72 
SECOND BOOK. 
3. Now, in the cells of the leaves there are fine 
grains which we may call ‘leaf- green’, because they 
give the green colour to the leaves. Their proper 
name is chlorophyll, and though a hard one it is 
worth remembering, because the chlorophyll does 
such a wonderful work within the plant. 
Leaf-cells with Chlorophyll-grains (highly magnified). 
4. In the sunlight it makes the carbonic acid 
break up into its two parts — oxygen and carbon. 
The leaves then send out the oxygen, but keep the 
carbon, that they may use it in making starch, sugar, 
and other substances for the new cells that add to 
the growth of the plant. 
5 . It is no wonder that planters are so anxious to 
see that their crops get plenty of air, by not allowing 
them to be overcrowded; and that they root up 
weeds, which might rob their plants of the food 
near them in the air and in the soil. 
