This first sense of pain lay in a
rigorous constriction of the breast and lungs, and an insufferable
dryness of the skin. It could not be denied that our atmosphere was
radically affected; the conformation of this atmosphere and the
possible modifications to which it might be subjected, were now the
topics of discussion. The result of investigation sent an electric
thrill of the intensest terror through the universal heart of man.
It had been long known that the air which encircled us was a
compound of oxygen and nitrogen gases, in the proportion of twenty-one
measures of oxygen, and seventy-nine of nitrogen, in every one hundred
of the atmosphere. Oxygen, which was the principle of combustion,
and the vehicle of heat, was absolutely necessary to the support of
animal life, and was the most powerful and energetic agent in
nature. Nitrogen, on the contrary, was incapable of supporting
either animal life or flame. An unnatural excess of oxygen would
result, it had been ascertained, in just such an elevation of the
animal spirits as we had latterly experienced. It was the pursuit, the
extension of the idea, which had engendered awe.
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