170 THE FAIRY-LAND OF SCIENCE. 
again to carbonic acid, nitrogen, and water, our sun- 
beams come back again in the flame and heat. 
And the life of the plant ? What is it, and why is 
this protoplasm always active and busy ? I cannot 
tell you. Study as we may, the life of the tiny plant 
is as much a mystery as your life and mine. It came, 
like all things, from the bosom of the Great Father, 
but we cannot tell how it came nor what it is. We can 
see the active grains moving under the microscope, 
but we cannot see the power that moves them. We 
only know it is a power given to the plant, as to you 
and to me, to enable it to live its life, and to do its 
useful work in the world. 
