The Atmosphere. 55 



now scientific knowledge can only be re- 

 garded as on the threshold of the subject." 



The novelty and the assurance of the con- 

 cluding lines of the above quotation would, 

 at a comparatively recent date, have excited 

 in the reader a great astonishment. We had 

 supposed that the constituents, and the func- 

 tions of our atmosphere were very well un- 

 derstood, that little, if anything, could be 

 learned by further investigation. Yet the 

 revelations which are now being made show 

 the assertion of SIR LYON PLAYFAIR to be 

 almost prophetic. 



The vito-magnetic, the most important in- 

 gredient, has scarcely been referred to in any 

 formula of its constitution. This constituent 

 as previously stated, forms the bulk of the at- 

 mosphere, and upon it depends the principal 

 performance of its varied functions. More 

 vital than oxygen, without it life could not 

 be sustained for an hour. 



Have we been Mistaken ? 



The experiments of M. PASTEUR have de 

 monstrated that oxygen and light are not 

 essentials of life, as he developed life in the 

 dark, in an atmosphere of carbonic acid. 



