





















Marcu 10, 1923] 
conditions which must be satisfied if free will is 
possible are not fulfilled, since causation is conceived 
as proceeding always from the material to the mental. 
It is not generally recognised, however, that the 
Vitalist theories, for which the ultimate reality is 
life or spirit, also preclude the possibility of free 
will. There are two difficulties in regard to the theory 
of a vital principle or spirit. (1) How can a homo- 
geneous unity differentiate itself into individual 
manifestations which are in some sense less real 
than itself, unless it contains in itself the principle 
of difference ab initio, that is to say, unless it is a 
plurality and not a unity ? (2) Assuming that this 
difficulty could be surmounted, how can the in- 
dividuals so formed act, desire, or will with a motive 
orce, other than that derived from the underlying 
ital principle? If the energy with which the 
desire is that of the vital principle, and the will wi 
which they suppress the desire, if they do suppress 
it, is also that of the vital principle, it follows that 
they are responsible neither for their desires nor for 
heir suppression. These difficulties cannot be solved 
on the basis of a reality which consists of an initial 
unity, but the problem of free will, if not actually 
soluble, takes an entirely different complexion if an 
nitial dualism or pluralism be assumed. 
Association of Economic Biologists, February 23.— 
Prof. E. B. Poulton, president, in the chair—Sir John 
R : Partial sterilisation of soil. The discovery 
that partial sterilisation increased the bacterial 
activity of soil was accidental, but when followed 
up it showed protozoa were present in the soil depress- 
ng bacterial numbers. It also showed that certain 
soil bacteria have the remarkable power of breaking 
e benzene ring, decomposing such unlikely sub- 
stances as benzene, toluene, naphthalene, phenol, 
c., and utilising them as food. Partial sterilisation 
ills or reduces disease organisms: here, however, 
heat is the only certain agent, the various chemical 
substances having specific properties rendering their 
peneral use difficult. A knowledge, however, of 
disease organisms to be suppressed and of the sub- 
stances toxic to those organisms, allow the costly 
heating pe to be superseded by the much cheaper 
hemical treatment. Finally, partial sterilisation 
roduces chemical changes in the soil, some of the 
products of which have important effects on the 
plant. Thus, heating soil produces something which 
stimulates root development. At present partial 
terilisation is used by the scientific worker to open 
up new fields of investigation, and by the practical 
Brower to obtain better crops as the result of the 
ncreased bacterial activity, the freedom from disease 
organisms, and the presence of the root-stimulating 
substances.—H. G. Thornton: The destruction of 
aromatic antiseptics by soil bacteria. Soil anti- 
eptics fall into two groups : those resembling toluene 
mode of action, and those resembling phenol. 
he second group produces a sudden and great 
ncrease in the bacterial numbers in the soil, which 
s only temporary and is not accompanied by any 
onsiderable increase in ammonia production. The 
ffect suggested that organisms fed on this group 
of compounds. Phenol, cresol, and naphthalene, 
when *added to ordinary manured soil, disappear 
apidly, due largely to a biological cause, and bacteria 
were found which in pure culture were able to derive 
e energy necessary for growth by decomposing 
e compounds. These organisms fell into three 
groups, non-motile resembling B. phloei, large rods 
producing clostridial sporangia, and short oval 
pseudomonads. The Pseudomonas group is of chief 
ee in producing phenol destruction in the 
soil. 

























NO. 2784, VOL. 111] 
NATURE 
347 

Paris. 
Academy of Sciences, February 12.—M. Albin 
Haller in the chair—C. Guichard: Two triple 
orthogonal systems which correspond in such a 
manner that the second tangent of one shall be 
the polar reciprocal of the third tangent of the other 
with respect to a linear complex.—A. Andant: The 
application of photography to the study of critical 
opalescence. The phenomenon was studied by means 
of a Hilger spectrograph, and the opacity measure- 
ments were made with a Fabry and Buisson micro- 
photometer. Curves are given showing the variation 
of opalescence in ethyl acetate with temperature 
and with the wave-length—M. de Broglie and J. 
Cabrera: The K absorption spectrum of element 72 
(celtium). Some specimens containing zirconium 
show a feeble band with wave-length \=o-1905A. 
From corresponding spectra of ytterbium (N=70) 
and lutecium (N=71) this line would belong to the 
element of atomic number 72.—Mlle. Iréne Curie: 
The distribution of length of the «-rays—L. J. 
Simon: Viscosity, neutralisation, and isomorphism. 
The gradual neutralisation of arsenic and phosphoric 
acids has been followed by viscosity measurements. 
NaH,PO, is indicated by a well-marked viscosity 
minimum: Na,PO, shows a viscosity maximum. 
The arsenate and phosphate viscosity curves are very 
similar.—H. Colin and Mlle. A. Chaudun: The 
diastatic hydrolysis of the glucosides of alcohols. 
Determination of the molecular weights. An experi- 
mental method of fixing the molecular weight of a 
glucoside by measuring the quantity of enzyme for 
which the glucose set free from a fixed weight of 
glucoside no longer increases with the amount of the 
enzyme. Measurementsof propyl, isopropyl, butyl, and 
isobutyl glucosides are given.—P. Job: The complex 
ions formed by silver salts and aqueous solutions of 
ethylenediamine.—Marcel Delépine: The potassium 
irido-dipyridino-dioxalates.—Marcel Godchot: The 
I : 2 cyclohexanediols and ortho-chloro-cyclohexanol. 
—Paul Pascal and M. Garnier: Two definite com- 
binations of nitrogen peroxide and camphor. The 
melting - point curve of camphor-nitrogen peroxide 
indicates two definite compounds, 5N.O, + 4CioH1,.0 
and 2N,0, +3C,;H,O0.—Charles Baron and Albert 
Verley: Contribution to the study of a national 
petrol. Study of the miscibility of alcohol (94-100 per 
cent.) with ordinary petrol.—F. Diénert: Contribution 
to the study of the circulation of water in the chalk. 
Results of experiments with fluorescin. Water 
circulation in the chalk takes place by fissures only 
and not by filtration. A detailed experimental 
study of each region is necessary to determine the 
course of the water underground.—Pierre Bonnet : 
The existences of limestones containing Ural Fusulina 
in southern Transcaucasia.—Raoul Blanchard: The 
terraces of glacial closing —Sabba Stefanescu: The 
contraction of the lower maxillary of mastodons and 
elephants.—Emile F. Terroine, A. Feuerbach, and E. 
Brenckmann: The unit of energy metabolism and 
the active mass of organisms.—Albert Lécaillon : 
The tendency to albinism in the hybrids of Dajila 
acuta and Anas boschas.—Jules Amar: The law of 
minimum in biology. 

Official Publications Received. 
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Year Book No. 21, 1922, Pp. 
ii+414. (Washington.) 
SeAsmnal act of the Director, United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey, to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year ended Jane 
80, 1922. Pp. iv+148+38 charts, (Washington : Government Printing 
Office.) 
