436 ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 



of the polar bear feeds the lotus of Egyptian plains, 

 and the breath of the southern lion is redistilled in the 

 fragrance of the Norwegian pine. The particle of mat- 

 ter that once burned in the fire of the poet's brain, and 

 floated with his song upon the air, now blooms in the 

 mountain flower and anon lies buried in its mould. 



1076. According to the view thus pre- 



What is the 



material sour- sented, it will be seen that the sun is the 

 If the ^orlf? reat material source of the life of the world. 

 He wings the vapors that rise from the sea, 

 and fall again to make their ministering circuit in 

 the earth. The solar rays are the agents also, in the 

 transformation of matter, which takes place in every 

 leaf and blossom, and provide the animal kingdom with 

 its food. 



1077. No less is the sun the source of 



Show how it is , ., , , t i -, 



the source of all the mechanical power which is known 



U P n the earth ' The fallin g fl d f N1 ~ 



agara is but the recoil of the spring which 

 is bent in evaporation from the sea and earth. All 

 force which is derived from the fall of water, is 

 thus traceable to the sun, which lifted it in the form of 

 cloud and vapor. The energies of fire and steam, are 

 only other forms of the force inherent in the solar rays, 

 originally exercised in the organization of the vegetable 

 matter which serves as fuel. Immediately produced 

 by oxidation, and the heat which it evolves, they find 

 their ultimate source, as well as their precise equivalent, 

 in the deoxidizing influence of the solar rays. The 

 forces of the human body are fed by consumption of 

 similar materials, and may therefore be traced to the 

 same source. 



