82 MINUTE MARVELS OF NATURE 



furniture and the building of our homes, as well 

 as the planks and masts of the mighty vessels 

 that carry us to other shores. It is estimated that 

 there are no less than 2,590,000 square miles of 

 woodland and forest in Canada alone. If we could 

 travel over this great area and view the enormous 

 wood-growth that it encloses, at the same time 

 remembering the fact that it is built up by the 

 apparently unimportant green leaf, we should un- 

 doubtedly be impressed with the marvels that 

 Nature performs with her insignificant units. 



After the leaves have separated the carbon, it 

 is passed on to the internal laboratory of the 

 plant, where it is at once manufactured into 

 starches, sugars, oils, &c., which serve to sustain 

 the plant, build up its structure, and perpetuate 

 its kind. Much of it goes into temporary store- 

 houses in the bulky substance of fruits, nuts, 

 turnips, potatoes, marrows, &c., these, of course, 

 being designed by the plant for its own use, but 

 often appropriated by man. 



To put the matter clearly, this green chlorophyll 

 is the mainstay of life. It is the substance which 

 sustains life and provides material for its regenera- 

 tion and continuance. For, although we may eat 

 animal food, the animal must originally obtain its 

 sustenance from the vegetable world, because the 

 animal possesses no apparatus for the manufacture 



