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178 ; disappears as light, to reappear as nascent chemical energy; and this in its turn disappears in forming organic matter, to reappear as the vital force of the organic matter thus formed. The light which disappears is proportioned to the O, or the O and H rejected; is proportioned also to the quantity of organic matter formed, and also to the amount of vital force resulting. To illustrate: In the case of amyloids, oxygen-excess falling or running down from plane No. 2 to plane No. 1 generates force to raise C, H, and O, from plane No. 2 to plane No. 3. In the case of albuminoids, oxygen-excess and hydrogen-excess running down from No. 2 to No. 1 generate force to raise C, H, O, and N, from No. 2 to No. 3. To illustrate again: As sun-heat falling upon water disappears as heat, to reappear as mechanical power, raising the water into the clouds, so sunlight falling upon green leaves disappears as light, to reappear as vital force lifting matter from the mineral into the organic kingdom.

2. .—Growing plants, it is seen, take their life-force from the sun; but seeds germinate and commence to grow in the dark. Evidently there must be some other source from which they draw their supply of force. They cannot draw force from the sun. This fact is intimately connected with another fact, viz., that they do not draw their food from the mineral kingdom. The seed in germination feeds entirely upon a