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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