San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-02-23

cycle merely in which the whole
universe takes part. AS, on a lar
ger scale, the planets bear an IL
lustration OF growth and decay,
from the youthful Jupiter and Sa-
turn with their rings and belts and
heated crusts to the virgin-like We
nus, and the ripper Earth and Mars
to the cold, dead and barren Moon.
So upon earth we have illustrat-
ions Of a similar nature. The
whole world is cycle mere
ly, without beginning and with
out end.
By the heat Of the sun the fog
rises out of the ocean until it
reaches the higher and cooler
strata of the air. where, in the form
Of clouds, it is driven hither and
thither by the wind until it falls as
rain upon the thirsty earth or per-
haps in the form of snow it falls
upon some mountain tops. There
forming a glacier it will slide slow
ly downward until it reaches the
warmer strata OF the air, when
melting, it will run down in the
form Of cascades and springs and
brooks and rivers, carrying along
the particles Of dust, which, while
in the form of snow tlakes,it caught
on its passage through the air.
In the form of rivers it will over
flow and fertiliZe the land, giving
growth to bOundlesS vegetation
and abundant SuStenance to ami
NAL life, at the same time furnish
ing streets of commerce to man
kind, and finally it will find its
way into some ocean whence it
rose, only to pass through SINH
lar cycle again. What is earth
and water first, in the course of
many cycles becomes seed, then
grass, then an ear of grain, then
bread, then food, then blood, then
animal seed, then embryo, then
man, then corpse, then dust and
moisture, and earth and stone.
Our own bodies partake indeed Of
the common supply, they grow and
dissolve by time. Particles, which
make up my body today, may be
dissolved tomorrow by the influ-
ence of the air, carried by the
wind, washed by the rain, swept
by the flood and absorbed by the
ocean until again moulded into
other forms by the great potter of
the universe.
And one other illustration is
worthy to be noted. As Space has
been reduced from the infinite to
the smallest inCOnceivable so has
matter been followed by science
until it is lost in inconceivable
minuteness. Chemistry teaches
that an atom is the smallest indi-
visible part of matter and that
two or more atoms form a mole
cule. While this is we'll to know
in the practice of chemistry, it
gives to the uninitIated a rather
faint idea in regard to atoms,which
in their minuteness escape the
physical senses. Say that hya-
cinth should be carried-merely
Carried-through large room.
That flower being so fragrant it
will leave its scent, i. e., fine par
ticles OF matter, disseminated all
through the air OF the room, and
so thoroughly pregnate the room
that some of them are bound to
reach the lining (papilIe) OF the
nOstrils, and we smell. Now the
hyacinth, giving off enough
atoms to scent the whole room,
lost, perceptibly, nothing Of its
substance. Vet countless must have
been the particles, although If all
of them were in one cluster they
would still escape the vision of the
strongest microscope known.
Matter may then be summed up
in short as that which occupies
space. 1t is indestructible and
eternal, hence uncreated. 1t is a
unity, and subject to the i'm.
mutable laws of being. This leads
us to the next in order of the
Prime Elements, namely. Energy