NITRIFICATION 



Specialization in all fields of modern endeavor is the keynote of 

 efficiency. Yet long before conceived of by man it had reached a 

 high degree of perfection among the bacteria. Some bacteria 

 hydrolize proteins; possibly others are more efficient in oxidizing 

 amino-acids with the formation of ammonia; still others pro- 

 duce ammonia from urea. Specialization amonff the miscroscopic 

 plants, however, reaches its highest state of perfection in nitrL 

 cation. One class of bacteria seize upon the ammonia as pro- 

 duced and quietly but efficiently transform it into nitrous acid, 

 Whereas a still different group oxidizes the nitrous acid into nitric 

 acid. lifince, nitrification is the oxidation of ammonia into 

 nitrous and then into nitric acid. 



It is sometimes used in a broader although less scientific sense 

 to designate the transformation of organic nitrogen into nitrates. 

 This latter use is broader and includes the work not only of the 

 nitrifying bacteria proper but also that of the ammonifying mi- 

 croorganisms. 



How marvelous! Tiny plants producing powerful nitric acid! 

 Why do they produce it? Is it for the same purpose that the 

 stomach of man produces hydrochloric acid? What are the con- 

 ditions under which it is produced and is it of economic value? 



Earliest Development. — It is to the art of war and not peace 

 , that we owe much of our early knowledge concerning nitrifica- 

 tion. Gunpowder is used in war. It made its first important ap- 

 pearance in Europe about the fourteenth century, and since the six- 

 teenth it has played an all-important part in both war and peace. 

 Gunpowder is a mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter. Sul- 

 fur and charcoal are plentiful, but where shall the warring 

 nations obtain their saltpeter? To meet this demand the govern- 



