SHEFFIELD SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL 141 



uall}^ into a proper course. . . . Many thanks to you for your 

 kindness in noticing me to Dr. El\\"yn. I hope I may yet live 

 to return you the favor in some way. 



As the result of a proposition made to him by Mr. 

 J. B. Lawes of Rothamsted, England, in 1857, Dr. 

 Pugii undertook a new investigation of the question 

 at that time so vigorously debated in France between 

 Boussingault and Ville, as to the assimilability of free 

 nitrogen by plants. This work occupied two years, 

 and seemingly conclusive results Avere reached which 

 showed the assertions of Ville to be unfounded. Most 

 interesting is Dr. Pugh's description, in a letter to 

 Professor Johnson, of the Rothamsted Laboratory, 

 then the only place in the world where so costly an 

 investigation could have found such generous support. 



Harpenden, Herts, Aug. 2nd, /57. 



My dear Johnson, — The contemplation of a train of past 

 events carried my mind back, this morning, to the time that 

 I broke in upon your meditations for the first time at No. 1678 

 West Strasse. . . . With no part of my course am I better 

 pleased than with that upon this Anglo-Saxon sand heap. 

 But as you are a student of Liebig, it would hardly be safe 

 to say much in favor of this antipodal climate. You will see 

 at the head of my letter a picture of my present laboratory. 

 It was built at a cost of 1000£ by the farmers of England as 

 a testimonial to IMr. Lawes. They gave him his choice, a 

 Laboratory or its value of Plate. His choice speaks for the 

 man quite as much as do libelous statements about his motives, 

 and he now expends from 1000 to 1500£ a year in making 

 investigations that have no more bearing upon his super- 

 phosphate manure than they have upon a mountain in the 

 moon. There are perhaps people who, incapable of a generous 



