E. J. Russell and E. H. Kichards 



547 



fast air current, a little soil being added in each case to ensure a good 

 infection, and the temperature being maintained at 26° C, the results 

 were: 



Nitrogen at start ... 

 Nitrogen at end 

 Loss of nitrogen 



„ ,, percentage 



Nitrate formed, per cent, of total 



nitroeen ... 



Liquid Urine 

 urine on glass 

 alone wool 



00179 00179 

 0-0178 0-0178 



Urine 



on 

 straw 



0-0246 0-0246 

 00253 0-0243 



Urine + faeces f straw 



0-0331 0-0315 

 00332 0-0313 



0-0001 

 nil 



17 



0-0001 

 nil 



nil 



+ -0007 

 + 3-1 



nil 



0-0003 + -0001 

 1-3 nil 



nil 



nil 



0-0002 

 nil 



nil 



/y/i/fo^/f/y 



/v/r/focfA 



com^ou/tix 



ATSTA/ir 



AT £m 



ArJTA/fr AT ^/^O U JTA/iT /fT E/tO 



Uf^/NC ' OfilM£ -¥ Sr/(AW+f/l£Ct5 SHUOC/C Tk/AV 



Fig. 10. Recovery of nitrogen under good aerobio conditions from (1) fermenting constituents 

 of farmyard manure artificially mixed, (2) bullock manure naturally made. 



As much as 17 % of the total nitrogen was nitrified in the first of 

 these experiments, but there was no loss of nitrogen (Fig. 10). 



These experiments show that no loss of nitrogen occurs from- urine, 

 straw or faeces, singly or mixed, under completely aerobic conditions: 

 we have already shown (p. 539) that it does not take place from dung. 

 The result is in agreement with Adeney's work^ on the decomposition 

 of albuminose, asparagine, etc., in dilute solutions saturated with oxygen, 

 where also no loss of nitrogen occurred. A simple oxidation hypothesis 

 is therefore ruled out. 



^ Adeney, Proc. Royal Irish Acad. 1905; also Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal, 

 6th Report, Appendix vi. 1908, pp. 13-20. 



Joum. of Agric. Sci. viii 36 



