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ANIMAL LIFE

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Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 24, 1857

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 11, No. 7.

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ANIMAL LIFE.

By John Norton Loughborough

BY J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
The Scriptures state in the most explicit language that “the life of ALL flesh is the blood.” Lev. xvii, 14. In verse 11, we read, “I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” This latter quotation is good evidence, also, of what is stated in the first quotation, if an atonement is made on the principle of giving an equivalent. If the principle of an atonement is life for life, then we must consent that the above shows conclusively that the soul, or life of the flesh, in this connection, is the blood. The same statement in regard to the life of the flesh, is made in Gen. ix, 4. These plain statements we should suppose would satisfy any Bible student on this point. But we find Metaphysical reasoners rearing their fabric concerning life as though the God of the Bible had left them to form their conclusions on this subject by the aid of Philosophy alone.
They have assumed that life must be the function of some entity that is superior to matter. What is their proof? They tell us that one of the essential properties of matter is INERTIA, and that by no combination can matter be made to exhibit more than its essential properties. They have proceeded with their reasoning on this wise: “INERTIA being an essential property of matter, matter never can move, only as it is moved upon by physical force.” But according to their reasoning the power that moves matter, must be something superior to matter; therefore they have attributed the function of life, will, motion, thought, &c., to spirit, and have claimed that the very fact that man manifests locomotive powers, thinks, &c., proves that he is in possession of this spirit, or immaterial nature.
If the fact that man moves, proves that he possesses an immaterial spirit, would not the fact that beasts move, prove them in possession of the same spirit? But few are ready to admit that beasts are in possession of such a spirit, and to extricate themselves from the difficulty they get into by following their first argument, they tell us that the fact that beasts manifest the same physical functions that are manifest in man, only proves them to be in possession of ANIMAL LIFE, and thus they virtually dispose of one of their own arguments.
We are told by our opponents that “thought, will, &c., which are manifest in man, are not properties of matter. If matter can think, then thought must be a property of matter, and if thought is a property of matter, then every particle of matter must think.” But this all grows out of the wrong assumption, that organized matter manifests no more than its original properties. It is a fact which all will admit, that an effect is sometimes produced by the combination of different substances that are unlike the properties of unorganized matter. By certain combinations of matter the musical instrument is formed, which, under the hand of man is made to speak forth its melodious SOUNDS. And the engine, organized from inanimate matter, manifests its giant-like MOTION. It is not inconsistent to us, to claim that man may be so organized from matter as to manifest all the functions that are peculiar to his body.
But the objector is ready to say, None of these results from organized matter can be produced only under the direction of an intelligent mind; and they therefore urge, that, as it requires an intelligent mind to regulate, and set in motion the machinery, so there must be an intelligent spirit to govern the movements of the body. If our opponents were to reason from like to like, then the intelligent Spirit that produced this nice organism of the human system is the one to govern and regulate the functions of the body, either directly, or by natural laws which he has established. “In him we live, and move, and have our being,” is the statement of Paul. Acts xvii, 28. We freely admit, that God has established certain laws to produce life and thought in organized matter.
As we have already quoted, the Lord says, “The life of the flesh is the blood;” but, say you, James says, “The body without the spirit is dead.” James ii, 26. Yes, and if you will read the margin of this text, you will see that this spirit without which the body is dead is not an immaterial soul, but simply “the breath.”
But, says the objector, If the body is dead without the breath, how can it be said that the blood is the life of the flesh? Physiologists inform us that the blood contains certain minute particles of iron, which when brought in connection with the electricity and oxygen of the air in the lungs, is rendered magnetic, and is then in a positive state. As it is a clearly established fact concerning the action of electricity that a positive will seek a negative, this blood of the lungs being in a positive state immediately passes through the various blood-vessels of the system to deposit its surplus of electricity, and returns again attracted to seek a positive.
We read in Gen. vii, 22, “All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land died.” In the margin of the above text, the breath of life is called “the breath of the spirit of life.” The breath contains an animating principle of life which is imparted to the blood at the lungs. For further testimony on this point, read the following

SCIENTIFIC FACTS ABOUT ANIMAL LIFE.

Q. What is meant when it is said that oxygen (one of the component parts of the atmosphere) “sustains life?” A. It means this: If a person could not inhale oxygen, he would die.
Q. What good does this inspiration of oxygen do?
A. First, it gives vitality to the blood; and, secondly, it is the cause of animal heat.
Q. How does the oxygen we inhale mingle with the blood?
A. The oxygen of the air mingles with the blood in the lungs, and converts it into a bright red color.
Q. How does the combination of oxygen with the blood produce animal heat?
A. The principal element of the blood is carbon; and this carbon, combined with the oxygen of the air inhaled, produces carbonic acid gas, in the same way as burning fuel.
Q. Does the heat of the human body arise from the same cause as the heat of the fire?
A. Yes, precisely. The carbon of the blood combines with the oxygen of the air inhaled, and produces carbonic acid gas, which is attended with combustion.
Q. If animal heat is produced by combustion, why does not the human body burn up like a coal or candle?
A. It actually does so. Every muscle, nerve, and organ of the body actually wastes away like a burning candle; and, being reduced to air and ashes, is rejected from the system as useless.
Q. If every bone, muscle, nerve, and organ is consumed by combustion, why is not the body consumed?
A. It would be so, unless the parts destroyed were perpetually renewed; but as a lamp will not go out so long as it is supplied with fresh oil, so neither will the body be consumed so long as it is supplied with sufficient food.
Q. What is the principal difference between the combustion of the fire, or lamp, and that of the human body?
A. In the human body the combustion is effected at a much lower temperature, and is carried on more slowly than it is in a lamp, or fire.
Q. How is it that carbon can be made to burn at so low a temperature in the human body?
A. Because the carbon of the blood is reduced to very minute particles, and these particles are ready to undergo a rapid change immediately when oxygen is supplied.
Q. When a man is starved, what parts of the body go first?
A. First, the fat, because it is the most combustible; then the muscles; last of all the brain; and then the man dies, like a candle which is burnt out.
[Brewer’s Guide to Scientific Knowledge.]