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Biological Transmutations and Modern Physicsby
Louis Kervran
Maloine S.A. Publisher, Paris (1982)
ISBN 2-224-00831-7[Transcribed from an unpublished manuscript of the English translation -- a few paragraphs are unreadable in my photocopy of the manuscript, and some sections are missing.]
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I ~ Experimental Proofs of the Existence of the Biological Transmutation Phenomenon
Chapter 2 ~ Experiments Proving Biological Transmutation
(1) Historical summary ~ (2) A few experiments made after 1974 ~ (3) Research by J. E. Zundel ~ (4) Study of the variation of calcium in oat seedlings during germination in twice-distilled water ~ (5) Comments on a study by Zundel on the increase in calcium in oats during germination in twice distilled water ~ (6) Comments on some experiments ~ (7) Reservations on some analytical techniquesChapter 3 ~ Additional Information on Physical Phytochemistry During Germination
(1) Summary of the germinating phases of grain cereals ~ (2) Average curve of the increase in calcium of oats after germinationChapter 4 ~ Photosynthesis
(1) Effects of artificial lighting in photosynthesis for the study of transmutation by cereal plants ~ (2) Photosynthesis limited to traditional aspects ~ (3) Photosynthesis cycle of Hatch and SlackChapter 5 ~ The Devil’s Advocate
Chapter 6 ~ Problems Related to Phosphorus, Complexity of Phytoanalysis
Chapter 7~ How to Correctly Duplicate a Typical Experiment in Biological Transmutations
(1) Study of calcium variation in cultivated oats ~ (2) Biological conditions ~ (3) ConclusionsChapter 8 [ Missing ]~ Mass Spectrometer Analysis
(1) ConclusionPart II ~ Explanation of the Phenomena By Modern Physics, Theoretical Study
Chapter 1 ~ Explanations From The Atomic Particle Theory
Chapter 2 ~ A Few Examples Of Theories Proposed By Physicists
(1) Process developed by a US Army scientific department ~ (2) L. Romani’s contribution ~ (3) Theory proposed by A. Dubrov ~ (4) A few interesting points of view expressed by physicists ~ (5) O. Costa de Beauregard’s theoryChapter 3 ~ Addenda To The Theoretical Study Of Low Energy Interactions Applied To Particular Transmutations
(1) Effective section ~ (2) Isotopic variations ~ (3) Nature operates at a finer level than man ~ (4) Changes in our understanding of some aspects of physics and weakness of this understanding ~ (5) A few arguments against a unified theory for electromagnetic and weak interactions ~ (6) Intermediary vector bosonsAppendix 1 [ Missing ] ~ Geology
Appendix II [ Missing ] ~ An Extrapolation: (1) Crying wolf ~ (2) One must rethink the concept of energy in living matter ~ (3) Non-electromagnetic energies in living matter ~ (4) Parapsychology and hypothalamus ~ (5) Germination procedure for oat seeds with no external addition of calcium
Appendix III [ MIssing ]~ Weinberg Theory Summary: A few definitions
Bibliography [Missing ]
Introduction
The present work consists of two distinctly separate parts.
Firstly, I cite some new experiments, completed since the appearance of my book which was submitted for printing in 1974 and which was published in 1975: Biological Evidence of Low Energy Transmutations (Maloine Publications, Paris, 1975). That book was concerned with a comprehensive view of a phenomenon which calls for precise analysis. This led me to limit research to a single aspect: to show that, however precisely one studies the germination and cultivation of a plant, comparative analysis of the seed and of the whole plant coming from a seed as nearly identical as possible, without the possibility of having an external contribution from some mineral, show that there is, in a very significant way, a "creation of matter", "appearance" of an element, thus an atomic "transmutation", which is confirmed by various methods of analysis utilizing the most sensitive, most specific, and most modern techniques of physics.
I limited myself to studying variations in the amount of calcium without studying what element or elements could have given rise to this variation by this atomic modification. Such a research project could be very complex indeed because there could be several origins as a function of the species of vegetation (or animals, higher or lower, even microbial), confirmed experimentally: the calcium could come from potassium, from magnesium, or from silicon, by either separate or simultaneous reactions. So we have there a completely different point of view. I wished to limit the subject so as to produce irrefutable evidence that there is indeed in life forms a phenomenon which too many people have wished to deny for untenable reasons. I will demonstrate it and limit the study to the variation of calcium in a single cultured species, oats, in order to firmly show that such experiments can be reproduced, that the conclusions result from hundreds of experiments and thousands of analyses and are amply demonstrated. Accordingly, we are concerned here with an objective contribution [apport] and not with a subjective deduction.
Next is shown an example of explanation placing itself in the framework of the most recent atomic theory, that of "neutral currents" already sketched in the last chapter of my work of 1975 cited previously which included a "Terminal Note" of 1974 from the great French physicist of international stature, Oliver Costa de Beauregard, theory confirmed by a specialist in elementary particles, Bernard d’Espagnat, director of the Laboratory of Particle Physics of Paris. We are concerned here with a very young branch of nuclear physics which is evolving very rapidly and I cannot even dream of following its most recent discoveries, out-of-date before being printed. I will make a very condensed review of the situation in this science toward the beginning of 1981, keeping in mind that the authors of basic principles of this theory received the Nobel Prize for Physics at the end of 1979. That is to say that this aspect of weak energy interactions is now adopted by International Science. This section seemed indispensable to me because too many physicists, and along with them scientists from various other disciplines, consider transmutations only a phenomenon which recapitulates strong interactions. Blinded by the atomic bomb, they have not thought that there were also low energy transmutations, from which they produce a stubborn and sterile opposition to my work.
Here I give only the current status of a theory that is rapidly evolving. It will probably be superceded in a few years, or more or less revised, but it is necessary to show that it is not rejected by nuclear physics avant-garde, that if I have been correct too soon (for them), nevertheless the transmutation of certain elements by a biological action is in no way mystical; it is an explicable reality in conformance with a theory which is now very classical and official and still ignored by too many scientists. Here they will find an incentive to study more deeply this new entry into particle physics, unfortunately not possible to lay out in detail because new facts are turning up all the time: in 1980 did not one come, does it not seem, to produce evidence that neutrinos (basic particles of weak energy transmutations) have weight when all calculations prior to 1980 were conducted under the hypothesis of a null mass?
I will show, then, that:
(1) transmutations by living matter and with weak energy, do indeed exist; and
(2) that they fall within the framework of classic theory of weak energy interactions.
Part I
Experimental Demonstrations of the Existence of the Phenomenon of Biological Transmutation
"It is absolutely impossible to prove a priori the impossibility of a fact" (Bergson).
General Overview
Let us start out by considering a statement by Claude Bernard which will always be timely: "The experimental method consists in revising theorems and not in preserving them. Theory must adopt to nature but nature need not adapt to theory". Pasteur, on his death bed, confirmed to Renon: "Bernard was correct when he said: 'When one encounters a fact which conflicts with a dominant theory, one must accept the fact and abandon the theory, even though the latter is supported by influential people and widely accepted'.
Experience has taught me just how close to truth was Claude Bernard. To talk about the transmutation of matter in a biological environment seemed to be a risky bet for certain theoreticians. In practice, however, it is certain that this phenomenon had appeared more or less clearly to a number of observers at every intellectual level. Many professionals in various disciplines have expressed this openly. It seems that the irrefutable facts were there known to everyone, but refused acknowledgment by certain persons because of their timidity. Or perhaps, having indeed seen the facts, they still did not dare say so".
Thus, between the two world wars of the 20th century, a Swiss agronomist, Pfeiffer, who emigrated to the USA, called attention to the fact that a gardener perceived that his land lacked calcium when his lawns were covered with daisies (or with buttercups). It is obvious to everyone. The turf is composed primarily of rye-grass, a calcareous plant --- one which consumes calcium --- which is therefore an indispensable component of the soil in order for it to grow well. By contrast, daisies and buttercups, etc., are calcifugous plants: their development is not satisfactory unless the soil is acid, almost completely without calcium. Having had the curiosity to analyze the ashes of the daisies, however, Pfeiffer discovered that these plants, which fled from calcarious soil , were rich in calcium. Could it be that a balance is established, something like a symbiosis between rye-grass and daisy, precisely because the daisy produced in the soil, by developing and dying, the calcium needed for a good growth of rye-grass? He did not push his research any further, simply accepting the assumption that in this soil, from which the calcareous component was sucked up by the rye-grass carried off after having mowed the lawn, there was a creation of calcium by the daisies. That was scarcely orthodox and he did not dare state that position openly --- to protect his career, perhaps?
A discovery of the same order may be credited to horticulturists who were intensively growing heather land flowers for resale. The calcifugous plants (azaleas, etc.) did very well in a "good" heather land for several years. Then, little by little, the culture declined and it was necessary to abandon plantations of this sort or to renovate the arable soil. In horticulture we find eminent engineers and superior technicians who thought that the solution to their disappointments could only be realized by chemical analysis of their land. Accordingly, they discovered that this land, originally acid, had become basic, or occasionally neutral, clearly richer in calcareous substance, even though taking into consideration that they were growing calcifugous plants they had certainly avoided laying on any calcareous fertilizer whatsoever. Where did this undesirable element come from?
Did they visualize an elevating of calcium from the subsoil by capillarity? But certain cultivation, from all evidence, was not on a calcareous subsoil. To get to the bottom of this they removed the stratum of arable soil right up to the subjacent layer of impermeable clay, laid out some sheets of plastic on this layer to insure that there would be no reestablishment of calcareous substance by any sort of unfortunate migration, vertical or horizontal, and then covered the plastic over again with a layer of good heather land soil which had been carefully analyzed.
After a few years there was a repetition of the preceding observations: without bringing in any calcareous substance the soil was enriched in calcium. Having become acquainted with my studies they asked me at a conference to explain to them the mechanism by which I thought: in my opinion there had been production of calcium by the rootlets remaining with each uprooting and accordingly absorbed by osmosis by the roots. What other explanation can there be?
But it does not suffice to deduce and affirm. It must be demonstrated scientifically by systematic and rigorous experiments. I did that. One will find in the present work irrefutable demonstrations that certain calcifugous plants produce clear evidence of calcium in clearly measurable quantities, absolutely without any possibility of error, excluding the possibility of a change in solar radioactivity. Agronomists who know how to observe and whose judgment is not obliterated by obsolete dogma clearly admitted this since it was a phenomenon well known to their profession for some decades, although still formulated with too much timidity.
I should also cite results of analyses given by semi-official Tables of Nutrients, often referred to under the name of Tables of L. Randoin, accounting services of the National Ministry of Education. They do not make precise distinctions for different varieties; they only give averages for genera and species and sometimes the analyses --- without precise methods --- have been borrowed by different authors. Lets take the case of the soybean. It gives the composition of the seed. We give here only the percentage of calcium, the element which will mainly be studied in this book.
It gives: 280 mg per 100 gr of material. In soya sprouts, it indicates for Ca: 48 mg per 100 gr
These values are given without precise description of cultivation and methods of analysis (all chemical at this time). Accordingly, they cannot be compared without some calculations. The seed is given with a percentage of water of 7.5 gr per 100 gr of material, while in the shoots there were 86 gr of water per 100 gr of material. From this fact, proceeding from equivalent dryness (that of the seed being the starting point), the percentage of Ca, which is 48 mg (for 86 gr water) would be 554 mg in lieu of 280 in the seed, for 7.5 gr of water. The increase in the sprouts then, is in the neighborhood of 96%, which is clearly in the order of magnitude of the increase of Ca in germinated oats, as we will see further on.
So then, did the plants only accomplish a chemical exchange? Or did they accomplish alchemy? This word generated fear and was rejected with horror by scientists subjugated by concepts of physics much too recently established to be lightly set aside.
Too many physicists believed devoutly in laws which they considered to be general, universal, and applicable under all circumstances. The evidence of facts which could not be explained by their theories, which could not even come close to disturbing the pattern of their professional commitments.
For them it was actually profane to think that a transmutation could be accomplished by a living organism. This was evidence of feeble-mindedness... Indeed, people were obliged to admit that transmutation phenomena could be produce din nature and in the second third of the 20th century we even succeeded in reproducing radioactive transmutations (1935). At the same time, non-radioactive transmutations had been artificially produced since 1919. Then it was in 1945 that the atomic bomb had a formidable impact on the thinking of physicists, blocking all critical thinking in far too many of them.
