138 NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF SOILS 



matter and the development of non-plastic organic colloids 

 will do mueh to alleviate such conditions. 



75. Eesume. — The attempt to explain natural phe- 

 nomena from the standpoint of erystalloidal chemistry alone 

 is a failure. Nature has chosen to reveal herself, largely in 

 colloidal form. Such a condition of matter is the rule and 

 not the exception. Whether the sky, the ocean, or the land 

 is dealt with, the larger part of the natural phenomena are 

 plausibly explained only through knowledge of colloidal chem- 

 istry. 



In general, the more complex the material ^nd the more 

 intricate the reactions to which it is subjected, the more likely 

 it is that the colloidal state will result. Proteid materials, for 

 example, whether in plants or animals, are almost always col- 

 loidal. It is to be expected, therefore, that the soil with its 

 complicated organic and inorganic components and its rapid 

 and complex reactions should generate colloidal matter and 

 that material in such a state should play a prominent part 

 in soil and plant activities. 



