130 LIFE IN NATURE. 



within it necessarily produces the actions to which its 

 structure is adapted. 



Thus, for example, when a seed is placed in the 

 ground, the first process which takes place within it 

 is one of decomposition. The mass of the seed con- 

 sists of starch and albumen, in the midst of which is 

 placed a small cellular body, called the germ. This 

 germ will grow, and develop into the future plant, 

 but only on condition that a process of decay goes on 

 in the starchy and albuminous matter with which it 

 is in connection. Part of the latter sinks into the 

 inorganic state, uniting with oxygen, and passing off 

 as carbonic acid. The young plant is at first of less 

 weight than the seed or root which has disappeared 

 in generating it. 



When it arrives at the surface of the soil, a new 

 process commences. The rays of the sun, falling on 

 its leaves, maintain in them a continuance of the 

 same process (one of chemical change) by which the 

 first development of the germ was determined. Thus 

 new materials are added to the plant, the light ex- 

 citing those chemical processes which produce the 

 organic arrangement of fresh portions of matter. 



