Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/854

834 show that in all cases the nitrogen first assumes the form of ammonia, and that the latter is, strictly speaking, the only substance capable of being nitrified. In the case of urea this has been observed to lead to some interesting results. Thus, if nitrification is induced in a solution of urea containing no salifiable base, the process stops when one half the nitrogen has been oxidized, ammonium nitrate being produced. If the concentration exceeds a certain limit no nitrification occurs, the alkalinity produced when the urea is converted into ammonium carbonate being sufficient to prevent the action of the ferment. If, however, gypsum be present, the well-known double decomposition into calcium carbonate and ammonium sulphate takes place, and, the latter having a neutral reaction, nitrification proceeds unhindered.

An interesting and hitherto unexplained fact which was noticed in Warrington's experiments is, that sometimes nitrous and sometimes nitric acid was produced, and at times both in the same solution. The experiments thus far published suggest the possibility of the existence of two ferments, a nitric and a nitrous, but on this branch of the subject we may expect more light when investigations now in progress at Rothamsted are made public.

Some investigations into the distribution of the nitric ferment in natural soil are summarized by Warrington as follows: "I am disposed to conclude that in our clay soils the nitrifying organism is not uniformly distributed much below nine inches from the surface. On much slighter grounds it may perhaps be assumed that the organism is sparsely distributed down to eighteen inches, or, possibly, somewhat farther. At depths of from two feet to eight feet there is no trustworthy evidence to show that the clay contains the nitrifying organism. It is, however, probable that the organism may occur in the natural channels which penetrate the subsoil at a greater depth than in the solid clay. In the case of sandy soils we may probably assume that the organism will be found at a lower depth than in clays."



ENERAL NEWTON has commended himself as one who is entitled to acknowledgment for useful and distinguished service in two fields. As a member of one of the branches of the military establishment he did active duty as an army engineer and a commander of men, acquitting himself with honor on every occasion, during the whole period of the war of the rebellion. In peaceful times, his career has been within his own preferred field of work, where theoretical knowledge and practical skill in application and execution were equally in demand, and were united in carrying out the important enterprises that were intrusted to him. In his works as an 