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PART III.-LIFE.
BOOK L—THE EARTH AND ITS FLORA.
CHAPTER I.
THE ASSEMBLAGE OF LIVING CREATURES.—NUMBER OF VEGETABLE SPECIES.
—PROPORTION OF DICOTYLEDONS, MONOCOTYLEDONS, AND CRYPTOGAMS.
FORESTS AND SAVANNAS.
From the simple harmony of its forms, the regularity of all its external
features, the purity of the air which surrounds it, and the light which
colors it, the surface of the planet is, as a whole, of magnificent beauty;
but that which lends especial grace and charm to the earth is the infinite
number of organisms which people it. It is these which add such a marvelous variety of aspect and such great animation to the cold majesty
which the bare face of the rocks presents, such as we still see here and
there in desert regions destitute of vegetation. Light, heat, electricity,
and magnetism, which give rise to so many changing phenomena in the
life history of the world, develop centres of activity in that world of vegetable and animal life which the creative force of the elements engenders
by a mysterious transformation. Hundreds of millions of different species, composed of innumerable particles, which are continually in a state
of transition from the living animal to the earth, and from the earth to
the living animal, germinate, grow, and die, to give place in their turn to
other numberless generations of organisms. Thus multitudes succeed to
multitudes, in the immense series of ages. The upper strata ofthe earth
are renewed by all this matter which has lived. The coal-measures, the
chalk, and the numerous other strata of limestone, which present in many
places several miles of thickness, and thus constitute a very important
part of the frame-work of our glob'e, are nothing else than the remains of
plants and animals that formerly inhabited the land and the ocean. In
our days, too, new layers, composed entirely of the remains of organized
bodies, are constantly being formed, and almost the whole surface of the
land is covered with humus or vegetable soil, formed by the destruction
of life, which produces life in its turn.
It is chiefly plants which aid the formation of this nutritious earth, and
thus prepare, centuries beforehand, the food of generations to come. In
looking to the origin of life, we find certain undecided forms, termed by
Cams " proto-organisms," which seem to partake at the same time ofthe
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000395 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | PART III.-LIFE. BOOK L—THE EARTH AND ITS FLORA. CHAPTER I. THE ASSEMBLAGE OF LIVING CREATURES.—NUMBER OF VEGETABLE SPECIES. —PROPORTION OF DICOTYLEDONS, MONOCOTYLEDONS, AND CRYPTOGAMS. FORESTS AND SAVANNAS. From the simple harmony of its forms, the regularity of all its external features, the purity of the air which surrounds it, and the light which colors it, the surface of the planet is, as a whole, of magnificent beauty; but that which lends especial grace and charm to the earth is the infinite number of organisms which people it. It is these which add such a marvelous variety of aspect and such great animation to the cold majesty which the bare face of the rocks presents, such as we still see here and there in desert regions destitute of vegetation. Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism, which give rise to so many changing phenomena in the life history of the world, develop centres of activity in that world of vegetable and animal life which the creative force of the elements engenders by a mysterious transformation. Hundreds of millions of different species, composed of innumerable particles, which are continually in a state of transition from the living animal to the earth, and from the earth to the living animal, germinate, grow, and die, to give place in their turn to other numberless generations of organisms. Thus multitudes succeed to multitudes, in the immense series of ages. The upper strata ofthe earth are renewed by all this matter which has lived. The coal-measures, the chalk, and the numerous other strata of limestone, which present in many places several miles of thickness, and thus constitute a very important part of the frame-work of our glob'e, are nothing else than the remains of plants and animals that formerly inhabited the land and the ocean. In our days, too, new layers, composed entirely of the remains of organized bodies, are constantly being formed, and almost the whole surface of the land is covered with humus or vegetable soil, formed by the destruction of life, which produces life in its turn. It is chiefly plants which aid the formation of this nutritious earth, and thus prepare, centuries beforehand, the food of generations to come. In looking to the origin of life, we find certain undecided forms, termed by Cams " proto-organisms," which seem to partake at the same time ofthe |
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