that its ability to flow freely would not be compromised! The same
is found with sap at the tree's extremities.
A parallel may also be drawn between the veins and arteries
twisting sinuously through the body, bringing nutrients to the tis-
sues and organs and the streams and rivers, pulsating with eddies
and spirals, winding their way through the countryside, nourishing
the surrounding areas.
Temperature gradients also can influence the efficient circula-
tion of blood. A strong positive gradient (where temperature
decreases with movement in a given direction) between the inner
core of the body and its outer extremities will stimulate the outward
flow. This explains the invigoration of a cold shower. Conversely, a
prolonged soak in a hot bath slows down the circulation, producing
lethargy. The second is the result of the difference in the physico-
chemical composition and therefore the energetic characteristics of
arterial and venal blood.
Pulsation is assisted by the different electromagnetic charges
carried by two principal types of blood. The positively-charged
oxygen in the outward flowing arterial blood is gradually
absorbed by muscles and skin, creating a partial vacuum. The
negatively-charged, carbone-rich venal blood on the other hand
returning from the extremities is ready to reabsorb oxygen from
the lungs. The contraction of the heart muscle is a balancing
response to opposite charges carried by the two types of blood in
the relatively large heart chambers. It might also be said that the
heart's pulsation is caused by our breathing in positively charged
oxygen, (we then expel the negatively charged C0 2 and water),
rather than the conventional belief that we breathe because the
heart 'pumps.' The heart's real function is to stimulate pulsation
in the blood flow.
The situation of the unborn child is different, for there is no tem-
perature difference between the inner core and the outer extremi-
ties. It is likely therefore in the case of the foetus that the heart acts
like a pump until it is born. After birth the heart would then assume
its normal role as pulsator and balancer.
Callum Coats quotes research that calculates the total length of
blood vessels in the average human adult to be about 96,500 km
(60,000 miles)! On the basis of conventional hydraulic calculation
it is inconceivable that the actual power output of the heart, about
1.5 watts, would be sufficient for this huge task.^25 Yet it does so.
- SUPPLYING WATER