ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN IO7 



If anything, there was less nitrogen recovered in the 

 dwarfed plants than there was in the seed sown. 



114. Ville's Results. — x\bout the same time Ville 

 carried on a series of experiments of like nature, but 

 in a different way, and arrived at just the opposite 

 conclusions. In short, his experiments indicated that 

 plants were capable of making liberal use of the free 

 nitrogen of the air for food purposes. The directly 

 opposite conclusions of Boussingault and Ville, led to 

 a great deal of controversy. The French Academy of 

 Science took up the question, and appointed a commis- 

 sion to review the work of Ville. The commission 

 consisted of six prominent scientists. They reported 

 that "M. Ville's conclusions are consistent with his 

 labor and results." 38 



115. Work of Lawes and Gilbert. — Lawes and 

 Gilbert, however, carried on such extensive exper- 

 iments under a varietv of conditions as to remove all 

 doubt regarding the question. Plants were grown in 

 sterilized soils, in prepared pumice stone, and in soils 

 with a limited and known quantity of nitrogen beyond 

 that contained in the seed. Different kinds of plants 

 were experimented w r ith. The work was carried on 

 with the utmost care and with apparatus so constructed 

 as to eliminate all controllable factors. The results in 

 the aggregate clearly indicate that plants, when acting in 

 a sterile medium, are unable to make use of the free nitro- 

 gen of the air for the production of organic matter. 38 



