Part 2

This chemical change is necessary for life: the air is changed in its qualities, and the blood is also changed in its qualities. The air is changed by having one of its constituent elements (oxygen) abstracted from it: and the blood is changed by its being impregnated with this gas, and relieved of another kind called carbonic acid. If from any circumstance this process is interfered with, the individual dies of suffocation. A person may be suffocated for want of air, or for want of pure air. In the former case his death is caused in this manner:--The wind-pipe being closed, either by pressure, as in the case of criminals who die by hanging, or by something entering and obstructing it, it happens that although the muscles of the chest enlarge its internal area, as before mentioned, the air cannot descend into it. This does not, however, interfere with the action of the heart, which forces the dark blood into the minute blood-vessels of the chest, as usual; the blood passes onward unchanged; it receives no oxygen, nor is its bright red colour restored. In this state it reaches the chamber of the heart, from whence it is to be distributed to the head and body; a portion of it is forced up the vessels which convey it to the brain, and the moment it reaches this organ, it produces violent convulsions, insensibility, and in a few moments death. A similar result takes place from breathing foul air. In this case, although air may descend into the air-vessels of the lungs, yet, as the grand element, the oxygen, is not present, no change is produced in the blood; it pursues the same course as that just pointed out, unchanged in its quality, and the same fatal result is the inevitable consequence.

The atmosphere in a state of purity is composed of two gases mixed together; the one termed _oxygen_, the other _nitrogen_. After escaping from the lungs, the air is found to have undergone a remarkable change; the oxygen has disappeared, and its place is supplied with an equal volume of another gas called _carbonic acid_; while at the same time the air is altogether altered in many of its more important qualities; it is no longer fit for the purposes of life, nor will a light burn in it. A person shut up in a confined place without a supply of fresh air, very soon expires: and a candle placed under a glass vessel filled with air that has been breathed, immediately goes out. In short, respiration and combustion are similar processes, and the same result is produced by both, namely, carbonic acid gas.

This gas is formed by the mixture of oxygen with carbon (charcoal). It is absorbed very readily by water, and is perhaps best known in the form of soda water; the aërated liquid sold under that name being nothing more than water strongly impregnated with carbonic acid gas. It is formed by a variety of processes--by breathing, by combustion, by fermentation, and otherwise. In every case, however, its formation is attended with heat. And now, having thus briefly introduced the subject, we may mention, that on this fact is founded the theory which attempts to explain the means by which the animal temperature is produced and maintained. It is founded on the fact, that whenever oxygen enters into combination with carbon, and forms carbonic acid gas, heat is always produced.

The most usual manner in which this is effected is by combustion; the substance which burns, such as wood, or tallow, or coal gas, for example, consists principally of carbon, and on being ignited, the oxygen of the atmosphere is made to combine with it, and carbonic acid is the result. Every body knows that heat is produced by this process; but there are many instances in which the same effect may take place without being so readily understood. Heat and light are so constantly found united, that we can hardly conceive how so large a substance as the human body can be kept constantly warm without the aid of fire. It is, however, effected by a chemical process identically the same as combustion, except that light is not produced. The lungs may be regarded as the furnace of the body, from which it derives its supply of heat; the fuel is the carbon in the blood; and the wind-pipe is a chimney serving a double purpose: first, to allow of the passage of fresh air for the process, and then to convey away the vapour which is produced by it: for the breath which issues from our lungs is just as much deteriorated in quality as that which escapes from the chimney of a large furnace after passing through the fire.

This, then, is the process by which the animal heat is maintained. The blood comes to the lungs loaded with carbon; the air descends the wind-pipe, consisting of one-third oxygen; the carbon of the blood and the oxygen of the air unite; the blood is purified, and carbonic acid gas is produced. This is attended with heat; the purified blood is capable of absorbing all this heat, and does so. In its progress through the body, as the blood again becomes impure, it gradually parts with the heat so acquired, and on again being purified, it receives a fresh supply. Nothing can be more simple and beautiful than this process; it is in accordance with every great operation in nature, which is always effected in the most direct and simple manner; and the proofs that this is the manner in which nature effects her object in this instance, are numerous and unanswerable.