As a result of my previous studies, first published in 1936, I was officially appointed at the national level, to follow closely the creation of nuclear physics essentially to promote security measures to prevent biological effects of atomic radiations. For a period of 20 years, up to my retirement, I retained these functions, periodically reconfirmed by council orders. Thus, I was at the interface between physics and biology before the emergence of atomic energy. As a matter of fact, I was present at the birth of nuclear physics and was able to follow all its developments. Because of my official duties no laboratory classified secret was closed to me.
In 1936 the author published the first results of his experimental research showing that the human body does not follow Ohm’s law, that its resistance varies as an inverse function of voltage applied, which explains values which are not independent of voltage output from the ohmmeters employed (for example, see Outlines of Industrial Medicine by Prof Simonin, Maloine Publ., Paris)
These researches were interrupted by the second world war, and in 1940, the author was arrested for Resistance, incarcerated at Fort Montluc in Lyon, and found guilty without appeal. Having served his time, he participated in setting up the Southeast Resistance. In 1944 he was appointed Prefect by the general assembly of the Committees of Liberation of Savoy, and then given the duties of Regional Prefect of Savoy-Dauphine. He received the Medal of the Resistance. Shortly thereafter he re-entered his original cadre as director in charge of scientific functions at Paris for a period of 20 years.
That is why I assessed the value of what was obtained with certainty in this discipline but also the limits of our knowledge in accordance with the trend of the times. It seemed to me that, primarily in biology, but also in physics, unverified data were being assumed by inference [extrapolation], even though they were contradicted by certain observations which oriented me along channels which were being ignored completely by most atomic physicists who were unable to question their own understanding.
"You should discuss the matter with your peers", they once said to me. But who were my peers? As a function of my duties I was also named "director of conferences" at the University of Paris. That was, in fact, the official designation, as represented in the Dean’s teaching directories. Accordingly, were my pers these tens of thousands of teachers on our faculties? Could I put myself in the same structure as tens of thousands of professors of higher education when I had a unique function in France, recognized by an official appointment (and even several inter-ministry groups representing all the ministries scientifically interested in atomic energy, by one title or another, also appointed me to represent them in the inter-ministerial commissions which were obliged to take regulatory actions in this domain requiring expertise in both biology and atomic physics (Atomic Population Protection, Public Health, etc.)
Indeed I knew, having been a member of the examining committee at the doctorate level (before the title was degraded by creating the "third level doctorate") how impossible it is to avoid that in a huge corps of tens of thousands of members some diplomas slide by that are really below any standard. If they are, in the overall, about one quarter of mediocre, about one-half average, and one quarter good from which one can select out a true elite, several working together --- I had no practical way of deciding who was a member of this elite group, and, in any case, it was not up to me to make such a necessarily subjective and arbitrary decision. I make no claim to be universal but I would recognize who in the national scene had an "international value" and that my duties enabled me to consult, moreover, if need be, on any detail, in order to achieve a synthesis, which is becoming more and more difficult to realize because of intensified specialization which no longer leaves a place for any but the "analysts", and rejects the "synthesists".
In 1950 I began to publish the first results of my research showing that living matter, both animals and plants, accomplished transmutations of elements. These transmutations were observed in man, animals, microorganisms and plants. They were transmutations which, from all evidence, had nothing in common with high energy transmutations which are the only ones which the majority of atomic physicists are inclined to accept and the only interactions which scientists in general accept without any reservations. However, this did not block official acknowledgment of the value of my work and in 1964 I received recognition with a Legion of Honor ribbon.
I has experimentally produced irrefutable evidence of the existence of facts which could not be explained solely in terms of "chemical" biology. I had evidence of phenomena of non-radioactive atomic physics which could not be explained by classical atomic physics of this time. But I had established that the only thing which could account for the observed results was a nuclear physics which remained to be more precisely developed and which I was the first to express in clearly stated formulae of nuclear reactions.
(1) "Life Is Nothing But Chemistry" ~
To a greater and greater extent, throughout the 19th century and then more fully in the 20th century we have been taught that all biological phenomena depend upon chemical reactions. I certainly do not deny the truth of this obvious situation. But that is only part of the truth. If one desires to reduce everything to chemistry one is led into serious errors with respect to human, animal and vegetal biology.
In advanced agricultural schools and faculties of science and medicine one still sees it advanced with laughable self-confidence that, as an example, water is always water; there is only one formula for water: H2O (which should be expressed less rigidly, for we can have H3O4, etc, and the diversity of snow crystals shows that... but I do not wish to deal with chemistry). Take some grapes which have been slowly dried out, then soak them in pure water which bears a trace of mineral or organic matter. Everyone knows that grapes thus reconstituted do not taste the same as and have other properties than fresh grapes. Likewise, chemical analysis shows that composition with respect to carbohydrates, lipids and proteins differs between fresh and dried grapes and that these differences are not simply a matter of water evaporation. All nutritionists who are not blinded by dogma recognize this and take it into account.
Otherwise stated, simplified chemistry fails to account for modifications of molecular structure resulting from a physical phenomenon such as gradual evaporation. But that is nothing more than an aspect which can be easily explained, for example, by classic procedures of stereochemistry. In my publications and in conferences I have called attention to the transformation that the organism forces on carbohydrates to generate lipids (one can fatter a pig on nothing but potatoes which are rich in carbohydrates but poor in lipids). In a diet nothing will suppress lipids for people who have a tendency to fatten on carbohydrates. It appears that their organism provokes this transformation into lipids as a result of some metabolic disturbance which may have a number of glandular or alimentary causes such as a magnesium deficit, etc. One does not cure the effects by forgetting the cause. And this is true throughout biology. We should remember campaigns against food substances rich in cholesterol, a normal product of physiological catabolism, If they are not provided in the diet the organism will, nevertheless, fabricate them. The unbalance is to be discovered in the process of elimination, not in the process of absorption. It is not without interest to recall that if certain individuals get fat on white bread it is because this bread is poor in magnesium due to a sifting procedure which is much too gross, all the "rich" part of the grain having been eliminated to be resold separately at very high prices. But few simple formulae have survived in dietetics, alas.
And, likewise, how many simple formulae have survived with physiologists? For the majority of them --- and the guilty are teachers, for the most part, particularly chemists --- a carbohydrate is a tertiary composition where the hydrogen, oxygen and carbon are clearly defied constituents. For example, for decades they have accepted without reservation that pure saccharose was always saccharose, that there was one possible formula, confirmed by all methods of chemical analysis. Accordingly, its biochemical properties are always the same. But this is not true and if the chemical formula remains clearly the same, nevertheless its biological properties differ in accordance with the origin of these saccharose substances. Thus we can distinguish a saccharose from a beet, which does not have the same isotopic composition as can sugar. Nature makes use of several methods to separate isotopes, to modify the isotopic composition, and in critical proportions, making a lie out of the simplistic conviction of too many physicists for whom the isotopic composition of an element is obviously constant. In the bibliography at the end of this publication one may refer to the works of Bricout referring to various authors. We see that it is now a common practice for the Service des Fraudes and customs office to use mass spectrometry to reveal if a saccharose comes from beets or sugar cane, because the import quotas differ as do the prices.
The confusion has persisted for a long time because, still too often, classic instruction only takes into account the Calvin cycle in considering the function of chlorophyll. But this is the cycle utilized by the beet and most dicots and too many publications still ignore the cycle of Hatch and Slack, used in photosynthesis of sugar cane and the majority of monocots. They have understood better that by adding tap water to dried fruit or to concentrated fruit juice one cannot obtain the qualities of fresh fruit and fresh juice. The water in a fresh fruit is not the water found in rain, in an irrigation ditch, or drawn from the soil; it is a different compound at the subatomic, neutronic level. The number of neutrons differs as a function of the origin of water but the number of protons and, accordingly the number of electrons remains the same and it is therefore impossible for chemistry to differentiate them. I will return to this later on because it has various implications which many chemists, atomic physicists, agriculturalists and nutritionists have not taken into consideration. This situation will be considered more carefully with respect to the functioning of chlorophyll, a mechanism which is fundamental to this differentiation in isotopic behavior. However, I will not undertake a detailed study of that because the isotopic separation provoked by the metabolism of the plant is not a transmutation. In a way it is a kinematic operation between heavy and lighter isotopes. Heavy hydrogen, or deuterium, is approximately twice as heavy as ordinary hydrogen which has no neutron as opposed to one neutron in deuterium. The speed of the reactions has a substantial effect and Ponticorvo, in a thesis written in 1958, cited by Bricout (cf. reference section) calls attention to a reaction which leads to a 70% diminution of deuterium which, from all evidence, is very significant and cannot go unnoticed in a spectrometer.
This property of living matter is often not taken into consideration by physicists who undertake analyses with an a priori assumption of isotopic constancy or, on the other hand, by biologists who use radioactive tracers and generalize conclusions from data which are only observed under very limited circumstances. A more precise study is definitely called for, particularly in view of the fact that a radioactive isotope destroys cellules and thus opens a pathway which modifies the behavior of a stable isotope. I don’t mean to say that we should abandon using radioactive tracers, but we would be well advised to be cautious in making judgments based on their repeated use. Belief in constancy of isotopic composition is an idea too easily adopted without a critical attitude and it sometimes leads to errors.
(2) Lavoisier’s Law ~
The preceding comments show why it is wise to be cautious about general application of Lavoisier’s laws in biology. In no way do I reject these chemical laws, but let us leave them in their place. The statement that "Nothing is lost, nothing is created" actually is just a play on words creating a certain impression, Reality is more complex. Chemistry is indispensable in order to understand molecular transformations, which were the only sort of transformation which could be demonstrated in Lavoisier’s time; but at the atomic level they become inadequate even for those who take the position that in living matter there is nothing but chemistry, since phenomena occur there which can only be studied in terms of physics; electrical effects, pressure, heat, movements, etc. This is true even if one takes the position that chemistry is simply a branch of physics and is explained in terms of displacement of electrons. The present study will show that living matter employs energies which are not electromagnetic, that nature also operates right into the heart of the atomic nucleus, which has nothing to do with Lavoisier’s laws. Lavoisier was completely ignorant of this aspect of living matter, even though his contemporary, the great French scholar Vauquelin, suspected it. However, he was a century in advance of physics and had no practical way to study the phenomenon.
Even in our time there still exist pseudo-scientists (by profession) who take the position: I do not doubt your analyses, but if you no longer find an element, that is because it has gone off somewhere else where you have not searched for it. Because, for them, nothing is lost.. certainly, I could not analyze out an entire human body at one fell swoop. Studies made on calves were subject to the same criticism: the analyses could not have been carried out on the entire calf. And so I worked on lobsters, but in this case the reproof was that I had only used 8 animals. I carried out my studies on 48 mice and for various reasons the animals were totally dissolved in acid. This is a complex operation because one risks the formation of soaps, by saponification of fats; there are difficulties in dissolution of the keratin of the hair, etc. I have described these various experiment sin previous publications. The complexity of the procedures gave too much opportunity for criticism for there is nobody more deaf than he who does not wish to hear. And so I decided to proceed only with relatively simple operations, working only on plants and finally limiting myself to the study of variation of one single element, calcium, in a single plant species, oats, under hydroponic culture, without involvement of a complex culture medium, using only synthetic water (hydrogen and oxygen) or double distilled water. Water demineralized on ion exchangers was not always sufficiently pure. Or it might be necessary to distill permuted water.
In this process I found myself in cooperation with Zundel and his studies will be cited further along.
Working with tens of thousands of seeds I could now talk only in statistical terms, in terms of averages, where any individual difference between seeds more or less vigorously disappeared before the law of large numbers. These analyses, applying to hundreds of cases, lead to proof that one finds, in a calcifugous plant, a great deal more calcium in the plant than there is in the seed from which it came. By incomprehensible quibbling certain chemists have extracted from this only a proof that they were incapable of making a good analysis. For them the discrepancies in calcium composition derived from the fact that in the seed there were undetectable "hidden forms" which became identifiable after germination, after mineralization by oxidation. Now the "organic" form in the seed could not be discovered by titration. Whence, evidently, an augmentation of Ca in the plant. Now other chemists equally incompetent, equally dogmatic, explained the contrary, taking the position that in germination insoluble forms were produced, which could not be measured by titration, and that most "seriously" of all. What a pity for their students.
