CHLOROPHYLL 



99 



Physicochemical energies in the evo- 

 lution of the physical environ- 

 ment; 



Physicochemical energies in the in- 

 dividual development of the or- 

 ganism, namely, of its protoplasm 

 controlled and directed by its 

 chromatin; 



Physicochemical energies in the evo- 

 lution of the heredity-chromatin 

 with its constant addition of new 

 powers and energies; 



Physicochemical energies in the evo- 

 lution of the life environment, 

 beginning with the protocellular 

 chemical organisms, and such in- 

 termediate organisms as bacteria, 

 and followed by such cellular and 

 multicellular organisms as the 

 higher plants and animals. 



Selection and Elimination 



Incessant competition, selection, 

 intraselection (Roux), and elim- 

 ination between all parts of or- 

 ganisms in their chromatin ener- 

 gies, in their protoplasmic ener- 

 gies, and in their actions, reac- 

 tions, and interactions with the 

 living environment and with the 

 physical environment. 



Chlorophyll and the Energy of Sunlight 



As bacteria seek their energy in the geosphere and hydro- 

 sphere, chlorophyll is the agent v^hich connects Hfe with the 

 atmosphere, disrupting and collecting the carbon from its union 

 with oxygen in carbon dioxide. The utilization of the energy 

 of sunlight in the capture of carbon from the atmosphere 

 through the agency of chlorophyll in algae marked the second 

 great phase in the evolution of life, following the first bacterial 

 phase. This capture of atmospheric carbon, the chief energy 

 element of plants, always takes place in the presence of sun- 

 light; while the chief energy elements of bacteria, nitrogen and 

 (less frequently) carbon, are captured through molecule-splitting 

 in the presence of heat, but without the powerful aid of sun- 

 light. 



It is the metamorphosed, fossilized tissue of plants which 

 leads us to the conclusion that the agency of chlorophyll is 



