LIFE "HISTOET OF COAL. 191 



broader time-measure than animal life ; Coal gets a measure still 

 larger ; the earth immensely larger still ; and that of the sun 

 makes one feel dizzy to contemplate. 



■ "We make bold to claim that all the carbon, at least during 

 this present life phase of our earth's history, is performing a 

 definite duty which is assigned to it, as we human beings and 

 other animals have a duty assigned to us, and as the vegetable 

 world has a duty assigned to it. That as whilst we are per- 

 forming a duty we live, so whilst discharging a duty carbon 

 lives, passes through a life-phase if you will. Before it reached 

 that phase it may have had other duties not connected with what 

 we understand by life ; after it has passed that phase, there may 

 be, probably is, some other duty to discharge, as remote from 

 what we consider life as the former was. In the earth's history 

 there certainly was a time when carbon could not play the part 

 it now does in connection with the vegetable and animal life of 

 the world, but who will dare to say it led an idle or purposeless 

 existence then, when the waters of the world were yet in the 

 air, and the oldest stratified rocks were yet unformed ? So when 

 we look forward into the future to earth-conditions similar to 

 those existent on our moon, we face a time when animal and 

 vegetable life must cease to be, but carbon will still exist and 

 doubtless for some purpose. We say it will have passed through 

 its life-phase so far as our earth is concerned. 



So, in like manner. Silica and other elements of our earth will 

 each at some time have a phase to pass through similar, though 

 not necessarily identical, with that of carbon ; will pass through 

 its life-phase. And that which is true of the part is true of the 

 whole. The earth itself is now passing through its life-phase 

 (still using the word life in its ordinary restricted form of vege- 

 table and animal life). For the earth was once unfitted for such 

 life and will again be unfit. Yet the period before was im- 

 measureably greater than this life period can be, and the after 

 period will perhaps be as much longer. IS'ow we may reasonably 

 ask : Was the earth, as an entity, dead, till animal life existed ? 

 Will it again be dead when these cease to be ? Are the infancy 

 and boyhood of the earth, death? Is its old age, death, and 