Now variations have been discovered not only with respect to augmentations. For certain elements in a plant species, in extra pure water, with acid pH, there can be reductions. I will take the opportunity to deal precisely with these aspects of analytic methods.
Certain people suggested to me that I call this book my Testament", considering my present age. But, in science, I take the position that there is no such thing as a "last will". I would be presumptuous of me to think for one instant that anybody’s scientific contribution can be regarded as advice to be followed in the future. Science itself is in full charge. In no way can we anticipate when the results of scientific progress will be replaced, when we will have attained the asymptote of the curve of intellectual growth. That’s why, when in 1979 I thought to write the present publication, I could have entitled it "Twenty Years Later", a title which would scarcely relate to me! It would more appropriately be my "swan song".
More modestly, then, you will find in the following pages a tally of more than 20 years of work done by different researchers who became interested in my first publications showing that there were in the metabolism of living matter, both animal and vegetable, some aberrant phenomena which could not be explained simply in chemical terms. Only through nuclear physics could we come to understand such findings resulting from irrefutable investigations and I used to advance the statement: there are, in that which lives, certain transmutations, which, to abbreviate and to avoid confusion, I called "biological transmutations", avoiding use of such expressions as fusion and fission, which called to mind atomic bombs, since we were certainly concerned here with a phenomenon of nuclear physics totally different from high energy interactions, which are the only ones which the majority of classical physicists were studying.
I explained this in my first article, which appeared in 1960, and even more fully in my first book, Biological Transmutations, which was issued by Maloine in Paris (1962). This publication at the end of the same year, was translated and published in Japan, at the instigation of G. Ohsawa, then some ten other publications followed in France and abroad with so many reprintings that, in 1980, somewhat more than 100,000 copies had been issued. The "biological transmutations" had, accordingly, made their mark despite certain oppositions which are inevitable when one upsets accepted ideas, taught traditionally, sacrosanct, and distributed via all channels: books, reviews, television, radio, where certain people had established their position such that they could no longer recognize their error, which is not scientific. But I received numerous positive supports from eminent scientists, without loss of professional position, above and beyond dogmatism, who determined that my studies were unimpeachable, and I was able to accomplish numerous publications, conferences, etc., in France and abroad in order to subject my material to discussion. For we had recognized and accepted data. It remained to explain the phenomenon; and any explanation is more or less subjective and dependent upon knowledge which is more or less accepted at the time.
In any case, after 20 years, Science has evolved. That’s why the present publication seemed to me to be necessary. I do not intend to disavow my first publications, but rather to clarify, to abstract certain prospective notions which have not been realized, which will not arrive, perhaps, until later on. It is also intended to set aside certain over-extended representations destined to concretize a phenomenon produced in our cell structure at an imperceptible level. To explain is to attempt to force facts into the framework of theories which the majority of scientists accept at a particular time. But these theories have evolved in 20 years. Accordingly there are representations to be reconsidered and it is not excluded that we may definitely throw out some comparisons which I made about 1960 and shortly thereafter. I will show as an example that very recent studies recall certain representations which I proposed some time ago.
Certainly, the facts and the experiments remain and retain their value for all time, except for experimental error which was not detectable at the time. It is the explanation of these facts which has evolved.
That led me not to follow through on certain reprintings. For, in 1974, a sharp turning point in theoretical nuclear physics led me to rethink the entire theoretical portion of my studies and that will be seen in greater detail in the second section. For this reason I ask the readers of the present publication to disregard explanations of my books in review articles or sound recordings, etc., prior to 1974. In a sense, they no longer have anything but historic interest. But I do not totally discard certain analogies which can be useful and are not all absolutely false. Certain recent advances in exploration of the atom show that some notions that I expressed in the early 1960s seem to be confirmed but cannot be generalized in a simplistic manner. This infinitely small world escapes out senses in a way which renders it unwise to bend it into a set of images structured for our senses on a multi-molecular scale. Only my book Preuves en Biologie de Transmutations a Faible Energie (first edition 1975) will be reprinted. That publication contains a general perspective of the principal experiments which enabled me to conclude that there are effective transmutations of elements by biological mechanisms and what are the extensive applications that they have found in medicine, in agriculture, and in dietetics. The present work scarcely touches on applications, constantly changing, and attempts primarily to make available to scientists the irrefutable indications showing that such transmutations do certainly exist and that we now have an explanation in theoretical physics which permits their accommodation in classical studies. Therefore this is a complement to the 1975 publication which will be kept up to date in future printings.
I wanted the present book to adapt to meet the most up-to-date theories of nuclear physics and also to be an inventory of various researches specially undertaken and irrefutable in terms of scientific method. I wish to set forth certain material involving details which must be carefully considered because experience has shown me that well-known specialists were not capable of obtaining transmutations placed within the framework of theories which were unfamiliar to them. Due to some sort of professional defiance or to ignorance resulting from over-specialization, but in any case, unfortunately, most difficult to get rid of, they cannot see the decisive role of this or that biological situation. Routinely they are led into errors because they wish to transpose the concepts they hold to a new science which demands that they set up certain practices and theories which are completely out of line with those that they have always employed.
Not everyone can set aside the concepts into which they have been formed (or deformed) ever since their earliest schooling. I will sow a few examples, but it is obviously impossible to address every aspect of this new problem which leads to calling in question an array of notions which are regarded as classic. One must reflect shift one’s wisdom, avoid automatic reaction. For all of us, when we do not understand we must wait for the moment when we will understand.
The problem studied here remains in conformity with known laws of physics. The reason that we have studied transmutations for the most part among biological channels for the past 20 years is because this milieu gives a relatively easy means of producing them and then reproducing them. And this is accomplished under very precise conditions which preclude generalizing in a naïve and infantile manner. The energy action which precipitates the transmutation demands a combination of certain specific conditions; it does not appear in a seed kept dry but does show up after a few days in a seed placed in a condition permitting germination. There is then produced a synthesis of enzymes which modify the spatial structure, the stereochemistry of certain proteins constituting ADN, ATP, etc. But this structural modification is just a preliminary stage. It leads to exponential multiplication of the capture cross-section (effective capture cross section) of molecules with cosmic neutrinos in this ocean of particles in which we bathe.
We are not dealing here with some mysterious property which calls in some sort of vital principle more or less well formulated from another point of view. I have, in fact, been able to show that certain minerals, in combinations in metamorphic rocks, so-called because experimentation and observation have shown that they can change their form: these minerals can show transmutations in line with the same theories --- however, on a different scale, because stereochemical modifications which occurred with the application of temperature and pressure which "fluidifies" the mineral makes atom displacement easier and these rocks, having come under the influence of cosmic neutrinos, modify their atomic composition both qualitatively and quantitatively. In my 1975 book I dealt with research done under a pressure of 50 kilobars and a temperature at the 850° C level. And so we also have applications in the study of mineralogy and I will come back to that briefly, from another point of view, because eminent geologists have been able to advance explanations of phenomena which were completely incomprehensible in terms of classical theories.
Chapter 2Experiments Establishing With Certainty Certain Biological Transmutations
(1) Condensed History ~
I refer the reader, for more details, to my basic book of 1975: Proof in Biology of Weak Energy Transmutations (Maloine, Paris). None of my prior publications will be printed again in full.
In the title of this book I did not retain the expression "biological transmutations" and replaced it, as in other publications, after 1963, by the more general expression "weak energy transmutations" because I was fully convinced, since my first publications, that this phenomenon demonstrated by numerous experiments was more general than simply biological and I referred to it in my second publication of 1963 by the term "Natural Transmutations". In the present volume, in order that one not lose sight of this general aspect, I have summarized in one chapter a few applications in geology, but it is a very limited presentation of several studies appearing since 1975. However, it is not my intention to take applications into account here, and it would be good to have a book expressly aimed at studying the impact of weak energy physics specifically on mineralogy to get a view of everything available in this domain. I will refer to several publications, one of which has more than 90 tightly written large pages, and there are some publications which have appeared abroad. It would certainly be desirable to distribute a synthesis of the essential experimental studies along these lines because one must have very costly materials for this sort of investigation while in biology any laboratory can do research without great cost.
However, here I wish to convince people that transmutations of elements can take place with low energy in living matter under conditions which will be made precise for one must never say that a phenomenon is general, that it occurs everywhere all the time. What I wish to show is that my researches are a consequence of putting to work weak energy interactions, and not a consequence of high energy interactions which have been the only sort of interactions that most physicists have considered since 1974. I save the study of physics for the second part. This is fundamental because too many scientists have their minds twisted by physicists subjugated by the atomic bomb which led too many of them for some 30 years (a whole generation unfortunately prolonged in distortion by those who continued teaching) to deny the existence of and fail to see the possibility of weak energy transmutations. However, the majority of truly great physicists did not lose sight of natural weak energy transmutations, and I will come back to that, but these weak energy transmutations are a phenomenon which is no less striking than atomic explosions and the contribution of these truly great physicists was more modest than that of the majority.
When I discovered these biological transmutations and decided to publish my conclusions, I was not thinking of integrating these findings with what was known (actually very little) concerning weak energy interactions. More to the point, I did not know that very early experiments, conducted over a century and a half, had demonstrated the creation of certain elements and the disappearance of other elements (or, more precisely, the augmentation of some and diminution of others). Biological observations in animals and plants were numerous and varied, but for very "humane" reasons they had been kept under the blanket and were relegated to trivial publications which people were reluctant to quote and therefore they remained practically unnoticed.
But millions of people, via my publications, widely disseminated reviews, by radio and by television (and because my official functions made silence impossible) learned about my studies and among them were those who were aware of previous experiments and several called these previous experiments to my attention. I should recall, for example, that the major popular science review Science et Vie (Science and Life) devoted several articles to this from 1960 to 1963 in some 350,000 copies. Europe No. 1 (June 1961) distributed my 40-minute interview with Jacques Mousseau and, previously, the Belgian television 819 devoted about a quarter of an hour to these matters in December 1960.
If the above mentioned publications remained in the dark for the most part it was because they were premature in the sense that they were incomprehensible and too many people deny that which is not understood even though the facts are indisputable. However, I advanced an explanation by a mechanism which had nothing in it which was mysterious for the 20th century because it was in some ways parallel to fusions and fissions of the new atomic physics born with the century.
Lacking an accepted scientific explanation these publications were often rejected out of hand on the ground that they resulted from experimental error. Furthermore, it was impossible because it would be a return to alchemy. That had been definitively thrown out by science of the 19th century. One could no longer go backwards. It was absolutely necessary, however, to proceed to the evidence of the turn of the 20th century.
The discovery of radioactivity demonstrated in a striking manner that transmutation of elements was impossible to deny. One could study it better when, in 1919, the first forced transmutation was achieved while in 1935, there was a successful artificial production of new radioactive substances.
In 1963, the atomic physics professor of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers made available to me photocopies of several dozens of pages in which Freundler, a Sorbonne professor, condensed, in a 1928 book, studies conducted for more than 10 years on the production of iodine by algae. He is the first, to my knowledge, who saw that there was a connection between the tin of the granite support and the iodine in these plants. He had sensed the type of reaction that I indicated but he had not been able to convince anyone of this. He had come too soon and his calculations had a weak point. The balance of charges and masses was defective because the neutron was unknown at that time, not having been discovered until 1932. But nobody else, even after 1932, dreamed of reconsidering the problem which was nevertheless cross-checked, as it were, by converging studies. I touched on the work of Freundler to a certain extent in my book of 1963 on natural transmutations, which, after two editions, was not printed again.
