476 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



HENRI MOISSAN 



attention to problems of vegetable 

 chemistry, discovering the methods by 

 which free nitrogen can be fixed under 

 the influence of electrical discharge 

 and the part played by the microbes 

 of the soil in the fixation of nitrogen. 

 For these researches a laboratory was 

 built for him at Meudon. At the same 



time Berthelot published a series of 

 important works on the history of 

 chemistry and of alchemy, showing 

 wide scholarship and archeological re- 

 search. He also published a series of 

 works on the philosophy of science, of 

 ethics and of education. 



Berthelot was active in public af- 



