Life: its forms and Varieties.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XII, Issue 503, 26 August 1867, Page 2

Life: its forms and Varieties.

A LECTURE, BY' Bn. JAKINS. [VTe take the report of I tie following interest inland instructive lecture delivered by Dr. Jakins oa the ,1-tli, before the Young Tien's ('•ltrLtian Association at Auckland from the New Zealand Herald.' (ConUnusclfroTSt oirr last.) Now, how is it that these forms of decay nna repair so naturally balance ore anotucr J in oilier words, bow has G al arranged that nil created livings should fulfil the natural terms of their existence ‘r I think I shall be able to show you that the source of the continuance of hfe is light, light derived from the sun. Let us therefore he-in looking at the process of life as we see it in the Tcg-.-t-uiiio kingdom. In introduction I will explain the meaning cf two words, of which i shall make frequent mention, 'The first is carbon, wlrcu exists in a gaseous farm, as carbonic acid jiust as wa:cr exists rn a ga eons form as steam, in a solid f na carbon is seen as chaivoal, cr as in' the diamond, just as water is seer, in a solid from as ice, i'ne second word is oxygon, which is a ga.s by moans oi which croaled'hoings carry on their existence. Carbon and oxygen joined togctlmr form carbonic aoi l. To begin wiih plants; it is through the. sun's action cn tuo leaf that it has Ibe power of dividing carbonic acid—that gas I which i- fatal to all amttvil life—into carbon. I which the plant stores up for itself, and by which

it grows, and into oxygen, which is net free for the benefit of every animal that breathes. I grant you that plants wilt grow in the dark. away from the light, but then their influence for good is gone, for they take up oxygon, and give out carbonic acid, so that some sick folks are often forbidden to have plants in their bedroom. Yet, although this carbonic gas is to fatal to animal life, a want of it would carry death to all plants, and so it forms a two-thousaudth part of the air we breathe. It is in warm weather that earbonia acid is so abundant, because then ienr>f-ntatioa and decay are so active. Tub hot tun in the daytime gives plants the power of destroying it, arid thus we find more carbonic acid at night. In dry weather we notice more of it than in wet weather, because the rain dissolves it and carries it away. Up to a certain paint boat and moisture quicken the process of life ; thus, in a climate like this all animal life tl parishes, vegetable life in like manner ; plants, however, attract moisture from the clouts. - , .''hr.v.to; n;v d :y or moist according to f>«' amonut of vedetation they contain. A cunous Uu-t in connection with neat as regaiua animals is that some fish are found In live in hot springs, even of a temperatue of lid de.'., a heat < f-d deg. anovo what is necessary to stiffen or coagulate the albumen of which their flesh is composed, borne caterpillars have been known to flourish at a temperature almost of boiling water, and some worms have been known to liva in spile of eeiug boiled. Light seems as necessaty for men as for plants, for unless men see the sun occasionally they become pate and sickly. Heat, in combination with good food, has the effect of raising tin type ot development of a creature. You- all know the effects of a hothouse upon plants; under these conditions some insects, the little green aphis, or plant-louse, as it has been termed will bring forth its young alive, while in the cold weather it lays eggs. Again, common bees, by extra attention to warmth, and the quality of the food of their young, cause them to grow into queen bc.-s. F.ven iu mao, look what an improvement is made in tho child of the outcast or of the savage, by careful nurture with good food and clolhihg. To return to plants: it is through absorbing and decomposing the carbonic acid that the le d' becomes green ; stop tins process and the ic.d at on.re lakes up ox- gen, and becomes red. I mi: in the same way; when it ceases to take up carbonic acid begins to take up oxygen, and thus becomes mil. and gr dally red; ripeness is really the stuppn g of the'O processes and tho beginning of decay. 11;.drogea, another gas, which, wiion joined to oxygen, forms water, fives bitterness to plants. The actions ol these several gases are well cxemplifled in one plant—a species of navelwort. wnich in the morning, from the accumulation of oxygen absorbed overnight, tastes acid ; at noon, from the admixture of oxygen with hydrogen, it is insipid ; at night, from the pec imposition of water, the oxygen being set free, and tho hydrogen retained, it thus, from the excess of hydrogen tastes bitter. liven the sunlight, in passing through a g 'eeu leaf, is decomposed, fur wc find that it no longer has the power of procuring a photograph on si n-iiivc paper. This is the toasou why it is so diiticuit to photograph leaves. Plants obtain tocir loo.i from the carbonic acid and the moisiuro ■ f the atmosphere, by me ins of their line skin and thur roots, which chiefly absorb water and decayed animal and vegetable matter. The process of absorbing one g is acd giving out am. User, i, like the breathing of animals; the upward circnlati iii of ihe sap resembles tiie circulation of the idocd: ti e roa. ot too plant seems especially concerned in digestion, and, as in animals, all indigestible food is cast out. Iu these processes, as in the process of life in the animal kingdom, heal was induced, electricity is lonm d, negative electricity; positive electricity occurs more frequently iu animals. Animals are deptessed in thunder wcalner: phials arc refreshed and invigorated. With the sensitiveness of some plants you arc familial'; some close their flowers in rat y weather, or at night, as If going to sleep, they may even he mode to sleep with opium, or they a ay he poisoned uith spirits, or arsenic, or strichina, or their constitutions may bo improved by a course of iron. Ihe fall of the leaf is duo to the blocking up of the ciivulati ni of the sap, an obstruct ion which is caused by a want of removal of the waste caused by the wear and tear of tho life of the leaf. Like men, plants have their diseas s, or die of old age. It was, perhaps, a kno.vledge of some of these processes that led the ancients to pen those beautiful fa les of mea b.-ing oaiingcd inio lives, hyacinths, and daffodils. Ibanis may be said to hare their religion, too, for they ever turn their faces towards their God, the >un; their tendril arms s.-em never tired of >1 retching forward and upward into the light of his presence. They hato. their rewind too, i.i iuerease of life, and of growth, and of fragrance, and of beauty, an increase not of graces merely, but also if u efuli.Ois, useiuhicss in purifying tua polluted atmosphere in which t.uey awed—a blessing to man and a glory to God. One cannot nu-dcr-taiid, ill dee I it seems physically impossible for a plant to turn its back upon the sun, to sank with its tendril arms behind some rock or cover, to poison the already pMiutcd atmo.- phercin which t lives; no, ail this is inscrutably reserved tor God’s noblest creature, man. To go back to our -adject: if wo observe the process of life in animals, we find that they ohiain food cither directly from vegetables, or from animals that have fed on vegetables. The carbon ol ihe vegetable, which is taken up into the body of the animal, becomes, by i.s union with the oxygen of the air in the act of breathing, the source of heat and motion, or, in oth r words, of power; and yet it is necessary that the ox.gen lie diluted, or wo should find It too great a suuinhiiit. and our lives would burn down as qulcklv as a oandio burns when plunged into tins gas, so we find in the air we breathe that the oxygen is combined with four parts of nitrogen.