There are two circumstances which at first sight may appear to interfere with the explanation above given of this very beautiful phenomenon. First, the lungs are found to be but very little warmer than any other part of the body, although, as we have stated, the animal heat is produced in them: and, secondly, the quantity of carbon produced by respiration is very small compared with the genial heat produced by its conversion into carbonic acid. With regard to the heat of the lungs, a series of experiments instituted for the purpose of ascertaining how they were kept at so moderate a degree of temperature, led to the discovery of an extraordinary change which takes place in the vital fluid after being purified, which satisfactorily explains the circumstance. The pure blood is found to have a greater capacity for heat than impure blood: it will absorb more; and in consequence, all the heat produced by its purification is immediately absorbed by it, and carried away as fast as it is generated, to be distributed over the body. As the blood becomes impure in its progress, it gradually loses its power of retaining the heat it had so imbibed; and the heat therefore is distributed during the circulation of the blood, and every part receives a due supply. This change in the power of the vital fluid to absorb heat, according as it is more or less pure, is a fact that was not established in the time of Paley, or he would have been able to add another proof of design to his unequalled argument.

The quantity of fuel (if we may use the expression) required for generating the heat of the animal frame, is certainly less than we might anticipate. All animal and vegetable food contains a considerable portion of carbon, which of course, after being digested, becomes a part of the vital fluid, and in this way it is supplied for the process. It is well known also that in cold climates, where a greater quantity of animal fuel is required, the inhabitants are extremely fond of fat and oily matters, which contain more carbon than any other kind of food; yet it would hardly be imagined that so small a quantity as the eighth part of an ounce of carbon per hour would be sufficient to maintain the heat of the body at an uniform temperature of 98 degrees. We are assured by the best chemists, however, that the average quantity of carbonic acid generated by a person in health in twenty-four hours is about 40,000 cubic inches, and this contains only about 11½ ounces of pure carbon. Rather less than half an ounce is therefore used per hour in preserving the body at its usual temperature.

The limits of this article prevent our noticing other objections which have been urged against the theory just described, but the facts it rests upon can only be overturned by opposing facts which have never yet been produced. It is certain that carbonic acid is produced during respiration, that its production is always attended with heat, that pure (arterial) blood is capable of absorbing a greater portion of heat than impure (venous) blood, and that the temperature of any part of the body is according to the supply of blood which it receives; an inflamed part, becoming very hot, and a limb in which the circulation has been stopped by a bandage becoming cold. These facts taken together sufficiently prove the truth of the conclusion that has been drawn from them, and which we have above very briefly illustrated.

It remains to say a few words on the manner in which the body is relieved of its superabundant heat, and enabled to bear such high degrees of temperature as mentioned in the former paper. Franklin was the first who gave a rational explanation of the phenomenon. He observed that the evaporation of a small quantity of a liquid from the surface of any substance would reduce the temperature of a very large body. If we place a little ether on our hand, and allow it to evaporate, we shall soon become sensible how much cold may be produced in this way. Wine-coolers are formed on this principle: they are made of porous earth, through which the water they contain oozes very gradually, and is evaporated by the heat of the air: this cools the liquid within, and of course the decanter of wine contained in it. Now, perspiration cools the body in a similar manner. If any person looks closely at the fleshy part of his hand, he will observe that the minute ridges which lie nearly parallel to each other are covered with an innumerable number of small pores, through which the perspiration may be seen issuing when the hand is warm. From microscopic observations it is calculated that the skin is perforated by 1000 of those pores, or holes, in every square inch, and that the whole surface of the body therefore contains not less than 2,304,000 pores! When the body is heated to a certain degree, the fluid portions are all directed to the skin, and escape gradually through these pores in the form of perspiration, and the cooling power thus produced is capable of immediately removing the superabundant heat. The moment perspiration broke out on the bodies of the experimenters who ventured into the heated oven, all sense of pain was removed; and in many fatal disorders to which man is subject, the first symptom of returning health is a similar occurrence. We may add, that a common cold is the effect of the perspiration being suddenly checked, and that the health of the body depends on the minute pores we have referred to being kept open and in action.

