98 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



ent of carbonic acid from the atmosphere, and that the aver- 

 age percentage was kept up by volcanic exhalations, animal 

 respiration, processes of decomposition and combustion, and 

 other causes developed on the land. Professor Schultz is 

 now engaged in endeavoring to learn to what the absorptive 

 power of sea- water is clue, and has already ascertained that 

 sea-water, when boiled, absorbs scarcely one fourth part as 

 much carbonic acid as sea-water which has lost its carbonic 

 acid by the action of hydrogen. 19 (7, Nov. 4, 1871, 359. 



MILK-SUGAR FROM VEGETABLE JUICES. 



According to Dr. Bouchardat, a specimen of sugar obtain- 

 ed from the Achras sapota of the West Indies, on being treat- 

 ed with boiling alcohol at 90 per cent., was found to leave a 

 residuum, which, on further investigation, proved to consist 

 almost entirely of milk-sugar, this substance forming 45 per 

 cent, of the original mass. 16 A,Ja?i., 1872, 116. 



CONVERSION OF CANE-SUGAR INTO GLUCOSE BY LIGHT. 



The common impression that a solution of cane-sugar, kept 

 at the ordinary temperature, and protected against the ac- 

 tion of ferments, will preserve its taste and chemical propor- 

 tion for an indefinite period of time, according to Riault, is a 

 mistake, as he has observed in many cases that a solution 

 of sugar-cane, without undergoing any ferment, will ultimate- 

 ly become altered, and be transformed more or less complete- 

 ly into grape-sugar. After considerable experiment, he has 

 satisfied himself that this action is due to the influence of 

 light, and that even when cane-sugar is found to be appar- 

 ently adulterated with glucose, the inquiry should be insti- 

 tuted as to whether this was not the result of exposure to 

 light rather than of intentional adulteration. 1 J5, Z>ec, 

 1871,175. 



FAT FOUND IN BEER YEAST. 



In an article by Dr.Vogel, read before the Academy of Sci- 

 ences in Munich, after referring to the fact that all cereals 

 contain a larger or smaller quantity of fatty matter, which is 

 an essential constituent of the grain, the author describes at 

 length his experiments made for the purpose of extracting, 

 by means of ether, the fat contained in beer yeast, an oil boil- 



