubim that will make music\neverlasting, where spiritual fountains will keep you cool, oh, and\na vast deal more which can not be here recited. Anyone who desires a\nfull and complete description of this celestial paradise, this heaven,\nincluding Abraham's bosom, the right hand of Jesus, his beloved\nFather, and the Holy Ghost in the bargain, may obtain it by making\nproper application. Ah! what a blessing it would be for the whole\nhuman family if the churches were utilized for educational purposes\nwherein truths, scientific truths, could be taught; where young people\ncould meet to amuse themselves, or be instructed in something useful;\nwhere young men and women could entertain themselves by feeding off the\ntree of knowledge, instead of loafing round saloons, round the street\ncorners, gambling-houses, dives or pool rooms. Young and old must have\na pastime, and a place to pass this time; if the state or community\ndoes not provide such places in densely populated districts, where\nare these poor, ignorant creatures to go to? Talk about charity! A\nlarge bulk of our charities are advertising schemes. I do not call\nwhat I here advocate a charity, but a right. If we want to improve\nthe public morals, if we desire to educate the young men and women,\nprovide district temples for amusement and instruction, open from 10\nA.M. to 10 P.M., where they may assemble after working hours, sit,\ntalk, read, or play--may educate the brain, the nervous and muscular\ntissues, so that both these master tissues may perform their functions\nskillfully, naturally, and judiciously.\n\nOur scientific scholars throughout the world have long since dispensed\nwith the supernatural. Know the natural, is the modern shibboleth. If\nyou want to take care of the machine, understand the machinery, and\nif you want the coming generation to understand something about it,\nit is certain that the saloon is not the proper place for it.\n\nWe ought to guard our public institutions with jealous care. Our public\nnon-sectarian schools are the places for our children. The public\nschools ought to be numerous enough to accommodate every citizen's\nchildren in the land. I think it bad grace for any foreigner to come\nhere to give us advice upon that subject. Archbishop Satolli, papal\nablegate, said at the recent meeting of the American archbishops in\nNew York, on \"The settling of the school question and the giving of\nreligious education:\" \"To the Catholic church belong the duty and\ndivine right of teaching all nations to believe the truth of the\ngospel, and to observe whatsoever Christ commanded.\n\n\"For the rest the provisions of the Council of Baltimore are yet\nin force, and in a general way will remain so, to wit: Not only out\nof our paternal love do we exhort Catholic parents, but we command\nthem, by all the authority we possess, to procure a truly Christian\nand Catholic education for the beloved offspring given them of God,\nborn again in baptism unto Christ, and destined for heaven, to shield\nand secure them throughout childhood and youth from the dangers of\na mere worldly education, and therefore to send them to parochial or\nother truly Catholic schools.\"\n\nThe beloved offspring given them of God? Nonsense! About as much born\nof God as a calf, or a flower. Offspring are the natural result of a\nnatural cause. \"Born again in baptism unto Christ, and destined for\nheaven\"--would it not be well to ascertain what the Catholic church has\never done to elevate and educate the masses? Does not the educational\nsystem of Peter Dens, Satolli, and Co. consist merely of: 1. To hear\nmass on Sundays and all holy days of obligation; 2. To fast and abstain\non the days commanded; 3. To receive worthily the blessed Eucharist at\nEaster, or within the time appointed; 4. To confess our sins at least\nonce a year; 5. To contribute to the support of our pastor; 6. Not to\nsolemnize marriage at the forbidden times, nor to marry persons within\nthe forbidden degrees of kindom or otherwise prohibited by the church\nnor clandestinely? The dirt and filth, the nauseating nastiness, of\nthe cesspool of the \"Moral Theology\" of Peter Dens cannot be printed\nin the English language. Or perhaps Mr. Satolli will educate the\nchildren to mumble over and over the litany of the blessed Virgin,\nquoted in another chapter, and all the rest of the instructions in\nmortal sin, venial sin, precepts of the church, infidels and heretics,\ndecalogue, grace, justification, merit, virtue of faith, articles of\nfaith, apostolic creed, church visibility, marks, holiness, authority,\ninfallibility, concerning ecclesiastical councils, supreme pontiff,\nsigns of the cross, magic, miracles, sacrament, worship of relics,\nworship of images, resurrection, heaven, hell, perdition, purgatory,\netc., etc.\n\nSatolli and his confr\u00e9res would rather have parish schools, to educate\nthe young in their ecclesiastical stupidities, and draw the funds from\nthe state treasury in order to sustain them. The Roman Catholic church,\nin its career as an educational medium, has not contributed one iota\ntowards the progress and advancement of civilization. The opposition of\nits clergy has always been the severest and most bloody. Humanity \"owes\nthem no thanks for the culture and privileges it now enjoys. The church\ninterferes and checks every step forward. The clergy are determined to\nkeep the masses ignorant as long as it is possible. Greed, selfishness,\nrapacity, dominion, self-righteousness, and self-sanctification\nhave ever been their chief characteristics. Every act and every\ntransaction is justifiable so long as their ends and objects are\ngained. Satolli represents the pope's big toe, that is ready to be\nfirmly planted on the neck of our public school system, whenever\nthe power of state or nation is secured. The wily priests with\ntheir Jesuitic craftiness never lose an opportunity. In a republic\nthey are republicans, in a monarchy they are monarchists. They are\nanything and everything--but the church with all its abominations\nfirst. All else must be subservient to their will, to their power,\nto their use. They are intolerant, bigoted, and tyrannical all the\ntime. Whether it be to prevent the Methodists from establishing a\nchurch in Austria, or to intrude their priestly interference in the\npublic school methods in Waterford, Saratoga, it is the same impudent\naggression that has characterized them for ages. They are bound to\nkeep the people ignorant, superstitious, and slaves to their system,\nin spite of all the existing civilizing influences. What we want,\nand what we must have, is a public school system of education free\nfrom all sectarian bias, with neither catechism nor Bible-reading,\nneither prayers nor psalm-singing, but a thorough instruction in all\nmatters of a nature directly beneficial in the conduct of this life.\n\nThe state of transition is rapidly forcing itself upon the minds of\nmen. They can no longer be held in submission. They believe no more in\nthe antiquated notions of four thousand years ago--though modified and\ndecorated to suit modern times. Notwithstanding the ecclesiastical\nhedges, fences, walls, and draw-bridges that have been erected by\npriests' sagacity and cunning in order to prevent encroachments on\ntheir theological fortifications, it is plain that there is a natural\nwearing and tearing of effete notions of the past. That the structure,\nerected on a false and fictitious foundation, has already given\nway, Protestants can testify. And as the Protestants have yielded\nto dissenters, etc., so must they all gradually crumble--before\nthe battering-ram of scientific truth first, next before the\nadvancing intelligence of the masses, and lastly before the press,\nwhich indiscriminately lays bare before the public every wrangle,\nevery squabble, and every dissension occurring among the followers\nof Christ. Neither faith, grace, nor brotherly love, the holy kiss\nof Paul included, prevents these saintly gentlemen from exercising\ntheir greed, selfishness, and covetousness, as well as throwing dirt\nat one another. Father Corrigan vs. Cahenslyism and Wigger--they keep\nthe pecuniary pot boiling. There is neither malice nor jealousy,\nbut all is for the love of Christ. Dollars and cents? These pious\nbrethren would scorn the idea. At Professor Smith's trial for heresy\nthe ladies of Mount Auburn church presented the heretic with a basket\nof flowers. When in old times we find heretics tried by the Roman\nCatholic church, Are heretics rightly punished with death? asks the\npriest. St. Thomas answers in the affirmative. Latimer and Ridley\nwere treated to an excellent bonfire at Oxford, 1555, for being\nheretics. Nor did Cranmer receive white and pink roses in a bed of\nfern leaves and smilax. What a change! Professors Smith and Briggs\nare proud to be heretics. They are praised and complimented for\nbeing heretics, and no doubt will be well taken care of when these\nfrivolous proceedings have terminated. Guilty or not guilty, they\nhave gained notoriety enough to place them in an excellent position\nfor the rest of their lives. I call that a high, very sensible, and\nvery respectable sort of martyrdom. Both these gentlemen ought to\nbe very grateful to science for having brought about such a change,\nthat gives them the privilege of differing from their spiritual\nbrethren and becoming respectable heretics with baskets of roses. O\nCivilization, how much have we to thank you for all this! It is so\nlovely to be a heretic, a blasphemer, and a martyr in this present\ngeneration! What a pity that Daniel's Mene, mene, Tekel upharsin is\nnot quite applicable to the present condition of Christianity. The\ngreat ecclesiastical bugbear of Christianity, backed by their God,\ntheir Son, Holy Ghost, Virgin Mary, saints, popes, Heaven and\nHell, and their infinite methods of salvation, is nothing near so\nterrible as he used to be. That bugbear has been tamed, and is,\ncomparatively speaking, gentle. His appetites and his passions have\nbeen subdued. Indeed Paul deserves no small credit for polishing\nthe Mosaic God. It is only occasionally that Paul mentions his God's\nwrath or severity, and very mildly too. Paul's God comes near being\nesthetic. The Mosaic God is muscular and energetic. Paul's God is\nmild and persuasive. The Mosaic God was a fighting god, conquering\nterritory and molding a political nation. Paul's God has quite another\nline of business, sin-forgiving and soul-saving. The Mosaic God was\nall alone engaged in business. Paul's God is a firm--Father, Son,\nand Holy Ghost. The occupation of sin-forgiving and soul-saving is\ncarried on with great ceremonials in our Christian kindergartens,\naccompanied with music, prayer, and psalm-singing. The sins are\nderived, directly or indirectly, from two organs in the main--to wit,\ndigestive and sexual. Any man or woman that cannot perceive the truth\nof the above must be exceedingly obtuse. Does anyone believe that the\nteachings and preachings, with all the complementary paraphernalia\nand other numerous accessories, are necessary to save us or guard\nus against transgressions or sin? Supposing all the churches and\nbuildings assigned to the worship of God or gods, and all the priests\nand preachers, disappeared from the surface of this terrestrial\nglobe, would this planet come to a standstill, or the sun cease\nto shine? Would the elements entering into the composition of the\nnumerous substances found on or within this earth change their relative\nproportion, construction, or chemical relation? We need not have the\nslightest apprehension. New systems of ideas have always displaced\nand replaced the old systems. As we advance from cycle to cycle,\nthis is continuously taking place. The hand gave way to the stick,\nthe stick to the spade, the spade to the hand-plow, the hand-plow to\noxen, oxen to horses, horses to steam, etc. It is the natural progress\nfrom one step to another, in every branch of thought, learning,\nand industry. It is a higher education and a better comprehension\nof the human machinery, a knowledge of the proper functions of the\nnervous and muscular tissues, a keener insight into the necessities\nof life, a regulation and control of the organs of organic life, a\nriper judgment, and a more evenly balanced brain power. The churches\nwith their ethics and refined methods of the present day, with their\neloquent admonitions constantly repeated, cannot be regarded in any\nother light than as a theological kindergarten for a fashionable\nmusical Sunday entertainment.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nRATIONAL REVIEW.\n\nReason and Reflection.\n\n\nIf any person with a, reasonable amount of intelligence will seriously\nreflect, he may gain sufficient information to satisfy himself as\nregards the true nature of the conditions that surround him.\n\nFirst try to the best of your ability to present in your mind the\noutlines of this terrestrial globe, this planet on which we live,\nwith its mountains and its valleys; oceans, seas, and rivers; the\ntwo extreme poles, north and south; the center of the earth's surface\nand the equator, etc. Next try to satisfy your mind that this planet\nhas no immediate connection with any other planet--that it belongs\nto a system of planets that revolve round the sun, with a space or\ndistance between them of many millions of miles. And\n\nThat this planet is entire and complete in itself.\n\nWhatever substances are about, upon, or within the earth, belong to\nthis planet and no other.\n\nThat not a particle of any substance can leave this earth, whether\nvisible or invisible.\n\nThat all formations, no matter of what character or nature, are made\nfrom substances belonging to this earth.\n\nThat the size and weight of this globe has never changed. It is the\nsame now as it was millions of years ago, or will be at any time in\nthe future.\n\nThat the quantity of water upon the surface of this earth, whether\nocean, sea, lake, or river, has neither increased nor diminished.\n\nThat the solid mineral portion of the earth has neither increased\nnor diminished either in size or weight.\n\nThat the fluid, the watery portion, is susceptible to change of\nposition and conditions on the surface of this earth, whether above\nthe earth's surface or upon it.\n\nThat all clouds, rain, vapor, mist, moisture, dew, snow, hail, must\nbe and is taken from the waters on the surface of the earth, and when\nclouds, that have been taken from the waters of the earth, fall to the\nsurface of the earth in the form of rain, vapor, mist, moisture, dew,\nsnow, or hail, they simply return what has been temporarily taken or\nloaned from the waters of the earth.\n\nThat in the case of all deluges, freshets, overflows, that have ever\ntaken place, the waters that enter into their formation have been\ntaken from the waters of the earth. The waters have simply changed\nposition from one locality to another.\n\nThat all ice formations are nothing more than solidified water. Water\ncrystallizes by the absence of sunlight, and melts in the presence\nof the sun's heat.\n\nThat snow is nothing more than congealed water, and returns to water\nwhen heated.\n\nThat the quantity of water remains the same. Whether it rains\nforty days and nights, or a whole year, it is neither increased\nnor diminished.