J. S. D.

[3] Animals are divided by naturalists into two classes, cold-blooded and warm-blooded; the latter breathe by lungs, through which all the blood of the body is continually passed, and which has direct communication with the air. Cold-blooded creatures, such as fishes, breathe by means of gills, and the air, instead of coming into direct contact with their vital fluid, is absorbed from the water. In the case of reptiles, which are cold-blooded, although the air may come into direct contact with the blood, as in the respiration of the frog, yet, by the peculiar structure of his lungs, only half the blood is sent to them to be purified; and thus his superiority over the fish in receiving air direct, is balanced by the circumstance that his blood is only half purified, in consequence of being only in part exposed to the action of the air. The temperature of animals is found to have relation to their activity and vital energy. The following list exhibits the temperature of the animals mentioned.--

Birds, 105 degrees Fahrenheit, Sheep, 100 degrees -- Worms, 36 degrees -- Frog, 40 degrees -- Snail, 36 degrees -- Fish, 60 degrees --

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Society makes criminals, and then punishes them for their misdeeds.

ORIGIN AND MEANINGS OF IRISH FAMILY NAMES

BY JOHN O’DONOVAN.

The Seventh and Concluding Article.

At the present day very few of the original Irish names remain without being translated into or assimilated with those borne by the English. Of this I shall next furnish instances, the truth and correctness of which cannot be controverted. Among the O’Conors of Connaught, the name Cathal, which is synonymous with the Welsh Cadell, and signifies _warlike_, was changed to Charles after the accession of Charles I. to the throne; for the Irish, who were attached to this monarch, went great lengths to assimilate several of their Christian names to Charles. Thus, while among the O’Conors of Connaught, Cathal was manufactured into Charles (with which, it will be readily granted, it has nothing in common, either in meaning or sound), among the O’Conors of Faly in Leinster, Cahir, which signifies _warrior_, was metamorphosed into the same: and at the same time the Mac Carthys of Desmond substituted it for their Cormac, and the O’Hagans and other northern families for their Turlogh. This was paying their court to the king with a vengeance!

