ANIMATE AND INANIMATE NATURE 311 



thus breaks the rock into many small pieces, and prepares 

 the way for roots. 



Still less conspicuous than the influence of plants is that 

 of animals. Worms, ants, gophers, and other burrowing 

 animals really subject the soil to a slow process of cultiva- 

 tion. 



In northern countries, plants have formed extensive peat 

 bogs, and large accumulations of vegetable debris are form- 

 ing in the Everglades of Florida and in other sub-tropical 

 and tropical swamps, and even the coal beds are the remains of 

 decayed forests. In the making of rocks, however, animals 

 have played a much more important part than plants. 

 Chalk, limestone, and marble are nothing but the calcareous 

 remains of animals. 



Plants in their relation to inanimate nature and to animals. 

 Plants need air and water and several mineral substances 

 for the building up of their tissue. They also depend on 

 warmth, light, and winds for favorable conditions of life. 

 Many plants depend upon animals for cross-fertilization or 

 for the dissemination of their seeds. 



Animals also depend upon plants and upon inanimate 

 nature for the conditions of their existence. They need 

 water, air, warmth, and light as well as plants, although 

 light is not so all-important for them as it is for plants. 

 Animals are not able to feed upon the lifeless mineral 

 matter in the soil. This power is possessed by plants only, 

 and animals depend on them for food. No animals could 

 exist if there were no vegetation on the earth. 



When plants and animals decay, a part of the substance 

 of their bodies is returned to the atmosphere in the form of 

 gases ; the mineral matter and the water are returned to the 

 soil, whence they originally came. 



85. Man himself is connected in many ways with animate 

 and inanimate nature. He cannot exist without air, water. 