Readers of books failed to see a good many lines which were rediscovered and took on new dimensions when those readers saw my first publications. It was in just this way that a friend of mine called my attention to a passage of Flaubert in Bouvard et Pecuchet, a publication which challenged the science of the 1880 era in a series of critical dialogs. One chapter was written by Flaubert under the inspiration of Regnault, a physicist well known to schoolboys because of his Thermodynamic Tables, specific heat, etc., and by Giraudin, an agronomist of world-wide reputation. Flaubert emphasized that the great French chemist Vauquelin (a contemporary of Lavoisier but more open-minded than the latter) had demonstrated that a chicken fed exclusively on oats laid in its eggs and in its droppings more than four times as much "lime" as it had ingested with the oats which had been analyzed beforehand. He provided a balance sheet for the "lime", which was what we would today call calcium carbonate, and also that for "lime phosphate" because the balance sheet for phosphorus was also modified. But the spectacular finding was the augmentation of calcium. There was, according to Vauquelin, a creation of matter. His memoire had been published 19 January 1799. He tried to see what could have been reduced in order to give all this "lime". But in those times people did not know about the atom and he did not conceive of certain possible origins. I was able to obtain the original of this remarkable piece of work and discovered that they knew very well how to make precise analyses of calcium at that time. But Vauquelin knew how to isolate and discover certain "simple substances" and he was a very talented and clever experimenter. Furthermore, in those days it was the main boss himself who made the analyses and not a laboratory assistant. In my 1975 book I devoted 10 pages to presenting this remarkable study which, in my opinion, constituted the oldest and one of the most serious experiments before the atomic era on biological transmutations, an expression which had not yet been formulated in the 19ht century and was much less available in the 18th century. I did not mention this test in my first publication because I did not discover it until about 10 years later.
That indicates that Lavoisier had produced an absolute law which was true within the framework of chemistry but in chemistry only. Vauquelin showed that there was something else in living matter and that the problem is more complex than in the chemistry of non-living material. This shows the great historical importance of this 1799 publication.
I also refer to my 1975 book for the very important studies published from 1875 to 1883 in Germany by Von Herzeele. He did numerous experiments on a great many species of seed germinated in a dust-free situation with distilled water containing a mixture of two salts. One of the salts always contained a constant anion and a cation which varied with each experiment. In other experiments this was reversed: constant cation, variable anion. We see that this investigator anticipated the phenomenon of transmutation and was studying the correlation between the augmentation of one element and the diminution of another. But at that time atomic structures were not known. He was then about 20 years before his time. However, the results that he obtained are very important since, after Vaquelin, we have a second stage, conducted scientifically, a valuable example of researches on variations of certain elements as a function of metabolism in the germination and growth of various plants. Certainly, Von Herzeele (and several others before him, not knowing the structure of atoms, completed certain experiments which had no significance, but some of his experiments are valid. In addition, being a chemist, that certain reactions are only possible as a function of the pH of the culture medium and could not be conducted except in line with the needs of plants which could be either calcifugous or calcium dependent. In the same way nitrogen needs are not the same for legumes as they are for grasses, etc. The chemist did not see certain aspects of plant biology. This was also the case 80 years later for P. Baranger, who was head of the laboratory of organic chemistry at the Ecole Polytechnique de Paris and did not see certain aspects of physical chemistry such as the importance of photosynthesis and its relation to the incident light spectrum and the materials through which the light passed. He was a doctor of sciences and had done a thesis in chemistry.
FIGURE 1 ~ Photocopy of Nobel Prize nomination
FIGURE 2 ~ Photocopy of Nobel Prize nomination, cont'd.
Chapter 3Several Examples Of Experiments Subsequent To 1974
I will limit this chapter to just those experiments done on oats, referring to my book of 1975 for various experiments on humans, animals (such as mice, lobsters, etc), or with microorganisms, I will briefly comment, in passing, on various results published here and there concerning carbon, silicon, phosphorus, manganese, copper, etc., as they relate to plants. I will not attempt to present in detail various complementary experiments on oats or other plants to study variations of elements such as sodium, magnesium, silicon, copper, etc.
However, I would like to call attention to the fact that studies on the variation of copper in cultures of oats (a plant which is, in the overall, rich in copper) have showed that, with respect to the seed, the plant shows a reduction in the neighborhood of 19% (mean figure from the analysis of five batches). But I judge that we did not have a sufficient number of batches studied to generate a meaningful hypothesis concerning what it is that increases when Cu diminishes (possibly zinc?). My researches on the Mn-Fe link are also not extensive enough although the results tend to converge; however, we must look more closely at reactions in this domain.
I will present in some detail an array of experiments bearing at one and the same time on potassium and calcium in oats in order to show the principal precautions one must take when one comes with naïve eyes into a research area that others have seen from a very different angle. Then I will give in another chapter a few results of research accomplished by J.E. Zundel, research carried out subsequently to those cited in my book of 1975, which he expanded considerably later on and which he carried out limiting himself almost exclusively to variation of calcium in hydroponic culture of oats, in order to show the scope of detailed parameters one must lose sight of in this sort of research. As he always kept me current with his results, I will set forth the core of his research, more especially the memoir that he circulated in the 1979 second semester as a photocopy --- then in an Italian university review in 1980 --- under his signature and consisting of an excellent condensation of 13 years of practically uninterrupted research. Thanks to this huge amount of work focused on a precise area I believe that the study of oat culture has been pushed to a point that we may be certain there is an augmentation of Ca in the order of 100% (varying from 50% to 150% as a function of oat variety, season, etc.), the increase occurring in a plant which has germinated several weeks being compared to a grain similar to the one from which it came without there being any chance that this calcium came from the air, the water, the materials used in the culture equipment, or as an artifact of analysis. Unfortunately, due to human vanity, I understand that it is very difficult to obtain exact replication of an experiment. There are many who consider themselves superior to the rest of the world (or more clever), and they criticize what has been accomplished, desire to generate an experiment modifying the results in line with their own procedures or materials in order to get their own name in the ring. That’s human. But also quite frequently that comes from a misunderstanding of the main problem resulting from distorted professional judgment.
But these inevitable human eccentricities did not curtail widespread dissemination of what some call a "mutation" and what I call a transmutation, a label adopted universally for this physical phenomenon of the mutation of nucleons in atomic nuclei. Thus it is that Prof. Genevois, in the introduction to his Biochemical Mutations of Plants, was able to write a few years ago, "It now seems, from collecting the facts on all cultivated plants of any importance, that the condition of mutation is a general fact. Mutations are in the process of changing domesticated vegetation. Perfecting analytic techniques... that consistency of the composition of plant species was an illusion". One could not say it more clearly, but it is so pleasant to cradle oneself with illusions, right up to one’s death!
Now let’s demonstrate scientifically that consistency of structure is truly an illusion to be dispensed with!
(a) Research on Variations of Calcium and Potassium in Culture of Oats ~
I elected to continue investigating oats because that is the most calcifugous cereal I have every encountered in my studies. It grows well in acid soils (granites, for example). Accordingly, one can grow it in a laboratory with extra-pure water which is almost always acid (therefore a proton donor according to the modern definition of the acid state --- and we must not forget that which represent the pH of a pH meter). Accordingly one must avoid neutralizing or "stoppering" it. I used extra-pure water resulting from combustion of hydrogen and oxygen, these two gases being the product of electrolysis. They were, then rigorously pure, which is not always the case when, for example, hydrogen comes from a reaction of sulfuric acid on zinc. The zinc is often too impure except when it has been produced by electrolysis. Commercial sulfuric acid is often produced by calcinations of a very complex mixture of pyrites which requires that it be rejected for experimental use unless it is a pure acid coming from refined sulfur. It was not always possible for me to have a sufficient amount of such water; then I used bidistilled water because in water which has been distilled only once a "head" [azeotrope] is formed at the outset of distillation, a condition in which there are very diverse volatile products which condense before anything else --- organic products which are often toxic. My colleague in the Paris Council of Hygiene, P. Levine, of the Pasteur Institute, advised us that he was not able to conduct certain experiments in microbiology or in human biology using the water of Paris with just one distillation. He found it necessary to throw out the "alembic heads" and redistill the remaining condensed portion.
Softened water, purified on ion exchange resins, also called permuted water, still contain too many minerals for our research work. Permuted as well as possible, they must still be distilled by a single passage. Analyses of every batch of water were made by atomic absorption spectrophotometry on samples which varied from one to three liters per carboy and were reduced to 50 ml by evaporation to ensure they did not contain a measurable amount of Ca++ and K+ (since the experiments were concerned with these cations) which could have influenced the results obtained by more than one percent. Such experiments were also carried out on all those materials which might come in contact with the cultured plants (purex, plexiglass, altuglass, polyethylene, etc.). It was also necessary to consider analyses at different stages of the operation to be on the lookout to avoid having parasites get into the circuit.
It seemed to me advisable to cite a few examples of such experiments, according to publications that I distributed in photocopies, for the most part, extracting, however, all the material which was simply repetitious.
(b) Research on K and Ca in Oats ~
I abandoned research on calcitropic plants, like ray-grass, due to a lack of time and personnel, and in the end I limited myself to studies of oats, a calcifugous type of plant. In these efforts I made use of the publications of Zundel and some others. Thus, I could take into consideration a very large number of results showing a statistical convergence which could not be denied by any conscientious person. And very shortly thereafter we find balance sheets on Mg and Si which, under certain circumstances (in animals for instance), both may be able to transform into calcium. Already in 1799 Vauquelin had demonstrated that if silicate diminishes and lime increases when one tallies up the content with respect to a chicken as a function of ingested oats, the diminution of Si does not correspond quantitatively to the augmentation of Ca. Some studies --- perhaps too few --- have shown that in the germination of oats Mg and Si did not play a significant role in the production of Ca. By contrast there were a good many experiments confirming that there was a diminution of K commensurate with the increase of Ca.
Zundel, likewise, only carried out a few studies on Mg and SI in his oat cultures because his first investigations showed him that the variation of these two elements was too slight and insignificant with respect to the increase of Ca. And he also set aside investigation of K for two reasons:
He did not himself analyze K and did not wish to simply play the role of confirmatory of that which had been done by others;
It seemed to him that the various analyses which he has had done by flame spectrometry, by neutron activation, and by x-rays, for example, varied too much as a function of the methods, the operators, the laboratories, and even the operators in one laboratory using the same method. Repetition was not assured with respect to the numerical values of K that were given to him and he had no way, himself, to determine the results which he could trust because he placed his confidence in gravimetric chemical analysis, weighing milligrams of cations. In this way he could measure to one-tenth of a milligram the creation of Ca, but with respect to what? He does not pass judgment on that.
I will not give here results obtained by chemical methods, gravimetric or colorimetric. Rapid analyses for crude verification have been made by various methods of complexometry (by EDTA for example). They are often more delicate to accomplish than one might think because the complexant must be chosen as a function of the affinity between Mg and Ca. I indicated in my book of 1975, with respect to research on the lobster, why it was necessary to reject certain methods because the affinity of Mg/Ca varied a great deal as a function of the metabolism of the animal. After moult of the lobster, the method did not work in the majority of experiments which made it very difficult to obtain results which could be properly compared.
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I know --- and I have cited some results --- that convergent values for Ca have sometimes have obtained by flame spectrometry. But I cannot have confidence in them a priori; they must be cross-checked, because some equipment uses a flame of a temperature insufficient to ionize enough Ca atoms and obtain valid and reproducible results. It is also preferable to have the same operator in order to better control the regulation of the flame (the delivery and pressure of the gas must be verified regularly).
(2) Simultaneous Investigation of Mg, K and Ca ~
To avoid a long drawn out description in the following paragraphs, I will present only mean data for each whole experiment and will not give mean data for each experimental segment. Obviously, in this experiment it serves no purpose to take account of variation in Mg since that result has been obtained from ten other experiments conducted to obtain balance sheets of Mg when placed in a culture of oats of different varieties. That’s one reason which led me to terminate research on variations of Mg in 1976.
Comments on Analyses of K, Ca and Mg in Seeds and Plants of Oats in the Paper-Mill Analytic Laboratory of the Grenoble University Complex ~
(a) Experimental Protocol ~
Oat seeds of the Flamingskrone variety (a blonde hybrid) with a 27,5 mg mean weight per seed were germinated in special vats covered with an indented plate with two seeds per indentation. The vats received double distilled water with a pH = 5.6.
A preliminary control was accomplished by destroying the water and material of a vat to accomplish spectrophotometry of atomic absorption to verify that there was no measurable amount of calcium therein. The culture was accomplished without added fertilization.
Germination took place in an enclosed space of about 70 x 40 x 30 cm of transparent plastic material out of contact with seeds and water. The enclosure was swept with air sent by an electric pump at a rate of about one liter/minute. This air passed through an air filter provided with one meter of hydrophilic cotton folded and compressed. Then it was muddled through four one-liter glass bottles, each filled with 750 ml of double distilled water, arranged in a series. The first was supplied with 30 ml of HCl to precipitate any trace of calcium dust which might have passed the filter. Then the air passed successively through two bottles with additives of NaHCO3 in order to neutralize any trace of acid drawn by the air from the preceding bottle. The fourth bottle contained only pure water.