In the families of Mac Carthy, O’Sullivan and O’Driscol, Finghin [Fineen], a name very general among them, and which signifies _the fair offspring_, has been anglicised to Florence. Among the same southern families the name Saerbrethach, which prevails among the Mac Carthys in particular, and which signifies the _noble justice_, is translated Justin. In the family of O’Donovan, as the writer has had every opportunity of knowing, the name Murrogh has been metamorphosed to Morgan; Dermod, to Jeremiah; Teige, to Timothy; Conor or Concovar, to Cornelius; Donogh, to Denis; and Donnell, to Daniel. In the family of O’Brien, the hereditary name of Turlogh has been changed to Terence; Mahon, to Matthew; Murtogh or Moriertagh, to Mortimer (but this very lately); and Lachtna and Laoiseach, to Lucius. Among the O’Gradys the name Aneslis is rendered Stanislaus and Standish. In the families of O’Donnell, O’Kane, and others, in the province of Ulster, Manus, a name borrowed by those families from the Danes, is now often rendered Manasses. In the families of Mac Mahon and Mac Kenna, in Ulster, the name Ardgal or Ardal, signifying _of high prowess or valour_, is always anglicised Arnold. In the family of O’Madden of Shilanamchy, in the south-east of the county of Galway, the hereditary name of Anmcha, which is translated Animosus by Colgan, is now always rendered Ambrose, to which, it will be readily granted, it does not bear the slightest analogy. Among the families of Doyle, Cavanagh, and others, in the province of Leinster, the name Maidoc, or Mogue, which they adopted from St Maidoc, or Aidan, the patron saint of the diocese of Fernes, is now always rendered Moses among the Roman Catholics, and Aidan among the Protestants! (any thing to make a difference.) Among the O’Neills in the province of Ulster, the name Felim, or Felimy, explained as meaning _the ever good_, is now made Felix; Con, signifying _strength_, is made Constantine; and Ferdoragh, meaning _dark-visaged man_, is rendered Ferdinand. Among the O’Conors of Connaught, the name Ruaidhri, or Rory, is anglicised Roderic, but among most other families it is rendered Roger. In the same family, Tomaltach is rendered Thomas; Aodh, Hugh; and Eoghan, Owen. In the families of Mac Donnell and others in Scotland, and in the north of Ireland, the name Aengus, or Angus, is always rendered Æneas. Among the O’Hanlys of Slieve Bawn, in the east of the county of Roscommon, the name Berach, which they have adopted from their patron saint, and which is translated by Colgan, _directe ad scopum collimans_, is now always and correctly enough rendered Barry. Throughout Ireland the old name of Brian is now rendered Bernard, and vulgarised to Barney, which is more properly an abbreviation of Barnaby than of Bernard. Among the O’Haras and O’Garas in the county of Sligo, the name Kian, which they have adopted from their great ancestor Kian, the son of Olioll Olum, king of Munster, is now rendered Kean; and I observe that the chief O’Hara has suffered himself to be called Charles King O’Hara in a book lately dedicated to him! In the family of Maguire, Cuconnaught is rendered Constantine, while in other families Cosnavy undergoes precisely the same change. In the family of O’Kane, the name Cooey written Cu-maighe in the original language, and signifying “_dog of the plain_,” is now rendered Quintin. In the family of O’Dowd, the ancient name of Dathi, which they have adopted from their great ancestor of that name, who was the last Pagan king of Ireland, is now rendered David, a name with which it is supposed to be synonymous. In the north and west of Ireland the names Duval-tach, Duv-da-lethe, and Duvdara, are all anglicised Dudley. In the family of Mac Sweeny, the very ancient name of Heremon is anglicised Irwin, but it is now almost obsolete as a Christian name. In the families of O’Hanlon, O’Haran, and O’Heany, in the province of Ulster, the name Eochy, signifying _horseman_, and which was latinized Eochodius, Achaius, Euthichius, and Equitius, is anglicised Auhy and Atty; but this name is also almost obsolete, the writer having never met more than one person who bore the name, in his travels through Ireland. Among the O’Mulconrys, now Conrys, the names Flann, Fithil, and Flaithri, have been anglicised Florence. In the family of O’Daly, the name Baothghalach, which was formerly latinized Boethius, is now always rendered Bowes; and in that of O’Clery, the name Lughaidh is anglicised Lewy and Lewis. Among the O’Reillys of Cavan, the hereditary name of Maelmora, which signifies _majestic chief_, is now invariably rendered Myles, and among the O’Kellys of Hy-Many, the name Fachtna is rendered Festus. In every part of Ireland, Maelseachlainn, or Melaghlin, which signifies _servant of St Secundinus_, has been changed to Malachy, to which it bears no analogy whatever, excepting some fancied resemblance in sound. In every part of Ireland the name of Gilla-patrick has been changed to Patrick; and, by the way, it is curious to observe, that common as the name Patrick has now become in Ireland, especially among the lower classes, it was never in use among the ancient Irish, for they never called their children by the name itself of the Irish apostle, deeming it more humble and more auspicious to call them his _servants_; and hence we find the ancient Irish calling their children, not Patrick, but Maelpatrick, or Gillapatrick; and these names they latinized Patricianus, not Patricius. The name of Patrick is now looked upon as the most vulgar in use among the Irish, which is a very strange and almost unaccountable prejudice, for Patricius was one of the most honourable names in all antiquity, as the reader will see if he will take the trouble to read the work on the antiquity of British Churches, by Ussher, pp. 841-1046, in which that learned primate gives the history and derivation of the name.

