42 
CONDENSATION OF NITROGEN. 
gave the same result, as did likewise pure cane and milk 
sugar. The quantity of ammonia disengaged from the 
latter was considerable. 
On the 10th of May a solution of pure milk-sugar in dis- 
tilled water was placed in a glass-stoppered bottle, so that 
seven-eighths of the bottle remained filled with atmospheric 
air. A similar experiment was made with pure cane-sugar. 
Both exhibited, after a few days, mould plants, which in- 
creased rapidly, especially in the milk-sugar. On the 1st 
of August they were removed from the solution, submitted 
to dry distillation, and the distillate tested for ammonia ; it 
was found to contain a considerable quantity. 
Now, since the circumstances in which the soil is placed 
are perfectly identical with those to which, in the above ex- 
periments, the charcoal (and humic acid) was exposed, 
there must actually take place in the soil an incessant for- 
mation of ammonia from the nitrogen of the atmosphere. 
The form of the mould plants from milk-sugar (few are 
developed from cane-sugar) is closely allied to that of My- 
coderma Vini. These plants are said to make place for 
others ; and if the experiment be carried on sufficiently long, 
one generation follows the other. The organization of plants 
of the simplest kind consists in the formation of cellulose on 
the one hand, and in proteine on the other. These two 
substances are absolutely necessary for the formation of the 
simplest cell plants. Exhausted with acetic acid, the plant 
developed from milk-sugar yields a liquid, in which pro- 
teine may be distinctly proved by means of ferrocyanide of 
potassium. The solution of the milk-sugar had remained 
perfectly clear in this experiment, and the plants formed in 
this clear solution in great number. No gases were dis- 
engaged. The cellulose therefore necessarily originates 
from the milk-sugar by mere separation of water. 
The origin of the proteine combined with the cellulose can- 
not be clearly proved. 
These experiments may be multiplied in the most simple 
