20 THE STOEY OF THE PLANTS. 



also breathes that is to say, takes oxygen into 

 his lungs. Within his body that oxygen once 

 more unites with the carbon and the hydrogen, 

 and is given out again in union with them as 

 carbonic acid and water. Andythe energy t in the 

 plant food, thus set free within hfs' body, takeg 

 the jorm of^anirnal hfeat and animal motion 

 /jipF^a^TKeerlergy seE free iii tne locomotive 

 takes the form oi heat and visible movement. 

 Animals are thus the absolute converse of 

 plants ; all that the plants did, the animal 

 undoes again. 



Briefly to recapitulate this rather dry subject, 

 the plant is a mechanism for scparajing^oxygen 

 from carbon and iiy drogen , and ior^storing up 

 sun-energy. The animal is a mechanism for 

 uniting oxygen with carbon and hydrogen, and 

 for usinjr the stored-up sun-energy as heat and 

 motton. 



And now you can see why it is so absurd to 



ask, Which came first, the plant or the animal ? 



You might as well ask, Which came first, the 



coal or the fire ? All the living material in the 



world was first macle and laid up by plants. 



; They alone have fop, pnwp.r t,n taak^ living or- 



rncrgyj-yielding stuff out of deadancl inert 



\ water or carbon!* 1 , acid. Thejfare the origin 



and foundation of liie. Without them there 



could be no living thing in the universe. It 



i is in their green parts alone that the wonderful 



! transformation of dead matter into living bodies 



^ takes place ; they alone know how to store up 



and utilise the sunshine that falls upon them. 