The names of women have been also very much metamorphosed, and many of the most curious of them entirely rejected. I have now before me a list of the names of women, drawn up from the authentic Irish annals, and from the History of Remarkable Women--a curious tract in the Book of Lecan, fol. 193; but as the limits allotted to me in this Journal will not allow me to furnish such a list, I must rest satisfied with giving such names as are still retained, with a selection from the most curious of those which have been rejected, adding their meanings as far as they are certain. The following are the ancient Irish names of women still retained, as the writer has determined by examining the provinces of Ulster, Connaught, Leinster, and the greater part of Munster:--

1. _Ainé_, now Hannah.

2. _Brighid_, now anglicised Bridget, from its resemblance to the name of the celebrated Swedish virgin of that name. Brighid is a woman’s name of pagan origin in Ireland; it has been explained _fiery dart_ by the Irish glossographers, especially by Cormac, Archbishop of Cashel, who distinctly states in his glossary that it was the name of the Muse who was believed to preside over poetry in pagan times in Ireland. _Brighid_ is now very common in Ireland as the name of a woman, in consequence of its being that of the most celebrated of the female saints of Ireland--the patroness of Kildare--who is well known all over Europe as the great patroness of Ireland.

3. _Finola_, though a beautiful name, has nearly become obsolete since the beginning of the eighteenth century, but some few still retain it in the abbreviated form of Nuala.

4. _Graine_, now Grace.

5. _Lassarina_, also, though in use not long since, has latterly became obsolete.

6. _Meadhbh_, pronounced Meave. This is still preserved and anglicised Maud, Mab, and Mabby; and the writer is acquainted with several old women of the Milesian race who still retain it. This was the name of a celebrated queen of Connaught, who flourished in the first century, and who is now known in the legends of the mountainous districts of Ireland as the queen of the fairies. From this country her spirit found way into Scotland, and thence into the north of England, where Shakspeare met with her, but in rather too diminutive a form for the shade of the Irish heroine.

7. _Mor_, pronounced More. The writer believes that there are a few women of this name still living in Ireland; but he is confident that there are but very few, though it was the name of many honourable ladies in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and for a century later. In our own times, however, it has been almost invariably anglicised Mary, with which it is neither synonymous nor cognate.

8. _Sadhbh_, pronounced Soyv, is the name of several women of the old Irish races, and who are known to the writer. It is now almost invariably anglicised Sally, to which it bears no analogy.

9. _Sorcha_ is still the name of several women in Ireland, especially in the province of Ulster; but the rising generation are beginning to object to it as being too Irish, and are determined on having it changed to Sarah or Sally. The writer is acquainted with families in whom this name is hereditary, and among whom the mother is always called Sorcha, and the daughter Sally; and though the latter knows that her own and her mother’s name are the same, still would she blush to hear her own name pronounced _Sorcha_. The name Sorcha signifies clear, bright, and might be well rendered Lucy or _Lucinda_; but we should like to see it preserved in its primitive form, which is not to be despised either for its sound or signification.

10. _Una._ This name is still in constant use among the women of Ireland, but when speaking English, they invariably anglicise it to Winifred or Winny.

The writer is not aware that any other name which was in use in the ancient Irish time is now retained, except the foregoing.

The names Catherine, Evlin, Eleanor, Isabella, Mary, Honora, Sheela (Celia), and many others now in use, and supposed to be of Irish origin, do not occur in the Account of Remarkable Women above referred to, and there is no reason to believe that they were ever in use in ancient Ireland.

The following is a list of curious names of women which occur in the authentic annals and in the History of Remarkable Women. It is highly probable that a few of them are of Danish origin:--