Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from An University d104-Book of Botany
Continuous change is necessary in order that the material universe may remain in its present condition. Since the amount of matter is constant, it follows that the particles Of matter must be capable Of dissociation and recombination, otherwise, sooner or later, a stable condition is reached which is incompatible with the existence of life. Living organisms, plants and animals, are the most important agents upon the earth in this redistribution of matter. The inert, inorganic substances are decomposed through the activity of living organisms, the components being united with others into the innumerable com pounds of which living substances are composed. The organic com pounds in turn undergo repeated changes Within the organism, which may itself serve as food for others. The simpler compounds result ing from the chemical changes within the organism may remain inert, like the masses of limestone developed from the skeletons of coral polyps, or the fiinty deposits left by the accumulated Shells of Diatoms; or, like carbon-dioxide, they may again be utilized as food for plants.
It is the province of biology, in its broadest sense, to study the part played by plants and animals in the economy of nature - their relation to each other and to the inorganic world.
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