18 



Living and Dead Matter and 



organism can use it was clear a priori that the yield 

 in assimilation must correspond to the quantity of oxi- 

 dized nitrogen. It turned out that an approximately 

 constant ratio exists between the values of assimi- 

 lated carbon and those of oxidized nitrogen." This is 

 illustrated by the results of various experiments as 

 shown in Table I. 



TABLE I 



It is obvious that I part of assimilated carbon 

 corresponds to about 35.4 parts oxidized nitrogen or 

 96 parts of nitrous acid. 



These results of Winogradsky were confirmed in very 

 careful experiments by E. Godlewski, Sr. r 



The nitrites are further oxidized by another kind of 

 micro-organisms into nitrates and they also can be 

 raised without organic material. 



Winogradsky had already previously discovered that 



1 Godlewski, E., Anz. d. Akad. d. Wissersch. in Krakau, 1892, 408; 

 1895, 178- 



