ISC) THE CARBON, NITROGEN, AND PHOSPHORUS CYCLES 



more and more violent, until after millions upon millions of years of 

 this tumult, I found myself part of an immensely hot flaming mass 

 of gas, part of an embryo sun. There in the whirl and roar of this 

 elemental flame I remained for unthinkable ages, but at last vast 

 thunders beneath and around me made me aware that something 

 tremendous was happening. It was a world my first world 

 gradually condensing out of the fire mist, and the gigantic explosions 

 which occurred from time to time were just great seas of boiling rock 

 leaping upwards. I will spare you the account of how I entered 

 into that world, and saw it slowly form and develop into a fair planet, 

 covered with wonderful swarming masses of living creatures, with 

 great cities filled with busy life, and wonderful civilizations. Nor 

 will I tell you of how that world grew old, and passed into a vast 

 desert, and finally, after wandering for aeons of time in darkness 

 and silence, burst suddenly forth into flame, the victim of a great 

 cosmical catastrophe, and, like a bubble, vanished, exploding into 

 incandescent gas. Nor will I tell you of how, far flung, I fell upon 

 another world, and saw this world too in time perish; and of how 

 I passed from world to world, and formed part of world after world, 

 wandering in mighty migrations through space, until at last I joined 

 the fire mist from out of which, ultimately, this present world of 

 yours condensed amidst titanic convulsions. You will, therefore, 

 see that even before your world began, I was old, immensely old. 

 I will pass over all this and come to a time quite recent, when I 

 found myself forming part of the molten fire underground. Here I 

 lay for age after age, while the land above me was being eaten away 

 by wind and rain and storm, and was buried continent after 

 continent crumbling into ruin into the great ocean waiting 

 patiently to receive it. Now I was urged upward by vast forces, 

 slowly, steadily, for thousands of years, until I finally was uplifted 

 to form part of a hard, cold rock, which soon reared itself into a 

 mighty cliff, beaten upon by wind and rain and storm ; I have a dim 

 recollection of looking out from the cliff face upon a widespread blue 

 sea, filled with strange vast monsters, which have long since vanished 

 from the earth. But at last the cliff was washed away and I passed 

 into the great body of the sea, and was absorbed into a tiny plant, 

 living beneath the salt waters; but this was devoured by a glittering 

 gorgeous fish, and so I entered his body. Then this fish was 

 devoured by a reptile, which, creeping out of the water, entered a 

 swamp and died, and its huge body decaying, I was washed into the 

 soil, and there meeting with the rootlet of a plant, I entered into and 

 formed part of it; and this was eaten by an animal; and so I entered 

 into its body and formed part of it; and this was eaten by an animal; 

 and so I entered into its body and formed part of his bones. While 

 we were crossing a ravine one bright sunshiny day, millions of years 

 ago, a green monster flashed out upon us and slew my master and 