Thus, neither by air, nor by water, nor by material in contact with the germinating seeds was there any possibility of an introduction of Ca into the enclosure where there was an overpressure of approximately 3 mm water which made it impossible for any entry of ambient air contaminated by Ca.
At the end of several weeks the plants developed from these seeds were gathered, dried, incinerated at 950 C, dissolved in hydrochloric acid and aliquot parts were analyzed by a number of methods in order to cross check results.
At the same time there were analyzed some control segments of non-germinated seeds as nearly identical as possible to those which were germinated. All seeds utilized were calibrated and came from selected seedings furnished by the INRA and their germination rate was better than 95%. Nevertheless, each seed was hand-picked, the same for the control segments as for those which were germinated, in order to eliminate any abnormality of dimension (either too large or too small) or presenting a visible defect of form or of color, to have experimental segments as homogenous and as similar as possible.
The essential purpose of the experiment, within the framework of verifying my studies, was to compare the quantity of Ca between seeds and plants in order to establish a balance sheet showing that germination of the oat --- a calcifugous plant --- in water with an acid pH will actually alter the quantity of Ca a few weeks of growth in a calcium free environment.
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...It was requested of the Paper-Mill Laboratory located in the University of Grenoble complex (we note that the University of Grenoble supports the Superior School of Paper Manufacturing which trains the production engineers in this profession) to measure not only Ca and Mg by spectrophotometric atomic absorption but also to measure K by flame spectrophotometry. This was to cross check the results of previous experiments made by Kervran and by Zundel, independently, showing that the increase of Ca discovered in such experiments on oats would only have come from a reduction of K which was quantitatively almost the same.
The measure of Mg was requested of Grenoble because previous chemical analyses of Zundel and physical analyses made by myself had always shown that in the growth of oats, a calcifugous plant, the Mg was practically invariant. One more confirmation of this came to light. I cite results from this Paper-Mill factory done for Zundel who sent them tome for my information. The analyses were accomplished in 1970-1971 but I did not publish my comments except by individual letters in September 1976, with a photocopy of the schedules of the analyses. The following is a combined study.
(b) Tables of Results of Analyses ~
We will only consider experimental segments with identical numbers of seeds and plants, in the two studies, one on Ca and Mg, done first, the other on K, done later, but on aliquot sections coming from the same experiment.
N.B. --- Question marks after a value indicate that it is possible (in my opinion) that there was a slight measurement error with respect to this sample.
(c) Recapitulation ~
The possibility of slight errors from one sample to another is offset by the law of large numbers, the analyses being carried out on hundreds of seeds and plants. The following table recapitulates the above material rounded off to three decimal places. Values are stated in mg
Remark: The variation of Mg in absolute value is very slight ()0.0069 rounded to 0.007). The range of values per plant, for the four analyses, runs from +0.0059 to - 0.0072 whence, around the mean there is a dispersion of 0.0065 (also rounded to 0.007). That is to say, as a function of experimental error, the variation is equal to the dispersion. Fomr this fact we conclude that there is no significant variation of Mg, which had already been confirmed by a number of previously conducted experiments on oats.
(d) Comparison of Variations in K and Ca ~
In absolute value, K diminishes by 0.033 mg per unit while in absolute value, Ca increased by 0.032 mg per unit (between one seed and one plant derived from a similar seed).
Thus there is a definite convergence between these two values, which allows us to conclude that the augmentation of Ca comes from reduction in K, from which we have the following statement:
K 39/19 + H 1/1 >> Ca 40/20 + ~ 0.01 u.m.a.
In different experiments this compensatory augmentation of Ca and reduction of K during germination of oats in an acid culture has been observed to approximately ± 4%, reflecting inevitable differences due to slight biological variations and experimental errors. Again, we can present these values as follows:
in a seed: K + Ca = 0.140 mg
in a plant: K + Ca = 0.139 mgIndicating that the total amount of K + Ca does not change. or even:
in the seed: K/Ca = 0.113 / 0.027 = 4.2 approximately;
in the plant: K/Ca = 0.080 / 0.059 = 1.4 in excess,which again reflects the reduction of K with respect to Ca. As K + Ca does not change, the increase of Ca can have no other origin than the diminution of K, which makes it useless to look for some other origin of Ca. However, as we find certain metabolic systems (especially animal systems) in which Ca could come from Mg --- by the reaction Mg12 + O8 >> Ca20 --- due to complimentary adjustment, research on variation of Mg was made one more time, in the experiment commented on herewith, and it was discovered to be non-existent. Likewise, other previous experiments had shown that there was no significant variation of Si during the germination of oats. Bear in mind that a calcitropic plant does not manufacture Ca, which must be brought to it by the culture medium.
The values of K and Ca, in both seeds and plants, as set forth above, are accepted without reservation because they confirm the mean measures supplied by other investigators using a variety of different analytic techniques.
It is noted that in this experiment the relative increase of Ca is greater than 118%. The graph in Figure 3 clearly shows the reciprocal variations of K and Ca.
(e) Review ~
For purposes of comparison let us consider a previous analysis by neutron activation made by a Swiss government center for nuclear research on seeds of a closely related variety, Peniarth (mean seed weight 32.2 mg). Analyses were made on five samples of six seeds and five samples of six pants each.
Figure 3 ~ Inverse variations of K and of Ca in germination of an oat seed (Mg does not vary significantly).
Mean figures per seed, from 3 analyses and a total of 840 seeds.
Mean figures per plant, from 4 analyses and a total of 403 plants.
Analyses of K by flame spectrometry
Analyses of Ca and Mg by atomic spectrophotometry absorption
Analyses made at the Laboratory of Paper Products Analysis (University of Grenoble).
DK = 0.113 - 0.80 = -0.033 mg
DCa = 0.059 - 0.027 = +0.032 mgTable 3: Batches of 6 Seeds and of 6 Plants (Values in mg)
So again we have an augmentation of Ca in a plant, compared with the Ca in a seed similar to the plant’s seed of origin in the amount of 0.0560 - 0.0249 = 0.0311 which gives an increase of 124%. We are not dealing here with the same plant variety as in the preceding experiment, but we see that the order of magnitude of variation remains very close to the same. Actually, the values obtained in Switzerland were corrected some time after issuance of the first analyses because it was noted that, because of some germination failure the values reported applied not to a total of 30 plants but rather to an average of 28.32 plants, thus leading to a slight increase in the amount of Ca calculated for the plants. Another calculation was added, by comparing the content of Ca, not just by the unit (seed or plat) but as a function of weights and the values were given in ppm, which allows us to compensate the inequalities of weights of the samples to obtain a more homogenous result. This led to confirmation of a 138% increase of Ca.
We can briefly add other results showing the convergence of values obtained by different laboratories, always with oats:
1. Nuprime variety, Kervran culture, 42 days; analysis by Dr Bieselaar, former lab director of Fraud Service ---- Atomic Adsorption Spectrometry; average grain weight 24.65 mg (dozens of experiments with this variety have given average weights from 22 to 25 mg, according to the source of the lots).
2. Flaningskrone variety; average seed weight: 27.5 mg (has varied from 25 to 30 mg according to the source. Ca/seed: 0.028 ~ Ca/plant: 0.056 ~ Ca change: +0.028 = 100%
3. Peniarth variety: using neutron activation, 52 day culture; Ca/seed: 0.057 ~ Ca/plant: 0.052 ~ Ca change: +0.0263 = 103%
4. Same variety, dosed by atomic adsorption spectrometry, after 48 days of culture: Ca/seed: 0.0260 ~ Ca/plant: 0.064 ~ Ca change: +0.038 = 146%
5. Peniarth variety; using neutron activation, Ca/seed: 0.0249 ~ Ca/plant: 0.0572 ~ Ca change: +0.0323 = 130%
All these examples definitely show similar results and an average increase in Ca greater than 100%, which is absolutely beyond all possible experimental error and confirms the "creation" of Ca, pointing to a transmutation. We have seen that it begins with K. Dozens of experiments, made up of hundreds of analyses, performed by different laboratories using varied methods, have been conducted on tens of thousands of oat seeds and plants. The phenomenon of transmutation is therefore well established beyond doubt. The increase of Ca tends to become asymptotic after 5 days too 6 weeks of culture, which implies an exhaustion of synthetic hormones during germination.
A transmutation by a lining organism does not follow the classical rules of high energy interaction. Instead it can be classified in the category of low energy interactions. The loss of mass is not explained by a release of heat and is not represented by any radioactivity --- alpha, beta, or gamma. In my 1975 book, Costa de Beauregard, Research Director at CNRS, showed after the confirmation of "neutral currents" in 1974 that the loss of mass is explained by introducing the action of neutrinos. Therefore, the loss of mass does respect the classical theory of physics. I have added to it the action of the neutral intermediate virtual boson vector z, and the previously stated reaction could be written as:
C + K + H +Zo / + enzyme >> Ca + v1
with v prime not equal to v pertaining to energy level. The introduction of the H+ proton would be explained by the tunnel effect by application of quantum mechanics.
In the above reaction v’ is different from v from an energy point of view. The entry of the H+ proton would be performed by the tunnel effect in accordance with quantum mechanics.
The text just quoted was released in French from September to October 1976. It was soon after translated into English and released in the USA by Dr E. Stanton S. Maxey, surgeon and owner of a surgical-medical center in Stuart, FL, who has done much for the release of my research.
The above stated results seemed to me definite proof of an increase in Ca by an equal reduction in weight of K. I saw, therefore, more or less, remarkable support to establish the reaction proposed for approximately 15 years, given by the formula K + H >> Ca, resulting from a great number of observations which all tended to converge on the same conclusion. I attributed the slight variations of the numerical results to cultural protocol; to slight differences in the strength of germination of the seeds; or to non-eligible, hard-to-measure cosmic phenomena that have been confirmed experimentally by numerous scientists, such as the influence of seasonal changes, etc. Subsequent experiments came to confirm such results.
FIGURE 5 ~ Formation of calcium from potassium by the combined action of an enzyme and a neutrino.
The positive charges of the active site of the enzyme repel the H+ proton. The result of this electrostatic field is represented by H. H does not appear as a label in this figure. [Ed. --- I think he means the result of this electrostatic field is felt by H, as shown in the figure].
The enzyme would concentrate the neutrinos v, increasing the chances of impact with the material.
A neutrino v, adding its effect to the enzyme’s positive charges, repels the H+ proton towards the K nucleus with sufficient energy for the proton to penetrate the K by the tunnel effect. The K atom recoils a little from the shock and becomes Ca (K19 + H1 >> Ca20).
The incident neutrino v, which has accompanied H, does not penetrate very far into K. It has given up some energy to H and is refracted in K, leaving with a different energy v prime not equal to v by carrying off the excess energy resulting from the loss of mass between Ca and K + H.
This re-emitted neutrino v prime will be lost in space without reacting with the material.
But I have never been able to understand why certain experiments performed elsewhere seemed to indicate that there was not always a one-to-one correspondence in the increase of Ca to the decrease in K, the loss of K being insufficient to account for the increase of Ca. There was not sufficient reduction of Mg or Si to compensate for the increase of Ca. Nor did I see any evidence that the analytical methods could be blamed. Was I to infer from this that it is probable that we have not yet completely mastered the cultural protocols that allow us to obtain reproducible results of the K content?
But it was no longer possible for me, for diverse reasons, such as age, health and financial means, to start over again with a systematic study of the K life cycle, which would take years. I therefore decided to continue only with the research that always pointed to an increase in Ca, since Zundel himself was not analyzing K, but was instead specializing his research on the increase of Ca in oats. There was a restricted but sufficient domain here to establish the increase in calcium, and therefore the creation of matter in the germination of oats. That is to say, there is a biological process of transmutation of matter, and that there are other phenomena besides chemistry in living things where there is no evidence of high energy transmutation. But I thought for the time being that we needed to be conservative about the role of K in the formation of Ca. Researching the element, or elements originating from Ca is quite another problem that young scientists will have to solve in the future.
