Because, also, the vital principle (life) exercises a mysterious influence in the preservation of living bodies from physical influences.
179. Is the air ever hot enough, in any part of the world, to destroy life?
Yes. The hot winds of the Arabian deserts, which are called simooms, scatter death and desolation in their track, withering trees and shrubs, and burying them under waves of hot sand. When camels see the approach of a simoom they rush to the nearest tree or bush, or to some projecting rock, where they place their heads in an opposite direction to that from which the wind blows, and endeavour to escape its terrible violence. The traveller throws himself on the ground on the lee side of the camel, and screens his head from the fiery blast within the folds of his robe. But frequently both man and beast fall a prey to the terrible simoom.
180. Why are these hot winds so terrible in their effects?
Because, being in motion, they search their way to every part of the body, and passing over it leave some portion of their heat behind, which is again followed by additional heat from every fresh blast of wind.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."—Proverbs i.