"Breathe on me, Breath of God, Fill me with life anew, That I may love what Thou dost love, And do what Thou wouldst do!

"Breathe on me, Breath of God, Until my heart is pure, Until with Thee I will one will, To do or to endure!

"Breathe on me, Breath of God, Till I am wholly Thine, Till all this earthly part of me Glows with Thy fire divine!

"Breathe on me, Breath of God, So I shall never die, But live with Thee the perfect life

Of Thine eternity." - E. Hatch.

"The freer step, the fuller breath, The wide horizon's grander view, The sense of life that knows no death, The life that maketh all things new."

- Samuel Longfellow.

"He who gives breath, He who gives strength, whose command all the bright gods revere, whose shadow is immortality."

- Sacred Books of the East.

It is not possible at the present time to form any adequate estimate of the true value of rightly controlled breath, all theories believed in and held to, in the past, fall so far short of what is really true concerning the wonderful benefits to be gained both in mind and body through an understanding and use of the function of breathing.

When one considers the fact that the majority of people use only from one-fourth to one-third of their lung capacity, the question of breathing assumes an importance which heretofore it has not received. It is a well-known fact that nature never creates anything without a purpose and that if an organ is not used it becomes weakened and it is only a step further to disease. Thus it is no wonder that so many people suffer from diseases of the lungs or from other diseases caused through failure to breathe properly.

There is no question, however, but that the minds of thoughtful people are becoming more interested and desirous of knowledge upon the subject to enable them to use this function in a true and natural way, and there is no doubt but that the good derived through the true use of the breath will prove of incalculable benefit.

May it not prove the starting-point of a new round of evolution, which will tend to make man in every sense greater than he has been in the past and with more wonderful capacities? Many scientists believe that the evolution of man has reached its highest limit, and that any decided change would tend rather to develop him abnormally. For instance, if man gained in his brain-power, it would be at the expense of his body. This need not be true. When the lungs are used to their full capacity the physical man will keep pace with the intellectual.

The one thing upon which stress is laid by medical and scientific men is that oxygen is the all-important element in the atmosphere to be inbreathed; that it is the element which keeps the blood pure and from which life is derived. But oxygen is not life - no matter what our scientific friends may think about it. It is only one of many properties proceeding from the Great Life. Everything necessary to sustain the physical man is to be found in the atmosphere he breathes. It does not consist alone of the organic elements, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbonic-acid gas, but of countless infinitesimal life-germs, and it may be that the body, from first to last, is composed of these life-germs, which we have breathed in from the atmosphere about us, and that every cell in the body is a living organism, endowed with a life and intelligence of its own. Furthermore, the time is not far distant when consciously we shall take from the atmosphere through the right use of the breath, nearly, if not all, the nourishment necessary to complete and sustain the body - no matter whether that nourishment is contained in the atmospheric elements, or whether it is breathed in from the myriad life-germs in the atmosphere, or both.

It is generally conceded by the scientific world, now, that some kinds of bacteria add to the nourishing properties of food; for example, those which infest milk. It is also a well-known fact that these same germs improve the quality of butter. That bacteria are necessary to the upbuilding and sustaining of vegetable and animal life seems to be shown by the fact that when milk is exposed in high altitudes, beyond the range of animal and vegetable life, the bacteria no longer enter into it. This would tend to show the wonderful economy of nature, for only where there is organic life is there the wherewithal to sustain it.

Some may ask, Why is it if nourishment can be inbreathed, that people have to eat so much food? When we take into consideration the fact that people ordinarily are using only one-third of their lung capacity, is it to be wondered at that they eat a large amount of food? Suppose the lungs were developed to their full capacity, might not the result be far different? In the many cases which have come under my observation of people who have made a study of the use and control of breath, I have noted that without exception they all eat less, many reducing their food by one-half and a few even going beyond that, in every case with beneficial results. It was not that they themselves had any desire to lessen the quantity of food eaten, but it was rather the result of growth, a natural change.

Again, it may be said that the lower animals eat and that it is natural for them to do so. Very true, and it may be perfectly natural for man to replenish his body in the same way, and yet there may come a time when all the food necessary can be taken by breathing it directly from the atmosphere.

It may be asked of what use will be the digestive organs if man is to obtain his food by breathing. I would suggest that while those organs have been necessary in the past, and may still be for a time in the future, man in a higher stage of development will use them in a different way. Evolution has shown us that as organs of the body become unnecessary they are reduced in size, either disappearing altogether or assuming some new function.