THE NEW EARTH 



Science sought out the meaning of these 

 tubercles, — why were they formed on these 

 particular plants, what purpose did they serve, 

 were they essential, or inimical, to the plants? 

 Investigations showed that the growths were 

 not abnormal but were necessary, and that the 

 plants which did not have them were less 

 thrifty than those which did. More than this, 

 it was found that the growths were the home 

 of a tiny organism, a beneficent bacterium 

 which, working in some way, yet shrouded in 

 mystery, induced this enlargement upon the 

 plant roots and made the bunch its home. Still 

 further investigation showed that the billions 

 upon billions of bacteria who dwelt in this 

 little round home on the root of the plant, 

 were actively at work for man. They per- 

 formed their work, it was found, with the 

 utmost skill and accuracy, leaving nothing to 

 chance or luck, but doing all under a systematic, 

 judicious law. 



The task of these bacteria is to take the 

 nitrogen from the mighty reservoir of the air, 

 this four-fifths portion of the entire atmos- 

 phere, and, down in their tiny laboratories in 

 their homes beneath the surface of the dark 



34 