FIGURE 6 [Not included here] ~ J.E. Zundel’s Research Station in Grasse, France (1976) --- Environmental culture tanks. Pumps and purification flasks that control the air sent into the tanks are in the back room.
First, I will present a study by Zundel that he had published in September 1979. He only measured the calcium content, as you can see the results in his summarized table, which is reproduced also. Then I will go on to some commentaries on diverse experiments, with the logical conclusions that can be drawn from them. The following text has been reproduced in French and Italian in Rivista di Biologia (Fall 1980), Univ. of Perouse, directed by Prof Sermont.
(3) Research by J.E. Zundel ~
I introduced this researcher in my book of 1975. J.E. Zundel graduated from the Zurich Polytechnicum as a chemical engineer. He then trained in the USA. He managed a paper mill, keeping for himself the supervision of the chemical analysis laboratory. This allowed him to maintain his proficiency in the field of chemical analysis for the rest of his life. He had a completely open mind and he was a deft experimenter. My first works were a revelation to him. He wrote to me as early as 1963. He understood immediately that my works pointed to a whole new aspect of biology which was of great interest for pulp and paper research or on all organic material obtained from vegetable fibers. Some alterations in paper could not be explained by chemistry alone. Micro-organisms would implant themselves in the paper and cause modifications which could not be understood. In 1963 Zundel began some preliminary verifications of my ideas after broaching the subject with me in letters. His work was intermittent, because his professional activities did not leave him the tie required for continuous research. However, this preliminary survey convinced him that my works contained a reality, so far ignored by all chemistry treatises and specialized periodicals. As soon as he retired, he moved to a pollution-free location in the country, half way between Gasse and Canes. At his own expense he installed a hydroponic experimental station housed in a Vitrex greenhouse. Vitrex is made of fine wire mesh dipped into pure Cellophane, a solution of pure transparent celluslose. Vitrex is more permeable to the solar spectrum than glass. It is well known that glass filters some ultraviolet wavelengths. Vitrex is selective to several infrared wavelengths which are conductive to the greenhouse effect. This Vitrex greenhouse also protected the plants against unavoidable small dust particles. Some dust was still brought in and out of the greenhouse on shoes and clothing despite these precautions. Zundel even worried about dust carried by the wind from a quarry located 10 km away. This was indeed improbable, but it had to be considered to counter any subjective objections raised by the eternal systemic objectors. To present accurate digital data, he interspaced his planters with control planters filled with pure water. In this way he could accurately measure eventual dust fallout. In addition, he equipped a chemical analysis laboratory for the measurement of Ca and some other elements such as Mg and Si. He personally did the various analyses, as he distrusted lab technicians (I appreciate these highly qualified technicians. They are very useful collaborators. Nevertheless, one should keep in mind the old saying: "Better deal with God than with his saints", especially in a new field, which has not been taught to them). This hobby kept Zundel busy during his retirement.
It is important to note that Zundel never measured K himself. This element is difficult to measure by purely chemical methods. At Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, Prof; Baranger. Director of the Organic Chemistry Laboratory, also abandoned the various chemical methods prescribed in classic analytical treatises after he had performed questionable chemical analyses of the element K. Subsequently, he used a physical method, fashionable at the time, in order to avoid, as he told me, malicious comments by his "dear colleagues", always ready to find faults in procedures set up by others. Only their method is reliable. I will not describe the multiple causes of uncertainty in chemical methods. They are usually related to a sequence of the solutions ending up with a compound which is insoluble in the next phase. Too many chemists forget, in their quest for an element inside a seed, that this element is related to different compounds in the plant grown from this seed. They reason solely as chemists and they forget --- or ignore --- biological phases. For a long time now, analyses of K have been performed essentially by flame spectrometry techniques (emission spectrometry) which have been refined and automated. These techniques are easy to set up with a butane or propane flame. However, preparatory steps remain delicate for flame spectrometry as for other physical methods.
When Zundel wanted values for K, he usually would send ash samples to a well equipped Industrie du Papier laboratory linked to the Ecole Superieure du Papier of the University of Grenoble. In these cases, he only mentions the results without lending them his support. He only claims as his own the data which he obtained himself and checked by a different method. This is the case for calcium which he measures following a gravimetric method. The samples are weighed on a high precision Sartorius scale sensitive to the 1/10 mg. This is sufficient considering the quantities involved. Baranger weighed his sample on a Mettler scale sensitive to 1/100 mg. Such precision is meaningless, because it is subject to gravimetric variations such as the distance to the operator. Most recent models were calibrated on very heavy bases to minimize the influence of distance to the operator. Still the operator should not get too close to the scale and he should use proper remote controls. Protections are necessary to shield the scale from the operator’s body heat and breath.
Zundel performed tens of thousands of experiments, including hundreds of analyses on tens of thousands of seeds to establish a procedure guaranteeing reproducibility. He wished then to check to results obtained using the method recommended by Prof Charlot of Institut de France in his now classic Traite d’Analyse in order to eliminate any possibility of error. After preparing a sample (an aliquot part) of ashes himself, he had it analyzed with an atomic absorption spectrometer at Laboratorie des Industries de la Papeterie in Grenoble. It was a Perkin-Elmer instrument. I used a Beckman. He had the concentrations in Ca and also in Mg, obtained by Charlot’s method, tested with this instrument. We will not discuss these concentrations here, as the variations in Mg proved to be small, if at all significant. The results obtained by Zundel on oats regarding Mg confirmed mine. I stated this point in my book of 1975. This is not the case for the amount of the variations of Ca in oats, a calcifuge plant. In calcicole plants the metabolism of Mg is totally different. I will not elaborate on this subject and I will limit my topic to a wealth of studies. In this field it is not permissible to extrapolate results to other plant species without having a very large number of data taking into account the numerous parameters which should be considered in the growing process.
Zundel used a third method, neutronic activation, in order to check his data. He entrusted these analyses to the Institut Federal de Recherches sur les Reacteurs Atomiques located near Zurich. As Zundel could cross-check the data by three totally different methods, he was able to select the experiments which gave three sets of compatible figures. Any large discrepancy in one of the figures would lead one to suspect an error in the analysis by the operator. In this way he happened to detect a dilution error in an experiment with the atomic absorption spectrometer. Ashes were dissolved in hydrochloric acid and then diluted in twice distilled water prior to injection into the instrument. The analyzer was programmed to average data, measured automatically on ten samples contained in small test tubes. In this analysis there were obvious variations in the results as compared to those obtained in a large number of previous analyses. The operator made the mistake by one order of magnitude. Sometimes the error is due to an oversight. For example, something sticks in the bottom of the crucible after firing. A calibration error is another possible cause, so is a zero displacement. These are some of the reasons why one cannot rely on a single experiment.
I will mention again that I performed germination experiments on two layers of ash-free filter paper in Petri dishes. I measured the total Ca content of plants and paper. In another experiment, seedlings were cultivated in the cells of a seedling tray which had holes at their bottoms. Operators had neglected to measure the Ca which migrated through the roots to the underlying water. It was only an error of secondary importance. I ascertained that this Ca contained in the water (null at the start) represented approximately 10% of the Ca increase in the plant as compared to the Ca content of the seed from which it originated. This increase was often greater than 100%. However, to be rigorously scientific, it was necessary to take into account the Ca content of the water. I informed Zundel of the necessity to perform such measurements, which were omitted in the first experiments.
In my book of 1975 I only mentioned Zundel’s studies prior to1972, at which time he presented a paper to the Academie d’Agriculture de France. Zundel did not publish from that time until 1979. He pursued his study continuously during the whole period. I did not want to publish the results he was sending me all along, in order that he would be the first to do so. Also I only wanted to comment on data that he had published himself so as to have a public database, which would not be the subject of objections. I will reproduce below a text printed in 1980 in the Rivista de Biologica (quarterly issue, 3rd quarter 1980), published by the University of Perugia. This is the original text followed by my short commentary which is my sole responsibility.
FIGURE 7 ~ Hydroponic Culture of Grains
"The planter, presently made of polyethylene, includes a tray in which twice distilled water is maintained at a fairly constant level. The pH is 6.5. The water level is topped off every 3 or 4 days to compensate for plant transpiration. This is done by means of a fixed tube linked to the outside by a siphon. The external extremity is covered with a test tube as a hood for dust protection. The test tube is only removed to introduce the pipette for water additions. A multi-cell panel, also in polyethylene, is placed on top of the tray. The 75 cells receive two seeds each. The roots reach for water into the tray below, wile the seeds are maintained outside the water (aerobiea). A maximum of 150 seedlings can be grown in each planter. Two chambers, as the one reproduced below, are fed in parallel from a same air supply.
"The planter is placed in a closed chamber made of thick, rigid Plexiglass 70 x 40 x 30 cm. The box is closed with a removable Plexiglass panel after introduction of the planter. This panel is fixed by steel clips to one side of the box. It is screwed to the box once everything is in place. A gasket insures air-tightness between the panel and the box.
"Air is pumped into the chamber at an approximate rate of 1 liter/minute by a device which is not represented on the figure. The air is pushed through an air filter by an electric positive-pressure pump. From the filter it passes successively through four one-liter flasks partially filled each with 750 ml of twice distilled water. 30 ml of HCl are added to the water of the first flask to precipitate any dust (Ca, Mg, etc.) which might have escaped through the filter. A check showed that the filter was effective. The air is scrubbed in the next two flasks filled with solutions of NaHCO3 in order to neutralize any acid carry-over. A final scrubbing is made in the fourth flasks which contain only pure water. From there are filtered and scrubbed air penetrates into the cultivation chamber. Air exits the chamber through a double siphon, used also as a water gauge. A positive pressure of 3 mm W.G. was measured inside the chamber. This way, no external air intake may happen accidentally, even with a defective gasket. No Ca, for example, can be brought from the outside".
(4) Study of the Variation of Calcium in Oat Seedlings During Germination in Twice-Distilled Water, by J.E. Zundel ~
Abstract: In the course of 60 experiments the Ca content of oat seedlings increases by 50-250% during germination in twice distilled water.
Introduction:
(1) This research was carried out over the last 13 years, following the publication of works by Monsieur C. L. Kervran. These works suggested a possibility of mutation in chemical elements by biological means, in contradiction to the law if immutability of matter posited by Lavoisier, being understood that the law remained fully valid from the chemical point of view. Kervran was kind enough to follow my work with interest. His considerable knowledge was for me a source of frequent and effective advice.
(2) It was by mistake that I selected oat for my study. Initially I was looking for silica in a study which was not pursued. Even though the oat was a calcifuge plant, it showed a strange increase in Ca which was to become the subject of this study.
(3) It was obvious that this study required the elimination of all Ca additions of external origin during the experiments. This, I tried to accomplish over the years.
(4) During the presentation of a paper of a paper to the Academie d’Agriculture de France, I was strongly criticized for deleting experimental details. I will present them here as accurately as possible.
Growing Procedure:
(1) At the beginning of my work, I was content to use common, fodder types of oats. Later the Centre des Semences of INRA kindly supplied me with selected seeds: Nuprime, Flamingskrone and Peniarth, species I finally adopted definitely for its high germinating power. The Warburg and triphenyl-tetrazolium-bromide tests showed a germinating power of close to100%.
(2) After trying several methods (beakers, Petri dishes, flat and hollow plates) I selected Mutipot seedling trays, manufactured by Ossenberg.
Each device included a tray ( 30 x 50 x 3 cm) with a panel of the same dimensions with 73 cups 40 mm deep which were perforated on their bottoms. The assembly was made of PVC. The analysis of the trays showed no Ca.
(3) The seeds were sized by sight with a ± 3% accuracy in weight.
(4) For pre-germination, I cover the bottom of a Multipot planter with two layers of ash-free Whatman filter paper and I saturate the paper with twice distilled water. I spread over it 300 selected seeds and I place the assembly in a phytotron. Temperature is controlled at 28° C during the 16 daylight hours and to 15° C during the 8 night hours.
During the day, the phytotron is lighted from the outside by a 400W Power Star Osram lamp. After 5-10 day pre-germination, the seedlings are 30-70 mm high. The duration of the pre-germinating phase, as well as the size of the seedlings, seem to show that besides controllable factors, there are other effects which escape me. I then assemble the two parts of another seedling tray and I fill it with twice distilled water to a level 4 mm above the bottom of the cups. I pull the seedlings carefully not to hurt the radicles, and I transplant them two by two in the tray. The complete tray holds 146 seedlings. I place the tray in the phytotron.
