36 



Goofeberry juice 

 contains a (light- 

 ly glutinous 

 matter, which, 

 feparated by 

 filtrationj 



occafioned a 

 mixture of fugar 

 and water to fer- 

 mcnt. 



and become vi- 

 nous* 



Butasitfcarcely 

 effefts this on 

 fix times its 

 weight J it may 

 be prefumed to 

 contain but a 

 fmall portion of 

 the fermentative 

 principle. 

 This ceuld not 

 be obtained 

 apart j 



not apparently 

 altered by hav- 

 ing produced 

 fermentation j 

 but it ceafed to 

 yield ammonia. 



The germ of 



fermentation is 

 therefore of an 

 animal nature. 



not feparable by 

 reagents. 



The author 

 therefore had re 

 courfe to fer • 

 menution. 



VINOUS FERMENTATION, 



Through a linen cloth of clofe texture I prefled out the juice 

 of a killogramme of goofeberries. It was turbid, and held 

 in fiifpenfion a flightly glutinous matter, which I feparated 

 by the filter, and waflied in a large quantity of water. As 

 nothing is to be negle6led in experimental fcience, and the 

 moft trifling fa6l frequently leads to important confequences, 

 I fubje6led this matter to a regtilar examination. I firft mixed 

 it with fugar and water, to fee whether it would caufe them 

 to ferment ; and I foon perceived many bubbles of an elaftic 

 fluid to be extricated, which I found to be carbonic acid. 

 The effervefcence continued a week, and at the end of this , 

 period the liquor was a pleafant drink, but flightly faccharine; 

 it contained a great deal of alcohol, and might ealily have 

 been mifl:aken for a wine not yet completely made. It may 

 be fuppofed I redoubled my zeal and attention in the exami- 

 nation of a fubftance, that offered me what I fought. It was 

 natural firft to inquire, whether the whole of it were adapted 

 to decompofe fugar ; but a fixth part of its weight being fcarcely 

 able to effect this decompofition, I concluded, that it con- 

 tained the fermentative principle only in fmall quantity. This 

 I attempted every method in vain to feparate, and obtain apart: 

 nothing therefore remained for me, but to compare it before 

 and after it had ferved to produce fermentation. It was not 

 apparently altered by this procefs ; being ft ill infipid, infoluble 

 both in water and in alcohol, and aflfefting neither infufion 

 of litmus nor fyrup of violets : but on diftillation it no longer 

 afforded any trace of volatile alkali. This refult, at which 

 I was not furprifed, and which a fecond experiment confirmed, 

 was neverthelefs a ray of light, that confirmed me in the courfe 

 I ftiould purfue. It fliowed me, that the germ of fermenta* 

 tion was of an animal nature, it agreed with the ideas I had 

 before conceived, and gave to my fufpicions an appearance 

 of reality. 



I now examined the juice of goofeberries with great care, 

 to difcover this animal matter, which I confidered already as 

 the true ferment. As it was infoluble by itfelf, it muft be 

 combined with fome fubftance, that held it in folution. All 

 the reagents I employed failing to anfwer the purpofe, I had 

 ■ recourfe to fermentation itfelf, and obferved the phenomena 

 produced by it under all circumftances. I made my experi- 

 ments on nearly a litre of filtered and perfedly clear juice. 

 4. The 