\n\nThat the deepest portion of the earth's surface is filled with\nwater. Being fluid, it naturally fills up the hollows until it has\nfound its level. If there is more water than it can hold, it will\nfind its way into the next hollow. And the higher portions of the\nearth's surface will not and cannot be covered by water. Such is\nthe condition of the earth's surface that the deepest places on this\nterrestrial globe are filled with water; thus oceans, lakes, pools,\nand rivers are formed.\n\nThat all living substances, whether vegetable or animal, are composed\nmore than two-thirds of water.\n\nThat more than two-thirds of the entire quantity of food taken daily\ninto the animal economy consists of water. That is to say, we feed\non more than two-thirds of water.\n\nNothing living can maintain its existence without two-thirds of water.\n\n\n\nSecond.\n\nAll the material taken from the earth's surface, or from the interior\nof the earth's crust, for any purpose whatsoever, no matter how great\nthe weight or volume may be, does not increase the weight of this\nearth, or diminish it. The material has simply been moved from one\nplace and deposited in another.\n\nThe building of one city, or ten thousand cities or more, would not\nadd one pound more or less to the entire weight of this earth.\n\nAll the stone, coal, iron, copper, silver, gold, lead, and all other\nmineral substances, used either in building, machinery, or anything\nhuman ingenuity can make or invent--all belong to this earth. No\nmatter how great the bulk or quantity, it does not influence this\nearth one particle.\n\nMoreover, this earth would not be in the slightest inconvenienced in\nits motion or evolution whether there were sixteen billion of persons\non its surface, or ten million times as many.\n\nNor would it make the slightest difference to this terrestrial\nglobe whether the entire animal creation was destroyed, or increased\nindefinitely. It would neither slacken its pace, increase its weight,\ndiminish its size, change its poles, alter its seasons, nor in any\nother way be affected.\n\nThe fluids, the solids, and the gases would relatively remain the\nsame. Let it be distinctly understood, that whatever change may take\nplace in some remote future, say one billion million of years, more\nor less, this earth as a whole will be but little affected. Vegetable\nand animal life may disappear, but the component parts of the earth\ncannot be destroyed or changed. Furthermore, whatever is produced\nupon this earth by the inventive power of man's faculties, in the\narts and sciences mechanical, the natural, and what is thought to be\nsupernatural, whatsoever shape or character it may take, whether phase\nor phenomenon, an idea, thought, or imagination--in fact, every thing,\nevery essence, from an angel to the devil, from a saint to a sinner,\nfrom a brass button to a god or gods, holy ghosts or divinities,\nall, all, are part and parcel of this earth. All there are recorded\nin any book, called sacred or profane, inspired or uninspired,\nvisionary or materialistic, are the creations of the brain of man,\ninventions of the brain of man, concoctions and fabrications of the\nbrain of man. Whether devil, saint, angel, or god, they are of earth,\nearthly, chained to this terrestrial globe so long as there is a\nbrain in human form that can exercise its faculties.\n\n\n\nThird.\n\nNo things can leave this earth, whether they are things visible,\nor things that are not visible.\n\nNothing can come to us from any distant planet, whether it is visible\nor not visible.\n\nAll things or beings, whether visible or not visible, tangible or\nnot tangible, perceptible or imperceptible, belong to this earth,\nare the products of the earth.\n\nAll things, beings, forms, or shapes, whatever be their nature or\nconsistence, however they have appeared or been produced, on any\nportion of the surface of this globe, are the products of this earth.\n\nAll things, beings, forms, shapes, material, or what appears to be\nmaterial, are produced upon the surface of this earth.\n\nAll things, beings, forms, shapes, phases, or phenomena, and all\nmanifestations, whether spiritual or supernatural, are the products\nof this earth, produced through the material composing the nervous\nmatter, by the ordinary physiological mechanism of the animal economy.\n\nNo psychological condition, as it is termed, can be produced without\nnervous matter. It is a function of nerve or brain material. It has\nno existence of itself. It is not a product foreign to matter.\n\nThe soul is a term employed to represent in the abstract an\nintellectual product of, or the result of functional activity of,\nbrain substance. Where there is no brain there can be no soul. And\nsouls differ in proportion to size, quality, quantity, educational\nor brutal development.\n\nThe mind is the collective term for the entire product of nervous\nactivity, from non-intellectual to intellectual activity. Thus we have\nall kinds of minds--vulgar, brutal, licentious, pious, enlightened,\neducated, intellectual, refined, ideal, imaginary, etc., etc.\n\nA mind may be simple, mixed, complex, complicated, perverted,\ndisordered, rational or irrational, etc., etc. The mind is of\nages--infantile, childish, youthful, young, mature, deliberate,\nstrong, weak, and senile, feminine or masculine, etc., etc.\n\nNervous effects not understood are interpreted to be supernatural,\nnot the product of the matter composing brain; this is false.\n\nThe so-called spiritual manifestations are, in plain terms, delusions\nfor susceptible nervous conditions, and generally largely adulterated\nwith fraud. Nervous conditions bordering on hallucinations may easily\nbe influenced by a strong nervous force and utilized for swindling\npurposes. There is as little truth in spirit manifestations as there\nwas in the casting out of evil spirits or devils, as related in\nthe Bible.\n\n\n\nFourth.\n\nMaterial prosperity consists in the accumulation of wealth, gained\neither by industry or inheritance. Wealth is used:\n\n1. To supply food sufficient in quantity to sustain bodily health.\n\n2. To obtain clothing to protect the body from extreme heat, and also\nfor decorative purposes.\n\n3. To furnish domicile or housing to shelter the body against the\ninclemency of the weather, in luxury as our acquired taste may desire.\n\n4. To give us the opportunities of an education and training that we\ncould not otherwise obtain.\n\n5. To provide for those that are dependent upon us for support,\nas children and old persons.\n\n6. To exercise charitable acts, in aiding all those that are either\ndisabled or unable to procure the necessities of life--clothing\nand shelter.\n\nRemember that God has not created anything--either plant, animal,\nor man.\n\nWhile we resemble each other, we are not precisely constructed\nall alike.\n\nDogs are dogs, for example, yet a Skye terrier is not so big as a\nNewfoundland dog, nor is either fashioned the same as a bulldog.\n\nThe same may be said of plants and trees. The structural tissue of\nall trees is wood, yet are the trees not all alike. Nor can the wood\ntissue of the various trees be used for the same purpose. Each one\nis useful in its own particular line or sphere.\n\nThe same may be said of minerals as to their appearance, qualities,\nuses, etc., etc.\n\nEach individual is simply the offspring of his parents. God has had\nnothing whatever to do in shaping or fashioning him. He has not endowed\nhim with anything. He has given him neither a soul nor a body. He\nis a creature that has been placed upon this earth by his parents,\nwith all the qualities, form, general construction, composition,\nand constitution of his parents.\n\nThis hardly requires an explanation. Every farmer and cattle-breeder\nunderstands it. We have every day illustrations with our race-horses,\ncattle, etc. Two black persons cannot breed white children. They can\nmix them, yes. God had nothing at all to do with the selection of\neither the black man or white woman, or the white man or black woman.\n\nWhatever seed is planted, that will grow, and no other. Cabbage\nseed will yield cabbages, and nothing else. That law holds good in\nnature--like will produce like; subject, however, to modification of\nsoil, temperature, moisture, of the immediate surroundings. But it\nwill not change the cabbage. It may be finer, of improved quality,\nlarger--that's all.\n\nThe prevailing notion that we are all created free and equal,\nis nonsense.\n\n1. We are not created. We are simply the offspring of our parents\nand inherit all the characteristics and qualities of our parents,\nwhich are subject to betterment, improvement, and a higher degree of\nculture, or deterioration, depending on circumstances and surroundings.\n\n2. We are not born equal by any means, either in muscular strength,\nbrain power, size, constitution, or wealth. Therein lies the difference\nin the condition and surroundings of man, while we are spending this\nshort-lived existence on this earth.\n\n3. Whether we are born free, depends upon what form of government we\nlive under. We are free to comply with the laws of the government under\nwhich we are born, comply with the recognized moral and social laws\nin the midst of which our parents reside, where we first saw daylight.\n\nDismiss the silly notion from your mind that anything can help you,\neither priest or any supernatural agency. The priest may help as one\nman may help another.\n\nPrayers can avail you nothing, nor blessings. Every man, to be a man,\nmust act the man! Training, education, culture, makes him one. Free\nyourself from priestly influence and church dominion, if you would\nbe free. Think and reason. Throw off the shackles of ecclesiastical\nslavery. Let your own brain work out your own salvation. Never mind\nthe Jehova, the God of barbarism, the Christ of delusion, or the\nHoly Ghost of the imagination. Shake off the dust of superstition\nand ignorance if you would be free.\n\nIt is the noblest work of man to make himself free--to make himself\nequal, not muscular--free from prejudice, free from superstitions,\nfree from bigotry, free from ignorance, free from vice, free\nfrom passions, free from wrong-doing either to yourself or to\nyour fellow-man. Equal you can be in brain power, brain culture,\nin brain force, by brain culture, education, in the improvement and\nperfection of the intellectual faculties, so that we may exercise our\nunderstanding and judgment, free and untrammeled, to the benefit of\nourselves and to the benefit of our neighbors.\n\nThe perfection you imagine your God ought to be, exalt yourself to\nthat perfection, and be an intelligent free man.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\nVISIONS--BIBLE DREAMS--REVELATIONS.\n\n\nThese are the fireworks of the imagination.\n\nIsaiah's vision, chapter vi, 1, 2:\n\n\"I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his\ntrain filled the temple.\n\n\"Around it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he\ncovered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain\nhe did fly,\" etc.\n\nEzekiel, chapter iii: Son of man eats the roll.\n\nVision of chapter viii: \"A fire below the loins, and the appearance\nof brightness, as the color of amber upwards,\" etc.\n\nChapter ix: \"Six men with slaughter weapons, clothed in white linen\nwith a writer's inkhorn by the side.\"\n\nChapter x: \"Above the head of the cherubim there appeared over them\nas it were a sapphire-stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a\nthrone.\" Verse 2: \"Go in between the wheels even under the cherub, and\nfill thine hands with coals of fire,\" etc. Verse 4: \"And the house was\nfilled with a cloud,\" etc. Verse 8: \"And there appeared in the cherubim\nthe form of a man's hand under their wings.\" Verse 9: \"Four wheels,\"\netc. Verse 12: \"And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands,\nand their wings, and their wheels were full of eyes round about, even\nthe wheels that they four had.\" Verse 14: And every one had four faces,\nthe first face was the face of a cherub, the second the face of a man,\nthe third that of a lion, the fourth the face of an eagle, etc.\n\nChapter xxii: Sin.\n\nChapter xxiii: Whoredoms.\n\nChapter xxxviii: Boneyard.\n\nChapter xlvii: Visions of holy waters.\n\nDaniel's visions, dreams:\n\nVerse 3: Four great beasts came up from the sea. The first was a lion\nand had eagle's wings. The second was like a bear, it had three ribs\nin the mouth between the teeth, etc. The third was like a leopard,\nand had four wings of a fowl, and had four heads. The fourth a beast\ndreadful and terrible, strong exceedingly--had great iron teeth--and\nit had ten horns. A little horn came up; in this horn were eyes like\nthe eyes of a man, a mouth speaking great things. Throne whereon an\nancient sat, the hair of his head like pure wool, garments snow-white,\netc.; throne of fiery flame, wheels as burning fire.\n\nVerse 19: \"Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast,\" etc. His\nteeth were iron, nails of brass, etc., etc.\n\nChapter viii: A ram had two horns; one was higher than the other. He\nsaw the ram pushing westward, northward, southward, etc.\n\nVerse 5: A he-goat with a horn between the eyes; the goat smote the\nram, broke the two horns, etc.\n\nZechariah iv: A candlestick all of gold, a hood upon the top of\nit. Seven lamps thereon, seven pipes to the seven lamps; two olive\ntrees.\n\nChapter v: Flying roll twenty cubits long, ten cubits broad.\n\nVerse 9: Two women, and the wind was in their wings; they had wings\nlike a stork.\n\nChapter vi: Four chariots between two mountains of brass. The first\nchariot had red horses, the second chariot had black horses, the\nthird chariot had white horses, the fourth chariot had grizzled bay\nhorses, etc.\n\nThe most prominent men in the Old Testament that were endowed with\nhigh imaginative powers, were not many. The most noted among them\nwere Isaiah, 681 B.C.; Ezekiel, 591 B.C.; Daniel, 559 B.C.; Zechariah,\n535 B.C. These four visionary gentlemen lived during a very exciting,\ntroublesome period. It was the ending of national life. There were\ncontinuous wars, constant changes, invasions, robberies, plunder, and\nall other barbaric crimes that ordinarily accompany these revolutionary\nevents. Israel was made captive 721 B.C.--the lost ten tribes, as they\nare called. The conquest of Jerusalem was 606 B.C.; the captivity of\nJudah and destruction of Jerusalem, 588 B.C.\n\nIt must be remembered that all the prophets, so termed, lived during\na time of approaching national dissolution, and date from the death\nof Jonah, 761 B.C., to the death of Nehemiah, 430. These political\npreachers, agitators, and fault-finders were altogether some twenty\nin number. And when national life ceased, these prophets ceased. Men\nof this particular type and character were no longer needed. They\nhad outlived their usefulness. Their national greatness was rapidly\ndisintegrating--short-lived it was. Luxury, licentiousness, and crime;\nrapacity, internal disorder, factional strife, lack of order and\ndiscipline, made them the prey of neighboring nations, that finally\nproved their destruction. It was not a question of God or Jehovah or\nidols; it was a question of organization, discipline, and a higher\ncivilization, that wiped the Jews out as a nation. They struggled as\nlong as they could maintain their existence as a nation. They were\noverpowered and subdued. It is not, therefore, surprising that these\nmen appealed to their patriotism--their moral sense, of which they had\nbut little--and made every endeavor to reform them. The national pride,\nlove of country and patriotism, fired their imagination. They talked,\nwrote, and scolded in the name of the visionary God in fashion among\nthem, employing the phraseology then in use, giving vent to their\nfeelings, their passions, their lamentations, their dreams, their\nvisions, the product of an over-excited nervous system, mixing poesy,\nphilosophy, and facts indiscriminately; producing a heterogeneous,\nfantastic creation of the brain, part true, but false as a whole,\ndovetailed together as the fancy of the moment suggested. These\nrambling fireworks of the imagination have little meaning and\nless sense, except that they portray their feelings, emotions, and\npractical impressions for the time being. Eliminate the facts out of\ntheir writings, and you obtain a residue of wild, incoherent ravings\nof an over-excited, over-heated brain.