| RefNo | EC/1941/18 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XV, 18; A56438 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Thornton, Sir Henry Gerard: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Description | Citation typed |
| Citation | Head of the Bacteriology Department, Rothamsted Experimental Station. Distinguished for investigations on Soil Bacteria. He devised the first successful method using microscope counts for enumerating the bacterial cells in soil, and showed that the numbers are far greater than was supposed and fluctuate continuously. He has considerably extended our knowledge of legume module bacteria, especially in their relation to the host plant. He showed that legume roots secrete a substance that stimulates the nodule bacteria, and investigated the action and properties of the bacterial secretions which in turn promote deformed growth of the root-hairs prior to infection. Disturbances in the plant's nutrition were shown to make the nodule bacteria parasitic. He has studied their life history and motility in soil and based on this work a method for inoculating lucerne, now widely used in agricultural. |
| Proposers | E J Russell; A D Hall; J B Farmer; D Prain; E J Butler; J C G Ledingham; V H Blackman; F T Brooks; W W C Topley; R R Gates; R A Fisher; Arthur W Hill |
| AccessStatus | Open |
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Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA2460 | Thornton; Sir; Henry Gerard (1892 - 1977) | 1892 - 1977 |