The St. Johns herald., 1900-07-14
INCREASING ENERGY.
Scientific Opinion of the Earth's
 Productive Possibilities.
The Noted Electrician, NfkOIa Tesla. Discusses the Problem of Fer tilizatiOn by Means of aa-
 ture's FOrees-

'The Problem of Increasing Human
 Energy" with specia, reference to the
 harnessing of the suns energy, is dis
 cussed in the Century, by N.koIa Tesla
 "ro increase materially the PrOGue-
 tivity of the soil, it must be more effec-
 lively fertilized by artificial means
 The question of food production re-
 solves itself, then, into the question
 how best to fertilize the soil. What ir
 is that made the soil is still mystery.
 To explain it's origin is probabiy Cquiv-
 alent to explaining the origin of fife
 itself. The rocks, disintegrated by
 moisture and heat aLd:wind and weath-
 CT, were in themselves not capable of
 maintaining life. Some unexplained
 condition arose, and some new pli5ei-
 pie came into effect, and the first layer
 capable O. sustaining low organisms,
 like mosses, was formed. These, by
 their life and death, added more of the
 hfe-sustaining quality to the soil and
 higher organisms could then subslst, and so on and on, until at last highly
 developed plont and anima. life could flourish. but though the theories are, even now. not in agreement as to how
 fertilization is effected, it is fact, OnBy
 loo we'll ascertained. that the soil can
 not indefinitely sustain life, ard that
 some way must be founCI to supply it with the substances which have E5sn abstracted from it by the plants The chief and most valuable among these substances are compounds of ni- trOgen, and the chief production of these is, therefore, the key for the so- lution of the a.l-important foodsprob- lem. Our atmosphere contains an in exhaustible supply of nitrogen, and could we but oxidize it and produce these compounds, an incalculabIe ben eft fer mankind would follow.
 Long ago this idea took powerful hold on the imagination of scientific men, but an efficient means for accom- Plishing this result could not be de vised. The problem was rendered ex tremely Gificult by the extraordinary inertness of the nitrogen, which re- fuses to combine even with oxygen. But here electricity comes to our aid; the dormant afinities of the elements are awakened by an electric current of the proper qualities.
 "ln the manufacture of nitrogen compounds by this method, of course every possible means bearing upon the intensity of tfis action and the eff ciency of the process will be taken ad- vantage of, and, besides, special ar engagements will be provided for the fxation of the compounds formed, GS they are generally unstable. the nitro gen becoming again inert after a little lapse of time. Steam is simple aLdief- fective means for fixing permanently the compounds. The result illustrated makes it practicable to OxiCEze the at nitrogen in unlimited quan- titles, merely by the use Of cheap me power and simple elCctriea, apparatus. In this manner many com pounds of nitrogen may be manUfae- tured all over the world at a small cost, and in any desired amount. and by means of these compounds the soil can be fertilized and it's productivcresS increased. An G3uEGGTCs of cheap and, healthful food, not aTti- fcial, but such as we are accustomed to, may thus be obtaIned. This new and inexhaustib.e source of food sup ply will be of incalculab;e benefit tc mankind, for it will enormously con tribute to the increase of the human mass, and thus add immensely 10 hu- man energy. Soon, hope. the world will see the beginning If an industry s,A x1~ haaf- be in importance next to that of iron"