\n\nWe hear nothing of any great mental disturbance or loss of equilibrium,\nuntil we reach a new crisis. For nearly four hundred years not a\nvision, not an angel, not a prophet, is heard of.\n\nThe religious disputes, the ecclesiastical quarrels, the heated\ndiscussions, the hatred, hostility, and opposition that the differences\nof opinion engendered, caused considerable nervous irritation, mental\nexcitement, and a display of the imagination. This new religion,\nthis reformation, this new organization, produced no small amount\nof fermentation. It was all nervous, stimulated to a degree of\nexaltation, rising in intensity to enthusiasm and religious ecstacy,\nwherein many varieties of nervous phases were exhibited. St. John was\non the isle of Patmos when he wrote his Revelations. He could not have\nchosen a more suitable spot for his visionary work. An isolated little\nisland situated in the Archipelago near Asia Minor, it is one of the\nsmallest islands in that region. It could certainly not contain many\ninhabitants. It is surrounded by sea and exceedingly lonely. A man\nwith a highly nervous temperament could almost see anything in that\ndreamland of melancholy and seclusion. John's visions resembled those\nof his predecessors several hundred years previous. But John came four\nhundred years later, and had the advantage of more culture. Ideas\nhad multiplied, experience had increased, the imagination was\namplified. Education had advanced, and the mental faculties were\nbetter developed. He had therefore the brain, the opportunity, and\na very favorable locality, to dream, to have visions, and to imagine\nto his heart's content. He had the material, the impressions, and the\nstate of mind to aid him. Of course we take it for granted that John\nwrote these Revelations--or some one imagined these things for him.\n\nJohn wrote to the seven churches, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatera,\nSardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. None of these places was any\nconsiderable distance from Patmos. What he sees:\n\nChapter i: Seven candlesticks. One was like (verse 13) the Son of Man,\nclothed in garments down to the feet, girt about the paps with a golden\ngirdle. Verse 14: \"His head and his hair were white like wool, as white\nas snow.\" Verse 15: His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in\na furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. Verse 16: He had\nin his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth a sharp two-edged\nsword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.\n\nThe second and third chapters are advisory to the seven churches.\n\nIn the fourth his imagination takes a great flight.\n\nA more romantic spot to have visions could not be found--about 38\u00b0\nnorth of the equator, a beautiful sky, mild climate, calm waters,\nand a solemnity of surroundings that would impress a less imaginative\nmind. It would have a marvelous effect on an excitable fanatic zealot,\nbrimful with fantastic religious notions. No wonder he beheld the\ndoors of heaven open, and heard a sound of a trumpet--and he was\nimmediately in the spirit; that is, he was either dreaming or in an\necstatic state, and could see all the things he did see with his eyes\neither closed or open.\n\nHe saw a throne. One sat in it. It looked like jasper and sardonyx. And\nhe saw a rainbow like emerald. Round about there were twenty-four\nseats, wherein twenty-four elders were sitting clad in white raiment,\nwith crowns of gold on their heads. Thunder and lightning came out\nof the throne. There were seven lamps before the throne, and seven\nspirits of God, and before the throne there was a sea of glass like\nunto crystal; and in the midst of the throne and round about were\nfour beasts, full of eyes before and behind.\n\nThe first beast was like a lion, the second beast was like a calf,\nthe third beast had the face of a man, the fourth beast was a flying\neagle. And the four beasts had each six wings about him, and they\nwere full of eyes within.\n\nChapter v, 6: There stood a lamb with seven horns, seven eyes, seven\nspirits, etc.\n\nChapter vi: He saw a white horse, a red horse, a black horse, and a\npale horse. The first had a crown, the second a sword, the third a\npair of balances, on the fourth sat Death and Hell. There were seals\nopened, etc., etc. The fifth seal was the souls slain by the sword of\nGod. The sixth seal, earthquake, the sun became black and the moon red,\nand the heavens departed as a scroll, etc.\n\nChapter vii: He sees four angels standing on the four corners of\nthe earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should\nnot blow, etc. He saw another angel with a seal--for various tribes,\netc.--very fanciful, very fantastic, very imaginative.\n\nChapter viii: The seventh seal opened. Seven angels with seven trumpets\nstanding before God. One angel stood with a golden censer. Five\nfilled the censer with fire. Voices. Thunderings, lightnings, and\nan earthquake.\n\nVerse 7: The first angel sounded. There followed hail and fire,\nmingled with blood; trees and green grass were burnt up.\n\nVerse 8: The second angel sounded. A mountain of burning fire was\ncast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood.\n\nVerse 9: A third part of the creatures and a third part of the ships\nwere destroyed.\n\nVerse 10: The third angel sounded. A great star fell from heaven,\nburning.\n\nVerse 11: The fourth angel sounded. A third part of the sun and moon\nwere smitten, a third part of the stars, etc.\n\nChapter ix: The fifth angel sounded. A star falls into the bottomless\npit. He mixes smoke, locusts, scorpions, torments, horns, battles,\ncrowns of gold.\n\nVerse 7: Faces of men with hair of women and teeth of lions. He\nsees breastplates of iron. There is sound in the wings, sound in the\nchariots running to battle, etc., etc.\n\nVerse 17: He sees the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them\nhaving breastplates of fire, and of jacinth and brimstone; and the\nheads of the horses were the heads of lions; and out of their mouths\nissued fire, and smoke, and brimstone.\n\nVerse 19: For their power is in their mouths and their tails; and\ntheir tails were like unto serpents, etc.\n\nChapter x, 4: Seven thunders utter voices. John takes the little book\nout of the angel's hands, eats it up, and it is as sweet as honey\nbut bitter in his belly.\n\n\n\nWe pass on through the extravagances of the succeeding chapter to\nxvi. Seven angels and seven plagues and seven vials of wrath. The\nfirst vial of wrath was poured upon earth; the second vial of wrath\nwas poured upon the sea; the third vial of wrath was poured upon\nrivers and fountains of water; the fourth angel poured his vial upon\nthe sun; the fifth angel poured his vial upon the seat of heat;\nthe sixth angel poured his vial into the river Euphrates, and the\nwaters were dried up, unclean spirits like frogs came out of the\nmouth of the dragon, etc. The seventh angel poured his vial into\nair--voices--thunder--lightning.\n\nA more jumbled mass of hysterical nonsense was never concocted by\nthe brain of man.\n\nWith this silly twaddle of an over-excited nervous system, he\ncontinues to give vent to absurd impulses and perverted impressions\nof a theoleptic nature.\n\nIn chapter xx he sees an angel from heaven having the keys of the\nbottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the\ndragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound\nhim a thousand years. Verse 3: \"And cast him into the bottomless pit,\nand shut him up,\" etc., etc. Verse 9: \"And they went up on the breadth\nof the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the\nbeloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured\nthem.\" Verse 10: \"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the\nlake of fire and brimstone, where the beasts and the false prophets\nare, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever,\" etc.\n\nThat this so-called revelation is not the product of a healthy brain\nis self-evident. That John was reveling in the realms of fantasie,\nwhile he was laboring under a theological nightmare, is so palpable,\nthat he might almost be accused of being a monomaniac. And that this\nabominable concoction of absurdities should form the basis of a system\nof moral education, and be tolerated as a supernatural production,\nis an outrage on common sense. The whole construction is the fabric\nof a man bordering on a state of hallucination, where fancy, fact,\nand fiction are indiscriminately mixed and compounded with the\ntheoleptical effervescence of an almost demented enthusiast.\n\nThere is not a particle of sense in the entire twenty-two chapters,\nexcept such as refer to earthly particulars. The combination is\nfalse in conception, and pernicious in its tendencies. He sees and\nhears things so glaringly ridiculous that it is really surprising\nthat any sensible preacher can regard the writings in the light\nof seriousness. It is perhaps as unique an erratic compilation\nof material substances as was ever produced, based on ignorance,\nsuperstition, and a diseased mind. That man, St. John the Divine,\nhad no more conception of the size of this earth or its configuration\nthan he had of electricity, or a steam-engine. Of course I understand\nthat theologians do not--or pretend not to--look upon the statements\nliterally. They may interpret the contents of Revelation from a\nspiritual point of view, nothing will or can relieve it of its\ndefects. Whatever he meant by his ravings, in those days, they do\nnot contain a particle of practical sense. When he beheld the doors\nof heaven open and heard a sound of a trumpet, he was immediately\nin the spirit. Then his mind spliced together thrones of jasper,\nemerald, seats, elders, white raiment, crowns of gold, seven lamps,\nseven spirits, a sea of glass, and four beasts full of eyes, a lion,\ncalf, man, eagle, six wings, four horses, death and hell, seven angels,\nseven vials of wrath, hail, fire, blood, thunder, lightning, brimstone,\na bottomless pit, etc., etc. Thoughts were flying through his brain\nthat embraced pretty much all he knew, that he had either heard, read\nabout, or had had some personal experience of, bringing all the things,\nobjects, substances, and phenomena to bear upon his imagination,\nforming ideas to illustrate his heaven or hell, his saints and sinners,\nhis salvation and his perdition. The mind was in a state of delirious\nconfusion. John's mind had had a larger experience, his imagination\nwas more amplified and expanded, than the mind and imagination of his\npredecessors Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah. The time and\nlocality were not the same. The burden of John's thoughts was of a\nquite different nature. The nervous phenomena of theological excitement\nand irritation was purely visionary, while those of the Old Testament\nwere largely tainted with the politics of their time. The former\nwriters were loaded down with the expected ruin of their nationality;\nwere filled with patriotism; were hoping and wishing for some one\nto come and help them out of their dire distress. Their ideas and\nthoughts led them to flights of imagination within the limits of their\nknowledge. John was fully charged with the philosophy and teachings of\nhis times, and he mustered all his knowledge to open the gulf between\nthe two extremes of bliss and punishment, the saved and lost. Thus he\ninvented the appearance of heaven, with all the material substances,\nto exhibit its fearful glory, and showed the interior of his bottomless\npit with its darkness, fire and brimstone. All these things might\nhave appeared very terrible to the ignorant fishermen he had to deal\nwith. It may still leave a strongly unpleasant impression on a great\nmany of our ignorant population. Very few sensible people take any\nstock in John's incoherent, erratic flight of imagination. It may\nbe regarded as a very curious composition of antiquity--senseless,\nuseless, meaningless; admirable in its way, but nothing more than\na production of an overwrought, unbalanced, over-stimulated, and\nover-exalted imagination.\n\nWe may distinctly perceive the progress that had been made in the\nevolution of the imagination, in the multiplication of ideas, in the\namplification of thought, from Abraham to Moses, from Moses to David,\nfrom David to Isaiah, from Isaiah to John.\n\nThe nervous system, the brain, had undergone some modifications among\nthese people, but not of a nature that was likely to be a lasting\nbenefit to humanity. On the contrary, these speculative ideas caused\na great deal of friction of thought, bitter quarrels, hatred, crime,\nand bloodshed.\n\nNeighboring nations, who had neither Jehova nor Christ, revealed\nto us the light of science that never produced a friction nor a\nquarrel--being based on eternal truth. From the very beginning of\ntheir conception to the present day this remains unchanged, unaltered\nand untouched, a monument of Truths, an inheritance for all future\ngenerations.\n\nThe God-Christ-Holy-Ghost idea has ever been a source of greed,\nselfishness, intolerance, bigotry, quarrel, hatred, licentiousness,\ncruelty, and crime. Bickering and quarreling are still going on. And\nthe grasping hand of greed holds the ignorant bigot by the throat\nto squeeze the last cent out of him, to enrich and aggrandize the\nmost pernicious organization humanity was ever plagued with. Heresy,\nblasphemy, is as fashionable to-day as it was in the rankest days\nof popery. Fortunately the civil law reigns supreme, otherwise these\necclesiastical monomaniacs would be at each other's throats. At this\nstage of scientific civilization, we can afford to look on at the\ntheological quarrels and antics as a result of a nervous craze that\nis perfectly harmless.\n\nAfter all it is but the physiological effect of an educational\ntraining, the development of the faculties and the evolution of the\nimagination; the brain functions in proportion to the progress made\nin the culture in general, harmonizing with the times, circumstances,\nand conditions of the period in which we live.\n\nEvery age has its turn in the evolution of the mental faculties,\nand it must go through its stage. The visionary period, the result\nof a theological hallucination of an over-exalted imagination, can\noccur only under certain favorable conditions, viz., on the one\nhand a highly susceptible nervous temperament, a strongly biased\neducational training, and an enthusiastic excitability, and on the\nother, an ignorant, bigoted, poor, and helpless population.