THE FUNGI 167 



result of this process represents a store of 

 energy equal to that required to tear the 

 oxygen away from the various parts while it 

 was in the making. This energy can be 

 again released in the kinetic form by oxida- 

 tion. But it need not take place in one stage. 

 We shall get a certain definite amount of 

 kinetic energy set free if we burn a pound of 

 sugar, but we can break up the sugar more 

 gradually, and at each stage a definite amount 

 of energy will be liberated. It is only when 

 we have completed the destructive process, 

 and carbon dioxide and water alone remain, 

 that we can get no more energy from our 

 sugar products. And if we were to add up 

 the various amounts of energy liberated 

 during the various stages of destruction of the 

 sugar, they would amount to the same figure 

 as if we had burnt (i. e. oxidised) it at once. 



Of course, neither an animal nor plant can 

 ever burn itself completely down to the simple 

 substances into which it is capable of being 

 resolved. Some portions of it will remain 

 intact, and of the rest all sorts of intermedi- 

 ate products will be formed. These possess 

 different energy values according to their 

 composition, and especially according to their 

 complete or incomplete state of oxidation. 



It is on these intact or partially broken up 

 chemical substances that the non-green organ- 

 isms are able to live, and the fungi and bacteria 

 especially serve an important purpose in the 

 world because they are able to induce the 



