THE BREATH OF LIFE 



ferent elements — six parts of carbon, ten parts of 

 hydrogen, and five parts of oxygen (C 6 Hi O 6 ). 

 Now if we add water to this compound, we have a 

 simple mixture of starch and water, but if we bring 

 about a chemical union with the elements of water 

 (hydrogen and oxygen), we have grape sugar. This 

 sugar is formed in green leaves by the agency of 

 sunlight, and is the basis of all plant and animal 

 food, and hence one of the most important things 

 in nature. 



Carbon is a solid, and is seen in its pure state in 

 the diamond, the hardest body in nature and the 

 most valued of all precious stones, but it enters 

 largely into all living bodies and is an important 

 constituent of all the food we eat. As a gas, united 

 with the oxygen of the air, forming carbon dioxide, 

 it was present at the beginning of life, and probably 

 helped kindle the first vital spark. In the shape of 

 wood and coal, it now warms us and makes the 

 ♦vheels of our material civilization go round. Dia- 

 mond stuff, through the magic of chemistry, plays 

 one of the principle roles in our physical life; we eat 

 it, and are warmed and propelled by it, and cheered 

 by it. Taken as carbonic acid gas into our lungs, it 

 poisons us; taken into our stomachs, it stimulates 

 us; dissolved in water, it disintegrates the rocks, 

 eating out the carbonate of lime which they contain. 

 It is one of the principal actors in the drama of 

 organized matter. 



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