ful energy that are at present at our disposal, and at the same time endeavour to trace the ultimate sources of these supplies.
Natural Energies and their Sources.
196. Of energy in repose we have the following varieties:—(1.) The energy of fuel. (2.) That of food. (3.) That of a head of water. (4.) That which may be derived from the tides. (5.) The energy of chemical separation implied in native sulphur, native iron, &c.
Then, with regard to energy in action, we have mainly the following varieties:—
(1.) The energy of air in motion. (2.) That of water in motion.
Fuel.
197. Let us begin first with the energy implied in fuel. We can, of course, burn fuel, or cause it to combine with the oxygen of the air; and we are thereby provided with large quantities of heat of high temperature, by means of which we may not only warm ourselves and cook our food, but also drive our heat-engines, using it, in fact, as a source of mechanical power.
Fuel is of two varieties—wood and coal. Now, if we consider the origin of these we shall see that they are produced by the sun's rays. Certain of these rays, as we have already remarked (Art. 180), decompose carbonic acid in the leaves of plants, setting free the