\n\n\n SHADES OF INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT.\n\n FROM BARBARISM TO CIVILIZATION, MULTIPLICITY OF GODS TO NATURE,\n DARKNESS TO LIGHT.\n\nBarbarism, savagery, ignorance, Chaldaism. Women Barbarians. 200 B.C.\nidolatry. Astronomy. degraded A.D. 1893.\nMANY GODS. (Paganism 766,312,000 slaves.\nPHYSICAL GOD. remaining). 1921-450 B.C.\nVery little light. Hebrewism, 6,000,000.\n\nPhysiology, science, mathematics, mythology, women honored science breaking. 1921-500-0 B.C.\nGreece a nation.\n\nIgnorance, superstition. Buddhism, 320,000,000. 1100 B.C.\nUncivilization (to our notion). Confucianism.\nCaste rule. Brahmanism, 120,000,000.\n Philosophy, 320,000,000 gods.\nONE GOD. Mohammedanism, 166,000,000. Tyrants. A.D. 600.\nPolygamy.\nFIVE GODS. Roman Catholic Still A.D. 325.\nFather, Son, and Ghost, Virgin, Christianity, 200,000,000. degraded. A.D. 800.\nsaints, relics, etc. Idolatry, Greek Christianity,\nfigure-painting, ignorance, 80,000,000.\nintolerance, non-progression,\nsuperstition, bigotry.\n Dark Ages. A.D. 325 to 1517.\nTHREE GODS. Protestantism--Luther, Women 200 to A.D. 1517.\nClass Rule. Calvin--100,000,000. sub- 300 A.D. 1693.\nProgression, toleration, Episcopalianism. ordinate. sects. A.D. 1572.\nsuperstition, bigotry, Presbyterianism. A.D. 1730.\ncivilization, selfishness, Baptists.\ngreed. Methodism. Wesley.\nONE GOD. Universalism. A.D. 1691.\nEnlightened, advancing. Unitarianism.\n Ethical Culture.\nDOUBTFUL GOD. A.D. 1550.\nLatest theological A.D. 1870.\nmetamorphosis.\nNO GOD. Science, nature, fact,\n truth. Manhood, womanhood.\n Intellectual development.\n\n\nIn modern times, if a man should attempt to rave after the style of\nJohn, he would certainly be declared a fit candidate for an insane\nasylum.\n\nWhat was possible on the Isle of Patmos by John would be an utter\nimpossibility to-day. It is not because we have not religious fanatics\nenough, but education, reason, and science have advanced, so that such\nextravagant fire-works of the imagination would be declared evidence\nof an insane condition of the mind.\n\nOn the following page a diagram of various shading shows the growth of\nintelligence and enlightenment of the various religious denominations,\nindicating the beginning of actual progress with the Reformation,\nand how little there is left of the entire religious fabric that has\nbeen handed down these many centuries.\n\nThe darkness of ignorance is still hiding the truth. The church is\ndoing its utmost to train the young in the pernicious doctrine of\nsuperstition and falsehood of antiquity. The clergy would stop our\npublic school system, if they could drag humanity back into the mire\nof brutality.\n\nThe sooner the Bible, with its God, Jehova, Jesus Christ, the Holy\nGhost, the prophets and the apostles, with all the angels, heaven,\nand hell, are placed under a glass case to be viewed and admired as\na matter of antique curiosity the better.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nTHE PLANETARY GODS.\n\nThe Terrestrial God.\n\n\nWhy man should claim that the terrestrial God, the God that was created\non this earth, extends his sway beyond the limits of this globe, is not\neasily accounted for. It is an assumption that is not at all warranted.\n\nWe know that the composition of the planets that belong to the family\nof the solar system are the same as that of our own, this earth. All\nthose worlds seem to be constructed of the same chemical elementary\nsubstances as this globe of ours, and working on the same general\nuniversal plan. That all the planets of the solar system, and the\nsun itself, possess the same common characteristics as this earth, is\nevident. The planets all move in the same direction round the sun. They\nall revolve upon their own axes, and round the sun. They have day and\nnight, seasons and periods of revolution. They have their atmospheres,\nsnows, rings, and all the necessary equipments of a planet proper. They\nseem to have seas, mountains, valleys, poles, equators, etc.\n\nSome of the planets seem to be in a much higher state of organization\nthan our own.\n\nTake Saturn, for example, with its series of rings and satellites,\nits immense distance from the sun, 886,000,000 miles, moving at the\nrate of 22,000 miles per hour, and having a year equal to about 30\nyears of our globe. He flourishes at a distance from us of about\n300,000,000 miles. He has a diameter of 73,000 miles. His volume is\n700 times that of the earth, and he receives his light from the sun,\njust the same as we do. It is admitted by astronomers that the Saturnal\nscenery is most magnificent, and surpasses anything we are familiar\nwith. The rings form immense arches, which span the sky and shed a\nsoft radiance around; while in the strange beauty of the night eight\nmoons in all their different phases, full, new crescent, or gibbous,\nlight up the starry vault.\n\nWe know that the planets are composed of the same elementary substances\nas this world whereon we live, that they are also surrounded with\nan atmosphere, have water upon them, receive the sun's heat, exhibit\nall the peculiar characteristics of this globe of ours, and all the\nplanets seem to be obeying the same general universal laws.\n\nCan anyone give us a plausible reason why there is no organized\nvital matter on our neighboring planets--plants, living creatures,\nsimilar to those found on this terrestrial globe?\n\nIf the elementary substances are the same as those that are found\non this earth, and they have a similar sunshine, heat, moisture,\nand temperature, all the forces may be presumed to be the same\nor similar. There is no reason that the elements should not enter\ninto organic life of a similar, perhaps either inferior or superior,\norganization to that existing on this world? What is to hinder them? It\nis certainly possible, therefore probable. May we not assume that it\nis both possible and probable? Those on earth who believe that this\nglobe of ours was especially fitted up for us, made for man only,\nare very presumptuous. There was no special forethought for the\nadaptation or convenience of creatures like ourselves.\n\nAs to the forethought, adaptation, or convenience, the hog, the\nelephant, the ass, and the fly enjoy their life just as much as men\ndo. It is very convenient for them. But not more so than it is for man,\nand it is no more convenient for man than it is for the animals. We\nare certainly nearer the truth to say that the other planets are\ninhabited by beings, races, that may exhibit as much intelligence\nas, if not more than, we do on this globe. The conditions of light\nand heat may not be the same. The other planets may vary in form and\nstructure, and have shapes not at all familiar to us. That, however,\ndoes not in any way interfere with the reasonable probability, nay,\ncertainty, that they are inhabited.\n\nWhether they are inhabited or not, matters little. Yet we may safely\nmake the inference that these planets are not simply placed in space\nfor our convenience. May not the inhabitants of Venus, Mercury,\nMars, Flora, Mnemosene, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, etc.,\nthink that this earth has been created by their respective gods for\ntheir convenience? Have they not as much right to have each of them a\ngod as this earth is supposed to have? Has not the god of Jupiter as\nmuch right to be proclaimed by a portion of its inhabitants to be the\ncreator of all the planets, sun, moon, and stars, as this sectarian,\nterrestrial God has?\n\nThe right to this power, to this prerogative, is as much vested in\nthe god of Neptune or Saturn, as in this earthly God. Imagine the\ngod of Saturn complacently smiling at the arrogance of this pigmy of\na terrestrial god. May not the god of Venus have a pre\u00ebmptory claim\nto the godship of this planetary system? Or the god of Uranus, or of\nany other of the planets? Or possibly every planet has its god that\nacts as superintendent over his own territory, the laws of gravitation\npreventing his divinity from leaving his place of abode. Or, perhaps\nthere are no planetary gods--every solar system may have, perhaps,\nonly one god, residing on the great sun himself, communicating directly\nwith all his subject planets by the rays he sends forth. It is not at\nall unlikely that perhaps every solar system has its god. And over\nthese many solar system gods, somewhere in the immensity of space,\na god of immense magnitude may preside. So you may go on multiplying\ngods, sub-gods and superior gods, without end.\n\nWhere do we find that a man, or a set of men, have a right to arrogate\nto themselves the power or privilege to assume that this terrestrial\nGod has anything at all to say or to dictate on any other planet? This\nearthly God has no more right to interfere with the business of Mars\nor Mercury than the god of Saturn has a right to interfere with our\nearthly affairs.\n\nShould it, however, transpire that any planetary god, whether he comes\nfrom Uranus, or Neptune, or any other planet, should interfere, we who\nwere made in his image will assemble in the houses we have built for\nhis sake, for the terrestrial God's sake, and pass resolutions advising\nour terrestrial God to say to the other planetary gods: \"Hands off,\nye gods, if you please! For the sake of peace and harmony among the\ngods of this planetary system, we, representing this terrestrial\nGod by proxy--since it really makes no great difference in the end\nof the great gathering-in of the elementary substances all organic\nbeings are composed of--we, the organized elements of this earth,\nmen, animals, plants, etc., more especially the highest organized\nbeings, men, having a more perfected nervous system, being the elect\nof all terrestrial productions, claim the right to speak for our God,\nand proclaim to all planetary gods, potentates, majesties, holies of\nholies, or their representatives, that they have no right whatsoever\nto interfere with our terrestrial management. We can have our little\nlocal pet God or Gods if we desire, so long as our methods do not in\nany way inconvenience them.\"\n\nLet it be taken for granted that the same, elementary substances are\nfound (of which we have evidence) in the sun and all the planets,\nand probably in the stars we see; that their gaseous fluids and solid\nsubstances are of similar nature to the elements known to us; and that\nthey also receive the same sun's heat (or the distant stars may receive\nlight and heat from some other suns), is it not more than likely that\nthe conditions produced by the contact of these elements with the sun's\nheat, may resemble those we are familiar with? If there is heat there\nmust be motion, there must be friction, there must be consumption\nand expenditure of heat, also expansion and contraction. If these\nforces exist, other forces necessarily must also exist, as cold from\nabsence of heat, dynamic force, electric and magnetic forces. We may\nreadily suppose that there are currents of air. Water may be agitated\nby the wind. If atmospheres surround these planets there is only one\nsource of heat that can keep them in a gaseous state, and that is\nthe sun. Heat from the same source keeps the Oxygen and the Hydrogen\nfluid. If evaporation and consolidation exist why should there not\nbe aqueous vapor, rain, etc.? We must concede that the elements\nknown as Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and Carbon are found in these\ndistant planets. We cannot be far wrong in supposing that there are\ncarbonic acid, ammonia, and maybe other combinations. Atoms certainly\nmust exist, and molecules (a drop of water is a molecule). There\nmay also be conductions of heat, of molecular motion. What then is\nto hinder the evolution of phenomena on these distant planets being\nregulated by laws very similar to the laws of this earth--radiation and\nabsorption of heat, combustion and explosion, tension and velocity of\nthe various elements, under peculiar circumstances favoring all these\nconditions? That elements wherever found possess the same physical\nproperties when brought under the same influence of heat and moisture,\nthere can be no doubt, whether they are farther removed, or nearer to\nthe contact of the sun's rays. It is a fact, a well-established fact,\nthat different substances require varying degrees of temperature to\nreduce them to a liquid, gaseous, or solid condition, and no matter\nwhere the temperature is produced the result will be the same. If,\nfor example, a temperature can be procured on the surface of Uranus,\nor Saturn, sufficient to melt iron, lead, or silver, these metallic\nsubstances will melt at Uranus or Saturn as quickly as on the earth's\nsurface. The laws regulating radiation, absorption, dispersion, or\ncontraction, or any other phase the elementary substances may assume,\nunder heat or pressure, etc.--these laws will hold good on any of\nthe planets just as well as on this terrestrial planet.\n\nIt is therefore far from unreasonable to presume that the organizable\nelements may have assumed a vitality on the distant planets, evolved\nand developed creatures in accordance with known laws, or laws that\nare still unknown to us. Because it is perfectly natural for these\nsubstances to organize themselves into life, under a certain degree of\ntemperature, moisture, and electricity, when these necessary elements\nare present--as natural as that oxygen and hydrogen make water, or\nthat the sun's heat sets all the elementary substances into a state\nof activity.\n\nWe have no reason to doubt that these planets, or even the sun,\nhave not their own vital products just as well as this earth. These\nvital products may be of low grade, or of a very highly organized\nnature. We may assume, without fear of any great error, that wherever\nthere are air and water there is life. Because if there is heat it is\na sun's heat, otherwise there could not be air and water. If there\nis a sun's heat, atmosphere, and water, there is certainly life,\nlowly or highly developed.\n\nThe degree of organic development depends on the age of the\nplanet--whether it has been in existence a few millions of years more\nor a few millions of years loss. These organic forms may have advanced\nto any degree of perfection and possess qualities like or unlike our\nown, or they may still exist in a very primitive state of evolution.\n\nLet it be distinctly understood that on the degree of organic\ndevelopment depends whether they have reached our height of perfection\nof nervous development, or the development of a substance capable\nof performing functions similar to the brain substance animals\nare endowed with on this earth, with physiological action the same\nor similar--whether undergoing gradual changes, and accumulating\nexperience, they may have arrived at that degree of perfection to be\ncapable of thinking and reflecting, may have acquired understanding\nof a nature possessing all the fear, wonder, and ignorance of certain\nstates of nervous development, where the ideas are just forming and\nimagination barely assuming form. They may, I say, have begun evolving\ntheir gods, or images representing the same, or may have reached that\nstate of perfection that every creature is endowed with such powers,\nunderstanding, and reasoning, acquired by millions of years of training\nand education, that they constitute gods in themselves.