Page:Alchemyofhappiness en.djvu/83

Rh proportions, just as is that of oxymel, which is composed of honey and vinegar that on being mixed, while they lose their own flavor, acquire a new, delicate and useful flavor, so also, by the blending of the various elements of the body,a delicate exhalation is the result, which finds its home in the heart. It gains other delicate qualities from the heart, and from thence the blood channels, which are the veins of pulsation, are supplied. The exhalation passes by their means to the brain and from thence flows to all the members. It is exceedingly hot, but in its passage to the brain, it loses some of its heat and becomes tepid. By the distribution of this spirit through the body, the eye sees, the ear hears, the tongue tastes, the nose smells, and the rest of the organs are endowed with their proper movements and perform their appropriate functions....

So long as the spirit works in equilibrium, it is capable of delicate operations and effects ; but so soon as excess of heat or cold destroys the equilibrium, the exhaled fluid is diminished, and it becomes incapable of movement and sensation....

That cause which throws the constitution out of balance and occasions the complete absence of the exhalation, is called the Angel of death, who is also a creature of God. Most persons merely know his name....

The second kind of spirit, which is called both human spirit and heart, is not a body, and is not susceptible of division. It is the seat of the knowledge of God. In the same manner, God himself is one, is not susceptible of separation into parts and the place of his knowledge is one....

Even if the action of the larger part of the members should be paralyzed, it is still possible that life should continue in a man. Death occurs, when, after the ruin of the constitution, the delicate exhalation on that very account is no longer transmitted to the members, and they are all