DEATH AND RESURRECTION. 93 



organic substances. All the fuel that 

 is generally used is of organic origin, 

 although we seldom think of this fact. 



But why can we not fire an engine 

 with inorganic products? Because these 

 cannot burn, and the reason again is, 

 that they are already burned. If this 

 be true, they must once have been fuel 

 themselves, must once have been in a 

 burning state. How do we know this? 

 Because the inorganic world consists 

 almost entirely of chemical compounds 

 that are only formed by combustion, 

 when this word is used in its widest 

 sense. 



If these suggestions are correct, or- 

 ganic matter is to inorganic as fuel to 

 the products of combustion. In the in- 

 organic world the latter have been 

 transformed to fuel which in a renewed 

 combustion reproduces the same prod- 

 ucts as those of which it once was 

 formed. 



If this be the case our problem may 

 be thus formulated: Can inorganic 

 products of combustion again form 