\n\nOr the creatures inhabiting these planets may be in a condition\nlike that of creatures many, many ages past upon earth--may have no\nknowledge of gods or God, but are undergoing the necessary evolutionary\nchanges that will ultimately bring them to that happy elysium, when\nthey will be capable to produce their God or gods, as we have done\non this earth.\n\nWhy is it not possible that a higher order of beings inhabiting Saturn\nare at this moment employing instruments in order to ascertain the\nconstitution and condition of this terrestrial globe, speculating\non the probability whether this earth is inhabited or not? They may\nhave positive knowledge that this planet has an atmosphere several\nhundred miles in depth. They may know its size, diameter, its\ndistance from the sun, and that this planet revolves in an ellipse\nas the planet Saturn does. They may also know that the elements are\nof the same nature; and that there are mountains, seas, an equator,\na north and a south pole, but only one moon. Looking at this planet\nas a star of this solar system, of perhaps the third or the fourth\nmagnitude, nothing compared with their own, either in size, moons,\nbelts, or other important features, these higher organized beings\non Saturn may be able to behold worlds beyond themselves far more\nvast than their own, and regard this planet, Venus, Mercury, etc.,\nas very insignificant affairs.\n\nWhy may they not have appliances, modes of travel or communication,\nas far removed in intelligence from our highest order of beings,\nas the difference between a frog and the pope?\n\nWe have no reason to exclude any supposition, however wild and\nextravagant, as to the conditions of other planets. It is not entirely\nimaginary. Inferences may be drawn from what we know, and deductions\nmade from our practical experience. This problem is safer to speculate\non, having a solid basis to start with. Those who believe in the\nactuality of an existing God have not a thing to base his existence\non, except the natural functions of the brain.\n\nBut if we concede that this earth has a God, what right have we to\nassume that each other planet has not a god of its own? We have no\nevidence to the contrary. Who dares to state positively that they\nhave not a god? Why should this insignificant terrestrial planet God\npresume, or persons for him, that he controls and governs planetary\nbodies hundreds of times larger, and perhaps far more important,\nthan this small solar system?\n\nHow do we know that the inhabitants of other planets have not had\nangels, saints, and saviors? How do we know that they have not\nhad beings who pretended to know all about their god, and were as\nbrutal, as savage, and as demented as some of the persons figuring\nin scripture, or the tyrannical, bloody papists of the Dark Ages?\n\nThe imagination of man supplied us with Gods or a God on earth;\nthe imagination is justified in supplying other planets with a god\nor gods. The god of Jupiter, Mars, or Saturn, etc., may with as\nmuch force and propriety say, \"I am that I am; I am the great I am,\nthe creator of all things. You, Planet Earth, may be a little older,\nriper, more solidified, have a solid crust, yet remember our god is\njust as good as yours, and better. You have only one moon--a fossil\nworld, a mere cinder. And, moreover, our god is fourteen hundred times\nlarger than yours, because our globe is that much larger. Our globe\nhas a diameter of ninety thousand miles. And we have four satellites,\nor moons. Our largest is as big as your whole earth. Therefore, it\nis ridiculous for you to claim superiority. As to my neighbor Saturn,\nwith his eight moons and belts, his god smiles at your presumption. I,\nthe god of Jupiter, agree with the great god of Saturn and others,\nthat your terrestrial affected greatness is too ridiculous to be\nworthy of our serious consideration. In fact, it is absurd for your\nearthly godship to claim to have made the sun that great luminary\nthat gives us all heat, light, and life.\"\n\nLet us go but one step farther into space to show the fallacy of the\nassumption that this terrestrial God created all planets, stars,\netc. At the present time it is considered that the star Alpha (a)\nCentauri in the southern hemisphere is the nearest to the earth. Its\ndistance is more than 200,000 times that of the earth from the sun,\nor twenty trillions of miles. Light would require about four and\na half years to travel this enormous distance. The stars which we\nsee at such immense distances are suns. The vast distance at which\nthe stars are known to be, precludes the thought of their shining,\nlike the planets or the moon, by reflecting back the light of our\nsun. They must be self-luminous, and are doubtless each a center of\na system of planets and satellites.\n\nOur sun is but a star. As we see only the suns of these distant\nsystems, so their inhabitants see only the sun of our system, and\nthat as a small star.\n\nArrogant, conceited humanity, with an unbounded assurance and\nself-confidence, mixed with profound ignorance, have the impudence\nto claim that their terrestrial God created all the stars, suns,\nand planetary systems that are so far away in space that the eye of\nman cannot behold them--no, not even with the strongest instrument\nyet made.\n\nWe may be compared to maggots on a big cheese, crawling over its\nsurface; they may with equal propriety claim that their cheese is the\nonly cheese ever created, and that it was made for their own special\nuse, and that all other cheeses were made only for their benefit. Some\nof the maggots might equally claim that there was only one God--the man\nwho made the cheese. That is, that man, the maggot's god, made the cow\nthat gave the milk that produced the cheese whereon the maggot dwelt.\n\n\n\n Let every planet have its God,\n And every God its planet.\n Much mystery lies in the word,\n You simply have to scan it.\n Let every man his own God make,\n God in man, pure and elect,\n Let common sense and reason wake!\n Knowledge, truth, makes man perfect.\n Go search your God through depths of space\n On suns and stars infinite.\n The mind expands to every place.\n To distance without limit.\n If you don't find the God you seek\n Search within yourselves. Perchance,\n You'll find your God, quite good and meek,\n But not in your ignorance.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nEVERY MAN HIS OWN GOD.\n\n\nWriters and thinkers with a strong theological bias, seem to fear\nthat the world would go to pieces if the scriptural God or Gods were\ndeposed. They seem to apprehend that the moral and political economy\nwould seriously suffer, and the moral idea especially be destroyed.\n\nWhen these gentlemen find it impossible to reconcile the difficulties\nthat overshadow the personal and triple-headed deities--that somehow\nthey cannot make them harmonize with the recent discoveries and the\ndevelopment in natural sciences--they attempt to mold them so as to\nfit the requirements of the occasion.\n\nThus, it was discovered that the prime essence of the world is God,\nor something that pervades all nature; that he is the first great\ncause, and that this implies some huge mountain of will power,\nand an immense ocean of intelligence; that he is the creator of all\nthings--that out of him this world emerged and out of the world all\nthe various activities and objects were developed by the life inherent\nin the substances, etc.\n\nThen again they represent him as a great designer--declare that God\ndesigned all things and beings, and put everything in shipshape order;\nand after the design was finished he set the machinery in motion.\n\nThese, and interminable similar pet theories and excuses, are made\nfor God to retain a foothold in the mind of man. Clever brains and\nprolific imaginations have succeeded in clothing God, or Gods, with\nall the attributes thus far discovered either in man, beast, planet,\nor space--extension, contraction, elasticity, etc.--modes, limitation,\nfinite, infinite, absolute--everything, in fact, that has ever been\nprinted in the largest encyclopedia known.\n\nThese gentlemen should have had memories that the original doubts\nin Abraham's mind were the result of common sense and reason; that\nhe still retained the sensual qualities of the Chaldean gods. The\nmodifications and transitions of that first idea are very marked,\nas well as very numerous. By the time we reach Christ, he is not the\nsame. It is to be regretted that we have no compliments to waste on\nthis God--alias Jehova--because a more bloody, selfish, monstrous\nidea cannot be well portrayed, if the story in the Bible be true.\n\nAnd certainly he, and his triple alliance, does not exhibit one\nredeeming quality during the centuries of Christianity, because a\nmore hideous, outrageous, criminal monster cannot be constructed,\nexcept by human ingenuity and by human devices.\n\nIn another chapter we call the attention of the reader to some of the\nmost barbarous abominations of the Roman Catholic church, and such a\npolluted set of butchering popes as words fail to give any adequate\nidea of.\n\nAll this goes to show that this imaginary idea of God may be made to\nfit any person or any purpose.\n\nIt is but reasonable to inquire, Does God create the Brain, or does\nthe Brain create God? That is really the entire question in a nutshell.\n\nWe know, with absolute certainty, that God does not make brain,\notherwise we should have it perhaps a little more uniform, and of a\nbetter quality. Besides, all other animals possessing brain would,\nof course, be entitled to the knowledge of this God in proportion to\nthe size, quantity, and quality of the brain.\n\nThis, then, being impossible, we have no other means of arriving at the\ntruth than by concluding that Brain created God. Every brain cannot\ncreate God; the great nervous centers may be insufficient, either in\nquantity or quality, to enable the brain to acquire qualifications\nthat will give expression to more than the instinctive number of\nsensations and emotions.\n\nCreatures generally are limited to the instinctive number of\nsensations and emotions; and act, move, and have their being in\nharmony with these. Animals of all classes belong to this category,\nand not infrequently man, too. By that is meant, man in an uncultured\nstate, and even among them the degree of experience and the power of\nobservation make the difference between one set of savages and another.\n\nIntelligence, understanding, and reasoning power depend on some kind of\nexperience. The repetition of experience constitutes, in some measure,\nthe training of the senses, and through the senses and the cerebral\nhemispheres the intellect is thus formed and mind developed.\n\nThe intellectual acquirements may be limited by the ascendency of some\npredominating ideas or opinions that check progress. As for example,\nthe absence of schools in communities, the forcible prevention of\neducation, the prohibition of education by priestly authority of\nthe church, and the suppression by ecclesiastics of all ideas except\ntheir own.\n\nThis we may term limitation of brain culture by undue interference\nof the ascendent idea or ideas that limits the range of intelligence\nand subjects the will power to the control and direction of what the\npeople presumed to be a greater right than their own.\n\nPrescribed limits of education check or stunt the natural progress, and\nif any progress is made, the people must break through the prescribed\nlimits, as was the case with Luther, Spinoza, Voltaire, Renan, etc.\n\nThe ascendency of man over animals checks their further progress\nin the way of intelligence. The superior hostile intelligence holds\npossession and will not permit further development. As regards animals,\nwe have taken possession of the earth, and have put a stop to all\nfurther advancement.\n\nSupposing a man develops an idea, it is not an easy matter to persuade\nhis next-door neighbor, who is his equal perhaps in intelligence;\nbut, it is not difficult to inculcate his pet idea into his child. It\nis, as it were, virgin ground, and he plows it to his liking. He\nhas complete control. He is master. He directs it as he wishes,\nand prevents others from planting strange ideas or ideas hostile or\nantagonistic to his own.\n\nIn this manner we commence breeding ideas, and we continue breeding\nthe same ideas, on the same principle as breeding pigeons or chickens;\nthey are all of the same kind, if you don't cross them; and the more\neggs you lay the more chickens you get, and if they multiply rapidly,\nespecially if you have many hens to one rooster (as the Jews had),\nwhat a multitude to spoil a garden-patch!\n\nThat is precisely what happens, and that is what actually took place\nwith Abraham.\n\nWe have also a natural limitation to brain culture. We may instance\nthe orang-outang, the Bushman, the negro, the idiot, etc.--brains that\nare not susceptible to much culture or education. The understanding,\nthe development of the intellectual faculties, is limited of\nnecessity. There is no possibility of going beyond their capacity;\nit will hold a given measure and no more.\n\nEven among these, the range of intelligence may vary some degrees.\n\nImpairment, effectiveness, or entire absence of any one of the senses,\nlimits intellectual acquirements. The uniform activity of all the\nsenses is thereby hindered.\n\nWe have in addition innumerable varieties of brain in size, quality,\nquantity, form; as also inherited failings or diseased conditions.\n\nThe qualities of God depend upon the qualities of the man. There has\nnot yet been a god conceived by the human mind but greediness was\nthe chief element. Men made gods for others, whose inferior intellect\nwas easily swayed to believe in great benefits they were to expect,\nbut never got, yet were continually paying for.\n\nEvery man or woman is responsible for his or her acts, and no\nGod--supposing there to be any--can save him or her. There can be no\nintercession between man, and nature or nature's laws. Every living\nbeing is held to strict accountability to the prevailing forces and\nthe controlling elements that compose it. It is always a question\nof unchangeable equilibrium between the elements and the surrounding\nmedium, as to the kind of a God we may acquire.\n\nA man can see no farther than his sight will permit him. The organ of\nsight, the eye, may be so constituted that we can barely recognize the\nnearest object, or we may without difficulty distinguish the smallest\nobject at a great distance. This condition, of seeing objects near,\nat a moderate distance, or far off, or not seeing at all, depends on\nthe natural construction of the organ itself. The difference between\nthe various qualities of sight is due to the proper qualities and\nshape of the various structures that enter into the composition of the\norgan of vision. Every part must be perfect--the lens, the iris, the\ncornea, the vitreous humor, etc. Not only must the parts be perfect,\nbut they must also be in a healthy condition, to produce accurate\nvision. All this answers well for ordinary purposes in life, taking\nin such impressions as the apparatus of vision may from time to time\nreceive. These are retained, stored up; thus memory of objects, the\nimpressions of which have been recorded, may be recalled to mind either\nin actuality or in imagination. The education of that organ consists in\nthe number, variety, and kind of impressions received. This constitutes\nthe degree of educational experience, being regulated by the amount\nof knowledge of the greater or lesser number of objects that have\nbeen recorded through the retina on the great central nervous system.