The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Der Herr in der Stadt am Nebo
- Chapter 227 -
Why the birds take up water.
Then the supreme judicial city officer asked Me: "O Lord and Master, who entirely knows about all things. How come that these birds actually need that water to continue their flight? For as far as I know I always noticed that, compared to their weight, the birds take up 10 times more water than any other animal, and they nevertheless do not loose any urine. At least I never noticed that a bird urinated, and now You said that these birds really need the water to continue their flight while I thought that the water with the food that they took can only make them heavier so that it will be difficult for them to continue their flight."
2
I said: "Yes, look, My friend, the Master of His works must also know best what they need for their temporal preservation and how their body must be organized to perform for which they are assigned. But as to why a bird needs water to fly, you should turn to My Raphael who is still present as you can see."
3
After these words, the supreme judicial city officer turned to Raphael and asked him if he would like to give him a short explanation about this.
4
Raphael said: "I gladly want to do this, and I will tell you very briefly. Look, when you slaughter a lamb or a goat, a calf or an ox you take out the bowels, that means the stomach, the intestines and the urine bladder. You clean all the parts in your own manner and blow them up so that they will dry on the inside as well as on the outside. You use the biggest of these hallow organs as small sacks and bags, and the smaller ones you also use to keep all kinds of grains of seed and other small things inside.
5
If you would have here such dried urine bladder or some other sack, I more easily could show you how the birds have to take water in order to fly. But I will take care that the necessary means will be at our disposal for my explanation. Look, there we already have a rather big sack filled with water, and we will fill it with some ingredients that have the characteristic of sucking the carbon and oxygen in the water but free up pure hydrogen. Here are already the ingredients that you certainly know: a little iron, sulfur, chalk, salt and carbon.
6
Now I put them into the water. They are already in the water and you can immediately hear a strange rustling and bubbling in the sack. Now we take a dry bladder. We will fill it with the easily ascending hydrogen. And look, the one bladder is already filled. Now take it into your hand down at the opening, and you will immediately notice how it pulls upwards. Now let it loose and see what it will do."
7
The supreme judicial city officer did so and the bladder ascended immediately and fast in the air, so high that no one was able to see it anymore. Another bigger bladder was filled in the same way and a tree branch was attached at the opening. Then it was let loose and ascended with the same speed into the air.
8
After that, about 12 bladders were filled with the remaining hydrogen and were fastened to a somewhat bigger and heavier tree branch with which they also ascended with great speed into the air.
9
When the experiment was ended, Raphael said to the supreme judicial city officer: "Do you now have already a little idea why the birds use the water essentially for flying?"
10
The supreme judicial city officer said: "There is a little light that shines in me now, but how the birds are using the water to fly is of course still not clear to me."
11
Raphael said: "Look, every bird is internally arranged in such a way that from the water reserve that he took he makes as much hydrogen - a very light and fine kind or air in itself - as he needs for his flight, which he can very accurately calculate by means of his instinct. With this fine hydrogen he fills in a moment all his big and small feather shafts and hallow bones by which he becomes as light as a human hair. He always and easily overcomes that little weight with his two wings and he can then ascend into the air as he pleases.
12
If you consider this well, you will easily perceive in which manner it is possible to fly for all those kinds of animals that can ascend from the ground into the air as they please."