(5) The seedlings are harvested 28 days after the beginning of pre-germination. I selected this time span because it corresponded to the average duration of the plants, hence probably to the reserves in the seed. I pull the plants carefully out of the planter (roots may extend as much as 20 cm between the holes at the bottom of the cells and the underlying tray. I spread the plants on Whatman filter paper and I dry the whole thing at 85 C for 72 hours in an electric autoclave. I then grind the plants in a Moulinex coffee grinder and I weigh them.
The water used for the growing process (1,500 ml in average) is recovered and concentrated to 50 ml for spectroscopic analysis.
Elimination of Extraneous Ca:
(1) The twice distilled water was supplied by Laboratoires Aguettant in Lyon. 3000 ml of this water, reduced to 50 ml, do not show any Ca on the Perkin-Elmer spectrometer.
(2) The glassware is made of pure silica.
(3) The crucibles are made of platinum, with the exception of the ones used to incinerate seeds and plants. For this work I used crucibles of pure silica.
(4) Reagents were supplied by Prolabo and were of analytical quality.
(5) From the beginning of my work, I was afraid of the Ca brought in by ambient air.
Therefore, I placed a tray with the same dimensions, filled with HCl, N/10, next to the culture for the duration of the experiment. I recovered amounts of Ca corresponding to 2-3% of the amounts measured during germination. As an additional precaution, I enclosed the seedling trays in polyethylene cases and force ventilated with clean air.
Later I had airtight cases made of Altuglass which also had to be ventilated. Finally I acquired a fully airtight phytotron (140 x 60 x 50 cm). Its case had a lid made of special plexiglass, more permeable than glass to wavelengths below 400 mm. Lighting was provided by a 400W Power Star Osram lamp located 45 cm above the plexiglass panel. This lamp emits a fairly uniform spectrum extending into the ultraviolet. The light intensity at plant level was approximately 5,000 lux. I some experiments I added a Mazda Ultraviolet 20W lamp.
A small compressor provided air ventilation (2 liters/minute) for the phytotron. This air was first filtered in compressed pharmaceutical cotton. Air purification was continued by scrubbing into two flasks (2 liters) filled with HCl, N/10, one flask of concentrated NaHCO3 and one flask of twice distilled water. Following some objections, I replaced the cotton filter with a Whatman Gamma 12 filter of 0.3 micron porosity. I did not find any significant difference in Ca fallouts using these various protective methods.
(d) Analyses:
(1) Samples were weighed on a 0.1 mg Sartorius scale.
(2) Seed and plant incineration was made in closed silica crucibles on low Bunsen flame.
After distillation, I place the crucible in a slanted electric furnace heated to 800 C. Some objections were raised about this temperature. However, my own experiments and other experiments performed at Laboratoires Techniques du Centre Technique du Papier in Grenoble, showed no appreciable differences for temperatures of 550 C, 600 C, 800 C, 1050 C.
(3) Silica was recovered from the solution following the Treadwell method. The precipitate incinerated in a platinum crucible was weighed and diluted in 5 ml of concentrated HF. After vaporization the SiO2 amount was obtained by weight difference.
(4) The determination of Ca (and its separation from Mg) was performed by Prof Charlot’s method, as described in his Traite de Chimie Analytique Minerale.
(5) The determination of K was performed by flame spectrometry on a Perkin-Elmer instrument at Laboratoires du Centre du Papier in Grenoble.
(6) All data were expressed in milligrams per unit of air-dried seeds or plants.
(7) Some result data was cross-checked by atomic absorption spectrometry at Laboratoires du Centre Technique du Papier in Grenoble. Generally the values obtained with this method were close to my results, although I noted discrepancies as great as 30%. Nevertheless, percentages of increase in Ca between seeds and plants were similar to those I had obtained.
Additional checks were performed by neutronic activation at Centre de Recherches Nucleaires in Zurich. Lesser discrepancies were noted, but percentages of increase in Ca were equal to mine.
Results:
(1) All data the least bit suspect of Ca contamination from the air was deleted from the table. Consequently, I only mentioned the data obtained from experiments in the phytotron and in the Altuglas, polyethylene and Vitrex cases.
(2) As expected plant weights were greater than seed weights (photosynthesis) but in an irregular fashion. There were two exceptions: item 345, phytotron, in total darkness, and item 353, Altuglass supplied with air without CO2 (consequently there was no photosynthesis in either case).
(3) Ashes increased. However, item 329, phytotron, was an exception. Ashes decreased for no obvious reasons. In seeds, P was included in organic compounds (phytins) which disappeared during incineration. In plants we found P as a non-volatile Ca-phosphate. The other source of weight increase of the ashes, was the formation of Ca. Probably from C?, i.e., 2C + O >> Ca or 2 x 12 = 16 = 40). It should be noted that the increase in ashes is not proportional to the increase in Ca.
(4) Mg remained identically the same. SiO2 varied slightly in either direction.
(5) Ca showed a 52-292% increase. Here was one exception for item 342, phytotron, additional lighting with an UV lamp and addition of CO2 in the air supply, for which the increase in Ca was 556%. This result was checked by spectrography and neutronic activation. I could not duplicate this result under identical conditions (item 345). This test showed only an 88% increase. There was an additional exception for item 264, no Co2 and no UV. There was certainly a mistake, but I could not locate it. I mention these two experiments as I want to be absolutely candid.
(6) Spectrographic analyses of the water from the culture at the end of the growth period showed an average Ca content of 0.015 mg per plant. Normally I should have added this amount to the Ca measured in the plants. I did not do it, because a water analysis was not performed for each batch.
(7) K contents in the plants and in the seeds were different. The average variation was of 10%.
(f) Dead Control:
Tests on dead controls are fairly difficult as there are scores of methods to kill a seed. In every case 24 hours at 100° C is deadly. 24 hours at 88° C seems to be marginal, as shown by successive tests at temperatures progressively approaching 88° C. After germinating the seeds for one month, there was no sign of life. Ca and SiO2 were the same as in the fresh seeds.
I tried to kill the seeds with formaldehyde as an alternate method. Eight days immersion in formaldehyde were required to prevent any germination. There again, Ca and SiO2 were the same as in the living seeds. I pursued the tests with gaseous formaldehyde. After a 7-day treatment with the gas, I began cultivation. After 30 days there was still no germination. The Warburg test was negative. However, the test with triphenyl-tetrazolium-bromide was not 100% negative. Therefore, a trace of life remained. Ca had increased by 24%, silica was unchanged and ashes had increased by 24.4%.
Finally, I tried a fourth and more drastic procedure. I ground the seeds. I wetted the grounds and left them in a calibrating glass for 28 days. The ashes had increased by 25%, SiO2 was unchanged, and Ca had increased by 12%.
This test was repeated under identical conditions. It resulted in a 17% diminution for the ashes, in no change for SiO2, and in a 23.5% increase for Ca.
To me, these tests do not look conclusive.
(g) Reproducibility:
I entertained great hopes for better reproducibility from air-tight lids and from the purification of the air supply after obtaining ill-assorted results over the first years of my study. This hope was only partially realized.
The most scattered results were obtained with the phytotron, though it provided constant temperature and relative humidity, and purified air supply.
Item 326b: 111%
Item 329: 52%
Item 358: 64%
Item 360b: 204%These results are indeed disappointing, but I cannot estimate the effect of the parameters influencing the growing process besides those which I could control.
On the other hand I could correlate the results of the three other groups:
(a) Altuglass:
Item 326a: 257%
Item 351: 271%
Item 343: 260%(b) Vitrex:
Item 254: 115%
Item 260: 106%
Item 274: 170%
Item 271: 97%(c) Cultures with no photosynthesis:
Item 315: 54%
Item 345: 92%
Item 553: 84%Therefore, the results were reproducible under some conditions.
These results appear to show the influence of light. The Altuglass, more permeable to light, gives higher results than the Vitrex under solar exposure. Another corroboration can be seen in tests 360a and 360b performed simultaneously:
(a) additional UV; increase in Ca: 286%
(b) no additional UV; increase in Ca: 204%Conclusion:
(1) There is always an increase in Ca during the germination of oats in twice distilled water.
(2) It is likely that this increase comes from carbon after the pattern: 2C + O >> Ca.
It seems also likely that this process is produced in two phases: the first being supplied by the reserves in the seed, the second by photosynthesis.
(3) Light seems to have an important influence, in particular wavelengths below 400 nm.
(4) Beyond controllable growing conditions one must probably accept other influences, yet unknown to me.
(5) It is regrettable that my means (laboratory, time and age) prevented me from performing a series of experiments instead of a single exploratory experiment. It would have been possible to analyze the data mathematically. Certain discrepancies could have been explained, such as the influence of the location of the planets during germination, a subject being researched by several universities.
Grasse, September 1979
(5) Comments on a Study by Zundel on the Increase of Calcium in Oats During Germination in Twice Distilled Water ~
The point of paramount importance in this study, issued during the summer of 1979, is the fact that each one of over 60 experiments shows an increase in calcium in oats, germinated in an environment devoid of calcium. This increase varies between 52 and 292% according to Zundel, and is always of an order of magnitude sufficient to rule out statistical errors.
This test is a summary. It is very short and can be quickly read by all. It reports data for only 19 experiments, including one on wheat, which I will discard. It is one of a kind and I do not have enough precise information from research to establish valid comparisons, It would be tiresome to review the separate results for all 60 experiments.
It is obvious that this text shows a long experience with chemical analysis on the part of the author. Furthermore, his high scientific integrity makes him mention experiments giving unequal results. This is really the value of this impartial study: it is not the result of an arbitrary data selection. The text opens the way to a wide discussion because it presents the research in all its complexity.
The author does not orient his research to obtain a reproducibility at all costs. He wants essentially to vary the operating conditions. In spite of this, the increase in Ca is always large. But what is the source of these variations in amplitude? One must look more closely at the factors which differentiate the experiments.
It is seen that the increase in calcium is significantly smaller when carbon dioxide is eliminated, inhibiting the photosynthesis metabolism. However, too few experiments without or with an excess of CO2 were performed to warrant definitive conclusions. The addition of CO2 is very difficult to control. Small amounts must be continuously injected. Nevertheless, various other parameters allow one to see the importance of the photosynthesis metabolism.
Let’s compare the dry weights for the seeds and for the plants. The photosynthesis cause the synthesis of various carbohydrates (glicids, parotids, lipids) which together with the CO2 derived from the air, produce cellulosis, starch, etc. This results in an increase of dry matter in the plant. If no increase is observed (as is the case for items 346 and 353), it must be inferred that the pant lived only on its reserves in carbohydrates, which were promptly exhausted. Experiment No. 345 (darkness) had to be interrupted after 10 days and experiment No. 353 (no CO2) after 16 days because the plants wilted. Due to the abridged growth, the increase in Ca was less than 100% in both cases.
The photosynthesis metabolism is affected by the light spectrum which penetrates inside the transparent chamber housing the culture. Glass is not the best material. It is known for filtering some wavelengths in the ultraviolet. The production of Ca is increased if a special UV light is placed inside the chamber (experiments 341 and 361a). On the other hand, results for no. 347 remain unexplained. This confirms once more that a single experiment cannot be relied on in all its details. Did anything escape our attention? Zundel acknowledges this point when he writes: "besides controllable factors, there are other effects which escape me".
Anomalies of many different origins can happen. This is the case for wheat, for which the dry content decreases in the plant though the amount of ashes increases. The same happens in experiments No. 346 and 353. Sometimes the differences may be due to an oversight; some material sticks to the bottom of the crucible, for example, and it is only detected during the next experiment.
Some increases in Ca may appear abnormal (experiments No. 264 and 341) which does not necessarily mean that there is an error in the analysis. Regarding No. 341, Zundel comments on this aberrant increase, "as I want to be absolutely candid". He cold not determine the cause of the aberration. The data obtained by Zundelin his own chemical analysis was confirmed by compatible results obtained in following two different methods, atomic absorption spectrometry and neutronic activation. His shows that it was not an error of analysis, which is always possible when checks are not made by alternate means. Was the analyzed sample abnormally rich in Ca? Why? It is not possible to answer this question. Was it due to an accidental contamination during the handling of the sample? This is not proven. However, I think that such data should only be accepted with reservation.