\n\nExperience, long practice, matures and perfects the knowledge of\nall things that meet the eye; understanding becomes more thorough,\nintellect clearer, and judgment more accurate, enabling us by that\nmeans to recognize the smallest imperfection, the slightest deviation,\nand the most delicate shade of harmony, in color and form.\n\nWe all know how hard it is for a child to recognize shapes, objects,\ncolors, etc. We know its long and tedious repetitions of looking at\none and the same thing an infinite number of times before it will\nrecognize it. We know that a child will repeat things, or the names\nof things, without knowing anything about them; or, it may know the\nnames of things yet not recognize the things when presented to its\nsight. The decision or judgment whether the thing is right and proper,\nis left to the person who has already had experience and acquired\nknowledge and understanding concerning these matters. Thus the child\nmay be directed rightly or wrongly, and its education must depend on\nthe accuracy of the instruction received. However, the impressions\nreceived in the early part of life remain firm, and are not easily\nremoved or eradicated, no matter how faulty, wrong, how perverse and\nfalse, they may be. The stronger and deeper the impressions and the\nlonger they have become habituated to them, the harder it is to correct\nthem, the more difficult to explain the errors. It is in such cases\nalmost impossible to convince, and a tedious task to eradicate. By\nthese early educational processes durable habits are acquired,\nthat become persistent and remain during life; especially when no\ncontrary influences have been brought to bear upon them to modify or\ncorrect them. It is almost an impossibility to train or educate the\norgan, whether sense of sight or ear, or the organ of voice, after\na certain ago has been reached. An artist must start young in his\nartistic education if he has any desire to excel in that art--that\nis, if the organs of sight and touch are to be evenly balanced. So\nthat whenever any person inherits the necessary qualities of sight\nand touch, and these become educated, I mean accurately trained,\nskill must result in excellence, and from that reach to a degree\nof perfection. The high art of painting becomes this man's ideal,\nand this ideal his god, if the education of the other senses has not\nmaterially interfered in shading his ideal, or the moral and social\nqualities, giving his productions a tone or tint that may cloud or\nbrighten his efforts, not forgetting the inherent or acquired bias\nof other surroundings that may influence his mind.\n\nIn the culture of music or of the ear, there is a wonderful\ndifference in the kind of sounds a person has received as his earliest\nimpressions, the number of sounds his scale of the notes consists\nof. What we term the monotonous sounds of Chinese music delight the\nChinaman's ear, and he cannot conceive how it is possible for Europeans\nto tolerate the immense amount of confusion that is usually displayed\nin an orchestra. Yet the European is delighted with our music and\nfinds the Chinese music very dull. The same difference, but not to\nthat degree, exists among the various European nationalities. Sprightly\nFrance thinks British music very dull, etc.\n\nPainting is an art, but everybody cannot paint, though everybody has\nsight and touch. That art requires a great deal of training. The vast\nmajority of mankind are not able even to draw an accurate outline\nof any object. Sight, the organ of vision, is a difficult organ\nto educate.\n\nThe same difficulties confront us with other organs. A degree of\nperfection is requisite in the construction of the organ in order to\nconfer the necessary qualification for a higher training. And here too\nthe education consists of receiving impressions through the organ of\nhearing to the brain, and these, like the impressions of sight, are\nrecorded, that is to say, they are retained, in memory, so that we\nmay recall them, or recognize them, when familiar sounds strike the\near. Any kind of simple sound is easily retained. A child will much\nmore easily recognize the voice of a cat or a dog than a painting or a\npicture, and will remember the one but not recognize the other. There\nis certainly a difference in the educational capabilities of these\norgans. Simple sounds are easily retained and easily reproduced. A\nsimple combination of sounds are also retained without difficulty. Thus\nit comes that we are all more or less imitators of sounds or simple\nmelodies. These seem to contribute to our amusement more readily,\neither for our own satisfaction, or for the satisfaction of others,\nor both.\n\nThese reproductions of sounds or melodies do not require any mental\neffort or physical effort. The organ of voice may be used--that is,\nwe attempt to sing. We may hum, or we can pucker our lips together\nand whistle. Each individual whistles in his own peculiar fashion,\nseldom two alike. They may be similar, but never alike. The fault\nmay lie in the lips, the tongue, in the form of the opening made,\nthe manner of blowing through the opening formed by the lips, the\nduration and strength of the expiration, dryness or moisture of the\nmouth, the thickness or flabbiness of cheeks, etc., etc. Hence it\ncomes that every man has his whistle. You may take a class and train\nthem to whistle a melody, say \"Yankee Doodle.\" Each one will produce\nsimilar successive sounds or notes, so that that particular melody\nis recognized, but each one will have his own \"Yankee Doodle,\" with\npeculiarities, characteristics peculiarly his own. If, for example,\nhe is musically inclined, or has had any training in music, he or she\nmay put a quaver or two in, as a variation, more or less. Yet each\none will still own his own whistle and pipe his own \"Yankee Doodle.\"\n\nThat is just what happens with God. We have no God, we never had\none, but we have been educated up to one. In childhood we already\nhear the first indistinct sound, and we don't know whether it is the\nbark of a dog or the mew of a cat. By and by, as we grow older and\nare ready to attend Sunday-school, or some other institution where\nthese instructions are imparted, you learn the melody of \"Yankee\nDoodle\"--rather puzzling at first, but it comes. Variations are put\nin to suit special cases and special occasions, and each individual\nmember of any one class whistles his \"Yankee Doodle\" to the best\nof his ability--entirely his own; he is perfectly happy with it; it\ndoes not in any way interfere in the ordinary pursuits in life, his\npleasures, his stomach, his diversion nor his business; and really it\nmakes no difference where he is, in the street, in the factory, in the\nstore, on the exchange, in the hovel or in the palace, he carries his\n\"Yankee Doodle\" with him. Whistle it over a birth, over a wedding, or\nover a funeral, whistle it wherever you will, it is the same \"Yankee\nDoodle.\" It is used on all occasions--in wars on the battlefield,\nor at peace on parade, etc. Thus it happens that everyone, male or\nfemale, has his or her own peculiar \"Doodle.\" If the man or woman\nor child had never heard this melody they would certainly not have\nknown anything about it, and therefore could not have enjoyed that\nparticular melody. He or she might have heard another melody just as\nsimple, perhaps just as stupid, but differently constructed.\n\nThe culture of these theological ideas forms the fundamental groundwork\nof our educational church system, and each sect has its own method of\nplanting its seed according to its peculiar notions. We must always\nbear in mind that before nerve tissue was developed, nerve force or\nthought could not exist; that the phenomena of imagination, or the\nproduct of a combination of ideas, the result of the impressions\nreceived by the senses, retained, and passing, connectedly or\ndisconnectedly, through the brain, could not be effected except by\nexperience and training.\n\nThe idea of a God or Gods impressed early in life, while the brain is\nbeing developed--the brain tissue of course--remains firmly rooted,\nand is very difficult to change or eradicate later in life. In case\na change is ever produced, it takes place by a process of reasoning,\nwhen understanding has been acquired. The acceptance of an idea\nor an opinion requires little sense and no reasoning, and, indeed,\nno education. Children believe anything they are told, until they\ngrow older and learn to know better. Men and women believe because\nthey don't know better. Accidentally they were placed in a particular\ngroove of thinking, wherein they can glide forward, backward, round\nin a circle, perpetually, with ease and without interruption, without\neffort and without understanding. This perpetual gliding motion, within\ncircumscribed limits, is over the same God, Holy Ghost, Christ, sin\nand salvation, or the reverse; no advancement or progress. Whatever\nhas been accomplished in the affairs of men, has been done without\nthe prescribed limits, and to that we owe our present civilization\nand material prosperity.\n\nWhoever the first individual was that proposed worship, no matter\nhow it originated, or what it was, or how crude, the thought was the\nproduct of some man's brain. Whether he ever stood face to face with\nhis own idea like Moses, or Mohammed, or anyone else, makes not the\nslightest difference. It was a man's individual notion, prompted by\nfear, ignorance, or astonishment. It is the work of the brain just\nthe same. It was their idols, images, god, gods, and men that were\nendowed with divinity, were held sacred, worshiped, and honored. These\nhuman inventions were supplemented by other human inventions, rites\nand rituals, up to this present time. We discard ideas that have\nbeen tried and found wanting for modified or new ones--as Abraham,\nMoses, Christ, Mohammed, Luther, Wesley, etc. The notions of these\nmen in turn have undergone the civilizing filtering process, until\nthere is little left but the mere sound. The Unitarians, for example,\nhave stripped the Christian trinity down to a skeleton. They seem\nto say: This was once the great bugaboo: you need not be scared,\nit's perfectly harmless. It has been civilized, you know. Science\ndid it. Hell is out of fashion. Heaven we have on earth, if we have\nthe means to do it with. We can be angels if we wish to, saints if\nnecessary, and holy if desirable. Every man makes his own heaven, his\nown hell, his own angels, his own bliss, and his own god. Yes, he has\nhis own saints and his own divinities. A woman does precisely the same\nthing. The imagination supplies all the necessary material for their\nproduction, selected from natural objects and put together in a manner\nmost pleasing, acceptable, and satisfactory to each one. We make them\nas good as we know how, as pretty and as delightful as our taste and\nfancy can create them. Yet the kind of whimsical representations of the\nmind depends largely upon the condition of the nervous system, time of\nlife, and our daily occupation. A young girl at puberty, whose mind is\nentering into that beautiful paradise of dreamland, blooming with buds\nof hopes and rosy wishes, experiences the delights of new sensations,\ncreates her God, her Jesus, or her Holy Ghost, to fill the nooks of\nher aspirations, with all the abounding exaltation and luxuries of\nher creative power. Every cloud has wings, every star bright eyes\nthat wink and beckon her to future bliss, to desires unknown yet\nlonged for. She listens with eager ears for every sound. The zephyrs\nof the spring of life are wafting music to her ear. As she gazes with\ngushing eyes into ethereal space, she is searching the heavens for\ncoming enchantment. Her doll, the god or the plaything of childhood,\nhas lost its interest, and all the pretty things that formerly were so\npleasing have lost their charm, as the bell and smaller infantile toy\nhad lost theirs before the doll had nestled into her affections. Now a\nmore realistic feeling permeates her senses, and beauties of a new and\nmore attractive form occupy her agitated heart and brain. What is the\nawakening of these new emotions, the unfolding of these new sentiments,\nthat seem to linger on the borderland of restrained passion? Is it\nnot the dawn of love, the transitory period, that bridge of nervous\nexaltation that leads from puberty to maternity? She has her own god,\na figure to her notion as pure, refined, and beautiful as she can\npicture in the visions of her waking or sleeping dreamland mind. Her\nsighs, her prayers, her devotions, are directed to him. This is her\ncoming Messiah, her angel, her everything, that is to realize all\nher hopes and expectations. It is her God.\n\nCan a jockey or a prizefighter have feelings like these? The former\nhas a horsey god, the latter a muscular. The fisherman, the sailor,\nthe soldier, each in his sphere has his or her god. Underlying all the\nbusy activities of daily life, whatever feelings of care or pleasure\neach may experience, it is but upon rare occasions he puckers his\nlips to give vent to his devotional feelings and whistles his Yankee\nDoodle--his God!\n\nOur gods are as we make them. If we are good our god is good, if we are\npure our god is pure, and if our senses are subordinate to our reason\nand understanding our god will be one of reason and understanding,\nbut if we are impure, bad, and evil-minded, our senses and passions\nruling supreme, reason and understanding are subordinate in our god,\nand the evils of animal sense predominate.\n\nEvery man is his own god. As he is, so is his god. As he makes himself,\nso will his god be. As he protects himself, so God will protect him. As\nhe guides himself, so will God guide him. Whatsoever a man accomplishes\nfor himself, that will God accomplish for him. Whatsoever a man does\nfor himself, that God will do for him. If a man supports himself, God\nwill support him. If he neglects himself, God will neglect him. The\nmore he depends on himself, the surer is his dependence on God. As he\nsaves himself, so God will surely save him. As he injures himself,\nso will he be injured by God. As a man punishes himself, so will he\nbe punished by God. God will help him who can help himself. If a man\nis true to himself, God will be true to him.\n\nBy industry, economy, and sobriety you will confer blessings on\nyourself; you have no need of God to bless you.\n\nMake yourself a good man or woman, and you will surely have a good God.\n\nA brutal man never has a meek god, a stingy man a generous god, nor\na vicious man a merciful god. Every man brings himself to the level\nof a brute or lower, or to the highest type of nobility of man.\n\nGod never made man, but every man makes his god.\n\n\n THE GATEWAYS THROUGH WHICH KNOWLEDGE ENTERS THE SENSES.\n\n The functions of the brain.\n\n Perception--Receiving impressions--Retaining\n impressions--Reproducing\n impressions--Knowing--Forming simple ideas--Compound\n ideas--Complex ideas--Mixed ideas and\n complicated ideas--Conducting, transferring,\n and reflexation--\n Co\u00f6rdination.\n\nSight. Hearing. Touch-feeling. Smell. Taste.\n\nRecognition }\nComparing }\nDiscernment }\nAttention } In\nRetention } common.