7rcTIX1xP

Lesson X: The Riddle of the Universe.437
heat, and it “melts” and becomes a liquid, and if a still higher temperature
be applied it will pass off into a “gas” and become Aeriform. This is true of
all the elements of Matter, the degree of heat regulating the form. Heat is
known to science as a form of force, the degree depending on the rate of its
vibrations, so that the change in the apparent form of matter is the result of
the playing upon it of Energy or Force (the Second Manifestation). Certain
gases combining in certain proportions produce liquids, for instance, Water
is composed of two parts of Hydrogen gas, combined with one part of
Oxygen gas. And certain other Aeriform substances are composed of other
“gases,” for instance Air is composed of Oxygen and Nitrogen, combined in
certain proportions. Of course, both Water and Air may, and do, hold other
substances in solution, but the elements named are the only ones necessary,
and the matter held in solution may be subtracted without impairing the
virtue and nature of the solvent. The same form of matter may assume
apparently different phases, for instance, the rocks composing the earth’s
surface crumble, disintegrate and are resolved into “earth,” “dust,” “dirt,” etc.
Then the plant-seed, sprouting and sending forth roots and shoots, draws
upon this “dirt,” taking from it certain elements needed for its welfare and
life, transmuting these elements into its own substance, cells, etc., and so thus
that that was once a part of a rock, is now a part of a plant. Then comes along
Man, who eats the plant, and its matter is transformed into bone, muscle,
blood, and even brain of the man. If an ox eats the plant, and man eats
the ox, the result is the same. The element in the rock is now the element
in the man. And throughout all this change, although the form, shape, and
character of the matter has changed, not a single atom of the original
matter has been destroyed. Constant change and infinite combinations, but
eternal existence is what physical science claims for the atom of matter. That
which was once an atom of the rock, and is now an atom of matter in your
body, will, in time, be a part of the plant or animal life of some other form
of creature, and will always be so, and has always been so, according to
science. Science seeing this apparent eternity of Matter, naturally jumps to