38 Feeds and Feeding. 



originally stored in food substances by plants. With the breaking 

 down of the nutrient matters in the bodies of animals, and in the 

 decay of the animal substance itself, the organic matter loses the 

 condition of life and falls back to the inorganic condition, once 

 more becoming a part of the earth, air, and water as inert matter. 

 After this degradation it is again gathered up by the plants and 

 once more starts on the upward path. Such is the eternal round 

 of Nature, in which plants, animals, the energy of the sun, and the 

 mysterious guiding principle of life all play their parts. 



