SOME CONSEQUENCES OF GRAHAM'S WORK 613 



sciously — even when he wears a blue riband — and stimulants of 

 some kind seem to be necessary to life. Apparently the 

 germination of seeds is not a spontaneous process dependent 

 only on temperature and the presence of sufficient water — but is 

 initiated by the very minute quantities of ammonia and also by 

 the carbonic acid present in the soil. Recent observations have 

 shown that soil which has been heated moderately by steam is 

 far more fertile than unheated soil. Normally soil is full of 

 organisms, protozoa and bacteria ; the former live at the expense 

 of the latter but the latter manufacture ammonia and carbonic 

 acid out of the organic matter in the soil, so that if their numbers 

 are diminished, these hormones are formed in diminished amount. 

 Heating kills off both protozoa and bacteria but the spores of 

 the latter survive and a fresh race soon comes into existence and 

 the soil becomes richer in them than it was when the protozoa 

 were present. The increased production of ammonia and 

 carbonic acid thus entailed has the effect of stimulating plants 

 grown in the soil to increased growth. 



Probably if we ate food free from hormones it would be 

 indigestible — the hormones serve to liberate the enzymes which 

 determine the resolution of our food into simpler soluble materials 

 which can enter the circulation and be conveyed all over the 

 body. Not only is alcohol (in strict moderation) a digestive 

 stimulant but carbonic acid is also, so that those who drink soda 

 water are open to the reproach — if it be one — that they take 

 stimulants. The onion which the farm labourer eats with his 

 bread and cheese not only gives flavour to his meal but also 

 promotes its digestion — as the onion contains a glucoside and a 

 ferment which interact when brought together, giving rise to oil 

 of garlic — the cause of the characteristic onion smell — which is 

 an extraordinarily powerful stimulant. When these things are 

 better understood, there will be less nonsense talked about 

 stimulants — it will then be realised that we are all equally con- 

 cerned in their use and that what we have to avoid is their use 

 in excess, though it may be difficult for us to determine what 

 constitutes excess. In any case, we have learnt much during the 

 past few years that enables us to understand the manner in 

 which alcohol and other stimulants act and to regard their use 

 from a rational point of view instead of those of prejudice and 

 sentiment. Graham's work affords the basis from which such 

 problems must be considered. 



