THE FEKN PARADISE. 



Through these tiny but multitudinous apertures 

 plants breathe, inspiring the atmosphere which sur- 

 rounds them, appropriating what they require for 

 their sustenance and growth, and respiring what 

 they do not need. The carbonic acid gas of the 

 atmosphere is only absorbed by plants that they 

 may be enabled to extract from it its carbon con- 

 stituent. Having done this, the oxygen of the 

 compound is set free, and returned again to the 

 air which gave it, for the use and healthful enjoy- 

 ment of animal life. 



How simple, then, and beautiful is this process, 

 by which animals and plants minister so essen- 

 tially to each other's necessities ! And it neces- 

 sarily follows that the proximity of plants is 

 conducive to a purification of the atmosphere by 

 the absorption of carbonic acid gas. If this ap- 

 plies, as it does, in the open air, where forests, 

 woods and other abundant vegetation play a large 

 part in the healthfulness of a locality, it applies 

 also to the confined atmosphere of a room. No 

 doubt, the most active operation of the process 

 by which plants absorb carbonic acid gas, retain 

 the carbon of the compound, and give back to the 



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