\nSuccession }\nIdentity }\nDiversity }\nContinuity\nContemplation\nDistance Distance Distance\nColor\nSolidity Solidity Solidity\nFigure Figure\nShape Shape Shape\n { long\nSize { thick Size\n { thin\nDimensions Dimensions\nSoftness Softness Softness\nHardness Hardness Hardness\nRough Roughness Roughness Roughness\nSmooth Smoothness Smoothness Smoothness\nMotion Motion Motion Motion\nAction Action Action Action\nDryness Dryness Dry Dryness\nMoisture Moisture Moist Moisture\nFluidity Fluid Fluidity Fluidity\nVibration Vibration Vibration Vibration\nHeat Heat Heat Heat\nCold Cold Cold Cold\n Pain\n Pleasure\n Odor Odor\nExpansion Expansion Expansion Expansion\nContraction Contraction Contraction Contraction\nResistance Resistance\nRelation Relation Relation\nRest Rest Rest\nUnrest Unrest\n Sound\nAppearance\nProportion Proportion Proportion Proportion\n\n\\----------------------------------v----------------------------------/\n |\n PRODUCE\n Sensations\n Emotions--Feelings--\n Ideation--Thought--Understanding--\n Reflection--Recollection--Deliberation--Induction--\n Memory--Imagination--Judgment--Intellect--Will Power--Mind:\n The normal products of a healthy nervous system.\n (The abnormal result from a deranged condition of the\n cerebro-spinal system.)\n\n\n\n\nMORALS: WHENCE THEY SPRING.\n\nTo be moral means that the organs be properly and legitimately used,\nin accordance with the law of nature:\n\n\n STOMACH. SEXUAL ORGANS.\nFor nutrition of the body. For the propagation of the species.\n\n Wants Normally Supplied.\n\nSatisfaction } { Satisfaction\nContentment } LEAD TO Health and Happiness, { Contentment\nComfort } Purity, Chastity, Love, { Comfort\nPleasure } Affection, Joy. { Pleasure\nPeace } { Peace\n\n Abnormal Use of the Organs.\n\nStarvation } { Passion\nHunger } LEAD TO Vanity, Negligence, Indolence, { Lust\nPoverty } Deception, Discontent, Selfishness, { Overindulgence\nLuxury } Disease. { Lasciviousness\nExtravagance } { Vice\nDrunkenness } { Whoredoms\n Crime.\n Sin.\n --------\n Will Power Intellectually Used.\n\n Industry, Integrity, Activity, Honor, Courage, Goodness, Charity,\n Benevolence, Sympathy, Pity, Humanity.\n --------\n\n\n\n Be wise, let the gods and church alone;\n They're false, contrary to nature's plan.\n Trespass not, there's nothing to atone.\n Be human, an upright man.\n All their rites and creeds are full of flaws.\n As nature's products, we thrive and grow.\n But we must be ruled by nature's laws\n If we'd happy be--ourselves must know.\n Morals! are the laws we must obey.\n Infringe them not, prayers cannot save.\n Though blessed, we the penalty must pay.\n Not to God, or church, or priest be slave!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nTHE NON CREDO.\n\n\nReligion, supernaturalism, ecclesiastical control of human affairs,\nhave done more harm than the good they have ever effected. For several\nthousand years they have been doing the worst of mischief--in spite\nof their conceited belief to the contrary--to actual enlightenment,\nto the advancement and prosperity of the masses, to the progress\nof nations generally. They have been a persistent barrier to every\nstep forward, and have persecuted every idea that threatened in any\nway to interfere with their organized system. The sacred or Hebraic\nnationality, steeped in barbarism, washed in cruelty, and bathed in\nthe blood of humanity, was succeeded by another organized system,\nthe Roman Catholic church, which was by no means an improvement upon\nthe Bible methods. They added savagery and cruelty of a more refined\ncharacter. They associated with it a tyranny and a persecution\nthat fairly blackens the pages of history. All was done, however,\nfor the sacred cause, with the cant, sanctimoniousness, greed,\nand selfishness that only the church and its saintly priests could\nbe capable of. These self-styled divine organizations ever have\nbeen, and are even now, inimical to the best social interests of\nhumanity. Their own aggrandizement was of greater importance to them\nthan the welfare of the oppressed. They are the real promoters of\nclass distinction. They are the promulgators of sectarian hate. They\nlessen the dignity of woman. They are the fomentors of prejudice and\nsuperstition. They are the supporters and sustainers of the opulent,\nthe powerful, the wealthy and influential, to the detriment and\ndebasement of the poor and more unfortunate classes. They are the\nactual enemies of virtue and simplicity of life--by their expensive\nchurch trappings, their gorgeous adornments, their costly decorations,\ntheir glaring exhibition, their glittering finery, their pompous\ndisplay of church dress, their gilded magnificence, their showy\ngrandeur, their ostentation and boastful ceremonies, overawing the\nsenses, and subduing the humble, the ignorant, making them mentally\nmore stupid, the slaves to a pernicious system of doctrine.\n\nIn ancient times, in the days of antiquity, the males were the\nchief worshipers. They were the privileged portion of the community,\nwho assumed the duties to come in direct contact with all that was\nconsidered sacred, holy, or divine. Woman was considered as a defiled\nor polluted creature, unworthy or unfit to come within the sacred\nprecincts of their temples or participate in any church affairs, or\nto minister in any of their ecclesiastical rites or ceremonies. Women\nhad nothing to say. They have nothing to say to this day, in the\nRoman Catholic church especially, and in the orthodox Protestant\ndenominations very little, because Paul lays down the law in Cor. xiv,\n34: \"Let your women keep silence in your churches: for it is not\npermitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under\nobedience as also saith the law.\"\n\nThe sacred Christian view of woman is that she is an inferior\ncreature. She is the slave, the plaything, the toy of pleasurable\ngratification. God himself so ordained it, when he created Adam out of\nthe dust and Eve out of one of Adam's ribs. That was the Chaldean mode\nof explaining her inferiority and of subjecting woman to man. These\nbarbarians, first the Hebrews, and Christians later, did not think\nfit to place woman on a level with man. Therefore they placed her in\nthe lower scale of creation as a servant and handmaid to man. The\nheathens, the Greeks especially, were more considerate, politer,\nand more refined towards women. Women were honored by them, which is\nevident from the composition of the council of Jupiter, the supreme\ndivinity. This was composed of six gods, namely, Jupiter, Neptune,\nMercury, Apollo, Mars, and Vulcan; and six goddesses, namely, Juno,\nCeres, Vesta, Minerva, Diana, and Venus. To this assembly no other\ndeities were admitted. There is some sense, reason, and humanity\nin this arrangement. It is very unlike the great masculine bully\nof a God, what Christians call sacred and scriptural Jehova, an\nintermeddling, sensual, beef-eating affair, who has sons and never\ntells any one where they came from, who the mother was (Gen. vi,\n2): \"And the sons of God,\" etc. Vestal virgins were admitted by the\nRomans to their temples, thus showing that woman was honored. She\nwas equally privileged with man to minister to the sacred offices of\nthe gods. Civilization has advanced, progress has been made in the\narts and sciences, the intellectual faculties are more developed,\nand to woman has been conceded her proper place among the learned\nand the more liberal portion of humanity. Intellectually no line\nof demarcation is drawn. Cultured brain is cultured brain, whether\nfound in man or in woman. Both sexes stand on the same platform, on\nan equal footing, and they receive equal honor and recognition if the\nmental capacity is equal. What is the relation of woman to-day to the\nrespective churches to which she may belong? Has the Roman Catholic\nchurch receded one step from her antiquated ecclesiastical position? Or\nhave the orthodox Protestants? Not one step! Woman still holds the same\ndegraded position in the Christian church as she did a thousand years\nago. Circumstances have somewhat ameliorated the relative position of\nchurch and worshipers. Formerly the males were the principal church\nattenders and worshipers. In modern times it is the women who make the\ncongregations. The male, if he attends, does so to please the female\nmore than himself. Besides, the sexual attractions contribute very\nlargely towards these Sunday entertainments. \"Women\" (says Maudsley,\nin his \"Pathology of Mind,\" ch. iv, page 143) \"are naturally more\nprone to religious worship than man, and more apt to fall into a\nmorbidly subjective habit, first, because of the preponderance of\nthe affective life in them, and secondly, because they have not the\ndistracting and correcting and intellectually hardening influences\nof outside interests and pursuits which men have. If unmarried women\nchance to come, as by reason of those conditions they are apt to do,\nunder the ignorant and misapplied zeal of unwise priests who mistake\nfor deep religious feeling what is really morbid self-feeling\nspringing at bottom from unsatisfied instinct or other uterine\naction upon the mind, the mischief is greatly aggravated. It were\nwell if those who make it their business to guide the consciousness\nof mankind through the manifold changes and chances of life were to\nbe at the pains to inquire how much supposed religious feeling may\nbe due to physiological causes, before they sanction or enjoin a\nrepeated introspection of the feelings. He whose every organ is in\nperfect health knows not he has a body, and only becomes conscious\nthat he has organs when something wrong is going on; in like manner a\nhealthy mind in the sound exercise of the functions is little conscious\nthat he has feeling, and only gets very self-conscious when there\nis something morbid in the processes of its activity. The ecstatic\ntrances of such saintly women as Catherine de Sienne and St. Theresa,\nin which they believed themselves to be visited by their Savior and\nto be received as veritable spouses into his bosom, were, though they\nknew it not, little else than vicarious sexual orgasm; a condition\nof things which the intense contemplation of the naked male figure,\ncarved or sculptured in all its proportions on the cross, is more\nfitted to produce in women of susceptible nervous temperament than\npeople are apt to consider. Every experienced physician must have\nmet with instances of single and childless women who have devoted\nthemselves with extraordinary zeal to habitual religious exercises,\nand who having gone insane as a culmination of their emotional fervor,\nhave straightway exhibited the saddest mixture of religious and erotic\nsymptoms--a boiling over with lust, in voice, face, gesture, under\nthe pitiful degradation of disease. On such persons the confessional\nhas had sometimes the most injurious effect, more especially in\nthose churches which spring Romanism in their ritual, have not\nplaced confession under the stringent regulations and safeguards\nwith which the Roman Catholic church surrounds it. The fanatical\nreligious sects, such as the Shakers and the like, which spring up\nfrom time to time in communities and disgust them by the offensive\nway in which they mingle love and religion, are inspired in great\nmeasure by sexual feelings. On the one hand, there is probably the\ncunning of a hypocritical knave or the self-deceiving duplicity of\na half-insane one, using the weaknesses of weak woman to minister to\nhis vanity or to his lust, under a religious guise; on the other hand,\nthere is an exaggerated self-feeling, rooted often in sexual passions,\nwhich is unwittingly fostered under the cloak of religious emotion,\nand which is apt to conduct to madness or to sin. In such case the holy\nkiss of love owes its warmth to the sexual impulse which inspires it,\nconsciously or unconsciously, and the mystical religious union of the\nsexes is fitted to issue in a less spiritual union. Without doubt,\nan excessive development of the emotional life in any other direction\nwould be equally pernicious. All that the unwise religious teacher can\nbe blamed for is his disposition to foster the egotistic development\nof emotion, without considering its real origin, by the overwhelming\nimportance which he teaches the individual to attach to himself and\nhis destiny. Instead of urging him to lessen the gap between himself\nand nature until he loses self in a sympathetic oneness with nature, he\nstimulates him to widen it more and more until he rises to the insane\nconceit of himself as something entirely distinct from nature--an\nunrelated, spiritual essence, for whose benefit the universe and all\nthat there is has been specially created. Assuredly were not man now,\nas he always has been, instinctively wiser than his creeds, were he\nnot moved by a deeper impulse than consciousness can give account of,\nhe would make no progress in civilization.\"\n\nThe church has lost its grip on the male portion of society. They have\nconsiderably outgrown the ecclesiastical swaddling of scriptural\ndoctrine of the ancient and modern theology. The woman is the\nstronghold as worshiper, and sustainer of the sacred masculine\nprerogative whom they can easily influence. By reason, as the holy book\nclaims, of their intellectual feebleness, women are the submissive\ntools of cunning priests, sentimental and emotional appeals, and\nyield readily to their extravagant dictum. The priests exhort them,\nwith their conventional religious phraseology, to be partakers of\nsome mysterious glory to be found somewhere in infinite space. Keeping\never in sight the same stupefying refrain of the orthodox prayer and\nblessing: \"Blessed and glorious trinity, trinity in unity, three--one,\nthree persons in one God, tri-personal, triune, coeternal, coequal,\nGod-man, O Lord God! who art one God, one Lord! not one only person,\nbut three persons in one substance! O Lord God! Lamb of God! Son of\nthe father! O God the son, Redeemer of the world! O God the Holy Ghost,\nproceeding from the father and the son! The blessing of God Almighty,\nthe Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be among you. God the Father, God the\nSon, God the Holy Ghost, bless, preserve, and keep you. Glory be to the\nfather, and to the son, and to the Holy Ghost. Now to God the Father,\nGod the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory. Jesus\nChrist, who with thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth ever,\none God, world without end,\" etc.