In these two experiments it looks obvious to me that all this calcium could not come only from a transmutation of K (not measured in these two cases to my knowledge). On my side I have data on several hundred analyses showing that in one oat seed there is not enough K to account for such a weight increase of Ca. Could it come from Mg? It looks unlikely, judging from past research. From silicium? I do not think so because of various experimental reasons. Zundel thought of another cause (2 C nuclei rotating around an O nucleus?). I believe that no experimental research was ever done along this speculative hypothesis. This shows, once again, that one experiment or even two do not warrant conclusions, even when the experimenter is highly qualified. These 616% and 556% increases in Ca remain an enigma.
There could be some cosmic influences yet undetected. Russian Prof Dubrov of the Research Institute of the Globe, Moscow, mentioned in one of his books a large variation of Ca in synchronism with a large geomagnetic field variation. The geomagnetic field itself varies with solar proton showers. Such causes are diverse, complex, direct or indirect and above, little studied.
Zundel was intrigued by the 556% increase in Ca, which corresponded to additional CO2 and UV light (Ref.341). Is this why he mentioned having duplicated the conditions (Ref. 347) --- except perhaps the cosmic conditions? He only obtained 88% of increase in Ca. According to him, "there is certainly a mistake" in one or both of the experiments. No conclusion can be drawn; in any case, this example raises a wealth of questions. The importance of the filtering of the light spectrum by various materials should be noted. Altuglas would appear to be more efficient than Plexiglass.
Zundel’s study presents many enlightening aspects and this is why I take the opportunity to comment on it. A commentary always embodies a personal point of view. It is subjective but necessary, I think. Zundel made sure he presented a totally objective work. It was only right, I think, that I showed the reader the lesson to be derived from it, to facilitate the thinking process and to aid future experimenters attempting to duplicate the experiments. These experiments showed a generalized increase in Ca, slightly larger than 100%, after a few weeks cultivation in extra-pure water of approximate 5.7 ± 0.1 pH (in my research). Zundel does not state the pH of the water he used, but I know that it was approximately equal to this value.
Note: Zundel’s table shows only the variations of Ca. All these data have been checked by alternate methods and they all point to the same conclusion. Without quoting data in absolute value, Zundel states that average K variations between plants and seeds can reach10%. In fact, he had too few data, too widely scattered, to attribute a significant value to this figure from the mathematical point of view. For K I have the data of many other experiments. The uncertain mature of statistics should be kept in mind; after all, statistics measure only "probabilities". Too often one tends to forget it. Statistical computations varied in time and space. Today Gauss curves are little used. In France the fashionable method is Fisher’s. This method introduces the very arbitrary "Student’s-t". For it, Prof Baranger had chosen a value of 1; I chose a value of 5. This means that I discounted all variations smaller than 5%, as Baranger accepted variations greater than 1%. In Russia the Kolmogorov-Smirnovs tests are used: in other countries it may be the Kuiper-Stephens method, etc.
(1) About the Dead Control ~
An objection was that biological transmutation should not be observed in seeds which had been killed in dead controls. In fact, significant, though small, variations were observed very often in the mass of several elements when dead seeds were placed in water just like the seeds to be germinated. Therefore, some transmutation could not be ascribed to biological effects and some people were convinced there were errors in the test procedure.
Zundel also observed the same thing and he mentions the subject in his text. However, one observation directed him to a possible explanation of the phenomenon: it was noted that dead seeds laid in water for several weeks produced a cheesy small. Consequently, ferments, yeasts, or micro-fungi had developed on the dead material. The transmutation observed, leading to an increase in calcium, might be attributed to the action of this microflora. This had to be verified.
For this reason, an antibiotic and fungicidal product, kanamycin, was added in a ratio of approximately 10-3 mg/liter. This concentration was recommended by Montuelle and Ochin in 1967 to prevent the formation of mold on germinating seeds. The presence of mold introduces an uncertainty. Should the result be ascribed to the action of seeds or to the action of the mold? Tests were made on the European type of oats, Peniarth. In the USA, fungicidal tests were performed on the local type Montezuma. The fungicide Ceresa was used. All Ca increase in the dead controls disappeared.
(2) Cosmic Effects ~
Zundel mentions "unknown parameters" to explain quantitative variations. In a figure in my book of 1975, I stated that I started the germination process at the new moon and that I harvested 6 weeks later at the full moon. I did this in order to operate (hopefully) under comparable cosmic conditions for each experiment though I could not establish this point in any significant manner. At least for certain plants, the action of the moon is well known among farmers and gardeners. However, it was not clear for oats. The biological transmutation seemed to depend on other causes which I did not have the time to isolate. The action of the moon on tides is well known, but its effect on oat seemed to be variable.
A book published by Robert Frederick around 1980, L’Influence de la Lune sur les Culture states that oat is an exception, that it might be more sensitive to some cosmic rays. However, it does not appear that the author tried to determine which ones. One must also consider solar action, which shows its effects on high equinoxial tides. The effect of solar proton showers was studied in particular by Prof G. Piccardi of the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of Florence, Italy. In Russia this effect was studied by Prof Dubrov of the Globe Geophysical Institute of Moscow, etc. The research should be pursued for specific vegetal species and it should not be limited to solar effects. This research should be placed in the framework of biorhythms which more and more, are shown to have an important effect on all earthly life. This point is still ignored by some technocrats who play with time as they see fit while giving fallacious arguments. However, this is not the place to prove this point.
FIGURE 8 ~ Variations of Ca after Dubrov
(6) Comments on Some Experiments ~
I will not go into the details of all the experiments performed; this would lead to tiresome repetitions. I would like to draw some lessons from the statistical data collected on tens of thousands of oats after hundreds of analyses of oats after hundreds of analyses on oat and oat seedlings. The information mentioned below is important, because it constitutes a base of preset references to verify if an analysis has been properly made. This is a point of the utmost importance for all researchers in order to avoid hasty and erroneous conclusions, some of which I noted in the research by students in national schools of agriculture or in public high schools which train superior technicians for agriculture. I noted the same trend among students as well as professors in schools of sciences in universities. I also saw so many engineers, considering themselves as specialists or experienced professionals, commit serious errors. These errors looked shocking to me as these people were in known territory, but apparently it was unknown, because they were prejudiced by previous experience.
I believe it is important that each set of seeds in a good stat of health and of approximately the same size. Each set should be prepared by the same operator. Unfortunately, in some schools several students prepare sets of seeds for the research which to be the subject of a dissertation or a thesis. Under these conditions, there are unacceptable differences between tests. Sometimes I noted weight variations reaching 20% and more, which biased the results. Each set should be weighted to 1/10 mg for control, as long as each set does not contain more than a few hundred seeds. Weighing should be done to the milligram when a few thousand seeds. The statistical average is then valid, barring bad luck. It is advisable to always avoid seeds of a common grade and to use selected seeds. Even if they first underwent mechanical selection. One must do this for several reasons:
(a) There are large differences between old species of black oats (some are still sown today, such as the Noire de Prieure for example) and a modern hybrid light seed. The differences can be as great as 100%. Often a species degenerates in less than 10 years. This was the case in the past for the black winter oats that we used. These seeds each weighted 44 mg in average. For the light Nuprime species hundreds of seeds showed an average individual weight of about 21-25 mg (depending on the origin).
(b) Black oats are winter grains. They grow well only if they are sown in the fall and only if they have spent the winter in the ground. The cold weather effect is absolutely necessary for a good start in the spring. It is called wintering. This phase in the enzymatic modification of molecular structures under the action of cold is seen as an absolute necessity, but the wintering is not yet well understood. Consequently, one should not forget to expose the seeds to artificial cold for several weeks when cultivating them in a laboratory. Too often, physicists neglect this step. On the other hand, spring oats and most light oats do not require wintering. Light oats can germinate at any time. Some precautions must be taken, such as varying the daily light exposure. There may be other cosmic effects, still unknown and little studied. Studies on this subject were made in Russia, Italy and Belgium. In France this research was mainly done by Prof Faussurier, Director of the Physics Laboratory at Faculte Catholique of Lyon. He used chromatographic techniques on metallic salt-impregnated paper in order to correlate color changes in the paper with cosmic phenomena which had been recorded by various observatories. There are still other effects, still unknown, which produce barely significant variations.
(c) In light all season oats, I stopped the research on the Panche de Roye species for two reasons: in this species the glume (also commonly called chaff) is well developed. It is necessary to eliminate it to avoid complicating the research after germination. Some agronomists maintain that the glume must be left because it participates in the germinating process. In my research, its effect on mineral balances and germination power always looked negligible.
In this variety there are two seeds in one envelope. Nine times out of ten, one is significantly smaller than the other. It is then necessary to open the glume to extract the larger seed, which complicates the operation. From the beginning this is why I concentrated my research on so-called naked or glumeless species, such as Nuprime which is cultivated in France and other countries mainly to make rolled oats. Later I used Flamingskone and Peniarth because I observed that Nuprime degenerated and was giving only 70% germination. One should use seeds sized and selected by a special section of INRA and with a minimum guaranteed ratio of 95%.
As a general rule, it is preferable to express analytical data in per unit values --- one seed, one plant. For comparative purposes one can indeed use equal weights and use the milligram or the gram as the unit of measure. However, when a seed does not germinate, germinates poorly or becomes moldy, the whole data for the seed is void. Therefore, the unit chosen should be the seed, except in experiments involving thousands of seeds. If one seed in a set of 100 does not germinate, the uncertainty is of 1%. Germinating ratios for the best seeds can only be guaranteed to 95%, leaving an excessive uncertainty of 5%. This is why I always insisted that sets prepared for cultivation always include several hundred seeds. How conceited on the part of researchers in Europe and America to be satisfied with sets of 20 or 30, sometimes less. In one experiment, for example, 6 seeds were left at the bottom of a test tube where they poisoned each other with the gases from their metabolism, causing a defective synthesis of growth hormones, etc. If a single seed out of 6 does not grow properly, a 16% uncertainty ensues. This is unacceptable. Unfortunately, these concepts of vegetal physiology are too often ignored by many physicists who only reason in the mathematical abstract. Many chemists specialized in inorganic analysis do not know biochemistry.
Personally, I always used sets of at least 50 seeds and several sets in parallel. Zundel often germinated batches of about 145 seeds each. He analyzed each set separately. he had two trays in operation for a total of approximately 300 seeds.
To avoid an uncertainty of up to 5% due to deficient seeds, it seems advisable to sue pregerminated seeds. To this effect, a number of seeds significantly higher than the number to be cultivated, is germinated. The seeds are placed between two sheets of filter paper of the so-called ashless quality. The seeds should not touch each other. The paper is soaked with twice distilled water continually; it is sprayed twice a day. Seeds germinate. After 4 days, the shoot (radicles, etc.) is a few millimeters long. Seedlings, which have germinated normally and are of comparable lengths, are then selected. One is reasonably sure to deal with seedlings of equal vigor. Each seedling is carefully transplanted in a seedling tray. An equal number of seedlings, as similar as possible, are selected, dried and analyzed for their respective contents in Ca, K, Mg, etc. An observation of the results shows that there s no appreciable difference in the weights of these minerals between fresh seeds and pregerminated seedlings. The synthesis of new minerals starts only after 5 or 6 days. It is therefore necessary not to overextend the pregermination period. After 15 days, for example, the difference in Ca is significant. This appears clearly in the curves we traced for calcium. Other cations and anions have also changed at the end of this period.
Hundreds of experiments showed that the relative contents of the major minerals in the seeds varies from one variety to the next. This is why some varieties are preferred when looking for specific elements. In the same species, variations may exceed 20% according to the variety. However, the composition spectrum is a characteristic of the species. In the same variety, relative variations between elements can reach approximately 5%. This is due to differences in the cultivated terrain, in soil composition, in the climate, in average seasonal temperature, in insulation, moisture, etc. This constant value of no more than ± 15% allows one to detect significant errors in the analyses. For example, with Nuprime seeds, I found the average seed weights of 22 mg (± 10%) according to the origin of the batch. The average Ca content was about 0.025 mg, or about 1/1000th of weight of the seed. With Peniarth seeds, the average Ca content per seed was 0.029 mg for an average seed weight of 28 mg, ± 1 mg. These measurement
