THE NEW EARTH 



doing it, too, by means of better foods, im- 

 proved methods of living, better sanitation, 

 and so on, so nature is on the lookout for lon- 

 gevity as one of her attributes. The great 

 trees of California, oldest of living things upon 

 the earth, more than two thousand years old 

 when came the dawn of Christianity, these 

 gigantic plants of immortality, are attesting 

 through the centuries that life may be pro- 

 longed far beyond the so-called natural span. 



One of the foods upon which the plant 

 depends for its strength is, per contra, a poison 

 to man. It is a gas, carbon dioxide as it is 

 called, or, in commoner phrase, carbonic acid 

 gas. It exists in the atmosphere in the relation 

 of one part to every twenty-five thousand. 

 While it is harmless as an aerating agent, giv- 

 ing a certain pleasant pungency to various 

 drinks, it is poisonous when taken into the 

 lungs. It is that which makes rooms illy ven- 

 tilated so dangerous, for the gas is constantly 

 given off from the lungs and, in a closed room, 

 is breathed over and over again, a slow but 

 persistent poisoning. 



The plant has a better, or at least a different 

 way of doing things. By day it takes up 



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