320 • abstracts: chemistry 



AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.— A beneficial organic constituent 

 of soils: Creatinine. Bulletin 83, Bureau of Soils. Introduction: 

 Importance of beneficial constituents. O. Schreiner. I. The 

 isolation of creatinine from soils. E. C. Shorey. II. The origin 

 of creatinine in soils. M. X. Sullivan. III. The effect of creatin- 

 ine on growth and absorption. J. J. Skinner. 

 In this bulletin, the presence in soils of a constituent decidedly benefi- 

 cial to growing crops is emphasized. This soil constituent is creatinine, 

 a nitrogenous compound. The first paper deals with the isolation, iden- 

 tification, and chemical properties of the compound. The relation of 

 creatinine to other organic compounds is pointed out and observations 

 are made regarding the possible connection between creatinine and other 

 organic soil constituents. Creatinine is a frequently occurring and prob- 

 ably a normal constituent of soils in amounts comparable to the quanti- 

 ties of nitrates normally present. Like the nitrates, it is probably a fluc- 

 tuating quantity. The presence of creatinine in stable manure and cow- 

 pea vines is also pointed out. In the second paper, the occurrence of crea- 

 tinine in plants and cropped soil is shown. Of samples of the same soil, 

 planted and unplanted, kept side by side in the greenhouse, the planted 

 soil gave larger amounts of creatinine. Creatinine was also found- in the 

 water in which wheat seedlings had grown, and was demonstrated for 

 the first time in plants, wheat seeds, wheat seedlings, and wheat bran, in 

 seeds of rye, clover, and alfalfa, in mature cowpea vines, and in potatoes. 

 In the third paper it is shown that creatinine and creatine have beneficial 

 effects on plant growth. Plants grown in solution cultures containing 

 only potash and phosphate have shown increased growth when creatin- 

 ine or creatine is added. When large amounts of nitrates are present in 

 the solution, creatinine and creatine produce no appreciable effect on 

 the growth. In the presence of these compounds, the plants absorb 

 less nitrate, while the absorption of potash and phosphate is normal. It 

 appears that creatinine and creatine can replace the nitrate in solution 

 cultures. M. X. Sullivan. 



AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.— Organic compounds and fertilizer 



salts. - Bulletin Bureau of Soils 77. Oswald Schreiner and J. J. 



Skinner. 



The action of fertilizer salts in restraining the harmful influence of 



certain organic compounds was studied as well as the effect of the 



compounds on absorption. The effect of cumarin, vanillin and quinone 



was tested on wheat in soil and water cultures. The culture solutions 