\n\nThese are the terms and doxologies, forms of prayer and blessings. Can\nanyone conceive a more meaningless set of phrases? These are\nautomatically repeated year in and year out, with the same intonation,\ngesture, whirling and buzzing in a circle. Do not the brains become\nblunted, the senses dulled? Or is it a mere mechanical effort,\naccompanied by an extraordinary amount of insincerity and actual\nduplicity of character? The conceit of these theological gentlemen,\nclaiming divine superiority, is in consequence of the frequent\nrepetition of the above vapid nonsense, that they are the truly\nchosen and elect, separate and apart from other people. Though they\naccept and place trust in the above creed, God, Son, and Holy Ghost,\nand delude themselves with prayers, blessings, psalm-singing, and\nthe rest of supernatural subterfuge, do they believe that it will\nsave them--save their bodies from dissolution, when the vital organs\nhave ceased to perform their functions? These fixed delusions are\nnot wholesome. Encouraging them is misleading and deceiving those\nwho are ignorant of the actual state of nature. It is playing upon\nthe weak and simple-minded. It means corrupting their morals and\ntheir understanding. It is paralyzing to every human effort. It is\ndegrading manhood and womanhood. Analyze the meaning of the belief,\nthe language employed, the associations of ideas, and seriously\nconsider the amount of sense you can discover. Does not this rigid\nsystem of changeless belief prevent intellectual development? Does\nit not bar proper inquiry into the phenomena of nature? Does it\nnot encourage a cowardly dependence on priestcraft and hypocritical\ncunning? Does it not extinguish every impulse towards the evolution\nof thought? Does it not stamp out the energies and aspirations of\nman and woman? Is not the kneeling and praying before some daub of\na picture or the figure of some supposed God or saint debasing and\ndegrading to the individual? Is not the act of prayer a humiliating\nacknowledgement either of an enfeebled mind or of a contemptible\nslave? Is not the will power subdued and deteriorated and the natural\nenergy destroyed? Are not the functions of the brain seriously\ninterfered with, the mental faculties checked in the normal process\nof development, and the powers of reason stifled by the asphyxiating\ninfluences of prayer? Does it not blunt the sense of responsibility,\nbreed insincerity, foster falsehood, promote lying, and offer a premium\nfor wrong-doing and a shelter for crime? Imagine the stupefying effect\nof counting beads. The \"Rosary\" is a series of prayers, and consists\nof fifteen decades. Each decade contains ten Ave Marias, marked by\nsmall beads, preceded by a pater noster, marked by a larger bead,\nand concluded by a gloria patri. Five decades make a chaplet, which\nis a third of a rosary. What a sluggardizing effect on the intellect,\nwhat a suppression of intelligence, and how near it brings them to\nthe borderland of monomaniacs, by the constant mumbling of those\ninsipid compositions. The sooner we get rid of the belief in this\nsupernatural intervention in human affairs the better for our physical,\nmoral, and mental welfare. Every time the priest induces his pupil to\nrepeat a prayer, he stupefies and degrades his pupil. He knocks the\npins of self-restraint and self-reliance right from under him. The\nblessing the pupil receives, and the forgiveness at the confessional,\nshift the responsibility for his acts off his shoulders, thus leading\nhim to believe himself irresponsible for any wrong he may commit. The\nabsurd doctrine inculcated, that God made him necessarily makes him\nirresponsible. If God was a fool big enough to make him bad, or silly,\nwhy should he be responsible? The priest who helps to maintain and\nsustain this belief, helps to weaken the pupil's mind and rather\ngives him license to indulge than restrains him.\n\nYou are taught to deceive yourselves and deceive others by prayer, but\nyou cannot bribe nature; you cannot deceive nature. The penalty must\nbe paid for every transgression. And prayers are absolutely useless,\nnay, every prayer is an admission of an act of cowardice, just as\nevery blessing pronounced is a humiliation to those receiving it. What\nnecessity is there for a man who is supposed to teach morality to be\ndressed like a clown in scarlet, purple, or other-colored coat and\ndecorated with an antiquated headgear like a mountebank going through\na series of peculiar gesticulations and ceremonials of buffoonery,\nin order to sustain this ecclesiastical humbug? Would it not be better\nto train the intellect by teaching the young how to observe accurately,\nto reason soundly from facts, to think honestly and act sincerely, have\nthe truth revealed and nature and nature's laws soundly and practically\ninterpreted? An insight into the secret workings of nature would\nlead to a more precise adjustment on the part of man to his complex\nsurroundings, guard cautiously against the infringement of nature's\nlaws, and correspondingly produce gain in intellectual power. How can\na man be otherwise than reckless, or willfully disobedient, to laws\nhe is entirely ignorant of, though he brings certain punishment upon\nhimself? Can there be any better discipline than to learn the cause\nand know the root of all evils, in order to avoid them, thus improving\nthe morals and inducing one to take earnest pains to do well in the\nfuture? There is more satisfaction in doing right than many may think,\nif people were instructed how. Unfortunately, the ecclesiastical mills\nof forgiveness are too busy teaching supernatural follies, which\nactually mislead the ignorant and the foolish. As a foolish woman\nspoils her own child by her own silly conduct, so the supernatural\ncreeds have spoilt humanity by perverting the moral responsibility\nin teaching their pernicious beliefs. Wonder why the world has not\nbecome better? Teach men the moral and physical laws of nature, by\nlessons of experience, that may guide them in their conduct through\nlife. Teach them to learn prudence, and observe them faithfully and\nsincerely. Good, natural, healthy thoughts produce good actions;\nby their frequent repetition, generate good habits of doing well,\nof doing right. The nervous structures that are brought into play,\nthe mental activities, function these excellences, developing these\nfaculties, generating higher moral feelings. We finally come to regard\nas doing wrong acting contrary to our acquired habit. Good impulses\nto act right and do well come out of good feelings. To act otherwise\nbecomes repugnant to our acquired habits, our second nature, and is\njudged unwise by our reason and understanding. Let nature teach you\nto be wise, and when you understand the natural you will cease to\nbelieve in aught supernatural.\n\nDo not believe in a God--there is no such thing. Do not believe in\nthe divinity of any man, whether he be called Moses, Jesus Christ,\nor Martin Luther. Do not believe that the book called the Bible,\nsacred scripture, and Testaments, new or old, is sacred, holy, or\ninspired by any supernatural being. Do not believe the story of the\ncreation as recited in the five books of Moses--they are not true. It\nis a fiction, a sort of fairy tale. It is the work of the imagination\nof man. Do not believe in any miracle. No man can perform a miracle,\nexcept to the ignorant and stupid. No man in the Bible ever performed\na miracle. Those said to have been performed were deceptions, tricks,\nand delusions. Do not believe in the Holy Ghost. There are no ghosts,\neither holy or unholy. And above all, do not give credence to that\nvery silly piece of nonsense, that the Holy Ghost committed adultery\nwith Mrs. Mary Joseph, the reputed mother of Jesus Christ. Nor believe\nthat the young man Jesus was the son of God, nor that he came upon\nearth to save the world from sinning. Do not believe that there are\nthree Gods in one, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; nor God the Father,\nGod the Son, or God the Holy Ghost. This fallacy, compounded of Hebraic\ntheology and Grecian mythology, is an absurd fabrication--this trinity\nin unity, and unity in trinity. Do not believe in a heaven, nor in\na hell. You make your own heaven, and your own hell. Nor place any\nreliance on future rewards, or future punishments. Your good conduct\nwill bring your rewards and your bad conduct your punishments. Do not\nbelieve in angels, spirits, or any supernatural existences. Have no\nfaith in anything you do not understand. Place no reliance on divine\ninterference. Do not follow blindly any ecclesiastical teachings. Rely\nupon yourself. Let reason and common sense be your guide. Do not\npray--praying makes a coward of you. Nor place confidence in the\nblessing of any man, be he the pope or some fanatical preacher. Never\nkneel before any image, whether it be the nude figure of Christ, or\na daub painting of the Virgin Mary. Do not be the dupe of priestly\ncunning. Do not be afraid of anything except your own bad deeds,\nyour vicious habits, and your own transgressions.\n\n\n\n\nSOME RULES AND DUTIES IN LIFE.\n\nHealth is essential for physical and mental labor. The maintenance\nof health consists in having proper food, proper clothing, and proper\nshelter. Work is a duty, nature demands it. Exercise that duty. Earn\nso much as will provide the necessary comforts in life. Indolence is a\nvice, and laziness a crime. They are of no good to their practicers,\nand a curse to others. Economy is a law of nature. Save your surplus\nproduce of industry. It comes useful in time of need. Avoid excesses\nof all kinds. Do not overtax or over-stimulate the organs of the\nbody. Luxuries are injurious to health. Remember the stomach is\nonly a receptacle for food and not a cesspool for all kinds of\nrefuse. Cleanliness of stomach and body is necessary for the healthy\naction both of mind and body. A rigid adherence to the natural\nrules is the surest safeguard against disease. Make judicious use\nof everything. Abuse neither yourself nor others. Each individual is\nhis own guardian over his own acts. He himself is responsible for his\nown misdeeds, whether through ignorance, want of proper education or\nunderstanding, or weakness.\n\nOur guide through life should be: Speak the truth always. Let\nyes and no be the form of speech. Every promise fulfill. Never\ndeceive yourself, or deceive others. Promise nothing you cannot\nperform. Honesty is ennobling, dishonesty debasing. Let every\nword and act be strictly reliable, never waver or fail in your\nintegrity. Be punctilious in your duties towards others. Do not\ncheat yourself or your neighbors. Misrepresentation is wrong. Have\nconfidence in yourself, others will have confidence in you. Do not\nslander others, lest you do an injury, doing evil without benefit to\nyourself. A slanderer is despised. Let your motives be pure, your\npurpose upright. Be mild in speech, even in temper. Kind words are\ninexpensive. Anger and passion are brutal qualities, be human. Do not\nget excited over trifles, it does not prolong life. If your habits\nare bad, mend them. Good impulses come from good feelings, as bad\nimpulses from bad feelings. Our character is molded by our habits,\nas our habits are by our instruction. By your conduct gain the esteem\nof your fellow-men. It is better to be loved than hated. Injure\nno one. Despise no one. Be neither prejudiced nor bigoted. Gain\nthe respect of every man, and respect those that deserve to be\nrespected. Obey the existing laws. Learn to depend on yourself. Trust\nin your own judgment, none will be so true to you as yourself. Hope is\ndelusive, action is certain. Reveal not your own thoughts to others\nlest they betray you. Confidence, self-possession, and presence of\nmind guard against surprises. Do not mind other people's business, you\nmay not find time to mind your own. Negligence is a fault, diligence\nis a virtue. Frivolity is the froth of life. It has neither strength\nnor substance. There is more satisfaction in an ounce of peace than\nin a ton of wrangling. Control your appetites, subdue your passions,\nif you would be human. Remember there is no heaven beyond this life,\ntherefore make your home and your life as beautiful as you can. Few\nwants well supplied, is better than many wants unsatisfied. Desire\nnothing you cannot obtain, it will save you annoyance. Do not assume\nto be what you are not. Nature has marked you. Do not be tempted\nby trifles, life is too short and time too precious. Pleasures are\nenjoyable where the senses are not overstrained. Be not too proud,\nnor too vain, no matter how great you are; man, like the animal,\nis composed only of eighteen elements. Ambition is laudable, when\nothers are not made to suffer. Do not try to be greater than you are;\na gill will never fill a pint. Gain understanding, and let reason and\ncommon sense guide you in all your acts. Look out. Save your honor,\nyour integrity, and your character. Our duty on earth is to be good,\nto do right, and contribute to the betterment of our fellow-men. The\nhigher we rise in intelligence, the farther we are removed from the\nbrute. Free yourself from all supernatural notions, all antiquated\nbeliefs, and all superstitions. The humanization of mankind marks the\nprogress of civilization. The excitement of pleasure is not lasting;\nexhaustion stops all enjoyment; too much sunshine is fatiguing;\ntoo much laughter is trying. Empty stomachs make a bad audience,\nhunger breeds discontent. Poverty is degrading; it ruins health,\nbreeds disease, and lowers the morals. Neglect yourself and everybody\nwill neglect you. Lost opportunities are seldom recovered. The higher\nyou climb the farther you are removed from the lower levels. One\nwrong act loses the balance of integrity, our esteem suffers. One\ngrain of intelligence is worth a pound of brute force. Be prudent,\ndiscreet, and deliberate in all transactions in life, but quick in\ndecision. Distrust persuasive, bland, smooth, suave talkers. A pious\nhypocrite is the worst of frauds. Your own faults are the greatest\nmisfortune. A brave man is never discouraged, and simpletons are the\nprey for sharpers. Don't be a coward in danger, or pray when disaster\novertakes you. Self-abuse is the worst abuse. Your expenditure should\nnever exceed your income. Aspire to be better, not worse. You cannot\nget wealthy on nothing. Millionaire and beggar belong to this earth,\nwhether living or dead. Our success in life depends on the quality of\nBrain. Polished steel is of greater value than common iron ore, so are\nintellectual faculties of greater worth than uncultured brains. The\nweaker must yield to the stronger. The friction of life is great; the\nless the resisting force, the sooner it yields. In the struggle the\nstrongest survive. Tenacity to life and tenacity to our possessions\nlead to success. Let those who accumulate great wealth unjustly,\nyield it readily to those who are most in need. A man can accumulate\nvast riches only by the industry of many, never by his own. Remember\ndead men enjoy nothing, therefore be wise, be reasonable, make your\nheaven on earth, your paradise of your home. Be your own God, your\nown Savior, your own priest.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] Explanation.--The Roman numerals placed opposite the above list\nof elementary substances present the difference or equivalent or\nsaturating power of each element. Hydrogen, for example, is a monad, a\nsimple particle, or atom, or unit. Oxygen is a dyad, represented by II,\ntwo. It requires two atoms of hydrogen to saturate one of oxygen, or\nits equivalent, to form water. A triad, III, requires three monads; a\ntetrad, IV, four; a pentad, V, five; a sexad, VI, six units or monads,\ntheir respective equivalents or saturating power. A monad or monogenic\nelement replaces another one by one. An atom of a polygenic element,\nthat is, a dyad, etc., on the other hand, always takes the place of,\nor is equivalent to, two or more atoms of a monogenic element.\n\n[2] Important.\n\n[3] Exception.\n\n[4] Aristotle, 343 B.C., logician and philosopher, founder of the\nPeripatetics.\n\n[5] Weights and measures were invented about this period.","title":"The Creation of God","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":123154}