. The highlands of south-west Surrey; a geographical study in sand and clay . situa-tions where the beech will not grow. Hence thewide distribution of the oak in the Weald, andthe scarcity there of the beech. Some remarkableinstances of the growth of oak and beech side byside can be seen in the beautiful lane by thechurch in Bramshott, leading to Waggoners Wells,in which, in one case, a vigorous young beech hasentwined its very roots among those of the oak,pushing through them for a grasp of the soil, witha tenacity that is marvellous to see, and which isfully exposed in the high sandstone ban
. The highlands of south-west Surrey; a geographical study in sand and clay . situa-tions where the beech will not grow. Hence thewide distribution of the oak in the Weald, andthe scarcity there of the beech. Some remarkableinstances of the growth of oak and beech side byside can be seen in the beautiful lane by thechurch in Bramshott, leading to Waggoners Wells,in which, in one case, a vigorous young beech hasentwined its very roots among those of the oak,pushing through them for a grasp of the soil, witha tenacity that is marvellous to see, and which isfully exposed in the high sandstone banks, erodedby rain to the very roots of the trees. The different behaviour of these three soils,clay, sand, and peat, with regard to water andair is explained by their physical structure, inwhich they differ as markedly as in other is lamellar, and when hardened becomesshaly ; sand is granular, and peat fibrous. Another essential difference that has to be keptin mind when studying these sandy commons andboggy swamps is that, whilst all soils contain multi- THE PART PLAYED BY BACTERIA 65 tudes of bacteria, sandy soil has the least. Thepart that bacteria play in fitting the soil for plantlife is important, since their action is often verybeneficial, and they increase the richness of thesoil. Peaty soil, or any soil containing free humousacids, is almost deficient in them. The botanist proves, by means of water-culture,that though many plants show preferences forcertain definite food materials, yet there are tenessential elements of plant food, each of which isabsolutely indispensable to the life of the are oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon,sulphur, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, cal-cium, and iron. Of these, nine are taken in by theroot from the soil, as compounds, and carbonfrom the air, in its gaseous form of carbon is now proved that under certain conditionsplants are able to utilize free nitrogen, which isan exception to the rule th
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