﻿202 
  

  

  Prof. 
  B. 
  Moore 
  and 
  Mr. 
  T. 
  A. 
  Webster. 
  

  

  atmosphere 
  and 
  utilising 
  the 
  energy 
  of 
  sunlight. 
  The 
  source 
  of 
  the 
  inorganic 
  

   nitrogen, 
  which 
  in 
  the 
  second 
  is 
  likewise 
  built 
  into 
  organic 
  forms 
  in 
  the 
  

   amino-acids 
  and 
  proteins, 
  is 
  more 
  obscure, 
  and 
  has 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  150 
  years 
  

   led 
  to 
  much 
  disputation. 
  In 
  the 
  present 
  and 
  succeeding 
  papers 
  evidence 
  

   will 
  be 
  adduced 
  that 
  the 
  source 
  of 
  the 
  nitrogen 
  utilised 
  by 
  the 
  plant 
  does 
  not 
  

   lie 
  in 
  the 
  soil 
  (although 
  a 
  luxury 
  or 
  luxus 
  supply 
  may 
  be 
  given 
  from 
  the 
  soil), 
  

   but 
  in 
  the 
  air, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  reaction 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  atmospheric 
  nitrogen 
  and 
  

   oxygen 
  are 
  made 
  reactive 
  is 
  a 
  photo-synthetic 
  one, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  energy 
  of 
  

   sunlight 
  is 
  absorbed 
  and 
  converted 
  into 
  chemical 
  form 
  as 
  nitrites 
  in 
  the 
  

   green 
  cell. 
  

  

  This 
  view 
  places 
  these 
  two 
  processes 
  of 
  carbon 
  and 
  nitrogen 
  assimilation 
  

   upon 
  the 
  same 
  basis, 
  and 
  make 
  them 
  coeval 
  in 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  evolution 
  ; 
  this, 
  

   as 
  will 
  presently 
  be 
  pointed 
  out, 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  case, 
  in 
  order 
  that 
  any 
  

   living 
  organism 
  could 
  ever 
  have 
  appeared 
  upon 
  the 
  earth. 
  

  

  The 
  importance 
  of 
  this 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  fixation 
  of 
  nitrogen 
  has 
  induced 
  

   much 
  study 
  of 
  it 
  and 
  led 
  to 
  many 
  polemics, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  interesting 
  how 
  

   invariably 
  the 
  weight 
  of 
  scientific 
  authority 
  has 
  been 
  upon 
  the 
  wrong 
  side. 
  

   Eminent 
  men, 
  supporting 
  error 
  unconsciously 
  with 
  negative 
  experiments, 
  

   have 
  stated 
  that 
  the 
  nitrogen 
  was 
  obtained 
  from 
  the 
  soil 
  and 
  never 
  by 
  the 
  

   leaves 
  from 
  the 
  air 
  ; 
  less-known 
  men, 
  backing 
  their 
  statements 
  by 
  positive 
  

   proofs, 
  were 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  side, 
  but 
  the 
  eminence 
  and 
  authority 
  of 
  their 
  rivals 
  

   was 
  too 
  much 
  for 
  them, 
  and 
  so 
  it 
  comes 
  about 
  that 
  in 
  this 
  matter 
  we 
  still 
  

   almost 
  universally 
  believe 
  and 
  teach 
  " 
  the 
  thing 
  that 
  is 
  not." 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  Priestley 
  himself, 
  the 
  discoverer 
  of 
  the 
  like 
  process 
  for 
  carbon 
  

   assimilation, 
  who 
  in 
  1771 
  first 
  asserted 
  that 
  plants 
  were 
  able 
  to 
  absorb 
  the 
  

   nitrogen 
  of 
  the 
  air, 
  and 
  Ingenhousz 
  shortly 
  after 
  endorsed 
  this 
  statement. 
  

   But 
  this 
  earlier 
  view 
  was 
  contradicted, 
  first 
  by 
  de 
  Saussure, 
  and 
  later 
  by 
  

   Woodhouse, 
  Senebier, 
  and 
  then 
  by 
  the 
  eminent 
  agricultural 
  chemist, 
  

   Boussingault, 
  in 
  France, 
  and 
  the 
  no 
  less 
  eminent 
  Lawes, 
  in 
  England. 
  

  

  Ville, 
  in 
  France, 
  stoutly 
  maintained 
  that 
  plants 
  absorb 
  nitrogen 
  from 
  the 
  

   air, 
  and 
  his 
  findings 
  were 
  confirmed 
  by 
  a 
  specially 
  appointed 
  Committee 
  of 
  

   the 
  Academie 
  des 
  Sciences. 
  Boussingault 
  repeated 
  his 
  own 
  experiments 
  

   with 
  the 
  utmost 
  care 
  and 
  every 
  precaution, 
  and 
  again 
  obtained 
  negative 
  

   results. 
  This 
  was 
  later 
  confirmed 
  in 
  an 
  elaborate 
  series 
  of 
  researches 
  made 
  

   by 
  Lawes 
  at 
  Bothamsted 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  eminence 
  and 
  great 
  authority 
  of 
  these 
  

   two 
  distinguished 
  men 
  settled 
  the 
  controversy 
  in 
  their 
  favour 
  for 
  a 
  gene- 
  

   ration. 
  

  

  Experiments 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  ourselves 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  

   investigation, 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  higher 
  plants 
  (mono- 
  and 
  di- 
  

   cotyledons) 
  in 
  sand 
  and 
  water 
  cultures, 
  upon 
  media 
  free 
  from 
  compounds 
  of 
  

  

  