EDITORIAL. 



707 



aratioii of others until ultimately all food materials, beverages, condi- 

 ments, narcotics, etc., will be made by artificial processes instead of 

 derived from natural products. 



In connection with his studies of the thermal relations of respira- 

 tion and tissue building in plants and animals, Berthelot made 

 important contributions to thermo-chemistry. The bomb calorimeter, 

 which is now extensively used in the study of the fuel value or heats 

 of combustion of foods and feeding stuffs, is a product of his labors 

 in this direction. He also successfully applied the bomb calorimeter 

 in the development of a new method of elementary organic analysis. 

 Berthelot's more strictly agricultural contributions were very large 

 and of the highest order of importance. He was among the first to 

 demonstrate the fixation of free nitrogen in the soil by microscopic 

 organisms, independent of or in symbiosis with higher plants. He 

 has probably done more than any other modern scientist to explain 

 the true nature of the humus compounds of the soil. His Plant 

 and Agricultural Chemistry (Chhnie Vegetale et Agricole), the pub- 

 lication of which Avas begun in 1899, .and which consists of four 

 volumes containing about 2,000 pages, is a collection of the reports 

 of the work of the author, especially at the station for plant chem- 

 istry at Meudon, which appeared from time to time in the Annates de 

 Physique et Ghimie. The first volume deals with the fixation of 

 free nitrogen by soils and by plants, the second is devoted to general 

 studies on plant growth and the chemical action of light, the third 

 includes special studies on plant growth, and the fourth is devoted 

 to studies of cultivated soils and of wine. In recent years he had 

 made important and interesting contributions to the history of 

 chemistry. 



The varied and valuable character of Berthelot's contributions 

 to agricultural science will be evident to any one who will take the 

 trouble to consult the files of Annates de Physique et Chimie, Comptes 

 Pctidihs IlehdoiiKidaires des Seances de VAcademie des Sciences^ or 

 this journal. The latter will show references to some forty important 

 c(mtributions on agricultural subjects within the last fifteen years. 



Berthelot's eminence in science v/as recognized throughout the 

 world and he received many honors, political as well as scientific. He 

 was a life member of the French Senate, and had been successively 

 Inspector-General of Higher Education, Minister of Public Instruc- 

 tion, and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was a grand officer of the 

 Legion of Honor, and succeeded Pasteiir as permanent secretary of 

 the French Academy of Sciences. He was a member pf the Institute 

 of France, as well as of the most distinguished scientific societies of 

 other countries. 



27046— No. 8—07 m 2 



