SCIENCE 



■''"'lal trtui*^ 



Friday, August 24, 1917 



CONTENTS 



The Importance of Mold Action in Soils: Dk. 

 P. E. Bkown 171 



The TJ. S. Biological Station at Beaufort : Dr. 

 Samuel F. Hildebrand 775 



Philippe de Vilmorin: Dk. Paul Popenoe. . . . 178 



Scientific Events: — 



Iron Ore and Fig Iron; Research in Aero- 

 nautics 179 



Scientific Notes and News 182 



University and Educational Nexus 182 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Teaching Chemistry and Teaching Chemists: 

 Harry A. Curtis. Another Phase of Aca- 

 demic Freedom: Professor Ernest Sha-w 

 Reynolds 182 



Quotations: — 

 War Bread 185 



Scientific Books: — 



Keyser on the Human Worth of Sigorous 

 ThinUng: Professor G. A. Miller 186 



Equations as Statements about Things: Dr. 

 David L. Webster 187 



Special Articles: — 



On the Swelling and "Solution" of Pro- 

 tein in Polybasic Acids and their Salts: 

 Professor Martin H. Fischer, Marlvn O. 

 Hooker, Martin Benzinger, Ward D. 

 CoFPMAN. Mites attacUng Orchard and 

 Field Crops in Utah: R. W. Doane. The 

 Occurrence of Mannite in Silage and its 

 Possible Utilization in the Manufacture of 

 Explosives: Arthur W. Dox, G. P. Plai- 

 SANCE 189 



The North Carolina Academy of Science: Dr. 

 E. W. GUDGER 193 



MSS. Intended for publication 

 review should be sent to Professo 

 On-HudsOD, N. Y. 



and boots, etc.. Intended for 

 ■ J. lIcKeen Cattell, Garrison- 



THE IMPORTANCE OF MOLD ACTION 

 IN SOILS 1 



The development of soil bacteriology 

 during the last decade lias been truly re- 

 markable. Many fundamental problems 

 connected with the occurrence and activi- 

 ties of bacteria in soils have been attacked 

 and considerable progress has been made 

 toward their solution. While much work 

 still remains to be done along this line, re- 

 sults already secured show, in a rather defi- 

 nite way, the importance of bacterial ac- 

 tion in soils from the fertility standpoint. 



According to recent investigations, how- 

 ever, bacteria are not the only microorgan- 

 isms which exert an influence on soil fer- 

 tility. Molds, protozoa and alga have been 

 found quite commonly, and evidently their 

 action, especially that of molds, must also 

 be considered in determining the crop-pro- 

 ducing power of soils. The subject of 

 microorganic life in the soil has, therefore, 

 been considerably broadened and compli- 

 cated. 



The occurrence of molds in soils has been 

 noted many times in the past in connection 

 with bacteriological and other studies and 

 various investigations have dealt in a more 

 or less general way with the action of these 

 organisms. It is only within the last year, 

 however, that an attempt has been made in 

 a logical and comprehensive manner to 

 study the occurrence, distribution and ac- 

 tivities of molds in soils, and to solve some 

 of the fundamental problems which arise in 

 connection with the growth of these organ- 

 isms. The results secured at the New Jer- 



1 Paper presented at the meeting of the Society 

 of American Bacteriologists, at New Haven, Conn., 

 December 27, 1916. 



