III. Air
Besides land and water on the earth, there is something that is all around it, and all through both land and water. You cannot see it, or feel it, or taste it, or smell it, or hear it. But you can prove that it is all around you in a great many ways. You can take it to pieces, too, and find out what it is made of.
Measure your chest with a tape line. Twenty-eight inches? Now breathe deep, deeper. Hold your breath and measure again. Thirty inches! You filled your lungs with air. They were just as full of air as this glass pitcher is of water. This drinking glass looks as if it was empty, but it is full of air. Turn it upside down, and press the open end on the top of the water in the pitcher. Push it straight down under the water—steady; don't let the glass tip up. The water rises outside the glass and overflows. Lift the glass carefully. It is dry inside, except for a narrow rim at the top. Some water did get inside, by squeezing the air in the glass into a little smaller space. See how much water was forced out of the pitcher. Nearly a glass full!
Big boys who dive and swim under water, fill their lungs with air first and hold their breath, so water cannot get into them. That is a very useful thing to learn to do. It saves people from drowning and makes them able to save other people.
Have you ever heard people say: "As light as air?" Perhaps you think air doesn't weigh anything. Did you ever pump water from a well by working a pump handle? You had to pump several times before the water came, didn't you?
