548 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



place; in that in the dark the ammonia, after some time, had 

 entirely disappeared, and nitric acid had taken its place. In 

 the unseeded bottles no nitric acid at all appeared. The the- 

 ory -would imply that the bottle in which all the ammonia 

 had been oxidized should contain the organized ferment; if 

 so, then this solution ought to be able to " seed " the other. 

 The trial proved that such was actually the case. The solu- 

 tion which before the " seeding " had remained unaltered, af- 

 terwards showed nitric acid. The conclusions of Schloessing 

 and Miintz were again confirmed, with the addition of the 

 fact that darkness seemed to be essential to the nitrifying 

 process (Jour. Ch. JSoc, 1878, i., 44). 



Professor Storer on the Ferment Theory of Nitrification. 



In the course of some experiments undertaken to test the 

 action of certain oxidizing agents on ammonium compounds, 

 Professor Storer has obtained a number of facts confirmatory 

 of this theory. In a series of bottles holding various mate- 

 rials, three contained extract of peat, and showed evidences 

 of nitrification, while the others did not. But when the peat 

 had been previously boiled with hot muriatic acid, no oxida- 

 tion appeared. This accords with the supposition that the 

 treatment with hot acid had destroyed the ferment germs 

 which the peat had harbored, and which had caused the nitri- 

 fication (Am. Jour. Sc, 1878, xv.,444). 



Further Experiments by Schloessing and Miintz. 



Since heating kills fermenting organisms, it ought to stop 

 nitrification. In continuing their investigations, Schloessing 

 and Miintz found that the nitrifying power of vegetable earth 

 is destroyed by heating an hour at 100 C. = 212 Fahr. ; and 

 that earth so heated and exposed to air purified by ignition 

 does not nitrify, but that when a little vegetable mould is 

 added nitrification recommences. It is stopped also by boil- 

 ing. "When it has been stopped by heating or by chloro- 

 form, oxidation still goes on ( Comptes Mendus, Ixxxv., 1018). 



What Kinds of Organisms Cause Nitrification 1 



Pasteur has shown that moulds and mycoderms cause oxi- 

 dation of organic matter. Schloessing and Miintz, continuing 

 their investigations, have tried the action of Pencillium glau- 



